January 16, 1850, Robert Logan, Thomas Davison and Daniel Beeber were appointed by the court to view the boundaries of a new township to be formed from the northern part of Wilkins. July 8, 1850, by decree of court, a division of the latter was confirmed agreeably to their report, and the territory adjoining the Allegheny river erected into Adams township, the other portion retaining the name of Wilkins. August 31, 1850, the action of the court was reconsidered, and the name changed to McNair, but the records are silent as to the time when the present name was adopted. How often the name may have been changed in the meantime is matter of conjecture.

Among the settlers here prior to the Revolution was Thomas Wilson. He secured a patent for four hundred acres under the name of Wilson’s mount in 1788, but had made his first residence here in 1770, removing to Fort Pitt in 1776. Other early settlers were:
Thomas Sampson and sons John, James, William, Thomas, David and Alexander;
John Johnson and son James;
John Duff and sons James, William, John, Alexander, David, George and Samuel (the last now living at the age of eighty-one);
William Parks and sons James, John, David, William, Robert and Thomas;
Alexander Damster and son James;
William McQuay and sons John, Samuel and Thomas;
Charles Johnson and sons John, James, William and Andrew;
Henry Morrow and sons John, James, Henry and Hugh;
Robert Donaldson and son Hugh;
Samuel Ferguson and sons Enoch, Samuel, Isaac and James;
Christ Snively and sons Henry and Emanuel;
Frederick Stoner and sons Christ, John, David, Abraham, Jacob, Joseph and Frederick;
Samuel Ewart and son Samuel;
James McGregor and sons William, Robert and John;
John McGill and sons Alexander and James;
Christ Hershey and sons John and Christ;
Jacob Hershey;
Thomas Wilson, father of George, Francis and James;
George Wilson and sons Francis, Morrow and Thomas;
Francis Wilson (brother of George) and sons Thomas, Dr. John, George and Francis;
James Wilson (another brother of George) and son Thomas;
Rev. James Graham and sons Robert and James;
Mrs. Stotler and sons Emanuel, Henry and Jacob, and grandsons Jacob, Henry B., David, Emanuel and Andrew.

Christ Snively had a carding-mill, the power for which was known as a "tramp-wheel." With the growth of woolen-factories and the decline of domestic manufactures, it went down.

The population in 1860 was 1,821; in 1870, 2,685; in 1880, 3,291. The village of Wildwood was laid out by James Boyd, on an elaborate plan, and it numbers about one hundred inhabitants.

The coal interests of the township are extensive, and roads several miles in length lead from the Allegheny Valley railroad to the mines on Quigley’s run and Sandy creek. There is a village upon the latter known as a postoffice under the name of White Ash. Negley postoffice was established in 1874, and Wildwood in 1880. Milltown is a hamlet on the Plum Creek branch of the Allegheny Valley railroad. There is a church at this point.

Hebron United Presbyterian Church was organized August 30, 1860. Pastors: H. C. McFarland, 1858-64; D. Barclay, 1867-. The chapel of the Sacred Heart was built in 1873. Mount Hope Baptist Church, Sandy Creek Methodist Church and a German Lutheran church complete the number of religious organizations.