This township, as separately erected, included a portion of the territory now comprised in Bethel township and the whole of Scott. Within its present limits the first settler was John Fife, who made improvements in the eastern part of the township on land still in possession of his descendants. He was of Scotch-Irish descent, and was a resident of West Chester, Pa., prior to his removal here. John Connor settled near the central part of the township in 1769. He was accompanied by his father, Cornelius Connor, and both had previously lived in Virginia. They were soldiers during the Revolution, Cornelius enlisting as a recruiting-sergeant, and John leaving the service with the rank of major. The Connor family narrowly escaped an attack from the Indians within a few years after their arrival, but no outrages are known to have occurred in the township.

The following are remembered as very early families in this township: Leonard Fryer and sons William, Leonard, Thomas and Samuel;
Amos Jones and son Thomas;
William and John, the sons of Cornelius Connor;
John Connor and sons Samuel and Jesse;
Matthew Borland and sons John, Cornelius, Andrew and Matthew;
Alexander Gilliland and sons John and Andrew;
William Morrow and sons William, Hugh and others;
Thomas Patterson;
William Dennison and sons Thomas, Samuel, Joseph and William;
Samuel Collins;
John McKowen and sons Richard and John;
William Hastings and sons John, Ebenezer, James, Levi, William, Henry and Daniel;
Ephraim Morton and sons Samuel and John;
John Morton;
numerous descendants of John Fife;
Capt. Samuel Morgan and son Alexander;
James Kerr and sons Robert, John and Wesley;
Wilson Lesnet and sons John, Frederick, William and Thomas;
Thomas McMillan and sons William, Andrew, Samuel and Jacob;
(numerous descendants) Mark Kelso;
Samuel Wilson and sons William, John, Thomas and Benjamin.
In addition to the above the names of the following early residents are remembered; Harvey Rogg,
Gregg Algo,
William Orr,
Charles McConnell.
There are many others whose names are not recalled.

John Herriott built a mill in the present village of Bridgeville, on McLaughlin’s run, about 1830. It was converted into a steam mill by William and Samuel Fryer, and was burned some ten years since. John McDowell built a steam fulling-mill about 1828. It was burned about fifteen years since.

The township is traversed by the old Pittsburgh & Washington turnpike, the Chartiers Valley and the Pittsburgh, Chartiers & Youghiogheny railroads. Bridgeville, twelve miles from Pittsburgh, on the Chartiers Valley railroad, is an old place, and came into existence when the old road from Pittsburgh to Washington was traveled much more than at present. Being situated in a great bend of Chartiers creek, and approached by bridges from the north and south, the name was early suggested from this circumstance. The place was little more than a wayside hamlet until 1884, when the Bridgeville mines were opened by A. J. Schulte. These works employ 150 men, and produce 150,000 tons annually. A rolling-stock of 64 cars is required, and shipments are made to Ashtabula harbor en route to the northwest. The mines are 1,500 feet east of Bridgeville station. The town has improved rapidly in the last three years, and numbers several hundred inhabitants.

The Presbyterian Church of Bridgeville, the only religious body in the township, was organized May 4, 1876, with 16 members, by a committee of the Pittsburgh presbytery. A chapel had previously been erected by Bethany Presbyterian Church, from which the original membership was derived. Rev. J. F. Hill was pastor 1876-84, and V. G. Sheeley, the present incumbent, was installed in 1886. The membership in 1877 numbered 69, and in 1884, 116. In April, 1884, by action of presbytery, the churches of Bethany and Bridgeville were consolidated, the resultant organization retaining the former name, while the church-edifice is located at the latter place. In 1887 a church-building was erected, of which the cost was about twelve thousand dollars.

The postoffice was established under the name of Moorhead in January, 1862, and the name was changed to Bridgeville in June, 1874.

Essen is a mining village on the Pittsburgh, Chartiers & Youghiogheny railroad. The mines were opened in 1882 by the Chartiers Block Coal company, and operated by them for one year, when the present proprietors, Sanford & Co., assumed control; 78,000 tons were mined in 1886, and the present daily product is 400 tons; 150 men are employed. The only other mines in this locality are those of Beadling Brothers. Essen postoffice was established in March, 1884.

Upper St. Clair is a post-village on the old Washington road, also at one time a station on the Pittsburgh Southern railroad. The postoffice there was established in 1845. Yee Station postoffice was established in 1873. The population of the township was 1,847 in 1860, 810 in 1870 and 829 in 1880.