On
the 11th of March, 1858, petitions were handed in at court from
citizens of Salem and Greene Townships, praying that a new township be
erected out of parts of the two mentioned, the reason for the desired
change being to secure more convenient places of voting, and to
facilitate the collection of taxes. Agreeable to the prayer, John
Cairns, James F. Brown and David Findley were appointed commissioners
to fix the boundaries. They reported a series of bounds, and
accompanied these with a statement to the effect that the plan was a
feasible one. Therefore, on the 22d of November, 1856, the court
confirmed their report, and directed elections to be held in the new
sub division for township officers. The name “Sugar Grove” was derived
from the presence of a small clump of maple trees standing near
Kennard. Sugar Grove Township forms one of the extreme northern tier of
townships, which jut out to the Crawford County line. It is bounded on
the east by Salem and a portion of Otter Creek, on the south by
Hempfield, and on the west by Greene and a portion of West Salem. Its
area is nearly twelve square miles. Its surface, like all its neighbor
townships, is somewhat diversified. There are portions of it where the
soil is quite low and even marsh-like. Then again the land becomes
elevated and even hilly. The soil itself is quite fertile. Agriculture
is the chief occupation of its inhabitants. The drainage is good. The
system comprises, as the two principal streams, the Little Shenango,
which crosses the township from east to west, and a tributary called
Crooked Creek. In addition to these are numerous small branches, each
of which traverses and drains a considerable portion of territory.
Pioneers.
—The early settlement of Sugar Grove is necessarily interwoven with
that of the townships from which it was formed. The reader is therefore
directed for more minute particulars to the pages relating to them.
William Lindsey, however, was the first settler in what is now Sugar
Grove Township. In 1796 he took up a tract of 200 acres on the Little
Shenango, and erected a 10x12 log cabin thereon. All the territory now
embraced in Sugar Grove, Salem, Otter Creek and Hempfield was
originally Salem Township, and the descend ants of pioneers, in telling
of the early settlers of this portion of Mercer County, usually speak
of them as first settling in Salem. Lindsey sold his improvement to
James Walker in the fall of 1797, who immediately took pos session, and
spent the remaining years of his life on that tract, dying February 20,
1834. Marvin Loomis, of Greenville, is the son-in-law of Walker. A
daughter, Martha, was born to Mr. Walker April 27, 1798. She is
believed to have been the first white child born in that part of the
county.
To return to Lindsey; he married Agnes, a sister of
Bishop Roberts, and after selling out to Walker he settled another
tract farther up the Little Shenango. He was a brother-in-law of John
McGranahan, the famous hunter of that region, who was accustomed to
take a sled load of skins to Pittsburgh to sell them. One of Lindsey’s
sons, Lewis, born May 1, 1808, is still living near Leech’s Corners.
Lewis bought the old Bishop Roberts farm of 400 acres. It is now owned
by his son-in-law, Henry D. Johnson.
John Riley was one of the
pioneers of Sugar Grove Township, coming in 1798 from Westmoreland
County. He was a local Methodist preacher. His children were Cornelius,
Catherine, Margaret, James T., John W., Abigail, Jane, Elizabeth and
Hannah. Of these John W., Abigail, Jane and Hannah are still living
[1888].
One of the pioneers of Mercer County was John
McGranahan, of Sugar Grove Township. He was born in Cumberland County,
Penn., November 12, 1778, the son of John and Nellie (Smith)
McGranahan. While a mere lad he removed from Cumberland to Westmoreland
County, where he remained until 1798, when he came to the settlement in
Sugar Grove. On the 12th of May, 1801, he was married to Nancy, sister
of Bishop B. B. Roberts. These children were born to them: Eleanor,
Sarah, Elizabeth B., David, George G., Jane L., Lewis N., Nancy A.,
Jesse M., Mary M., Sophia and Margaret. He was a successful farmer and
a famous hunter. He was a captain in the War of 1812, and served in the
defense of Erie. He held many township offices during his time; was
always a Democrat and a faithful member of the Methodist Episcopal
Church. He died September 2, 1868, full of years, and leaving a large
number of descendants to carry on his work. His father, John
McGranahan, settled further north, in Crawford County. He was a packer
for the American army during the Revolution. He died in 1830. David
McGranahan, the oldest living child (born November 24, 1808), resides
[1888] near the old Roberts place. He married Abigail Riley, daughter
of John Riley, who came also from Westmoreland County in 1798 and
settled in the same region.
Jacob Hannell, also a Westmoreland
County man, began clearing a tract of land in the eastern part of the
township about 1798. Thomas Arnold entered in the same year, located in
the southwestern part of the township, and after clearing a tract of
land, erected a cabin and took up his residence. Along near the Salem
line, where the Roberts family settled, Lewis Roberts came over
into what is now a portion of Sugar Grove Township. His cabin was
erected near what is now Kennard Station, and about it be cleared what
afterward became an excellent farm. A bear story is related concerning
this man, which is here given. He had been in the township for several
years when, one day, upon coming from Hannell’s mill toward his home, a
little dog, which followed him, spied a young bear endeavoring to creep
away unnoticed among the bushes, and, running after it, chased it up a
tree. Roberts, thinking that he might capture the animal, which was
quite small, climbed the tree, when his horror can be easily imagined
at seeing the parent brute appear and prepare to go up after him. But
in this dilemma, when he was meditating upon the expediency of jumping
to the ground, at the risk of breaking his neck, the little dog proved
his friend, for as the bear approached the tree be attacked her upon
the flanks, and obliged her to turn her attention in that direction.
Several times she reared upon her hind feet and commenced climbing, and
as often the cur bit her furiously, and compelled her to turn back.
Meanwhile, his master had followed the cub to the end of one of the
limbs, and, shaking it with all his strength, threw him to the ground,
when both of the beasts left, and he was able to come down in safety.
The
tract lying directly east of Arnold’s was settled first at an early
date, probably 1799, by one Jonathan Lodge, who had just built a cabin
and was preparing to begin a clearing when winter set in, and he was
forced to turn back to the settlements. In the following spring, when
he returned to resume the labors he had left off the autumn before, he
found a man named William Mortimer firmly intrenched in the cabin, and
with a clearing well under way. When he requested Mortimer to
relinquish his claim and yield possession, the latter refused to
comply, alleging that, according to border law, the land had been
vacated, and was, consequently, open to settlement at the time he
(Mortimer) had arrived. No efforts Lodge could make had any effect upon
the intruder, and at last the former had to give up in despair and seek
a home in some other locality. This species of squatter sovereignty was
very common in those days, when that truth of the old adage,
“possession is nine points in law,” was illustrated on every hand. The
year 1800 witnessed the arrival of Thomas Jolly, who located just east
of James Walker.
In 1802 Jolly was bought out, claim, cabin and
improvements, by John Leech, of Somerset County, who removed to his new
home with his family and took possession on the 4th of May, 1802. Leech
was a prominent man in his time, being a justice of the peace, a State
representative and a State senator, and a full biography of him will be
found elsewhere. Of the others who settled about this time, a few only
can be mentioned. Leech’s eastern neighbor was a man named Gibbons, who
came in shortly afterward. John Gildon and William Mahan arrived about
1805. North of Gildon settled Abram Smith, and east of him John
Atchison. William McCurdy immigrated from Ireland about 1812, and
located in Sugar Grove Township. He married Mary Listen, by whom he
reared six children. He died in 1874, aged eighty-two, leaving many
descendants to perpetuate his memory.
Industries —The industrial
history of the township is brief. The first enterprise of an industrial
nature was a saw-mill, built in 1808 by Jacob Hannell, to which
millstones were afterward attached and a grist-mill started. The
location of this establishment was alongside of a little run near
Kennard. Hannell was succeeded in the ownership by Philip Berrier. The
business was a profitable one, as no competitor was within easy access.
A fire, in which two of Hannell’ s sons perished, destroyed a portion
of the structure. The second mill was established by Jacob Leech, near
the hamlet of Leech’s Corners. It was a saw-mill. In later years the
movable steam mill superseded the old stationary water-power ones, and
many of the latter are now in operation in the northern part of the
county. In this connection might be mentioned the cheese factory, which
was opened at Leech’s Corners in 1873, by Breckenridge &
Harper, in a small frame building, 40x50 feet in size. It served
a good purpose, turning out at one time as many as eight cheeses per
day. (Source: History of Mercer County, 1888, pgs. 599 - 603)
Originally
the boundary line between Greene and Salem townships was the canal. In
November, 1856, when Sugar Grove township was created, territory on
both sides of this water way was taken to make the new township. The
name was suggested by a grove of maple trees that stood near Kennard.
The
first settlers came about 1798. The Roberts colony located on various
tracts of land which by the later township boundaries lie in both Salem
and Sugar Grove. In the country east of the Shenango and on both sides
of the Little Shenango many of the families who have been most
prominently identified John Leech, the founder of Leech’s Corners or
Salem village, a soldier in the war of 1812, a member of the state
legislature, and for over thirty years a justice of the peace and
otherwise prominent in the early affairs of Mercer county, settled at
the site of Leech’s Corners May, 1802. A postoffice called Salem was
established at this cross-roads in March, 1832, William Leech being the
first postmaster. The office was continued under this name until 1864,
was discontinued awhile and in April, 1868, was re-established under
the name of Leech’s Corners. The office was abolished a few years ago.
John Leech was the first merchant at this place, and a church, school,
sawmill and grist mill and a few shops represented the substantial part
of the town’s growth.
This township has three railroad lines.
Where the Lake Shore crosses the Bessemer is the little village of
Osgood, and on the other side of the river, at the junction of the Lake
Shore and Erie, is Amasa station.
The principal center
in the township is Kennard, where a postoffice was established in
March, 1864, with William C. Keene as postmaster. He continued in
office over twenty years. A store was at this place about eight years
before the railroad came. United Brethren and Methodist churches were
established here in the sixties [1860s]. (Source: Twentieth
Century History of Mercer County, 1909, page 172 - 173)
| Sugar Grove Twp. Cemeteries |
Sugar Grove Twp. Census Records |
Sugar Grove Twp. Towns & Villages |
Old Salem Methodist Church Cemetery
| 1840 (was still a part of Salem & West Salem townships)
1850 (was still a part of Salem & Greene townships)
1870 | Amasa Station
Kennard
Leech's Corners
Osgood
|
|
| Transformation of Sugar Grove Twp. |
Formed in 1856
|
| From Salem & Greene Townships. |
|
|
