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Sugar Grove Founding Dates1797 - Robert Miles began his three mile settlement to the east of the village. 1820 - The village is officially named Sugar Grove by Robert Falconer. 1821 - The township is organized. 1892 - The borough is incorporated.
Brief History of Sugar GroveWhen, in 1792, territory
west and north of the Allegheny River was opened for settlement by the Holland
Land Company, the good, cheap earth of present day northern Warren County
attracted settlers most of whom took up farming.
The first permanent settler is thought to have been Robert Miles, a young
Scotch Irishman. Many of the first settlers were natives of Scotland and
Ireland. In fact, the person who
probably did more to build up early Sugar Grove than any other settler was David
Brown, who was born in Belfast, Ireland. For
a time, Sugar Grove was called “Brownsville”. Because of the origin of many of the first settlers, the
Presbyterian Church was the first house of worship officially begun in the
village. Later a Congregationalist
Church was established, these churches later to be joined by the Methodist and
Swedish Evangelical Lutheran Church congregations. Sugar Grove grew to be an example of early rural American life. Schools were begun, the first undoubtedly being started in a small log cabin in 1814. It was dubbed the “little school”. A second small school built in 1828 was called the “White School”. Both schools operated until 1854 when a school was built near the village center on land donated by another early settler, John Barr. In 1869 a fourth school, “Miles Hall” was built and became both school and community center for many years. In 1883, the United Brethren Church established the Sugar
Grove Seminary offering normal, college preparatory, and scientific courses.
It operated until 1917 when it was taken over by the local public school
district. In 1821, the name of the town was changed from Brownsville
to Sugar Grove, (Sugargrove). The
present name is derived from the vast original stands of maple forests found in
the area. In the 1800’s the roads
were rough, and unfinished in condition. They
were, in fact, not much more than mere bridal-paths.
The village itself was very small. Still,
a few business and industries flourished. Among them
were the Willson Inn owned and operated by John I. Willson and the
Exchange, and important tavern owned and operated by Samuel Hall.
There were also mills, both gristmills and sawmills run by water from
local streams until the volume of those streams dropped due to the clearing of
the local forests. Steam power then
was used to run the one tannery and a stave and shingle mill. In addition there were blacksmiths, general stores, a drug
store a tin-shop and a grocery. A
bank, post office, and newspaper were also established. Sugar Grove was a small, closely knit community.
Early ideas championed were those of temperance and of anti-slavery.
Sugar Grove has had an active WCTU organization for many years and prior
to the Civil War, it was a stopping
place on the Underground Railroad aiding slaves in their journey to Lake Erie
and then on to Canada. The
political preference of most of the citizens was that of the Republican Party. The early residents of this area were avid writers and many of their letters and diaries exist today. The material for this sketch of early Sugar Grove is derived from two sources both of which have drawn upon those early writings. The sources are History of Warren County Pennsylvania, by J. S. Schenck (1887) and Stepping Stones ( VOL. 11, No. 2), a publication of the Warren County Historical Society.
Brief History of Chandler's ValleyChandler’s Valley is a small village in the southeastern
part of Sugar Grove township. Originally
it contained two general stores, one operated by H. Wilson and the other
operated by F. A. Sagerdahl. In
addition, there was a drug store operated by F. N. Chapin.
Chandler’s Valley also had a successful planing, matching, and
shingle-mill. N.W. Dupree
manufactured lumber, lath, and shingles; C.P.
Quillam ran a cheese factory. C.J.
Sagerdahl and Charles Sundell were engaged in the selling and manufacturing of
wagons and carriages. There was one
hotel, the Ellis House, operated by Benjamin Ellis.
There was also a post office, H. Wilson being its postmaster. There was one
physician, F. W. Whitcomb. Dr.
Whitcomb was born in Sugar Grove and remained in his native township until July
1, 1886 when he moved to Warren. He
graduated from the medical department of the University of Buffalo on the 21st
of February, 1882, and immediately set up a practice in Chandler’s Valley.
He was the first resident physician of this village. Chandler’s Valley received its name before 1820 from John
Chandler, who came there from Connecticut about the year 1815, and settled on
the flats in the valley, his house standing on a little rise of ground
immediately west of the flats. The
country was then noted for its maple sugar, great numbers of maple trees
covering the surface of this part of the town.
Josiah Chandler, the father of John, came with him, an old man, but died
in a few years. John Chandler had
twelve children, four of whom were sons.
John Chandler was a hard working man, was conscientious in the
performance of his duty, and just toward others. He died in the early part of July, 1867. About 1859 this portion of the township received a
considerable influx of Swedish immigrants who formed an important and
law-abiding element of its society. Taken from History of Warren County Pennsylvania edited by J. S. Schenck and published by D. Mason and Co., Syracuse, NY 1887 (p. 437-438)
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