Salem
township, from being one of the four large divisions, of the county in
1801, has been divided and subdivided until it is now one of the
smallest townships. In 1802 Salem township was made to consist of about
the territory now included in Salem, Otter Creek, Hempfield, Sugar
Grove, Greene, and West Salem. Then in 1805 Salem was divided into
Salem and West Salem, and the former, in 1856, gave the west portion of
its territory to make the townships of Sugar Grove and Hempfield, and
in 1857 Otter Creek was detached from the south part.
The
pioneers of this region were the party that came from Westmoreland
county in the spring of 1796, consisting of John Caughev, William
McLean, Robert Roberts and James Hubanks. Robert Roberts was afterwards
a bishop of the Methodist church, and for this reason his settlement
here has been an important event in pioneer history. About a year later
the Roberts colony made their settlement permanent, their homes being
along the line dividing the present townships of Salem and Sugar Grove
and north of the Little Shenango.
In the western part of the
township is an old graveyard [Stevenson Cemetery] where some of the
pioneers of the township were buried, among them Elizabeth Lindsay, the
devoted sister of Robert Roberts, who accompanied him to the wilderness
and later married one of his fellow pioneers. What have long been known
as the Bishop Roberts Spring now [1909] furnishes water for the Grand
View Stock Farm of William M. Chess.
Salem township has never
developed any villages. Its life has been rural, as befits its
situation in one of the most picturesque parts of the state. A
community of homes at the cross-roads near the center of the township
has long been known as Salem Center, but trade and other activities of
towns have not pervaded this township. The postoffice at this point was
called Osborn, established in May, 1882, and discontinued by rural
delivery. Samuel R. Turner was the first postmaster.
Source: Twentieth
Century History of Mercer County, 1909, page 171 - 172
|
| Transformation of Salem Twp. |
Formed in 1801
|
| Then divided into | West Salem
Sugar Grove
Hempfield
Otter Creek |
|
|
