Brick and Old Houses

Just prior to 1840, apparently a company representative traveled through the area selling the idea of brick houses. He would check the soil for suitability and if near enough to the home site another workman came in later and set up equipment for making bricks. Later the actual construction of the house was started.

According to tradition, in many cases, these excavations or "brick yards" are still visible. The Melvin Wadding house were both built at the same time with brick made from the excavation just across from the White house. In 1831 Robert White obtained a warrant on 176 acres in Porter Township. In 1839, he obtained a patent on the land and built a brick house where he lived with his wife, Nancy (Moorhead) White, and they raised six children. His son, Irvin, and [Irvin's] wife, Roxanna, lived there and raised their family.

Later Harry White purchased the part on which the house stands. His son, Richard, now owns the property, making five generations of Whites to live in this house.

In 1871, Robert White and his brother, William, bought some 300 acres in Porter Township from John Faulk. They sold 149 acres to James Goheen. He built a brick house and in 1880 sold it to James White. It was later purchased by his son, Robert White. Apparently it was in the White family until it was sold to Powell Fiscus. It was later bought by Melvin Wadding who resides there.

In 1870, William P. Miller built the house on the farm now owned by Percy Wells. Percy's grandfather Wells was a stepson of Mr. Miller.

The brick house owned by George B. McCall was built around 1863 by Mrs. W. J. Campbell, her son and brother-in-law.

Henry Musser, with his wife, Elizabeth Eshelman Musser, came to Redbank Township, Armstrong County, in 1829 with six Conestoga wagon loads of belongings. In 1846, he purchased 122 acres of land in Porter Township, which had been in the Broadhead Tract. He built a house, which the Mussers occupied until about 1930, when it was replaced by a modern brick home. It is now owned by Robert Musser, son the late Arthur Musser.

In 1848 the brick house at Goheen's Crossroads was built from brick made from clay on the Goheen farm. Joseph Mateer Goheen was born in this house and lived there until his death in 1934. His son, Dale purchased the house in 1959. He and his family now reside there.

The brick house known for many years as the Stover House, was built in 1832 by Uriah Wilson.  He owned 500 acres. Later he divided his land with his two sons. David took the land that is known as the I. L. Brown Farm, and James G. the homestead. James married Annie Core. They had no children, but raised four foster children. Two of them were Edward W. Stover and Maude Potter, who later married. They were parents of twelve children and lived on the homestead the rest of their lives. Their son, Elmer, farmed the farm for many years until his death.

Presently the home is the residence of the Dr. Donald A. Nair family.

James Laughlin, grandfather of the late Charles Laughlin, Sr., purchased the "old home farm" from John, Samuel and Stewart Wilson in 1855. The brick house was built about that time from locally made brick, not far from where the house stands.

James F. Laughlin, son of James and his wife, Annie White Laughlin, lived in the house. After Mr. Laughlin's death, Annie with her sons Charles A., W. Harold and Francis L., continue to live there.

In 1926, Charles Laughlin acquired ownership of the property.

Charles Laughlin, Jr., and his wife, Jeanne, took up residence in early 1951 where they raised their children, Connie, Robert and Barry. Charles, Jr., and his father spent many hours restoring the house and grounds. The Charles Laughlin, Jr., family continue to live there.

Ross Corbett settled along the Leatherwood Creek at Rockville previous to 1835. He built a log cabin just upstream from the present brick house. The logs of this cabin stood on end. Major McNutt built the brick house for Mr. Corbett in 1841. It is now owned by Clyde Walls.

The Alexander Blair family settled around 1825 in what has been known as the Blair settlement. The farm, now owned by Gary Kirkpatrick, was part of this old settlement and the house is the oldest one in existence in that area. It was probably built in pre-Civil War times.

Collin McNutt, a weaver by trade, came from Westmoreland County to land of General Craig in Porter Township in 1806. His cabin still stands and is occupied as a summer home by members of the Marshall family, who bought it about 1885. The cabin has not been changed much from its original appearance.

The houses on the farms now owned by Elmer McCauley were built previous to 1860.

In 1817 Peter Wyant, with his sons, Abraham and Conrad, came to Porter Township and settled on what is known as the Stokes Land. They built a house, and Abraham farmed and raised a large family. The farm has changed hands several times and, at the present time, Harry Warner is the owner and lives in the original house.

The Bittenbender house was built in 1850. Elmer Longwell married Alice Bittenbender; thus, the farm became known as the Longwell Farm.

In 1842, Dwight Forringer bought 150 acres from the Holland Land Company and erected a log cabin. I t was built of hand-hewed white oak timbers. The outside of the cabin remains the same today.

In 1896, Charles George bought the property, and in 1944 A. R. Thompson acquired the deed. Extensive remodeling was done in the interior, and a chocolate sandstone fireplace was added.

The cabin is now owned by Millard Thompson, son of A. R. Thompson.

William Shanafelt built the large frame house where Herbert (Pete) Phillips lives. Herbert was a great-grandson of Nicholas Shanafelt (father of William). Five generations of Shanafelts have resided on this farm.

Four generations of Samples have lived in the original log cabin owned by Robert Sample, who purchased the homestead in 1863. Robert married Susanna McNutt, daughter of Collin and Nancy Lowry McNutt. Their son, Marion M. Sample, bought the farm in 1910. The cabin was enlarged and greatly improved. Marion, along with his son, James M., managed the farm until his death in 1953, at the age of 90. A fourth generation member, James J., and his wife, Martha, now reside in the old homestead.

Few buildings remain from early Brinkerton except the old brick home built by John Hamm sometime in the 1840's. It is made of homemade brick, made and burned on the farm, with walls of three brick thickness and heavy doors. In an outbuilding, there remains a huge, old hand-hewn stone fireplace from an earlier cabin. The outside bake oven still stands. The pine trees standing around the homestead were planted shortly after the house was built, while some of them were planted more recently by descendants. The home remains in the family line, being owned by David Delp.

The house now has 15 rooms and 2 large hallways. In the attached rear section of the house is a summer kitchen with a bee-hive type oven and fireplace built of handmade brick. Bread-baking was done quite differently in those days. A fire was built, and when the oven was very hot, the ashes were scraped to the front and down a little shute. The housewife would hold her arm in the oven until she counted to a certain number, and then she knew the temperature was right for baking the bread. She usually made 12 to18 loaves at a time.

The farm has been in the Brinker family for at least 88 years. The Powells sons, Randy Dean and Gary Eugene, who are the great-great-grandsons of Christian Brinker, make the five generations of Brinkers to live in this house.

One of the older houses, a landmark in the township, was a stone house located near Fiddlers Run. The run took its name from Mr. Fiddler, the first settler in that area. We have no record of when the house was built. In 1857, Dr. John F. Summerville, son of J. A. Summerville, was born in this house, and, in 1873, Thomas D. Stewart was born there. Mr. Stewart served many years as county commissioner. When the stone house burned, it was replaced by the wooden structure where Harry Stewart, son of Thomas, now resides.

In the late 1800's one of the houses in the mining town of Starburg was dismantled and moved to a Lerch property in Frostburg, rebuilt and lived in by a Mr. Miller. In 1902 William and Pearl (Hepler) Pence started housekeeping in this five (5) room house. They raised six (6) children; Margaret and Mildred, twins; Clarence; Ruth; Bernice; and Alme. In 1919 they moved to the near by Milton Hepler residence. In 1933 Clarence Pence moved the former Starburg house, on skids, across two fields and a creek to its present location. He built on two additional rooms and covered it with brick. In 1943 this house was purchased along with the William Pence farm by Arthur and Bernice (Pence) Henry and their three children, Rudell, Royd, and Avanell. Mrs. Henry resides there at the present time, while her two sons are the fifth generation of the descendants of Milton Hepler to farm this farm. Rudell and family live in the Milton Hepler home. The house where Royd Henry and family reside and the Vernon Moore home in Porter Township were also originally from Starburg.

The Pence homestead in Leatherwood near St. Charles Furnace has been in possession of the Pence family since 1831. First by Henry Pence, Sr., then his son, George, then his son, James, and now by his son, Harry. The present house was built in the mid-1840's. Harry and his wife, Zelda (George) Pence, are looking forward to celebrating their 63^rd wedding anniversary this summer (2002). They are the parents of three children:  Robert, Chester, and Mrs. Hilton (Maxine) Wiant.