The Depreciation Lands
The story of Cranberry Township begins not in the forests of western Pennsylvania, but in the wartime ledgers of the Continental Congress. During the American Revolution, soldiers in the Pennsylvania Line received their wages in Continental currency that rapidly lost value -- "depreciated currency" that was nearly worthless by war's end. 1 To make good on this debt, Pennsylvania enacted the Depreciation Land program, purchasing approximately 720,000 acres from the Iroquois Nation in 1783. 2 This vast tract, encompassing parts of five present-day counties including Butler, was divided into districts where veterans could use depreciation certificates to claim land. Many soldiers, unable or unwilling to venture into the wilderness, sold their certificates to speculators. 2
The entire area of what would become Cranberry Township fell within these Depreciation Lands. The name for the district came from a simple natural feature: extensive marshes in the southern portion of the township were covered with wild cranberry bushes. 3 These berries attracted deer and Native American hunters, though no permanent Native settlements existed within the township boundaries. 4
The Graham Brothers Arrive
In 1796, the first permanent European settlers appeared in the Brush Creek neighborhood. Among them were brothers Mathew and William Graham, along with Benjamin Johnston and his family, John Henry, Alexander Ramsey, Paul Vandivort, and Samuel Duncan. 5 The Graham brothers acquired 200 acres of land through the Depreciation Land program. 6
Mathew Graham's story was one of repeated displacement. His father, also named Mathew, was a native of Scotland who died when young Mathew was just six years old. The widowed mother and her two sons settled on a tract of 200 acres on the Monongahela River, where McKeesport now stands. They remained there until 1796, when they were "dispossessed by a defective title" by a Mr. McKee -- the very man for whom McKeesport was named. 3 Forced from their home, Mathew pre-empted land in what would become Cranberry Township and, in 1797, arrived with his mother, brother, and stepfather to begin the arduous task of clearing a farm. 3
Alexander Ramsey, a native of Ireland who had first settled in Cumberland County before moving through Westmoreland County, arrived the same year. His wife, Grace Smith, was the daughter of a Revolutionary patriot who lost his life in the war. 3 Ramsey's land agreement, still preserved by his descendants, records his obligation to "settle and improve a certain tract of land situate on the west side of the Allegheny river, in Allegheny County, on the waters of Breakneck, and on the Venango Path." 3
Samuel Duncan, a native of Carlisle who had been trafficking with the Indians for several years, also made his permanent settlement in 1796. He purchased an extensive tract of land and married Nancy Boggs in 1793. 3
Life in the Wilderness
The pioneers who came to Brush Creek found a landscape of unbroken forest. Their homes were rude log cabins, typically one story with a single room, built with round unhewn logs. Windows were square holes covered with greased paper. A capacious stone fireplace provided heat and cooking capability, with the chimney running up outside the wall, made of cross-pieces of wood daubed with mud. 7
The earliest industry was Samuel Duncan's saw mill, erected prior to 1803 on Brush Creek. "He also ran a little distillery in the early days, which obtained a wide reputation for the fine quality of the whisky turned out." 5 In 1800, David Garvin and his family arrived, and his eldest son Alexander established a tavern -- described as "the only one between Pittsburg and Franklin" -- which became a regular stopping place for Indian raftsmen on their way to Erie. 5
In 1801, Mathew Graham married Mary Freeman. They would rear a family of nine children. 3 By 1803, the settlement had grown enough to support Duncan's saw mill and a growing number of farms carved from the forest.
Township Born
On March 12, 1800, Butler County was formally established. 4 Four years later, on March 12, 1804, Cranberry Township was organized as one of the thirteen townships into which the new county was divided. 5 Its original area was vast -- approximating eighty-one square miles -- an expanse it would retain until 1854, when a general subdivision of the county reduced it to its present limits of about twenty-five square miles. 5 8
The population at the first census in 1810 stood at 543 souls. 5 They were farmers, mainly, working land "well watered by Brush creek and its branches, and by the principal feeders of Breakneck creek." The 1883 county history described it as "one of the best agricultural townships of the county," abounding "in well tilled and productive farms and in thrify and prosperous farmers." 5
By 1806, the settlers had organized Plains Presbyterian Church, the first church in the township, with Rev. Reid Bracken installed as pastor in 1808. 5 The Graham and Covert families were among the founding members. For years the congregation worshipped outdoors -- in groves and under a tent -- until a log building was erected between 1820 and 1824 on a lot donated by Benjamin Davis. 5 9 That church still stands today, a direct link to the founding families who carved a community from the wilderness over two centuries ago.