Source
Source for: William Rittenhouse, CAL Feb 1755 - 14 Jul 1816
Index
Birth source: S4Page: p. 39.
Note: Lists children of William Rittenhouse and Rebecca (Bray): David b. 1782 m. Polly Welles; James b. 1784; Abner, Catherine m. ____Loughborough; Rebecca m. _____Bell; Anne m _____ Cochren; Lavina m _____Townsend; Roada, Delila, Prudence; Adah b. 1810 m Samuel Bowlby.
Text: William b. N. J. ca 1755. Died 14 July 1816 age 61 years 5 mo. Interred Smock Old Baptist Cem., Fayette Co., Penn. Source: Genealogical Records, Fayette Co., Pa, 5 vols. Daughters of AMerican Colonists. Chief Tomacharison Chapt., Connersville, Pa. Will dated 13 Apr 1816 & probated 18 July 1816. (Will Bk I p. 547) Vol. I p. 8.
Birth source: S170Page: ERL B22 : Doc 18b
Note: Vol. 1, p. 8. William Rittenhouse, Franklin Twp. (b. 1755) Will dated 4-13-1816 and probated 6-8-1816. (Will Book 1, p. 547.) Rebecca, wife; David, (b. 1782) son; James, (b. 1784) son; Aburtha (should be Abner); Catherine Loughborough, dau.; Rebecca Bell, dau.; Anne Cochran, dau.; Lavina Townsend, dau.; Roada, dau.; Delila, dau.; Prudence, dau.; Adam, dau. (probably married Samuel Bowlby); William Rittenhouse, grandson (b. 1802); William Loughborouth, (sic) grandson. Dates of birth in parentheses inserted in green ink by ERL.
Birth source: S171Text: William Ruttenhouse household, 1 male under 10; 1 male 10-16; 1 male 16-26; 1 male over 45; 4 females under 10; 1 female 10-16; 1 female 16-26; and 1 female 26-45.
Date: 1800
Birth source: S172Text: Household of William Rittenhouse contains: 1 male under 10; 2 males 16-26; 1 male over 45; 1 female under 10; 3 females 10-16; 1 female 16-26; and 1 female over 45.
Birth source: S166Page: p. 559
Note: Under Churches is the following as written by ERL in Doc 20d: "The Redstone Baptist Church." "An entry in the records of the Big Redstone Church reads, 'The Church at Big Redstone, called Phildelphia, was constituted May 1, 1791, by Rev. David Loafborrow.' Farther on one reads that the following are the names of the members regularly baptized and joined in fellowship and communion: Henry Frazer, minister and pastor of the Philadelphia Church; William Rittenhouse, deacon, and recorder; Thomas Wells, deacon; [Note by E.R.L. - William5 Rittenhouse's son David6 Rittenhouse married Polly Well(e)s, one of the daughters of Thomas Well(e)s. Thomas' wife's name was Susannah. Thomas and his wife are buried in the row directly behind William5 Rittenhouse. I could find no markers for any wives for William5 who is thought by some to have had two wives.] (Among the list of the congregation appear the names of: (Rebecca Rittenhouse, Susannah Well(e)s and Elizabeth Bell (she is called a widow in one place and I wish I knew if she was the mother of the man Rebecca6 Rittenhouse married. I could not find anything about her at the Court House under wills or land records but I could have missed it since I was in such a hurry, and I must admit the land records were somewhat complicated for me to use. E. R. L.) (Still under quote about the church) February 19, 1801 measures were taken to fence the graveyard."
Page: p. 558
Note: Schools. "One of the earliest schoolhouses in Franklin township was a log building that stood in 1800 upon the Uniontown and Pittsburgh road, about forty rods south of John Shotwell's stone mansion. It was the only school-house in Franklin west of Flatwoods, and was one of the very first in that section of the country. It was built before the year 1800, but just when cannot be told. Among its earliest patrons and supporters were ...William Rittenhouse...Among the children who were numbered as the earliest pupils in that school-house were ...Pruda Rittenhouse...(at the end of the paragraph and the end of the list of pupils)...William and Thomas Rittenhouse."
Death source: S170Page: Vol. I, p. 8.
Note: William Rittenhouse, (g g g grandfather)Franklin Twp. (b. 1755). Will dated 4-13-1816 and probated 6-8-1816. (Will Book 1, p. 547.) Rebecca, wife; David, son (b. 1782 g g grandfather); James, son (b. 1784); Aburtha, son (should be Abner); Catherine Loughborough, dau.; Rebecca Bell, dau.; Anne Cochran, dau.; Lavina Townsend, dau.; Roada, dau.; Delila, dau.; Prudence (b. 1799 - 1860 Census aged 61); Adah, dau. (b. 1810. prob. married Samuel Bowlby); William Rittenhouse, gr-son (b. 1802 - son of David? or was he a son of Abner?), WIlliam Loughborouth, gr-son. Items in parentheses were added in ERL's handwriting. From ERL B22 : Doic 18b.
Date: 1816
Page: Vol. III, p. 153.
Note: Smock Old Baptist Cemetery. William Rittenhouse, d. 7-14-1816, aged 61-5-0.
Burial source: S173Page: ERL B5a : Doc 1, p. 1
Note: On a large headstone directly behind this headstone of William Rittenhouse is a headstone for Susannah Wells; to the right is a smaller headstone for Thomas Wells.
Text: In/ Memory/ of/ William Rittenhous/ Who departed this life/ july the 14, 1816. Ageed (sic)/61 years and 5 months/ His faith was Unshakeen (sic)/ His Rest was Secure.' An Ade to the Church/ A Friend to the Poor.
Date: 15 May 1976
General Source: S174Page: p. 7 and 9
Note: William Rittenhouse is listed in Franklin Township and John Wells is also listed in Franklin Township.
Date: 1785
General Source: S175Page: Chapter XVI, p. 448-449
Text: Franklin is one of the nine original townships of Fayette county, and is geographically bounded as follows: The Youghiogheny river on the north, marking it off from Tyrone on the south, Menallen and North Union, or, the east, Dunbar; on the west, Menallen, Redstone and Jefferson. The township is liberally provided with water power from a number of small streams, while Redstone creek and the river furnish ample energy for milling purposes.
Past and Present Industries. The former agricultural character of the township is being rapidly transformed into mining and manufacturing interests. Its industry, concisely described in the order of its development, would be: Farming, iron manufacturing, 1800-1839; then farming and recent years coal mining and coke manufacturing. A well was sunk for oil in 1889 near Flatwoods, and at a depth of two thousand four hundred feet struck gas, which was lighted and burned for some years. The Monongahela division of the Pennsylvania was built along Redstone creek in 1881; and later the Pittsburg, McKeesport and Youghiogheny railroad was built along the Youghiogheny river. In 1882 the Baltimore and Ohio short line railroad was surveyed form Washington, Pennsylvania, to White Rock, near Connellsville, passing near Flatwoods and centrally through the township from west to east.
Pioneer Settlers. There is no complete or extended account of the earliest settlements of the township. William Rittenhouse, a native of New Jersey, settled with his family as early as 1777, establishing himself in the western section of the township. Little has been transmitted in regard to his history, but he is known to have kept a tavern, and many travelers took their ease in his inn, to whom he would, as his inspiration or his humor dictated, recall his experiences during the thrilling scenes of the Revolution, in which he stirred the blood of the troops by the notes of "the ear-piercing fife," in the use of which he seems to have been an adept. Indian traditions cluster around the farm on which his days were spent, graves and remains of villages belonging to the aborigines are pointed out, an Indian chief of renown is reported to have lived there, and the civilizing plough has brought to light many an Indian relic and memorial, such as now adorn our cabinets and museums. In course of time Rittenhouse added to his tract by purchase, his new acquisition bordering on what is known as the Lazy Hollow road, a designation which recalls Irving's charming romance of Sleepy Hollow. Isaac Quick had owned the land before Rittenhouse came into possession, but his invincible indolence by a strange irony of language bestowed the name Lazy upon the vale or glen. He seems to have belonged to the dead rather than to the quick.
Rittenhouse built a tavern, which was leased to John Freeman, of New Jersey, and being on an important line of transit, that between Brownsville and Connellsville, it naturally became a resort of celebrity in those early days, though it is now a melancholy and pathetic ruin. Rittenhouse seems to have been a man of more than ordinary versatility of mind, for he strove to promote religious as well as secular education, constructing a schoolhouse upon his farm in accordance with the custom of the time, and securing the services of Walter Blaney, a teacher of renown, who taught the young ideas how to shoot and urged them along the flowery paths of knowledge. Rittenhouse left a large posterity, but all of his immediate descendants have entered into rest. He died in 1815. It is not mentioned whether or not he was related to the Rittenhouse family of scientific renown.