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Page 28
EARLY MERCHANTS
CHAPTER V
WHENEVER a few people settle in a new country and show evidence of
prosperity, their pioneer efforts are rewarded by being followed by
the
"butcher, the baker and candestick
maker," and Brady Township was no exception. The first census of
Clearfield
County shows but 845 people in 1810, and 2,342 people in 1820. Of
course a
certain number of these people settled in Brady Township, which then
covered
what is now at least part of Bloom Township and Union Township, as
well as
Brady Township and Sandy Township.
In 1824, Mathew Irvin came to Luthersburg and opened a store. He
built a
store house in 1827.
The records show that Lebbeus Luther had purchased some land by deed
of
the 7th of November, 1831. However, the date of a deed does not
indicate the
time at which the land was conveyed, for the reason that the early
settlers
purchased their lands on articles of agreement and a deed would not
be executed
until the purchase money was paid in full. Lebbeus Luther in 1833
conveyed this
land to Conrad Best. Whether Mr. Luther laid out a plan of lots
prior to his
sale to Best or whether Best laid out the plan of lots is not known.
However,
the records do set forth the fact that Mathew Irvin purchased two
lots, No. 2
and No. 3 from Conrad Best by deed dated the l0th of May, 1835.
Tradition tells us that Mathew Irvin was the first merchant locating
in
Luthersburg and that as early as 1828 he built a frame barn about
where the
Jerusha Porter dwelling house now stands. This was the first frame
barn in
Brady Township. By starting a store in Luthersburg, Mathew Irvin
established
the first trade center in Brady Township on the western slope of the
Allegheny
Mountains. The first evidence on record of Mr. Irvin being in
Luthersburg is by
the seated assessment for taxes for Brady Township for 1831, in
which Mr. Irvin
is assessed with two lots. This being the first assessment for
taxes, evidently
people did not pay taxes in Brady Township prior to that date.
Mathew Irvin sold his property to David Irvin on the 9th of August,
1836
and he became the second merchant in Brady Township. Mathew Irvin
then moved to
what was afterwards Burnside Township.
On the 8th of December, 1836, Conrad Best sold to David Irvin
seventy-four
acres of land, which covers the present site of Luthersburg. It is
stated that
David Irvin would not sell a lot to anybody who would start a store,
but some
time after, this wall of exclusion was broken down.
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