John McCandless, Sr. and Jane Carothers

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Husband John McCandless, Sr. ^{1 2}

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           Born:  - Ireland
     Christened: 
           Died:  - ? Plum Twp, Allegheny Co, PA
         Buried: 

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         Father: [Ancestor] McCandless (      -      )
         Mother: 

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       Marriage: 

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Wife Jane Carothers ²

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           Born: 
     Christened: 
           Died: 
         Buried: 

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Children

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1 M John McCandless, Jr. ^{1 2}

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           Born: Abt 1770 - Ireland
     Christened: 
           Died: May 1810 1 2
         Buried: 

         Spouse: Mary Ann Smith (      -      ) 1 2
           Marr: Ireland

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2 M George McCandless ^{1 3}

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           Born: Mar 1771 - Ireland 3
     Christened: 
           Died: 3 Feb 1842 - Center Twp, Butler Co, PA 3
         Buried:  - North Cemetery, Butler, Butler Co, PA

         Spouse: Mary "Polly" Fish (Cir 1769-1850) 1 2
           Marr: 1794 2

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3 M James McCandless ^{1 2 3}

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           Born:  - Ireland
     Christened: 
           Died: 1840 - Center Twp, Butler Co, PA 3 4
         Buried: 

         Spouse: Margaret Moore (      -1847) 3 4

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4 M William "Stiller Billy" McCandless ^{2 5 6}

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           Born: 20 Oct 1777 - Ireland 2 4 6
     Christened: 
           Died: 19 Feb 1850 - Center Twp, Butler Co, PA 2 7
         Buried: 

         Spouse: Nancy Fish (1783-1870/1871) 2 6 8
           Marr: 23 Apr 1801 2 7

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5 F Jane McCandless ²

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           Born:  - Ireland
     Christened: 
           Died: 
         Buried: 

         Spouse: Robert M. McCandless (      -      ) 9
           Marr: Ireland

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6 F Elizabeth McCandless ²

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           Born:  - ? Ireland
     Christened: 
           Died: 
         Buried: 

         Spouse: Anthony Thompson (      -      ) 10

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General Notes: Husband - John McCandless, Sr.

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He emigrated from Ireland and located at a very early date in what is now Plum Township, Allegheny County, PA. Four of his sons - John, George, James and William - were pioneer settlers of Centre Township, Butler County. [HBC 1883, 338]

The first settlements in Centre Township, Butler County, PA, were made about 1796. The initial events in its history are legendary, as are the names of those who were first to establish homes within its present boundaries. The following account, however, is believed to be essentially correct, and was gleaned from interviews with one of the old­est families in the township. In the year above mentioned, a party of young men, sixty in number, from Allegheny, Westmoreland, Juniata and Cumber­land Counties, came into the township for the pur­pose of making permanent settlement. So many years having elapsed, it is impossible to give the de­tails of their efforts, or but a fragmentary list of their names. Among the number, however, was William and David McJunkin, John, Robert, George, James and two William McCandlesses, three broth­ers, Anthony, James and Moses Thompson, also three other brothers by the name of Thompson belonging to another family, viz., Matthew, James and John (James, who was a saddler, ultimately settled in the borough of Butler), Archibald St. Clair, Henry Baumgartner, Adam and Jacob Budebaugh, Valentine Whitehead, Christian Fleeger, John Byers, Lewis Wilson, Aaron Moore and his sons Alexander, Robert and James, George and William (these latter settled in what is now Franklin Township). Joseph McGrew, Archibald Fryer, William Freeman, David Wright, William Elliott, Samuel Cook, John Galbraith, Isaac Curry, James Hoge, Thomas McCleery, Daniel McKissick, John and Samuel Cunningham (who stopped in the borough of Butler) John and Robert Scott. Also the following, who settled in what is now Franklin Township: Lewis Wilson, also two of the William McCandlesses, Henry Monteith, Eliakim Anderson, Charles Sullivan. As each was desirous of obtaining the best location, a happy plan was proposed and adopted by all which would forever settle all disputes between them regarding rights of ownership, priority of claim, etc.
They selected all the available and desirable sites and united in erecting cabins thereon. Each of these cabins were then named, some of the names being: Stony Hollow, Hickory, Eden, New Garden, Her­mitage, The Glen, etc., and strips of paper bearing the various names of the cabins were placed in a hat, and then drawn out by each in turn, the name desig­nating the cabin. This entitled the fortunate or unfortunate possessor to the cabin and the land that surrounded it. The farms being unsurveyed at this time, it was further agreed that if, when the lines were run, two parties should occupy the same tract, each of which was to contain 400 acres, the one farthest north should relinquish his claim and take the next farm north, that being unsettled, and this compact was faithfully carried out.
The year subsequent to their settlement, they were attacked by the Indians, and all, or nearly all, fled the country and returned to their former habita­tions. The year following, the Indian troubles hav­ing been settled, many of them returned and com­menced life again in the wilderness; some, however, had their love of frontier life thoroughly satiated, and never returned; still others, after a space of one, two or three years, returned to their home in the woods, which had been sacredly respected by emi­grants. [HBC 1883, 336]

John and Jane (Carothers) McCandless came from County Antrim, Ireland, before 1796 in company with four of their children; James, William, Elizabeth and Jane. The husband of Jane, Robert M. McCandless, and two of Robert's brothers, David and William McCandless, were also in the company. George McCandless, a son of John and Jane, had preceded them to America by two years and another son, John, by one year. The parents and their company stop­ped in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, where these two sons were living, George with a family of his own. Nathan Fish and his two daughters were also living in Car­lisle at that time. All of these families and some friends moved, shortly, a­cross the mountains to Plumb Township, Allegheny County. Here they located and established homes, and here John and Jane lived the remainder of their lives. The hills around Monroeville were once dotted with Carothers' home­steads just as the hills around Unionville in Butler County were dotted with homesteads of the McCandlesses. As late as 1926 there still were several of the Carothers descendants to be found in Plumb Township.
The ages and dates of death of John and Jane are not known. It is said that they lived to a ripe old age and, supposedly, are buried by the old stone church on the hill above Turtle Creek. In 1926 descendants of John and Jane visited the area and found that the only stone church in all this region is the one in Monroe­ville, which was formerly a part of Plumb Township. It is about six miles from Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania. This stone church is the second building on the same site. The first pioneer church was, also, of stone. The cemetery was close by and almost surrounding the building, the older part of the cemetery being within two rods of the church. The oldest marker legible was dated 1810. In this section were many stones bearing the name Carothers. From descrip­tions and statements given in historical works, we are convinced that this is the burial place of our first McCandless ancestors on American soil. [MRF, 7]

1 —, History of Butler County, Pennsylvania (Chicago, IL: Waterman, Watkins & Co., 1883), Pg 338.

2 Joseph A. Ferree, The McCandless and Related Families, Pioneers of Butler County, Pennsylvania (Natrona Heights, PA: Self-Published, 1977), Pg 6.

3 Joseph A. Ferree, The McCandless and Related Families, Pioneers of Butler County, Pennsylvania (Natrona Heights, PA: Self-Published, 1977), Pg 8.

4 —, History of Butler County, Pennsylvania (Chicago, IL: Waterman, Watkins & Co., 1883), Pg 339.

5 —, History of Butler County, Pennsylvania (Chicago, IL: Waterman, Watkins & Co., 1883), Pg 338, 344.

6 —, History of Butler County, Pennsylvania (R. C. Brown & Co. Publishers, 1895), Pg 1069.

7 —, History of Butler County, Pennsylvania (Chicago, IL: Waterman, Watkins & Co., 1883), Pg 344.

8 —, History of Butler County, Pennsylvania (Chicago, IL: Waterman, Watkins & Co., 1883), Pg 339, 344.

9 Joseph A. Ferree, The McCandless and Related Families, Pioneers of Butler County, Pennsylvania (Natrona Heights, PA: Self-Published, 1977), Pg 6, 9.

10 —, History of Butler County, Pennsylvania (R. C. Brown & Co. Publishers, 1895), Pg 1076.