Oakland Township, named after the abundance of oak trees found within it’s boundaries, didn’t exist until 1854 when it was carved out of Donegal and Butler townships, according to “The Historical Gazetteer of Butler County, Pa.” by Luanne Eisler, Glee C. McKnight and Janet Smith. But people were living in the area before Butler County, itself, was created in 1800.

The “Gazetteer” claims John and Mary Markle settled in what would become Oakland Township in 1797.

The 1895 “History of Butler County” reports Connell O’Donnell immigrated from Donegal, Ireland, in 1798 and settled on 500 acres in the future township. At the same time, Francis Whitmire moved into the area from Bucks County.

Revolutionary War veteran John Moser Sr. and his son, John, were mentioned as having property in the future Oakland Township in 1797.

Other early settlers included Thomas Dugan, another Irish immigrant who arrived at the turn of the century. And the “History” records that William Robb bought 260 acres and a cabin in 1810 from Samuel or Robert Riddle.

During the War of 1812, John Neyman moved his family into the area from Westmoreland County. His brother, William Neyman, ran a grist mill, swam mill and carding mill in what is now Summit Township before moving to Oakland Township.

William Neyman set up another grist mill in Oakland Township on the Connoquenessing Creek which passes through the western part of the township. It became known as the Phillips grist mill. Weyman and his sons, William and Harry, added a saw mill and a fulling machine, which cleans woolen cloth to eliminate oils, dirt and other impurities.

In 1817, the first school was established in an abandoned cabin and taught by a schoolmaster known as “Connoquenessing John” Thompson.

Another wave of immigration, according to the 1895 “History,” came in 1834 when the Stoups families emigrated the from Bavaria and Wurtenberg areas of Germany followed by the Eyth families in 1839.

According to “Land of Oak: A History of Oakland Township” by Irene Greene, in response to the Common School Law, two new schoolhouses were built in 1834 and 1839.

The Brewster School was built in 1839 near where German immigrant Martin Eyth settled. The Duffy School was built on land owned by Edward Duffy on Seven Hill Road. Other schools, according to Greene, followed, the Goff, Millinger and Whitmire schools.

The Duffy School became known as the McGinley school in 1886 and was used until it burned to the ground on May 27, 1949.

According to a May 27, 1949, Butler Eagle newspaper article, “The one-room schoolhouse was leveled by a fire of unknown origin which started near the main entrance just three days before the end of school for 20 pupils in grades one through eight. It has not been determined how to complete the school term.

“The fire was discovered at 3:30 a.m. By the time firemen arrived it was beyond saving. The building and its contents were totally destroyed including $500 worth of books,” according to the Eagle article.

In addition, a Catholic school was established near what is now the border with Summit Township.

According to “The Historical Gazetteer,” in 1845, Peter Leinenbach donated four acres where a log house was built. A teacher named George Mueller was hired. In 1857, an extension was built to accommodate a growing student population and to serve as a place for prayer.

The log school served for more than 25 years, according to the “Gazetteer,” when St. Wendelins Church was built in 1876 to serve 18 families. For nearly 50 years, classes were held in the old school and chapel before the school was renovated in 1894. In 1927, nuns of the Franciscan order took over the teaching at St. Wendelin school.

The spiritual needs of the Catholic immigrants in the township were met by a rotating series of priests from St. Marys in Summit Township, St. Patricks in Armstrong County, St. Peter’s in Butler and St. Johns in Clearfield Township until 1847. That year the German immigrants erected a frame church on two acres which became St. Josephs Catholic Church.

In 1872, a brick Gothic style church was built near North Oakland to replace the original St. Josephs. The bricks for the new St. Josephs were made across the road at a farm.

However, a dispute between the German-speaking and English-speaking congregants, led the German speakers to split and return to the original frame church which the Germans restored and enlarged. They also built a parsonage and a school house.

In 1858, arrangements were made to build six new schoolhouses in the township “because the former (schools) were not properly located and too rude in construction.”

In addition to churches and schools, villages also grew in Oakland Township including Springfield, North Oakland, Woodbine, Boydstown St. Joe Station and Oneida Station. Only Woodbine, Boydstown, St. Joe Station and North Oakland still appear on maps today.

The erection of the brick church for St. Josephs Catholic Church brought North Oakland into prominence where it served as the center of the Catholic parish. North Oakland was a center of commerce during the Pennsylvania oil boom until local well production declined.

Boydstown was laid out by William S. Boyd and also enjoyed a brief growth period during the oil boom in Pennsylvania. A post office opened in 1861, and an 1874 listed Boydstown as having 12 dwellings, a hotel and store.

“The History of Butler County, Pa. Illustrated” published in 1927, stated “An 1873 well on the Martin farm south of Boydstown produced oil in such abundance that this hamlet began to assume the features of an oil town.”

But the boom eventually went bust.

The 1895 “History” noted, “Boydstown was covered with homes, workshops, stores and restaurants, but when the oil ceased to flow, the population dwindled.”

The 1895 “History” noted of Boydstown, “It came like an April shower in 1873, but left little to impress as a village.”

But sometimes the oil boom was literal. At that time, one way to increase oil production was to intentionally detonate explosives, usually nitroglycerin, in the well. It was practice called “shooting.”

“The Concise History of Butler County” by J. Campbell Brandon noted James F. Holland, a “well-known shooter,” was killed in an explosion on Nov. 29, 1907, at an oil well on the Whitmire farm near Boydstown, a site partly covered now by Lake Oneida.

Oakland Township also features peripherally in the devastating 1903 typhoid fever epidemic that affected 1 in 13 people in Butler and Lyndora.

According to the 1909 “History of Butler County,” the communities’ water supply became contaminated when a family stricken by typhoid unknowingly allowed their human waste to drain into a small creek that fed the Thorn Run Reservoir that supplied Butler and Lyndora with their water. The outbreak killed 127 people.

The city appealed for help, and 81-year-old Clara Barton, the president of the American Red Cross came to Butler on Dec. 12, 1903, to coordinate efforts between the local relief committee and volunteers from the Pittsburgh Red Cross.

Barton left Butler after inspecting the emergency hospital set up to treat the typhoid patients. It was believed to be Barton’s last relief trip on behalf of the organization she founded.