Many of the first immigrants who settled in Venango Township to make a living off the fertile soil and other abundant natural resources were born in Ireland, but relocated from Westmoreland County. Military veterans were among the early settlers and pioneers.

The township got its name from neighboring Venango County and not the Venango Trail, a Native American footpath that went from the forks of the Ohio north to the Seneca village at Venango, which is now known as Franklin.

The population grew from 377 in 1810 to 1,147 in 1890, when there were 135 male and 133 female school aged children.

According to various historical accounts, permanent settlers began arriving around 1796 and cleared rugged forest land to make way for farms, an orchards, a distillery, a weaving shops, and a grist mill.

By 1804, Venango was one of the original 13 townships of the recently created Butler County.

The men were accomplished hunters who made moccasins and knee-length trousers known as breeches out of deer hide for men and boys. One told a writer that he, his brothers and father killed over 100 bears before the animals became scarce.

Clothing was homemade. Nearly every farmer raised flax, which was converted into cloth for summer wear, and wool was used for winter clothes. Young people gathered to prepare the flax for spinning “passing the time in pleasantry and hard work.”

Early homes were log cabins with split timber floors and chimneys made of mud and sticks.

“The farmers of this township are generally men of thrift and industry. Buildings, farms and orchards everywhere bear evidence that agriculture is a good business here, managed by men who understand it thoroughly,” according to an historical account.

As growth continued in the 19th century, schools, churches, general stores, blacksmith shops, a drugstore, post office and coal, coke and limestone mines opened. There were also a few oil wells in the northern part of the township.

Early settlers including Thomas Jolly, Samuel Sloan, Hugh Murrin, Peter Coulter, Robert Cunningham, Samuel Thompson, Michael Kelly and Nicholas and John Vanderlin created a foundation for others build upon.

The Vanderlins and Jolly fought in the War of 1812. Jolly served two months in the war and then became a captain in the militia.

Jolly’s father, Thomas Jolly Sr., planted an orchard with cherry trees from Armstrong County on a 300-acre farm he purchased in what is now Cherry Valley Borough. Jolly Sr. was a captain in the British navy and veteran of the American Revolution.

Thomas or Samuel Barron (the first name varies in history books) lived in a home just over the Venango County line, but his weaver shop and barn were located on 200 acres in the township. Barron and his family later relocated to Ohio.

Murrin, who relocated from Huntingdon County, established a small, horse-powered mill on his 400-acre property and built a distillery. His son James Murrin was a captain in the War of 1812 and owned 300 acres. Another son, George Murrin, also served in the war. Murrinsville in Marion Township is named after the family.

Other sons, Jacob and John Murrin, built a mill on the same creek where William Adams built a log grist mill on land owned by the Murrins, and Squire Murrin, another descendant, built the first saw mill in the township. Hugh Murrin’s sons were described as “generally prosperous and successful in business.”

Nicholas Vanderlin, a native of Holland, and his son John fought in the American Revolution and owned 540 acres.

Thomas Coulter established a saw mill and his brother James opened a tannery. James Shields was veteran of the Revolutionary war, and John Shields owned 300 acres. Charles McWright was a tailor.

Chester County native Thomas Stalker moved his farm from Venango County to the township and set up a blacksmith shop.

John Jamison, another soldier from the War of 1812, relocated to a farm in the township from Huntingdon County in 1818.

Robert Martin, immigrated from Ireland and settled in the township in 1844. He died in 1874 from disease contracted while he was in the military.

Thomas B. Kerr, the son of Joseph Kerr, who relocated from eastern Pennsylvania around 1800, bought 50 acres for $3 per acre after marrying Tamar Williams, a daughter of Levi and Mary Williams.

The Justices of the Peace who served the township from 1840 to 1984 were John Allen, John D. Cunningham, John Murrin, Robert Bovard, James Stalker, A.C. Wilson and W.H.H. Campbell.

“The Indians and squaws of old Cornplanters settlements often visited the pioneers, carrying trinkets, baskets, etc., to sell. They could speak little English, but their behavior was civil,” according to one historical account.

Many township residents signed a protest opposing an 1853 proposal to subdivide Butler County into townships measuring five square miles, arguing it would “disarrange” the school districts, render school houses useless and result in “increased taxes already heavier than we are able to bear.”

Despite the township’s protest, the measure passed, and in 1854 Allegheny Township was split from the eastern section of the Venango Township.

The village of Farmington, which later became Eau Claire, was surveyed in 1848 and incorporated in 1900. William H. Tebay built and occupied the first house in 1849. Coulter & Reynolds, W.C. Jameson & Company, and Joseph Hamilton operated general stores. The first brick structure was a store owned by A.M. Reynolds that opened in 1870.

A post office was established in Robert Bovard’s store in 1856, and he was the postmaster. W.P. Stickle owned a harness shop and was a justice of the peace. Samuel Meals and J.W. McCandless were blacksmiths. Some early doctors were R.L. Allison, R.J. McMichael and Dr. Rhodes. Nelson McAllister opened a hotel. The village also had two physicians, a wagon shop, hotel, buggy maker, milliner, shoe maker and a stock dealer.

Ferris became a village after a post office was established in 1894 with John A. Turner as postmaster, and became a mining community. The Turner Coal, Coke and Mining Company, which produced about 300 tons of coal a day, and the Erie Coal & Coke Company had mines near the village.

The village of Deegan grew up around a Goff-Kirby Coal Company mine. Charles Black owned a store and was the postmaster.

Goff, where about 200 people lived, was the home of the Goff-Kirby Coal Company. Oil interests led to further development. W. Black was the postmaster.

Cherry Valley was founded by Thomas Jolly Sr., who owned Jolly Farms. The borough was established in 1909, but its early settlement dates to the 1700s. Original brick homes were made from clay from Earl Young’s farm.

Early churches included the Scrub Grass Church, which became the East Unity United Presbyterian Church in 1802. The Rev. Thomas McClintock became the pastor in 1803. The first church buildings were made from logs. A brick church built in 1868 was destroyed in an 1875 fire, and replaced with a new building that year.

The Seceder Church, which separated from the United Presbyterians in 1858, later became the Associate Presbyterian Church of Unity.

Farmington Methodist Episcopal Church members met in various places before a small frame building was used beginning in 1851. As the congregation grew, a new church was completed in 1872 under the direction of the Rev. James Groves.

Farmers served as teachers in farming settlements before Robert Cunningham, opened a school in a log cabin in 1802. Teachers who succeeded Cunningham were Robert Donaldson, John Cochran, William Stewart and William Welsh — all natives of Ireland. The Eau Claire Academy was established in 1893 and built the following year.