Who settled here
A 1792 law opened land north and west of the Ohio River to settlers, but conflict with Native Americans slowed settlement until the Treaty of Greenville in 1795. Beaver County was carved out of Washington and Allegheny Counties in 1800.
The county's best-known group was the Harmony Society. Its German followers first settled in neighboring Butler County, then moved to New Harmony, Indiana, and returned to Beaver County in 1824. Their Economy settlement, on the Ohio River below Pittsburgh, lasted from 1824 to 1905 and is now the state memorial site Old Economy Village.
Why families moved on
- Land title lawsuits. Lawsuits between buyers who purchased from the state and settlers who claimed land under the 1792 “settlement and improvement” clause held back the county's population growth for its first fifty years. A family caught on a disputed tract had reason to look for clear title elsewhere, including across the river in Ohio.
- The Indian wars ended in 1795. Once the Treaty of Greenville made land north and west of the river safer, Ohio became a practical destination for families already living near the border.
Records that say exactly why a family left are rare. Treat these as leads, and look for evidence about your own ancestors in deeds, tax lists, court cases, and church records.
Clues to look for
- Look for title suits and ejectment cases in the Prothonotary's records, and for deeds that sell a farm shortly before a family vanishes from the tax lists.
- Check Allegheny and Washington County records for the years before 1800.
