Matthew Irvin Was First Merchant In Luthersburg

May 15, 2011

MATTHEW IRVIN WAS FIRST MERCHANT IN LUTHERSBURG

            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 candlestick 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, Matthew 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 Matthew Irvin purchased two lots, No. 2 and No. 3 from Conrad Best by deed dated the 20th of  May, 1835.

FIRST MERCHANT

            Tradition tells us that Matthew 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, Matthew 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 Luthersburgt 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.

            Matthew Irvin sold his property to David Irvin on the 9th of August, 1836 and he became the second merchant in Brady Township.  Matthew 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.

 

PROTLETARIATS

            A merchant of the early period of merchandising in Luthersburg, being asked what his profits were, replied, “We always double it and then sometimes add a little.”

            The way of the proletariat of this early period was surely hard and no wonder the “middleman” has been “cussed” from the earliest period down to the present day.

            However, terms of credit were long.  The people were honest and paid to the best of their ability.  One merchant had carried his debtor until he was in danger of losing his account by the Statute of Limitations and he secured a note from his debtor for the amount standing on his books.

            Fourteen years after the date of the note he met the debtor and said to him, “Could you let me have some money on that note?”, the debtor turned around and said “I think you are getting in a hurry for that note,” and he turned and walked away.

            Along in the Fifties itinerant merchants of Irish extraction began to travel through the country, carrying large packs of goods on their backs.  This merchandise was generally finery which the women desired and was not carried in the local stores.

            One of the early Irish merchants was a man by the name of Buckley, who was known to every family of any means in Brady Township.

            These Irish peddlers were soon superseded by the Hebrew.  These peddlers soon acquired a horse and wagon and could accommodate their trade with a larger variety of goods.

 

(Reprinted from the City of DuBois By William C. Pentz, Copyright 1932, Gray Printing Co.)

From the archives of the DuBois Area Historical Society, Inc.

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