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BENTLEYVILLE. This town stands on the ground patented in 1777 by Sheshbazzar Bentley, whose son, Sheshbazzar, laid out the first plot in 1816. The town grew slowly until the opening of the coal in that section, since which time its development has been very rapid. A number of additions have been made with the passing years, and it is now one of the largest and most important towns in the Pigeon Creek valley. In 1787 Sheshbazzar Bentley operated a mill on the site of the present town. In 1794, during the “Dreadful Night” of the Whisky Insurrection, two stills belonging to Bentley were seized by Robert Johnston, excise collector. The borough of Bentleyville was incorporated May 20, 1868, mainly through the efforts of Hon. John W. Stevens, one of the first members of the republican party and draft commissioner for Washington County under the national draft act passed by Congress in 1863. The present burgess is I. N. South. Work on the first Flinn road was started May 10, 1904, on the road from Bentleyville to Beallsville. This was constructed by the Hallarn Construction Company for the county. The state has since taken this over and it is now a concrete highway. The Methodist Episcopal Church was built in 1848 and used until 1893, when the present edifice was erected. The present pastor is Rev. G. M. Conner. The Bentleyville Presbyterian Church was organized March 9. 1884, and a frame building erected. The first pastor was Rev. W. F. Silveus. Other pastors were: D. A. Cooper. 1890-97; N. W. Clark, 1897-1900: J. T. Neel, 1900-01; J. C. Francis. 1902-07; E. D. Reiter. 1908-09; J. E. Miller, 1910-11; J. A. A. Craig, 1911-17; A. T. Carr, 1917, to the present time. The Baptist church was built in 1908 at a cost of $4,000 and the congregation organized the next year with Rev. J. F. Miller as pastor. The Union Holiness Association leased the Bentleyville Campmeeting ground in 1866 from John W. Stevens and purchased the land November 16, 1891, for $3,000. Campmeetings have been held there annually since 1866, and in 1909 as many as 12.000 people attended.

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