Jesse Coldren was a teacher and historian in the Brownsville, Pennsylvania community for nearly fifty years. Jesse was born and lived most of his life in that Fayette County community with his one brother and his mother, who operated a Brownsville haberdashery. Jesse Coldren married Susan (Sudie) Chowles and had no children. He lived on Market street in the north side of Brownsville. Jesse Coldren was certified to teach bookkeeping, math, english, civics, political science, sociology and hand writing. He taught at one room schools at Albany and Redstone Townships where all eight grades of primary education were housed together. He eventually became a principal in the Brownsville Area Schools and remained with the school district until his retirement.
Jesse Coldren went to the University of Pittsburgh for both his bachelors degree and masters degree (1929) in history where he reportedly took every course offered in that department. He wrote his masters thesis on the Presbyterian Church in Western Pennsylvania entitled, "A Study of Four Pioneer Churches in Western Pennsylvania: Dunlaps Creek, Rehoboth, Round Hill and Brownsville First Presbyterian." For 48 years, Jesse Coldren was a historian, teacher and principal in the Brownsville community and continually wrote articles and historical sketches of people and organizations in the greater Brownsville area.
Brownsville, Pennsylvania is located on the east bank of the Monongahela River in Fayette County and was first settled by traders in the second half of the eighteenth century. Captain Cresap, noting the potential value of the area, received a deed for the land from the Commonwealth of Virginia. Cresap sold his land to two Maryland brothers, Thomas and Basil Brown. In 1785, Thomas laid out the original town plans and within twenty years, eighty lots were sold bringing the population to nearly 400. Brownsville was incorporated as a borough on December 14, 1814 and in 1817, Brownsville township was constituted out of Redstone Township. Brownsville flourished throughout the 19th century with strong ship building, distilling and iron industries supported by a railroad and water link with Pittsburgh. As Brownsville grew in population and stature, the community merged with neighboring communities including Bridgeport in 1882.
The Presbyterian Church grew rapidly with the population growth in the Western Pennsylvania region. Primarily responsible for the growth of the church in this region was the large number of immigrants from the Scotland, Ulster and numerous transplanted citizens from the eastern seaboard. The first account of the Presbyterian Church in the Brownsville area was in 1811, when Rev. Boyd Mercer sought to preach to the citizens of Brownsville and Uniontown, Pennsylvania. Two years later, the first Presbyterian church was established in Brownsville by Rev. William Johnson, which he led until 1841. This church was part of the Presbytery of Redstone, which was established in 1781 as the first presbytery west of the Alleghenies. Given the true frontier nature of Western Pennsylvania at this time, the presbytery met for the second time nearly a year later and slowly gained a foothold in the region. All subsequent presbyteries in the Upper Ohio Valley region sprang from the Redstone including the Presbytery of Ohio, which included all churches west of the Monongahela and Allegheny Rivers. The churches which remained in the Redstone Presbytery were primarily located in Allegheny, Fayette and Westmoreland Counties.
The Jesse Coldren Collection primarily includes municipal records, church records, and diaries transcribed by Jesse Coldren in preparation of his Masters' thesis at the University of Pittsburgh entitled, "A Study of Four Pioneer Churches in Western Pennsylvania." While whereabouts of the original manuscripts transcribed herein is unknown, Coldren discusses his search for these records in the introduction of his thesis. This collection primarily includes material from Brownsville, Pennsylvania (Fayette County) and records of churches throughout Western Pennsylvania. Church records primarily include presbyterian churches operating in the Redstone Presbytery, in Allegheny, Fayette, Greene, and Westmoreland counties. The municipal and church records appear to be comprehensive and include proceedings, financial information, lists of members and/or residents and other information.
The Jesse Coldren Collection is housed in eight archival boxes and is arranged in three series. Series have been designated for municipality records, church records, and personal diaries.
This collection is open for research.
These items came in one accession.
Acc# 187 Gift of Jessie Coldren, (Collection) 1933
Previously cited: Jesse Coldren Collection, 1781-1930, MSS# 15, Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania
This collection was processed by Julia Pretti and Corey Seeman in September 15, 1993.
Revision and rearrangement for the encoded version of the finding aid provided by Kate Colligan on June 30, 1999.
Property rights reside with the Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania. Literary rights are retained by the creators of the records and their heirs. For permissions to reproduce or publish, please contact the curator of the Archives.
Church Records are arranged alphabetically by folder title with Mr. Coldren's thesis arranged to the front and include minutes, financial material, historical sketches, membership lists, educational material, session records and other sundry items of numerous presbyterian churches in Western Pennsylvania. Many of these churches belong to the Redstone Presbytery and were the primary focus of Jesse Coldren's work, "A Study of Four Pioneer Churches in Western Pennsylvania." The amount of material on each church varies, with the most significant records existing for the Carmichaels Presbyterian Church, Mt. Pleasant Church, New Providence Church (Carmichaels, Pa.), Rohoboth Presbyterian Church and the Sewickley Presbyterian Church. While material in this series documents all aspects of these churches and their role in the communities, nomenclature used by the churches should be carefully noted in its use. The material relating to the Middle School, New School and Old School of the Mt. Pleasant Church refers to the different factions within the church community and not to an educational concern.
Personal Diaries are arranged alphabetically by folder title and primarily include the day-to-day accounts of two Brownsville area residents, J. M. Gallaher and Joseph Hendrickson. J. M. Gallaher was Redstone Township resident and a member of Dunlaps Creek Presbyterian church. Gallaher recorded brief daily entries in his diary from 1854 to 1886 which includes cryptic information on the weather, family, religious and financial concerns and information relating to the farm he operated. Joseph Hendrickson's diaries date from nearly the same period, 1858-1885, and also provide brief descriptions of daily life in the region. Hendrickson was involved with river transportation between Brownsville and Pittsburgh and recorded information relating to his personal business, the weather, and various events occurring within the community. Hendrickson spent almost every day on river boats, including the Chieftan and S. B. Geneva, and extensively recorded information relative to this trade including temperature and water levels of the Monongahela River around Brownsville and Pittsburgh. Also included are entries of an 1865 diary from Jobes Griffiths, an Indiana County resident serving in the Civil War.