The most prominent of the Follansbee brothers was Benjamin G. Follansbee.  Benjamin  was an important financier and manufacturer in Pittsburgh.  He organized the Follansbee Brothers Company in 1894.  In 1896, the Company built a tin mill in Pittsburgh, North Side.   The business grew so rapidly that it was expanded with the new manufacturing site purchased from the Mahans.  The main office remained in Pittsburgh.  The Follansbee Brothers also financed the Brooke County Improvement Company, which developed a city plan and began constructing homes for workmen (See 1902 – William Banfield on Timeline)

A descendent from English immigrants, Benjamin’s patriotic ancestry gave him membership in the Pa. Society Sons of the American Revolution.  He was devoted to civic affairs as indicated by his many contributions.  He was a trustee of the University of Pittsburgh, Director of the Pittsburgh Chamber of Commerce, Vice President of the Pittsburgh branch of the Tariff Commission League, a life member of the Academy of Science and Art of Pittsburgh, and a member of the Pittsburgh Athletic Association.

• By George Thornton Fleming, American Historical Society, History of Pittsburgh and environs, 1922
• http://books.google.com/books?id=VvkMAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA93&lpg=PA93&dq=benjiman+g.+follasbee&source=bl&ots=V94gD0Vl_w&sig=f_qq09OD4EdDZ0FQgpaXIOQzuqk&hl=en&sa=X&ei=KZneT7vyKsuA6QGrhZWGCw&ved=0CE4Q6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=benjiman%20g.%20follasbee&f=false

The Follansbee Brothers

The purchase of Mahan’s Farm by the Follansbee brothers sets the stage and name for the modern day city of Follansbee. The Follansbee Brothers Company purchased 110 acres of orchards and farmland along the river from Thomas J. and Herman Mahan for construction of their Tin and Steel Sheet plant.   The Mahan farmland was and excellent location because it provided immediate access to the Ohio River for transporting raw materials.  Additionally, it was in close proximity to Pittsburgh’s labor market.

The officers of the Follansbee Brothers Company were Benjamin Gilbert Follansbee, president, William U. Follansbee, secretary and treasurer, William Banfield, mill general manager, Thomas H. Rogers, superintendent, and Charles A. Wilson, purchasing agent. The company set up their local office on the Mahan homestead very near where the Cox log cabin was build in 1772.

Follansbee Brothers, used Thomas Mahan’s home as their first office. Circa 1904.

Origin of today’s Hooverson Heights name goes back to the Hoover & Johnson farm shown on the 1924 map below.  The name Hooverson comes from Hoover with the addition of “son” from the Johnson name.  Heights was added to the name later.  

Evelyn Heckman has provided us with an excellent description of early Hooverson Heights and Eldersville road farming areas.  While traveling up today’s Alleghany Street to Hooverson Heights, the traveler saw the A. Finley farm of 47 acres located to the left. On the right was a larger “farm of 291 acres owned by J. A. and T. C. McKim.  The McKim property extended from the top of the hill at what is today Oak Grove Cemetery down Rockdale Road to the first bend, and continued down the hillside to the boundary of today’s Follansbee.”  Other small farms were located on Rockdale Road on the route to Cross Creek.

• For more information go to http://www.angelfire.com/wi/bcga/sp17.html

Map of 1924.

Map of Hooverson Heights shows early one-room schools.

Historic Martin Rihel homestead. See on map of 1924, mid-right side off of Eldersville road.

During the 30’s-50’s  “The Bil-Mar” was a popular entertainment hall. The building still stands near intersection of Mahan’s Lane and Eldersville Road.

Formans Club.

Store Advertisement: Follansbee Review, Nov. 5, 1939.

Early Hooverson Heights School. 

• Evelyn Heckman,  “Early Background of Hooverson Heights & Eldersville Area Booke County, WV,” Brooke County Historical Society.

The area that is now Follansbee was sparsely populated farming lands in 1900.  In her book, “Father and His Town,” Wilma (Sinclair) LeVan Baker tells of her father taking B.G. Follansbee and his sons for a street car ride from Steubenville to Mingo. Mr. Follansbee stood on the (Ohio) river bank looking across at Mahan Village (Follansbee).  “The backdrop of the area was breathtaking in its beauty.  The rolling hills were dotted with the orchards of the Mahan family. Along the river laid the golden wheat fields, gently rippling in the breeze. At night the myriad of darting fireflies lent a Fairy Godmother glow over the entire area…..”

The Ohio River was more shallow and narrow in 1900 before major dams existed. Mingo Island could be seen near the Follansbee shore in the south part of town. Here the navigation channel twisted to avoid rock ledges and subsurface sand bars. Now dredged and marked by buoys, the stretch of river was long a hazard to steamboats. It was here that the Scioto rammed the John Lomas head-on in 1882 (See July 4, 1882 on Timeline).

The railroad passed by the Mahan property, connecting the area with Hollidays Cove to the north and Wellsburg and Wheeling in the south. The dirt wagon roads connecting the vicinity were narrow, often muddy, and frequently impassable, especially along the river banks.  Two Indian mounds were located along the road through the small Mahan village.  The little community consisted of scattered buildings including those of the Mahan homestead that had replaced Isaac Cox’s old log house built in 1772.

There were no bridges crossing the river for wagons or foot traffic. Two ferryboats  provided transportation for horse drawn wagons carrying farmers goods to the markets and docks at Steubenville and Mingo. The middle ferry crossed the river near where the Market Street bridge is today. The lower ferry was situated just north of present day Follansbee. However, most folks simply used small boats or walked across the river during low water months.

A witness account gives us an idea about Alleghany creek in the early 1900s. Frank Gaudio recalled, as a young boy, that the Alleghany creek crossed Main Street near the present day Fire Department. It meandered along the bottom land area before gradually dumping into the river.  Now covered over where the mill is located, the creek passed through apple orchards and had some deep water holes with large rocks that were excellent swimming and fishing locations.

THE FOLLOWING ARE JANUARY 1892 NEWS ITEMS RELATED TO THE VICINITY THAT IS NOW FOLLANSBEE. THE STEUBENVILLE PAPER STILL REFERED TO THE LAND ACROSS THE OHIO RIVER AS THE “VIRIGINA HILLS.”

TWO BOTTLES OF LIQUOR An old citizen informs us that the Virginia Hills that front Steubenville and are the glory of the city, was purchased from the Indians by RICHARD WELLS, the father of NATHANIEL WELLS and grandfather of E.T. WELLS of this city, for two bottles of red liquor. The strip included in the purchase extended from near the Panhandle Bridge to CLARK’s Run, a distance of two miles. (1-1-1892, p.12) **(Nathaniel Wells established the first river ferry crossing once located where the Market Street Bridge is today.)

Miss CARRIE MAHAN and cousin, Miss RUTH STRAIN, of over-the-river, are in Pittsburgh. (1-8, 1892, p. 5.) **(Carrie was a member of the Mahan family that sold land to the Follansbee Brothers upon which the Follansbee Steel Mill was built and the city of Follansbee exists today).

THE FIRST STEAMBOAT that plied the Ohio River was called the New Orleans … built in 1811 at Pittsburgh under the direction of ROBERT FULTON … In June of that year (1815) the Enterprise, the second steamboat ever on the Ohio, Capt. SHRIEVE commanding arrived at the Steubenville wharf. (1-8-1892, p. 8) ** (1815 was the date when the Mahan Family arrived in the vicinity now Follansbee. They were among the first to view the early steamboats.)

WM. SILLICK, who was seriously injured by a fall into a ravine from a ledge, a distance of thirty feet, on the Virginia hills near the lower ferry is still in a very precarious condition and may not recover. One of his thighs and three ribs were broken, and it is supposed that he was also injured internally. He was out hunting at the time and made a misstep. (1-8-1892, p. 12) ** (This event occurred near Mahan Lane & Route 2 in present-day Follansbee.)

J.R. BURGOYNE died at his home in Brooke County, W.Va., opposite Mingo, Wednesday night at 9:15, aged seventy-six years. Mr. Burgoyne was born in Cecil County, Maryland, January 3d, 1816. After reaching manhood he settled in Steubenville where he was employed as a clerk. He moved to Brooke County where he purchased a farm, upon which he lived since 1847. His wife died in 1866. He had long been an active and consistent member of the M.E. Church and was a most excellent man in all walks of life, intellectual, honest, active, kind and gentle. He leaves seven children: W.R., the well-known pharmacist of Steubenville, RUFUS of this city, Mrs. NANCY McGAHAN of Brooke County, Mrs. JESSE REESE, Mrs. REBECCA J. HELMICK, Mrs. MARY BREEN of Mingo, and Mrs. AIKEN of Empire. The funeral services will be held at the home residence at two o’clock Friday and the interment will be in the family burying yard on the home farm. (1-8-1892, p. 12.) He operated a worm powder farm according to an ad in Steubenville paper. (1-8-1892, p. 7) **(The second brick house on the right entering Follansbee from Wellsburg is believed to have been Burgoyne’s home, and the oldest building in Follansbee).

Taff No. 1 on the BOLES FARM is casing, having a great deal of trouble with a bad cave and part of the bailer which they are rounding up and bringing out in pieces, which is a slow job. (1-8-1892, p. 12)) **(Boles Farm was near the PA state line along Eldersville Road. In the 1930s the, farm was a popular attraction for picnics and its weekend dance stand.)

*Steubenville Weekly Gazette, Local News Items, Jan. 1, 1892.

For decades, excursion boats were very popular venues for dancing, music, gambling, and dining.  Well into the 1940s, riverboats stopped at cities along the Ohio River including near by Wellsburg and Steubenville.  The collision of the John Lomas, from Martins Ferry and the Scioto, returning to East Liverpool, occurred near Mingo Island just south of Mingo Junction and across from Mahan Village, now Follansbee. Of the reported deaths, the majority were from East Liverpool and Wellsville.

Author McNully, who lived near Cross Creek, witnessed the Scioto go down instantly in 15 feet of water. Only the pilot-house was visible.  The John Lomas was slightly damaged but able to render assistance. The overloaded Scioto carried nearly 500 unfortunate passengers although it was licensed to carry only 60. Among the passengers of the Scioto were members of the Wellsville Cornet band. Terrified for their lives, hundreds tried to survive by jumping into the water.  A number of swimmers reached the West Virginia side near Cox’s farm at the mouth of Cross Creek.

• For a detailed account with photos, go to “A PALL OF EGYPTAIN GLOOM: THE SINKING OF THE “SCIOTO”
• http://www.eastliverpoolhistoricalsociety.org/scioto1.htm
• Wheeling Intelligencer, July 5, 1882, p. 1.

Historian J. H. Newton vividly described his trip from Hollidays Cove (Weirton) to Wheeling.  Traveling on the Pittsburg-Wheeling–Kentucky railroad, he recorded what he saw at every stop including Mahan’s farm (now Follansbee) and Cross Creek.

Between Hollidays Cove and the vicinity of today’s Follansbee there were three river ferries that transported goods and passengers to the Steubenville marketplaces. The Upper Ferry crossed near the Old Panhandle Bridge at Hollidays Cove. The second, called the Middle Ferry, was located very near where Market Street Bridge is today.  The third, called Lower Ferry, was located south of the Market Street Bridge near the land owned by “Uncle Tom” as locals referred to Thomas Mahan. As Newton arrived at the Lower Ferry, he noticed the Mingo Iron Works as well as the Jefferson Furnace and Nail Works on the Ohio side of the river.

Newton describes the Mahan farm vicinity in the following way: “on the left is the fine brick residence of Mr. Thomas Mahan, a well-to-do farmer, more familiarly recognizable as “Uncle Tom,” being a worthy disciple of the plow, whom affability and genial turn of mind retains for him universal respect.  But, not being afflicted with neighbors to disturb him on the even tenor of his ways, he can well afford to be “Uncle” to a whole community and keep in store an every ready friendly greeting for all.”  Nearby were the farms of Mr. Burgoyne and Mr. Devinney.

Further down the river, at the Cross Creek stop, Newton described the view as beautiful and secluded.   Its appearance was more business oriented than the Mahan vicinity.  “There was a platform and switch, with a warehouse, owned by Mr. C. Devinney, who purchases grains, wool, etc., besides acting as the depot agent.”   Newton noted that the view of the Ohio River near the mouth of Cross Creek was dotted with steamers and barges.

With the coming of the railroad, the area historically called Old Mingo Bottom increasingly became identified as Mahan Station or Mahan Village, named after the prominent family in the vicinity.

• Newton, Nichols & Sprankle, History of the Pan-Handle, (1879) see page xxvi
• http://books.google.com/books?id=XXp5AAAAMAAJ&pg=PA417&dq=history+of+hancock+co&hl=en#v=onepage&q=history%20of%20hancock%20co&f=false

An 1877 map of the Ohio River Valley identifies “Mingo Bottom” near the location that is now Follansbee. Also, the map identifies landowner and various creeks including McMahan Run, Mahan Run, and Cross Creek. A school appears to be near what is today called Alleghany creek. The map also identifies a cave where Indian skeletons were found as well as a ferry landing located at the mouth of McMahan Run, just north of present day Follansbee.  The Pittsburgh-Wheeling-Kentucky Railroad is shown running along the east side of the bottoms of “Mingo Bottom.”  Mingo Island is shown in the Ohio River near the West Virginia shore just north of Cross Creek near present day Follansbee. To see Mingo Island on detailed map, go to the link below.

• Rumsey, D. (2017). Upper Ohio river and valley: Part V. Retrieved from https://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~3505~380022:Upper-Ohio-River-and-Valley-part-V

In 1865 the Pittsburgh – Steubenville Railroad opened from Pittsburgh west to the Wheeling Junction located in Holiday Cove at the east end of the Steubenville Bridge (better known as the Old Panhandle Bridge).The same day the Steubenville Bridge opened over the Ohio River, the Wheeling Junction, on the West Virginia side, made it possible for trains to switch tracks and go south along the river through the present day vicinity of Follansbee, then the property of the Mahan family.

The train stopped at Mahan Station where postal materials, farming goods, and passengers arrived and departed.  The next stop was at the mouth of Cross Creek where C. Devinney was agent of a Depot. The train then arrived in Wellsburg, and other stops occurred before reaching Wheeling.

Photo: Steubenville Herald Star.

• See Timeline: 1878.
• Pittsburgh – Steubenville Railroad,  http://asciibaron.dyndns.org/nscale/ 
• Pittsburgh to Columbus: 1848-1956, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pittsburgh,_Cincinnati,_Chicago_and_St._Louis_Railroad 

The Mahans represent the historic link between “Old Mingo Bottom,” identified with the pioneer era, and the beginnings of the modern city of Follansbee in 1902.  Following the death of Henry Wells in 1815, the Mahan family took ownership of the Old Mingo bottom for the next 87 years.  During this period, gradual economic growth occurred along the Ohio River including railroads and postal services as the Mahan farm vicinity became recognized as Mahan village.

When William Mahan brought his family by wagon from Maryland to the area in 1814, they were unable to take possession of the land because Henry Wells was dying in the log cabin on the property. William, with his wife and 8-year-old son, stayed at Fort Steuben  (Steubenville) during the winter and took possession the following spring.   In 1830, while renovating his homestead, William tore away part of old log house built by Isaac Cox.   William Mahan passed away in 1853 at the age of 77.  He left his plantation to his son Thomas Mahan who in his later years was known as “Uncle Tom” by the locals.  He tore down the remainder of the old log house in 1864.

• Brooke Scene, “Special Commemorative Edition Celebrating our County’s 200th Birthday, May 24, 1997, p. 11.