- Joel Monroe
Joel Monroe (1793-1877) was the man who gave
Monroeville, Pennsylvania its name.Biography
Monroe owned a farm that stretched from the Old Stone Church to the present-day Municipal Building, and it went northward into Garden City. The Tusk family owned the farm that stood on a tract measuring 122 acres and 63 perches (parts of an acre), according to a 1828 deed.
By selling off small lots, he encouraged development along the Northern Turnpike.
In 1850, the farming community was highly developed, yet the mall was picked up in Turtle Creek. Monroe went on to become Monroeville's first postmaster, a position he held from 1851 to 1855. In 1855, he bought a farm in
New Castle, Pennsylvania . He went on to pass the farm to his daughter Rebecca Monroe Duff, who owned it along with her husband.Marriage and children
He married to Margaret Bing of
Lawrence County, Pennsylvania . He and his wife raised nine children (Sarah, Nancy, Rebecca, Margaret J., James M., Mary Ann, Joel, Priscilla and Lavenia)Death and afterward
His wife died in a 1864 house fire, although Joel died just thirteen years later. He is right next to his wife at the Greenwood Cemetery in New Castle.
References
* [http://monroevillehistorical.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=46&Itemid=74 Joel Monroe's biography]
* [http://monroevillehistorical.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=22&Itemid=55 How Monroeville Got its Name]
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