Daugherty Township History
Forming of the Township
by Karen Helbing
Pulaski and Daugherty townships were originally part of Sewickley Township when Beaver County was formed in 1800. One year later the area was divided and New Sewickley Township was formed.
At the November Sessions in 1853, a petition of landowners from New Sewickley Township was presented to the court to form a new township.
The court appointed Solomon Bennett, David Warnock and Francis Hoopes to review the petition. After a careful study the committee members on March 18, 1854, recommended the laying out of the new township, which would be called Pulaski, in honor of Polish General Casimir Pulaski, who fought with George Washington throughout the Revolutionary War.
The court confirmed the report on September 14, 1854 and granted the division. The court also ordered that the officers already elected in the said township of Pulaski Township to hold the next general spring elections.
In 1890 landowners in Pulaski Township started talking amongst themselves about dividing the township once again. A petition was drawn up to separate and presented to the court at the September Session. According to the courts Road Docket, December 1891 Session records, the petition was voted down on May 21, 1891.
By 1892, township residents had grown even more tired of government regulations and higher taxes intruding in their quiet rural lives. They enlisted the help of Edward B. Daugherty, a prominent Beaver attorney, who was born and raised in the township.
The landowners met once a week to discuss the issue, ending every meeting with a prayer for guidance. Volunteers went from farm to farm to acquire over 400 signatures, which confirmed the overwhelming majority, was in favor of the division.
In 1892, Attorney Daugherty petitioned the court at the December session, on behalf of the Pulaski Township residents, that the township be allowed to divide. They prayed the court would hear their petition and grant them the division. The question of division was submitted to the people at an election held June 27, 1893. A majority of four votes was given in favor of the division as desired.
Documents show the court granted the right to establish a new township on January 27, 1894. The court ordered that the north and northeastern part of township be designated Daugherty Township, named in honor of Edward B. Daugherty, grandson of Edward Daugherty, one of the four original Irish-Catholic pioneers of the area.
Today, an elected body, organized under the Second Class Township Code of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, governs Daugherty Township. The elected body is called the Board of Supervisors and consists of three (3) elected officials, each serving a six (6) year term. The Board of Supervisors is charged with the general government of the Township to secure the health, welfare and safety of the citizens. To accomplish that task the Board adopts laws, known as ordinances that govern various activities within the Township. The Board is restricted in areas in which it can exercise control by both the Second Class Township Code and various other laws of the Commonwealth.
In 1900, the population of Daugherty Township was 533. Today the township has over 3400 residents.