Traditional cemetery cache
Although settled long before it became a township, Boggs Township was organized in 1838 and named for Judge Moses Boggs. Like Bradford Township, Boggs is dry
and the sale of alcohol is prohibited. There were two original voting precincts in the township: Stoneville, originally settled by Alexander Stone who owned the
land and established a tavern on Old Erie Pike in 1820; and Blue Ball or West Decatur, which was settled by John Frazier who was from Blue Ball, Lancaster
County and built an inn in 1853. While Blue Ball is the name of the village, the Post Office is called West Decatur because you cannot have two towns with the
same name in one state. Other early settlers include: George Shimmel who began improvements near current area of Wallaceton in 1810; Abraham Hess, from York
County, who settled on the east side of Clearfield Creek in 1813; Samuel Turner who killed a panther while making a clearing in 1813; Abraham Litz who settled
on the banks of Clearfield Creek in 1813; George Wilson who began a farm along
Clearfield Creek and built a saw mill in 1814; William Lamadue, who built a tavern
on the pike and was the first supervisor of the township; and Jerry Smeal who
built the saw mill at Blue Ball in 1838. Two of the oldest structures in the county
reside in Boggs Township. The Salem Church was built in 1848, although meetings
were held long before that, and had a pot-bellied stove in the center aisle to
provide heat for the building. A small fire damaged parts of the church on Jan. 13,
1924, but the congregation used it as an opportunity to expand – making repairs,
building a porch, and adding a bell tower in 1924. The Sunday school wing was
later added in 1984. Next to the church an honor roll was erected to remember
those who fought in the World Wars. Behind the church is the Mason-Waple Log
House which was built in 1878.