Daugherty Township achieved separate township status by a mere four votes in 1893. Originally part of Sewickley Township, the land which includes present Daugherty became part of New Sewickley Township in 1801, and then was included in Pulaski in 1854.
One of the earliest settlers in the area was Edward Daugherty, an Irish Catholic who brought his family to Beaver County from Delaware County around 1800. Daugherty's brother Manasseh and a man named John Black soon joined Edward Daugherty in making their homes in the district. Manasseh Daugherty was killed, probably in 1801, while helping Black build a barn, and his brother Edward buried him in a half-acre plot on his farm. This half-acre he then set aside as a burial ground for county Catholics. In 1844 some time after Edward Daugherty's death, his heirs formally transferred the property to Bishop of Pittsburgh Michael O'Connor.
Another early farm family was the McGuire family. Besides farming, Bausman reports that "excellent coal" was mined "in many places" in the present township.
Grandson of the original Edward Daugherty was Edward Black Daugherty, born on his father's farm in the present township on October 22, 1833. Admitted to the Beaver County bar in 1860, Daugherty, "a devout end consistent member of the Roman Catholic Church," in 1884 donated additional land for the Catholic Cemetery bearing his family name. He thus averted a contemplated abandonment of the cemetery due to lack of space.
Citizens in 1890 petitioned to separate from Pulaski Township but the petition failed. In 1892 came another petition which resulted in the 4-vote approval of partition the following year. On January 27, 1894, came the decree of court establishing the new township, which was named after the prominent lawyer, Edward Black Daugherty. In 1900, the population of Daugherty Township was 533.
In 1933, Eliza A. McGuire, a descendant of the pioneer McGuire family, left a 72 acre plot of ground to the Sisters of Charity in Greensburg. A nursing home was built on the site in 1953, but fell victim to financial difficulties, which eventually resulted in the property's transfer to the Diocese of Pittsburgh. In 1963, the Diocesan Department of Education began at McGuire Memorial a program for the care and education of severely retarded children from birth to age 7. The Felician Sisters, based in Coraopolis Heights, presently oversee McGuire Memorial, with its staff of over 100 people. Daugherty is included in the New Brighton Area School District.