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Four businessmen who had a great effect on the Beaver County area in the early 1800's were John Purviance, Charles Francis VonBonnhorst, John Hull and Stephen Stone. In October, 1808, seven tracts of land in Leet's District of Depreciation lands were transferred from Detmar Basse Muller to Stone. The tracts, numbers 171, 172, 173, 178, 179, 180 and 184, had been conveyed to Muller by Joseph McGuffin by Articles of Agreement dated November 22,1804. Since McGuffin had died without having made a Deed, the Deed for the properties was made by James Ross, McGuffin's attorney, to John Hull and John Purviance to whom Stephen Stone had transferred his interest. That Deed was dated March 23, 1810.
On October 22, 1810, Hull conveyed his interest in four of the tracts to Charles VonBonnhorst, and Purviance conveyed his interests in two of the others to Hull. In December of 1810, VonBonnhorst sold his interest in a four acre tract in Tract#178 back to Stone. In April of 1811, VonBonnhorst and Hull sold Lot #3 in Tract #171 to Sampson Piersol, and the two sold Lot #86 to Henry Allamon of Dauphin Co.
In March 1815, Hull sold one and three quarters acres to Sampson and Jacob Piersol, acres in Tract #171. In August, 1812, Stone, Hull, and VonBonnhorst bought a five acret ract in Tract#177 from heirs of John McQuiston, who died October 13, 1789. Those heirs were Margaret McQuiston, William McQuiston and his wife, Elizabeth, David McQuiston, Samuel Dunbar and his wife, Mary. In May of 1820, VonBonnhorst sold Tracts #173, part of 178, and 190 to James B. Clow. In August, 1822 VonBonnhorst sold his interest in two smaller tracts, #177 and 178, to James B. Clow. In 1823, Hull sold all of Tracts #172, 179 and 180, and with several exceptions, his share of Tracts 171 and 184 back to Stephen Stone. Little else is known about Hull, Purviance and VonBonnhorst.
Stone was born in 1759 in Derby, Conn., and was a sea-going man before coming to western Pennsylvania. He built a log dwelling, store and barn in what is now Marion Township, Beaver County, later replacing the log house with a brick dwelling. He laid out a plan of lots in the township, naming it Stonesville. Stone also purchased land north of the mouth of the Beaver River, near the Ohio, that became known as "Stone's Point", and operated a fleet of boats on the river. One of his businesses was the purchase of pig iron at the Bassenheim Furnace in the township of Franklin, then sold the iron at ports along the Ohio, up to and including Pittsburgh. The pig iron was delivered to him at his wharf by wagon, then loaded onto the keel boats.
Much of the land acquired by Stone remained in the family long after his death. In addition to properties referred to earlier in this article, Stone also acquired ownership of six tracts of land that were later sold to Gabriel de Fombell. Those properties, as the others, had been purchased by Detmar Basse Muller by Articles of Agreement with John McGuffin, with Muller's interest transferred to Stone, dated October 20, 1808. Stone transferred his interest to Fombelle and the Deeds were made from the McGuffin heirs to Fombelle on February 3, 1809.
Gabriel and Lucien Fombelle came to this country sometime after the Revolutionary War and became large land owners in the country. The Beaver County History states that Lucien bought 1400 acres of land in Franklin Township, and additional land near Wampum. He had been a vineyard owner in France. Religious unrest and persecution drove him from his native France to America with a band of Huguenots. Lucien attempted to establish vineyards here, but the soil proved to be unsuitable. Two of his sons married sisters, Alexander married Delilah Magaw and Lucien married Eunice Magaw. Both of Lucien's children died, but Alexander had nine children who grew to maturity. Gabriel became an attorney, later a member of the judiciary in Illinois. Gabriel died in Denver, Colo. James became a farmer in central Illinois, Alexander a farmer near Decatur, Illinois and Justin became a merchant in southern Illinois. Victoria married Joseph Phillis, who later bought much of the Fombelle estate. Fannie married Charles Wooster and moved to Missouri. Jane married her first cousin, James Fombelle, Elvira married Henry Metz of Pittsburgh, and Louise married Robert Strobridge of New Brighton. The name "Fombelle" is seen in many history books as "Fombell". The little hamlet of Fombell received its name from Fombelle, France, in the Argonne, the home of those two early settlers, Lucien and Gabriel Fombelle.
The General Store of Fombell, known as the Phillis Brothers General Store was "open for business" for over eighty years, closing July 4, 1972. The Phillis and Fombelle families were united when Victoria Magdalena, daughter of Alexander Fombelle, married Joseph Phillis, who came from the Shippingport area, where he had been a barge builder. Victoria inherited her father's house and over the doorway can be seen the initials "A. F.", but no date. The Phillis's were descedents of Joseph Phillis who was born in England in 1694. He lived to be 106 years old and is buried in Mill Creek Cemetary, Raccoon Township, Beaver County, Pennsylvania.