Return to Milestones Vol. 5, No. 1
The valley of the Little Beaver has bequeathed to Beaver County more than a fair share of history. One of the quaintest aspects of that area's colorful past is the story behind three small brick buildings in the northeast corner of Darlington Township. Called "parson's chambers" (sometimes "prophet's chambers"), the curious two story buildings have doors on each level, but are only about 11 or 12 feet square.
The legend started perhaps when Dr. McGeorge, a minister, told a later owner of his farm on Madden Run Road, that he had used the building on his property as a retreat, seeking the solitude and silence necessary for preparation of his Sunday sermons. This story is strongly supported by the photograph on this page showing the interior of the building, which reveals a fireplace and a wall cabinet. Caldwell's 1876 Atlas shows this property belonging to the heirs of James McGeorge, and later it was the Schmolley farm.
A short distance to the south, across Madden Run and on McChesney Road, stands a similar structure. Now the McChesney dairy farm, this property belonged to J. McGeorge, Jr. in 1876. We have learned little about this building except that it has been used for storage for a long time.
The third "parson's chamber" stands behind the historic Arthur Bradford house, now the property of Richard and Marjorie Douthitt, on Bradford Road. Rev. Arthur Bradford was a renowned minister and, in the days before the civil war, he founded the Darlington Free Presbyterian Church.
Marjorie Douthitt, a descendant of Bradford, recalls having heard that the top floor of her building had been used as a retreat for visiting preachers to use for sermons, with access to the chamber by a ladder. Later, an inside stairway was added and a young couple lived in the building, with a kitchen on the first floor and a bedroom on the second. The Douthitts have used the first floor as a stable and as a smokehouse and the top for storage in recent years. For a time, it was a child's playhouse, with the addition of a metal stairway on the outside. The family has always called it the "Annex".