On June 26, 1809, John McKnight and 30 other residents of Pine Township petitioned the courts of Allegheny for the formation of a new township. In the November term, permission was granted, and Ross Township was born. However, the story does not begin there. In the 17th and 18th centuries, Ross Township was settled by early Native American warriors and hunters who used the land as a hunting ground. Ross Township includes the tales of Casper Reel and his family, the first white settlers North of the Allegheny; Simon Girty, traitor and renegade of the Revolutionary War; and the infamous Biddle Boys' escape from prison with the warden's wife and escapade through Perrysville in the winter of 1902.