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Historical and Biographical Annals
OF
Columbia and Montour
Counties
PENNSYLVANIA
r^
Containing
A Concise History of the Two Counties and a
Genealogical and Biographical Record
of Representative Families
IN TWO VOLUMES
ILLUSTRATED
VOLUME I
CHICAGO
J. H. BEERS & CO.
1915
THE JiEV/ VOf>K
PUBLIC LIBRARY
783455
j ASTOR, LENOX AHD
P »9|7
PREFACE
In the preparation of this history of Cohimbia and Montour counties the
pubHshers have been guided by several factors, the principal one being to record
facts. In this vicinity of quaint legend and marvelous incident it is perhaps quite
natural that writers of the past should have yielded much to the temptation to
romantic narrative. Pains have been taken to revert to the unimpeachable
records of the early times, which are still available to investigators, and for
verification of the statements in the present work we direct attention to files of
newspapers of the period in question, and other records to be found now in the
Bloomsburg and Danville public libraries and the courthouses of the two coun-
ties, as well as in the archives of the Columbia County Historical Society and
in private homes.
An important feature of this work, in which appear items of history which
would be preserved in no other way, is the genealogical record of many of the
families of this section whose ancestry were instrtmiental in the building of the
Commonwealth and this portion of it in the days of settlement and trial. The
utmost care has been exercised in the compilation of these family records, and
in nearly every instance the biographical sketches were submitted to those imme-
diately interested, thus affording ample opportunity for revision and correction.
In compiling data for the history the publishers have had the assistance and
supervision of the following residents of this division of the Keystone State:
In the history of Columbia county proper the matter prepared by a represen-
tative of the publishers has been reviewed by George E. Elwell, of Bloomsburg,
who also supplied the Bench and Bar chapter; the Bloomsburg chapter, includ-
ing the industries, churches, organizations and the first account in permanent book
form of the Bloomsburg Centennial; and much other matter that has been used
in the proper places through the body of the work.
The detailed and authoritative account of the electric trolley and lighting sys-
tems which cover both counties was supplied by A. W. Duy, Esq., of Blooms-
burg. The story of the building of the Catawissa railroad was written by Charles
E. Randall, of the Catawissa Nczi.<s Item. The interesting narration of the
founding and development of the great car works at Berwick was written by the
district manager of the American Car and Foundry Company, William F. Lowry.
The article on the establishment of the tirst Methodist congregation in this sec-
tion of the State, the history of the Berwick Water Company, Berwick Store
Company, and of the Y. M. C. A. of Berwick, are from the pen of F. A.
Witman, of Berwick.
The material for the chapter upon the medical profession of Columbia
county was supplied by Dr. L. B. Kline, of Catawissa. The matter for the
article on the highways and roads of the counties was furnished by Arthur M.
Clay, district superintendent of the State Highway Commission, stationed at
Bloomsburg. Credit should be given to Miss Martha E. Robison for the his-
tory of the origin and work of the Columbia County Sabbath School Associa-
tion, to which organization she has devoted many years of her life.
The entire history of Montour county has been reviewed by Hon. H. M.
Hinckley, of Danville, who has written the greater part, devoting much time to
the history of the religious denominations of the county, and to the correct
description of the founding, development and growth of the town of Danville
and the industries, improvements and historical occurrences brought about or
participated in by the present and past residents of this division of the State of
Pennsylvania.
The publishers also acknowledge their indebtedness to Col. J. G. Freeze's
early history of Columbia county ; gratitude to F. M. Gotwalds, of Danville, and
Percy Brewington, of Benton, for aid in the progress of the work; Boyd Tres-
cott, of Millville, and S. N. Walker, of Bloomsburg, for assistance rendered;
to Daniel N. Dieffenbacher, of Danville, and William W. Evans, of Blooms-
burg, for data for school history; and to Miss Edith Patterson and Miss Jennie
Bird, librarians at Bloomsburg and Danville, respectively, for courtesies ex-
tended.
In behalf of the various writers of this work, cordial thanks are expressed to
the officials of the counties, the members of the press, the clergy, and all others
who have assisted in making this an exhaustive and accurate treatise on the
region which has been its province.
THE PUBLISHERS.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
COLUMBIA COUNTY HISTORY
CHAPTER I CHAPTER XDC
PAGE PAGE
The Indians 1 Benton Township — Benton Borough 210
CHAPTER II CHAPTER XX
Founding of Pennsylvania 13 Briarcreek Township 218
CHAPTER m CHAPTER XXI
Topography and Geology— Iron— Coal 19 Centre Township 221
CHAPTER IV CHAPTER XXII
Agriculture 28 Locust and Oeveland Townships 224
CHAPTER V CHAPTER XXIII
Transportation Facilities— Lighting— Roads, Turn- Fishingcreek Township— Stillwater Borough 228
^'^^^ ^^ CHAPTER XXIV
CHAPTER VI Franklin Township 231
Religious Denominations 57 CHAPTER XXV
CHAPTER VII Greenwood Township— Millville Borough 232
Bench and Bar 65 CHAPTER XXVI
CHAPTER Vin Hemlock Township 238
The Medical Profession of Columbia County.... 74 _t,_^„_
CHAPTER IX Jackson Township 241
War Records of the Counties 77 CHAPTER XXVIII
CHAPTER X Madison Township 343
County Formation 82 CHAPTER XXDC
CHAPTER XI Main Township 246
Columbia County After 1850 84 CHAPTER XXX
CHAPTER Xn Mifflin Township — Mifflinville 248
Educational Growth 94 CHAPTER XXXI
CHAPTER XTTT Montour Township 252
The Press 99 CHAPTER XXXH
„„ _ Mount Pleasant Township 255
CHAPTER XIV ^
Bloomsburg 104 CHAPTER XXXin
Orange Township — Orangeville Borough 256
CHAPTER XV
Berwick and West Berwick 149 CHAPTER XXXIV
Pine Township 261
r. * ■ ^ CHAPTER XVI CHAPTER XXXV
Catawissa Borough^Catawissa Township 188 Roaringcreek Township 262
CHAPTER XVH CHAPTER XXX\T:
Centralia Borough— Conyngham Township 201 gpott Township 264
CHAPTER X\ail CHAPTER XXXVH
Beaver Township 208 Sugarloaf Township 269
V
MONTOUR COUNTY HISTORY
CHAPTER I CHAPTER XI
PAGE PAGE
Early History — County Organization, etc 273 Anthony Township 386
CHAPTER II CHAPTER XII
Some of the Early Families 277 Cooper Township 390
«^^T=^ ™ CHAPTER Xin i
Internal Improvements 293
Derry Township — Washingtonville Borough 391
CHAPTER IV
Military Record 296 CHAPTER XIV j
CHAPTER V ^'^^'^^ Township 394
Schools of Montour County 303 CHAPTER XV
CHAPTER VI Limestone Township 396 ,
Bench and Bar 311 CHAPTER X%T ;
CHAPTER VII Mahoning Township 397 j
Physicians 32 1
CHAPTER XYil '
CHAPTER Mil '.
Officials 325 ^^^J^'"y Township 398 ;
CHAPTER IX CHAPTER XVIH ■
Danville 327 Valley Township ...400
CHAPTER X CHAPTER XIX j
Township Formation 386 West Hemlock Township 402 ,
BIOGRAPHICAL SECTION *^^
■n
HISTORICAL INDEX
COLUMBIA COUNTY
Aborigines - 2
African il. E. Church 146
Aggi-essions, Indian.. 13, 188, 248
Agricultural Associations ... 31
Agriculture 28
Indian 5
Alton (Almcdia) 367
AiKman, Alexander 331, 628
Ahnedia 267
American Car and Foundry
Co.—
Ber\vick 161, 163
Berwick Rolling Mill Co.,
1873 (View) 161
Berwick Store Co. (View) . 165
Bloomsburg 113
Jackson & Woodin First
Store (ViewO 168
Jackson & Woodin JIfg. Co.,
1873 (View) 161
Lower Works (View) 163
Steel Car Department
(View) 165
Upper Works (View) 163
Amusement Houses —
Bloomsburg 147
Anthony, Judge Joseph B. 66, 313
Anthracite 26
Apple Orchards 39
Area of Pennsylvania 12
Aristes ("Montana") 206
Assessment and Valuation.. . 91
Assessors, Township and Bor-
ough 88
Associate Judges 71
Athletic Park 134
Attorneys, District 87
Baldy, Edward H 317, 576
Baldy Guards 81, 398
Baldy, William J 318, 576
Bands —
Benton 218
Berwick 184
Bloomsburg 148
Catawissa 193
Banks 18
Benton 315
Berwick 155
Bloomsburg ■ 121
Catawissa 193
Centralia 303
Millville 334
Baptists
63, 144, 176, 233, 337, 343, 245
Bar, Members of Columbia
County 71
Barkley," Charles G 127
Bear Kun (Mordansville) . . . . 355
Beaver Township 208
Beaver Valley (Sliuman-
town) 308
Bench and Bar 65
Benton Borough 310
Benton Township 210
Berwick Borough 149
Berwick Bridge 53
Site of Steamboat Acci-
dent (View) 56
Berwick Circuit 60, 171
Berwick Guards 184
Berwick Hospital 186
View 186
Berwick Schools 1159
Berwick Store Company 165
Department Store (View) . 165
Billheimer, Michael 17
Bloom Township 108
Bloomsburg 104
Bloomsburg, County Bridge at 54
View 56
Bloomsburg Hospital 119
View 186
Bloomsburg Soldiers' Monu-
ment 193
View 120
Bloomsburg State Normal
School 124
View 124
Agricultural Department... 28
Bloomsburg, Town Fountain. 113
Bloomsburg, Town Hall 113
Boatyards 266
Boone. Samuel 17, 104
Boroughs —
Benton 210
Berwick 149
Catawissa 188
Centralia 301
Millville 332
Orangeville 256
Stillwater 338
West Berwick 158
Bosley, Fort 11
Boundaries. Pennsylvania ... 13
Bowman, Bishop Thomas.... 59
vii
Boy Scouts Troop 181
Boyle's (Brady's) Fort 392
Briar Creek 219
Briarcreek Township 218
Bridges 53-56
(See also Borough and
Township Chapters.)
Berwick ( View) 56
County Bridge at Blooms-
burg (View) 56
Bricn. William 150, 151
Brobst, Christian. .. .44, 189, 197
Buck Mountain 19, 209
Buckhorn 239
Buckwheat 28, 34
Business Establishments —
(See Borough and Town-
ship Chapters.)
Byrnesville 207
Campbell (Central) 271
Canal Trade 42, 43
Canalboats 43, 107, 266
Passenger Boat, 1868
(View) 168
Canby 255
Car Works, Berwick 163
Views 163, 165
Carver, Prof. Henry 126
Catawissa Borough 188
Catawissa Bridge 54
Catawissa Guards 81
Cataw-issa Friends Meeting
House 196
View 168
Catawissa Mountain 19, 246
Catawissa Soldiers' Monument 193
View 120
Catawissa Township 188
Catholics —
(See Greek and Roman
Catholics.)
Cattle Epidemic 30
Cemeteries
57, 147, 186, 301, 340, 251, 267
Centennial Celebration,
Bloomsburg 135
Central 271
Centralia Borough 201
Centre Township 231
Centerville (Centralia) ■ 303
Centre ville (Lime Ridge) .... 223
Chapman, Hon. Seth 65, 311
vni
HISTORICAL INDEX
Cherrington Family 263
Christian Denomination. . .63,
14G, 177, 216, 230, 236, 242, 272
Churches 57
(See also Borough and
Township Chapters.)
Circuits, M. E 60, 171
Civil War 78
Columbia County in the .... 80
Drafts 79
Clayton, Thomas 104, 105
Cleared Land, Acreage 92
Clerks, County 87
Cleveland Township 224
Qubs, Literary and Social —
Berwick 182
Bloomsburg 132
Catawissa 201
Coal 19, 20
Dredging 27
Mining 26
Coal Mines, 26, gOS, 206, 207, 209
Cole Family 269
Cole's, Billy 271
Cole's Creek 269, 271
Collieries 26
Columbia County, History of 1
Columbia County, Organiza-
tion 82, 273
Columbia County after 1850. 84
Columbia County Agricul-
tural, Horticultural and
Mechanical Association ... 31
Columbia County Bar Asso-
ciation 71
Columbia County Medical So-
ciety 75
Columbia County Courthouse 84
Views 84, 277
Columbia County Historical
Society 134
Columbia County Jail 85
. View 120
Columbia County OflTicials... 87
Columliia Park 222
Columbia County Poorhouses 86
Columbia County Sabbath
School Association 63
Columbia Guards 78, 81, 297
Commissioners' Clerks 88
Common School Law 94
Conestoga Wagons 36
Congressional Districts 89
Congressmen 89
Conner Implement Works... 258
Connecticut Claims 13, 14, 104
Conviigham, Judge John N . .
. ." 66, 312
Conyngham Township 201
Cooper (Bloomsburg Pioneer) 104
Copper Ciaze 27, 270
County Bridge, Bloomsburg. . 53
View 56
County Commissioners 88
County Fairs 31
County Jail 85
View 120
County Seat Contest. 83, 373, 275
County Treasurers 88
Courthouses at Bloomsburg,
Old and Present (Views) . . 84
At Danville (Views) 277
Crawford, Capt. Jack 203
Creasy 350
Creeks 19
Creveling Grape 39, 268
Cumberland Pike 36
Dens 242
District Attorneys 87
Districts —
Congressional 89
Judicial 65, 70
Legislative 89, 90
Doan, John 17, 104
Donnel, Hon. Cliarles G...66, 312
"Durham'' Boats 43
Early Physicians 74
Eaton, Frederick H 163, 513
Educational Growth 94
Jlodern Development 95
Statistics 95, 97, 98
(See also Borough and
Township Chapters.)
Election Districts 86
Electric Ligliting 50, 111, 316
Electric Railways 48, 50, 203
Elk Grove 271
Elwell, Judge William
66, 313, 673
Ent Post, G. A. R 133
Episcopal (Protestant) De-
nomination
63, 139, 174, 300, 304, 244, 271
Espy 366
Esther Furnace 23, 235
Evangelical Denomination. . . .
63, 145,
176, 177, 179, 209, 217, 319,
320, 323, 237, 242, 251, 354, 368
Evans, Judge Charles C
70, 314, 433
Evans, William W 135, 577
Evansville 219
Eves, .John 17, 233
Explosion on River Steamboat
(1826) 43, 153
Eyer, Ludwig 105
Eyer's Grove 335
Eyerstaedtel (Bloomsburg) . . 105
Fairs, County 31
Farmers, Prominent 30
Fernville 149
Fire Companies
Ill, 160, 193, 316
First Settlers 15
(See also Borough' and
Township Chapters.)
Fisheries 264, 271
Fishing Creek 229
Fishingcreek Township 228
Floods 53-56
Foot and Mouth Disease .... 30
Forks 230
Formation of County 82, 373
Forts. Frontier. . .9, 104, 221, 393
Fort McClure Chapter, D. A. R.
11. 104, 134
Founding of Pennsylvania... 12
Foundry ville 151, 230
Fowlerville 222
Franklin Township 231
Fraternal Organizations —
Aristes 306
Benton 318
Berwick 185
Bloomsburg 128
Buckhom 240
Catawissa 194
Centralia 304
Centre Township 323
Espy 26T
lola 236
Millville 235
Numidia 225
Orangeville 358
Friends, Society of 57,
58, 150, 170, 188, 196, 326, 236
Friends' Meeting House, Cata-
wissa 196
View 168
Frontier Forts... 9, 104, 231, 393
Fruit Raising 39
l'\iniaces. Anthracite and
Charcoal 23
Columbia County
23, 230, 235, 246, 264
Montour County 24
Abandoned 35
Furry Family . . . .' 188
Galena Ore 30, 27
Gas Lighting 48
Geology and Topography,
Iron, Coal 19
(See also Borough and
Township Chapters.)
Germantown 307
Glen City (Scotch Valley) ... 309
Grange, Patrons of Husbandry 30
(See also Borough and
Township Chapters.)
Grassmere Park 271
Gravel Picker, for Buckwheat 34
Greek Catholics 63, 179, 206
Greenwood Township 232
Gristmills, Old... 32, 189, 208,
319, 235, 229, 333, 235, 239,
347, 248, 354, 257, 363, 365, 369
Guava 371
Harrison (Sugarloaf) Town-
ship 269
Hemlock Township 338
Herring, .Judge Grant 70, 313
Hinckley, Hon. Henry M. . . .
68. "313, 318, 448
Historical Society, Columbia
County 134
Horse Breeding 30
Homes, Pioneer 15
Hopkins, Rev. Caleb. 62, 139, 244
Hospitals —
Berwick 186
Bloomsburg 119
Views 186
Hughesburg (Catawissa) . . . 189
Hurley Guards 81
Ikeler, Judge Elijah R
69, 313, 420
Indians. The 1
HISTORICAL INDEX
IX
Indian Aggressions 13, 188
Costumes 6
Customs 5
Feasts and Sports 7
Fishing and Hunting 8
Government 7
Names 3, 20, 188
Origin and Local Tribes . . 2, 188
Patlis and Trails 3
Religion 7
Treaties 13
Villages and Settlements . . 4
Wars and Forays 8
Inns, Old... 38, 105, 150, 202,
206 211, 222, 224, 226, 240, 257
lola 336
Iron 19, 20, 230
Industry 23, 238
Mills ^- 24
"Iron Guards" 79, 80
Jackson, Col. Clarence G
161, 184, 464
Jackson Guards 184
Jackson, Mordecai W 161, 416
Jackson Township 241
Jackson & Woodin Mfg. Co.. 101
First Store, 1865 (View).. '168
Works, 1873 (View) 161
Jail, Columbia County 85
View 130
Jamison City 270
Jenkins, Fort 10, 221
Jerseytown 243
John Family 246
Jonestown 229
Judges-
Associate 71
President 71
Biographies 65-70
Judicial Districts. 65, 70, 311, 312
Karkaase 17, 328
Kernsville 325
Kline Family 256
Knob Mountain 19, 256
Lead Ore 20,27
Legislative Districts 89, 90
Lesher, Prof. Albert U 169
Lewis, Judge Ellis 66, 311
Libraries, Public —
Berwick 166, 180
Bloomsburg 119
Life Story of a Great Indus-
try 161
Light Street 265
Lighting, Gas 48
Electric 49
Lime Ridge (Centreville) 222
Limestone 20, 222, 239, 254
Literary and Social Clubs —
Bloomsburg 132
Berwick 182
Little, Judge Robert R
69, 313, 418
Locks, Canal 43, 154
Locust Township 224
Locustdale 207
Lodges, Indian 5
Lutherans 61,
141, 147, 173, 177, 178, 197,
198, 206, 209, 219, 220, 223,
226, 236, 240, 245, 247, 250,
251, 254, 256, 260, 262, 267, 268
Lyon, Robert 104
McAuley, Alexander . . 17, 208, 224
ilcAuley Mountain 19, 209
McClure, Fort 11, 104
McClure, James 11, 17, 104
McHenry, Daniel 17
McHenry, John G 212
McWilliams, Robert 16
Madison Township 243
Magee Carpet Company 114
.JIail Routes, etc 17, 38
Mail Service, Ancient and
Modern 17, 39, 152
Main Township 246
Mainville 247
JIallery, Garrick 162, 461
Martzville 219
Masonic Fraternity, Blooms-
burg 128
(See also Borough and Town-
sliip Chapters.)
Maus Family
17, 274, 282, 400, 407, 445
Medical Profession 74
Medical Societies —
Columbia County 75
Montour County 75
Methodist Church and Acad-
emy, Berwick 168
Me'w. 1840 168
Metliodist Episcopal Denomi-
nation
59, 143, 146, 171, 179, 200,
204, 209, 219, 223, 227, 230,
232, 236, 240, 245, 247, 251,
254, 256, 261, 262, 263, 267, 272
Methodist Episcopal Circuits —
Berwick 60, 171
Bloomsburg 60
Northumberland 60, 171
Methodist Protestant Denomi-
nation 63, 179, 217
Mifflin Bridge 55
Mifflin Crossroads 209
Mifflin Township 248-
Mifflinville 248
Military 77, 132, 184
Mill Grove 263
Millertown (Canby) 255
MiUville Borough 232
Mineral Products 19-27
Mines, Coal. .26, 203. 206, 207, 209
"Mollie Maguires." Trial 72
Montana or Aristes 206
Montgomeiy, William 17
(See also Montour County.)
Montour County Agricultural
Society 32
Montour County Medical So-
ciety 75
Montour. "Madame 4, 373
Montour Township 252
Monuments —
Soldiers', Catawissa 193
Soldiers' and S a i 1 o r s',
Bloomsburg 120
Views , 120
Mordansville 255
Moses Van Campen Chapter,
D. A. R 182
Mount Pleasant Township . . . 255
jM u n i c i p a 1 Improvements,
Bloomsburg 110
National Road 36
Nationality of Early Settlers 14
Newlin 225
New Media (Numidia) 225
Newspapers 99, 218, 235
North Branch Canal
42, 153, 250, 253
North Mountain 19
Northumberland Circuit,
Methodist 60, 171
Northumberland Presbytery. . 59
Numidia 225
Oak Grove 123
Officials—
Benton 216
Berwick 158
Bloomsburg 108
Catawissa 190
Columbia County 87
MiUville 234
Orangeville 258
West Berwick 158
Old Gristmills 32
Old Inns 38, 105, 150, 202,
206, 211, 222, 224, 226, 240, 257
Orange Township 256
Orangeville Academy 259
Orangeville Borough 256
Orchards 29
Organization of County... 82, 273
Orphanage, Mifflinville 251
Ostricli Farm 268
Owen, Evan
..17, 35, 104, 105, 149. 150, 155
Owensville (Berwick) 150
Oyertown (Bloomsburg) .... 105
Paper Mills 191, 265
Paradise 270
Passenger Boat, Pennsylvania
Canal (View) 168
Patrons of Husbandry ....... 30
(See also Borough and
Township Cliapters.)
Peat 266
Peckham, Hon. Aaron K. . . . 66
Penn. William 12
Pennsylvania Canal 43
PassengerBoat. 1868 (View) 168
Pennsylvania, Founding of . . 12
Area 12
Boundaries 12
Pensyl (Willowvale) 232
Pentecostal Denomination .63, 146
Physicians, Early 74
Physicians, Registered 76
Pine Summit 262
Pine Township 261
Pioneers 16
(See also Borough and
Township Cliapters.)
Pioneer Station 270
Polkville (Waller) 241, 242
Pollock, Judge James 66, 312
HISTORICAL INDEX
I'oimlatiou —
(See Borough and Town-
ship Chapters.)
Post Offices 38
List of 40
Postal Rates 17, 39
Postal Service. ..38, 152, 317, 234
Postmasters —
(See Borough and Town-
ship Cliapters.)
Postriders 38, 152, 217
Presbyterians
58, 142, 174, 179,
206, 216, 223, 236, 260, 3G7, 372
Presbytery, Northumberland. 59
President Judges, List 71
Press, The 99
Benton 218
Benvick 102
Bloomsburg 99
Catawissa 102
Centralia 103
Millville 101, 235
Protestant Episcopal Denomi-
nation
. .63. 139, 174, 200, 204, 244, 271
Prothonotaries 87
Purchase Line 334
Quakers 57,
58. 150. 170. 188, 196, 326, 236
Quaker Meeting House, Cata-
wissa 196
View 168
Quarries 20, 222, 239, 267
Railroads 44, 154,
Railway JLul Service
Ratti, Josepli 114,
Raven Creek
Rea, Alexander W...73, 302,
Recorders, County
Reformed Denomination
61, 141, 178, 300, 210, 220.
233. 336, 231. 245, 247, 350,
Registers, County
Religious Denominations
Reminiscences
Rhoadstown
Roads
Catawissa
Cumberland Pike
Indian
State-aided
Roaring Creek
Roaringcreek
Roaringcreek Township
Roberts. Moses
Rohrsburg
Roman Catholics
63, 145, 178, 204, 207,
Rosemont Cemetery
Rupert
Rupert Grove
Rupert, Leonard
Rupert. Old Aqueduct
Rural Free Delivery 39,
Ruthenian Greek Catholic
Church
190
39
119
218
307
87
360
87
57
17
236
35
193
36
3
43
225
225
262
17
335
227
147
252
123
17
43
152
179
Salmon. Joseph 321, 256
Salvation Army 178
Schools 94
Buildings 96
State is'ormal, Bloomsburg 124
State Normal (View) 128
Summer 98
(See also Borough and
Township Chapters.)
School Superintendents 99
Scotch \alley (Glen City) ... 209
Scott Township 364
Secret and Fraternal Socie-
ties —
Aristes 306
Benton 218
Berwick 185
Bloomsburg 128
Buekhorn 240
Catawissa 194
Centralia 304
Centre Township 233
Espv 267
Ligl'it Street 265
Millville 235
Numidia 225
Orangeville 259
Sereno 261
Settlers, Early 15
Homes 15
Nationality 14
(See also Borough and
TowiLship Chapters.)
Settlements, Indian 4
Shawnee Park 322
Sheep 30
Sheriffs 87
Sliuman 208
Shumantown 208
Slabtown 224
Slate 20, 27, 339
Smith, Frederick B 192, 595
Societies, Secret and Fraternal
138, 185, 194, 304, 206. 218.
223, 225, 235. 340, 359, 365, 367
Societies, Literary and So-
cial —
Berwick 183
Bloomsburg 133
Catawissa 301
Society of Fi-iends 57,
58, 150, 170, 188, 196, 336, 336
Old Meeting House at Cata-
wissa (View) 168
Soldiers' Monuments 130, 193
Views 130
Stagecoach Days 35, 37
State-aided Roads 43
State Highway Department . . 40
State Highways in Counties
41, 193
State Representatives. 90
State Senators 89
Statistics —
Agricultural 33
Church 59, 64
Land 92
Military 82
INIinerai 27
Mines 26
Population
(See also Borough and
Township Chapters.)
Property Values 91
Roads 41
School 95, 97, 98
(See also Borough and
Township Chapters.)
Stock 93
Taxables 93
Taxes 92, 93
Stillwater Borough 228
Stock Raising 29
Sugarloaf (Cole's CYeek).269, 271
Sugarloaf Township 369
Summer Hill 219
Susquehanna River 8, 42
Bridges 53
Floods 53-56
Susquehanna River Fisheries. 264
•'Susquehanna," Steamboat
Explosion 42, 152
Site of Accident (View)... 56
Talmar 261
Tamenund 3
Taurus 218
Taverns, Old.. 38, 105, 150, 203,
306, 211, 233, 334, 336, 340, 357
Taylor, John H 166, 168, 864
Topogi-aphy and Geology,
Iron, Coal 19
( See also Borough and
Township Chapters.)
Townships, Formation and
List of 86
Beaver 208
Benton 210
Bloom 108
Briarcreek 218
Catawissa 188
Centre 221
Cleveland 224
Conyngham 201
Fishingereek 228
Franklin 231
Greenwood 333
Hemlock 338
Jackson 241
Locust 224
Madison 243
Main 246
Mifflin 248
Montour 252
Mount Pleasant 355
Orange 256
Pine 361
Roaringcreek 262
Scott 264
Sugarloaf 369
Trails, Indian 3
Transportation Facilities.... 35
Treaties 13
Turnpikes 35
United Brethren . 63, 306, 337. 264
United Evangelical Denomi-
nation 63, 145,
176, 177, 179, 209, 217, 319,
220, 223, 237, 342, 251, 354, 268
Van Camp 230
Van Campen, Moses 10, 221
Chapter. D. A. R 182
Villages, Indian 4
HISTORICAL INDEX
XI
Waller 242
Waller, Rev. D. J 59, 135, 175
Waller, Rev. D. J., Jr
137, 143, 566
Walter, Mary Emma 196, 648
War Footing, Columbia Coun-
ty 83
War Records of the Counties 77
Waterworks —
Benton 215
Berwick 158
Bloomsburg 110
Catawissa 193
Centralia 203
Millville 234
Welliver. Daniel 17
Welliversville 255
Welsh, Judson P., Ph. D 137
West Berwick Borough .. 149, 158
Wheeler, Fort 10
Whitmire 223
Wigwams 4
Wilburton 40
Williamsburg (Light Street) . 365
Williams Grove 330
Willow Grove 223, 233
WilloAV Springs 333
Willowvale 233
Wirt, Paul E 116
Woodin, Clemuel R 163, 489
Woodin, William H 161, 488
Woodward, Hon. Warren J. . 66
Wyoming Valley, Geology ... 20
Young Jilen's Cliristian Asso-
ciation 146, 166, 179
Young Women's Christian As-
sociation 146
MONTOUR COUNTY
Academy, Danville 307
View, 1S80 362
African M. E. Church 355
Agricultui'al Societies, Mon-
tour County 33
Amerman, Dr. Alonzo 322
Amerman, Charles V 320
Ammerman, R. Scott 319, 688
Angle, F. C 319, 60g
Anthony, Judge Joseph B. .66, 312
Anthony Township 386
Associate Judges 314, 326
Attorneys 314
Attorneys, District 326
Baldy, Edward H 317, 576
Baldy Guards 81, 298
Baldy, Peter, Sr
287, 328, 329, 347, 576
Baldy, William J 318, 576
Banks, Danville 375
Exchange 388
Baptists 352, 355, 389
Bare, Harry C 320
Beaver, Thomas 364,384,406
Beaver, Thomas, Free Library 362
View 362
Bench and Bar 311
Best, Valentine 276, 325, 336, 373
Biddle, William 291
Billmeyer Family 394, 482
Billmeyer's Park 393
Bitler, Di-. Benjamin E. . .333, 679
B'nai Zion Synagogue 355
Borouglis —
Danville 327
Washingtonville 391
Borough Officials, Danville... 372
Bosley Mill and Fort 11, 393
Boundarv Lines 376
Boyd, John C 286, 423
Boyle's (Brady's) Fort 392
Brickyards 336
Bridges — •
Danville. . .53, 330 (View), 369
Liberty Township 395
Bright, Peter 288, 457
Brower, D. H. B., Recollec-
tions 382
Brown, George B 290, 384, 563
Butler, George D 317
Canal, North Branch
Catholics 356,
Cattle Epidemic
Cemeteries 57, 398, 399,
Centre Turnpike
Oialfant, Charles
Chalfant, Thomas 291,
Chapman, Judge Seth 65,
Churches (See Under Denom-
inations)
Circuits, Methodist Episcopal
60,
Civil War, Montour County
Soldiers 298
Civil War, Roster 298
Clark, Col. Robert
Clark's Tavern 284,
Cleaver Family 398,
Clerks, Countv
Coal .■
Cock Robin Mill, Danville . . .
Columbia Guards 78,
Columbia Seminary
Conily
Comly Family
Comly, Joshua W
Commissioners, County
Company Store, Old, Danville
View
Congregationalists, Welsh . . .
Congressional Districts. . . .89,
Congressmen 89,
Continental Fire Company . . .
Conyngham, Judge John N.
66,
Cooper, John
Cooper Township
Co-operative Iron and Steel
Works
Cornelison, .Joseph 292,
County Buildings, Montour —
Original
Present
County Fairs
County Officials
County Organization 273,
County Seat Contest.. 83, 273,
County Superintendents,
School
Courthouse 274,
294
390
30
403
293
320
326
311
343
-304
■304
386
358
399
337
19
333
297
394
388
315
315
326
384
330
355
325
325
376
312
314
390
332
480
274
377
33
325
276
275
310
277
Courthouses, Old and Present
(Views) —
At Bloomsburg 84
At Danville 277
Creeks 19
Cross Keys Tavern 358
Curry, Dr. Edwin A 323, 452
Curry Family 394, 400
Dam, Roaring Creek 399
Danville Academy 307
View 363
Danville Blues 396
Danville Borough 273, 327
Danville Bridge 53, 369
View 330
Danville Female Seminary. . 307
Danville Fencibles 299
Danville Foundry & Machine
Co 334
Danville High School 310
Danville Institute 307
Danville Light Horse Com-
pany 296
Danville Iron Foundry 334
Danville Iron Works 333
Danville Militia 297
Danville Milling Company. •• 336
Danville Nail & Mfg. Co". ... 334
Danville Post Office 368
Danville Stove & Mfg. Co... 333
Danville Structural Tubing
Co 331
Deen. John, Sr 284, 557
Delaware. Lackawanna &
Western Railroad 294
Derry Church 388
Deri-y Township 391
District Attorneys 326
Districts —
Congressional 89, 325
.Tudicial 70, 311
Legislative 89, 90. 326
Donnel, .Judge Charles J. . .66, 312
Earlv Families, Montour
County 277
Earlv History, Montour
Countv 373
East End Mission 357
Eckman, Col. Charles W.398. 454
HISTORICAL INDEX
Electric Light. Danville. . .50, 371
Electric Railroads 50, 295
Elwell, Judge William
66, 312, 673
Emmet, John 284
Enterprise Foundry & Ma-
chine Works 334
Episcopalians (Protestant)..
346, 389
Evangelical Denomination . .
354, 390
Evans, Judge Charles C
70, 314, 432
Exchange 387
Exchange Hall 390
Fairs, County 32
Famine 392
Farmers, Prominent 30
Finney, Robert 394
Fire Companies, Danville... 376
Floods 53, 369
Foot and Mouth Disease .... 30
Formation of Townships ... . 386
Forts, Pioneer.. ..9. 104. 321, 392
Foundries. Early, Danville. 25, 328
Franklin Court 35S
Frazer, Daniel 282
Frazer, John, Recollections. . . 376
Free Schools 308
Frick, A. J 317
Frick, Arthur W 317
Frick, Dr. Clarence H 321
Frick, George A 314
Friendship Fire Company. . . . 376
Frontier Forts... 9, 104^ 231. 393
Fruitstown (Wiite Hall)... 387
Furnace, Valley 401
Furnaces 19. 24. 395
Galbraith, Thomas J 318
Gas Light. Danville 371
Gaskins, Thomas 284
Gearhart, Charles P 320
Gearhart, Edward S 319
Gearhart Families
398, 449, 455, 517. 638
Geisinger, George F 368, 481
Geisinger, George F., Memo-
rial Hospital 365
Views 365. 366, 368
Geisinger, Mrs. George F.365, 480
Birthplace and Home
(Views) 480
Geology 22
Gibson Family 396
Gibson, Schoolmaster 305
Glendower Iron Works 332
Good Will Hose Company... 376
Goodman, Philip ". . . . 358
Grangers 30
Grier Families 283, 317. 412
Grier. Rev. Isaac 283, 338. 412
Grier, I. X 317, 412
Grier. Hon. Robert C 314
Gristmills, Old 33
View 328
Grovania 390
Grove Furnaces 333
Gulics, John C 282
Harpel, Dr. Francis E...333, 549
Hartman. \\'illiam 282
Ha user. Dr. Raymond J. .324, 938
Hebrew Synagogue 355
Herring, -Judge Grant 70, 313
High School, Danville 374
Hinckley, Judge Henry M . . .
68, 313, 318, 448
Hoax. 1860 383
Hoffa, Dr. Jacob P 322
Hospitals —
For Insane 360
Views 360
George F. Geisinger 365
Views 365, 366, 368
Hotels. Danville 358
Howe & Samuel Steel Plant. 335
Howellville 398
Hughes. Ellis 282, 306
Hutchinsons 392
Ikeler, Judge Elijah R
69, 313, 420
Insane. State Hospital for,
Danville 360
Views 360
Institutes, Teachers' 310
Institutions, Philanthropic,
Danville 360
Internal Improvements —
Countv 293
Danville 295, 369
Internal Improvement Sys-
tem, State 294
Iron 19
Iron Jlills 24
Iron Mines 398
.Tack. Rev. Alexander B 341
.lapanese Embassy Hoax.... 383
.Tolmston, William C 317
.Jordan. .Judge Alexander. . . . 312
Judges —
Associate 314, 326
President 311
Judicial Districts . 65, 70, 311, 312
Karkaase 17, 328
Kase, Simon P 289, 329
Kelso, Prof. .John M 307
Kirk. Rev. James W., D. D.
341, 550
Kirkham. Samuel 282, 306
Kisner. Ralph 320, 880
Knitting Mills, Danville 335
Laundries. Danville 336
Legislative Districts. .80, 90, 326
Leidv. Paul 317
Lewis. .Tudge Ellis 66, 311
Libertv Furnace 395
Liberty Township 394
Librarv, Thomas Beaver Free 362
View 362
Lightner. Rev. Edwin N 347
Limestone Quarries 20, 390
Limestone Township 396
Limestoneville 396
Limestoneville Institute. .307. 397
Little, Judge Robert R
69, 313. 418
Lundy. John 286
Lundv. Rev. .John P 286
Lutherans 344, 353,
354, 391, 393, 395, 399, 401, 402
McClure, Capt. William M.
298, 299
McCormick. James 292
McHenry. B. Frances 320
McHenry, Dr. Montraville , . .
322, 1161
McNeal. Ann 583
McWilliams Familv 394, 583
Magill. Dr. William H
287, 321, 372
Mahoning Presbyterian
Church 338
Mahoning Township 397
Mahoning Township, Old Tax
List 397
Market Square Park. Danville 372
Marr, Alem 314, 325
Martin Family 583
Maus Family
17, 274, 282, 400. 407, 445
Maus, Phillip 281
Mausdale 401
Mausdale Gristmill, Built in
1800 401
View 328
Mayberry Township 398
Mechanicsville 397
Memorial Park. Danville.... 372
Meredith, Dr. Hugh B
322, 362, 544
Metal & Machine Co 328, 335
Metal Engineering Company
328, 335
Methodist Episcopal Denom-
ination. . . .343. 353. 355, 357.
394, 395, 396, 397, 398, 399. 403
Circuits 60. 343
Methodists, Primitive 390
Mexican War, Montour County
Soldiers 297
Military Record 296
Montgomery, Gen. Daniel. . . .
". . . .274. 280, 327, 360
Montgomery Family 17, 278
Montgoniei-y. .John C 318
Montgomery. -lohn G 316
Montgomery. Gen. William..
■. 278, 337
Home at Danville (View) . 328
Montgomery. .Judge William. 281
Montgomery. Rev. William B. 284
Montour County, History of. 273
Montour County Agricultural
Society 32
Montour County Medical So-
ciety 75
Montour. Madame 4, 273
ifontour Rifles 298
Monument, Soldiers' 372
View 277
ilooresburg 395
IMourer, L. K 321
Muster Rolls, Chapter IV .. . 296
National Guard 304
National Iron Company. .331, 334
Newbaker. Dr. Philip C. .333, 640
New Columbia 402
Newspapers. Danville 336
HISTORICAL INDEX
Xlll
North Branch Canal 394
Northern Montour Agricul-
tural Society 32
Northumberland M. E. Cir-
cuit 60, 342
Officials, County 335
Officials, Danville 373
Oglesbv, Dr. James 323, 498
Oglesby, William V 330, 499
Old Gristmills 33
View 328
Old Taverns, Danville 358
Oldest House in County
(View) 338
Organization^ Momtour County
273, 276
Ottawa 39G
Pants Factory, Danville 336
Parks. Danville —
Market Square 378
Memorial 373
River Front 372
Patrons of Husbandry 30
Patten, Dr. EoDert S 325, 855
Patterson, Rev. John B
339, 388, 393
Paules, Dr. William R . . 324, 1008
Pennsylvania Railroad. . .294, 295
Petrikin. Dr. David. .321, 325, 328
Philadelphia & Reading Rail-
road 394
Philanthropic Institutions,
Danville 360
Physicians 331
Planing Mills. Danville 330
Pollock, Judge James 66. 312
Poor Farm 397, 401
Postmasters. Danville 368
Postmasters, ^^^lite Hall 387
Postmasters. Exchange 387
Post Office, Danville 368
Post Offices, List of County. 40
Presbyterians
338. 349. 357. 388, 393, 395, 402
Presbyteries 339
President .Tudges 311
Primitive itethodists 390
Prominent Farmers 30
Protestant Episcopal Denom-
ination 346, 389
Prothonotaries 327
Purscl, Dr. Isaac 323
Quarries 390
Railroads 294
Rank, Daniel W 318, 854
Rank, Isaac 288
Reading Iron Company . .329. 334
Recorders. County 327
Red Horse Hotel 387
Reformed Denomination) ....
351, 391, 393, 397, 401, 402
Reminiscences, Danville .... 376
Representatives —
Congressional 89, 325
State 326
Republican Rally 383
Rescue Fire Company 376
Rhodes. B. K 317
Rhodes. -John 293
Ridgeville 391
River Front Park, Danville . . 372
Roads, Turnpike 293
Roaring Creek 398
Roaring Creek Furnace. . .24, 399
Robbins, Dr. James E . . . 324, 547
Rockefeller. Judge William M. 312
Roman Catholics 356, 390
Sandel, Dr. .1. H 333, 694
Scarlet, James 318, 440
Schools 305
(See also Borough and
Township Chapters.)
Danville 374
Schools, Free 308
School Superintendents,
County 310
Danville 374
Schultz. Dr. Solomon S
322, 361, 429
Sechler, H. B. D 288
Sechler, .Jacob 285
Seidel, Arren E 393, 859
Senators, State 326
Settlers, Early 274, 277
(See also Borough and
Township Chapters.)
Sharp Ridge 398
Shelhart, Jacob 289
Sheriffs 327
Shoop, Gideon M 289
Shreeve, Capt. .loseph E . . 299, 303
Shultz. Dr. Benjamin F..390, 323
Silk Mill, Danville 335
Simington. Dr. R. S 332
Smack. Daniel 396
Soldiers' Monument, Danville 372
View 277
Spanish-American War, Mon-
tour County Soldiers 304
State Hospital for Insane,
Danville 360
Views 360
State Senators 335
State Representatives 326
Steel Plant. Danville 335
Strawberry Ridge 393
Strawbridge. Dr. .James D... 321
Strawbridgc, Ool. Thomas... 394
Stver's Corners 402
Surveyors 327
Suspender Factories, Danville 336
Susquehanna River.. 293, 369, 398
Swenoda 402
Taverns. Old 387
Danville 358
Taxables. List of, 1798 (Ma-
honing Tp.) 397
Teachers' Institutes 310
Telephones 295
Toll Rates, 1828 370
Topography and Geology .... 19
Township Formation 386
Townships —
Anthony 386
Cooper 390
Derry 391
Liberty 394
Limestone 396
Mahoning 397
Mayberry 398
Valley ." 400
West Hemlock 403
Tradesmen, Early, Danville.. 380
Training School, Geisinger
Hospital 367
View 368
Treasurers, County 326
Turnpikes ". 293
Valley Furnace 401
Valley Township 400
Van Alen, T. 390
van Fossen, George W 321
Vastine, Dr. Jacob H 322, 444
Vincent, Henry 318
Voris, James 287, 725
Walker, Robert 392
War of 1812, Montour County
Soldiers 296
Washington Fire Company. . 376
Washingtonville Borough . . . 391
Washingtonville. Fort 393
Waterman & Beaver Store,
Danville 384
View 330
Waterworks. Danville 370
Welsh, Thomas C 320, 683
West, William K 319, 492
West Hemlock Township .... 402
White Hall 387
AVhite Hall Hotel 38, 387
Wilson. Capt. John S 397
Wilson, Nathaniel 282
Yeomans, Rev. Dr. John W.. 340
Yorks Family 292, 683
Young, Dr. Benjamin F 282
Young Men's Cliristian Asso-
ciation 365
View 362
BIOGRAPHICAL INDEX
Abiams, Abiam 1000
Abrams, Isaac B 1000
Achy, Epliraim 1202
Achy, iXabery 1202
Acor Family 897
Acor, Joseph S 897
Adams, Charles 647
Adams, Charles E 633
Adams, Emerson A 851
Adams Families
633, 646, 851, 890, 921, 963, 1192
Adams, Miss Frances M 932
Adams, Jacob W 1192
Adams, John K 647
Adams, Peter J 921
Adams, Samuel W 963
Adams, Ulysses K 890
Ahlers, William 987
Aikman Family 628
Aikman, James E 629
Aikman, John H 628
Albeck Family 935
Albertson, Bartley 1234
Albertson, Edward 1234
Alexander, Miss Harriet J... 582
Alexander. Samuel D 582
Alleger Family 1088
Altmiller, Cliarles F., M. D. . . 612
Altmiller Family 612
Amerman, Dr. Alonzo 322
Amerman, Charles V 320
Amcsbury, Arthur 904
Aniesbury Family 904
Amnierman, Bernard 919
Ammerman. .John B 793
Ammerman, K. Scott 319, 688
Andy, John 776
Andy. AVilHam H 776
Angell Family 1312
Angell, Richard B 1312
Angle Family COS
Angle. Frank C 319, 608
Angle. Theodore R 609
Anthony. Judge Joseph B..66, 312
Appleman, Eli 879
Appleman Family 879
Armes, John ..." 871
Armes. William J 871
Armstrong. Alfred H 1130
Arnhold Family 1063
Artley Family" 1227
Artlcy, William H . 1237
Artman, Clark D 123S
Artman Family 1238
Ash Family . .". 745
Ash. Stewart A 745
Aten Family 690
Auten Family 899
Auten, Robert C 899
Averill, Archer 805
Averill, Mrs. Margaret 805
Baker, Charles W 1328
Baker Families. 943, 950, 983, 1228
Baker, Dr. Frank 983
Baker, George G 950
Baker, Samuel W 943
Baldy, Edward H 317, 576
Baldy Family 576
Baldy, Peter, Sr 287, 576
Baldy, William J 318, 576
Bare, Harry G 320
Barger, aiarles C 504
Barger Familj' 504
Barkley Family 523
Barnard Family 1059
Barnard, Orrin'H 1059
Barton Families. . .568, 762, 1069
Barton, Harry S 762
Barton, Henry C 1069
Bates Family' 1190
Bates. Richa'rd 1190
Baueher Family 816
Bauman, Elias F 1065
Bauman Family 1065
Beach Family ' 1218
Beaver Family 406
Beaver, Henry P 758
Beaver, Thomas 364, 384, 406
Beck. Daniel B 660
Beck Family 660
Belles Families 830, 999
Belles, Henderson F 829
Belles. Jonatlian M 999
Berninger, Aaron 818
Bei-ninger, Arias J 818
Berninger Family 706
Beniinger, .Jonas 662
Beyer Family 726
Beyer, Levi "V 726
Bibby, Mrs. Julia W 1077
Bibby, Matthew A 1076
Biddle Families 291, 644
Biddle. Dr. John W 644
Biddle, William 291
Billig, Cliarles 1160
Billig. Martin L 1160
Billmej'er, Alexander 482
Billmeyer Families 394, 483
Billmeyer. Harry 483
Bird Family . . '. 635
Bitlcr. Benjamin E., M. D.323. 679
Bitler Families 679, 907
Bitler, Dr. Sherman E 90S
xiv
Bittner, Archible G 523
Bittner Family 523
Black, Alfred B 478
Black Famih- 479
Blank Famil'y 946
Blee Families 587, 727
Blee, Frank G 587
Blee, Robert E 727
Bloss Family 966
Bloss, Frank E 731
Bloss, John K 731
Bloss, Nelson W 966
Blue Family 715
Blue, Horace C 715
Bogart, Aaron 1124
Bomboy Families 770, 890
Bomboy, Frank 770
Bomboy, Leonard E 770
Boody "Family 572
Boody, Lincoln H 573
Boon'e Family 1113
Boudman Family 835
Boudman, .J. Roland 825
Bower, Bruce H 732
Bower, Clemuel R 1033
Bower, Edward F 1250
Bower Families ....598, 613,
732, 796. 827, 838, 1129, 1250
Bower, George M 598
Bower, Hiram R 613
Bower, Hiram VC 828
Bower, Oscar M . . •. 838
Bower. R. Orval 796
Bower. Solomon 1033
Boyd, Daniel M 422
Boyd Family 423
Boyd, John "C 286, 423
Boyer Families 681, 689
Boyer, .Jacob 895
Boyer. Jacob H 689
Boyer, Reuben 894
Boyer. William E 681
Boyles Family 843
Boyles. Josluia 185, 842
Brannen Family 430
Brannen. James L 430
Bredbenner Family 831
Bredbcnner, Mrs. Lydia A... 805
Bredbenner, Miles S 832
Bredbenner, Wm. M 831
Breisch, Ernest E 1177
Breiseh Families ..588, 1110, 1177
Breisch. George 1177
Breisch. Hannon M 588
Breisch. .John E 1110
Brewington, Percy 621
Bright, Hon. Dennis 456
BIOGRAPHICAL INDEX
XV
Bright Families 288, 456
Brjgiit, Mrs. Lucy M 458
Briglit, Tfter 388, 457
Brink Family 975
Brink, Harry S 975
Britt Family 1033
Brittain Family 951
Brittain, William C 951
Brobst Families 1017, 1060
Brobst, Thomas B 1066
Brock way Family 1088
Brockway, Roland O 1088
Brower Family 476
Brower, William H 476
Brown, Benton B 561
Brown, Edward J 1103
Brown Families
473, 474, 561, 1103, 1164
Brown, George B...390, 384, 563
Brown, James C 473
Brown, John J., M. D 474
Brown, W. Earle 1164
Brown, William G 563
Bruder, Miss Gussie A 1059
Bnuler, John A 1059
Brugler Family 894
Bruner Family 508
Bruner, John W., M. D 508
Brunner Family 825
Brunstetter, George 1343
Bryan Family 693
BrVan. John " G ,693
Bucci Family '778
Bucci, Giovanni (John Bush) 778-
Bucher, Charles E 1113
Bueher Family 1113
Buck Family 798
Buck, Thomas R 798
Buckalew, Hon. Charles R 403
Buckaiew Families 403, 630
Buckalew, Capt. John M 406
Buckalew, Louis W 502
Buckingham Family 743
Buckingham, George A 743
Burhard, Rev. Edward A.... 824
Burket Family 786
Bush Family 981
Bush, Frederick W 981
Bush. John (Giovanni Bucci) 778
Butler, George D 317
Butler. Kent A 1047
Butler, Thomas 1047
Butt Family 517
Butt, William A 517
Cadman, Enoch 1247
Cadman. John 1346
Campbell. Charles H 1142
Campbell Families 665, 1137, 1142
Canouse, David M 1130
Canouse Family 1130
Canouse, Mrs. Parah C 1129
Carrathers Family 802
Carrathers, John A 802
Carsc Family 666
Carse, Robert A 666
Catterall Families 808, 945
Catterall, George H 945
Catterall, .Toseph H 808
Chalfant, Cliarles 320
Chalfant, Thomas 291
Chamberlain Family 735
Chamberlain, Isadora F 735
Chapman, Judge tSeth 65, 311
Childs Family 915
Childs, William F. P 915
Chrisman Family 713
Chrisman, Hon. William 713
Clapp, Henry C 1353
Clapp, Mrs. Mary E 1353
Clark, David 451
Clark Families 769, 1077
Clark, Frank R., M. D 769
Clay, Arthur S 581
Chiy Family 581
Clcwell Families 707, 1019
Clewell, Laurence 1 767
Cloud, Charles G 865
Cloud, William J 865
Cohen, Joseph, M. D 802
Cohen, Lewis 802
Coira Family 1053
Coira, Henry L 1052
Cole, Jacob H 928
Cole, Thomas 928
Coliey Family 730
Colley, Richard F 730
Comly Family 315
Comly, Joshua W 315
Conner, John 974
Conner, Samuel J 974
Conner. Theodore F 737
Conyngham, Judge John N. .
.." 66, 312
Cook, Charles W 1119
-Cook Family 1119 .
Cooper, John 314
Cornelison Families .480, 991, 1231
Cornelison, James 1253
Cornelison, Joseph 392, 480
Cornelison, Robert 1231
Cotner Family 697
Cotner, George P 697
Cotner, Hiram E 697
Crawford, Clinton 1091
Crawford Family 1091
Creasy Families
...614, 620, 652, 676, 982, 1004
Creasy, Francis P 614
Creasy. Dr. George E 620
Cioasy, Harvey Lewis 982
Creasy, Joseph A 052
Creasy, William E 1004
Creasy, Hon. William T 676
Creveiing, Daniel H 773
Creveling Families 774, 984
Creveiing, Herman G 1210
Crispell, Chester F 978
CVispell Family 978
Ci'ispin, Hon. IBenjamin 533
Crispin, Benjamin F., Jr 534
Ci'ispin, Clarence G 536
Ciispin Family 528
Crispin, M. Jackson 535
Croop, Allen B 1064
Croop Family 1176
Croop, George 1063
Croop. Milton H 1176
Crosslev, Daniel F 708
Ci'ossley Families. .708, 1069, 1232
Crosslev, Robert 1069
Culp, Cliarles 819
Gulp, Reuben 819
Cummings Family 713
Cummings, John W 713
Currin Family , 767
Currin, Percival C 767
Curry, Daniel M 453
Curry, Edwin A,, M. D. . .323, 453
Curry Families. .394, 400, 453, 792
Ciury, John R. M 7U3
Daniel, L. H 1080
Daniel, L. L 1080
Davenport Family 734
Davenport, Ray H 734
Davis Families... .583, 1054, 1175
Davis, John J 1054
Davis, William T 1175
Davis, William W 712
Dean Families 701, 991
Dean, Joseph 991
Dean, Mrs. ilargaret B 991
Deen Familj' 557
Deen. John, Sr 284. 557
Deily Family 1219
Deil'y, John 1319
Deitrick, Elmer F 815
Deitrick, William 815
Delanty Family 853
Delay, Emmanuel 1115
Delay Family 1115
Delay, Mrs. Mary 1115
DeLong Families. . .592, 668, 1233
DeLong, Frank E 592
DeLong, .lerome B 668
DeLong, Perry 668
"De Mott. Cyrus 740
De Mott Family 740
Dengler Family 848
Dentler Family 955
Dentler, Frank D 955
Depew, Jonathan 1244
Derr, Cliarles F 1098
Derr Families. .554, 753, 863, 1098
Derr, F. C 554
Derr, J. Miles 753
Derr, Mont 863
Deutsch Family 920
Deutsch, AVilliam L 919
Dewald, John B 787
DeWitt Families 641, 1003
DeWitt. William 641
Dice Family 1144
Dice, .Joseph C 1144
Dickson, Clark L 845
Dickson, Conway W 579
Dickson, David C 580
Dickson Families 580, 845
Dickson, Sterling W 579
Dieffenbach Family 833
Dieffenbach. Hervey E 833
Diefl'enbacher, Benjamin S...1116
Dieffenbacher, Daniel N 545
Diefl'enbacher Families. .545. 1116
Diehh Charles H 1058
Diehl Family 1058
Dietrich Families 866, 1185
Dietrich, Karl L 1185
Dietrich, Peter M 866
Dietterick, Bruce C 1074
Dictterick Family 1074
Dietz Family . ." 733
Dietz, John'H 732
Dildinc, Charles H 1053
Dildine Families 1005, 1053
XVI
BIOGRAPHICAL INDEX
Dildine, John A
Dillon. Jolni L
Dirk, iliss Clara Belle
Dirk, William J
Divel Family
Divel, Judge Henry
Dixon Family
Doan Family
Dodson, Boyd H
Dodson Familj'
Dodson, John
Donnel, Judge Charles G. . .G6,
Doster, Jacob
Doster, John
Doster, .John, .Jr
Doster, Theodore
Dreibelbis, Amos W
Dreibelbis Families 81S,
Dreisbach, Benjamin F
Dreisbach Families 749,
Drinker, Edward R
Drinker Family
Drinker, Jliss Lydia W
Duggan, .John J
Dutt Family . . .
Dutt, Nelson S.
Duy, Albert W.
Duy Family . . .
East Family
East, Harry R
Eaton, Clark D
Eaton Family
Eaton. Frederick H 162.
Eck. Miss Anna E .'
Eck Family
Eck, Reese M
Eckman, Col. Charles W. .298,
Eckman, ilrs. Sophia G
Eckroth Family
Edgar Family
Edgar, Thomas
Edmondson Family
Edmondson. George D
Edwards Families ...
654, 821, 1182,
Edwards, Henry J
Edwards. .James S
Edwards, Jesse
Edwards. Thomas E
Eisenhauer Family
Eisenhauer. John H
Elliott. .Tohii F
Elliott. Samuel
Ellis, Mrs. Annie E
Ellis Families 565, 591,
Ellis, James F
Ellis, .James .J
Ellis. John D
Elmes Family
Elmes, William E
Elwell Family
Elwell. George Edward
Elwell, George Edward. .Jr. . .
Elwell. .Judge William
66, 312
Emmet. .John
Emmett, Andrew .1
Emmett Family
Ent, Charles B
Ent. Edwin H
1005
728
1065
1064
548
548
748
626
462
462
1134
313
1185
1184
1184
1185
818
1239
1060
1060
596
596
597
1218
1218
1058
1058
760
760
1198
1198
680
512
, 512
812
811
812
, 454
455
1021
1085
1085
490
490
1187
821
654
1187
1182
797
797
HOG
1106
886
, 886
591
885
565
816
816
673
675
676
, 673
284
1095
1095
536
1073
Ent Families 536, 1073, 1254
Ent, Gen. Wellington H 426
Enterline Family 898
Enterline, W. G 898
Ervin, Barton E 1090
Ervin, Stephen 1090
Eshleman, Benjamin L 948
Eshleman Families 948, 1096
Eshleman, Harold 949
Evans, Andrew J 742
Evans, Judge Charles C
70, 314, 432
Evans, David 875
Evans Families 432,
574, 578, 742, 983, 1151, 1155
Evans, James L 574
Evans, John D 875
Evans, John W 1151
Evans, Oliver E 983
Evans, Mrs. Sarah E 743
Evans, William W 135, 577
Everett, Edward, M. D 587
Everett Family 587
Evert Family ' 1099
Evert, George H 1099
Eves, C. Scott 553
Eves, E. Tmman 758
Eves Families. .553, 733, 759, 1047
Eves, Joseph C 733
Eves, John Emery 1047
Eyer, Luther 594
Ever, Rev. William J 594, 619
Fahringer Family
Fahringer, Harry
Fairchild Family
Fail-child. Wesley B
Fallon, Ed. F
Fallon Family
Fallon, William
Farley Family
Farley, Robert M
Faiver Family
Farver. George
Faus Family
Faus, Frank
Faust Families 937,
Fedorco Family
Fedorco, .John
Fegley, Daniel E
Fegley Family
Fensteniaker Family
Fenstemaker. George C
Fensterraacher Family
Fenstermacher, Grant
Fenstermacher, Michael W. . .
Fenstermacher. Scott E
Fergerson Family
Ferris, Courtney E
Ferris Families. . .736, 1034,
Ferris, Olaf F
Fettorman, David F
Fetterman Family
Field Family
Field. Henry P
Field. Mrs. Katharine J
Fielding Family
Fielding. Wilfred G
Fiester Family
Fiester, Henry A
Fitield, Benjamin P
Fifield Family
1189
1189
847
847
688
687
688
906
906
1077
1077
849
849
1087
1256
1256
1213
1213
1158
1158
993
1234
993
992
1115
1034
1241
736
1043
1043
579
579
.579
1108
1108
1114
1114
1112
1112
Finnigan, .James C 877
Finnigan, William 877
Fisher, Charles J 495
Fisher Families
: . ..464, 495, 756, 1083
Fisher, George A 465
Fisher, Horace M 465
Fisher, John L 466
Fisher, William C 466
Fisher, William H 756
Fisher, William S 464
Fister Family 1135
Fister, Ranslo 1125
Fleckenstine Family 616
Flick Families 709, 727, 931
Forney Family 907
Fornwald, Cliarles S 964
Foinwald Family 964
Foniwald, George A 965
Fortner Family 1251
Foster Family 695
Foster, John G 695
Foulk, Benjamin F 889
Foulk, Charles L 868
Foulk Family 889
Foust Family 915
Foust, Philip H 915
Fowler Families
569, 1104, 1159, 1208
Fowler, Jeremiah R 569
Fowler, Lillian D 569
Fowler, Theodore B 1104
Fowler. Willard G 1208
Fox, Charles S. W 499
Fox Families 428, 499
Fox, Dr. James T 428
Fox. Dr. .John C 429
Frank, John 1047
Frazer, Daniel 282
Frazier, Daniel H 718
Frazier Family 718
Freas, Barton D 503
Freas Families 503, 1074
Freas, Rush T 1074
Freeze, Col. John G 424
Freeze Family 425
Frey Families 788, 1196, 1212
Frey, Freeman W 788
Frey. Henry 1196
Frick, A. J 317
Flick, Arthur W 317
Frick, Dr. Clarence H 321
Frick. George A 314
Fritz. Hon. Andrew L 513
Fritz Families 513, 822
Fritz, Rush M 823
Fritz. Verner E 822
Fry Family 1200
Fry. George A 1300
Funk, Rev. Henry 466
Funk, Nevin U 467
Furman. Chester S 521
Furman Family 521
Furman, Miss Julia H 522
Gaertner, Emil 942
Galbraith, Thomas J 318
Gallagher, Michael 1128
Gallagher, Miss Rose A 1128
Garrett. William H 851
Garrison, Aaron 810
Garrison, Calvin D 959
BIOGRAPHICAL INDEX
xvu
Garrison Families
539, 752, 810, 1087, 1251
Garrison, Mrs. Lydia S 959
Garrison, William 752
Gaskins, Thomas 284
Gearhart, Bonliam R., Jr.... 519
Gearhart, Cliarles P 320
Gearhart, Mrs. Cordelia E. . . . 451
Gearhart, Edward S 319
Gearhart Families
449, 455, 517, 638
Gearhart, George M 449
Gearhart, M. Grier 638
Gearhart, Robert Y 517
Geisinger, Mrs. Abigail A. . . 480
Geisinger, Mrs. Abigail A.,
Birthplace and Home
(Views) 480
Geisinger, David 1211
Geisinger, George F 481
Geisinger, Mrs. Margaret R..1210
George Family 1029
George, William J 1029
Gernert, John H 925
Gibson Families ...396,544,901
Giger Family 775
Giger, Josiah H 775
Gilbert Family 468
Gilbert, Rev. Richard H 583
Gilds, Charles J 747
Gilmore Family 989
Gilmore, W'illi'am H 989
Girton Families 599, 667
Girton, Prof. Maurice J 667
Girvan Family 1023
Girvan, John A 1022
Glenn, Edwin A., M. D 1072
Glenn Family 1072
Gordner, Jonathan R 1217
Gotshall Family 1101
Gotshall, Heniy 1101
Gotwalds. Francis M 692
Graham Families 611, 1229
Graham. Marks 611
Gresh Family 1236
Gresh, Joseph D 1236
Grier Family 412
Grier, Rev. Isaac ...383, 338, 412
Grier, Isaac X 317, 412
Grier, Rev. John B 413
Grier. Hon. Robert C 314
Grotz Family 664
Grotz, John K 664
Grove Family 540
Grove, Herbert S 540
Grozier Family 764
Grozier, Prof. "Harry .... 184, 764
Gruber, David L 1081
Gniber Family 1081
Guest, David" L 918
Guest Family 919
Guie, Edwin B 1097
Guie. James 1097
Gulics, John C 283
Gulliver Family 994
Gulliver, James H 994
Hagenbuch. Charles W 1188
Hagenbuch. Emory D 1190
Hagenbuch Families
749, 1036, 1150. 1188, 1190
Hagenbuch, Frank W 1087
Hagenbuch, Franklin W 1150
Hagenbuch, Frederick 749
Hagenbuch, Mrs. Sarah K...1189
Hagenbuch, Miss Sarah M... 752
Hagenbuch, William A 1026
Hager Family 656
Hager, William M 656
Hagerman Family 935
Hagerman, Joshua 935
Hall, Horace A 575
Hancock, Charles P 410
Hancock Family 410
Harder, Charles M 765
Harder, Clark F 581
Harder Families
581, 589, 765, 1230
Harder, Mrs. Sarah B 582
Harder, Thomas E 589
Harder, Thomas R 1320
Harding Family 737
Haring, David E 564
Haring Family 564
Harman Families 435, 514
Harman, James Lee 435
Harman, Samuel H 514
Harmon Family 794
Harpel, Francis E., M. D.322, 549
Harris Families 961, 1209
Harris, Levi 888
Harris, William J 888
Harter Family 976
Harter, Theodore C, M. D... 976
Hartjine, Prof. Daniel S 872
Hartline Family 872
Hartman, Charles L 772
Hartman Families
771, 995. 1030, 1035, 1072, 1123
Hartman. Frank S 1123
Hartman, Frederick B 772
Hartman, George A 1020
Hartman, John F 1035
Hartman, Nelson C 995
Hartman, William 283
Hartman, William E 1020
Hartzell, John B 853
Hassert Family 471
Hassert. George E 471
Hauck, Charles E 461
Hauck Families 461, 1259
Hauck, William H 1259
Haupt, Clarence E 516
Hauser, Dr. Raymond J.. 334, 938
Hayden Family 916
Hayden, .James 918
Hayden, Nicholas 916
Hayman Families 1038, 1094
Hayman, James P 1038
Hayman. William H 1094
Heacock Family 1243
Heacock, Jeremiah R 1243
Heim, Joseph 719
Helm. .Julius 719
Heller Family 1174
Heller, Samuel K 1174
Helwig Family 781
Helwig, Noah" 781
Hendershott. Mrs. Mary M. . . 664
Hendershott. Norman J 663
Hendricks Family 1311
Hendricks. George M 1211
Hendrickson Family 881
Hendrickson, John F 881
Henkel, Rev. David M 618
Henkel Family 618
Henkel, Mrs. Susan E 619
Henkelman Family 1005
Henkelman, George 1005
Heurie Family 635
Henrie, William H 635
Henry Family 986
Herr Family 543
Herr, John N 543
Herring, Alexander B 584
Herring Families 506, 584
Herring, George A 506
Herring, Judge Grant 70, 313
Herrington Family 690
Herrington, Frank M 691
Hertz Family 836
Hertz, William J 836
Hess, Bruce A 1174
Hess, Charles M 1243
Hess Families . . . 437, 600, 803,
957, 971, 975, 1173, 1193, 1243
Hess, Hany F 971
Hess, Harvey W 438
Hess, Isaiah J 1173
Hess, .John 1 920
Hess, Leslie E 930
Hess, Dr. Milton J 436
Hess, Orion M 1193
Hess, Reuben H 1244
Hess, William H 600
Hetler Family 1024
Hetler, Mahlon C 1024
Hicks Families
636, 648, 812; 1257
Hicks, Joseph S 636
Hicks, Millard W 1357
Hidlay Families 751, 1153
Hidlav. William J 1153
Hildebrand. Camden W 1049
Hildebrand Family 1049
Hile Family ". 1136
Hile, William H 1136
Hill Family 750
Hinckley, .judge Henry M...
■ 68, 313, 318, 448
Hine, Daniel E .' . . .1133
Hine Family 1123
Hixson, John F 870
Hock Family 1304
Hock, Michael B 1304
Hockman Family 1172
Hoffa Family 892
Hoffman Family 747
Hoffman, Lewis 700
Hoffman, Simon K 747
Holdren Family 876
Holdren, Phineas 876
Hollingshead, William 546
Holly, Daniel W 822
Holly Family 822
Hoppes. Clarence .J 1216
Hoppes, Elias 967
Hoppes Families 1157, 1217
Hoppes, George T 1157
Hortman Family 1199
Hosier Family '. 1138
Hosier. Georg'e B. W 1139
Houck Family 1143
Housenick Family 953
Houtz F.amily . . ". 839
Houtz, 0. V 839
XVlll
BIOGRAPHICAL INDEX
Hove Family 923
Howe, Fred \V 923
Hower, Charles E 52-t
Hower Families. . .534, 1045, 1106
Hower, Hiester V., M. D HOG
Hower, Dr. Hiram C 1090
Hughe.*, Chester K 630
Hughes, Ellis 282
Hughes Families
768, 910, 1169, 11T6
Hughes, George M 768
Hughes, Mrs. Harriet 630
Hughes, Walter A 1169
Hull, Charles E 823
Hull Family 823
Hunsinger Family 103T
Hunsiuger, .Josiah F 1037
Hunt, George W 873
Hunt, John H 873
Hyde Family 896
Hyde, Thomas E 896
Hyssong, Austin L 973
Hyssong, Elisha B 973
Ikeler, Judge Elijah R.69, 313, 420
Ikeler Families 421, 958, 990
Ikeler, Frank A 422
Ikeler, Fred T 419
Ikeler, Mrs. Helena 422
Ikeler, Roland R 958
Ikeler, Samuel W 990
lies Family 852
lies, William 853
Irland, James M 459
Ivey, Edward W 590
Ivey Families 590, 1185
Ivey, George A 1185
Ivey, Ricliard 590
Jackson, Col. Clarence G
161, 184, 464
Jackson Families 416, 1168
Jackson, Frank R 456
Jackson. Mordecai W....161, 416
Jackson, Jlorrison E 624
Jacobs Families 541, 1152
Jacobs, George B 1152
Jacobs, John R 1153
Jacobs, William F 541
Jacoby Family 643
Jacoby, Guy 643
Jaeoby, John G 819
Jacoby, Legrand S 819
James, B. J 916
James Family 916
Jarrard, Clemuel L 1021
Jarrard Families 1021, 1147
Jan-ard, Merton L 824
Jarrard, William E 1147
Jayne, Samuel C 696
John Families
346, 632, 833, 1040, 1354
John, J. Stacey, M. D 1040
John, Ralph R 632
Johnson, Bartlett H 527
Johnson Families
527, 744, 807, 936
Johnson, George W 807
.Johnson, James 1123
Johnson, .Joseph R 744
Johnson, Dr. Ralph E 324
Johnson, Reagan B 999
.Johnson, Samuel B
Johnson, Stephen C
•Johnson, William S
.Johnston, Charles M
.Johnston Family
.Johnston, William C
Jones, Mrs. Catherine (Maus)
.lones, Evan
.Jones, Horatio C
.Jones, John L
Jordan, Judge Alexander. . . .
.Jordan, Francis
Jordan, Mrs. Jennie B
998
998
936
860
860
317
447
939
448
939
312
903
903
Karchner, Charles Franklin. . 1016
Karchner Families ....1016, 1018
Karchner, George E 1018
Kase. Simon P 289
Kaufman, Mrs. Anna M 905
Kaufman, Oliver 1 905
Keck Families 1027, 1213
Keck, Henry S 1313
Keifeit Family 1118
Keifer, Henry H 1118
Keiner, .Jolm F 997
Keiner, William 997
Kelchner Family 1113
Kelchner. John 1113
Keller Family 1126
Keller, William 1126
Kellev. Bruce C 559
Kelley Families 559, 1062
Kelley, James 1062
Kellogg Family 1034
Kepner, Bruce A 974
Kepner Families
974, 997, 1203, 1355
Kepner, John A 1255
Kepner, Samuel F 1303
Kerswell Family 733
Kerswell. Thomas F 731
Kester, Benjamin F 663
Kester, E. Ross 1113
Kester Families 663, 1113
Ivile Family 1333
Kile. George B 1223
Kimble Family 1124
Kimble, Frank 1124
Kindig Family 1181
Kindig, Michael E 1181
Kingsbury, Adelbert R 996
King.sbury Family 996
Kirk Family 550
Kirk, Rev. James W 341, 550
Kirkendall Family 1026
Kirkham, Samuel 383, 306
Kisner Families. . .880, 1199, 1303
Kisner, Ralph 330, 880
Kisner, Samuel 703
Kistler, Benjamin 1080
Kitchen Family 775
Kitchen, Frank R 775
Klase Family 699
Klase, Jesse 699
Kline, Abraham 813
Kline, Cliarles B 1235
Kline, Cliarles S 467
Kline, Edgar E 1107
Kline Families. .415, 438, 467.
631, 705, 813, 962, 1107, 1225
Kline, Harry H 962
Kline, Isaac 813
Kline, Jacob L 705
Kline, John J 1064
Kline, John L. C 622
Kline, Luther B., M. D 415
Kline, Riley L 438
Klinetoh, Dr. Dalbys B 652
Klinetob, David G 1186
Klinetob Families 651, 1186
Klinetob, Harvey L 651
Kling Family 1086
Klinger, Elmer 1209
Klinger, Gideon 1309
Knapp, Christian F 741
Knecht, Jacob 817
Kiieeht, Mrs. Martlia E 817
Knepper Family 1147
Knittle, Daniel F 665
Knittle, Miss Ella 645
Knittle Families 645, 665
Knittle, .Joseph B 645
Knorr Families 786, 793, 985
Knorr, Harvey E 785
Knorr, Henry T 793
Knorr, Samuel M 985
Knouse, Ehvood 1107
Knouse F.amily 1107
ICoeher, Edwin M ] 001
Kocher Families
867, 1001, 1038, 1057
Kocher, Thomas C 1038
Koons Family 779
Koons, Julius C 779
Kostenbauder Families
1011, 1100
Kostenbauder, Jesse J 1011
Kostenbauder, Oscar P 1100
Kramni Family 905
Krebs Family 413
Kreischer Family 1204
Kreischer, William H 1204
Kreisher, Clarence E 660
Kreisher Family 660
Kressler Family 1014
Kressler, Samuel P 1014
Krumm Family 1206
Kuhn, Isaac S 848
Kuhn, Mrs. Susan 848
Kunkel, Charles 1163
Kunkel Family 1163
Kurtz Family 720
Kurtz, Hon. .Jennings U..121, 720
Landis, David E 571
Landis, John B 571
Laiib Families 757, 1117
Laub. George A 757
Laub, Jacob A 1117
Daubach Fam.ilies 552, 1031
Lazarus, Charles E 940
Lazarus Families 940, 958
Lazarus, Henry 959
Learn, Alexander J 844
Learn Family 844
Lechleitner Family 804
Lechner, .Joseph F 868
Le Due, Emile J 870
I^e Due Family 870
Lee Families 911, 1101, 1177
Lee, George S 1101
Lee, Isaac C 911
Lee. James 1177
Lee, Thomas M 1224
BIOGRAPHICAL INDEX
XIX
Lefller, Mrs. Carrie (Russell) .1259
Legien Family 1214
Legien, Herman R 1214
Lehmau Family 942
Lehman, Frank 942
Leiby Family 1114
Leiby, Simon 1114
Leidy Family 933
Leidy, John H 933
Leidy, Paul 317
Lemon, Michael 842
Lemon, William M 842
Lenhart, C. Fred 526
Lenliart Family 526
Lenhart, George W 988
Letteer Family 1255
Letteer, Oscar E 1255
Levan, CD 878
Levan (Le Van) Families. 501, 878
Levan, Joseph 1078
Levan, Wilson 1078
Lewis, Judge Ellis 66, 311
Litchard Family 655
Litcliard, James H 655
Little, Mrs. Deborah T 419
Little Family 418
Little, Judge Robert R
69, 313, 418
Livziey, Harvey C 930
Livziey, William 930
Lockard Family 1030
Lockard, James S 1030
Lockhart, Charles C 1143
Lockhart Family 1143
Long, Charles C 846
Long Families 707, 952
Long, Jolin F 952
Longenberger Family 1260
Loreman Family 962
Loreman. .Jonathan 962
Lormer Familv 1128
Lormer. Scth C 1128
Lovett, William 997
Lovett, William T 997
Lowry, William F. ._ 162, 744
Lundy, John 286
Lundy, Rev. John P 286
Lutz, Charles B 754
Lutz Family 754
Lyman Family 486
McAnall, Charles K 1031
McAnall, John 1030
McAnall, John R 1030
McBride. Charles G 1080
McBride Family 1089
McBride, Hugh' D 1080
McBride, .James D 717
McBride, Miss L. Rachel 1090
McBride, Oscar E 10S9
McCollum, Alfred F 1096
McConnell Family 593
McConnell. George 593
McCormick, James 292
McHenry, Abram L 1148
McHenry, B. Frances 320
McHenry Families
657, 814, 1148, 1160, 1194, 1235
McHenry, Ira R 1160
McHenry, James B 1235
McHenry, John G 212, 657
JIcHenry, Dr. Montraville ....
322, 1161
JXcHeniy, Oliver S 814
iloKiUip, Harvey A 573
Mcilahan I'amily 1225
JlcMahan, Capt. James 1161
McJlichael, James 1149
McMichael, William F 1149
McNeal, Ann 583
McVicker F'amily 655
McWilliams Families ...583, 864
MaoCrea, Alexander B., M. D. 516
MacCrea Family 516
ilacdonald Families. 609, 668, 1156
lAlacdonald, John T., M. D...1156
Jlacdonald, John L 609
Maclntyre Family 668
Madden Family 693
Madden, William T 692
Magill, Dr. William H
287, 321, 372
Magreevy Family 1241
aUllery, Garrick 162, 461
Maloney Family 1241
Jlanning Family 1039
Manning, William H 1039
Mansfield Family 1131
Mansfield, William J 1131
Jlarkle, Daniel R 1169
Markle Families . 1043, 1140, 1170
Marks Family 634
Marks, Robert L 634
Marr. Alem 314, 325
Martin Family 583
Martin, James 941
Martin, Patrick 941
Martz, Ambrose 925
Martz. Charles N 1062
Martz, David B. F 1042
Martz, Edward S 1154
Martz Families 810,
908. 924, 1042, 1050, 1002, 1154
Martz, Henrv 924
Martz, Jacob 90S
Martz, Jacob W 929
Martz. Jolm 924
Masteller Families 478, 1097
Masteller, William 1097
Masters Family 619
ilasters, Francis P 619
Masters, Mrs. Orpha L 620
Maus Families
17, 274, 282, 400, 407, 445
Maus, Philip E 407
Mauser, Alonzo A 1191
JIauser, David 1305
Mauser Families. .938, 1191, 1305
JIauser, Jlrs. Sarah J 1306
Jlelick, Henrv W 1082
Jlelick Families 1055, 1082
Mensch Families
586, 630, 781, 1224
Menseh, Frank 1324
Mensch. John S 586
Mensch, Lewis C 630
Mensch, William 781
Jleredith Familv 544
Meredith, Hugh'B., M. D
323, 363, 544
IMericle. Theodore 815
Merkel Familv 1071
Mcrkel. William A 1071
Messersmith Family 787
Messersmith, Jesse B.... ... 787
Michael Families. .511, 1139, 1215
Micliael, Obediah 1140
Milheim Family 1179
milliard Family 521
Millard, William H 520
Miller, Daniel H 801
Miller, David M 1125
Miller Families
801, 1084, 1125, 1163
Miller, George W 1084
Miller, Harry D 801
Miller, James N 776
Miller, Reuben J 1163
Mills Family 684
Mills, .Samuel A 684
Milnes F-amily loiQ
Molyueaux Family iiys
Molyneaux, Walter R 1195
Monroe, William R 491
Montgomery, Ditniel 280
Montgomery, Gen. Daniel
274, 280, 337, 360
Montgomery Families 17, 278
Montgomery, John C 318
Montgomery, John G 310
Montgomery, Gen. William . .
378, 327
Montgomery, Judge William. 281
Montgomery, Rev. William B. 284
Moomey Familj- 849
Moomey. George iS 849
Moore, Evan B 1141
Moore Families
525, 631, 1141, 1194
Moore, John E 631
Moore, William H 1194
ilordan Family 1166
Mordan, Harman L 1166
Morgan Family 989
Morgan. John L 989
Jloser Family 682
ilourcr, L. K 321
Mowery Family 1105
Mowery, George 1105
Mowrei-, Mrs. Annie S 867
Mowrer, .John 867
Mowrer, William K 867
Jlowrey, Mrs. Eleanora 1216
Mowrey Family 1216
Mowrey, George Y 1316
Mowrey, Isaac 1216
Munson, David 1122
Munson Family 1123
Munson, ilrs. Louisa 1132
Murray, David E . 658
Murry Family 1307
Muriy, Miles 1207
Musselman, Beverly W., Sr.. 855
Musselman, Beverly W., .Jr.. 719
Musselman, Mis.-B Elizabeth L. 850
Musselman. Miss Sarah C. . . 856
Myerley. George W 850
Myerlcy, Mrs. Harriet S 851
Myers Families 976, 1025
Newbaker Family 640
Newbaker. Dr. Philip C..332, 640
Xewman Family 777
Newman. -lohn H 777
Xevhard Familv 840
XX
BIOGRAPHICAL INDEX
Neyhard, Samuel 110, 840
Noss Family 1037
Nuss Family 1032(
Nuss, Jeremiah B 1032
Oglesby Family 498
Oglesby, George 498
Oglesby, Dr. James 333, 498
Oglesby, William V 330, 499
Ohl, Boyd T 1007
Ohl Families 1007, 1111
Ohl, Michael T 1111
Oliver Family 1166
Oliver, William 1166
Oman Family 1110
Oman, Thomas C 1110
Orth, William H 869
Oswald, Mrs. Anne 6 634
Oswald Family 636
Owen, Hudson 955
Oxley Family 1332
Oxley, Lewis 1322
Oyster Family 887
Oyster, George N 887
Paden, Claud C 994
Paden, David F 995
Parker Family 1244
Parker, Theodore 1344
Patrick Family 1347
Patrick, Gus 1247
Patten, Robert S., M. D. .325, 855
Paules Family 1008
Paules, William R., M. D . . .
324, 1008
Peckham, Aaron K 66
Pentz, E. D 1259
Peters, Edward W 542
Petrovits Family 603
Petrovits, Rev. Joseph J. C. . 602
Petty Family 945
Pfahler Family 600
Pfahler, James F 599
Pfahler, John E 1059
Pliillips Families 788, 1353
Phillips, Lewis S 788
Phillips, Ralph G 1353
Ploch. Frederick 831
Poe Family 615
Pohe Family 1120
Pohe, Stephen C 1120
Polk Family 414
Polk, Rufus K 414
Pollock Family 700
Pollock, Judge James 66, 312
Pollock, James B 700
Price Families 496, 947
Price, Thomas J 496
Price, William R 947
Purpur, Edward 459
Purpur Family ■ 459
Pursel Families 433,
505, 555, 560, 820, 1079, 1109
Pursel, Frank P 432
Pursel, Henry J 1079
Pursel, Jasper N 555
Pursel, Jonathan 1109
Pursel, Norman S 505
Pursel, William G 560
Pursell Family 738
Quick Family 783
Quick, John G 783
Quick, William G 783
Quigg, Thomas 678
Quigg, William 678
Randall, Charles E 585
Randall Family 585
Rank, Daniel VV 318, 854
Rank Family 854
Rank, Isaac 288
Raseley, Charles A 573
Raseley Family 573
Raup, Abraliam L 1061
Raup Family 1061-
Rcagan, George L., M. D 597
Reagan, Mrs. Tillie E 598
Rebman, Samuel C 871
Reed Families 691, 1083
Reed, Guy A 1083
Reed, J. Orville 941
Reed}', Daniel 791
Reedy Family 791
Reese, Charles R 809
Reese Family 809
Reifsnyder Family 789
Reifsnydcr, Karl P 789
Reiter, Augustus 1183
Reiter Family 1183
Remley, David 1036
Renilcy Family 1180
Reynolds Family 927
Reynolds, Theodore 926
Rhawn Family 481
Rhawn, William H 481
Rhinard Family 1226
Rlioads Family 834
Rhodes, B. K 317
Rhodes, .John 393
Riciiard. Frederick J 493
Richard, Jacob F 494
Richardson Family 483
Richardson, John L 483
Richie, C. W 1127
Rieketts, Edward 930
Ricketts, George E 930
Rider, Lloyd T 537
Rinard, Abraham L 608
Rinard Family 607
Rinard, Joseph H 607
Ringrose. Aaron 971
Ringrose, William R 971
Rishel, Dorance R 434
Rishel Family 434
Rishel, James P 863
Rishel, John R 862
Rittenhouse Family 1171
Rittenhouse, MarkE 1171
Ritter Family 1337
Ritter, FoiTcst N 1237
Robbins Family 547
Robbins, James E., M. D. .334, 547
Robinson, Edwin H 1132
Robinson Family 1132
Robinson, .John M 1133
Robinson, .Joseph J 1134
Robinson, Thomas C 902
Robinson, William M 1132
Robinson. William R 902
Robison Family 566
Robison, .James B 566
Robison. Miss Martha E 568
Rockefeller, .Judge William M. 313
Rodenhoffer Family 943
Rodenhoffer, George 943
Roderick, David M 883
Roderick Family 883
Rogers, David J 1230
Rogers, Thomas J 694
Rogers, William J 694
Roiirbach Family 1315
Rohrbach, Lorenzo D 1215
Rook Family 1028
Rote Family 551
Rote, George L 551
Roup Family 1144
Roup, William 1144
Rowe Family 869
Rowe, George L S69
Rowe, John 790
Rowe, Riciiard W 790
Rowe, Mrs. Sarah 790
Ruch Families 843, 1090
Ruch. Henry 574
Ruch. William F 574
Ruhl, Robert J 602
Runyan, Mrs. Ann Maria 1189
Runyan, Elmer W 1189
Rupert Family 506
Russell Family 1258
Russell, William M. C 1258
Rutter Family 441
Rutter, John C, Jr 441
Ryan Family 871
Ryan, James 871
Sandel, ,John H., M. D. . .323, 694
Sands Family 1122
Sands. William E 1121
Savage Family 1045
Savage, George N 1045
Savidge Family 1221
Savidge, Ralph A 1331
Scarlet Family 440
Scarlet. James 318, 440
Schlee, Frederick 1063
Schlee, Peter 1063
Schott Family 1237
Schott, Thomas A 1336,
Schram Family 784
Schram, Martin H 784
Schultz Family 439
Schultz, Dr. Solomon S. . .333, 429
Schweppenheiser, Abram.806, 817
Sehweppenheiser Families . . .
805, 817, 1337
Schweppenheiser, William C. .1237
Sechler Families .... 717, 867, 870
Sechler, H. B. D 288
Sechler, Jacob 385
Sechler, Mrs. Mary C 582
Sechler, M. De La'fayette 717
Sechler, Mrs. Rosanna 716
Sechler, Samuel 582
Sechler, William A 718
Seely, Col. Andrew D 856
Seely Families 739, 856
Seely, S. Britt 739
Seidel, Alfred F 858
Seidel. Arren E 393, 859
Seidel, Clarence W 859
Seidel Families 714, S5S
Seidel, Joseph B 714
Seidel, Mrs. I^ucy C 859
Seiple Family 1085
Seiple, Stephen C 1085
BIOGRAPHICAL INDEX
XXI
Seybert Family 1189
Shaffer, Alfred C 1186
Shaffer, Hon. Charles A 704
Shaffer, Edward 1210
Shaffer Families
704, 1186, 1210, 1246
Shaffer, Rev. Theodore B 1246
Shalter, Edmond H 893
Shalter Family 891
Shalter, John 891
Shambach, Jesse Y 643
Shannon, Qark W 1093
Shannon Families 760, 1093
Shannon, Hun. William W.. . 760
Sharpk'ss, Arthur W 835
Sharpless, Benjamin F 970
Sharpless Families 835, 969
Sharpless, George H 970
Shelhart, Jacob 289
Sheriff, John W 858
Sheriff, Mrs. Matilda A 858
Sherman, Nathan 1167
Shew Family 791
Shew, John'W. E 791
Shires, Charles E 874
Shires Family 874
Shive Family 842
Shoemaker, David C 1100
Shoemaker Families
834, 888, 1075, 1100
Shoemaker, William 1258
Shoop, Gideon M 289
Shugars Family 1135
Shugars, Jolm H 1135
Shnltz, B. F., M. D 290, 333
Shultz, Charles W 724
Shultz Families 662,
734, 830, 903, 936, 1065, 1093
Shultz, Glen L 1065
Shultz, Philip G 663
Shultz, R. M 1092
Shuman, Ambrose, M. D 512
Shuman, Mrs. Angeline 511
Shuman, Cliarles S 541
Shuman Families
509, 541, 1077, 1245
Shuman, Franklin L 510
Shuman, John T 512
Shuman, .John W 1345
Shuman, Paris H 511
Sidler, Emanuel 548
Sidlcr Families 548, 686, 875
Sidlor, William L 686
Sidler, William S 875
Simington, Dr. R. S 333
Sitler, aiarles E 1016
Sitler Families 648, 796.
972, 1016, 1032, 1161, 1175, 1182
Sitler, .James W 1161
Sitler, Reuben H 796
Smethers, Miss Amy B 957
Smethers, Edward H 985
Smethers Families
957, 961, 985, 1243
Smethers, Hurley K 1242
Smethers, Jacob C 957
Smethers, John A 1343
Smethers, John H 1301
Smethers, Miss Katlierine. . .1242
Smethers, Philip McClellan.. 961
Smith, Adam 1103
Smith, Allen E 1104
Smith, Charles H 790
Smith, David 933
Smith Families
520, 804, 932, 934,
944, 1081, 1103, 1118, 1165, 1249
Smith, Fred K 1248
Smith, Frederick B 193, 595
Smith, George W 790
Smitli, H. Montgomery 520
Smith, James E 944
Smith, John B 936
Smith, Joseph 925
Smith, Lloyd E 1081
Smith, Miles W 934
Smith, Robert M 1165
Smith, Stephen 926
Smith. Theodore L 804
Smithers, Benjamin F 932
Smithers Family 922
Snyder, Allen L 1052
Snyder, Charles W 1096
Snyder Families . . . .614, 687,
761, S85, 909, 1052, 1096, 1322
Snyder, H. Alfred 885
Snyder, Prof. Harlan R 761
Snyder, John 755
Snyder, Joseph H 909
Snyder, Mrs. Sarah M 615
Snyder, Stephen E 687
Snyder, William H 614
Snyder, W. L 755
Sober Family 711
Sober, Dr. Harry M 711
Sones Family 1146
Sponenberg, Edward J 807
Sponenberg Families . 646, 807, 987
Sponenberg, James E 987
Sponenberg, Philip 646
Stackhouse Family 637
Stackhouse, Milton E 637
Startzel Family 560
Startzel, William B 559
Stees, Harry R 748
Steinman, Andrew J 681
Steinman Family 683
Sterner Families 463, 832
Sterner, Harry 463
Sterner, Prof. Lloyd P 833
Stifnagle, Philip 784
Stifnagle, William 784
Stiles, .John J 1188
Still. Adoniram J 556
Still Family 556
Stine Family 1111
Stine, Michael E 1111
Stock, George A., M. D 684
Stone Family 610
Stout, Mrs. Elleretta 1086
Stout Families 761, 1025
Stout, Sheridan W 1087
Stout. William T 1025
Strawbridge, Dr. James D... 331
Stuart Family 1205
Stver, Cyrus F 893
Stver Family 893
Suit, Alonzo ■ J 1010
Suit Families 1010, 1094, 1197
Suit, Headley 1094
Siilt, .Jacob N 1197
Suplee (Supplee) Families...
740, 1033
Sutliff Family 850
Swank Families
504, 685, 853, 1208
Swank, Joseph G 504
Swank, Thomas J 853
Sweutek, Mrs. Amelia 939
Swentek, Paul P 940
Sweppenheiser, Dr. Claude E. 949
Sweppenheiser Family 949
Taylor Families 864, 927, 950
Taylor, Frank M 950
Taylor, John H 166, 168, S64
Taylor, William H 937
Teple Family 477
Teplc, James E 477
Tewksbury, Eugene D 632
Tewksbury Family 622
Thomas Families. 1040, 1164, 1250
Thomas, Martin L 1164
Thomas, Miss Mary il 1153
Thomas, Samuel R 1151
Thompson Family 960
Thompson, Hugh 960
Tliornton Family 913
Tilley, Rodman E 1061
Tilloy, William 1061
Tooey, James 933
Tooey, John 933
Tooley, John 683
Tooley, John F 683
Townsend, Mrs, Elizabeth. . .1057
Town.scnd Families 1056, 1102
Townsend, John R 468
Townsend, Jonah H 1103
Townsend, Louis J 1056
Traugh Family 773
Traugh, Henry F 773
Trego Family 839
Trego, William H 829
Trescott, Boyd 508
Trescott Family 508
Trowbridge, Harry M 1046
Trumbower, Mrs. Mary S . . . . 870
Trumbower. Samuel M 870
Tubbs Family 1027
Tubbs, William E 1027
Turner, William 938
Turner, William G 938
Umstead, David M 1133
Um.stead Family 790
Umstead, Mrs. Harriet E 1133
Unangst Family 826
Unangst, George B 836
Updegraff Family 1149
Utt Family 1093
Utt, William S 1092
Van Alen, T.
390
Vanderslice, Charles T
497
Vanderslice Family . .
498
van Fossen. George W.
321
Van Horn Families . . . .
.780,
1082
Van Horn. Robert W. .
1082
Vannan Family
453
Vannan, Forbes H....
453
Vannan. Irvin, Sr
1348
Van Natta Family ....
741
Van Natta, Sade
741
Vastine Families
..443
, 603
Vastine, George H., M.
D.. .
444
Vastine, Dr. Jacob H.
. .322
. 444
XXll
BIOGRAPHICAL INDEX
Vastino, Jacob M, M. D 445
Vastine. William 60C
Vastine, William M 445
Vincent Familiesi 659, 9G8
Vincent, Henry 31S
Vincent, Thomas G 9GS
Vincent, Walter J 659
Voris, Charles E 725
Voris Family 725
Voris, James 2S7, 725
Vought Families 594, 1029
Vought, Peter H 594
Vought, William C 1029
W^agenseller Family 1067
Wagenseller, George 1067
Wagner Family 938
Wagner, Harvey G 938
W^alker, Silas N 731
Waller, Eev. David J., Jr . . . .
127, 143, 560
Walp, Charles 1' 826
Walp Family 826
W'alter Family 895
Walter, Mary Emma 196, 648
Walton Fami'lies 539, 837
W'alton, Harry E 837
Walton, Rev. Morris 539
Waters, Dennis 858
Waters Family 1206
Waters, George W 1206
Watson Family 879
Watson, John F 949
Watters Family 984
Watters. William A 984
Watts Family 698
Watts, James S 698
Weikert Family 903
Weller, John " 910
Welliver. Charles E 538
Welliver Families
539, 1001, 1015, 1057, 1078
Welliver, George W 1001
Welliver, John E 1078
Welliver, Samuel J 458
Welliver, Warren W 459
Welliver, Wilbur C 1057
Wells, Mrs. Lemuel E 407
Welsh, Abner 954
^V'elsh, Isaac 954
Welsh, James 682
^^'elsh, Jayne G 955
Welsh, Robert G 1041
Welsh, Thomas C 320, 682
Weniier Familv 1002
Weiiner, Frank E 1002
Wertnian Familv 923
Wertmaii. Felix P 923
W'ertman, Henry D 929
West Family . .■" 492
West, Isaac "D 493
West, William Kase 319, 492
W'halen, Daniel J 1240
Whalen Family 1240
Wheeler, Edward 1041
Wheeler, H. C 1041
White, Alem B 967
White, Bruce M 795
White, Jbs. Esther E 967
White Families 469,
795, 967, 1009, 1068, 1192, 1229
White. Frank B 1229
White, Harry E 1009
White, Hiest'er V 409
W'hite, John P 1068
White. Leslie H 1192
Whitmire Families ....1162, 1179
Whitmire, Morris J 1179
\Vigfall Family 423
Wigfall, Samuel 423
Williams, David C 545
Williams Families
666, 912, 982, 988, 995
Williams, George C 546
Williams, Guy 988
Williams, J. J 1128
Williams. William E 912
W"illits Familv 623
Wnilits, Isaiah W^, M. D 623
W^ilson Family 1108
W'ilson, Nathaniel 382
Wilson, W. P 1108
Wintersteen, Andrew J 900
Wintersteen Families
702, 882, 900
Wintersteen, Henry 702
\Vintersteen, Joseph H 1232
Witman, Rev. Edwin H 460
Witman, Franklin A 768
Wolf Families 617, 1127
Wuodin, Clemuel R 162, 489
Woodin Family 488
Wuodin, William H. (de-
ceased) 161, 488
Woodin, William H 489
Woodward, \Varren J 66
Wyatt Family 913
Yagel, Charles J 1053
Yagel Family 1053
Yerrick, John 863
Yorrick, Rush 863
Yetter, Clyde C 753
Yocum Family 623, 1137
Yorks Family 292, 683
Yorks, Miss "M. Ida 684
Yorks, William 683
Y'ost Family 1201
Yost, Isaac'E 1201
Young, A. Philip 570
Young, Dr. Benjamin F 282
Young Families
570, 935, 1051, 1168
Young, Herman T 1051
Young, Jeremiah W 1168
Young, Dr. Jesse B 417
Young, Mrs. Mary B 1168
Young, Omer F 935
Youngman, Maj. John C. . . . 449
Y"oungman, M. Grier 448
Zarr Family 956
Zarr, Frank P 956
Zarr, Robert R 956
Zehnder. Cliarles H 162, 460
Zehner Family 800
Zehner. William P 800
Zerbe Family 799
HISTORY OF
COLUMBIA COUNTY
CHAPTER I
THE INDIANS
Civilization struck the native savages of this
continent hke a bhght. The great and pop-
ulous tribes and their strong bands of war-
riors and hunters, fiercer than any wild beast
and as untamable as the eagle of the crags,
have faded away, and the remnants of the once
powerful and warlike nations are now huddled
upon reservations, and in stupid squalor are
the paupers of our nation, begging a pitiful
crust of bread, or in cold and hunger awaiting
the allowances doled out by the government
for their support. The swiftness with which
they are approaching ultimate extinction, the
stoicism with which they see and feel the in-
evitable darkness and destiny closing upon
them and their fate, forms one of the most
tragic epics in history. Soon their memory
will be only a fading tradition. To real history
they will give no completed chapter, because
they did nothing and were nothing as factors
in the grand march of civilizing forces. They
gave the world no thought, no invention, no
idea that will live or that deserves to be classed
with the few things born of the human brain
that live and go on forever. As a race they
had no inherent powers of self -development
or advancement. Like the wild animal they
had reached the limits of their capacity, and
had they been left here undisturbed by the
white race they would have gone on indefi-
nitely in the same circle — savages breeding
savages.
Such are nature's resistless laws that the
march of beneficent civilization is over a great
highway paved with the bodies and broken
bones of laggard nations, nations who pause
within the boundary line separating the ig-
norant savage from intelligent progress.
Nature tolerates none of this sentimental stuff
of "Lo, the poor Indian." It wastes no time
in futile tears over the suft'erings of ignorance
and filth, but "removes" them and lets the
fittest survive, and to them belong the earth
and the good things thereof. And yet even
the poor Indian had rights that civilization
should have been bound to respect; and civili-
zation had it within her power to help rather
than rob the red men of the forest.
The one characteristic that will ever redeem
the memory of the Indian race from contempt
is his intense love for his wild liberty and his
unconquerable resolution never to be enslaved
— a menial, drawing the wood and water and
receiving the blows of the lash from a mas-
ter's hand. He would sing his death song and
die like the greatest of stoics, but he would not
be yoked. When penned up as a criminal, he
beat against the iron bars like the caged eagle
and slowly perished, but died like an Indian
brave, and rejoicing that thus he could escape
the further tortures that to him were far be-
yond death itself.
The treatment of the red men by the govern-
ment has not been wise and often unjust. Not
only were they cruelly robbed of their lands at
times, but government traders swindled them
of their pelts, furs and game, and gave them
the worst evils of our civilization — whiskey,
powder, lying, deceit and hypocrisy. Govern-
ment agent.= and missionaries preached and
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
enjoined upon them our splendid Cliristian
code of morals, but the busy traffickers robbed,
swindled and debauched and murdered them
without hindrance or rebuke.
William Penn and Lord Baltimore were
more than a century ahead of their age. Their
treatment of the Indians is the fairest page in
the history of American settlement. In their
dealings with the savages they leaned to the
side of charity and paid them their own price
for the lands purchased, respecting their rights
and keeping the compacts made with them. In
this respect they earned the unfaltering regard
and trust of the natives, the only injuries ever
done to the members of the Society of Friends
being perpetrated by the renegade allies of the
French.
ORIGIN OF THE INDIANS
It is probable that the aboriginal inhabitants
of the territory within the limits of this county
belonged mainly to the Lenni Lenape, who
held that they were the original people and of
Western origin. The Delawares claimed that
their ancestors lived, many hundred years ago,
in the far distant wilds of the West, and were
the progenitors of forty other tribes ; that after
many years of emigration towards the rising
sun, they reached the Mississippi river, where
they met the Mengwe, who came from a very
distant region and had reached that river high-
er up towards its source; that they found a
powerful nation east of the Mississippi, who
were called Alligewi, and from whom origi-
nated the name of the Allegheny mountains;
that the Lenape wished to settle near the Alli-
gewi, which the latter refused, but allowed
them to cross the river and proceed farther to
the East; that when the Alligewi discovered
how multitudinous the Lenape were, they
feared their numerical strength and slew the
portion that had crossed the river, and threat-
ened to destroy the rest if they should attempt
to cross ; that the Lenape and Mengwe united
their forces against the Allegewi, and con-
quered and drove them out of that part of
the country ; that the Lenape and Mengwe lived
together in peace and harmony for many years.
Their tradition relates further that some of
the Lenape hunters crossed the Allegheny
mountains, the Susquehanna and Delaware
rivers, and advanced to the Hudson, which
they called the Mohicannituck river; that on
their return to their people they represented
the country which they had discovered so far
towards the rising sun to be without people,
but abounding in hsh, game, fowls and fruits ;
that thus the Lenape were induced to emigrate
eastward along the Lenape-zvhittuck, the river
of the Lenapes, also called Mack-er-isk-iskan,
which the English named the Delaware, in hon-
or of Lord de la Ware, who entered Delaware
bay in 1610 and was governor of the Colony of
Virginia from about that time until 1618. The
Dutch and Swedes called it the South river
to distinguish it from the North river, which
bears the name of Hudson.
That such was the tradition preserved by the
Delawares is truthfully stated by Rev. John
Heckewelder, a Moravian missionary, in his
"Account of the History, Manners and Cus-
toms of the Indian Nations who once Inhab-
ited Pennsylvania and the Neighboring States,"
published, in 1819, under the auspices of the
historical and literary committee of the Ameri-
can Philosophical Society. The passing re-
mark may here be made that Indian laws and
historical events were not preserved on parch-
ment, paper or in books, but were handed
down by tradition from one generation to an-
other.
DIFFERENT TRIBES
The Iroquois have a tradition that the val-
ley of the Susquehanna was first inhabited by
the Andastes, a branch of the Lenni Lenape,
whose local tribal name was Susquehannocks.
These the Iroquois drove out and possessed
themselves of the lands.
The Shawnees were driven out of Georgia
and South Carolina, and came to the mouth of
the Conestoga, within the present limits of Lan-
caster county, Pa., about 1677, and spread
thence over what was afterwards Cumberland
county, along the west branch of the Susque-
hanna, in the Wyoming valley, and thence
to the Ohio. As early as (if not earlier than)
1719 Delaware and Shawnee Indians were
settled on the Allegheny. About 1724, says
Bancroft, the Delaware Indians, for the con-
venience of game, emigrated from the Dela-
ware and Susquehanna rivers to the branches
of the Ohio; in 1728 the Shawnees gradually
followed them, and they were soon met by
Canadian traders, and loncaire, an adopted
citizen of the Seneca tribe, used his eloquence
to win them to the side of the French.
Over the whole country watered by the
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
Susquehanna the Six Nations, composed of
the Mohawks, Oneidas, Cayugas, Onondagas
and Senecas, and later the Tuscarora Indians,
claimed the right of conquerors and reigned
supreme, and with them all of the treaties
between the whites and red men were nego-
tiated. To these savages we owe the musical
and romantic names borne by the diiTerent
streams and sections of these two counties.
Here was the home of the famous chief,
Tamenund, whose name is perpetuated in the
Society of Tammany in New York and by a
county in the State of Louisiana.
The names of Indian origin in Columbia
and Montour counties are Susquehanna, mean-
ing river of the winding shore ; Chillisquaque,
derived from "Chilisuagi," an Indian word
meaning a place frequented by snowbirds
(Conrad Weiser crossed it March 8, 1737;
he called it "Zilly Squache" in his diary) ;
Muncy, from the Monsey tribe; Wyoming,
Maughwauwama — large plains ; Catawese,
pure water; Loyalsock, middle fork; Mahon-
ing. The Indian name for Briar creek was
Kawanishoning, for Pine creek, Tiadaghton
and for Roaring creek, Popemetung. William
Penn was called Miquon by the Indians with
whom he had dealings.
INDIAN P.^THS OR TR.MLS
The valley of the Susquehanna was at one
time thickly populated by the Indians and the
remains of many villages and burying grounds
have been uncovered in the last centurj-. The
most important legacy from these savage
predecessors is the foundation they laid for
subsequent exploration and development by
means of the numerous trails or paths they
made through an otherwise trackless wilder-
ness. Through the dense forest, over the hills
and amidst the morasses ran these trails,
scarcely fifteen inches wide, but worn to the
depth of a foot by their constant use from
the feet of generations of savages and savage
beasts, and patted to the density of rock by
this soft yet resistless pressure.
The Shamokin path began at Sunbury and
continued up the West Branch to the mouth
of Warrior run, where an Indian town was
located, and thence through the gap to the
town of Muncy, the home of the Monseys.
The Wyoming path left Muncy on the West
Branch, ran up Glade run, thence through a
gap in the hills to Fishing creek and across
the creek, passing into Luzerne county through
the Nescopeck gap, and up the North Branch
to Wyoming.
The Wyalusing path was traced up Muncy
creek to near where the Berwick road crosses,
then to Dushore, thence to the Wyalusing
flats.
The Sheshequin path ran up Bowser's run,
thence to Lycoming creek, near the mouth of
Mill creek, thence up the Lycoming to the
Beaver dams, thence down Towanda creek
to the Susquehanna river, thence up the river
to the Sheshequin flats.
The Fishing Creek path started on the flats
near Bloomsburg, ran up Fishing creek through
Rosemont cemetery to Orangeville, on to or
near Long pond, thence across to Tunkhan-
nock creek. It was on this path that Moses
\'anCampen was captured.
One of the most frequently traveled trails
passing through the county was that leading
from Wyoming to Aluncy. It followed the
river from Wilkes-Barre to Shickshinny;
thence through the notch at the eastern end
of Knob mountain and along the northern
base of that ridge, entering Columbia county
near Jonestown, in Fishingcreek township,
following thence down Huntington creek to
the Forks and down Fishing creek to near the
mouth of Green creek ; thence up that creek
to a point below Rohrsburg; thence along
the northern base of the Mt. Pleasant hills to
Little Fishing creek at a point between Mill-
ville and Eyer's Grove ; thence over the divide
between the waters of Fishing creek and the
Chillisquaque, and thence northwestward un-
til it joined the path up Glade nm from
Muncy. It must have been a prominent path
or trail, as frequent mention is made of it in
the old surveys of 1769 which cover the west-
ern part of Columbia and the northern part
of Montour county. It made a short and
direct route from the North Branch to the
West Branch and was -free from any steep
hills, in fact, the grades were so easy that
when the time came to locate the Wilkes-
Barre & Western railroad, from near Wash-
ingtonville to Shickshinny, there was no place
in a distance of nearly twenty-five miles
where this railroad was more than a half mile
from this old trail over which the Indian
traveled ages before. Near the mouth of
Green creek above Orangeville this trail joined
the trail from Nescopeck to the Great Island,
which was at what is now Jersey Shore, in
Lycoming county.
All these trails found their outlet towards
the settlements by way of Shamokin and the
river, and when first seen by the whites bore
evidence of constant use. There was only one
important trail to the southeastern settlements
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
—the one from Wyoming to the forks of the
Delaware, at Easton. To all other pomts the
trail along the Susquehanna was not only the
great Indian thoroughfare for the natives of
the valley, but for the whole Iroquois con-
federacy.
MADAME MONTOUR
From authentic sources the story of Madame
Montour is as follows : She was the daughter
of a French gentleman named Montour and
an Indian woman of the tribe at that time
inhabiting Canada. Her first marriage was
to an Indian of the Seneca tribe. She was
at Albany in 171 1 and acted as interpreter.
In 1744 she again acted as interpreter m a
treaty held at Lancaster, Pa. Her second hus-
band was Carondawana, a chief of the Unei-
das and she had altogether four sons and two
daughters, but by which union they were born
is not positively known. She seems to have
been a friend of the proprietaries, for large
erants were given to her sons, Andrew, Henry,
Robert and Lewis, on the Chillisquaque, near
Montoursville and at Shade Gap, in Hunting-
don county. In 1745 she resided at Shamokin,
where she died, but the date is not known.
Madame Montour's daughter Margaret had
several children, three of them daughters. She
it was who was termed "French Margaret
One of her daughters, Esther, married Ech-
eohund, a chief of the Mousey clan. She was
accused of complicity in the Wyoming mas-
sacre although no direct evidence could be
cxathered to prove the fact. Tradition ascribes
to another daughter of Margaret the founding
of the famous Catherinestown, the home and
temple of the sorcerers of the Cat Clan ot
the Senecas, who were the enemies alike of
the whites and the other tribes of Indians.
INDIAN VILLAGES AND SETTLEMENTS
Any attempt to locate the sites of Indian
villages in this part of Pennsylvania must de-
pend entirelv upon tradition. It is accepted
as fact that the sites of Bloomsburg, Berwick,
Catawissa and Danville were at one time oc-
cupied bv large Indian settlements, as the
remains and relics continually found at these
points indicate the presence in the remote past
of large and thriving communities. Most ot
the first settlers encountered these natives on
their arrival and were for some time after-
wards frequently terrorized by the return of
occasional bands of Indians who camped on
the sites which had from time immemorial
bee;i their favorite stopping places.
The nearest large village of which accurate
record has been left us, in this portion of the
State, is that of Shamokin, now the site of Sun-
bury, Northumberland county. In 1728 Shi-
kellamy, a prominent Cayuga chieftain, was
governor of the village, which was populated
principally by the Delawares. He governed in
a wise and judicial manner until his death in
1749. The natives after that date were gradu-
ally forced out by the whites, who in 1756 built
the fort called Augusta at this point. From
this nucleus grew up the present town of Sun-
bury.
More than a century and a half has passed
since the withdrawal of the Indians from the
territory of Columbia and Montour counties,
and the history of the Indian customs and
habits would soon be lost if not revived by the
historian of each decade. It is well, therefore,
to review in brief the manner of life of our
aboriginal predecessors as a reminder of the
contrasts between those days and the present
age of wonders and achievement.
The towns and villages of the Indians in-
habiting the valley of the Susquehanna and its
tributaries were located immediately upon the
banks of the streams, on ground high enough
to be out of reach of floods. But little atten-
tion was paid to location for defensive pur-
poses, except that a spot free of timber and
usually on a point jutting out into the stream
was selected, in order that canoes could be
easily landed and the squaws have ready access
to the water.
Wigwams were constructed in a substantial
manner to resist wind and storm, and to keep
the inmates comfortable during the winter.
Some were nearly twenty feet in diameter,
large and roomv, while others were smaller;
mott of them either oval or round in shape;
of bark or matting laid over a framework of
poles stuck in the ground, bunched together
at the top and tied with thongs. _ The winter
wigwams were covered with skins, with an
opening at the top to allow the escape of smoke,
and flaps at different points arranged to be
used for entrance, according to the direction
of the wind. Even in 'these modern days it
is quite an art to erect a "tepee" that will be
weatherproof and at the same time not suf-
focate the occupants with the smoke of the
fire. In winter these wigwams were lined with
matting, woven of rushes, grasses and reeds ;
bunks were built of poles, with skins and furs
for bedding. The clay cooking pots were hung
from the center over the ever-burning fire.
In the larger settlements the Indians built
loo- cabins, roofed with bark and sod, a hole
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
being left in the center to let out the smoke.
These were often fitted up in a very comfort-
able manner, and formed the model after which
the white settlers built their first habitations.
The whites, however, far exceeded the savages
in craftsmanship and design, and their homes
were fitted with that highest evidence of
superior civilization — the chimney.
Many persons have read of the Indian
"lodge," yet few are familiar with its construc-
tion. Lodges were not used for permanent
habitation, but mostly for camping and war
purposes. Saplings were stuck in the ground
in the form of a bow, something like a series
of croquet hoops set in a row, only about five
feet in height. A "lodge-pole" was lashed
along the tops of the hoops and over all were
thrown skins or matting, thus forming a long
hut, in which the sleepers lay. Cooking was
done outside at the camp fire.
The agricultural operations of the savages
were crude and their tools still more primitive.
Hoes were made from sharpened sticks and
the earth was simply scratched to receive the
seed. Corn, beans, pumpkins and tobacco
were the crops, and the tilled spots remained
unfenced, the horses being pastured at a dis-
tance to prevent depredations. After the
coming of the whites seeds were purchased
from the traders and the -variety of crops was
more extensive, some fruit trees being also
set out and tended. The rude implements
were replaced by others better fitted for the
cultivation of the soil, and better tools were
introduced into the wigwams. Steel traps
took the place of "deadfalls" and pits ; muskets
replaced the bow and arrow ; awls and needles
made from the bones of birds and animals
were no longer used in sewing the skin cloth-
ing and fitting together the matting coverings
of the wigwam; and the iron hoe made culti-
vation easier for the overburdened squaw.
Before the introduction of the pots and pans
of civilization food was prepared by roasting
on twigs stuck over the fire or, in the absence
of clay pots, boiled in skin kettles, heated by
dropping hot stones in them.
MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF THE INDIANS
The squaws bore the burden and toil of life
in an Indian camp. There was no "sufifragette"
propaganda then. While the male members of
the village hunted, fished, went on foraging
and warlike expeditions, or slumbered before
the fire, the females did the heaviest and most
degrading labor. They cut poles and built the
wigwams and cabins, performed all the vil-
lage drudgery and cooking, cared for the
ponies, gathered fuel, cultivated the soil,
planted the seed and harvested the crops, cut
up and preserved the meat brought in by the
hunters, tanned the skins and made the cloth-
ing for the entire family, bore and nursed the
children, and when on a journey carried great
bundles of camp equipage. They were un-
demonstrative and patient, bearing up under
their eternal burdens with much fortitude,
and when in the pain of childbirth uttered not
a sound. The squaw who cried or groaned
was forever disgraced. It was believed that
her sons would grow up to be cowards. Not-
withstanding all these hardships the squaws
were loyal and divorces were unknow-n, while
the custom was for a warrior to have but one
wife, except in rare cases.
The warrior was the head of the wigwam;
his wishes were obeyed without question and
his word was law. The papooses were taught
from infancy to be quiet and scarcely ever
cried. The only occasion in which the writer
ever heard an Indian baby cry was when he
as a child wandered down to the river and
found half a dozen papooses suspended on
boards from the branches of a tree. They
were facing each other and making a queer
cooing sound, but as soon as they caught sight
of the strange white face they set up a chorus
of howls that quickly brought the squaws to
the spot. They set upon the trespasser with
canes and chased him crying from the vicinity.
In the winter the babies were allowed to
roll around over the dirt floor of the wigwam,
and in summer along the lanes between the
tepees. When carried they were lashed to a
forked stick or rough hewn board, with ample
wrappings of skins and blankets. When a halt
was made they were sometimes suspended
from a tree if the parents were likely to be
absent, thus protecting them from animals :
but if the stop was short the tightly bound
infant was simply stood against a convenient
tree, and not always in the shade; yet the little
one would blink in the glaring sun without a
whimper.
As they grew older the children were given
all the training that would fit them for their
savage life. The boys were early turned over
to the men, who gave them instructions in
fishing, hunting and woodcraft, while the girls
were soon forced into the dreary routine of
the squaw's life of drudgery. The young of
both sexes developed early; at the age of
fifteen the boys were free to come and go
without restraint ; two years before that the
girls had budded into womanhood, and it was
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
a rare thing for a maiden to reach the age of
fifteen without being appropriated by some
buck.
Courtship and marriage were not attended
with much ceremony or delay. When a buck
cast his eye on a maiden he went to the father
and offered a price for her, usually in ponies.
The main ceremony consisted in the settlement
of her value between the contracting parties,
the after-ceremonies of the medicine man
being brief and simple. Yet these unions were
seldom broken except by death.
In moving from place to place the squaws,
as usual, had all the work to do. The wig-
wams and household goods were made into
large bundles and packed on the backs of the
ponies, or on "sweeps" made of poles lashed
to each side of the animal and connected be-
hind with crosspieces. The squaws also car-
ried some of the burdens, while the bucks
stalked ahead smoking their pipes. When a
halt was made for meals the ponies were not
unloaded, except at night. Sometimes there
were spare ponies enough to permit the squaws
to ride, but only after the bucks had been pro-
vided with a mount. Riding or walking, the
squaws carried the papooses on their backs.
All rode astride, with but a blanket beneath,
and no bridle was used, the animals being
guided by slaps on the side of the head or by
words.
On arrival at a suitable location it was the
duty of the squaws to unload, erect the wig-
wams, cut the firewood and perform all the
heavy work without assistance. When their
work was over they retired to the depths of
their skin robes, simply removing their clothing,
with the exception of the skirt, while the war-
riors retained only the breechclout.
COSTUMES
Indian dress in the earlier times was ex-
clusively made of skins. Great taste was
shown in the manufacture of these costumes,
which were trimmed with fur, and ornaments
made of fish scales, shells, beads, colored
grasses and feathers. The designs were beau-
tiful and artistic, and the material thoroughly
finished. Indian tanned skins have always,
even to the present day, commanded high
prices.
After the coming of the whites cloth began
to be used by the squaws in the manufacture
of clothing; the brighter the colors the more
popular the pattern — red being a favorite. The
squaws dressed in the gayest costumes their
tastes could devise ; beautifully worked and
beaded moccasins, soft deerskin leggings, rich-
ly decorated and fringed with the brightest
colored beads, ornaments and pendants ; and
their plump busts and arms were almost
covered with the many strings of ornaments,
shells, beads and stone pendants. In winter
an e.xtra skirt was worn, and furs wrapped
around the'neck and head.
Warriors, old and young, were most particu-
lar as to their appearance. Their hair was
pulled out by the roots after the age of pu-
berty had been reached, and but a "scalplock"
was allowed to grow. To this was fastened
a plume of feathers or horsehair. Nose and
ears were pierced for rings ; the bodies were
left bare to the waist, with many handsome
belts of wampum thrown across the shoulder.
The face and body were profusely painted with
colors made from clays and simple woodland
flowers, and a belt around the waist bore the
knife, warbag of charms, and other tools of
the chase or warfare, and served to hold the
leggings up. Through this belt was passed
the ends of the breechclout, made of linen or
other cloth, in early times of skin. It was
eight or nine inches wide and nearly a yard
long, and the manner of wrapping it around
the body denoted the clan or tribe to which
the wearer belonged.
Moccasins of many kinds were worn, and
in all cases the ankles were covered to protect
the feet from snakebites and thorns. On long
expeditions a fringed skirt was worn to protect
the body from bushes and briars, the leggings
being then exceptionally heavy. The differ-
ence between the hunters and the warriors on
the warpath consisted in the lack of paint on
the faces of the former and the lack of cloth-
ing of the latter. On marauding expeditions
the warrior greased himself all over to make
the hold of his adversary insecure.
There was general pride in the skill of the
hunters and the achievements of the warriors.
The taking of the first scalp by a young war-
rior was an occasion of special excitement and
rejoicing. The return of a party from the
warpath or a hunting expedition was always
attended with a public reception in the village ;
but after the expedition ended the lazy life of
the heroes began, and when winter set in they
had nothing to do but lie around until the
spring should come, smoke their pipes and
relate their deeds of prowess. On bright days
they sometimes got up a little excitement over
a game of football or a footrace ; occasionally
there was a dance or a feast, but as a rule the
winters were passed in idleness. Smoking was
their chief comfort under all conditions,
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
whether half asleep in the wigwams, or loll-
ing in the sunshine outside. Their pipes were
made of corncobs, clay, stone or wood, and
upon them were expended all their taste and
capacity for decoration.
GOVERNMENT
The Indian government was distinctly social-
istic in character. In the wigwams and vil-
lages, with the warriors and hunters, between
the young and old, in all situations of life,
there was perfect equality; in their character
and conduct were seen a strong sense of inde-
pendence, a great aversion to anything that
savored of caste or subjugation. They gloried
in their native liberty, and for one to show a
feeling of superiority was an effective barrier
to all further success. A chief being asked if
his tribe were free, replied: "Why not, since
I myself am free, although their chief?" The
chief of a tribe was not a ruler but a coun-
selor; he could neither make peace nor war,
and except as others were guided by his ex-
ample he had no control of tribal affairs.
A brave was chosen war chief upon his own
merit as a warrior, after having demonstrated
exceptional bravery or skill ; the village chief
was selected as one possessing administrative
ability, commanding address and great elo-
quence, and well versed in the traditions of
the tribe and their relations to neighboring
tribes. Possessing these distinguishing traits
of character and influence enough to be chosen
leader, it was equally necessary for each to
maintain his standing as a hunter and warrior.
For purposes of consultation, and as a place
to assemble the chiefs and braves, a council
house was usually built near the center of the
village. There all met on an equal footing to
determine questions of common interest ; the
calumets or pipes of peace and war were placed
side Ijy side, the choice of each to be made by
the signal taps of the war club. There the
Indian warriors gave vent to bursts of native
eloquence, for which they were so justly fa-
mous. Although an Indian seldom spoke
under ordinary circumstances, when he did
break the silence he said something of import.
It was at these councils that opportunity was
afforded to acquire that popularity and influ-
ence which would promote the speaker to posi-
tion and authority.
RELIGION
Personal pride was the controlling influence
in the Indian's religion. He believed that the
Great Spirit was ruler over all, and that spirit
was an Indian. Manitou was the name most
generally given the Great Spirit. The Indians
believed that they were the first of the human
race created; that they sprang from the brain
of the Great Spirit; that they possessed all
knowledge, and were under the special care of
their creator. Their traditions were vague, but
their religious sentiments were clear. They
had no fixed days or manner of worship.
They believed in a future state of reward and
punishment in the "happy hunting grounds"
beyond the grave; that all who did well would
be happy, but all who did ill would be mis-
erable ; they justified their barbarous outrages
and savage warfare, their cruel torture of men,
women and children, upon the precept of
"blood for blood," and among themselves, as
one of their famous chieftains said, they let
each individual "paddle his own canoe."
What principles of religion they had they
followed closely. They believed in a good
spirit and an evil one, and a number of lesser
deities that were active in managing the affairs
of the universe. To these they made sacrifices
to avert calamity, to secure blessings and suc-
cess, and in the way of thanksgiving for bene-
fits received. They also believed firmly in pun-
ishment and reward in this life.
Their medicine men, who had the care of
the sick and were in charge of all religious
feasts and observances, were held in great re-
spect as possessors of supernatural powers.
By the practice of their magical arts they
were supposed to have close relations with
the Great Spirit. Their medicines, made from
roots and herbs, were in their use surrounded
with all mystery possible, and all the arts of
the conjurer were solemnly practiced.
Indian burials were conducted with as much
form as any of their ceremonies. In the grave
with the corpse were buried the rifle and trap-
pings of the warrior or hunter, his pipe and
tobacco, and sufficient provisions and parched
corn to last him on his journey to the happy
hunting grounds of the future life. There was
no common place of burial, each grave being
located in the forest or on the hills, to suit
tlie wishes of the surviving friends. When
an Indian or his squaw died the survivors
would remain in mourning for a year, being
afterwards at liberty to marry again.
FE.\STS AND SPORTS
The regular times for feasts were when the
green corn could be first used, when the first
game of the season was killed, and when a vie-
8
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
tory was celebrated. Notices of these feasts
were sent to the wigwams and to the friendly
tribes by means of a runner, who bore small
pieces of painted wood. He would give the
date and program verbally. When the feast
occurred the bucks, squaws and young Indians
would sit around the fires, on which were boil-
ing the kettles of green corn, juicy venison,
bear meat, fat coon and hominy. Warriors
and squaws dressed in their best, and the occa-
sion was one of vast ceremonial. Each was
provided with a wooden bowl and a spoon of
bone or metal, and they helped themselves
whenever the food had been cooked to their
notion.
None but the warriors participated in the
wild excitement of the war dance, but the
youths were allowed to look on in order to
prepare for their later initiation, which was
severe and nerve-testing. There were other
dances in which the young and old joined with
loud shoutings, the clangor of tomtoms and
other rude instruments ; winding dances with
intricate figures ; wild square dances, in which
the maiden might show her preference for the
favorite hunter ; and these dances often were
continued all night by the light of the blazing
camp fires.
The sports and pastimes of the savages were
in character more in the way of preparation
for and incentive to the objects and pursuits
of their life, and consisted of running and
canoe races, jumping, wrestling, shooting,
throwing the tomahawk, and, in the days be-
fore the introduction of firearms, of practice
with the bow and arrow. Football was a very"
popular game, the excitement lasting some-
times for days and involving the entire village
in the sport.
FISHING .^ND HUNTINn
The Susquehanna and the streams flowing
into it were the favorite spawning and feeding
waters for the choice varieties of the different
fishes native to this section, and during the
cool months the Indians speared them and
trapped them in wicker baskets and nets. The
younger people had great sport in following
the larger fish in the shoals and rapids and
killing them with spears and arrows; and in
winter they cut holes in the ice and through
them speared the finny denizens of the stream.
Trapping of animals was the most profitable
pursuit followed. It was a good school for
the youths, furnished employment for the old
or disabled men, and gave the braves the means
wherewith to supply themselves with neces-
saries and finery from the traders. It some-
times happened, when the season was favorable
and game was plenty, that the whole tribe
would devote the winter to the traps, which
were located at all favorable points along the
trails and streams, sometimes occupying a ter-
ritory of thirty miles in circumference. Bea-
ver, otter and bear skins were the most val-
uable, but the skins of muskrats, mink, weasels
and other small game also were not rejected.
The great abundance of game in the woods,
the rich soil of the valleys in which were
located the villages, provided an unfailing
source of supply to the savages. Knowledge
of woodcraft and of the habits of the birds
and beasts of the forest was the first requi-
site for existence in savage life, and in this
the Indians excelled. They had expedients
for every emergency. One great accomplish-
ment was the ability to imitate the notes and
calls of the birds and the cries of the beasts
of the forest. Warriors used these calls in
their forays, and the first white settlers soon
learned to suspect the cry of a bird if sounded
at an unusual time.
WARS AND FORAYS
The war party was the most carefully organ-
ized band that left a village, the numbers of
which it was composed depending upon the
character of the expedition. One or two
braves might start on a bushwhacking or
scalping expedition of their own, or a band
of five or six might start out to destroy some
isolated cabins and massacre the inmates.
Larger parties were made up to attack the
settlements. When starting out all the braves
donned the warpaint and oiled their bodies,
then formed into a single line and marched
through the village singing war songs. Just
before leaving the limits of the village a salute
would be fired, but from that time until the
attack was made not a sound broke the still-
ness of the forest. A war party of Indians
could pass within a few feet of the camp of
the whites or the cabins of the settlers and
make not a sound or leave a single trace of
their passage.
The Indians' method of fighting, which has
survived even to the present day, vvas a sys-
tem of rapid attacks and retreats. They would
lie in wait for the enemy and after a sudden
attack would fall back to some other ad-
vantageous point. In the fight the whole force
was formed in an irregular line, covered by
anything that the topography of the country
afforded. Thev seldom met the enemv in a
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
stand-up fight, but would strike suddenly and
retreat, yet there was not a drop of cowardly
blood in an Indian. When parties were sent
out on a raid it was customary to send as sup-
port in case of reverses a band of hunters, with
squaws and camp equipage, to locate an ad-
vanced supply camp not far from the scene
of battle. From this center the hunters would
go out after game and act as a rear guard,
awaiting the retreat of the war party.
The return of the successful warriors was
the occasion of much rejoicing and excitement.
They came in with shouts of victory, waving
the bloody scalps and driving before them the
captured victims that had been preserved for
the sacrifice, their hands tied behind them and
their faces blackened as a sign that they were
to be burned at the stake. First the victims
were made to run the gauntlet. Indians of
all ages, squaws and children, stood in a long
double line, between which the prisoner was
compelled to run, sometimes blindfolded and
bound. The savages were armed with any
weapons that came to hand, sticks, clubs,
switches, whips, knives and tomahawks, with
which the unfortunate was struck and slashed,
often to death. Sometimes sand was thrown
in the eyes to impede progress. In most in-
stances the captive was allowed to live long
enough to be lashed to the stake and burned.
The hardy pioneers of this country became
inured to these acts of rapine and reprisal
and in many instances returned the debt with
interest. It would be impossible to overdraw
the horrible pictures of death and torture that
were the experiences of many of the pioneer
settlers of this country. An Indian would not
hesitate to dash out the brains of a family of
children in the presence of the father and
mother, and then scalp the parents and burn
the home. In return, there was no quarter
given the savages when captured. No prison-
ers were taken by either side in the latter days
of the warfare between the whites and In-
dians. A good Indian was usually a dead
one. Chapter after chapter could be filled
with the stories of the hardships and cruelties
suffered by our forefathers, but space will not
permit their repetition.
It sometimes happened that prisoners were
spared by the Indians through superstition or
intent, and in these cases the captive was care-
fully guarded against escape while being in-
itiated into the life of the savage. Some of
the captives married squaws, became satisfied
with the mode of life and remained with the
Indians. Children sometimes were preserved
from death and adopted into the tribe, in later
years becoming as much attached to their
foster parents as if they had been born into the
life. These seldom were reclaimed to a life of
civilization. Interpreters for the tribes were
usually selected from these captives, and it
was often found they had grown to like the
savage existence and attained positions of trust
and responsibility. However, some of the
white men who voluntarily entered the Indian
tribes became more fiendish and inhuman than
the natives themselves. With the names of
Butler and Brandt are associated all that the
human mind can conceive that was cruel and
devilish. They seemed to revel in carnage
and blood.
As a contrast to this, instances are to be
found where the native sense of honor of the
Indian caused him to withhold his hand from
the destruction of those who had befriended
him and to warn them of the attacks of other
tribes. In this respect the Quakers were
singularly exempt from attack and murder,
through their fixed policy of dealing in a just
manner with the Indians. Few instances are
recorded where a member of the Society of
Friends suiifered from the depredations of the
savages, who had learned of their high sense
of humanity and justice.
FRONTIER FORTS, COLUMBI.\ .XND MONTOUR
COUNTIES
The treaty and purchase of 1754 between the
Penns and the representatives of the Six
Nations caused great dissatisfaction among
the Shawanese, Delawares and Monseys, who
considered that they had been defrauded of
their lands, which had been guaranteed to
them by the Iroquois. They therefore pro-
ceeded to go on the warpath, and the settle-
ments were raided, the settlers scalped and
their homes destroyed.
This being brought to the attention of the
proprietaries, preparations were made for the
protection of the settlers, and Benjamin
Franklin ordered the construction of Fort
Augusta, at what is now the site of Sunbury.
This was followed by the erection of many
other forts along the valleys of the North and
West Branches of the Susquehanna, viz. :
Fort Jenkins, in Briarcreek township, Colum-
bia county; Fort Wheeler, on Fishing creek,
about three miles above its mouth; Fort Mc-
Clure, on the Susquehanna within the limits
of the present town of Bloomsburg; Fort
Rice, on the headwaters of Chillisquaque
creek, thirteen miles from Sunbury; Mont-
gomery's Fort, twelve miles below Muncy on
10
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
the West Branch; Bosley's Mills, on the
Chillisquaque, now the site of VVashington-
ville, Montour county; Fort Freeland, on
Warrior run, four miles above its mouth ; Fort
Meninger, at the mouth of Warrior run;
Boone's Mill, seven miles from Fort Freeland,
at the mouth of Muddy run; and Fort Swartz,
about one mile above Milton.
These old forts were mainly designed to
afford temporary shelter to the settlers from
the raids of the Indians. In time of war they
were regularly garrisoned by rangers. One
of the methods of defense, which had been
brought to America by natives of Europe, and
formerly one of the weapons of the Romans,
was the use of the "caltrop" or "crowsfoot,"
an iron instrument having four barbed points,
which projected in all directions, so that when
thrown on the ground at least one point stood
upright. These implements were a great
deterrent to the barefooted or moccasin-clad
savage, and the unfortunate who stepped on
one of them soon gave evidence of his pres-
ence. After the cessation of hostilities the
settlers frequently complained of the presence
of these barbs in their pastures, where cattle
would get them fastened in their feet, the rusty
iron often causing inflammation and death.
It is unnecessary to describe the forts out-
side of Columbia and Montour counties, as
they have little bearing on local history, so
we will simply detail the origin, history and
ultimate fate of the forts which were erected
within the present limits of the two counties.
In relating the history of these forts the nar-
rative would be incomplete without a brief
sketch of Moses Van Campen, the builder of
two of them. He grew to manhood and first
came into prominence as a member of Col.
John Kelly's command on Big Isle, on the
West Branch of the Susquehanna, in 1777. In
177S he had been promoted from orderly' ser-
geant to lieutenant, and in that year built Fort
Wheeler. In 1779 he did scouting duty for
Sullivan's army near Tioga. In 1780 he was
captured by Indians, his father, brother and
uncle killed, and he, Peter Pence and Abram
Pike carried into captivity. One night they
rose, and after killing nine of their captors
and wounding the remaining one made their
escape. In 1781 Van Campen spent the sum-
mer in scouting and the winter in guarding
British prisoners. In 1782 he marched with
Robinson's rangers, of which he was a lieu-
tenant, back to Northumberland, and after a
few days' rest was ordered to build Fort
Muncy. Later he was sent to Big Isle, where
he was attacked by a large body of Indians
and captured. He was sold to the English
and remained in captivity for some time, but
at last exchanged, returned home to recuper-
ate, and then was sent to Wilkes-Barre, where
he remained until the close of the war. He
removed to New York State in 1795, and
there, after an active life as surveyor and
engineer, he died at the advanced age of ninety-
two.
FORT JENKINS
This fort was erected in the fall of 1777, or
during the winter and the early spring of 1778,
and was simply a stockade around the home of
a Mr. Jenkins, one of the first settlers. Its
size was 60 by 80 feet and it stood on the
North Branch of the Susquehanna in Centre
township, midway between Berwick and
Bloomsburg. The old canal passes between
its site and the river. A heavily wooded island
stood in the river directly opposite, but re-
peated floods have long ago destroyed it.
Soon after the building of the stockade the
fort was garrisoned by thirty men, under
Colonel Hartley. Col. Adam Hubley, who
succeeded him, marched the garrison away,
and County Lieutenant Colonel Hunter fur-
nished sufficient men to hold the fort until the
arrival of Col. Ludwig Weltner and the Ger-
man battalion. The latter held the post until
1780, when they departed to assist in the de-
fense of Forts Rice and Augusta. Soon after-
wards a party of Tories and Indians came by
way of Knob mountain, and finding the fort
deserted set fire to it and the surrounding
buildings.
After peace had been declared Mr. Jenkins
sold the land on which the fort had stood to
James Wilson, one of the signers of the Decla-
ration of Independence, who sold it to Capt.
Frederick Hill. The latter moved onto it,
built a dwelling on the site of the fort and
kept a tavern there, calling it the "Fort
Jenkins Inn." His son Jacob succeeded him
and conducted the tavern for a time, but was
converted at a Methodist revival and aban-
doned the sale of liquor to take up farming.
Charles F. Hill, the son, followed as owner.
Charles S. Yorks is the owner of Fort Jenkins
in 1914.
FORT WHEELER
In April, 1778, Lieut. Moses Van Campen
began the building of Fort Wheeler, on the
farm of Isaiah Wheeler, on the banks of Fish-
ing creek, about three miles above the present
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
11
town of Bloomsburg, on the Bloomsburg &
Sullivan railroad, in Scott township, near the
site of the Paper Mill. It was built of logs
and surrounded by a stockade sufficiently large
to accommodate the families of the neighbor-
hood. They had hardly completed the fort
before the Indians arrived and attacked it,
but the defenders soon put them to flight.
Van Campen made this fort his headquarters
when not engaged in scouting. One of the
attractions to him was the daughter of Wheeler,
for whose hand Van Campen and Col. Joseph
Salmon, another scout, were rivals. Salmon
finally married the girl. Van Campen's father
also for a time lived near the fort.
Fort Wheeler was the only one of the long
line of defenses in this section of the State
that was never abandoned or destroyed by
hostile hands. Time alone did the work of
disintegration. Peter Melick, one of the com-
mittee of safety for Wyoming township, lived
near here. The old graveyard where the
soldiers were buried is still recognizable,
and the spring that supplied the fort with
water is still running. The land is now owned
by the Creveling family. John Crawford,
grandfather of Joseph Crawford, an old citi-
zen of Orangeville, was the second child born
in this section, his birth taking place inside
the stockade of the fort soon after its com-
pletion, in 1778. No vestiges of the fort are
now to be seen, but the site is known to most
of the residents of that section.
FORT MCCLURE
At the time of the destruction of Fort Jen-
kins there was a line of forts reaching from
the West Branch to the North Branch of the
Susquehanna, comprising Forts Muncy, Free-
land, Montgomery, Bosley's Mills, Wheeler
and Jenkins. The loss of the latter fort left
the right flank exposed to the marauders, so
on Van Campen's return from captivity he
stockaded the home of Mrs. James McClure,
on the bank of the Susquehanna, one mile
above the mouth of Fishing creek, and on the
later site of the house of Douglas Hughes, be-
low Bloomsburg. This fortihcation took the
name of Fort McClure, and became the head-
quarters for stores and expeditions as long as
the defense of the frontier was necessary.
This fort was never seriously attacked, though
the near residents often fled to it for security.
It was never more than a stockade and further
fortifications were not built. A residence now
stands on the site. A marker has been placed
here by the Fort McClure Chapter, Daughters
of the American Revolution, Bloomsburg.
FORT BOSLEY
This only fortified work in Montour county
was really the stockaded stone mill of a Mr.
Bosley, in the forks of the Chillisquaque, at
Washingtonville, Derry township. The mill
was built in 1773, and stockaded in 1777. When
the Indians became troublesome it was gar-
risoned by about twenty men and became a
place of importance in the lines of defense.
Captain Kemplon was in command here in
1780, and assisted in repelling many attacks of
the savages.
The site of the old mill is easily recogniza-
ble by the race and dam at the lower end of the
town of to-day. The headrace has been con-
tinued across the road, and the old dam site
has been used as a location for the more mod-
ern mill of Snyder Brothers.
The land on which the fort or mill stood was
the property in past years of Jacob Hartman
and Jesse Umstead.
CHAPTER II
FOUNDING OF PENNSYLVANIA
Two hundred and seventy years ago was
born in the city of London the subsequent
founder of the Province of Pennsylvania. He
was the son of WiUiam Penn, of the County of
Wilts, a vice admiral in the time of Cromwell,
whom Charles II knighted for his successful
naval services against the Dutch. The son,
William, was a studious youth, and receiving
religious impressions in his twelfth year was
converted to the tenets of the Society of
Friends by the preaching of Thomas Lowe, a
Quaker leader. While in Oxford College he
continued his religious practices, which the
authorities condemned and for which they
finally expelled him.
Young Penn's father vainly endeavored to
turn him from his views on religion, hoping to
persuade him to follow the profession of arms,
but finding him obdurate gave him a severe
beating and turned him from his home. His
mother prevailed on the father to reinstate him
and he later took up the study of law, gradu-
ated, and under the Duke of Ormond served as
military aide in Ireland. There occurred the
turning point of his life. He again came under
the influence of Thomas Lowe, joined the
Quakers, and was imprisoned for attending
their meetings.
Again he disagreed with his father, the
cause being his refusal to remain uncovered
in the presence of the king and others. This
rupture was permanent until just before the
father's death, when they became completely
reconciled. The entire estate being left to the
son he was now in position to devote his life
to the cause of the persecuted sect, and such
was his influence with the king that he obtained
the patent for the Province of Pennsylvania,
in consideration of his father's services and a
debt of f 16,000 due the estate from the crown.
After a long and searching course of proceed-
ings, lasting from June 14, 1680, till March 4,
1681, the charter was granted, in which the
boundaries of the Province are thus prescribed :
"Bounded on the east by Delaware River, from
twelve miles distance northward of New Castle
town (Del.) unto the three and fortieth degree
of northern latitude, if the said river doth ex-
tend so far northward, but if the said river
shall not extend so far northward, then by the
said river so far as it doth extend ; and from
the head of said river the eastern bounds are to
be determined by a meridian line, to be drawn
from the head of said river unto the said forty-
third degree. The said land to extend west-
ward five degrees in longitude, to be computed
from the said eastern bounds, and the said
lands to be bounded on the north by the begin-
ning of the three and fortieth degree of north-
em latitude, and on the south by a circle drawn
at twelve miles distance from New Castle,
northward and westward, unto the beginning
of the fortieth degree of northern latitude, and
then by a straight line westward to the limits
of longitude above mentioned."
By a calculation of the contents of those
charter boundaries the Province contained
35-361,600 acres. The present area of the
State of Pennsylvania, according to the census
of 1910, is 45,126 square miles, or 28,880,640
acres. The area was diminished by the sub-
sequent adjustment of the boundaries between
this and the States of Maryland, Virginia and
New York. The impossible southern line, men-
tioned in the charter, caused much dispute be-
tween Penn and Lord Baltimore, which was at
length permanently fixed by Mason and Dixon,
who were eminent mathematicians and astrono-
mers, between 1763 and 1766.
In December, 1774, the boundary line be-
tween Pennsylvania and New York was ascer-
tained and fixed by David Rittenhouse on the
part of the former, and Samuel Holland on the
part of the latter, to be north latitude
42°, with a variation of 4° 20'. (This was the
declination in 1790. It is now about 10°. ) The
forty-third parallel of north latitude, men-
tioned in the charter, extends through central
New York. Messrs. Rittenhouse and Holland
placed a stone on a small island in the western
12
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
13
branch of the Delaware river as a monument
on the northeast corner of Pennsylvania, vkfith
the words and figures New York, 1774, and
the above-mentioned latitude and variation
cut upon the top. They also placed another
stone, four perches due west from the former,
cutting on the top thereof the word Pennsyl-
vania and the same latitude and variation as
on the other. The extension of that line
farther west was postponed until 1786-87, when
it was completed by Andrew EUicott, on the
part of Pennsylvania, and James Clinton and
Simeon Dewitt on the part of New York.
By act of March 27, 1790, ^300 were granted
to Reading Howell for delineating on his map
all the lines of this State, as established by
law or otherwise ascertained.
Penn sailed in the ship "Welcome" Aug. 30,
1682, for his newly acquired province. He
arrived after a long passage at New Castle,
Del., where the colonists, English, Dutch and
Swedes, assembled to welcome him as their
beloved proprietor. He wished the province
to be called New Wales, but the king persisted
in naming it "Pensilvania." In reference
thereto Penn wrote to his friend, Robert Tur-
ner, on the 5th of January : 'T proposed, when
the secretary, a Welshman, refused to have it
called New Wales, Sylvaiiia, and they added
Penn to it, and though I much opposed it, and
went to the king to have it struck out and al-
tered, he said it was past and would take it
upon him ; nor could twenty guineas move the
under-secretaries to vary the name ; for I
feared lest it should be looked on as a vanity
in me, and not as a respect in the king, as it
truly was, to my father, whom he often men-
tions with praise."
Notwithstanding his rights under that char-
ter, Penn, with his characteristic sense of jus-
tice, purchased the territory from the Indians
at a fair price. It is sad to relate that later
owners of land in the State did not follow in
his footsteps in their dealings with the natives
and settlers.
Before leaving England Penn drafted what
he called the "Fundamental Law and Frame of
Government of Pennsylvania," from which we
cite the thirty-fifth section : "All persons liv-
ing in this province who confess and acknowl-
edge the one Almightv and Eternal God to be
the Creator, L^pholder and Ruler of the world,
and that hold themselves obliged in conscience
to live peaceably and justly in civil society,
shall in noways be molested or prejudiced for
their religious persuasion or practice in mat-
ters of faith and worship, place or ministry
whatever." Herein was granted a greater de-
gree of religious liberty than had been allowed
elsewhere in the colonies.
INUI.AN TREATIES AND AGGRESSIONS
More than a hundred and fifty years elapsed
from the date of the settlement of Jamestown,
Va., ere the more venturesome of the pioneers
came to the portion of the Commonwealth in-
cluded in the boundaries of Columbia and Mon-
tour counties, and eighty-six years had elapsed
since William Penn made his first bargain with
the Indians. Before detailing the settlement
of this section we will review the diflierent in-
cidents which occurred previous to that time
which had tlieir effect upon the history of the
counties of Columbia and Montour.
The first treaty between Penn and the In-
dians took place in July, 1682, at Shackamaxon,
and was negotiated by William Markham, the
former's representative. In the following
November Penn arrived with a party of col-
onists and cemented the former treaty, proba-
blv also making another one. Various other
purchases were made by the Penns in the years
1696, 1700, 1718, 1732 and 1736. The pur-
chase of 1749 came to within a few miles of the
territory now included in the counties of
Columbia and Montour.
At that time few of the white leaders had
any idea of the vast extent of the country, and
the Indians could eive them no definite descrip-
tion of the boundaries or extent of the tracts
that they had disposed of. Connecticut at this
time was seeking to enlarge its boundaries, and
cast envious eyes on the rich Wyoming valley,
part of which is located in the northern end of
Columbia county. In a conference held with
the Indians at Albany in 1754, the Connecticut
delegates made a large purchase of land in this
valley and formed the Susquehanna Company,
to promote the settlement of the lands. The
proprietaries of the State of Pennsylvania had
also made a purchase of these identical lands
at an earlier date, the savages having little re-
gard for the letter of their obligations and be-
ing actuallv ignorant in many instances of the
real location of the several tracts sold. The
Connecticut company at once began to sell the
lands thus purchased, and a few venturesome
settlers came to the portion now included in
Fishingcreek township.
The success of the French in 1754 and Brad-
dock's defeat in the following year brought the
Indian war into this section and it resulted in
the depopulation of the country in 1763. It
was not until the purchase of 1768 that the
country was finally permanently opened to set-
14
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
tlement. As soon as the Connecticut authori-
ties heard of the Penn purchase they sent a
small party of settlers to reoccupy the lands
abandoned in 1763. This brought on a bitter
controversy between the two parties who
claimed the land. Forts and blockhouses were
erected bv both sides, and some blood was shed.
The dispute was taken to the London Coun-
cil, which decided against the Penns. In 1775
the matter was brought before the Continental
Congress, who also decided in favor of Con-
necticut. This decision was rejected by the
Pennsylvania Assembly, and it was not till
1802 that Congress finally gave the titles to the
Penns.
Settlers from Connecticut had come to
what is now the eastern part of Columbia
county and entered upon the land under the
Connecticut claim, and the grantees from the
Penns came to the same region and made claim
to the lands under surveys made in 1769 and
1772. This led to much friction between the
settlers and it was finally settled by the Decree
of Trenton, which awarded all the lands in
the "Seventeen townships of Luzerne county"
to the Connecticut claimants and all outside
of Luzerne county to the Penns, with a pro-
viso that any lands in the seventeen townships
which had been sold by the Penns to settlers
should be ceded to the State and the purchase
money refunded. From that time on the rival
claimants lived in peace with their neighbors.
The Penn treaty made with the savages in
1768, at Fort Stanwix, was the primal incen-
tive to the settlement of the land of which this
history is written. The whites, secure in a
clear title to the country, took peaceable pos-
session of their purchases and the Indians re-
treated to the fastnesses of the hills, but few
remaining in their old villages of Nescopeck,
Catawissa, and the one on the Mahoning creek,
the site of Danville.
The Revolutionary war brought with it a
renewed fear of the savages, and after many
forays and minor attacks the terrible massacre
of Wyoming occurred, July 3, 1778. This
caused a general flight of all the settlers in this
section, most of them taking refuge at Sunbury
and Northumberland.
The authorities took prompt measures to pro-
tect the settlers. Colonel Hartley and a regi-
ment of the line were at once sent to the scene,
built a fort at the home of a settler named Jen-
kins, six miles below Nescopeck falls, pursued
the Indians and drove them from that sec-
tion. That winter the savages were not active,
owing to the extreme cold. The following
April they attacked the fort, but were repulsed.
the whites losing three and having four
wounded. Again in May the Indians attacked
a party of settlers at Mittlinville, killing and
scalping four of a family. These ravages con-
tinued through the entire year, the troops being
too few to make adequate return. In 1779 the
campaign of the whites was begun in earnest,
and by the end of the year the country was in
a more tranquil state. This resulted in the
withdrawal of some of the soldiers, and in 1780
most of the defense of the frontiers devolved
on the poorly equipped and hard-worked
militia. In that year the savages made a con-
certed attack on Fort Jenkins and destroyed
it, carrying off the stock and burning the stores
of grain. The garrison had got wind of the
attack and retreated.
The following June a company of rangers
was organized, with Thomas Robinson as cap-
tain and Moses Van Campen as ensign. Later
Van Campen was made lieutenant, the com-
mand devolving on him, as Robinson was not
experienced in scouting. In the spring of 1781
this company built a fort on the plantation of
the Widow McClure, the farm now included
in the limits of Bloomsburg, and there stored
their supplies.
The close of the Revolution brought about
a cessation of hostilities, and the treaty of
1784 removed the last barrier to settlement.
NATIONALITY OF THE IMMIGRANTS ,
The first settlement in Columbia county was
made by an Irish Quaker. Next came the
Diitch, from the Minisinks; the Welsh, from
Uwchland; the Germans, from Berks county;
and the Scotch-Irish, from New Jersey. The
available lines of travel had much to do in
determining the location of the pioneers, who
followed the line of the Susquehanna and its
tributaries.
The Quakers settled at Catawissa and Green-
wood, but the poor character of the soil at the
former place caused these thrifty farmers to
pass on to Ohio and Canada. Those at Green-
wood, finding the soil satisfactory', remained,
and their descendants are scattered through-
out the county.
The German immigration set in about 1788,
these people coming mostly from Berks county,
although many were from the Fatherland.
They were more persistent and plodding than
the Quakers, and most of them remained in
their adopted homes. This nationality forms
the greater part of the present population.
The New Jersey immigrants were mostly
English dissenters. They occupied the coun-
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
15
try north of the river and their posterity com-
prises the bulk of the population in the northern
townships. There are also a large number of
the descendants of the Connecticut settlers to
be found in that locality.
In Locust township a considerable portion
of the population is of Welsh descent, and they
are among the best of the farmers of the
county. In Conyngham township there is a
large population of foreigners of many nation-
alities, the predominating race being Slavonic.
These are employed principally in the coal
mines.
FIRST SETTLERS OF THE COUNTY
The evolution of the present prosperous com-
munity from the raw material of the past is a
story of romantic and enthralling interest. The
casualties in the founding of an empire by war
are not more numerous than those endured by
the founders of a community in the wilderness,
peopled by savages and wild beasts.
The different members of Columbia county's
piSneer society came from widely separated
localities ; they were led to emigrate by a vari-
ety of motives, and they differed as much in
social prejudices, habits and conditions as in
nationality. The common object of all was
the planting of a new home, where patient,
persevering toil would gain a moderate compe-
tence for old age and provide greater advan-
tages for the growing families. There was no
established rule for success in this venture,
and the unbroken forest contained enough dif-
ficulties to develop the individuality of the pio-
neer to the fullest.
The selection of a home site was determined
largely by accident. The chance acquaintance
with a speculator, or the story of a friend or
relative who had emigrated to the new pur-
chase, led to the removal of the listener to the
same section. Very often, as is the case in
present days, the purchase was made before
examination ; in some cases a careful tour of
inspection was made ; while in other instances
the fever of immigration to new territory
seized the head of the family, and without ade-
quate preparation the household was broken
up, property sold at a loss, the few portable
household goods placed on the backs of horses,
and the trip begun without definite aim or des-
tination.
With the difficulties of travel, the amount of
goods brought narrowed down to only the nec-
essaries that were easily carried. Carts and
wagons were taken only as far as Sunbury.
Beyond there, and in other routes into the
county, the packhorse was the only means of
transporting goods. Sometimes oxen and
cows were taken, and their ownership was an
evidence of wealth. One man was offered all
the land he could see from a considerable emi-
nence for one cow, but refused to make the
deal.
The locations were determined by the con-
dition of the ground and the class of trees upon
it, and its nearness to water. Many grievous
mistakes were thus made, as the forest growth
in this vast empire of the west bears little rela-
tion to the character of the soil. Some of the
best land in the county was left to the wild
denizens of the forest, while poorer soil in
apparently better locations was eagerly seized
upon. The location once settled upon the fam-
ily was to be provided with shelter, and for
this the abundant timber supplied the materi-
als ready to hand. But the hewing and shap-
ing of the trees into the form of a home was
the work of men, and few of the present gen-
eration would voluntarily take up the labor of
constructing a log house with the crude and
simple implements of their pioneer ancestors.
Each family was a company of architects in
itself, and but little aid was needed to erect the
first rude home. When more pretentious struc-
tures came into being they were the result of
the united labors of the entire neighborhood,
expended during one of the famous old "log
rollings." With willing hands to assist the
house was built one day and occupied the ne.xt.
"Setting to rights" was not a laborious process.
A few wooden pegs driven into the logs suf-
ficed to hang a scanty wardrobe, and two larger
ones over the fireplace supported the rifle and
powder horn. A puncheon floor — a later lux-
ury — and a loft were deemed unnecessary until
the long winter evenings and stormy days pre-
vented outdoor labor.
The most important part of the home was
the ample chimney of stone, which in this cli-
mate was placed at the end of the house, with
a broad mouth surmounted by a wide mantel,
upon which accumulated most of the visible
treasures of the household. This great wide
fireplace was found in every home, some of the
more pretentious having one at each end of
the house. In it were hung the pot-hooks and
hangers, and the "spit" of the old country
would sometimes be found there also. Upon
the massive and ofttimes artistic "firedogs"
rested the heavy logs that threw out a glorious
blaze and served for both warmth and light.
Here stood the "tin oven" and the older "Dutch
oven," within which were baked the corn pone
and johnnycake. In the ashes were put the
16
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
potatoes and roasting ears, and while the meat
was trying in tlie skillet the cottee pot sim-
mered among tne coals, is there a picture of
comfort more alluring in these days of restau-
rants and fiats ?
Cooking stoves did not make their appear-
ance until 1835, the old "ten-plate ' stove serv-
ing as a lieater, if such a luxury could be af-
forded.
The careful housewife had brought with her
from their former home the homespun bed-
ticks, as well as bedclothing, and until the hrst
crop of corn supplied the "shucks" the forest
was resorted to for dried leaves for the bed-
ding. The simple methods of transit precluded
the carrying of furniture, so this lack was sup-
plied from the forest also. The ax and the
drawing-knife were all the tools at hand, but
with these the pioneer fashioned the needed
articles. Rough benches with sapling legs sup-
plied the seats and tables, but the bedstead
literally had but one leg to stand on. The head
and one side were the walls of the cabin,
while the poles forming the other sides were
supported by a post set into the ground at the
proper distance. Cords or deerskin thongs
were laced across from the walls to the side
pieces, supporting the shuck-filled tick.
It was not an uncommon thing to find a fam-
ily consisting of father, mother and six or more
children living in a house about twenty-two
feet square, with two rooms, and a loft reached
by a ladder. In the bedroom were two beds
(not counting the "trundle-bed," which slid
under the larger one), a "chest of drawers," a
table and a chair or two. In the kitchen were
the beds of the older children, surrounded with
boxes, barrels and the many bins of grain and
sacks of necessaries. Yet limited as the space
was, there was room for all.
But little support could be expected from the
land at first, so dependence was had upon the
surplus stores of the neighbors who had come
previously, and in instances where the family
were the pioneers there was much suft'ering
until the fields had yielded their harvests. For-
tunately the wild game and fish were abundant,
and there was never recorded a case of actual
starvation.
There was no opportunity for the pioneers,
even had they the knowledge, to carry on "in-
tensive" farming. The land had to be cleared,
and the newcomer devoted all of his energies
to this end. The more industrious families
worked far into the night burning the logs and
brush heaps. The soil was filled with unde-
cayed roots of the herbage, so that the rude
plows simply tickled the land ; and it laughed
forth abundantl)- in response. Except for a
lew simple vegetables, corn alone was culti-
vated, and supplied all the wants of man and
beast. Every part served some useful purpose.
As the resources of the land were gradually
developed the support of the family became
a less serious problem. The stock found sup-
port in the forest and scarcely needed the fod-
der stored in the log barns. Hogs fattened in
the forests upon the abundant mast. With
milk, pork, meal, game, fish and wild berries
there was small chance of famine in the house-
holds. A patch of flax was sown after a time,
spinning wheels and looms fashioned, and each
home soon became a factory which turned out
clothing for the whole family. Buckskin formed
the wear of the men, but the women's chief de-
pendence was upon "linsey-woolsey," a combi-
nation of flax and wool, in the manufacture of
which much skill and taste were employed. In
those days there was no thought of the "high
cost of living," neither was there any struggle
for the cost of high living. Most of the wants
of the household could be supplied from ma-
terials at hand, and the outside world was
almost a sealed book to them.
In those days amusements were few and
were allied closely to some useful occupation,
the result of a night's frolic being an addition
to the store of clothing or food. The women
organized woolpickings, quilting and spinning
bees, while the men reveled in log-rollings,
house raisings and husking bees. The lack of
quick communication caused these affairs to
be strictly local, and the isolated settlements
of the past were really farther apart than com-
munities now separated by thousands of miles.
The religious sects of the time formed their
own communities and developed customs of
their homes in the "old country" into many of
the habits that are now ingrained in their de-
scendants. The influence of these customs was
on the whole beneficial, and the religious en-
thusiasm of the immigrants was slowly modi-
fied by contact with others of dififerent views
than those of the communities in which they
had been born. This mixture of nationalities
is one of the wonderful causes of the develop-
ment of the present great American nation —
a nation without racial or religious prejudice.
ADVENTUROUS PIONEERS OF THE PAST
As far as can be ascertained the first actual
white settler in the territory comprised within
Columbia and Montour counties was Robert
McWilliams, who with three sons, Hugh, John,
and Robert, and a daughter, Jane, wife of
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
17
Robert Curry, came from Ireland in 1771 and
settled in that part of this section now known
as Liberty township, Montour county. His
complete history, as well as that of the other
pioneers mentioned further on in this chap-
ter, will be given in the separate sketches of
the diiTerent divisions.
James McClure, a Scotch-Irishman from
Lancaster county, Pa., settled in 1772 near
where the town of Bloomsburg is now located.
About the same time Evan Owen (founder of
Berwick) and John Doan bought land and
located near him. Another later settler here
was Samuel Boone, a Quaker, in 1775.
Moses Roberts, the builder of the first house
at Catawissa, is next in order of coming. He
was a Quaker, from Maiden-creek, Berks
county.
John Eves, the famous Quaker ancestor of
all the members of that name in this section,
locateil permanently at Millville in 1774. The
same year Alexander AIcAuley, whose mysteri-
ous disappearance later on aroused the entire
community, settled temporarily in Beaver town-
ship, on Scotch run.
In the year 1775 Michael Billheimer and
Daniel Welliver, both from New Jersey, lo-
cated amid the headwaters of Chillisquaque
creek, now in Madison township, Columbia
county.
On Nov. 26, 1774, William Montgomery pur-
chased from J. Simpson 180 acres of land on
Mahoning creek, on the north bank of the east
branch of the Susquehanna, called "Karkaase,"
and on which the town of Danville was laid out
in 1792 by his son Daniel Montgomery. In the
fall of 1776, or early in the spring of 1777,
William Montgomery moved his family to this
section and occupied their recently built stone
house. There, Oct. 8, 1777, was born his
youngest son, Alexander. This house still
stands in the town of Danville and is occupied
by the descendants of William Montgomery in
1914. It is still in a good state of repair.
The year after the settlement of the Mont-
gomerys was not one of general exodus to this
section, owing to Indian depredations, but in
1779 an unfortunate family, whose name is un-
known, were exterminated by the savages soon
after they arrived at the site of Mifflinville.
Valley township, Montour county, was the
next scene of new arrivals, in the persons of
Philip Maus and family, who came in 1782.
The year following was the date of the settle-
ment of the county above Orangeville, the
leader of the party being Daniel McHenry.
Abraham Kline, whose name is a household
word in that section, came from Germany in
1785 to establish himself and his large family
on Fishing creek, around Orangeville. Three
years later Leonard Rupert established his
home at the mouth of Fishing creek and fixed
upon that point a name which will forever cling
to it.
These were the leaders of the immigration
to this county and their names will stand forth
upon the pages of history beside those of others
of this great nation who have made smooth the
way of the present generation by conquering
the wilderness and the savages who shared its
sovereignty with the wild beasts.
REMINISCENCES
The conditions of society, the modes of liv-
ing and the methods of business in Columbia
county a hundred years ago and for twenty-
five years thereafter were quite different
from those of this brisk and prosperous
age. Mr. I. W. Hartman, a former mer-
chant of Bloomsburg, living in 1914, re-
called many interesting things by which
comparison may be made of the past with
the present. Mr. Hartman said that if the
average merchant of today was obliged to do
business handicapped as they were in those
days he would consider it almost an impossibil-
ity. When the everpresent commercial drum-
mer was an unknown quantity, the only means
the merchant had of replenishing his stock was
by personally going to Philadelphia, which he
did semi-annually, spring and fall. And as
there was no railroad nearer than Pottsville
the trip was not only costly but consumed a
great deal of time. In those days there was
only little cash business, all goods being sold on
six months' time. Prior to his going to Phila-
delphia to purchase the stock the merchant
would call upon his customers, collect from
them what was coming, and taking the money
with him would pay for the goods he had pur-
chased six months previously. This was re-
peated twice a year, yet notwithstanding this
crude financiering many of them amassed what
in those days was considered an ample fortune.
Of course a few goods were purchased in the
interim, but owing to the cost of transporta-
tion and the time consumed in their delivery
this was the exception.
The mailing facilities were as crude as
others. There was a mail route from Williams-
port to this place passing through Jerseytown.
The mail was usually carried by a man on
horseback, but in inclement weather he used a
covered wagon. The postage at that time was
five cents and subsequently reduced to three
18
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
cents, at which sum it remained for many
years, until within the recollection of many
it was reduced to two cents.
The only bank in this section of the State was
at Northumberland, and William McKelvy, a
resident of Bloomsburg, who was one of
the directors, drove down every Monday morn-
ing to attend a meeting of the board. Mr. Hart-
man remembers going down on horseback one
time and making a deposit of $500 for his em-
ployers, Eyer & Heffley, returning the same
day. The merchants did but little bank busi-
ness — scarcely any at all. The principal busi-
ness was the making of deposits for safe
keeping.
In the "good old days of the past" few of
the present conveniences were even dreamed
of. As a rebuttal to the claims of the surviv-
ors of those times that the old days were the
best, let us review some of the details of life
in those times.
In the good old times of the early years of
the eighteenth century every gentleman wore
a queue and powdered his hair. His clothes
were more elaborate than now, more unsan-
itary, and of brilliant colors which often faded
badly. There was only one hat factory in
America, and that made "cocked" hats. Dry
goods consisted of "men's stuff" and "women's
stuff," and was limited in character and
quality.
Stoves were unknown and all cooking was
done before open fireplaces. China plates were
a great luxury, and were generally objected
to because they dulled the knives. It seems
that the only habit left us from the past is the
one prevalent in some classes of society of
eating with the knife. A girl was not permitted
to marry till she could bake a loaf of bread and
cut it while warm into even slices. When a
person had enough tea the spoon was placed
across the cup. Pewter spoons and steel knives
were highly prized and were handed down
from one generation to the other. Wooden
bowls, platters and trenchers were the usual
table utensils.
Books were very expensive, many small vol-
umes costing $15 each. There was not a pub-
lic library in America, and most of the books
in private libraries came from Europe.
Virginia contained one fifth of the popula-
tion of the United States, and the Mississippi
valley was not as well known as the heart of
Africa is now. Two stagecoaches bore all of
the travel between New York and Boston, and
the trip required six days. Two days were
occupied in the trip from New York to Phila-
delphia, while the journey from New York to
Charleston by land occupied twenty days.
In those good old days there was no regu-
lar post office department, all letters being car-
ried by private post, the cost of the letter vary-
ing from one to three shillings. There was not
a mile of railroad in the country, no steamboats,
no street cars, no telephones, no telegraph lines,
and the news in the papers was usually about
ninety days old when it was printed.
There were then no kerosene lamps, no elec-
tric lights, and the chief method of illumination
was by tallow candles. Matches had not come
into general use, so flint and steel were car-
ried by all who went on a journey, while the
housekeeper kept a coal of fire lit all the time.
Sometimes when the fire went out it would be
necessary to mount a horse and go to the near-
est neighbor for a light, the coals being carried
in a wooden bucket filled with ashes.
The church collections were taken by means
of a bag on the end of a pole, with a bell at-
tached to awaken the sleepers whom the par-
son's prosy and long-drawn-out sermons had
lulled into slumber. If the sermon did not
suit the hearer he dare not criticise it lest he
be heavily fined.
Imprisonment for debt was a common prac-
tice, and the whipping post and pillory were
means of punishment. An old copper mine in
Connecticut was then used as a prison, and
many of the inmates died from the effects of
their incarceration in it. Yes, these were the
"good old days" we sometimes hear about.
Another important event in those days was
court week. The county seat was at Danville,
subsequently removed to Bloomsburg, and peo-
ple from ail over the county attended. The
hotels for days were busy making preparations
for the entertainment of the crowd, and as
newspapers were scarce it was a time when
information was exchanged as well as the busi-
ness which brought them transacted. Mr. I. W.
Hartman frequently saw men walking from
the upper end of the county at the present loca-
tion of Jamison City, to Danville to attend
court. The first day they would walk as far as
Orangeville, stay over night, and finish their
walk the next day. This was necessary, as
there was no other way of getting there except
by driving down and many did not keep a horse.
There were no bridges to cross the river and
the only one along Fishing creek was at the
site of the present double bridge at the Lazarus
farm below town. At that time it was a single
track affair and very primitive in its construc-
tion. There was a foot bridge over the creek
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
19
at the red rock on which people crossed in going
to and from the Foulk mill.
Going to Catawissa in those days was not an
easy matter by any means. The only way of
getting there was by going around by what is
now the Aqueduct mill and fording the river
at the site of the Rupert railroad bridge, or
being pushed in a flat, there being no rope
ferries at that time. Or one could go down the
valley to the Deimer farm, then over the hill
and cross the river at Catawissa in the same
CHAPTER III
TOPOGRAPHY AND GEOLOGY— IRON— COAL
Separated from the earlier settled portion
of Pennsylvania by the Kittatinny range of
hills, and defended from the storms of the
northwest by the AUeghenies, the portion of
the State in which lie the counties of Columbia
and Montour is particularly blessed in the
possession of both natural beauty and mineral
wealth. Few of the elevations reach the dig-
nity of mountains, although they rise in grace-
ful curves to the height of over 1,500 feet in
some instances. From their summits may be
obtained a view of the beautiful and fertile
valleys, clear streams and gently rolling hills
of as fair a land as that written of by the Irish
poet, who said :
Bounteous nature loves all lands, beauty wanders
everywhere.
Footprints leaves on many sands, but her home is
surely there.
The community in general is distinctly agri-
cultural. On every hand are to be seen the re-
sults of men's efforts to gain a support from
the willing soil. Upon the basis of the pro-
ductiveness of the land is built the success of
the two counties, and almost every man of
affairs can trace back to three generations of
agricultural progenitors.
Montour county bears in her center the pro-
ductive Limestone ridge, from which much of
the ore and stone of the past have been taken.
On her southern boundary is the famous Mon-
tour ridge, like a wall between it and North-
umberland county. In the eastern end is the
first rise of Catawissa mountain, which passes
down through Columbia county, forming the
division between Main and Locust town-
ships. At Catawissa the Susquehanna has
forced a passage through the range, showing
all the strata of the rocks of this section in all
their odd and interesting forms. Dividing
Locust and Conyngham townships is Little
mountain, with a parallel ridge south of it,
separating the fertile regions from the anthra-
cite coal fields, the only evidence of whose
existence is the black waters of Catawissa
creek.
Between Mifflin and Beaver townships lies
Nescopeck mountain, which extends from the
Luzerne county line to Mainville. McAuley
and Buck mountains, with their small deposits
of hard coal now almost worked out, complete
the list of elevations in the southern part.
North of the Susquehanna the most impor-
tant elevation is Knob mountain, at the site of
C)rangeville, a clear cut, green-clad elevation
of great scenic beauty. Eastwardly this ridge
is called Huntington and Lee mountains, after
a division at the edge of the county. The most
picturesque portion of the county lies in the
extreme northern part, where a spur of the
AUeghenies forms the lofty North mountain,
the source of Fishing creek and its branches.
This is the home of the trout and the paradise
of the summer boarder.
Elsewhere in the counties the surface is
constantly broken by a succession of hills of
varying height, the fertile slopes of which are
cultivated entirely to the top. Around these
hills meander the numerous streams of this
well watered country.
Fishing creek and its tributaries afford the
sole drainage of that section of Columbia
county north of the river, with the exception of
a small portion in the extreme east drained by
Briar creek. On the south of the river the
country is drained by Catawissa creek. Roar-
ing creek and Ten-Mile run.
Montour county is drained almost entirely
by Chillisquaque creek and its many branches.
This stream flows through Northumberland
county and empties into the West Branch of
the Susquehanna. The portion of the county
around Danville is drained by Mahoning creek.
20
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
GEOLOGY OF THE WYOMING VALLEY
Columbia and Montour counties lie wholly
within the Wilkes-Barre and Scranton basins
of the anthracite region, known as the Wyo-
ming Valley. This section was part of the ter-
ritory claimed by Connecticut and afterwards
awarded to Pennsylvania. It gains the name of
Wyoming from the Indian title of Maughwau-
wama, a Delaware word, meaning large plains.
Although broken by lofty hills, the term applies
very appropriately to this section of the State,
owing to the broad and comparatively level
valleys that lie between the hills. Few of these
hills attain the dignity of mountains, the high-
est being but i ,600 feet, but they afford charm-
ingly varied views of a prosperous and pictur-
esque country from their different summits.
The general geological structure of the rocks
of these counties includes the Pocono or Potts-
ville Conglomerates in the higher elevations,
the Catskill and Chemung rocks in the lower
hills, and in the valleys the outcrops of the
Hamilton, Lower Helderberg and Salina for-
mations. These rocks are only included in the
Older Secondary system and comprise the vari-
ous strata Nos. \' to XI, inclusive, classihed by
the second geological survey of the State.
Columbia and Montour counties are just
outside of the mining region of the anthracite
fields, although many mines have been opened
and operated continuously for years in the ex-
treme southeastern part of Columbia county.
The anthracite veins are usually above the high-
est layers of rock on the summits of the hills of
these counties, therefore "out of sight" in this
immediate section, but to the east and south of
the borders of Columbia the coal veins sink to
points where they can be profitably mined. The
soft coal strata of the western part of the State,
which have made the fortunes of thousands,
are here completelv eroded away and are the-
oretically at .IvOOO feet in the air above us.
The rocks of this section are not only com-
pressed and twisted into strange forms, but thev
are forced up into steep ridges and basins, but
for which the operations of the miner would
be more difficult and hazardous. This uplift
has forced many of the strata into the light and
greatly assisted in the work of mineral research
and exploitation, besides adding to the pictur-
esnue beauty of the cliffs and valleys.
In addition to the action of the subterranean
forces of past ages the more recent (compara-
tively) erosion of the glaciers has further di-
versified the surface of these regions. The end
of the sreat glaciers or sea of ice that covered
all of New York State and extended to the
Susquehanna was marked by a terminal
moraine, or ridge, of boulders and debris left
by the melting of the ice. This moraine was
l^ter torn apart and scattered in places over
the land by the immense streams of water that
arose from the rapidly melting ice fields, so
causing the deep beds of sand and gravel all
over this section. The glacial rivers also cut
the deep clefts in the strata to be seen where
the rivers and creeks force their way through
Montour ridge and other elevations.
The mineral products of these counties are
few, agriculture leading as a source of wealth.
However, in the past the iron ores were of great
industrial importance, atid supplied the raw
material for furnaces at Bloomsburg and Dan-
\ille. These veins of ore have been worked
out in the last twenty years, or have been found
to descend to such depths as to make exploi-
tation unprofitable. The iron ores of the Lake
Superior region can be mined and shipped to
this point for less than it takes to produce the
native ores, and the old methods of smelting
being replaced by the more simple modern ones
caused the abandonment of the furnaces in this
region.
The quarrying of slate for mantels and roof-
ing purposes was prosecuted in Hemlock town-
ship, Columbia county, but through lack of
knowledge of the business and deficiency of
funds the enterprise was abandoned some years
ago. The raw material is still there and, with
modern machines and a cultivated market,
would probably make it well worth while to
revive the industry.
The mining of limestone for Ijurning pur-
poses was at one time the leafling industry of
both counties, but at present the plants in use
are found only in the vicinity of Lime Ridge,
in Columbia county, along the line of Montour
ridge, south of Frostv Valley and as far west
as Limestoneville, in Montour county. At
Lime Ridge and west of there two firms are
quarrying the limestones for ballast and burn-
ing purposes, producing a fine grade of
hydrated lime and some small quantities of
building stone. Near Espy, Rhone Trescott
has a quarry in the Bossardville limestones
which contains a thin vein of galena, from
which he obtains several carloads of ore per
year, yielding a high percentage of lead. This
is jirobably the source of the lead brought to
the Fishing creek neighborhood by the Indians
during their occupation of the section of
country near Orangeville. At that time the
owners of the land believed that the lead was
obtained at a nearer point.
The onlv mines of anthracite coal in this sec-
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
21
tioii are to be found in Beaver and Conyngham
townships, Columbia county, although it was
formerly thought that coal could be developed
in Briarcreek township, while in 19 1 4 discover-
ies of coal have been made in the vicinity of
Exchange, Ivlontour county. The mines are
treated m the separate sketches of these town-
ships.
GEOLOGY OF THE DIFFERENT DIVISIONS
Following are short reviews of the charac-
teristic formation and elevations of the town-
ships and boroughs of Columbia and Montour
counties, Columbia being the tirst in order of
description.
Columbia County
Scott — Most of the strata of the Clinton and
Helderberg formations are exposed in this
township along Montour ridge. Fossil iron
ore was formerly extensively mined at several
points, but is now exhausted. Several quar-
ries were at one time operated along the ridge
for lime burning, but are now abandoned. The
highest elevation of Montour ridge in this
township is 900 feet.
Centre — Most of the formations character-
istic of this part of the State are shown in this
township, along Montour ridge and Hunting-
ton mountain. The Bossardville and Lower
Helderberg limestones are extensively mined
for lime burning and cement purposes, while
the Bastard limestone between, which caused so
much trouble in the past to quarrymen by rea-
son of its hardness and awkward location, is
now broken into a fine quality of road material.
Lead and zinc were found in granular state in
small pockets in the Upper Salina limestone
beds, and were supposed to warrant exploita-
tion, but although thousands of dollars were
spent in investigation there were no tangible
results. The entire valley of this township
south of Lime Ridge is covered with boulders
and gravel, deposited in the past by glacial
and alluvial action. The highest point of the
Huntington mountain in the township is about
1,500 feet.
Briarcreek — Here the Montour axis passes
under the tow-n of Berwick, while Hamilton
and Knob mountains pass almost entirely across
the area of the township. Both elevations are
about 1,500 feet above the sea. Glacial action
cut the valley between these mountains and re-
mains of ice deposits of boulders and trash are
to be abundantly found. These were the ac-
cumulations from the great terminal moraine
of the glacier that at one time covered the State
of New York and extended as far south as
Berwick.
Mifflin — The rocks of this township extend
from the Pocono beds in the summit of Nesco-
peck mountain to the Lower Helderberg lime-
stone in the bed of the Susquehanna opposite
Mifflinville. The glacier that came as far south
as Berwick did not cross the river to this town-
ship, but poured its melting ice streams into the
Susquehanna. Later stream action caused the
deposits of rounded boulders and gravel to
cover the surface of this section. The crest
of Nescopeck mountain, which forms the
southern border of the township, is 1,625 feet
above sea level.
Sugarloaf — The rocks of this township be-
long to the Catskill formation, with the excep-
tion of a narrow belt of Pocono which forms
the summit of North mountain. Drift heaps
and gravel beds cover most of the area. The
highest elevation in this township is 1,275 f^^t^-
Benton — The Catskill and Chemung rocks
predominate here. Drift and gravel beds pre-
dominate. The greatest altitude in this town-
ship is 850 feet.
Jackson — Catskill and Chemung red sand-
stones are found here, with many boulder beds.
Glacial remains abound. The greatest altitude
is 1,280 feet.
Pine — Chemung, Catskill and Hamilton for-
mations predominate in this section. Genesee
shales and Tully limestones are also found. The
greatest elevation is 1,315 feet.
Greemvood — Chemung and Hamilton rocks
here predominate. There are also found areas
of Genesee black shale. In the Chemung sand-
stones a quarry was once operated near the
Mount Pleasant township line, furnishing
rough building stone. This township is prac-
tically free from boulders. The land is gener-
ally free from stones, and the rocks are of the
black shale. The highest elevation is near
Millville— 825 feet.
Fishingcreek — Pocono, Catskill, Chemung,
Genesee and Hamilton rocks are here exposed.
Glacial deposits form the great plain along
Huntington creek. The highest point is Hunt-
ington mountain, 1,500 feet above sea level.
Orange — The rocks in this township run
from the Pocono to the base of the Chemung
formation. Great heaps of rounded boulders
are scattered over the hill summits and give
evidence of the sea having covered this section
of the State in past ages. From the summit of
Knob mountain an extensive view is had of the
counties of Montour and Columbia. This alti-
tude is 1,430 feet.
22
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
Mount Pleasant — The Chemung, Lower Hel-
derberg and Salina formations predominate
here. The limestones are shghtly magnesian
and would make good Portland cement. Others
can be burned for lime. At the forks of the
road near Little Fishing creek the highest point
above the sea, just above Mordansville, is 535
feet.
Hemlock — Almost a complete section from
the Catskill formation down to the basal beds
of the Clinton is found in this township along
the banks of Fishing creek. A large quarry
was formerly operated in the Hamilton shales,
from which a hne grade of slate for mantels
and tables was sawn, by the Thomas Slate Com-
pany. At this quarry the Marcellus slates were
also mined for roofing and school slates. The
Lower Helderberg limestone was mined at
this place for the Bloomsburg furnaces, also
about a mile east of Buckhorn. The Blooms-
burg Iron Company and William Neal & Sons
quarried the fossil iron ore in the Montour
ridge. The highest elevation in this township
is 975 feet.
Montour — Catskill, Chemung and Genesee
shales are the range of rocks in this township,
covering a section of 4,784 feet. Between
Catawissa bridge and Rupert the exposures
along the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western
railroad, at the end of Montour ridge, are the
most complete in the county. A student of
geology will find much of value to observe here,
and the lover of the picturesque will be gratified
by the varied scenery to be found at this spot.
Indications are found here that the Susque-
hanna once flowed in a channel directly west-
ward to Danville through the valley north of
Montour ridge. The Bossardville limestone
has been quarried for agricultural uses by sev-
eral persons in this vicinity, but was found too
impure for building uses. The fossil iron ore
was also at one time mined about a mile and a
half west of Fishing creek. The highest point
of Montour ridge in this township is 755 feet.
Bloornsbnrg — The Clinton, Salina, Lower
Helderberg and Hamilton formations are ex-
posed along the banks of Fishing creek beside
the Bloomsburg & Sullivan railroad tracks. At
many places outcroppings of fossil iron ore are
found and have been almost completely mined
out in the past. The town of Bloomsburg is
located on three terraces composed of deposits
from streams in the past. The highest terrace
in Bloomsburg is on Second street, where the
altitude is 571; feet.
Main — Cutting through Nescopeck moun-
tain, Catawissa creek here exposes all of the
Pocono and Catskill formations. The Catskill
sandstones here were at one time quarried for
building purposes. About 1,500 feet is the
height of the mountain at this point.
Catawissa — All of the diflferent formations
characteristic of this county are shown along
the Susquehanna from Catawissa to the
Bloomsburg bridge, along the bluffs of Cata-
wissa (or Nescopeck) mountain. None of the
limestones here have been commercially
worked. The height of Catawissa mountain is
estimated at 1,600 feet.
Franklin — Only a few of the characteristic
formations of this county are exposed in this
township. A dividing ridge, part of Catawissa
mountain, separates the Susquehanna from
Roaring creek in the central part of the town-
ship. Elevations range from 900 to 1,400 feet
above sea level.
Locust — Little mountain, along the southern
border of this township, has an elevation of
1,040 feet, and exposes the Pocono formation
to some extent. Other strata are shown at
various gaps in the hills and mountain, made
by the branches of Roaring creek.
Montour County
Cooper — In the tunnel cut to drain the old
quarry of Grove Brothers, at Grovania, the ex-
posures of Catskill and Chemung rocks are
very complete. The Lower Helderberg lime-
stone is the one quarried here now for lime, as
it was for furnace uses in the past. Some fos-
siliferous iron ore was also mined in the past,
but is now exhausted. The ancient valley of
the Susquehanna, through vvhich that river
once flowed before it carved its way through
the Montour axis, is shown in the center of
this township, and forms the basis of the best
farms in this vicinity. The elevation of the
ridge here is about 760 feet.
Mahoning — The formations characteristic of
Montour ridge are to be found in this township.
A number of limestone quarries were formerly
operated in this township to supply the fur-
naces at Danville, but are now idle. Iron ore
was also extensively mined, but has long since
been exhausted. About 700 feet is the height
of the ridge here.
Liberty — The lowest beds of the Clinton
slates form Montour ridge here, while the
Oriskany chert and the Lower Helderberg lime-
stone make Lime Ridge in the northern border
of the township. The Hamilton and Bossard-
ville limestones have here been extensively
quarried. Montour ridge stands 900 feet above
sea level, while Lime Ridge is about 100 feet
lower.
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
23
Valley — Most of the rocks in this township
are of the Chemung-Catskill formations. The
Clinton iron ore has been extensively mined
along the sides of Montour ridge, being fol-
lowed to great depths by means of drifts, the
dip being about 30 degrees. Limestone quar-
ries were numerous in the days of iron work-
ing, but now have passed into disuse. About
800 feet is the greatest elevation in this town-
ship, on Montour ridge.
PVest Hemlock — As is the case in the adjoin-
ing townships, the Chemung-Catskill forma-
tions here predominate. The Hamilton beds
are too deeply buried to make profitable work-
ing here. The greatest elevation in this town-
ship is almost 1,000 feet above the sea.
berry — The Hamilton, Helderberg and Che-
mung rocks are here to be seen. A large quarry
was formerly operated near Washingtonville,
the product being lime and building stone. The
greatest elevation in this township is 900 feet
above the sea.
Limestone — Limestone ridge, the southern
boundary, is composed of the Oriskany sand-
stones and the Helderberg limestones. Many
limestone quarries were operated in this sec-
tion, getting their product from the Bossard-
ville and Stormville beds.. The greatest eleva-
tion is 780 feet, on Limestone ridge.
Anthony — This township was once a vast
valley filled with a mighty stream, remains of
whose action are shown in the boulder heaps
that strew the surface. The only rocks that
here appear above the horizon are the Hamil-
ton and Chemung. In the highlands of the
north the greatest elevation is 1,200 feet.
Mayberry — The formations in this township
are of similar character to those in Franklin
township, Columbia county, adjoining. No
quarries have been opened here, although the
rocks have been used for building purposes
locally. Sharp ridge, running through the
center of the township, is about 300 feet above
sea level.
THE IRON INDUSTRY
The mineral productions of Columbia county
are of considerable value and form one of the
sources of wealth for the people, but the yearly
output is only a fraction of that of the past.
During the operation of the iron furnaces at
Bloomsburg and other points the production of
this metal was the most important business in
the county. All of the ore came from the sides
of Montour ridge and was of a fossiliferous
character. Near the surface the ore was like
loose soil, but below the layers became harder
and filled with limestone and many fossils.
Below the fossiliferous horizon the ore is poor
and the cost of working it prohibitive. For this
reason the mines of the county were gradually
abandoned as fast as the upper layers of ore
became exhausted.
The discovery of iron ore in Columbia county
was made in 1822 by Robert Green, a farm
laborer employed by Henry Young of Hem-
lock township, while plowing a field near the
end of Montour ridge, on the bank of Fishing
creek. He opened a drift and demonstrated
the value of the vein. For twenty years this
ore was mined and transported to the Esther
and Penn furnaces, across the Susquehanna.
Columbia County Furnaces
Before the discovery of ore in the northern
part of the county the Catawissa furnace was
built in Main township on Furnace run, near
Catawissa creek, by John Hauck, in 181 5. He
had the advantage of proximity to the road to
Reading and abundant wood for charcoal. The
ore was at first procured from the neighbor-
hood of Bloomsburg, but after the discovery
of the deposits in Hemlock township most of
the raw material came from the latter source.
For several years this was the only furnace
in the county. The product was sent to Read-
ing to be forged and the finished iron returned
for home consumption. This was changed by
the construction in 1824 of a forge near the fur-
nace by Harley & Evans and the double han-
dling done away with. Both furnace and forge
were operated until 1883, when the distance
from the mines and the cost of fuel caused
their abandonment. The introduction of the
anthracite process of smelting also made the
furnace obsolete, as it was of the old charcoal,
hot-blast design. A crumbling wall, overgrown
with bushes, now marks the site of this once
famous iron works.
The grading of the stage road to Reading
through Locust township in 181 7 caused the
construction of the Esther furnace by Michael
and Samuel Bittler. It was located on land
originally patented to Samuel Shakespeare in
1773, on Roaring creek, nineteen miles from
Fort Augusta (now Sunbury). David Shake-
speare inherited the land and his executors
deeded it to Jacob Yocum, from whom it passed
to the Bittler family.
There was neither iron nor limestone near,
but an abundance of wood. Most of the ore
came from the Fishing creek region after the
opening of the mines there. After various en-
largements the furnace was leased successively
24
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
to John and Samuel Trego, and Fincher &
Thomas. In 1845 Samuel Uiemer became les-
see. Later owners were John Richards, John
Thomas, D. J. Waller, Sr., Casper Thomas,
Jacob Schuyler and J. B. Robison. The open-
ing of the canal along the Susquehanna in 1832
made Catawissa the main shipping point of the
county and the furnace was abandoned.
The Irondale furnaces were built by the
Bloomsburg Railroad & Iron Company in 1844
and were lined-up and blown-in in 1845 by
James Ralston, a native of Glasgow, Scotland.
A railroad was built around the hill along Fish-
ing creek to connect the furnaces with the
canal. At that time iron ore was found in
great quantities in the hills all around the
town and the canal offered a cheap means of
transporting the coal and finished product.
During the Civil war there was a mint of
money in the iron business and the furnaces
were kept running constantly, turning out
about thirty tons of pig iron a day, the price
going at one time to $40 a ton.
The plant in 1886 consisted of two furnaces,
a waterpower house and a steampower house,
a large store, a mansion house, twenty-three
tenement houses comprising the settlement
known as Morgantown, and a narrow-gauge
railroad from the furnaces to the Lackawanna
& Bloomsburg railroad. The company also
had leases on many thousands of acres of ore
lands in the county.
C. R. Paxton was president of the company
and resided in the mansion near the furnaces.
On his removal to Virginia, about 1874, E. R.
Drinker became superintendent. But the iron
trade had declined, and the ore beds in this
section were worked out, necessitating the
transportation of most of the ore used from
Snyder county (Pa.) and Maryland, thus in-
creasing the cost of production.
In 1889 the stock of the Bloomsburg Iron
Company was purchased by Col. S. Knorr and
L. S. Wintersteen, and the management
changed. But iron continued to decline in
price, and Colonel Knorr's death occurring soon
after, the furnaces were shut down. In 1893
the Bloomsburg Iron Company, through its
president, L. S. Wintersteen, sold the property
to H. C. Pease, who tore down the furnaces
and began the erection of a stone building in-
tended for manufacturing purposes. This
operation was stayed by injunction, and the
executrix of Colonel Knorr's estate, desiring
an accounting, petitioned the court for the ap-
pointment of a receiver, which was granted,
H. A. McKillip being the appointee. After
proceedings in court. Pease reconveyed the
property to H. A. McKillip, receiver, and the
property was sold by him at public sale to the
Bloomsburg Water Company, the title pass-
ing on June 11, 1896. So passed out of exist-
ence what had for many years been the leading
industry of Bloomsburg. The store building
has been unoccupied for years, the Paxton
mansion, whose occupants were so long among
the social leaders of the town, is now a tene-
ment house, and every vestige of the furnaces
has disappeared. The waterpower house has
passed into the ownership of the Irondale Elec-
tric Light Company, and been rebuilt, and is
a well kept property.
In 1852 an agreement was entered into by
William McKelvey, William Neal and Jacob
Melick to erect and operate an anthracite iron
furnace, taking the ore from the farm of the
latter, east of Fishing creek. In 1853 seventeen
acres were purchased from Daniel Snyder and
Joseph W. Hendershott on the canal, east of
the town of Bloomsburg, and in April, 1854,
the "Bloom" furnace was blown-in. In 1873
the firm name was changed from McKelvey,
Neal & Co. to William Neal & Sons. Up to
1875 the gross product of this furnace was
17,968 tons, but later the yearly product was
greatly increased. By 18S3 the ore deposits
near Bloomsburg were exhausted and the fur-
naces in the vicinity were supplied from mines
in New Jersey.
All of these furnaces were abandoned in
1892, the property sold and the furnaces torn
down. The site is now occupied by the power-
house and car barn of the North Branch Tran-
sit Company, the only visible remains of the
furnace being the brick water reservoir and the
slag heaps along the abandoned bed of the
canal. The slag is now broken up and used
to ballast the streets of Bloomsburg.
Two other furnaces were built at Light
Street between 1844 and 1850 by Gen. Matthew
McDowell and Samuel Bettle. Both were
shortlived, their greater rivals at Bloomsburg
getting the advantage in shipping and receiv-
ing facilities. One of these furnaces was oper-
ated by Peter Ent and stood just above the
upper mill. The B. & S. railroad runs through
the center of the slag heap. The other fur-
nace stood at the lower end of the town. Both
are completely gone.
Montour County Furnaces and Mills
The first charcoal furnace was built by Eli
Trego in 1837, near the crossing of the Read-
ing railroad at Mill street, Danville.
The first anthracite iron furnace in
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
25
Montour county was built by Burd Pat-
terson near the mouth of Roaring creek,
in Mayberry township, in 1839. After
passing through successive hands it came
into the possession of Simon P. Kase, of
Danville, in 1857, who ran it for a short
time and then abandoned it. The ore was ob-
tained from Montour ridge and carried across
the river on flats.
In 1838 Patterson built a charcoal furnace
at the site of the present Lackawanna railroad
crossing in the eastern part of Danville. This
he operated for a short time, but the intro-
duction of anthracite coal soon made the fur-
nace obsolete, and it was therefore abandoned.
Later Patterson built a nail factory near it,
but this also was a failure.
Michael and John Grove were the first suc-
cessful furnacenien, after anthracite coal was
adopted. They built two furnaces, one in 1840
and the other in 1859, on Mahoning street, Dan-
ville. A 400-horsepowcr engine ran the blast
and about seventy-five men were employed.
They closed down in 1880.
Chambers & Biddle built two furnaces in
1840, and another in 1845. A rolling mill was
added in 1844, and the plant took the name of
Montour Iron Works. Here the first T rails
in the East were made, U rails having been
previously the chief product. A foundry and
machine shop were added in 1852, and in 1857
a new rail mill was added. This foundry dur-
ing the Civil war cast many of the cannon and
mortars used by the Union forces. It had cast
in 1842 the first cannon in the United States
made of anthracite iron.
In 1880 the works came into the hands of the
Philadelphia & Reading Iron Company, which
now operates them.
The last furnace built in Montour county
was the Chulasky furnace, on the line of North-
umberland county, in 1846. Its capacity was
6,500 tons of soft gray forge pig iron per an-
num. It was idle after 1893.
Besides the plants mentioned, Danville has
had numerous other iron foundries and mills,
among them being these old ones : Enterprise
Foundry. Danville Iron Foundry, National
Iron Foundry, Co-operative Iron & Steel
Works, Glendower Iron Works, National Iron
Company's Works and the Danville Stove
Works. The present plants are the Readmg
Iron Works, the Danville Stove Works, the
Danville Steel Works, the Tube Mill and the
Danville Foundry & Machine Works.
At present Danville is the only strictly iron-
making town in the two counties. The Ameri-
can Car & Foundry Company, at Berwick, have
a pipe works and a rolling mill, but only for
their own use. There are two large foundries
at the car plants, a general machine shop, and
a small foundry for the manufacture of sash
weights, at Bloomsburg. This completes the
list for the two counties in 19 14.
Furnaces Abandoned
At present there are no furnaces in operation
in either Columbia or Montour counties, most
of the iron works consisting of foundries and
rolling mills, which obtain their raw material
from the furnaces around Pittsburg. Those
who have no knowledge of the old charcoal
furnaces and their operation will find a descrip-
tion of the methods then used interesting.
The early furnaces averaged twenty-five feet
in height by seven feet across the "bosch," or
widest part of the interior. The fuel was
strictly charcoal and the blast was cold, being
driven by leather bellows through a "tuyere"
into the mass of charcoal and ore. Later on
wooden "tubs" were used to create the blast,
somewhat like short cylinders, with a piston
working horizontally, the power coming from
a water wheel in the nearest stream. These
"tubs" were used as late as 1878, even after the
introduction of anthracite coal as fuel.
The product of these charcoal furnaces was
from ten to twenty-five tons of pig iron per
week, which sold at the furnace at fifteen dol-
lars a ton. Some of the furnaces in later years
produced stoves, pots and plows.
After the charcoal furnaces were abandoned
and the process of smelting by anthracite in-
troduced the highest period of development in
the iron industry ensued. It was the most im-
portant source of wealth to the people and
gave employment to thousands. Owing to
its success the growth of Danville and Blooms-
burg from 1844 to 1890 was due, but the clos-
ing of the mines and the abandonment of the
furnaces did not seriously affect the prosperity
of these places, for the wealth gathered from
the earth was not of an evanescent character
and the people had made use of their opportun-
ity to establish the towns on a permanent foun-
dation.
In filling the old anthracite furnaces, alter-
nate layers of ore, coal and limestone were
used, about three tons of ore making a ton of
pig iron. The furnaces were run continuously,
being filled from the top as fast as the iron
was drawn from the bottom. Casting was
done twice a day. Not only did the local foun-
dries use the product, but" it was in great de-
mand by the foundries all over the eastern
half of the State.
During the years when the iron mines of the
26
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
two counties were in operation the annual
production was an average of 20,000 tons. For
each ton of pig iron were required 3.25 tons
of ore, 2.05 tons of coal and 1.59 tons of lime-
stone.
COAL MINING
Practically all the anthracite coal produced
in the world comes from an area of 484 square
miles in northeastern Pennsylvania. In this
region 87 per cent of the total acreage of coal
lands is owned by eleven railroad corporations.
The Philadelphia & Reading Railroad Com-
pany controls 63 per cent of all the anthracite
coal in the United States, and more than half
of the mines in Columbia county. These rail-
roads own the mines, the rails and rolling stock,
the yards and pockets in the cities, operate the
wholesaling companies and control the retail-
ers. Thus they fix the price of coal to the
consumer.
The cost of mining a ton of coal in the
Schuylkill region is Si. 80. The roads owning
the mines charge $1.50 a ton freight for house-
hold sizes of coal transported to tidewater.
This is 30 per cent more than the rate for gen-
eral merchandise. Coal at the mine mouth is
$3.75 per ton. The freight charge is $1.50;
the railroad's wholesaling branch charges
twenty-five cents for handling, and the retailer
adds $1.25 more, making the cost of a ton of
coal to the householder $6.75 in New York.
The United States government owns and
operates a coal mine at Williston, N. Dak.,
where the cost of mining a tori is $1.78. This
includes all charges except transportation.
Although within the coal region of the east-
em part of Pennsylvania, Columbia county has
few mines of that precious mineral. These are
located in Beaver and Conyngham townships,
the latter being the only ones profitably
worked.
There is a great difference in the soft and
hard coal mining regions. In the former the
beds lie low down in the strata and are regu-
lar in character and easily mined. But anthra-
cite coal beds are contorted, turned over and
jammed into strange and irregular forms.
Squeezed by enormous pressure in past ages,
they disappear in one spot only to expand
Name Location Operator — 1882 Tons
Bast Big Mine run P. & R. Coal & Iron Co 90,161
Potts Locustdale P. & R. Coal & Iron Co 83,941
Hazel Dell Centralia L. A. Riley & Co 7,638
Continental Centralia Lehigh Valley Coal Co 16,542
into thick layers in another. They plunge to
a depth of two thousand feet in one place
below water level, and in a short distance
rise more than a thousand feet above the sea.
In the Pottsville region, of which Columbia
beds are a part, the coal lies in long, narrow
basins under the valleys of the streams, the
edges of which rise to the tops of the moun-
tains and the centers sink several hundred
feet below the surface.
Most of the mining is done by "stripping"
off the upper layers of conglomerate rock
which are characteristic of the hard coal re-
gions, and as the stratum of coal sinks slopes
are run in the same direction until the bottom
of the basin is reached. The coal is hauled
to the "breakers" and there broken, sorted and
freed from slate. Vast piles of refuse or
"culm" have accumulated in years around
these breakers and render the scene gloomy
and desolate.
Coal was discovered in Beaver township in
1826, but not till 1854 was any attempt made
to mine it. The Columbia Coal & Iron Com-
pany was formed in 1864 by Simon P. Kase,
of Danville, and a railroad built to McCauley
mountain. In 1867 shipments of the coal be-
gan and in 1869 the mines were exhausted and
the railroad removed. The mines are now
operated by the Beaver Valley Coal Company,
and produced 4,000 tons in 1913. None of the
companies here have ever made more than
bare operating expenses, as the coal is on the
extreme tops of McCauley and Buck moun-
tains, in shallow strata and difficult of access.
The mines in Conyngham were opened be-
tween 1854 and 1867. Most of them are lo-
cated on the lands of the Girard estate and
leased by the Reading and Lehigh \'alley Rail-
road Companies. The principal mines now
open are the Continental and Repellier col-
lieries at Centralia ; the Midvalley collieries
at Aristes ; and the Morris Ridge and North
Ashland collieries, below Centralia.
According to the figures published by the
State Geological Commission in 1882 the total
production of the mines then in operation in
Columbia county was 722,114 tons. Follow-
ing are the names of the mines, location and
operators :
Monroe Montana
Logan Centralia
Centralia Centralia
A. H. Church 35,8S4
L. A. Riley & Co 231,169
L. A. Riley & Co 88,283
Bear City Centralia John Q. Williams 2,000
Morris Ridge Centralia May & Co SS.490
North Ashland Centralia P. & R. Coal & Iron Co 111,036
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
27
The Bast, Monroe and Bear City collieries
have been abandoned. With the exception of
the colliery at Locustdale, all the mines are
now under the control of the Lehigh Valley
Railroad Company. Three mines have been
opened since the above table was published, the
Repellier and the Midvalley Nos. i and 2.
From the mines in Conyngham and Beaver
townships during 1913 there were produced
1,078,481 tons of anthracite coal. Based on
the average wholesale selling price of $2.38
per ton, tiie value of this coal was $2,566,-
784.78, or almost one and three tenths per
cent of the total production of hard coal in
the State. The average cost of mining was
$2.07 per ton.
Although the early ironmasters of Danville
often prospected for coal in various parts of
Montour county their efforts were never re-
warded by success. It remained for the
drouth of 1914 to reveal the hidden veins of
anthracite to two farmers of the vicinity of
Exchange, who were seeking deeper veins
of water for their stock.
For many years Judge J. L. Brannen of
Exchange had noticed in the bed of the Chil-
lisquaque rounded fragments of coal, but he
did not seek to ascertain their source. In
October of 1914 P. C. Dennen and William
Houghton, farmers of the neighborhood of
Exchange, about the same date dug new wells,
both going to a depth of over seventy feet.
At that depth they simultaneously struck a
stratum of anthracite coal, measuring from
three to four feet in thickness, which on test-
ing proved to be of similar character to the
best product of the hard coal regions. The
coal lies in the usual basin-shaped form so
characteristic of this grade of fuel, and will
be worked by "stripping" and shafts. The
quantity and extent of the deposit have not yet
been demonstrated.
Along the Susquehanna river are a number
of dredges, which operate in low stages of
water, bringing up from the river bed the coal
which has "drifted down in flood time. This
coal, unlike the soft variety, will not disinte-
grate. During 19 13 these dredges washed
out 133,986 tons of salable coal.
The coal is washed into the river from
the culm banks, where the slate sinks into the
crevices, while the coal floats down slowly
and steadily, year by year, until it is lifted
to the surface by the dredges. Most of the
coal taken out has been in the water at least
thirty years, as its rounded shape would indi-
cate. The dredges are simple and their cost
is low, about $200 covering engine and boat.
OTHER MINERALS
No estimate can be had regarding the pro-
duction of lime and limestone, or cement.
There are a number of large and small plants
in both counties, most of which cater to the
local trade.
At one time the slate mines near Buckhorn
were a source of profit to their owners, but
they have been abandoned for many years.
The production of galena or lead ore is so
small as to be of little interest to the reader,
the greatest quantity being insufficient to war-
rant exploitation. It is obtained in connec-
tion with the limestone at mines near Lime
Ridge and Espy.
In this connection reference may be made
to the copper deposits of Sugarloaf township,
which are of no real value, but were consid-
ered valuable by the promoters of the company
who built the smelter near Central and sank
a large sum of money in the vain endeavor
to reduce the ore commercially.
STATE REPORTS
According to the reports received by the
State Geological Survey the mineral produc-
tion of Columbia and Montour counties
showed a decline in 1913 of over $125,000,
as compared with 1912. This is in marked
contrast with most of the counties of the
State and to the State as a whole, which
showed a very distinct increase in value.
The products reported were brick and tile,
anthracite coal, sand and gravel, pottery, lime-
stone and lime. It is impossible to give the
details of production, without itemizing the
individual output.
CHAPTER IV
AGRICULTURE
Owing to the lack of complete reports from
the agricultural department of the State, no
reliable statistics are to be had regarding the
agricultural productions and stock raising
possibilities of Columbia and Montour coun-
ties at present. The principal products of
these counties now, as in the past, are wheat,
buckwheat, oats, corn, rye, potatoes, and other
farm products of lesser importance. Probably
most of the available land in both counties is
now under cultivation, and the crops will bear
comparison in quality and quantity with those
of the other States of the Union.
Among the grain producing States Pennsyl-
vania ranks first in buckwheat, fourth in rye,
eleventh in wheat, twelfth in oats, and four-
teenth in corn. In the production of wheat
this section of the State stands second, but in
buckwheat it is at the top. One of the famous
products of Columbia county at one time was
an Amber wheat, developed and introduced
throughout the United States by William J.
Martin, of Catawissa. The numerous grist-
mills of the two counties, described at length
in another chapter, are an evidence of the im-
portance of the growing of grain in this sec-
tion. Among them is the Millville mill, which
ranks among the largest buckwheat mills of
the Union.
In early times buckwheat was the chief crop
of this section, as it will grow on new and
partially reclaimed land, so the pioneer farm-
ers depended on it principally. This estab-
lished the fame of the region for buckwheat,
and the years have seen but little diminution
of the product. Most of the buckwheat of
these years is grown around Millville, Benton,
Orangeville and Washingtonville, although
quantities are also grown in other parts of
both counties. The rapid growth of this grain
is one of the reasons for its continued popu-
larity, only ninety days being required for
planting, growth and harvesting, in compari-
son with the 270 days needed for a crop of
wheat.
The flour from buckwheat is used chiefly
for griddle cakes, one of the prominent hotels
of New York City making a specialty of serv-
ing cakes made from Fishingcreek buckwheat.
A small amount of the flour is used to make
"scrapple" by butchers, while in Holland it
is extensively used in the manufacture of gin.
In 1904, when wet weather damaged the crop,
quantities of buckwheat were exported to Hol-
land from Columbia and Montour counties.
In the matter of wheat but little can be
ascertained, although there are many mills
equipped with the modern roller process,
which grind the grain for the local markets.
Little wheat is exported from this section,
the crop being about sufficient to supply all
demands of the mills, with a small surplus.
A comparison of the agricultural methods of
the past and present is unnecessary. It can
be said, however, that our farmers are sup-
plied with all the implements that modern sci-
ence can devise for the harvesting and working
of farm crops. In addition the Bloomsburg
State Normal School has a department of agri-
culture, under the charge of Professor Hart-
line, which devotes considerable time to lab-
oratory and field work of a practical character.
A comparison of values in early times with
those of the present will be of interest to the
reader. From an old copy of the Danville
Observer we learn that in 1824 wheat sold in
the open market at 65 cents a bushel, rye at 28
cents, corn at 25 cents, oats at 15 cents, flax-
seed at 55 cents, buckwheat at 20 cents, bees-
wax at 28 cents a pound, pork at 4 cents, but-
ter at 10 cents, and lard at 6 cents.
In 1914 wheat sold at 90 cents a bushel,
rye was not in the market, corn sold at 85
cents, oats at 40 cents, flaxseed was not in the
market, buckwheat was 65 cents a bushel, bees-
wax 25 cents a pound, pork 13 cents, butter
30 cents, and lard 12 cents.
It is interesting to note that the price of
beeswax has scarcely changed over three cents
on the pound for more than one hundred
28
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
29
years. It is a natural product that man has
never been able to imitate successfully.
■ Among the famous products of this section
was the Creveling grape, propagated by Mrs.
Charity Creveling. wife of John Creveling, a
member of the Society of Friends, residing
near Espy. The first vine, from which cuttings
were sent all over the Union, ran over a large
pear tree beside the residence of Mr. Crevel-
ing.
Catawissa, which gave a variety of wheat to
the world, was also the home of two fruits of
national fame, which has not been dimmed
even in this modern and rapid age. The
Catawissa monthlv raspberry was propagated
from a single plant discovered in the Friends'
burial ground there and is noted from the fact
that blossoms and berries appear at the same
time from July to October. The Sharpless
seedling strawberry was originated in 1872
by J. K. Sharpless, of Catawissa, and extens-
ively exploited by J. L. Dillon, of Blooms-
burg.
One of the industries of these counties
wiiich has lapsed into the realm of memory is
the production of maple sugar. In early days
maple syrup and sugar were staple commo-
dities, one townshiji — Sugarloaf — being named
from the chief of its products. The sugar sea-
son was as anxiously anticipated as the wheat
harvest, and was more sure and lucrative. In
the present time the loss of the noble maples,
devastated by the woodman's axe, has caused
an almost entire abandonment of this once
famous industry.
APPLE ORCHARDS
Pennsylvania is third in the list of apple
producing States, and has practically driven
the western apple from the home market, be-
cause a better apple can be produced here at
a lower cost. This is true also of Columbia
and Montour counties, where several varieties
of apples have originated, among them being
the Fornwald. Priestlv and Pennock varieties.
Some of the best apples exhibited at recent
State fairs have been from these counties and
have received honorable mention.
The pioneer commercial orchardist in Col-
umbia countv is "Farmer" Creasy, master of
the State Grange, who has developed to per-
fection several varieties of apples on his farm,
east of Catawissa. J. L. John, of Millville. in
an old orchard that had been declared unpro-
ductive, produced hundreds of bushels of
marketable apples. .\. G. Everett of Pine
township took Inold of an old orchard that had
never given him a profitable crop, and in the
tirst year sold over three hundred bushels of
good apples. The next year he sold almost
six hundred bushels of a better quality, and
in the fourth year he harvested nearly twelve
hundred bushels.
Another instance is the experience of Ira
Cherrington, of Roaringcreek township,
Columbia county. He put brains, hard work
and attention into an old orchard, and the
first year after he began experimenting harv-
ested a larger crop than ever before in its
history. The following year he picked from
the old trees a crop of 1,800 bushels of mar-
ketable apples.
Instances of this kind are occurring all over
the two counties, and will be multiplied in the
coming years, after the intelligent care now
being bestowed on the orchards brings forth
fruit. Some of these farmers have received
over a dollar a bushel for their fruit in the
local markets, but at less prices the industry
is still very remunerative. If the counties
continue to progress in this way during the
coming vears Adams county, now the foremost
fruit raising county in the State, will have
to put forth renewed efforts to retain the prize
medal.
Aside from the big apple crops that are
raised in Columbia and Montour counties there
are a multitude of smaller fruits that, while
singly insignificant, together form an aggre-
gate of no mean volume, and are a source of
considerable revenue to the farmer and his
family. Each farm has a number of cherry,
peach, quince, pear and other fruit trees, bear-
ing a more or less valuable burden each year.
There are one or two large peach orchards, but
most of the farmers content themselves with
raising only enough for local trade. Nor are
the cultivated fruits the onlv profitable prod-
ucts. The crabapple. huckleberry, elderberry,
chestnut, walnut and hickorynut are plentiful
and afford a source of spending money for
the younger generation that is not of inconsid-
erable importance. When taken altogether
the financial value of these fruits and nuts
assumes proportions that makes them count
in the statistics of the counties.
SWINE RAISING
It is taken for granted that the average
farmer will raise enoueh pork for his own use,
and that is true of Columbia and Montour
counties, but in addition enough hogs are
raised to make the industry quite a lucrative
one to the shippers supplying outside markets.
30
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
The most popular breeds are the Berkshire,
Chester- White, Duroc-Jersey and Poland-
China, all of the fat or lard type of swine. It
is not possible to designate the particular
breed that is in the lead, neither can we state
the number of animals shipped. Sufficient to
say that the industry is a thriving one and in
the future will be of considerable importance
in this section of the State.
SHEEP
Only enough sheep are raised in Columbia
and Montour counties to supply the local
butchers, the wool being a side issue, and of
little importance in a monetary way. There
are many reasons for the decline of this in-
dustry here. First come the many useless
dogs, which soon develop a fondness for
sheep killing. Then the fences are rapidly
being taken down on the farms, and sheep are
death to crops. Third, the farmers of the
West are in a better position to raise sheep at
lower prices than in the East. Lastly, the con-
stant care required by this most defenceless
animal makes the industry an unprofitable one
to the farmer, who can utilize his energies in
more lucrative employment.
HORSE BREEDING
Before the Civil war the breeding of horses
was one of the chief of the side lines of the
farmer in these counties, but in later years the
Western horses came into the market at prices
that made home-raised stock unprofitable.
There was a time when a good Western team
could be bought for $300, but the prices are
slowly increasing as the Western ranches are
cut up into farms, and the local horse breeding
industry is regaining some of its lost prestige.
A number of farsighted farmers are enter-
ing this field, but still the local market cannot
be supplied by local breeders, and from six to
ten carloads of Western horses are each year
brought in by dealers, who hold frequent sales
at prominent points in both of the counties.
CATTLE EPIDEMIC IN MONTOUR COUNTY
Montour county has been unfortunate in
having been the point in central Pennsylvania
from which the aphthous fever, or foot and
mouth disease of cattle, originated. The first
discovery of this disease was made on Nov.
9, 1908, on the farm of Jacob Shultz, of
Cooper township. Almost at the same time
it broke out among the cattle of Edward
Shultz, of Boyd's Station, on the south side
of the Susquehanna river, opposite Danville.
It also infected the herds of the town. The
first germs came from cattle shipped here from
Buft'alo, N. Y., in that year.
About the first of November, 1914, there
was an outbreak of the aphthous fever, or
foot and mouth disease, among the cattle of
Columbia and Montour counties. It was
brought to this section in shipments of cattle
from Buft'alo and Lancaster. Several fine
herds were found to be infected and prompt
measures were taken by the State Livestock
Sanitary Board to stamp out the disease. At
the farm of Henry Cooper in Limestone
township, Montour county, over thirty head
of cattle and several hogs were killed by the
State ; at the farm of Calvin Cooper in Madi-
son township, Columbia county, about the
same number \vere killed ; and on the fann of
Charles Umstead, near Washingtonville, ten
cows and a lot of hogs were killed. The in-
fection of all of these came from one ship-
ment from Buffalo. At Danville two herds
were found to be diseased and promptly killed.
They were in the stock-yards of William
Mourey and at the farm connected with the
Danville Hospital for the Insane. At the
latter place over one hundred head of cattle
and sixty hogs were killed. The infection
here came from a shipment from Lancaster
PROMINENT F.'^RMERS
Among the prominent farmers of Montour
county are Dr. W. R. Paules, whose large
farm is near Washingtonville ; D. R. Roth-
rock, owner of Pleasant Hill farm; Alexander
Billmeyer, who owns fifteen farms, aggregat-
ing a thousand acres, near Washingtonville ;
George W. Watson, owner of Buttonwood
Spring farm; and William L. Satteson, who
operates Wilmshurst farm, near Exchange.
T. E. Hyde, a stock raiser and extensive
fanner, has a farm called Edgemont, on the
edge of the two counties, near Grovania, that
is a model in its methods of operation. An-
other enterprise is the Guernseydale Stock
Farms, near Rupert, owned by a corporation
of considerable size, with still another farm
near Catawissa.
GRANGERS, OR PATRONS OF HUSBANDRY
One of the strongest orders in Columbia
and Montour counties is that of the Patrons
of Husbandry, or Grangers, as they are gen-
erally called. They have existed in Pennsyl-
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
31
vania for forty-two years and nearly every
township in these two counties has an organ-
ization in thriving condition, the members in
many cases owning their hall and conducting
a cooperative insurance association. Colum-
bia county has fifteen granges, and Montour
county, six. Every county in the State has
a number, the total being 820, with a member-
ship of 75,000. Columbia county has the most
prosperous insurance association, the Briar
Creek Mutual Fire Insurance Company, car-
rying $14,000,000 of insurance.
The Master of the State Grange and editor-
in-chief of the "Pennsylvania Grange News,"
Hon. William T. Creasy, is a resident of Cata-
wissa township, directly opposite Bloomsburg,
where he has one of the finest farms in the
county.
The platform of the Grange calls for equal-
ization of taxation, the initiative, referendum
and recall in State matters, and on national
issues the organization has favored a grad-
uated income tax, the parcel post, election of
senators by direct vote, conservation of
natural resources and waterpower, and opposed
a ship subsidy, a centralized bank, and the
sale of American goods at lower prices abroad
than at home. All of these but the last have
been accomplished, partly through the efforts
of the Grange.
In matters of legislation the Grange counts
many victories. Through its efforts the agri-
cultural colleges of the country now teach
agriculture. Before the Grange turned its
attention to them they were agricultural only
in name. It was a Grange demand that de-
feated the bill to reissue the patents on sewing
machines and almost immediately machines
that could not be bought for less than $100 sold
for less than $25. The Grange secured the
important and far-reaching decision from the
courts that the creature is not greater than the
creator, and that as railroads must come to the
people for their charters or rights to be, they
are amenable to the will of the people. The
Grange made possible the Hatch act for the
establishment of experiment stations. The
agricultural departments at Washington and
Harrisburg owe their existence to the Grange.
The Inter-State Commerce Commission came
into being as a result of the interest taken by
the Grange in the transportation question. It
was a persistent Grange demand that started
the rural free mail carrier on his daily rounds
over country roads. National and State oleo-
margarine and pure food laws have saved the
dairy business and have done much to preserve
the public health. They are on our statute
books only because of the persistent demands
of the Grange. Recently the Grange took a
leading part in securing from Congress the
denatured alcohol bill.
COUNTY FAIRS
The first steps for the exhibition to the pub-
lic of the products of the ground in Columbia
county were made by Dr. John Ramsay, B. F.
Hartman, Caleb Barton, William Neal and
I. W. Hartman, under the suggestion of Dr.
John Taggart, who had visited a successful
county fair in the northern part of the State
in 1855. The exhibition was held in Mr. Bar-
ton's field, at the foot of Second street,
Bloomsburg, the grounds being inclosed by a
rail fence and almost the entire gate receipts
at ten cents a person being expended in police
protection. There was enough left to pay
two dollars to B. F. Hartman as premium on
a driving horse, the only one entered. A few
specimens of grain and vegetables and a
second-hand grain drill completed the "ex-
hibits."
The following year a fair was held in the
Sloan field, on the south side of Si.xth and
west side of Market streets, which was char-
acterized by a marked improvement in the
number and character of the exhibits. The
third fair was held in grounds situated on
Fifth, between Market and East streets, and
the fourth on the grounds now in use by the
present organization.
During the first three years of this move-
ment each person worked upon his own plan.
Lumber dealers in the town loaned the ma-
terial for the sheds, etc., which were torn down
after each exhibition, but after the organiza-
tion in 1858 some discipline was introduced
into the methods. In that year a charter was
granted to the "Columbia County Agricultural,
Horticultural and Mechanical Association" on
the application of B. F. Hartman, James
Masters, \Villiam G. Shoemaker, Caleb Bar-
ton, Matthias Hartman, Jacob Harris, J. H.
Ikeler, A. J. Sloan, Palemon John, E. R.
Ikeler, C. G. Barkley, Joshua Fetterman,
Thomas Creveling, Joseph P. Conner and John
Taggart. After a number of annual meet-
ings the charter was amended in 1885 to pro-
vide for perpetual membership and remove
restrictions against the holding of real estate.
Before completing the history of this asso-
ciation we will refer briefly to other societies
which were at one time or other in existence
in the county. The "Northern Columbia and
Southern Luzerne Agricultural Association"
32
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
was chartered Feb. i6, 1884, and held its first
fair near Berwick in September of that year.
After five annual exhibitions the association
dissolved and the grounds were sold, being
now a part of West Berwick.
The "Benton Agricultural Association" re-
ceived its charter on Oct. 3, 1885, held five
annual fairs, and then closed for lack of finan-
cial support.
Since 1886 the Columbia County Agricultural
Association has added more land to its hold-
ings, doubled the capacity of the grand stand,
and developed its fair into one of the largest
in the State. The association is conducted
on strictly business principles. It neither pays
dividends nor levies assessments, the surplus
going to make improvements to the grounds
and buildings, and to increase the premiums.
The officers in 1886 were: Samuel Camp,
president; William Shaffer, J. M. DeWitt,
Baltis Sterling, Jere Kostenbauder, vice presi-
dents ; J. C. Brown, treasurer; H. V. White,
secretary ; Thomas Webb, librarian ; James P.
Freas, John Appleman, Dr. A. P. Heller, ex-
ecutive committee ; K. C. Ent, J. P. Sands,
George Conner, auditors; Capt. U. H. Ent,
chief marshal.
The present officers are : E. D. Hagen-
buch, president; A. N. Yost, secretary;
Jacob H. Maust. treasurer; Harry S. Barton,
librarian ; Ellis Ringrose, A. R. Henrie, A. V.
Kressler, H. J. Pursel, vice presidents; E. W.
Hagenbuch, H. B. Correll, Elliott Adams, ex-
ecutive committee; Austin Ohl, J. C. Cryder,
Guy Mensch, auditors.
Montour's f.mrs
The Montour County Agricultural Society
was organized Feb. 18, 1856, with the follow-
ing officers : Thomas R. Hull, president ;
Philip F. Maus, C. Garrettson, Robert Patter-
son, P. Wagner, D. Wilson, E. E. Haas, J.
Sheep, G. Shick, William McNinch, Jacob
Sechler, vice presidents ; James McCormick,
secretary; Dr. C. H. Frick, corresponding
secretary; B. K. Rhodes, librarian; and D. M.
Boyd, treasurer. The board of managers
were : John Best, George Smith, James G.
McKee, James McMahan, Jr., A. B. Cum-
mings, Jacob Sheeo. A. F. Russell, Stephen
Roberts. William McHenry. William Yorks,
Jacob Cornelison, Edward Morrison, J. M.
Best, Mavberrv Gearhart, Joseph Fevers, John
Hibler, .Samuel D. Alexander, Robert Blee,
William Snyder. E. Wilson.
The fair of that year was held at the mouth
of Mahoning creek, and the annual fair was
later held at Washingtonville. In the course
of time a difference arose between the repre-
sentatives from the town and country and the
society divided, the Northern Montour Agri-
cultural Society being organized. The head-
quarters of the latter are at Washingtonville,
where the annual fairs were held. The Mon-
tour County Agricultural Society held annual
fairs in Danville. At present there are no
fairs held in Montour county, most of the
people attending the Bloomsburg fair.
ST.XTISTICS
Working out the averages of the State, to
Columbia county, it is ascertained that farm
laborers in this section work nine hours and
forty-five minutes each day. There are 148,-
000 farm laborers in the State and their
average monthly compensation is $20.60 with
board and $32 if the laborer boards himself.
Forty-two out of every one thousand hogs
die in this county, a decrease of one from the
figures of 1913. There are 1,130,000 head of
hogs in the State, and they are valued at
$15,594,000, or at the rate of $13.80 a head.
The Columbia county horse has an average
value of $139. There are 584,000 horses doing
work on the farms of the State, which are
valued at over $81,000,000. Last year they
were only worth an average of $133.
THE OLD GRISTMILLS
Grain feeds the world and in the history of
any nation the grinding of it into flour is
found to be the first industry to be established.
Handmills were known to the Chinese, the
Egyptians, the lesser civilized nomads of
Asia, and to the barbarians of Europe. The
development of the handmill into the mill
driven by animal power, and the subsequent
application of waterpower to this work, is a
matter that has been treated by many writers
of the past. We will describe only the advent
of the pioneer millers into the valley of the
North Branch of the Susquehanna.
When the Quakers and their immediate
successors, the Germans, came id this section
of the State they at once noted the ample
waterpower of the streams, and set to work
to harness it to the millstone. The early
settlers in Columbia county had to ride to
.Sunburv to get their grist ground until the
first mill in the county was built in 1774 on
Catawissa creek. It was a crude affair, run
by the only undershot wheel ever used in the
county, and was so often out of repair that
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
33
the settlers gave it little work to do. This
mill was later rebuilt by Christian Brobst.
Jonathan Shoemaker built another mill on the
creek here in 1789, which was afterwards
converted into a paper mill.
The next oldest mill was the Brown mill,
on Ten-mile run, in Mifflin township, operated
for years by successive Browns, ancestors of
former Postmaster Brown of Bloomsburg,
and now in the hands of P. A. Fetterolf. it
is unique in having a wooden flume entering
its second story, which operated a 22-foot
wooden overshot wheel. Other mills on this
stream where the Yohe and Nungesser mills,
both long since gone.
In point of age the next is the Jacob Cleaver
mill, built in 1785 on Roaring creek, near its
mouth, in Mayberry township. This mill had
a fine fall of water and a dam bolted to the
solid ledge of rock above the rock cut forebay.
It now has a concrete dam and forebay.
The mill at Slabtown, on Roaring creek,
in Locust township, was one of the best of
the efforts of that old-time millwright, Samuel
Cherrington. This mill had a good fall of
water and was only once frozen up in winter.
That freeze caused its destruction, for the
proprietor sought to thaw it out with straw
and set it on fire. On this creek were also
built the Mendenhall, Snyder, Hughes and
Mourey mills, some of which are still in
operation.
Other mills on Catawissa creek were built
at Mainville and Shumantown. Some are
modern in fittings, while others are operated
by the old methods.
The oldest mill on the north side of the
river was the Pepper mill on Hemlock creek,
in Hemlock township. It is now abandoned.
The old McKelvey mill below Eyer's Grove
was last operated by John Betz in 1878. The
Beagle mill in Hemlock township was aban-
doned in 1903.
The first flouring mill was built in Millville
by John Eves, and has undergone so many
changes that the former owner would not
recognize the present structure as the suc-
cessor of the first. This mill is one of the
largest buckwheat mills in America and
produces more flour of that kind than any
other mill in Pennsylvania.
The Ever's Grove mill, in Greenwood town-
ship, is the only brick one in the two counties,
and bears a strong resemblance to a church.
It was built in i860 by Jacob Ever, son of the
founder of PSloomsburg. The lola mill in the
same township, was built in 1828, and those at
Sereno, Pine township, and Mordansville,
Mt. Pleasant township, a little later.
The Cole mill and the Swartwout mill, on
Fishing creek, in Sugarloaf township, were
both old-timers and famous for buckwheat
flour. There are also the Edson and Thomas
mills on this creek, the former destroyed by
fire some years ago. Both are now running
and have modern ecjuipment.
The Red and the White mills, on Hemlock
creek, near Bloomsburg, were both built by
members of the Barton family, and are still
in good condition, both having modern equip-
ment. The Aqueduct mill, at the mouth of
Fishing creek, has a flume running under the
old North Branch canal bed, and has the dis-
tinction of never being out of water. It is a
finely fitted up mill, grinding a high grade of
wheat flour.
The Mather mill at Benton was at first a
planing mill. It now has a fine concrete dam
and is modern in every respect. The site of
the Stillwater mill is now occupied by a paper
mill, as is also that of the Trench mill, just
above Bloomsburg.
The mill at Jonestown, built by the family
of that name who founded the town, is now
operated by H. C. Gruver. The Herring mill
at Orangeville has been superseded by an
electric light plant.
The McDowefl and Bettle mills at Light
Street are both still running, as are Ikeler's
and Shuitz's mills, near Rohrsburg.
On Briar creek only one mill remains of the
several of former years — the Ash mill, near
the mouth of the stream. The others were
the Rittenhouse, Hughes, Traugh and Hoff-
man mills, all in Briarcreek township.
Bowman's mill, west of Orangeville, has
remained in the family for several generations,
and still turns out a high grade of buckwheat
and excellent wheat flour also. It has modern
machinery.
The mills of the White Milling Company
and R. R. Ikeler at Bloomsburg, the mill at
Jerseytown owned by Mrs. R. G. Greenly and
operated by Rohm Brothers, and the mill of
J. C. Chrisman at Berwick, are steam mills
with modern equipment and all do a thriving
business.
The oldest mill in Montour county is the
Bosley mill, built in 1788, at Washingtonville,
on the site of the fortified one of early times,
called Boyle's or Brady's Fort, on the banks
of the Chillisriuaque. The present mill is a
modern one and built of stone.
The first mill built in the county was that
of William Montgomery, the founder of the
34
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
settlement at the mouth of Mahoning creek,
which later became the site of Danville.
Montgomer\-'s mill was probably built about
1778. It stood until 1S63 and then was razed
to make way for modern establishments.
The Crownover mill at Exchange has been
replaced by a more modern structure, operated
by Charles J. Yagel. The mill in Liberty
township, built in 1814 by John Auten, has
long since passed away, as has also the Simp-
son mill in \'alley township.
The mill built by Philip ]Maus at the site
of Mausdale, in 1793, was quite a pretentious
structure. The millrace was dug by Irish
laborers, part of them Protestants and part
Catholics. Eleven barrels of whiskey were
consumed in the course of the work, and Mr.
Maus had frequently to jump in and disarm
the two factions when a division occurred on
religious lines.
There were many other small mills in dif-
ferent parts of Montour county, along the
Chillisquaque and its branches, but they have
long passed away or relapsed into ruin, their
memories not even being preserved by the old-
est inhabitants. The comparatively level
topography of Montour and the absence of
many streams of sufficient size to aflford
power deterred the old settlers from building
mills, and not until the advent of steam did
the gristmills begin to appear outside of the
larger towns.
At present the principal mills of the county
are located at Danville, Washingtonville,
Mausdale, Mooresburg and in Limestone town-
ship. All of them are operated either par-
tially or entirely by steampower, and most of
them are fitted with the modern roller process.
The great majority of these mills began with
a primitive equipment consisting of a pair
of grinding stones, many of which were shaped
from boulders found near at hand and a round
reel covered with silk cloth. The "system"
was very short, comprising but two processes,
namely, crushing or grinding the grain between
the upper and nether millstones, and separat-
ing or bolting the mass from the stone on the
long reel, thus obtaining the good old-fashioned
flour and the equally good old-fashioned
"shorts" and bran.
With the advent of competition came the
demand for white flour — and more of it from
a bushel of wheat. Many of the mills put in
additional "runs" of buhrs and more bolting
reels, and thus, by first breaking the wheat, and
scalping off the bran, they were in a position
to handle the flour-yielding portion to much
better advantage. The Fowler mill at Espy
reached the highest state of perfection, hav-
ing had several runs of large French buhrs
and a long line of scalping and finishing reels.
The modern roller mill with its intricate
system and machinery brought the milling
business to a scientific basis and the mill own-
er who did not bring his mill up to date in
equipment soon found himself with only
neighborhood custom trade, that yielded little
or no profit.
To think of a kernel of wheat traveling over
a mile and a quarter from the time it entered
the stock bin until the finished product reached
the flour sack and feed bag, was beyond the
ability of the average miller. The man who
studied the system until he could follow the
twenty or more reductions and separations,
and knew when each one was right, and
changed his mill until all were producing the
best results, became the successful miller.
Such men were not plentiful in Columbia
county, with the result that only a very few
mills are in position to turn out a "fancy
patent" flour that will compete successfully
in the market.
Quite fittingly, the "gravel picker," which
has revolutionized the milling of buckwheat
all over the United States, is the invention of
a Columbia county man, Charles FoUmer, of
Benton. Through the inventor's failure to
patent his machine, which is used today every-
where buckwheat is milled, it has brought him
no financial return.
When the buckwheat heads are harvested,
it is almost impossible to keep gravel from
mixing with them. Then, when the seeds are
ground into flour, the tiny bits of rocks are
ground with them, and produce gritty flour.
For years this difficulty could not be over-
come. Plnally Follmer devised a system of
three pipes through which air currents were
drawn. Beneath them the buckwheat was
passed, the seeds being drawn up, while the
gravel was left.
Manufacturers quickly seized upon the in-
genious device, which Follmer thought too
simple to be worth patenting. So successful
was it that on one occasion a car of buck-
wheat flour sent from the White Mills to the
South soon after the "picker" had been pro-
duced was refused. The Southern purchaser
insisted that the buckwheat flour was too white
to be pure buckwheat, and could not be con-
vinced that no wheat flour had been mixed
with it. Buckwheat under the old system had
been of dark color on account of the ground
stone which it contained.
CHAPTER V
TRANSPORTATION FACILITIES— LIGHTING— ROADS, TURNPIKES
During the period of early settlement this
portion of Pennsylvania was a country of
"magnificent distances." The means of com-
munication with distant points was slow, te-
dious and inadequate. As the population in-
creased and the people gained in wealth the
urgent necessity for easier means of com-
munication with the more densely settled por-
tions of the Commonwealth became apparent.
The Lancaster turnpike, the first of that class
of roads in the State, was built in 1795, at a
cost of $7,516 a mile, and this aroused the
people of this section to the possibilities of
road building.
In 1787 Evan Owen, the founder of Ber-
wick, was commissioned to superintend the
construction of a road by the State from Easton
to the Nescopeck falls, and two years later
the Indian trail which was part of the route
was improved sufficiently to permit the passage
of wheeled vehicles. On March 19, 1804, the
Susquehanna & Lehigh Turnpike & Road
Company was incorporated, and in the fol-
lowing year graded and completed the road
at an enormous expense for those times.
In 1806 the Susquehanna & Tioga Turnpike
Road Company was chartered, and by 18 18
the road was completed from Berwick to
Newtown on the Tioga river, in New York
State. After the completion of the bridge at
Berwick in 1814 a connecting line of roads
extended from Towanda to Easton. John M.
Buckalew, one of the prominent citizens of
Columbia county, was a stockholder in the
company and graded a mile of the turnpike for
the sum of $350. This company has never
forfeited its charter, and in the annual state-
ments of the treasurer of the State an item
of some thousands of dollars appears as an
asset, consisting of shares in the Susque-
hanna & Tioga Turnpike Company.
"Centre" turnpike, so called from being al-
most in the center of the State, was begun in
1808, and ran from Reading to Northumber-
land, passing tlirough the township of Conyng-
ham, Columbia county. The chief promoter of
this road was Gen. William Montgomery, of
Danville. In 1814 a branch turnpike was
built from Danville to connect with this main
road, and formed one of the important routes
from Montour county. In 1788 the Reading
road was laid out from Catawissa to Ashland,
Schuylkill county, where it connected with the
"Centre" turnpike. In 1810 it was made a
State road and partially rebuilt. About 1817
a sum of money was appropriated to regrade
it, and in 1825 a line of stagecoaches was
established by Joseph Weaver. In 1839 Ben-
jamin Potts started an opposition line, both
changing horses at the famous Yeager tavern
at Slabtown. It was the most important road
on the south side of the river and bore an
immense amount of traffic. Great covered
Conestoga wagons slowly wound their way
over the tortuous route across the mountains,
their limit of loading being twenty bushels of
grain for two horses. The journey to Read-
ing required eight or ten days then. Now
an automobile can make it in three hours to
Ashland, and about the same time to Reading
from the latter place. This road is now route
No. 183 of the State highways.
The second Reading road was opened in
1812 through Roaringcreek township, Colum-
bia county, and for a time bore a part of the
stagecoach traffic, but the superior attractions
of the older road caused a decline after a short
time. This road is now the chief route for the
farmers to the mining towns of Schuylkill
county.
The turnpike from Bloomsburg to Muncy,
by way of Jerseytown, Whitehall and Ex-
change, was established in 1817, and for many
vears was a prominent road for travelers to
that section, until abandoned in favor of the
railroads. The road from Berwick to Milton
also passed through Jerseytown, making that
town a prominent point in the days of the
stagecoach.
The road from Benton to Unityville, Ly-
35
36
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
coming county, was built in 1S28, and made
a mail route at the same time. It bore its
share of the traffic of the coaching era.
In 1856 the State Legislature made an ap-
propriation for the construction of a road
through the valley of Little I-'ishing creek from
Bloomsburg to Laporte, Sullivan county.
THE NATIONAL ROAD
This article would be incomplete without a
description of the great National Road, or
Cumberland Pike, as it was sometimes called.
Passing as it does through a considerable por-
tion of Pennsylvania, and built at the time of
the commencement of the coaching era, it is
of vast historical importance in the present
age, when good roads are being demanded by
all the parties and the people.
This road was proposed in Congress in 1797,
an act for its construction was passed nine
years later, and the first coach carrying the
United States mail passed over it in August,
1818. It was a splendid road, sixty feet wide,
built of broken stone over bedstones of enor-
mous size, with a covering of gravel, rolled
by an iron roller. Mordecai Cochran was the
contractor for the section from Cumberland,
Md., to Wheeling, W. Va., through the south-
ern part of Pennsylvania, and he employed
over a thousand Irishmen to build that route
of 130 miles.
The intention was to build the road clear
through to Alton, 111., but it was completed
only as far as Vandalia, 111., although the route
was laid out the rest of the way. Over this
road passed most of the prominent persons of
the days before the railroads, and for years
there was a constant stream of vehicles of all
kinds traveling along this fine route towards
the West. Since the Highway Commission
has been established in this State the Nation-
al Road has been improved greatly. So well
was the work of the original contractor done
that in many places the old foundations are
still in place.
Not only was this road macadamized, but
stone bridges were built over the rivers and
creeks, the distances indexed by iron mileposts,
and the tollhouses supplied with strong iron
gates.
THE "cONESTOGa" WAGON
The first appearance of this wagon in his-
tory was at the time of Braddock's expedi-
tion in I7S,S> when Benjamin Franklin issued
an advertisement for 150 four-horse wagons
and 1,500 saddle or pack horses for the army's
use. He agreed to pay fifteen shillings for
the use of the wagons each day, and to com-
pensate the owners if the wagons were lost or
damaged. This oft'er later on was almost the
cause of Franklin's bankruptcy, as the battle
resulted in the capture by the English of almost
all the wagons and stock.
At the time of Braddock's expedition the
pack horse was the most common means of
transporting goods, but after that date the
roads were widened and the wagons entered
the field, much to the disgust of the pack driv-
ers, who fiercely resisted the invasion.
Pennsylvania may rightly be proud of the
Dutchman who designed the Conestoga wagon,
for even in this day it is the ideal wagon for
the transportation of goods over the roads. It
gained its name from the township in Lan-
caster county where the first vehicle of the
kind was made. These wagons had a boat-
shaped body with a curved canoe-shaped bot-
tom which fitted them especially for mountain
use ; for in them freight remained firmly in
place at whatever angle the body might be.
The body of the wagon was arched over with
six or eight hickory bows, of which the center
ones were the lowest, covered with a strong
white hempen cloth, corded strongly down at
the sides and ends. Underneath hung the
tar-lodel or greasepot, and the water pail. At
the rear was the great feed box, with a wood-
en cover, slanted to shed the rain. On the
sides were the long tool box and storage box.
The wheels had broad tires, often a foot wide,
many of the turnpike companies giving re-
bates to the teamsters who had wide tires on
their wagons.
Sleek, powerful horses to the number of six
to ten drew these heavy wagons, which could
be loaded to the top of the cover with a mis-
cellaneous freight of from four to si.x tons.
The horses were clad in handsome harness of
fine leather, bore bells, and were driven mostly
by word of mouth. The drivers rode some-
times on the "near wheeler," who bore a sad-
dle, or on the "lazy board," a seat inserted on
the left side, but it was more often the case
that the driver walked alongside his team.
The number of these wagons on the main
roads was vast. At one time over 3,000 ran
constantly out of Philadelphia to the surround-
ing towns. Most of the teamsters made
freighting their regular vocation, and lived on
the road with their teams. They carried their
own "grub" as well as feed for the horses, and
also a long mattress for their use in the tav-
erns or on the road, sleeping usually on the
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
37
lap-ioom floor, paying a small fee for the privi-
lege. JJefore rcLiring many potations were in-
dulged in, and from the resulting battles the
old "wagon inns" gained their hard names.
These wagons after the development of rail-
roads in this State became the "prairie schoon-
ers" of the West, and bore many an emigrant
and his household to the far distant home-
steads of that portion of our country.
STAGECOACH DAYS
The first coach was made in England in
1555 by Walter Rippen for the Earl of Rut-
land. Eight years later he made one for
Queen Elizabeth. The early English stage-
coaches were clumsy things, without windows
or seats, but necessity soon developed them
into the hne vehicles of later years. These
vehicles were imported into the Colonies in
1737, but the colonists were compelled from
the nature of the country to develop their own
conveyances.
In 1795 a stage line ran from Philadelphia
to New York, the fare being four dollars. The
vehicle had four benches, without backs or
cushions, placed across the interior, the pas-
sengers being compelled to climb over each
other to get to the back seat, the coveted one,
owing to the opportunity to rest the back
against the rear of the coach. Leather cur-
tains covered the top, and the passengers had
to stow their baggage under the seats, where
it shifted at every move of the lumbering
coach. Having no springs, this vehicle was
one to create terror in the heart of the unfor-
tunate traveler who had a long journey before
him.
The coaches of 18 18 had "thoroughbraces"
fitted to them, which made the motion much
easier. These were leather straps, by which
the body of the coach was suspended from
hickory bows. At this date the coach also had
a seat for the driver, with a footboard, and
had a trunk-rack bolted to the rear. Many
other modifications were from time to time
made in the coaches, all of which were super-
seded by the famous Concord coach, first built
in Concord, N. H., in 1827. This famous
coach is still the model for vehicles of its
class at the present time.
The word "stagecoach" strictly applies to
a vehicle for the transportation of passengers
over a route at different stages of which the
horses are changed, and the word "omnibus"
indicates a coach used for short distances. The
first stages from Philadelphia to New York
made the trip in three days, but later the trip
was made in much shorter time. The National
Road was a famous coaching route, at one time
four lines of coaches being run upon it.
The coaches in this section of the State
were of similar character to those elsewhere,
l)ut the roads were not as good and the hills
more steep. The rivalry between the different
lines was great and in many instances the war-
ring drivers cut the rates to almost nothing
in order to drive their rivals out of business.
Upon the patronage of these stage lines and
their passengers depended the prosperity of
many of the towns of Columbia and Montour
counties. The village of New Columbus
(just over the line in Luzerne county) was
founded especially to cater to the coaching
traffic, but failed almost in birth, owing to
the advent of the railroads.
The journey by stagecoach was a mixture
of pleasure and pain. The autumn was prob-
ably the best time to travel, for then the roads
had settled to their best condition. In summer
the dust so covered the passengers that some-
times one could not tell the color of their gar-
ments. In winter and spring the coaches sank
to the hubs in the soft soil of the poor roads,
or bumped over the loose stones of the turn-
pikes. It seemed to be adding insult to injury
to demand toll from the passengers for a
journey over such highways. And the toll-
gates seemed to appear at remarkably frequent
intervals.
There was one curious and most depressing
condition of stage travel. It seemed no mat-
ter how little or how long the journey was,
nor where the destination, the coach always
started at daybreak, or before. The traveler
had to rise in the dark, dress by the feeble
illumination of a tallow dip, and start out in
the cold, depressing gloom of the early dawn,
without breakfast. As most deaths occur in
the early hours before dawn, it is surprising
that the poor travelers of those days did not
gladly shuffle off this mortal coil to evade the
terrors of the journey before them. Some-
time later in the morning the breakfast post
would be reached, and something warm taken
within, just as the victim had almost de-
spaired of keeping alive the vital spark. It
was no unusual thing for the coach to make
ten miles ere the travelers were given their
breakfast. From three to five in the morning
were the starting hours of the coaches, and
the journey often lasted until eight at night.
In such a journey many miles could be aovered
in a day.
38
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
OLD INNS
The history of Pennsylvania shows that the
taverns of this State were many and good,
especially after the Revolution. These taverns
or inns were generally kept by the most prom-
inent citizen of the town and were not simply
drinking places, but the center of social life
for the inhabitants. The better class of
taverns usually had a parlor for the women,
with an open fireplace, from which the roaring
fire cast grateful warmth and cheerful illumi-
nation. Most of these parlors were well fur-
nished and served as a place of resort for the
family of the innkeeper as well as the traveler's
wife or daughter.
The taproom was usually the largest room
of the inn, had a bar, a great fireplace, and was
furnished with wooden benches and tables.
Often there was a rude writing desk for the
accommodation of the early traveling sales-
man or lawyer. One of the furnishings of
the fireplace was a pair of smoking tongs, to
pull a coal of fire from the embers for the
pipes of the habitues. Of the drinks that were
served here and the meals partaken much has
been written by others, so we will pass over
that part and give a brief list of the prominent
taverns or inns of Columbia and Montour
counties.
One of the first inns was that of Frederick
Hill, who built on the site of Fort Jenkins,
east of Bloomsburg on the road to Berwick.
He and his son ran it for many years. When
the stagecoaches came into constant use in
1/99 Abram Miller built the "Half-Way
House," where horses were changed on the
journey between -the two towns.
Probably the oldest tavern on the south side
of the Susquehanna was the Red Tavern, built
in 1804 by John Rhodenberger on the crest of
Locust mountain. For almost a decade he
catered to the immense traffic along the old
Reading road. An inn still stands on the site
in 1914, more than a hundred years later.
Another inn was built about the same time at
the foot of Buck mountain on the other Read-
ing road, by Adam Michael.
^^^^en this Reading road was in its high
tide of prosperity there were two inns located
on it that were famous all over this section.
One was the hostelry of John Yeager, at Slab-
town, and the other Casper Rhoads' tavern, at
Rhoadstown.
An inn stood on the road from Bloomsburg
to Danville at the spot now called Grovania
(then bearing the title of Ridgeville), but the
name of the proprietor has passed away with
the building. In 1838, when the coaches ran
to every point out of Danville, there were
four inns at Washingtonville, all of which did
a rushing business.
Probably the most interesting of the old inns
now remaining in this part of the State is
the one from which the village of White Hall
gained its name. The first inn here was the Red
Horse Inn, built in 1810 by Andrew Schooley,
but it was razed some years later to make way
for a storeroom. White Hall Inn was built
in 1818 by Capt. John F. Derr, and rebuilt
in 1849 by Ferdinand Ritter, who had the
ambition to make it a famous resort for
travelers. It is probably the most elaborately
carved building in this section of Pennsyl-
vania, the work being done by Samuel Brugler
of Jerseytown. Over the wide porch is a
panel of some length, depicting an eagle hold-
ing two American flags and standing upon two
cannon. Above the door is a large piece of
scrollwork, while on each side are fantastic
animal heads. The panels of the door are
also hand-carved, as are also the capitals of
the fine Corinthian columns. When in its
prime, and with a coat of pure white paint
upon it, this inn must have presented an im-
posing appearance to the arriving traveler.
Even in its last days of decay and neglect it
has an impressive dignity that makes it over-
shadow the more modem structures around
it. The well from which many a traveler
watered his weary horse is still in use by the
side of the road in front of the old hotel,
which is now owned and occupied by John
O. McWilliams.
In the larger towns there were many inns
of more or less repute, chief among them being
the Cross Keys and Golden Lamb, at Berwick ;
the Forks Inn and Chamberlain's Hotel, at
Bloomsburg; the Susquehanna House, still
standing at Catawissa ; and the Ferry Tavern,
the Jackson Tavern, the Cross Keys Inn, and
the Rising Sun Inn, at Danville.
POSTRIDERS POST OFFICES
Before the establishment of post offices and
mail routes the public had to depend on the
casual traveler to communicate in writing with
friends and relatives in other parts of the
State. The first postriders were men who
embarked in the carrying of mail for their
own gain, and many different rates were
charged, according to distance and condition
of the roads. In 1773 Hugh Finlay was made
postal surveyor by the English government
over the territorv from Canada to Florida,
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
39
the penny post having been established in
1753. He found many abuses in force, but
failed to correct them.
In 181 1 the United States government
ordered a topographical survey of the post
road from Passamaquoddy to St. Mary's, in
Massachusetts, and in 1815 published a list
of the post towns of the country, their dis-
tances apart and the charges for letters de-
livered. To make this information more avail-
able to the people the report was printed on
linen handkerchiefs and sold at a low rate.
Some of these unique records are still in a
good state of preservation.
According to this table a single letter was
conveyed for a distance of 10 miles or less
for 6 cents ; up to 60 miles, 8 cents ; 100 miles,
10 cents; up to 250 miles, 17 cents; and for
450 miles a fee of 25 cents was charged.
The first post office route was established in
Pennsylvania in 1683 by William Penn, be-
tween Philadelphia and New Castle, Del. The
first postmaster of Philadelphia was Benjamin
Franklin, in 1737. In 1753 he was made post-
master for the Colonies, and in 1775 was ap-
pointed postmaster general by the Continental
Congress.
The rates on letters in this State remained
the same as in the above table until 1842. All
letters had to be prepaid, postage averaging
12 cents each, and the postmaster was obliged
to give the sender a receipt and then forward
a description of the letter, the amount of post-
age paid, the date of sending and other neces-
sary information to the department at Wash-
ington. Fortunately for the old postmasters
there were few letters transmitted in those
days.
The high rates, the poor service and other
causes broug'ht into existence many private
expresses, which carried letters in defiance of
the law for much less than that charged by
the government.
Berwick first appears as a post village in
1797. Three years later Jonathan Hancock
carried the mail over the route from Wilkes-
Barre.
A pony mail was established in 1806 from
Danville to Sunbury, the round trip being
made in a week. It took two weeks for an
answer to be received from Philadelphia. The
route from Sunbury to Painted Post was
awarded in 181 1 to Conrad Teter, who sublet
the route from Wilkes-Barre to Miller Hor-
ton. The route from Shickshinny to Jersey-
town, through the Fishing Creek post office,
was established in 1815.
A mail route from Fairmount Springs,
Luzerne county, to Taneyville, Lycoming
county, by way of Cole's Creek, Campbell and
Division, was operated on contract by James
N. Park, his son Orrin being the carrier. All
mail was carried on foot over the rough and
almost pathless country, and it was not till
1848 that the amount of mail matter war-
ranted the use of a horse.
in 1856 Capt. John Derr ran the tri-weekly
mail coach from the Exchange Hotel at
Bloomsburg to the White Hall Hotel at White-
hall. In 1857 the route was extended to
Turbotville.
The post office department reduced the rates
in 1845 to 5 cents for a half ounce, over a
radius of 300 miles ; a greater distance cost-
ing 10 cents. As usual, the letters had to be
prepaid. In 1847 stamps were first introduced,
but did not come into general use until 1855.
Rates were reduced to 3 cents in 1863, and
again in 1883 to 2 cents for each half ounce.
Free delivery of letters over a restricted
route in large cities took effect in 1863. In
1865 it was extended to cover small cities, and
in 1873, and then in 1887, the delivery system
was made applicable to small towns and vil-
lages.
In 1896 the rural free delivery, which has
caused the abolition of so many small post
offices, was tested in different sections with
such success that it was greatly extended in
1904 and later years. At present the rural
routes are being extended as fast as condi-
tions warrant into every part of the Union.
Two of the latest additions to the conven-
iences of the post office, which have in a short
time become absolute necessities, are the postal
savings banks and the parcel post. The latter
was declared but a few years ago by inter-
ested parties to be impossible of establishment,
yet in the two years of its existence it has
demonstrated its great value and almost put
the great express companies out of business.
R.XILWAY M.\IL SERVICE
The first railway mail car was given an offi-
cial test in 1864. Two mice were responsible
for the introduction of the traveling post
office. Before that date the mail was dis-
tributed according to the addresses at certain
designated post offices, which usually were
the distributing points of whole States. It
was slow and laborious work. At one of these
distributing points. Green Bay, Wis., a pair
40
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
of mice made their home in a pouch that had
lain in the post office for several days. When
Jhe pouch finally reached its destination, near
the upper shores of Lake Superior, the receiv-
ing postmaster found not only the rodent
homeseekers, but also a larger family of little
mice. They had made beds of chewed-up let-
ters. The postmaster reported the matter to
the Chicago office and sent along the mice as
an exhibit, which was received by George B.
Armstrong, the assistant postmaster. To pre-
vent the repetition of such an occurrence Arm-
strong sought to speed up the mail service, and
finally evolved the idea of having the mail dis-
tributed on the trains while in transit. The
plan was ridiculed. One man declared : "The
government will have to employ a regiment of
men to follow the trains to pick up the letters
that would be blown out of the cars."
However, the first postal car, an ordinary
baggage car equipped with racks and pigeon-
holes, made its initial run from Chicago to
Clinton, Iowa, over fifty years ago, and today
every nation in the civilized world is dis-
tributing a large part of its mail matter in
railway mail cars. In the United States over
eighteen thousand railway mail clerks are
separating over ninety per cent of all the mail
originating in this country and a large volume
coming from foreign lands. They have sepa-
rated in a single year nearly twenty-three bil-
lion pieces of mail matter, not including reg-
istered mail. They travel an aggregate dis-
tance of five hundred million miles every year
on the twenty-seven thousand domestic trans-
portation routes having a combined mileage of
four hundred and fifty thousand miles.
The service has been raised to the highest
point of efficiency to-day and the present ratio
of errors in distribution has been reduced to
one in ten thousand pieces of mail. The clerks
are expected to distribute the mail so that there
will be no rehandling in the post offices of large
cities, and to separate it into packages corres-
ponding with each mail carrier's route in the
cities. In the case of the largest cities they
must separate it according to sections or sub-
stations. Considering the speed at which the
clerks sort the mail, the swaying of the train
plunging along at fifty miles an hour, and the
thousands of railway connecting points, the
locations of over sixty thousand post offices
in the United States and the frequent illegi-
bility of the hand written addresses, it becomes
a marvel how the railway mail clerk can work
without a greater proportion of errors.
Post Offices in Columbia County, ipi4
Almedia
Aristes
Beaver Valley-
Benton — 6
Berwick — 3
Bloomsburg — 5
Briar Creek
Buckhorn
Catawissa — 5
Central
Centralia
Elk Grove
Espy
Eyer's Grove
l<"ishing Creek
Forks — I
lola (discontinued July ist)
Jamison City — i
Jerseytown — 2
Light Street — i
Lime Ridge
Mainville — i
Mifflinville
Millville — 3
Numidia
Orangeville — 2
Pine Summit
Roaring Creek — i
Rolirsburg — i
Rupert
Stillwater — i
Wilburton
Post Offices ill Montour County, 1(^14
Ottawa
Strawberry Ridge
Washingtonville
White Hall
Danville — 7
Exchange
Grovania
Mausdale
Mooresburg
* The Hgure after the name of the office indicates
the number of rural routes emanating therefrom.
STATE HIGHWAY DEPARTMENT
For many years Pennsylvania has stood
almost at the bottom of the list of States in
the matter of good roads. Except in a few
isolated instances, very little aid has been given
in the past to the builders of roads here by
the State. The first act for the establishment
of a Highway Department was that of 1903,
which was supplemented by the acts of 1905
and 1907. The act under which the present
State Highway Department is operated is
commonly known as the "Sproul Road Act,"
enacted by the 191 1 session of the Legislature,
and approved in May of that year by Gov.
John K. Tener.
This act called for a reorganization of the
existing State Highway Department, and pro-
vided for the taking over as State highways
the roads comprising 296 specified routes,
forming connecting links between county seats
and the principal cities and towns, and in ad-
dition forming trunk lines extending from one
end of the State to the other. The act pro-
vided that the new department should have
full charge of maintaining and constructing
these routes after June i, 1912; carry on ex-
isting State-aid contracts; and further pro-
vided for the iiuprovement of township roads
to the extent of two million dollars, fifty per
cent of which was to be supplied by the State,
and the other fifty per cent by the county or
township applying for aid.
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
41
The department was organized in July,
191 1, and the State divided into fourteen dis-
tricts, District No. 3 consisting of Columbia,
Luzerne, Montour, Northumberland, Snyder
and Union counties, with headquarters at
Bloomsburg. The State Highway head-
quarters is at Harrisburg, the officers consist-
ing of Edward M. Bigelow, State highway
commissioner ; Joseph W. Hunter, first dep-
uty State highway commissioner; E. A. Jones,
second deputy State highway commissioner ;
Samuel D. Foster, chief engineer; Howard W.
Fry, chief clerk ; and W. R. D. Hall, statisti-
cian. The field work is under the direction of
a bridge engineer, fifteen assistant engineers,
and fifty superintendents. The auditing de-
partment is under the charge of a certified ac-
countant, and the maintenance department is
under the direction of a competent engineer.
In addition to the work done in the counties
of Columbia and Montour, considerable work
was done upon the historic highway in the
southern part of the State, known as the "Na-
tional Road" or "Cumberland Turnpike."
This road was built by the United States gov-
ernment in the years 1804 to 1814, and con-
nected Baltimore, Md., with Alton, 111. The
highway department has improved almost the
entire length of this road through Pennsyl-
vania, and intends to make it a model road of
modern construction. The great width of this
road is a standing rebuke to the "skimpy"
methods of the road builders of the past in
this State.
The funds expended by the highway depart-
ment in the years 1912-13 were derived from
the following sources :
State highway fund appropriation $3,000,000
Automobile tax receipts appropriated 1,800,000
State-aid appropriation 1,000,000
Balance State-aid appropriation, 1907-1909. 660,642
State-aid funds returned by counties and
townships 410,950
National Road appropriation 300,000
Experiments and tests fund appropriation. . 50,000
Traveling fund appropriation 88,000
Contingent fund appropriation 79.000
Expense fund, automobile division 100.000
The roads placed under the care of the State
highway commission aggregated 8,827 miles,
and the different classes of construction are
as follows : Brick, asphaltic-concrete, asphalt-
ic-macadam, waterbound-macadam, and con-
crete. There were 296 main State highway
routes and 306 alternate lines, the averaa:e cost
of surveying per mile being $47.87, plotting
$11.36 per mile, and checking and tracing
$7.96 per mile. In addition to surveying the
State highways, 35,512 miles of country roads
were surveyed and maps prepared showing
the roads, towns, villages and other important
places in the districts.
The average expense for maintenance of
approximately 6,000 miles of roads in 1912-13
was $169 per mile. The following 'numbered
routes of the State highways are those passing
through Columbia and Montour counties:
Route No. 2, Sunbury to Danville; No. 3, Dan-
ville to Bloomsburg; No. 4, Bloomsburg to
Wilkes-Barre via Berwick; No. 16, Blooms-
burg to Laporte via Benton; No. 161, Potts-
ville to Sunbury via Centralia; No. 183,
Bloomsburg to Pottsville via Catawissa and
Centralia; No. 185, Laporte to Wilkes-Barre
via Benton ; No. 239, Bloomsburg to Williams-
port via Millville and Sereno; No. 240, Wil-
liamsport to Danville via Washingtonville ;
No. 249, Bloomsburg to Lock Haven via Still-
water, Rohrsburg, Millville, Jerseytown,
White Hall and Exchange ; No. 259, Danville
to Lewisburg via Mooresbtirg; No. 283,
Bloomsburg to Sunbury via Catawissa and
Pensyl's Mill ; No. 303, lola to Muncy via
Pine Summit; No. 321, Laporte to Benton,
and over route No. 16 to Bloomsburg ; No.
327, Bloomsburg to Berwick via Almedia,
Espy, Lime Ridge and Briar Creek.
Under the provisions of the act of 1909 the
revenues derived from the registration of
motor vehicles and operators' licenses were
set aside for the improvement of the State
roads. From Jan. i, 1910, to June i, 1913, the
receipts from this source were $2,031,921. It
is estimated that the annual receipts from this
source will be over a million dollars a year
hereafter.
During the period above referred to the
length of routes in' the two counties under
discussion was 127.24 miles, and the total
expended for maintenance upon them was
$13,659. The work of surveying tlie town-
ship roads was in progress, but the completed
maps had not been placed in the hands of the
printer.
The commission is given power to divert or
rebuild any State roads, when necessary, to
purchase and free of charges all toll roads, re-
build all bridges where necessary, take over all
roads running through towns or boroughs
where it is necessary to comolete the improve-
ment of a route, to aid to the extent of fifty
per cent of the cost of the construction of a
road through a borough when petitioned, and
to make regulations regarding the laying of
railroad tracks and pines or conduits upon
and under the said roads.
42
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
The State-aid roads are built by the higli-
way department and maintained by them, one
half of the cost of building and maintenance
being borne by the State and the other half
by the county and township. These roads are
built to conform with the State standards and
are under the supervision of the highway de-
partment.
. In 1914 a section of State-aided roadway
8,555 fsst in length was built in the boroughs
of Berwick and West Berwick, under the
supervision of the State highway department.
The base w^as concrete and the road was sur-
faced with Watsontown brick, laid in. tar.
The contract price of the work was $31,265.33.
A strip on each side of the street, including
the gutter and curbing, was added by the two
boroughs and laid under the supen-ision of the
State engineers ; this additional strip was paid
for by the boroughs alone. Its length was
3,200 feet, and extended as far as the settled
portion of the town of West Berwick.
The present completed State-aid roads are
located in Catawissa, Berwick, Danville and
a stretch north and south of Benton. The
road from Bloomsburg to Danville and
through ^Montour county to Northumberland
is macadamized and kept in a fine state of
repair, while in other parts of both counties
work is proceeding on the roads as rapidly
as the amount of funds on hand held by the
highway department will justify.
NORTH BR.\NCH CANAL
The Susquehanna was declared a navigable
highway by the Provincial Assembly of 1771
and a sum set aside to improve it. "Durham"
boats, so named from a town below Easton,
where they were built, were the first to navi-
gate the river. They were sixty feet long,
eight feet wide and two feet deep, and drew
twenty inches of water when loaded with
fifteen tons of merchandise. Four men, with
setting poles, moved them against the current
at the rate of two miles an hour.
Many attempts were made to increase their
speed mechanically before the invention of
steam. Isaac A. Chapman, in 1824, built a
boat at Nescopeck designed to be operated by
horsepower, but it failed after repeated trials.
It was fittingly named the "Experiment."
Farmers and merchants of these counties re-
sorted to the use of "arks," rafts and flats for
the transportation of their merchandise, but
they often lost the results of months of labor
in a few moments in the rapids and eddies of
the treacherous stream. According to the
Danville Watchman of that year the trade on
the Susquehanna in 1824, by means of "arks"
and rafts, from Columbia county, was 100,000
bushels of wheat, 3,000 bushels of clover seed,
3,000 barrels of whiskey, 250 tons of pork, and
a small amount of lumber. It seems that the
forests were then beginning to be completely
exhausted along the watercourses.
In April, 1826, the "Codorus," a steamer
built at Vork Haven and commanded by Cap-
tain Elger, passed Berwick on its way to
Wilkes-Barre and Binghamton. The follow-
ing month Captain Collins, in the "Susque-
hanna," a larger boat, attempted to pass the
falls of Nescopeck, opposite Berwick, and in
the attempt the boiler exploded, killing four
and wounding a large number of the passen-
gers. This settled the fate of navigation in
the river, and steps were at once taken for
the construction of a canal.
Propositions had been made to build a series
of dams across the river, but never went beyond
the discussion stage. The North Branch
canal, which was an extension of the Penn-
sylvania State canal system, was begun in
1826, the first excavation being celebrated at
Berwick by a military parade and salutes from
the cannon. Alexander Jameson drove the
oxen and Nathan Beach held the plow handles
as the first furrows were turned.
The North Branch canal began at North-
umberland and extended to the New York
State line, there connecting with a canal to
Elmira ; thence boats were towed down Seneca
lake to the branch of the Erie canal, through
which either the Atlantic or the Great Lakes
could be easily reached. The canal was opened
as far as Nanticoke falls in September, 1831 ;
the W'yoming extension to Pittston, seventeen
miles, was completed in 1834; the Tioga
branch, to connect w-ith the New York canal
system, was begun in 1836; also the line from
Pittston to Athens ; the Tunkhannock line was
begun in 1838.
The North Branch Canal Company was in-
corporated in 1843 and took over the unfin-
ished portion between the Lackawanna river
and the New York State line, but did not
carry out the contract, and in 1848 the State
regained control of that part. The entire
canal and its branches was finally completed
in 1853, but not fully opened until 1856, when
the "Tonawanda" passed up from Pittston to
Elmira with a cargo of coal. The total cost
of the North Branch canal and its branches
was $1,598,379.35.
The length of the canal through the counties
of Columbia and Montour was about twenty-
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
43
four miles. In this section there were five
locks, located at Berwick, Bloomsburg, Rupert
and Lime Ridge and one near Danville. These
locks were twenty feet wide, twenty feet deep,
with three sets of gates at distances of ninety
feet. They were very substantially built of
earth, lined with stone, covered with a wooden
sheathing fastened to the stones by iron rods
and wedges. The capstones along the walls
were of Pottsville conglomerate, fastened to-
gether with iron staples sunk in holes previ-
ously filled with melted lead. Some of these
locks could easily be used at present, while
others have been destroyed by fire and flood.
The most important monument in Columbia
county to the ability of the old canal builders
is the aqueduct at Rupert, which is now used
by the electric railroad as a bridge. The stone
piers are in excellent shape and the timbers
are still in fair condition after eighty-three
years of use.
In 1830 the first canalboat — the '"Wyom-
ing"^-built at Northumberland passed Ber-
wick in the river, the canal being still un-
completed. The following year the "Luzerne"
came up the canal. In 1835 the first boats
built exclusively for passenger trade, the
"Denison" and the "Gertrude," constructed
by Miller Horton and A. H. Cahoon, were
launched at Northumberland for the trade
between that town and Wilkes-Barre. They
were drawn by six horses. For a period of
some years before the advent of the railroads
the canal was a favorite route for passenger
traffic, as the stagecoaches were barely com-
fortable and more expensive. Although the
progress on the canal was slow — about six
miles an hour — the scenery was beautiful, the
accommodations excellent, and the food could
be eaten in peace and at leisure. Many picnic
and excursion parties were made up and the
practice continued even down to the last years
of the life of the canal system, when small
light-draft steamers were used for the pur-
pose.
Boatyards were established at Northumber-
land, Espy and Wilkes-Barre, where the boats
were built and repaired. The canal company
in later years operated its own boats, but any
person could carry on a freight business by
paying the regular tolls and complying with the
rules. In winter the canal was emptied of
water and all the necessary repairs were then
made. In the spring it was necessary to mow
the long grass in the canal bed before the
water was let in, as it greatly interfered with
rapid transit.
For some years the business done by the
canal was immense. It was the main avenue to
the seaboard and coal could be profitably sent
through it to Philadelphia for one dollar a ton
from Wilkes-Barre. The railroad rate is now
nearly double that. Canalboats were on an
average eighty-five feet long and drew two
feet when loaded. The average depth of the
canal was five feet. The largest cargo ever
shipped in one boat was a mixed one of 285
tons.
The entire canal system in this section of
the State was sold in 1858 to the Sunbury &
Erie Railroad Company and by them to the
North Branch Canal Company. In 1869 it
was sold to the Pennsylvania Railroad Com-
pany, who formed the subsidiary company
which for some years operated it under the
name of the Pennsylvania Canal Company.
In 1880 the traffic on the canal began to de-
cline and in ten years after that it became
apparent that the canal would have to be
abandoned. The unprecedented freshets of
1889 had destroyed the Juniata division, from
Newton Hamilton to Rope Ferry, a distance of
fifty-six miles, and the West Branch canal was
also damaged, all that portion west of the
Loyalsock being almost totally obliterated.
Having no connection below Northumberland,
the canal became almost useless and was finally
abandoned in 1891. The Pennsylvania Rail-
road Company sold it to the Delaware, Lacka-
wanna &• Western Railroad Company, the pres-
ent owners, later on.
The Pennsylvania Canal Company operated
the section of the canal from Northumberland
to Wilkes-Barre, a distance of sixty-five miles,
but owned altogether about 338 miles of canals.
Their capital stock was fixed at $5,000,000 and
the officers were all Philadelphians, stockhold-
ers of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company.
The locaP superintendents in this section were
Hugh D. Quick of Rupert and Hudson Owen
of Berwick. The chief engineer was Thomas
H. Wierman of Harrisburg.
In this year of 1914 there is little evidence
in sight of the past glory of the canal, although
but a few years have elapsed since its abandon-
ment. Nature has done her best to obliterate
the work of the past and man has assisted her
by tearing down the embankments and de-
stroying the stone work. The authorities at
Danville have almost entirely filled up the bed
of the canal, but in Bloomsburg and Berwick
and along most of the intervening space it re-
mains open, filled in places with stagnant water,
a menace to the health of the public. The locks
at Rupert and Bloomsburg are still visible,
44
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
but those at Dainille and Berwick are covered
up under tons of earth.
The Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Rail-
road Company has placed metal signs along the
line of the canal, warning the public against
trespassing. Many persons object to this pro-
hibition, but in a way it is a blessing to the peo-
ple. It prevents adjacent landowners from
shutting off the river from the public use and
has permitted the growth of trees to continue
unrestricted, thus converting many parts of
the canal towpath into a veritable "lovers' lane,"
embowered with foliage and affording a shady
walk for miles along the beautiful Susque-
hanna. The canal could be easily converted
into a level and permanent highway at but
moderate expense, if the railroad could be in-
duced to turn it over to the State Highway
Commission.
RAILROADS
The honor of being the first to promote and
construct a railroad in this section of Pennsyl-
vania belongs to citizens of Catawissa, the
head of the project, and for a time the only
advocate of the plan, being Christian Brobst.
The story of the building of this road is an
interesting and romantic one, and has been
compiled in the follovving accurate narrative
by Charles E. Randall, editor of the Catawissa
News Item and vice president of the Columbia
County Historical Society.
In the issue of Jan. 20, 1825, Danville
Watchman, appeared a letter from Christian
Brobst, Catawissa, dated Jan. 15th. At that
time water transportation was considered the
solution of the problem of communication be-
tween the great manufacturing centers, the
State canal being partially completed. A route
for water communication was sought between
the Schuylkill river and the North Branch of
the Susquehanna.
In his letter to the Watchman Mr. Brobst,
who was one of Catawissa's "live wires," a
merchant miller, owning the upper mil! at that
place, the farm now owned by Harman Breisch,
and a number of other properties in this sec-
tion, advocated a route between the two rivers
by way of the Little Schuylkill river and Cata-
wissa creek. He claimed the route was prac-
tical and that he was acquainted with every
foot of the way. His plan was to come up the
Schuylkill river, then up the Little Schuylkill
to its headwaters ; cross over to the headwaters
of Catawissa creek, "a distance of three miles,
part of the way through a small mountain" ;
then down Catawissa creek to the North Branch
of the Susquehanna; "the levels showing that
every foot of the waterways could be made
navigable."
"This could be made a part of a route from
Philadelphia to the lakes," he stated, "by going
down the North Branch and up the West
Branch to Sinnemahoning creek, 100 miles; up
the Sinnemahoning to Toby's (or Sandy) creek,
40 miles ; down Toby's creek to Allegheny river,
Oo miles ; up the Allegheny to French creek,
25 miles; up French creek to Waterford, 28
miles; then by canal 14 miles across country
to Erie." This route, he claimed, would neces-
sitate the construction of but thirty miles of
canals. Flis idea was that the streams could
all be made navigable by a series of dams.
Nothing ever came of this project, and it
was not until 1829 that the transportation
question came up again. This time it was the
railroad project. Mr. Brobst had been elected
to the Legislature from Columbia county, and
kept hammering at the State authorities for
transportation between the Schuylkill and the
North Branch. Fortified by the survey he had
made on the waterway project, he succeeded
in getting the Legislature, in 1828, to pass an
act authorizing the Pennsylvania Canal Com-
mission to "employ a competent engineer to
make surveys and examinations between a
point on the Schuylkill canal near Pottsville,
and a point on the Susquehanna river between
the towns of Catawissa and Sunbury," as to
the feasibility of building a railroad between
those points.
The waterway levels taken by Mr. Brobst
were by means of a "Jacob's staff" and a home-
made water level, made by himself, and they
were so accurate that in surveys in later years
by professional engineers the levels varied only
about six feet in the entire distance between
Catawissa and what is now Lofty. An engi-
neer named Robinson was employed by the
canal board to make the surveys, three terminal
points on the North Branch of the Susque-
hanna river being considered — Catawissa,
Danville and Sunbury. The engineer elimi-
nated Danville on account of "insurmountable
natural obstacles," and after a lengthy survey
reported to the commissioners in favor of a
route through the Ouakake and Catawissa val-
levs with Catawissa as the terminal, saving
that this route was "adapted to locomotive en-
gines." while the route with Sunburv as a
terminus was "adapted to horse nower only
for the greater part of the route." Besides,
"the Catawissa route would p^ive three distribu-
tive points — Pottsville. Little Schuvlkill and
the Lehigh."
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
45
In spite of the engineer's report the canal
commissioners favored the Sunbury terminus,
one of their number, Gen. Daniel Montgomery,
being particularly active in Sunbury's support.
On February 7, 1829, a meeting was held at
the home of Christian A. Brobst (a son of
Christian Brobst), Catawissa, to "protest
against the activity of said Gen. Daniel Mont-
gomery, he being a canal commissioner, in
furthering Sunbury's claims as a terminal
against the report of the engineer in favor of
Catawissa." Mr. Brobst was chosen presi-
dent of the meeting and Joseph Paxton and
Dr. Isaac Pickering, secretaries. A committee
was appointed to see that the Catawissa route
got a fair show, the committee to attend the
meeting of the canal commission at Harris-
burg. The committee was as follows : Col.
Joseph Paxton, William McKelvy, Joseph
liroljst (a son of Christian), Dr. Harnian Gear-
hart and Dr. Isaac Pickering.
The project of the State building the rail-
road fell through, but the Catawissians did not
give up the idea, but turned to Philadelphia
capitalists and business men with whom they
had business connections. Two years later
they succeeded in interesting Philadelphia capi-
tal and the Little Schuylkill & Susquehanna
Railroad Company was formed.
In the charter granted by the Legislature
on March 21, 1831, Charles Sidney Coxe,
George Troutman, Thomas Reeves, Jr., Rob-
ert Earp, Nathan Smith and George W. Tryon,
of Philadelphia ; George DeB. Keim and
Mathias S. Richards, of Reading, Berks
county; William Audenreid, Burd Patterson,
of Pottsville, Schuylkill county ; Christian
Brobst and Joseph Paxton, of Catawissa,
Columbia county; and Wm. McElwy (Mc-
Kelvy) and Ebenezer Daniel, of Bloomsburg,
Columbia county, were appointed commission-
ers to open books for stock subscriptions.
By 1S35 sufficient money had been raised by
stock subscriptions and the financial support
of a Philadelphia bank (either the Bank of
North America or the Bank of the United
States) to start the work.
One provision of the charter was "that the
said road shall not be more than four rods
wide, and shall not pass through any burying-
ground, or place of public worship, or any
dwelling-house, without the consent of the
owner thereof, or any outbuildings of the value
of three hundred dollars, without such con-
sent."
Edward Miller was appointed chief engineer
and he came to Catawissa early in 1835 and
started the survey. The first right of way
secured was of John Fortner, whose farm
(i'ranklin township), now owned and tenanted
by his granddaughter, Miss Alvaretta Fortner,
extended down to Catawissa creek. The sur-
vey began at the west line of the Fortner prop-
erty.
Chief Engineer Miller built the house known
as the "Monroe house" at the corner of Sec-
ond and South streets, and the office of the
company was located there. The property is
now owned by Oliver Miller, of Aristes.
The work continued during 1835-36-37-38,
the right of way being secured, the grading
completed and the bridges erected, the line
enduig at what was later known as the Lehigh
Valley switchback, below Ryan's tunnel, at the
foot of an inclined plane starting midway be-
tween Lofty and Ryan's tunnel and ending half
a mile below in the Quakake valley, where the
Wilkes-Barre turnpike crosses the Little
Schuylkill river. It was the intention to con-
tinue the line through the Quakake valley to
Philadelphia. The grade of the plane was 10
feet 9 inches, to the one hundred feet.
The bridges were wooden lattice-work, the
timber being sawed by sawmills set up on the
ground. Not a bolt or spike was used in any
of the bridges, the framework being put to-
gether with wooden pins.
Not a rail was laid on the right of way, how-
ever, though a quantity had been prepared and
stored at the foot of the inclined plane. The
stringers were sawed out of logs to a suitable
size and a strap rail of iron nailed on the top.
The old plane, graded in 1838, is plainly tracea-
ble today from the trains passing that point
on the Reading.
A locomotive was built in England for the
Little Schuylkill & Susquehanna Railroad Com-
pany, but was never used as no track had been
laid. It was stored at Philadelphia until the
Catawissa, Williamsport & Erie Railroad was
built. It weighed about fifteen tons and was
called the "Catawissa," and was about the
size of one of the little "dinkeys" used in later
years by superintendents. It was never run
practically, except on the C. W. & E. Railroad,
where it was used for a short time to haul the
officials over the road, having been first over-
hauled by Harry Clayton, of Tamaqua, master
mechanic of the Little Schuylkill railroad.
In 1838 the bank that had financed the road
failed and the work stopped, not to be re-
sumed until 1853, when it was taken up by a
new corporation, the Catawissa, Williamsport
& Erie Railroad Company, chartered in 1850,
which took over the property of the Little
Schuvlkill & Susquehanna Railroad Company,
46
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
and was authorized to extend the road to
WiUiamsport. This company surveyed a new
route from the head of the old inchned plane,
abandoning that route, going to Tamanend,
where it connected with the Little Schuylkill
Navigation & Railroad Company, which was
built irom Port Clinton to meet them.
The contractors from Catawissa to Taman-
end were Alexander Christy and a man named
Malcom, both Scotchmen. They tore down
the old lattice-work bridges and erected trestles,
except at Alainville, Fisher's, Aline Gap and
Long Hollow, where Burr arch bridges were
erected. The old bed graded by the original
company was repaired and used. The road
was completed to Rupert in 1854.
Beyond Rupert to Milton, where it joined
the P. & E. railroad, Thomas Emmet was chief
engineer and contractor, and he was permitted
to make out his own estimates. He must have
been an honest man, as no charges of graft
were ever made against him. The road was
completed to Milton in the fall of 1854.
The first locomotive used on the line, the
one used in track-laying and ballasting, was
the "Massachusetts." It was built in that State
by Hinkly & Drury, and was delivered at
Columbia, Pa., from where it was brought to
Catawissa on a canal flat in 1853. It was un-
loaded at a point opposite the head of the
"cove" below town, run over a cribbed-up track
to the river bank, where it was loaded upon a
large flat and ferried across the river to a
point near the dwelling house that used to stand
just below the Pennsylvania junction. From
that point it was hauled up a temporary track
to an engine house that had been erected near
the old Nick Fisher home, the end of the grad-
ing then. The rails used were made at Dan-
ville, weighed 56 pounds to the yard, and were
delivered across the river and hauled over the
bridge by teams, being stored at the engine
house and at the paper mill crossing.
The "Massachusetts," afterwards known as
No. 2, weighed about twenty-five tons, was a
wood-burner, and had Samuel Carpenter as
engineer and Frank Wright as fireman, both
from Columbia. Joseph Shuman, of Beaver
Valley, was night watchman at the enginehouse
and engine wiper.
In 1853 a line was run from the old grading
at the Fortner line down the river to Danville,
crossing the river at Boyd's. Colonel Paxton,
one of the promoters of the company, owned
the farm at the mouth of Fishing creek (now
the Boody farm) and wanted the railroad to
go to Danville by way of his farm. He suc-
ceeded in getting passed a supplement to the
act of the Legislature incorporating the Cata-
wissa, WiUiamsport & Erie Railroad Co., ex-
tending the line to WiUiamsport, "Provided,
That any road located under authority of this
section shall not diverge more than one mile
distant from the mouth of Fishing creek." The
road was built by way of Fishing creek and
the town of Rupert resulted.
Another line was run from Rupert through
Millville and Aluncy to WiUiamsport, but noth-
ing was ever done with this route.
The Catawissa-Tamanend end of the road
was completed first and mixed trains were run
between Port Clinton and Catawissa, the first
one on the i6th or 17th of July, 1854, the C. W.
& E. having trackage rights over the Little
Schuylkill to Port Clinton, where they con-
nected with the Reading main line. The creek
bridge had been completed and the Catawissa
station was located on the present site. The
yard comprised the home of Isaac S. Monroe,
who sold to the company and purchased the
home built by Chief Engineer Miller at the
corner of Second and South streets. The old
Monroe homestead was moved down opposite
the station and was for many years used as
offices, being torn down a few years ago.
The first through train from Port Clinton to
Milton (with connections through from Phil-
adelphia) was run in September or October,
1854. The first scheduled train started from
Catawissa to Port Clinton on Monday in July.
It came up from Tamaqua on Sunday, the i6th
or 17th, to be here ready for Monday's start.
There were two trains running from opposite
ends of the line. The engineer of the first reg-
ular train out of Catawissa was John Johnson,
afterwards a machinist in the shops here, and
the fireman was his brother-in-law, a man
named Coe. The conductor's name was Du-
Bois. That Sunday was a gala day in Cata-
wissa, thousands of people coming from all
over this section to see the train come in. W.
G. Yetter, then sixteen years of age, saw the
train arrive that afternoon. The first station
agent at Catawissa was George Hughes, father
of Mrs. Sarah Vastine. The first at Rupert
was George S. Gilbert, a member of the en-
gineer corps.
The locomotive was turned at this place by
means of a Y, that extended out to the river
bank from the old station and back to Roberts'
run (now Corn run).
The C. W. & E. was built at a uniform grade
of 33 feet to the mile from Catawissa to Lofty.
The maximum curvature was 12 degrees, ex-
cept at "Nigger Hollow," where it was I2>4.
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
47
From Lofty to Tamanend the descending grade
was 66 feet to the mile.
The Catawissa railroad had seven wooden
trestle bridges (the largest being that at Dark
Run, which was 546 feet high and 574 feet
long) and about as many tunnels. The bridge
at Mainville was 115 feet high and 727 feet
long. It was the only one in Columbia county.
A fine steel bridge now occupies its place, the
old piers of the first one still remaining. All
the others have been replaced by steel.
The Catawissa' shops were built in 1864, the
repair work before that time being done at
Tamaqua. The first master mechanic was
George H. Prescott, and his brother, "Andy"
Prescott, was foreman.
The Catawissa railroad was extended from
Milton to Williamsport in 1871, under George
Webb, superintendent and chief engineer, with
W. G. Yetter as assistant engineer. In 1882
W. G. Yetter, resident engineer, laid out and
built the extension from Williamsport to New-
berry. The extension from Milton to Wil-
liamsport cost $1,200,000, the estimate hav-
ing been $1,000,000.
The Catawissa, Williamsport & Erie had a
strenuous time and in i860 gave up the ghost.
The property was purchased at public sale by
the Catawissa Railroad Company, a corpora-
tion formed for that purpose. In 1872 the
road was taken over by the Philadelphia &
Reading Railway Company under a lease,
under which the latter company still holds con-
trol and operates the road.
The officers of the road have been: Presi-
dents—William D. Lewis, T. H. Dupey, M. P.
Hutchinson and Franklin B. Gowen (after the
Reading took charge in 1872) ; superintendents
— Thomas M. McKissock; Henry Fondy ;
Stanley H. Goodwin, who resigned in May,
1863 ; followed by George Webb, who resigned
in 1872 ; succeeded by Daniel Reinhard until
March 17, 1887, when W. G. Yetter was ap-
pointed until June, 1893, when the Catawissa
railroad was consolidated with the Shamokin
Branch of the P. & R. under Mr. Bertolet as
superintendent, until he was succeeded by A.
T. Dice, who was followed by J. E. Turk, the
present superintendent.
The second railroad built through this sec-
tion of the county was the Lackawanna &
Bloomsburg road, projected by citizens of
Wilkes-Barre, who had no means of reaching
Philadelphia but the circuitous route through
Scranton and New York City. This road was
completed in 1857 to Rupert, connecting there
with the Catawissa road, and the first train
passed Bloomsburg on Jan. i, 1858. Two years
later the road was extended to Northumber-
land. At first but two trains, one passenger
and one freight, were in service, but addi-
tions of two trains were made every ten years
until 1881, when it came into the control of
the famous Lackawanna, "The Road of An-
thracite," which now operates the line. At
present four passenger trains are run daily
each way, and an equal number of freights.
The line is equipped with automatic block sig-
nals and is one of the finest in the State.
The North & West Branch railroad was con-
ceived in the mind of Rev. D. J. Waller, of
Bloomsburg, who reasoned that the logical
route for a railroad was along the southern
bank of the Susquehanna. This route had
previously been the one selected by Simon P.
Kase as the one for his telegraph line, but
was abandoned in favor of the Hazleton route.
Mr. Waller wrote the charter for the new road,
and Hon. C. R. Buckalew had it passed by the
Legislature in 1871. It was ten years, how-
ever, before the road was completed to Wilkes-
Barre from Catawissa. J. C. Brown was chief
engineer, and Samuel Neyhard, assistant. The
charter of the company provided that a bridge
be built over the Susquehanna, with a wagon
way beside the tracks, the county to pay two-
fifths of the cost. That bridge was never built,
but the road was constructed under the name
of North & West Branch Railroad Company,
with almost unlimited powers to construct
branches, etc. It came into the control of
the Pennsylvania system in 1886. At the pres-
ent time the road is in a prosperous condition.
Six passenger trains and numerous freights
are run daily through Catawissa.
In 1870 the Danville, Hazleton & Wilkes-
Barre road was built by the efforts of Simon
P. Kase, of Danville. It, also, is now in the
control of the Pennsylvania. It follows the
east bank of the Catawissa creek, passing
through Main and Beaver townships, connect-
ing Catawissa with Hazleton and the hard coal
region.
The Bloomsburg & Sullivan Railroad Com-
pany received its original charter from the
State in 1883, and was completed in 1888. The
first ground was broken at the bridge a short
distance north of Orangeville, in August, 1886,
the road was completed and operated to Benton
the following year, and to Jamison City in 1888.
The promoters of the road were: Hon. C. R.
Buckalew and Col. John Jamison, of Blooms-
burg, and the constructing engineer was John
A. Wilson, of Philadelphia. James C. Brown,
a former postmaster of Bloomsburg, was
the surveyor of the line. The entire right of
48
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
way was secured through the efforts of Capt.
H. J. Conner and Silas McHenry. John Bush
(Giovanni Bucci), of Bloomsburg, was the
contractor. The road is twenty-nine miles
long, its route being through the beautiful and
historic Fishingcreek valley, where at many
points are located the camps and cottages of
the summer residents from Bloomsburg, Cata-
wissa, Berwick and the adjoining towns in the
county. There are many highly productive
farms along the line, which passes through
Light Street, Orangeville, Forks, Stillwater,
Benton, Coles Creek, Central and Jamison City.
Connection is made at Bloomsburg with the
Lackawanna and the Reading, and at Paper
Mill with the Susquehanna, Bloomsburg &
Berwick roads. The road operates six pas-
senger trains each day, and several freights,
although the trade has fallen off since the re-
moval of the sawmills at Jamison City. An
extension was projected northward to connect
with the Lehigh Valley road, and a route was
once surveyed, but nothing further has cul-
minated.
The present officers of the road are : Samuel
Wigfall, president; H. T. Dechert, vice presi-
dent ; \V. C. Snyder, superintendent and treas-
urer ; George A. Ritter, secretary and auditor ;
W. C. Fortune, supervisor. About fifty men
are employed by the company.
The Wilkes-Barre & Western railroad was
commenced in 1885, ran the first train from
Watsontown to Millville in 1887, and in 1891
was completed to Orangeville. Subsequently
the management changed hands, the name was
changed to the Susquehanna, Bloomsburg &
Berwick Railroad Company, the line to Orange-
ville abandoned, the route made through Light
Street and the line completed to Berwick in
1903. Over this road most of the cars manu-
factured by the American Car & Foundry Com-
pany, of Berwick, are forwarded to their
owners.
The line traverses a picturesque region of
hills and deep valleys, passing through Light
Street, Paper Mill, Jerseytown, Eyer's Grove
and Mordansville, with a branch to Millville.
The terminus of the road is at Watsontown, on
the west branch of the Susquehanna. Samuel
B. Haupt, president of the road, died in Sep-
tember, 1913, from injuries received when his
private car was struck by a switch engine in
the Berwick yards. Since his death the road
has come into the control of the Pennsylvania
system.
ELECTRIC R.'MLWAYS — LIGHTING
For the following concise and correct his-
tory of the development of gas and electricity
in the counties of Columbia and Montour we
are indebted to A. W. Duy, a prominent attor-
ney of Bloomsburg, who is personally associ-
ated with these companies.
Gas Lighting
The first gas company to be incorporated and
begin operations in Bloomsburg was the Blooms-
burg Gas Company, which corporation received
its charter from the court of Common Pleas
of Columbia county on May 9, 1874. The au-
thorized capitalization was $30,000 (Deed
Book 27, page 433), and the promoters of this
enterprise were as follows : H. J. Clark, John
La Wall, Freas Brown, D. A. Beckley, Samuel
Knorr, H. H. Grotz, E. R. Ikeler, Enos Jacoby,
A. L. Turner, J. C. Brown, J. K. Grotz, A. C.
Smith, C. Bittenbender, C. F. Knapp, J. H.
Maize, Ed. M. Warden, Jacob Schuyler, C. G.
Barkley, D. J. Waller, William Peacock, J. J.
Brower, I. W. Hartman, Robert F. Clark,
John A. Funston, C. W. Neal, Joshua Fetter-
man, W. M. Reber, D. Lowenberg, M. C.
Woodward, J. S. Sterner, E. H. Little, Louis
Bernhard, Wm. B. Koons, Isaiah Hagenbuch,
W. F. Sloan, H. L. Dieffenbach, C. W. Miller.
These gentlemen after receiving their char-
ter purchased the tract of land at the intersec-
tion of Seventh and Market streets in the town
of Bloomsburg, there constructed a gas plant
and laid mains throughout the main portion
of the town, and conducted a very prosperous
business until Sept. 2, 1899, when the company
leased its property, rights and franchises for
a period of nine hundred and ninety-nine years
(Misc. Book 6, page 454) to the American Gas
Light Company of Bloomsburg, a corporation
formed under the act of 1874, for the purpose
of taking over the property, rights and fran-
chises of the old Bloomsburg Gas Company.
The American Gas Light Company of
Bloomsburg received its charter Aug. 25, 1899
(Misc. Book 8, page 665), its authorized capi-
talization being $40,000, together with an issue
of bonds of equal amount, and the incorpora-
tors of the company were: William D. Boyer,
John B. Russel, Grant Pelton, George W. Rey-
nolds, P. R. Bevan, all of Wilkes-Barre, Pa.
It continued in business until Nov. 16, 1906,
when by virtue of an agreement of merger and
consolidation between it and the American
Electric Light Company, the property, rights
and franchises of the company became vested
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
49
in the United Gas and Electric Company of
Bloomsburg, the incorporators of the last
named company being E. li. Tustin, John B.
Russel, P. R. Bevan, Harry S. Barton, A. W.
Duy. The gas business in Bloomsburg was
conducted under the management of this com-
pany until Feb. 7, 191 1, when by another agree-
ment of merger and consolidation it was
merged with twenty-two other gas and electric
companies, covering the territory between the
borough of Nescopeck in Luzerne county, and
the borough of Riverside in Northumberland
county, both inclusive, forming the Columbia
Gas and Electric Company, the details of whose
consolidation are referred to later on.
The Columbia Gas and Electric Company
sold and conveyed all of its property, rights
and franchises to the Columbia and Montour
Electric Company in March, 1913, and the gas
business is now being conducted under the
management of that company and is keeping
pace with the rapid strides in the general in-
dustrial development of Bloomsburg.
The Danville Gas Company was created by
special act of Assembly, approved the 8th day
of May, 1854 (P. L. 1855, page 710). This
company purchased the lot of land where the
present gas and electric plant is located and
erected a gas plant, constructed mains through-
out the borough of Danville and proceeded to
engage in the business of furnishing gas to the
citizens of that borough. The property of the
Danville Gas Company was next acquired by
the Consumers Gas Company, a corporation
which was created under the act of 1874, on
Nov. 8, 1882, and this company conveyed by
lease for the term of nine hundred and ninety-
nine years, its property, rights and franchises
to the Standard Gas Company (Deed Book 19,
page 606).
Electric Lighting
The pioneers in the electric lighting business
in Columbia county were the following gentle-
men and firms : W. R. Tubbs, Harman & Has-
sert, Robbins & Peacock, W. H. Brower, C. M.
Creveling, L. S. Wintersteen, B. F. Sharpless,
T. L. Gunton, Isaac S. Kuhn, J. R. Schuyler,
J. C. Brown, I. W. Willits, Frank P. Billmeyer,
C. W. Miller, N. U. Funk, E. V. Hartman, H.
V. White, L. T. Sharpless, C. A. Kleim, A. G.
Briggs, J. E. Wilson, J. M. Robbins. Mathias
Geist, R. W. Oswald, James McCloskey, H. P.
Chamberlain, L. N. Moyer, D. W. Kitchen,
W. R. Kocher, H. J. Clark & Son, Freas
Brown, Charles G. Barkley, Paul E. Wirt,
George Rosenstock, David Hensinger, Frank
P. Drinker, M. G. Hughes, John Appleman,
James Magee, J. H. Mercer, William Chris-
man, L. E. Waller, John A. Funston, B. F.
Gardner, William Krickbaum, H. W. McRey-
nolds, L. Gross, John L. Moyer, C. W. Neal,
John B. Casey, J. H. Maize.
On Dec. 11, 1889, the above gentlemen, all
of whom were prominent in the affairs of the
county, received a charter from the governor,
effected an organization under the name of
Bloomsburg Electric Light and Power Com-
pany (Misc. Book 3, page 440), purchased a
lot at the northeast corner of tlie intersection
of Eighth and Catharine streets, Bloomsburg,
and there erected an electric light plant, the
original equipment consisting of two small
Keeler boilers ; two fifty horsepower Taylor-
Beck engines; two fifty kilowatt Thompson-
Houston alternating generators, one fifty light
direct current Thompson-Houston arc gener-
ator, and a wooden panel switchboard.
A contract for lighting the streets of Blooms-
burg was secured from the town council, pole
lines and wires were erected throughout the
built up portion of the town, arc lights placed
at the intersection of the principal thorough-
fares and electric light turned on about the
1st of April, 1 89 1, a truly historic event in the
advancement of Bloomsburg.
This company on Sept. 2, 1899 (Misc. Book
6, page 451), leased its property, rights and
franchises to the American Electric Light Com-
pany, a corporation which was formed for the
purpose of taking over the old company, hav-
ing received its charter Aug. 21, 1899 (Misc.
Book 8, page 664), of which company the in-
corporators were William D. Beyer, Grant Pel-
ton, G. W. Reynolds, P. R. Bevan, all of
Wilkes-Barre. This company conducted the
plant until the i6th of November, 1906, when
it entered into an agreement of merger and
consolidation with the American Gas Light
Company of Bloomsburg, forming the United
Gas and Electric Company of Bloomsburg
(Misc. Book 9, page 17).
The Irondale Electric Light, Heat & Power
Company was incorporated on April 7, 1902
(Misc. i3ook 7, page 503), the incorporators
being C. M. Creveling, W. S. Moyer, Dr. W.
M. Reber, Charles W. Runyon, N. U. Funk,
Grant Herring, H. A. M'Killip, J. N. Thomp-
son, C. A. Kleim, J. C. Brown, Dr. J. J. Brown.
The Irondale Electric Light, Heat and Power
Company acquired by purchase the dam, mill
race, wheel house, and water rights of the
Bloomsburg Iron Company, and in the year
1902 erected and equipped at Irondale a hydro-
electric plant, receiving its waterpower from
50
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
Fishing creek, the water being conveyed from
the old Irondale dam by way of the headrace
and developing about two hundred horsepower.
For a number of years the Irondale Electric
Light, Heat and Power Company and the
Bloomsburg Electric Light and Power Com-
pany were both engaged in the furnishing of
electricity to the community, developing a spir-
ited competition, resulting in a rate which while
beneficial to the citizens produced disastrous
results to those having investment in the enter-
prise.
The Berwick Electric Light Company was
incorporated on Aug. 4, 1892 (Misc. Book 4,
page 70), the following gentlemen being in-
terested in the enterprise at that time: F. H.
Eaton, C. D. Eaton, W. F. Lowry, C. C. Evans,
F. W. Brockway, W. E. Elmes. They subse-
quently incorporated the West Berwick Elec-
tric Light Company, which was a company
subsidiary to the Berwick Electric Light Com-
pany, furnishing electric current in the borough
of West Berwick. These two companies later
joined the merger and consolidation forming
the Columbia Gas and Electric Company.
The first electric light company to be incor-
porated in the borough of Danville, Montour
county, was the Standard Electric Light Com-
pany, which received its letters patent from
the Commonwealth on Oct. 6, 1899 (Deed Book
21, page 435), the incorporators being John
B. Russel, W. D. Boyer, G. W. Reynolds, Grant
Pelton, P. R. Bevan, and this company took
over by purchase the electric light business in
Danville which had formerly been conducted
by John R. Bennett, as an individual.
ELECTRIC RAILWAYS
The first electric railway company organized
in Columbia county was the Bloomsburg Elec-
tric Street Railway Company, which was in-
corporated on June i, 1892, under the act of
1889 (Misc. Book 4, page 41), by J. L. Dillon,
L. E. Waller, C. C. Peacock, I. W. Willits, W.
R. Tubbs, C. W. Miller, for the purpose of
constructing two miles of road in the town of
Bloomsburg. This enterprise was subse-
quently abandoned, as the traffic was not
deemed sufficient to support it.
The Bloomsburg and Berwick Electric Rail-
way Company was incorporated Feb. 9, 1899
(Misc. Book 6. page 265), by R. Steen Martin,
Franklin Ingraham, J. M. Emery, L. E. Waller,
F. E. Miller, C. W. "Miller, with its route from
Bloomsburg to Berwick. This road was com-
pletely financed through the efforts of Mr. C.
W. Miller, but owing to the inability of the
company to procure all of the rights of way
from abutting property owners, the subscribers
temporarily abandoned the construction of the
road.
The North Susquehanna Transit Company
was incorporated Aug. i, 1895 (Misc. Book
7, page 449), by the following named gentle-
men : E. S. Whitney, Robert E. Wright, Allen-
town, Pa. ; Wilson M. Gearhart, James Scar-
let, R. S. Ammerman, John K. Geisinger, Dan-
ville, Pa. ; E. R. Sponsler, J. M. Fitzgerald,
Harrisburg, Pa. ; all of whom constituted the
first board of directors. The charter route of
this company extended from the borough of
Danville in Montour county through the town
of Bloomsburg to the village of Espy in Colum-
bia county.
On Oct. 31, 1899, the Bloomsburg and Ber-
wick Electric Railway Company and the North
Susquehanna Transit Company entered into
an agreement of merger and consolidation,
forming the Columbia and Montour Electric
Railway Company, with an authorized capital-
ization of $375,000; bonds were issued in the
sum of $375,000 secured by a first lien mort-
gage to the Commonwealth Trust Company of
Harrisburg, as trustee, the company secured a
tract of land, the site of the old Neal furnace,
where they erected a powerhouse and car barn,
and the first electric railway in the history of
Columbia county was constructed and com-
pleted between the borough of Berwick and
the town of Bloomsburg, with a branch four
miles extending from the town of Bloomsburg
to the borough of Catawissa. The road was
opened for traffic in October, 1901.
The Danville and Bloomsburg Street Rail-
way Company was incorporated on Sept. i,
1903 (Alisc. Book 8, page 259), with an
authorized capitalization of $250,000. The in-
corporators were R. H. Koch, W. C. Billman,
Frank C. Angle, Charles P. Hancock, W. F.
Pascoe. Bonds in the sum of $250,000 were
issued secured by a first lien mortgage to the
Easton Trust Company, of Easton, Pa. They
secured a site at the village of Grovania, half
way between Danville and Bloomsburg, and
there erected a powerhouse and car barn, and
constructed the road between Danville and
Bloomsburg.
A number of charters for other electric
railways to be constructed with terminus at
Bloomsburg have been granted, but up to 1914
none of them went further than the projected
stage. The exception was the Bloomsburg &
Millville Railway Company, incorporated in
1901. A route from Millville to Bloomsburg
was partially graded and about two miles of
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
51
track laid. The cgmpany was then reorgan-
ized as the Bloomsburg, Millville & Northern
Railway Company and preparations were made
to equip the line with storage battery cars, but
nothing detinite was accomplished. The offi-
cials and promoters of this road in 1913 were:
D. O. Coughlin, president, Wilkes-Barre ;
Walter Hughes, treasurer, West Berwick; W.
P. Zehner, secretary, Bloomsburg; directors,
William Masters and Ellis Eves, Millville;
Walter Hughes, C. W. Miller, J. C. Brown,
James Magee, W. P. Zehner, Bloomsburg; J.
B. Kester, Mainville; L. E. Waller, Wilkes-
Barre.
In passing it seems well to observe that in all
of the foregoing enterprises, which have con-
tributed so much to the development of Colum-
bia county, Mr. C. W. Miller, a member of
the Columbia county bar, was the pioneer, and
to his indefatigable energy and farsightedness
the community is largely indebted for the prog-
ress which it has made, not only in the de-
velopment of public service corporations, but
many manufacturing industries as well.
In the fall of 1908, at a time when the de-
velopment of the electrical industry in the
nation was beginning to assume that position
in the economic scheme which it is one day
destined to attain ; and when science had dem-
onstrated the fact that electrical energy might
be profitably transmitted for long distances,
certain gentlemen affiliated with the Pardee
coal interests, at Hazleton, conceived the idea
of establishing a gigantic electric power plant
adjacent to the vast culm banks at the Har-
wood Mines, and a corporation w'as formed
known as the Harwood Electric Company,
who there erected a modern electric plant at
a cost of over a million dollars, with capacity
to furnish electric energy and distribute it for
hundreds of miles.
Recognizing the possibilities which this en-
terprise offered, Mr. A. W. Duy, of Blooms-
burg, at that time counsel for the electric rail-
way company and the gas and electric com-
panies, together with Mr. E. R. Sponsler, of
Harrisburg, Pa., the president of the Colum-
bia and Montour Electric Railway Company,
conceived the idea of amalgamating all of the
electric light, gas and electric railway com-
panies in Columbia and Montour counties, and
a corporation was formed by them under the
laws of Delaware, known as the Columbia
Power, Light and Railways Company, with an
authorized capitalization of $850,000, and an
authorized bond issue of like amount. The
incorporators of this company were E. R.
Sponsler, Harrisburg; A. W. Duy, Blooms-
burg; W. F. Lowry, Berwick; Myron I. Low,
Lime Ridge; C. M. Creveling, Almedia; R. H.
Koch, Pottsville; W. C. Billman, Reading; P.
R. Bevan, Wilkes-Barre; M. F. D. Scanlon,
St. Davids; B. F. Meyers, Harrisburg; W. M.
Pyle, Wilmington, Del. ; R. Scott Ammerman,
Danville, Pennsylvania.
This company acquired by purchase a con-
trolling interest and in some instances all of
the capital stock, a majority of the bonds, and
in some cases all of the bonds, of the follow-
ing companies : Berwick Electric Light Com-
pany of Berwick; West Berwick Electric
Light, Heat and Power Company, of West
Berwick ; United Gas and Electric Company
of Bloomsburg; Irondale Electric Light, Heat
and Power Company of Bloomsburg; Standard
Gas Light Company of Danville ; Danville
Electric Light Company of Danville; Nesco-
peck Light, Heat and Power Company of
Nescopeck ; Columbia and Montour Electric
Railway, and Danville and Bloomsburg Street
Railway Companies.
In order that the territory of operation of
the company might be legally organized and
the light, heat and power furnished by any one
of the subsidiary or operated companies man-
aged by the company and as required by the
statutes of the Commonwealth, the company
procured to be organized and purchased all of
tlie capital stock of the following named light,
heat and power companies : Briar Creek Elec-
tric Company, Catawissa Electric Company,
Centre Township Electric Company, Cooper
Electric Company, Gearhart Electric Company,
Hemlock Electric Company, Mahoning Elec-
tric Company, Miftlin Township Electric Com-
pany, Montour Electric Company, Riverside
Electric Company, Salem Electric Company,
Scott Township Electric Company, Shickshin-
ny Electric Company, Valley Township Elec-
tric Company. West Hemlock Electric Com-
pany — $5,000 each, the total being $75,000.
It was the ultimate purpose of the company,
as the sole or principal stockholder of the re-
spective subsidiary or operated companies, to
cause the merger of the railway companies
into one company and all of the light, heat and
power companies into one company, so that
the subsidiary or operated companies should
consist of one transportation company and one
light, heat and power company. This was
accomplished bv agreements of merger and
consolidation dated Feb. 7, 191 1, forming the
Columbia and Montour Electric Railway Com-
pany and the Columbia Gas and Electric Com-
pany, and all the territory operated by the
company through its subsidiary companies in
52
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
the counties of Luzerne, Columbia and Mon-
tour brought under the requirements of the
statutes of the State relative to tlie supply
of light, heat and power within the territory
of the franchise and to persons and companies
in the territory contiguous thereto.
In undertaking the work of the operation
of the various subsidiary companies, the neces-
sity of a change in the power for operation
was early felt. Each of the respective operated
companies was producing its own motive
power, with a multiplicity of engines, gen-
erators and machinery, and each with its force
of employees. Indeed it was one of the pri-
mary conceptions in the economic operation of
these companies to secure either a common
center of power within the territory, or a
power from a distance outside of the terri-
tory from which all the subsidiary companies
might be operated from a common source or
by the manipulation of a single unit. In con-
summation of this design the company, through
the Nescopeck Light, Heat and Power Com-
pany, on the 5th day of June, 1909, caused the
execution of a contract for the supply of
power with the Harwood Electric Company,
by which the latter named company agreed
to furnish by the ist of January, 1910, suffi-
cient common power to operate the transporta-
tion companies and all of the light, heat and
power companies, to the maximum amount of
five thousand kilowatts.
The plant of the Harwood Electric Company
is located at Harwood Mines, in Luzerne coun-
ty. Pa., distant some sixteen miles southeast
of Berwick. The steampower for the genera-
tion of electricity is produced by the consum])-
tion of the refuse of the mining operations of
the Pardee Estate extending over a period of
some forty years, which, having been produced
in mining operations when only the choicest
coal was sent into commerce, contains vast de-
posits of washable and commercial coal as
used in modern economics, amounting to mil-
lions of tons, which under the present rate of
consumption will not be consumed in half a
century. In addition to this, vast deposits of
virgin coal owned by the estate may be con-
sidered supplementary or additional to the
capacity of this vast concern.
The plant proper constitutes one of the
finest, if not the finest, plants for the produc-
tion of electricitv known to modern engineer-
ing. It has been recently constructed, with
the most approved and latest appliances, at an
expenditure of several millions of dollars, and
has a present contemplated maximum capacity
of some twenty-five thousand kilowatts, now
operating 9,000 kilowatts and supplying an ex-
tensive territory in the immediate location of
the plant, besides the power furnisned to our
local companies. The current is transmitted
by a douDie line of triple wires or cables, con-
stituting two units of transmission, so that
an accident to one line may be overcome by
the use of its alternate.
Under the contract, the power is delivered
at a point in Nescopeck township, Luzerne
county, on the south bank of the Susquehanna
river and is carried thence over the river by
cables suspended upon steel abutments or
towers, clearing the entire water space by one
span, the length of which is 2,300 feet. Tlience
it is carried to Berwick, where it is measured
by a system of meters and reduced and divided
to the uses of the respective operated com-
panies. This is accomplished by a line of
cables extending from Berwick to Danville,
erected proportionately by each of the respec-
tive power companies the territory of which is
invaded by the line, each company using such
part of the current as its necessities may re-
quire. The transportation companies use the
current after a transmutation from alternat-
ing current to direct current, by efficient gen-
erators employed by these companies.
As an auxiliary and additional power, the
plant of the Irondale Light, Heat and Power
Company has been equipped to develop its
waterpower to a potentiality of eight hundred
horsepower, with an equal alternate or auxil-
iary steampower, which under the Harwood
contract may be used singly or doubly, at the
pleasure of that company. The powerhouse
at Irondale has consequently been remodeled
and new and effective machinery installed for
this general purpose. The primary purpose of
the Irondale equipment is to act as a governor
and reduce the peak of the load, and in opera-
tion not only does this, but reduces the general
consumption of the Harwood current. This
effects the most approved engineering scheme
for the reduction of the cost of power under
the contract with the Harwood Electric Com-
pany and in effect produces in the operation of
both plants a constant, unfluctuating and effi-
cient current, which is surpassed at no plant
in the United States.
All of the various subsidiary companies were
operated by the Columbia Power, Light and
Railways Company as a holding company un-
til May 26, 191 1, when the gentlemen inter-
ested in the company, believing that its securi-
ties would find a more ready market if each
company were operated direct, rather than
through the medium of a holding company.
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
53
caused to be incorporated the Columhia and
Montour Electric Company.
The incorporators ot this company were E.
R. Sponsler, \V. F. Lowry, Myron I. Low,
C. M. Crevehng, A. W. L)uy, the company
having an authorized capital of $525,000 and
an authorized bond issue of $525,000. This
company subsequently purchased outright
from the holding company and from the
various subsidiary companies all the right,
property and franchises of the gas, electric
light and power companies, and they are now
being operated by the Columbia and Montour
Electric Company, which company also ac-
quired ninety-hve per cent of the capital stock
of the Columbia and Montour Electric Railway
Company, and controls the management and
operation of that corporation.
In 1913, the name of the Columbia and
Montour Electric Railway Company, because
of its similarity to the name of the power
company, was changed by appropriate action
and is now the North Branch Transit Com-
pany. Since June i, 1913, both the power
company and the transit company have been
under the management of H. D. Walbridge &
Company, No. 14 Wall street. New York.
Nearly all of the original local incorporators
retained an interest in the two companies.
Through the firm of H. D. Walbridge &
Company the local companies are affiliated with
the Northern Central Company and the North-
umberland County Gas and Electric Company,
and supply w^ith gas and electricity the follow-
ing territory : Nescopeck, in Luzerne county ;
Berwick, West Berwick, Bloomsburg, Cata-
wissa and intermediate villages, in Columbia
county; Danville, in Montour county; Selins-
grove and Lewisburg, in Union county; Sun-
bury, Northumlierland, Milton, Watsontown
and Turbotville, in Northumberland county.
BRIDGES
BERWICK
The first bridge across the Susquehanna at
Berwick was authorized by the Legislature in
1807, and an organization was made five years
later, with Abraham Miller as president; John
Brown, treasurer, and Silas Engle, Thomas
Bowman and Elisha Barton as managers. This
bridge was completed in 1814 by Theodore
Burr at a cost of $=^2,000. Its length was 1,260
feet and it rested on timber piers, boxed in
with heavy planks. In the winter of 1835-36
it was carried away by the ice. The follow-
ing year Jesse Bowman, Josiah T. Black,
Samuel F. Headley, A. B. Wilson and Robert
McCurdy secured an appropriation of $10,000
from the Legislature and erected the second
bridge. This was a covered wooden arch
bridge, and was operated for some years as a
toll bridge by the company. It was made a
free county bridge by proceedings in court in-
stituted by a petition of citizens of Berwick
and Nescopeck filed May I, 1899. A. J. Derr,
J. C. Brown and G. W. Keiter were appointed
viewers, and on Sept. 25, 1899, they reported
in favor of a free bridge, and assessed the
damages to be paid to the bridge company at
$25,349, which action was approved by the
grand jury. After some delay caused by a
motion for time to file an appeal by the bridge
company, the court made an order on Feb. 5,
1900, declaring this bridge a free county
bridge. This being a bridge between Colum-
bia and Luzerne counties similar action had
been taken in the Luzerne County court, and
a similar order made. The Luzerne county
viewers were George J. Llewellyn, W. H.
Sturdevant and C. A. Shea, who with the
Columbia county viewers had met and con-
sidered the matter, and had made their joint
report in favor of the bridge and assessing
the damages on July 21, 1899. This bridge
was destroyed by the flood of March, 1904.
Proceedings were at once started to have it
replaced by the State in April, 1904. The
report being favorable, the contract was let
on June 13, 1905, to the York Bridge Company
for $209,500, and an iron and steel bridge
was erected and completed in 1906. It is
one of the finest structures that crosses the
river anywhere. A free ferrv was maintained
by the two counties during its construction.
DANVILLE
The Danville Bridge Company was chartered
Jan. 2, 1S28, the officers of the company being:
Daniel Monts'oinerv, president ; James Long-
head, treasurer; John Cooper, secretary; John
C. Boyd, William Colt, Peter Baldy, Sr., Wil-
lifim Boyd, Andrew McReynolds, Robert C.
Grier, managers. On the 3d of March of that
year a contract was made with John P. Schuy-
ler and James Fletcher for the construction of
the first bridge. The work on the foundations
began in that month, and in January, 1829,
the bridge was completed, the company accept-
ing it the following month. The State held a
small amount of stock in this bridge. Daniel
HofTman was appointed the first toll collector,
at a salary of $65 a year.
On Alarch 14, 1846, the bridge was swept
54
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
away by a flood, Daniel Blizzard being carried
down with it and rescued with great difficulty
near the old stone house. The company until
then had declared eleven dividends, but it was
not till 1863 that another was declared. After
the destruction of the bridge the company
made a contract with Chester Evans and David
N. Kownover to rebuild it. Evans disposed
of his share in the contract, and his partner
completed it.
The second bridge stood the storms and
floods for many seasons, until 1S75, when it
too was swept away by the terrific impact of
the Catawissa bridge, which was borne down
upon it by a tremendous flood on St. Patrick's
day of that year. The following year the
bridge was rebuilt, H. F. Hawke & Co. doing
the stone work, and the Smith Iron Bridge
Company, of Ohio, the framework and super-
structure. This was also a toll bridge and
the toil keepers at different dates were : Daniel
Hoffman, Rudolph Sechler, E. Mellon, Isaiah
S. Thornton and Joseph Hunter. The bridge
was a fourth of a mile in length, with a
covered footway on each side, shut entirely off
from the central roadway.
The officers of the company in 1886 were :
A. J. Frick, president; J. C. Grove, secretary
and treasurer; W. H. Magill, A. J. Frick, Isaac
X. Grier, Wilson Metter, G. M. Shoop, B. R.
Gearhart, Amos Vastine, managers.
This bridge was replaced in 1904 by a steel
structure of truss construction, by the State
and county authorities of Montour and North-
umberland, and was made a free bridge by
order of court. Henry R. Leonard was the
engineer for the State, and the contractors
were the King Bridge Company, of Cleveland,
Ohio.
CATAV/ISSA
The necessity for a bridge across the river at
Catawissa induced citizens of that town to pe-
tition the Legislature as early as 1816 to
authorize the opening of subscription books
for that purpose. Although some stock was
subscribed for, the project languished for
twelve years. Then the near completion of
the North Branch canal caused renewed inter-
est and an appropriation of $5,000 was obtained
from the State. Subscriptions were obtained
with more ease and a committee, consisting of
George Taylor, Jacob Alter, Philip Rebsome,
George Keim, John Rebsome, George Getz,
Henry Foster. John C. Appelman. Samuel
Brooke, Benjamin Beaver, Peter Schmick,
George H. Willets, Stacy Margerum, John
Barton, William McKelvey, reorganized the
company on a firm financial basis and erected
a bridge at a cost of $26,000. It was opened
for travel Jan. 15, 1833.
The location was changed from that first
selected, at the mouth of Fishing creek, to the
site of the present bridge. This bridge suf-
fered several times from freshets and ice. In
1846 five spans were destroyed, but were re-
built the following year. In 1875 the entire
superstructure was swept away, and a truss
bridge was built to replace it the same year.
All of these bridges were operated on the toll
plan.
When proceedings were started for a free
county bridge at Bloomsburg, the stockholders
of the Catawissa toll bridge became fearful
that their property would be depreciated there-
by, and so they and other citizens filed a peti-
tion in court in December, 1892, asking the
appointment of viewers to report on the ex-
pediency of making the Catawissa bridge a free
county bridge. H. H. Hulme, J. W. Hoffman,
White Snyder, Joseph Sponenberg, A. K.
Smith and P. Hippensteel were appointed
viewers, and filed their report in September,
1893, in favor of the proposition, fixing the
price to be paid by the county at $34,000. On
the same day the grand jury approved the re-
port. Exceptions were filed, and after a hear-
ing and numerous delays the court ordered the
bridge made free of tolls on Nov. 9, 1893. The
same day the commissioners approved of this
action, and tolls ceased at 2 :30 p. m. on Friday,
Nov. II, 1893.
In September, 1896, the bridge was lifted off
the piers from end to end and thrown over into
the river by a windstorm. The commission-
ers, acting under the law of 1895, providing
that the State shall rebuild county bridges that
are destroyed by stonn or fire, took the prop-
er legal steps to have the State replace the
bridge. The contract for an iron and steel
bridge was let to the Penn Bridge Company,
for $124,900. It was completed and accepted,
and used until March 9, 1904, when the ice
flood carried away two spans. Again the State
rebuilt it, putting up an entirely new struc-
ture, much better than the first one. This
was opened for travel in May, 1908. During
the intervals when these bridges were build-
ing the county maintained a free ferry at this
point.
BLOOMSBURG
On Aug. 23, 1S92, a petition was presented
to the court by citizens asking for a free county
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
55
bridge across the Susquehanna river at Blooms-
burg, and on the same day the court appointed
C. H. Moore, M. C. Vance and Simon Hons
viewers to report on the same. On Sept. 21st
a petition was presented by citizens of Cata-
wissa to stay the proceedings. An answer was
filed and depositions taken, and Judge Savidge
of Sunbury was called in by Judge Ikeler to
hear and decide the case. The latter petition
was dismissed by Judge Savidge, and to this
action exceptions were filed, and also a peti-
tion for reviewers, the first viewers having re-
ported in favor of a bridge. After some
skirmishing between the parties, C. W. Eves,
W. S. Fisher and G. B. Hendershott were ap-
pointed, and on May i, 1893, they reported in
favor of a bridge; this report was laid before
the grand jury on May 3d and approved by
them with the recommendation that the bridge
be erected at the expense of the county.
On May 4th more exceptions were filed by
opponents of the bridge, and the matter
dragged along from time to time until Nov.
9th, when the court made the following order:
"And now, November 9, 1893, all excep-
tions having been withdrawn in open court and
all adverse proceedings abandoned, the report
of the reviewers and Grand Jury is approved,
and it is adjudged that the said bridge is neces-
sary as a county bridge, and that the same is
too expensive for the township of Catawissa
and tile Town of Bloomsburg to bear, and upon
the concurrent approval of the same by the
county commissioners the said bridge is ordered
to be entered of record as a county bridge."
The commissioners concurred, and on Nov.
25th they had a letting, and after due consid-
eration awarded the contract for the super-
structure to the King Bridge Company, and
for the masonry and other work to Joseph
Hendler. J. C. Brown was employed by the
commissioners to prepare the plans and speci-
fications, and to make an estimate of cost, and
also to be the supervising engineer of the work.
The estimated cost was $69,256. Jesse Rit-
tenhouse, B. F. Edgar and C. L. Sands were
the county commissioners at the time. The
bridge is iron and steel, and is 1,150 feet long,
with six spans. The cost of the superstruc-
ture was $35,500; of the substructure $35,-
415.46, and the riprapping and filling $2,384.21,
making the total cost $73,299.67.
MIFFLIN
Feeling the necessity for a bridge across the
river at Mifflinville, citizens of Mifflin and
Centre township presented a petition to the
court on January 7, 1901, asking for the ap-
pointment of viewers. T. H. B. Davis, J. P.
Fry and J. C. Brown were appointed. On
Feb. 4th the viewers reported in favor of a
bridge, and on the same day the grand jury ap-
proved it. Then came exceptions and a peti-
tion for reviewers, but this finally resulted in
an order of the court in favor of the bridge
on July 7, 1902, and the same day the commis-
sioners approved the same. On July 26th the
commissioners adopted plans, specifications
and estimates submitted by J. C. Brown at their
request, he having been selected as supervis-
ing engineer. The estimated cost was $96,547.
The contract was awarded to C. H. Reimard
for $93,985, who sublet the superstructure to
the King Bridge Company for $56,600. The
work was well under way, and three spans
were completed when the flood of 1904 de-
stroyed the bridge. It looked then as if the
bridge would never be rebuilt by the county.
In 1905 a bill passed the Legislature which
authorized the State to build uncompleted
bridges exceeding 1,000 feet in length over any
river, whenever any portions of said bridge
already erected have been destroyed by floods
before final completion thereof, and where it
appears that over half of the contract price has
already been paid before such destruction.
The bill was drawn by Hon. Fred Ikeler while
a member, and was passed largely through
his influence. Proceeding under this law, a
petition was filed in the Dauphin County court
asking for the appointment of viewers in the
matter of rebuilding the bridge across the Sus-
quehanna river at Mifflinville. W. H. Eyer,
C. A. Small and E. C. Hummer were appointed,
and filed their report on June 25, 1905, in favor
of the bridge. The report was approved by
the court, and the bridge ordered to be built
by the State. Exceptions were filed and after
some delay by litigation the contract was
awarded to the York Bridge Company for the
superstructure.
The work was progressing and the second
span was just completed when, Dec. 10, 1907,
as the workmen were fastening it to the pier,
the false work underneath was carried away
by the flood in the river at the time, and the
entire span went down, carrying with it forty
men, all but seven of whom were rescued.
The bodies of the latter excepting two were
recovered down the river at various points,
some a long distance away. The loss to the
builders was about $10,000. The bridge was
completed and opened for travel in 1908. A
long delay was caused by litigation with the
Pennsylvania Railroad Company, the latter
56
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
objecting to a grade crossing. The litigation
ended by a decision of the Supreme court that
an overhead crossing must be provided, and
this was accordingly done. This bridge is
1,226 feet long, with six spans, and is a fine
structure of iron and steel.
Prior to the building of the Mifflin and
Bloom bridges ferries were operated at Mifflin-
ville. Lime Ridge, Espy and Bloomsburg.
In 1914 Columbia county has over two hun-
dred bridges to keep in repair. Most of the
smaller bridges are being replaced by con-
crete structures, which will last for ages with
no repairs. The one at Slabtown, over Roar-
ing creek, built in 1913, is as fine an example
of this class of bridge as can be found in the
State.
BRIDGES AND THE FLOOD OF I9O4
The Susquehanna valley was visited by a
flood in January, 1904, which surpassed in ex-
tent any previous flood in this section. The
river was gorged with ice, and the rapid rise
of the water turned it from the channel out
on the low lands all along the course of the
river. The lower portions of Bloomsburg,
Catawissa, Rupert, Espy, and all along the line,
were submerged, and the trolley and railroads
were unable to operate for three days. Great
damage was done to property, but no lives
were lost. The flood subsided without carry-
ing away any of the river bridges, but the ice
gorge still remained.
Only two weeks later the waters rose again,
causing the greatest flood in the history of the
valley. The first movement in the ice gorge
was observed at Berwick on Tuesday, Feb.
9th, and the Berwick bridge was soon torn
from the piers and toppled over into the rag-
ing flood. One span was carried down stream
on the ice to Mifflinville, where it jammed into
the uncompleted iron bridge, and carried of? a
span. The remaining spans soon followed.
Of the other spans of the Berwick bridge, one
lodged near the Berwick falls and the others
were carried downstream to a point near
Briar Creek. The commissioners of Luzerne
and Columbia counties at once decided to burn
these spans to prevent their being carried down
stream to do damage to the bridges below, and
this was accordingly done.
For two weeks the flood conditions im-
proved. There were warm rains which gave
rise to the hope that this would rot the ice, so
that it would break up and pass off without
gorging. And then came a third flood, more
disastrous than the first two, the water ris-
ing more than forty-one feet above the low
water mark. When it is stated that in some
places icebergs weighing many tons were left
in fields a half mile away from the regular
channel of the river, the extent of the flood
may be more fully realized. All the railroads
except the Bloomsburg & Sullivan were again
out of commission, and great damage was
done from one end of the valley to the other.
The Bloomsburg bridge seemed doomed, as
the ice was up to the floor, but it escaped with
only the west end being sprung out of place
about three feet, and when the ice passed
away it settled back into place.
The Catawissa bridge did not fare so well.
Two of the spans were carried ofT, and lay
bent and twisted about one hundred yards be-
low. The covered wooden bridge at the paper
mill over Catawissa creek was swept away
and lodged up against the Pennsylvania rail-
road bridge. By an agreement with the com-
missioners the railroad company was permitted
to destroy it to save its own. Many other
county bridges were also destroyed by this
flood.
As previously stated, the Catawissa bridge
was again erected by the State, and completed
in 1908.
County Bridge at Bloomsdl'kg, Pa.
Berwick Bridge — Where Steamboat Accident Occurred
CHAPTER VI
RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS
The earliest influence tending to bind to-
gether the colonists in Columbia and Montour
counties was a religious one. Most of the
pioneers had strongly cherished religious
affiliations, and were thus brought togetlier
in the practice of their individual form of
worship of the Creator. These bonds of
sympatuy compacted the community and
eventually led to some more permanent form
of organization in a religious way. By this
means the various denominations in early
times established the foundations of their
churches which have since been most faith-
fully preserved and deepened, until in 1914
the strength of religious convictions has be-
come so firmly fixed in the two counties as
to be a part of the life and well-being of the
entire community.
Fifty years ago it was no uncommon thing
for a country minister to travel twenty miles
on a Sunday to serve three congregations.
Now, in 19 14, the automobile has made travel
so much easier that even the little country
parsonage has a garage attached to it and the
parson may often be seen speeding along the
highways to visit a parishioner or hold Sab-
bath services. The auto has also proved an
important factor in the reduction of the coun-
try church attendance. Farmers can now at-
tend the larger churches in the towns and
mingle with the urban worshipers there, often
causing such a dwindling of attendance at the
little village church that it is finally forced to
close. Many of the wayside temples are now
abandoned, while others are opened only at
irregular and infrequent periods. The final
abandonment of many of them has been de-
layed by the associations of the old burying
grounds beside them, where fathers and grand-
fathers, mothers and grandmothers are laid at
rest. Manv of these cemeteries are over a hun-
dred years old — for example, Hidlay in Scott
township, the Quaker burying grounds at
Catawipsa. Millville, Roaringcreek and Green-
wood, Columbia county, and the old cemeteries
at New Columbia (Swenoda), Derry, VVash-
ingtonville and Danville, Montour county.
These ancient places of sepulture will always
be tenderly cared for, and the old churches
near will be preserved as monuments to the
piety of the past.
In this year of 1914 the work of country
ministers is difticult and poorly paid. Most
of them serve several charges, which means
holding service in one church in the morning,
another in the afternoon, and a final service
in the evening. The salary of the pastor is
seldom large enough to warrant the purchase
of an auto, but many of the ministers of
Columbia and Montour counties have been
compelled to draw upon their meager stipend
for this purpose. Still, as in the past, these
faithful pastors jog along the country roads,
chatting with the farmers, cheering the down-
hearted, comforting the disconsolate, settling
petty quarrels, praying with their parishioners,
marrying them, baptizing the little ones, mak-
ing their wills, and finally burying them and
giving consolation to the mourning family.
Rev. A. Houtz, of Orangeville, is one of
these old-time pastors carried on into the mod-
ern days, and now retired from active work.
He says that the labors of the country pastor
are as hard as in the early days of the churches,
but the compensation is still the same. How-
ever, he says the congregations in the country
churches are more appreciative — they seem
almost to hunger for the services.
The growth of the churches here has been
steadily upward, as may be seen from the de-
tailed descriptions which follow. The oldest
sect, the Societv of Friends, which was at one
time the most important in the State, has
dwindled in numbers greatly during the years
that have elapsed since the first monthly meet-
ing was established, but though the tendency
of the present day for more worldly methods
of worship has diminished the numbers of the
Quakers, their deeds and records of the past,
all of a beneficial and substantial character,
57
58
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
religious and material, will always remain
'interwoven in the fibre of the history of Penn-
sylvania, and brighten its pages for all time.
Were it not for the custom of the Quakers
to care for the education of the children, but
few of the settlers of other sects could have
gained a knowledge of the necessary rudiments
of the English language. And still more cred-
itable to the admirable system of the Quakers
was the fact that any could attend these schools
without attempts being made to influence their
religious belief.
SOCIETY OF FRIENDS, OR QUAKERS
In the absence of regular ministers the
Society of Friends was best equipped for
establishing public worship, and the presence
of a considerable number of this sect at Cata-
wissa led to the founding of a meeting there
in 1787. For twenty years it continued to be
the rallying point for the denomination in this
region. A monthly meeting was established
here in 1796, but in 1808 this was removed to
Muncy on account of extensive emigration of
the sect from Catawissa.
In 1795 a meeting was established in Green-
wood township, and a year later another was
established in Locust. In 1S14 a monthly
meeting was established at the latter place
and is still continued. A monthly meeting was
also established at Berwick in 1800, which con-
tinued with gradually diminishing strength un-
til about 1865, when it ceased to e.xist.
The society was more firmly established in
Greenwood township, where many members
of the sect have resided continuously since the
first settlement. In 1834 the different meet-
ings of the sect were associated in a half-yearly
meeting here, and in 1856 the Muncy meeting
was transferred here also. Although the
name is retained and occasional meetings held
in Locust and Catawissa, the chief activity of
this denomination is confined to Greenwood,
where there are two well supported meetings.
PRESBYTERIAN
The Scotch-Irish were an important element
in the pioneer life of this State and gave early
prominence to the Presbyterian denomination,
to which they generally belonged. James Mc-
Clure, who came to the region of Bloomsburg
in 1772, was probably the first representative
of this sect in Columbia county, but it was
some years later before any organized effort
was made to propagate its tenets here.
In 1789 this region is mentioned under the
name ot ' Fishingcreek, in connection with
Mahoning, Chilhsquaque and neighboring
localities, as in the Presbytery of Carlisle. This
Presbytery had been formed three years be-
fore, but this region probably remained un-
occupied until 1792, when Rev. Mr. Wilson,
a licentiate of the Synod of New York, and a
Mr. Henry were appointed to cultivate the
field. Two years later Rev. John Bryson was
sent to this region and became pastor at War-
rior's Run and Chilhsquaque, where he con-
tinued to serve for nearly half a century. In
the following year Rev. John Porter was com-
missioned to start from Fishing creek and
missionize up the river to Wyoming and Tioga
Point. The names of Rev. Benjamin Judd,
Ira Condit and William Spear, the latter a
licentiate, appear also as appointed to mission-
ize at this period along the east branch of the
Susquehanna. Revs. Andrews and Gray also
did more or less missionary labor in this field.
The first church of this denomination, known
then as "Briarcreek" and at present as "Hid-
lay" Church, was organized about 1796 in
Centre township, the house of worship being
built in that year. In 181 7 a second church
was organized in Bloomsburg with three mem-
bers, who immediately set about erecting a
commodious building. A third organization
was eft'ected at Berwick in 1827; another in
Orange township in 1842 ; in Greenwood the
following year; in Scott in 1853; in Sugarloaf
in 1858; and in Centralia in 1867. The Sugar-
loaf church was later removed to Benton.
The first pastor to reside permanently in this
section was Rev. Asa Dunham, whose home
was near Buckhorn. He was a soldier of the
Revolution, having served directly under
Washington. In 1799 he was appointed to
serve in the counties of Luzerne and North-
umberland, the latter then including Columbia
county, and for many years served the churches
at Briar Creek and Fishing Creek, traveling
through the entire region and preaching
wherever a class could be assembled.
After 1817 Rev. John B. Patterson and Rev.
Samtiel Henderson were engaged in the work
in these counties, the former at Bloomsburg
and the latter at Briar Creek. From 1824 to
1830 the pastors who labored in this field were
Revs. John Niblock, James Levs'ers, Crosby,
Matthew B. Patterson, Robert Bryson, Robert
Dunlap and Ezra S. Ely.
In 1832 Rev. John P. Hudson, a Virginian,
was appointed stated supply for the churches
at Bloomsburg, Briar Creek and New Colum-
bia. He always rode a blooded horse, famous
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
59
for speed, which served him well in the many
and lengthy trips around the circuit.
The succeeding pastor to this charge was
Rev. M. Tobey, who remained but a short time.
Rev. Daniel M. Barber, who had established a
school for young ladies near Washingtonville,
ne.xt took the New Columbia charge. At the
same date Rev. D. M. Halliday was pastor at
Danville.
Next in 1838 came Rev. D. J. Waller, Sr.,
whose life work in both the religious and
material field has left a permanent impress on
the history of Columbia county. His charge
embraced all the country from the mouth of
Roaring creek to Little mountain, and along
the Susquehanna to Nanticoke, with North
mountain for the upper boundary, a territory
nearly forty miles square. One sermon a fort-
night was all that could be allotted to Blooms-
burg and Berwick, while other points were
restricted to services once a month.
At first the residence of the pastor was at
Espy, as the most central point, but later, when
Berwick was set ofif as a separate charge, Cata-
wissa offered better inducements for a time.
Among the early pastors in this section may
be mentioned Revs. Daniel M. Barber, A. H.
Hand, S. S. Shedden, George W. Thompson,
Charles Williamson and James J. Hamilton,
in Columbia county ; and Revs. John Bryson,
Halliday, Yeomans, John B. Patterson, Dun-
ham, William Smith, Nicholas Patterson,
Isaac Grier, Hood and Ijams, in Montour
county.
Detailed histories of the different churches
of both counties will be found in the chapters
devoted to the separate divisions. The list of
pastors, location of churches, and other statis-
tics for 1914 are here presented :
Sunday
Pastor Members School
William Gemmill, Millville
J. Horner Kerr, Orangeville 70 72
John B. Grier, Danville
James W. Kirk, Mahoning 337 27s
William R. Mather, Raven Creek
Spencer C. Dickson, Bloomsburg 443 440
Edward A. Lou.x, Berwick 499 361
Robert P. Howie, Mooresburg 92 132
Arturo D'Albergo, West Berwick
G. A. Lenkel, Centralia 48 60
All of the above churches are in the Presby-
tery of Northumberland. The following
churches are vacant, the pulpits being occa-
sionally filled by request : Briar Creek, New
Columbia, Washingtonville, Benton, Derry and
Rohrsburg.
METHODIST
The introduction of Methodism into Colum-
bia county was made probably through the in-
strumentality of Bishop Asbury, the founder
of the Methodist Episcopal Church in Ameri-
ca. It was under his preaching in Northamp-
ton county that the Bowmans were converted.
They subsequently removed to Berwick, and
it was probably through their representations
that the Bishop was led to come here. At that
time he ordained these men who subsequently
became such a power for good. Other itin-
erants who came here on missionary tours were
Revs. William Colbert, James Paynter, Morris
Howe and Robert Burch, but they did not seem
to etfect any permanent organization.
In the valley of Briar creek, four miles dis-
tant from Berwick, near the present village of
that name, resided the Bowmans, Thomas and
Christopher, both ministers of the Methodist
Church. In order that the neighborhood could
have regular religious services, Thomas Bow-
man fitted up the third story of his rather
pretentious stone house as a place of worship,
and invited the Methodists to hold services
therein. This house was used for religious
purposes for many years and stood in a fair
state of repair until 1912. It is now only a'
ruin. Rev. Thomas Bowman later became
the celebrated and eloquent Bishop Bowman,
whose death occurred in 191 4.
In the year 1805, under the joint ministry
of Revs. James Paynter and Joseph Carson, a
great revival was held, the country for forty
miles around feeling the impulse. As a direct
result a class was formed at Berwick, and this
point was made a regular appointment of the
Wyoming circuit, which extended from North-
umberland to Tioga Point. In 1806 it was
attached to the Northumberland circuit, with
which it. was associated until 1831, when the
church work had so increased that the Ber-
wick circuit was formed, embracing twenty-
eight preaching places, of which the following
were in Columbia county : Benton, Berwick,
Bloomsburg, Buckhorn, Espy, Jerseytown,
Light Street, Mififlinville and Orangeville.
In 1886 there were forty-two churches in
Columbia county of the Methodist denomina-
tion, and in Montour county there were eight.
Since that date the denomination has grown
steadily in strength and numbers and in the
year 19 14 is the strongest religious denomina-
tion in both of these counties.
The first regular conference appointments
for the different stations in Columbia county
were made in 1791, when it was in the North-
60
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
uniberland circuit, which extended from that
town up the North Branch to the Wyoming
valley, and up the West Branch to Great Island.
The distance traveled by the circuit rider
in making his rounds was three hundred miles,
which was accomplished in six weeks. When
the nature of the country and roads, and the
pittance allowed the ministers of those times,
are taken into consideration it may well be
admitted that their labors were distinctly un-
selfish, and the results of their efforts re-
markable.
This territory was for many years supplied
by only two ministers and included the pres-
ent circuits and stations of W'illiamsport,
Newbury, Muncy, Milton, Northumberland,
Mifflinburg, Lewisburg, Catawissa, Blooms-
burg, Berwick. Bloomingdale, Orangeville,
Sunbury and Bellefonte. Previous to 1804
Danville circuit belonged to the Philadelphia
conference, but in that year was transferred to
the Baltimore conference. In 1807 it was re-
turned to the Philadelphia conference, in 1810
it was included in the Genesee conference, and
in 1S20 it was reassigned to the Baltimore con-
ference.
The preachers who labored in the old North-
umberland circuit were :
1791 — Richard Parrott. Lewis Browning.
1792 — James Campbell. William Colbert.
1793 — James Campbell, James Paynter.
1794 — Robert Manley. Jolm Broadhead.
1795 — James Ward. Stephen Timmons.
1796 — John Seward, Richard Sneath.
1797 — John Lackey, Jolm Higby.
179S — John Lackey, John Lead.
1799 — James Moore, Benjamin Bidlack, David
Stephens.
1800 — Ephraim Chambers, Edward Larkin, Asa
Smith.
1801 — Johnston Dimham, Gilbert Carpenter.
1802 — .^nning Owen, James .'\ikins.
1803 — Daniel Ryan, James Ridgeway.
1804 — Thomas .\dams. Gideon Draper.
1805 — Christopher Prey. James Saunders.
1806 — Robert Burch. John Swartzwelder.
1807 — Nicholas Willis. Joel Smith.
1808 — Thomas Curren, John Rhodes,
1809 — Timothy Lee, Loring Grant.
1810 — .Abraham Dawson, Isaac Puffer,
l8n— B. G. Paddock, J. H. Baker. R. Lanning.
1812 — George Thomas, Ebenezer Doolittle,
1813 — Joseph Kincaid, Joseph Chambcrlayne.
1814 — John Haggard. Abraham Dawson.
1815— Reynolds M. Everts, I, B. Cook.
1816 — John Thomas. Alpheus Davis.
1817 — Benjamin Bidlack, Peter Baker.
1818 — Gideon Lanning, Abraham Dawson.
1819 — John Rhodes. Darius Williams.
1820 — John Rhodes. Israel B. Cook.
1821 — Marmaduke Pearce, John Thomas.
1822 — John Thomas, Mordecai Barry.
1823 — Jacob B. Shephard, Mordecai Barry.
1824 — Robert Cadden. F. McCartney.
1825 — Robert Cadden, Richard Bond.
1826 — John Thomas, George Hildt.
1827 — John Thomas, David Shaver.
1828 — Charles Kalbfus, William James.
1829 — James W. Donahay, Josiah Forrest.
1830 — James W. Etonahay, A, A, Eskridge.
Berwick circuit was formed in 183 1, Dan-
ville remaining in the old Northumberland cir-
cuit until 1836. The pastors of the Danville
circuit were :
1831 — David Shaw.
1832 — Marmaduke Pearce. James Forrest.
1833 — Josiah Forrest, James Reed.
1S34 — Henry Tarring, Oliver Ege.
1835 — Henry Tarring. Jolm Guyer, R. Beers, Thomas
Meyers.
1836— Joseph S. Lee, R. W. H. Brent.
1837 — Samuel Ellis. Stephen Hildebrand.
183S— Robert T. Nixon, William Hirst.
1839 — Robert T. Nixon. J. W. Houghewent.
1840 — George Bergstresser, Joseph A. Ross.
1841 — George Bergstresser, George Guyer.
1842 — Tohn Ball, Tames Guyer.
1843— John Ball, S. G. Hare.
1844 — James Ewing, George A. Coffey.
1845 — James Ewing, B. ¥. Brooks.
Pastors of the Berwick circuit were :
1831 — William Prettyman, Wesley Howe.
1832 — William Prettyman, Oliver Ege.
1833 — Marmaduke Pearce. Alem Brittain.
1834-35 — John Rhodes, J. H. Young.
1836— J. Sanks, J. Hall.
1837 — J. Sanks, George Guyer.
1838— Charles Kalbfus, J. Hall.
1S39 — Charles Kalbfus. Penfield Doll.
1840 — James Ewing. William R. Mills.
1841 — James Ewing, W. F. D. Clemm.
1842 — Thomas Taneyhill, Joseph A. Ross.
1843 — Thomas Taneyhill, Thomas Bowman.
1844 — Francis N. Mills, W, L. Spottswood.
1845 — John Bowen, W. F. Pentz.
1846— John Bowen, J. W. Bull.
The Bloomsburg circuit was formed in 1847,
and the pastors in charge were :
1847 — S. L. M. Couser. J. Turner.
184S— G. H. Dav, J. W. Elliott.
1849— John W. Gere. G. H. Dav.
1850— J. S. Lee, E, H. Waring.
1851— J. S. Lee, T. M. Goodfellow.
1852 — Thomas Taneyhill, W, E, Buckingham.
1853 — Thomas Taneyhill. J. A. DeMoyer.
1854— J. A. Ross, A. W. Guyer.
1855 — J. Moorhead, F. M. Slusser.
1856 — George Warren, S. Barnes.
1857 — George Warren. N. W. Colburn.
1858-59 — J. Guyer, T. Sherlock.
i860— F. Gearhart, A. R. Riley.
After 1862 the Bloomsburg circuit was di-
vided and Bloomsburg was made a station.
The following are the circuits and stations
of the Methodist Episcopal Church in Colum-
bia and Montour counties, together with the
number of members, value of church property
and the names of the pastors in charge in 1914 :
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
61
Station or Circuit Members I'aluation Pastor
Benton circuit 335 $21,000 H. W. Newman
Berwick station •. 1,094 68,000 J. H. Ake
West Berwick station 148 10,200 J. E. Beard
Buckhorn circuit 136 6,000 George Martin
Catawissa station 304 21,500 R. H. Stine
Centralia station 185 8,000 Charles W. Bryner
Conyngham circuit 230 17,000 H. E. Crow
Danville station— St. Paul's 384 33.5oo C. H. Witman
Danville station— Trinity 312 27,500 Alexander Scott
Elysburg circuit 313 19.050 T. F. Ripple
Espy — Lime Ridge circuit 306 3.000 Edmund J . Symons
Jamison City circuit 251 9,ooo J. N. Diehl
Jonestown circuit 177 8,000 Philip Thomas
Mifflinville circuit 240 6,500 J. W. McAlarney
Millville circuit 332 IS.7S0 William Faus
Orangeville circuit 268 12,800 Ariel R. Turner
Roaring Creek circuit 179 8,600 John H. Greenwalt
Rohrsburg circuit 106 7,000 William Shannon
Washingtonville circuit 80 3.900 L. A. Remley
REFORMED AND LUTHERAN creek, Miftlin and occasionally Fishingcreek
townships. His missionary labors extended
Most of the German immigrants to this all over both Columbia and Montour counties,
section were members of either the Lutheran and througii him the church was placed on a
or Reformed Churches, and they brought their firm basis. In 1822 lie removed to Espy and
religious books with them. These they read continued there to preach until his death in
and discussed constantly, in the effort to pre- 1824. He devoted himself so completely to
serve their religious convictions, hoping when the work of the church that he acquired con-
the time was propitious to be able to have the sumption and brought to an untimely close a
benefits of the ministration of leaders of their career whose importance to the community
sects. They were not long without the service was just beginning to get appreciable results,
of their pastors. Among the first of the Luth- He was a fine singer, and he preached ex-
eran missionaries who came to this section clusively in the German language,
were Revs. Seeley, Sharretts, Plitt, Pauls, Kra- In 1829 Rev. Daniel S. Tobias took charge
mer and Baughey, who organized churches — of the Bloomsburg congregation, and in 1844
in 1795 at Catawissa ; 1805 in Briarcreek ; 1808 he was assisted by Rev. Henry Funk, who held
in Locust; 1809 in Mifflin; 1810 in Hemlock; services in the English language. In 1854
and 1812 in Orange townships. In 1886 the Rev. W. Goodrich succeeded them, serving
Lutherans had eighteen churches in Columbia his people for half a century. At the close of
county and ten in Montour county. his ininistry the charge consisted of six con-
The denominational lines between the Luth- gregations, and by his advice the Orangeville
erans and the adherents of the Reformed charge was formed, consisting of the Orange-
Church were not very strictly regarded in ville, Zion and St. James congregations, while
pioneer times, the first churches built by the the remainder included the Bloomsburg, Heller
German settlers being used by both denomina- and Catawissa churches. In 1886 there were
tions, alternately, all the people usually attend- twelve Reformed churches in Columbia county
ing both services. This custom of having and three in Montour county. In most in-
union churches has continued until the present stances the congregations were cooperating
time in almost every instance, the occasional with the Lutherans in the use of a single
exceptions being due to local disagreements, church building. This is also the case in some
The schism in the Lutheran Church has about instances at the present time, although in the
equally divided. the denomination in these two ^ ^^^^^^ ^^^ denominations are separated,
counties but there is a lack of the rancor be- j^ ^,^^ Susquehanna is the dividing line
tween the members sometimes met with m , ^ ^ i, ^ . „, . , „ />„
other parts of the State. ^^^^V^^" the Wyoming Classis and East Sus-
The first minister of the Reformed Church quehanna Classis, both of which take in parts
in this section was Rev. Jacob Dieffenbach. of the counties of Columbia and Montour.
He came to Bloomsburg "in 1815, when he There are sixteen churches of the Reformed
was in the prime of life, "and preached in that denomination in the two coiinties, details of
town as well as in Mahoning, Catawissa, Briar- which are given in the following table:
62
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
No. of
Church Members
Mainville — Emmanuel 138
Mifflinville— St. Matthew 36
Numidia — St. Paul 300
Bear Gap — Grace 164
Briarcreek — St. Peter 32
St. James 164
Zion 69
Orangeville 75
Hidlay 49
Bloomsburg 249
Danville — Shiloh 432
Danville— St. John 114
St. James 114
Strawberry Ridge — Trinity 225
Emanuel 93
Berwick — Salem 10
Rev. W. S. Gerhard was succeeded in October, 1914, by Rev. J
Sunday
School
Pastor
45
R. Ira Gass
R. Ira Gass
234
John F. Bair
John F. Bair
64
J. K. Adams
175
W. S. Gerhard
124
W. S. Gerhard
126
W. S. Gerhard
140
W. S. Gerhard
330
P. H. Hoover
325
J. N. Bauman
126
F. W. Brown
152
F. W. Brown
17s
A. F. Dreisbach
85
A. F. Dreisbach
25
J. K. Adams
M. Shaffner
PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL
Among the New Jersey immigrants to this
section were many who adhered to the Estab-
lished Church of England, the American
branch of which was the Protestant Episcopal
denomination. Rev. Caleb Hopkins was chief-
ly instrumental in establishing the church at
Bloomsburg in 1793, and in 1812 at Sugarloaf.
A third organization was effected at Jersey-
town at an early date, but no records what-
ever are available regarding it. In i860 Rev.
E. A. Lightner began services in Catawissa
which resulted in the founding of a church
there, and in 1866 Rev. M. Washburn did a
similar work in Centralia. These were the
only churches in Columbia county in 1868, and
in 1914 the number has been increased to five,
the church at Berwick having been founded in
1903.
The Episcopal Church in Montour county
came into being at Danville in 1828, under the
ministrations of Rev. James Depew, of Blooms-
burg. St. James' Church at Exchange was
erected in 1848. Services had been held there
by Rev. Edwin Lightner from 1843, how-
ever. In 1914 the number of Episcopal
churches in Montour county was two.
BAPTISTS
This denomination was chiefly recruited
from the English settlers of the county. The
first church in Columbia county was organ-
ized in Madison township, through the efforts
of Revs. Wolverton, Smiley and Coombs. Two
years later Revs. Joel Rogers and Elias Dod-
son organized another one in Jackson town-
ship, and about 1841 other churches were
founded in Berwick and Bloomsburg. In 1851
an organization of thirtv members was inade
in Centre township, and in 1886 another of
twelve members was effected in Centralia.
The first Baptist services in Montour county
were held in the courthouse at Danville in
1841, Rev. J. S. Miller being the leader at
that period. Services were also held at that
date in the schoolhouse at Exchange. The
Danville church was built in 1844. Rev. An-
drew F. Shanafelt assisted in the organiza-
tion of the church at Whitehall in 1858, and
the same year the first building there was
erected.
At present there are five Baptist churches in
Columljia county, and three in Montour
county.
ROMAN CATHOLIC
Although one of the latest of the religious
denominations to establish themselves in this
section, the Roman Catholics have within re-
cent years attained considerable prominence
and are possessed of valuable property in
various parts of the two counties, while the
congregations have shown a steady and
healthy growth.
The sacrament of the Mass was celebrated
in Bloomsburg as early as 1829, by Father
Fitzpatrick of Milton, but there is no record
of other services liere until 1844, when Father
Fitzsimmons held services on several occa-
sions in a private house. The first regular
services in a building of their own were held
by the members of this denomination in 1874.
The organization of the church at Centralia
was made in 1869 by Father D. J. McDermott,
and the cornerstone of the church there was
laid in the same year. The church at Berwick
was established in 1899, under the ministra-
tions of Father J. R. Murphy, of Bloomsburg.
The mission of Father J. P. Hannigan, in
1847, resulted in the establishment of St.
Joseph's Church at Danville. The first church
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
63
there was built the same year, while the pres-
ent one was built in 1869. St. Hubert's church
was built at Danville in 1862. St. James' Ro-
man Catholic Church at Exchange was estab-
lished many years ago, and in 1910 the old
church on the hill was abandoned and a splen-
did new one built in the village. These repre-
sent the number in Montour county in 1914.
In Columbia county there are two churches in
Berwick, one in Bloomsburg, one in Centralia,
one in the edge of the county at Mount Car-
mel, and one in Locust township, just com-
pleted in 1914.
EVANGELICAL
This denomination came to Columbia county
in 1848, and to Montour county in 1858. In
1886 it had three churches in Scott township,
one at Mifflinville, two in Jackson township,
two in Centre township, two in Briarcreek
township, one in Beaver township, and one in
Bloomsburg. In the same year there was one
church in Danville, and two in other parts of
Montour county. The present number of
churches in Columbia coiinty is thirteen. In
Montour county there are now three churches.
OTHER DENOMINATIONS
The Methodist Protestant, United Brethren,
Christian, Pentecostal and Greek Catholic de-
nominations are represented in the two counties
by organizations which are mentioned in the
sketches of the different sections in which
they are located.
The following table will convey some idea
of the relative standing of the different de-
nominations in both counties. It might be in-
ferred that the Methodists have lost in num-
bers in both counties, but such is not the case,
the only loss being in the number of the
churches, caused by the removal of the mem-
bers to the cities and towns. In fact, the
majority of the denominations have gained in
numbers steadily, the exceptions being the
Quakers and the Methodist Protestant sects.
Columbia Montour
Co. Co.
. Denomination 1886 1914 1S86 1914
Methodist 42 36 10 9
Lutheran 18 21 10 10
Evangelical 13 13 I 3
Reformed 12 12 3 5
Presbyterian 8 10 5 5
Baptist 6 5 3 3
. Episcopal 4 5 2 2
Roman Catholic 2 S 2 3
Christian 6 5
United Brethren S 3
Greek Catholic 2 4
Pentecostal I
Society of Friends (Quakers) 3 3
Methodist Protestant 2
COLUMBIA COUNTY SABBATH SCHOOL
ASSOCIATION
was organized at Bloomsburg in 1868, and in-
cludes all Protestant evangelical Sunday
schools in the county. It is an auxiliary of
State and national organizations of similar
names, and has held many annual conventions
since its formation. Rev. Alfred Taylor, of
New York, was the conductor of the first meet-
ing and was probably the organizer.
The second convention was held in 1870 at
Bloomsburg, but no records are to be had re-
garding it. In 187 1 the third convention was
held at Espy, and here J. B. Robison was
elected president. He was succeeded after
one year's service by a series of presidents, all
ministers, well known in the county, among
them being Revs. Stuart Mitchell, A. Houtz,
N. Spear, F. P. Manhart and U. Myers. This
continued until 1889, conventions having been
held each year to the present since 1873. ex-
cept in the year 1879, when the records merely
state that the secretary had died.
In 1889 H. R. Bower, of Berwick, was
elected president and served three years, when
he was succeeded by Myron I. Low, who has
served ever since, making a record for con-
tinuous and efficient service unequaled in the
State.
At the first convention of which we have a
record there were eighteen delegates from the
local schools and twenty-five from outside the
county, representing in all sixteen schools.
This does not convey, however, an idea of the
number of Sabbath schools in the organization
at the time, since every Protestant evangelical
school in the county became automatically a
part of the association.
In 1880 the executive committee was di-
rected to effect the township organization, and
at the 1882 convention district or township vice
presidents were appointed, within a few years
every township or borough in the county
being represented by an organization. This
system prevailed until a redistricting along less
cumbersome lines was authorized by the con-
vention of 191 1, and before the 1912 conven-
tion was held the county had been subdivided
into thirteen districts, all of which are actively
at work.
About 1900 departmental organization was
begun, and at present there are at work in the
county superintendents of elementary, second-
ary, adult, teacher training, home, temperance,
mission and rural departments, with a com-
plete corresponding organization extending
throughout the districts.
In 1907 the State Association erected a
64
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
high standard of organization for its counties,
and Columbia was one of the first two coun-
ties to attain this standard, maintaining and
passing beyond it year by year until 1913, when
a still higher standard was set by the State,
and again Columbia was one of the first to
attain it.
Some idea of the growth of the work in the
county may be had by the statement that for
some years less than forty dollars was the
amount of annual receipts, and this was not
all used at first. In 1913 the county expenses
were over four hundred dollars, the amount
being contributed by the schools and indi-
viduals interested in the work.
Besides what is accomplished by volunteer
helpers, the county organization during the
years 1906-1907 maintained its own field secre-
tary, Miss Martha Robison, who gave her en-
tire time to the work, relinquishing the posi-
tion in 1908 to take a similar one with the
State Association. Since that time the work
has been carried on by the corps of county
officers, now nvmibering almost twenty.
At present there are in the county, and there-
fore a part of the association, 135 Protestant
evangelical Sundav schools, with a total en-
rollment of over 22,000, and reporting in
19 1 3 over 2,000 accessions. Twenty-five per
cent of these schools reported a complete or-
ganization, almost all had "Cradle Rolls," and
the other departments of the work were main-
tained in the same proportion. One of the
sources of strength of the association was the
continuous service of manv of the officers, who
were familiar with the county and therefore
able to do the most efficient work. In 1877
A. W. Spear became treasurer of the organiza-
tion, and served until i88s, when he was made
corresponding secretary, which office he still
holds. Mrs. Anna McHenry has served as
treasurer since 1800. while other officers also
have rendered valuable and extended service.
The present officers are: Myron I. Low,
president : H. R. Bower, Thomas Ash, C. A.
Shaflfer, L. C. Mensch, M. E. Stackhouse.
Peter Wills, vice presidents ; Miss Martha
Robison. field and statistical secretary ; Miss
Ethel Creasy, assistant secretary ; Mrs. C. E.
Kesty, recording secretary ; A. W. Spear, cor-
responding secretary ; Fred Holmes, financial
secretary ; Mrs. Anna McHenry, treasurer.
The department superintendents are : Miss
Mabel Moyer, elementary ; O. H. Bakeless,
teacher training; Mrs. C. E. Trescott, home;
Rev. C. E. Miller, O. A. B. C; R. L. KHne,
temperance; Rev. W. J. Dice, missions; Rev.
P. H. Hoover, secondary ; N. Beishline, rural.
A summary of the statistical report for 1913
is as follows: District No. i, Berwick and
vicinity, total enrollment, 4,870; church acces-
sions, 745 ; increase in enrollment, 768. Dis-
trict No. 2, West Berwick and vicinity, enroll-
ment, 1,971; church accessions, 107; increase
in enrollment, 226. District No. 3, Centre
and part of Briarcreek townships, enrollment,
1,137; increase in enrollment, 190; church ac-
cessions, 180. District No. 4, Bloomsburg,
Catawissa, Montour townships. Espy and Al-
media, enrollment, 6,250; increase in enroll-
ment, 317; church accessions, 456. District
No. 5, Orangeville and Light Street and vicin-
ity, enrollment, 977 ; increase in enrollment,
17; church accessions, 6. "District No. 7, Ben-
ton and vicinity, enrollment, 1,002; increase,
75 ; church accessions, 55. District No. 8,
Sugarloaf township, enrollment, 492; decrease
in attendance, 78. District No. 6, Benton and
Fishingcreek townships, enrollment, 760; de-
crease, 75 ; accessions, 43. District No. 9, Mill-
ville and vicinity, enrollment, 840 ; increase, 76 ;
accessions, 11. District No. 10, Hemlock and
Madison townships, enrollment, 671 ; increase,
43; accessions, 33. District No. 11, Cleveland,
Locust, Roaringcreek, Franklin and Cata.wissa
townships, enrollment, 1.002; increase, 75;
accessions, q8. District No. 12 (last year's
figures, partly), Conyngham and Centralia,
enrollment, 835 ; accessions. 140. District No.
13, enrollment, 446; increase, 69; accessions,
18. Totals, enrollment for county, 21,770;
church accessions for county, 1,923.
CHAPTER VII
BENCH AND BAR
In entering into the history of the Bench
and Bar of this district it may not be out of
place to compare the present with the past.
The lawyers of eighty years ago in the rural
districts found all their surroundings, as well
as the legal procedure, very different from
those of to-day. The country was compara-
tively new, the facilities for travel by public
conveyance most meager. Carriages with el-
liptic springs had not yet been invented. The
judges and members of the bar usually trav-
eled on horseback, sometimes riding fifty miles
in a day to reach a distant county seat. The
districts were then much larger than now. The
courthouses were not of the present style of
architecture, the accommodations often being
of the most primitive character. A wood
stove furnished heat for the usually small
room, and the work at evening was done by
the light of tallow candles. Court was con-
vened by the sound of a dinner horn blown
by the crier at the door. Trials were long-
drawn-out owing to the necessity of writing
down all the testimony of witnesses and other
proceedings, by the judge and counsel. Ste-
nographers were then unknown, their intro-
duction in the courts not having become gen-
eral until within the last forty years, and the
innovation has enabled the courts to transact
in one day what formerly required three or
four.
Splendid courthouses, some of them palaces,
with all the conveniences of modern inven-
tion, have taken the place of the old-time seats
of justice, and with these changes have come
changes in legal procedure intended to facili-
tate the dispatch of public business, though
in regard to the latter there lingers in the
minds of the laity a belief that there is still
room for improvement. While the transac-
tion of business has thus been expedited, there
still remains the delay and uncertainty in the
administration of justice, by reason of the
fact that able lawyers, inspired by a large re-
tainer on either side, differ in their interpreta-
^ 65
tion of the law where the facts are not dis-
puted. The court below may differ with both,
and the higher courts may differ with the
court below — frequently bringing on a new
trial, with a repetition of the costs and worry.
While it is generally agreed that a remedy
for this condition is desirable, no one has ever
been able to suggest an acceptable one, and
probably no one will ever be able to do so
until the time shall come when all men are of
one mind, a situation that is not likely to oc-
cur before the millennium.
During his administration it was no un-
common experience for Judge Elwell to see
practicing before him in Columbia county
many of the ablest lawyers of the State, some
of whom — previously or subsequently — held
prominent public positions. Among them may
be mentioned Judge Jeremiah S. Black, Chief
Justice George W. Woodward, Judge John W.
Maynard, Hon. F. B. Gowen, Judge James
Ryan, Gov. Henry M. Hoyt, Judge Edward
O. Parry, Judge F. Carroll Brewster, Attorney
General Henry W. Palmer, Judge W. A. Marr,
Hon. George F. Baer, Hon. John B. Packer,
Hon. Francis W. Hughes, Hon. S. P. Wolver-
ton, as well as many other gifted men.
From 1814 to 185 1 Columbia and North-
umberland counties formed the Eighth judicial
district with Lycoming and Union counties.
Hon. Seth Chapman, the first judge of
this district, held court in January at Dan-
ville, which was then the county seat of Co-
lumbia county, court convening in the sec-
ond story of a log house on the river bank,
a few doors east of Mill street. Gen. Wil-
liam Montgomery and Hon. Leonard Rupert
were his associates. Henry Alward, of Mil-
ton, was the first sheriff. The first prothono-
tary was George A. Frick, who later became a
prominent attorney of Danville.
Of those who came to the court at Dan-
ville to practice law were Charles Hall,
Charles Maus of Berlin, Hugh Bellas of Sun-
bury, Samuel Hepburn of Rlilton, Bradford
66
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
and George Porter of Center county, James
Carson of Philadelphia, and Ebenezer Green-
ough of Sunbury. Judge Thomas Duncan
and Judge Charles Huston came here from
Center county to attend court. They were
both afterwards members of the Supreme
court. William G. Hurley, of Bloomsburg,
James Pleasants of Catawissa, Alexander
Jordan and Charles G. Donnel, of Sunbury,
attended court in Danville regularly.
Judge Ellis Lewis, who succeeded to the
bench in 1833, was a native of Lewisburg,
Pa. He began life as a printer, subsequently
occupied the editorial chair, studied law, and
was admitted to the bar at the age of twenty-
five. Two years later he was appointed dep-
uty attorney general for Lycoming county ;
in 1832 was elected to the Legislature; in
1833 was appointed attorney general for the
Commonwealth, and the same year appointed
as successor to Judge Chapman. After ten
years of service here he was transferred to
the Second district^ later elevated to the Su-
preme court, in 1851, and became chief justice
in 1855. Subsequently he was appointed one
of a committee of three to revise the criminal
code. He died March 19, 1871.
Charles G. Donnel, of Northumber-
land county, was appointed to the vacancy on
the bench of the Eighth district Jan. 14, 1843,
and held his first term in April of that year.
He died the following year, before he could
accomplish his work, but held high in the
respect and esteem of those who had known
him and admired his attainments.
Judge Joseph B. Anthony, who suc-
ceeded to the bench in 1844, was the first to
hold court at Bloomsburg after the removal
of the county seat from Danville. His first
session there was held in January, 1848. Judge
Anthony was a native of Williamsport. In
1830 he was elected to the State Senate, and
in 1834 to Congress, and reelected two years
later. In 1843 he was appointed judge of
the court for the adjustment of the Nichol-
son claims, and in March, 1844, to the bench
of the Eighth judicial circuit. He died in
185 1, nine months before the expiration of
his term.
Judge James Pollock was born in Milton
and studied law under Judge Anthony. He
graduated from Princeton and was admitted
to the bar in 1833. Two years later he was
appointed district attorney, and in 1844 was
elected to Congress from the Thirteenth dis-
trict. In 1851 he was appointed to the bench
to succeed Judge Anthony, and held the place
until the judges were made elective, in 1851,
when he refused to be a candidate. In 1854
he was elected governor; in i860 appointed a
delegate to the peace congress at Washington ;
in 1861 appointed director of the mint at
Philadelphia; resigning the otSce under the
administration of Johnson, he was reappointed
by Grant in 1869, held the position until 1882,
and was then made collector of internal rev-
enue. He is the originator of the motto on
American coins, "In God We Trust." He
died April 19, 1890.
John Nesbit Conyngham succeeded Judge
Pollock on the bench in 1851.- He went
upon the bench of the Luzerne district
in 1839 by appointment of the governor, and
when Columbia was put in that district Judge
Conyngham became the president judge here,
and so continued until the formation of the
Twenty-sixth district, in 1856, composed of
Columbia, Sullivan and Wyoming counties,
which took Columbia out of his jurisdiction.
He was one of Pennsylvania's most eminent
jurists, and presided in the Luzerne district
for thirty years, until 1870, when he resigned.
In 1871 he met with a railroad accident which
resulted in his death. He was beloved and
respected by all who knew him.
Warren J. Woodward was appointed judge
in May, 1856, and in October following was
elected for a term of ten years. He served
until December, 1861, when he resigned to
accept election as president judge of Berks
county, and moved to Reading. At the expira-
tion of this term he was reelected for a second,
and served until 1874, when he was elected a
justice of the Supreme court, which position
he occupied until his death, in 1879. Judge
Woodward was born in Bethany, Wayne
county, and received an academic education
in Wilkes-Barre. He taught school, learned
the printer's trade, and later studied law at
Wilkes-Barre, where he became the leader of
the bar. He was a hard student, a conscien-
tious and upright judge, and a man of intel-
lectual power. He was considered one of the
ablest Supreme justices of his time.
Aaron K. Peckham was appointed to fill
the unexpired term of Judge Woodward, De-
cember. 1861, after which he declined to be
a candidate for election to the position, and
resumed his practice at Tunkhannock, where
he remained until his death.
William Elwell was elected president
judge of the Twenty-sixth district in 1862, ac-
cepting the nomination at the request of a com-
mittee of the bar. He had no opposition at
the first election, and none at the time of his
reelection in 1872. In May, 1874, Wyoming
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
67
and Sulli\an counties were placed in the
Forty-fourth district, and Columbia and
Montour made the Twenty-sixth, which is the
condition in 1914. On the expiration of Judge
Elwell's second term the bar of the district
unanimously requested him to accept a third
term, to which he consented, was later nomi-
nated on the tickets of both leading parties,
and at the following election was unanimously
given the office. Afterwards, at different
times, he was urged to become a candidate
for the Supreme bench, but declined. He
also refused to have his name used in the
canvass for the office of governor, although
warmly urged.
In 1871 Judge Elwell was chosen to um-
pire the difficulties between the miners and
the operators in the coal regions, which he
did to the satisfaction of both sides. Later
the Mollie JMaguires case, a description of
which is given at the end of this chapter, was
tried before him. His decision in this case
was affirmed by the Supreme court.
It is believed that Judge Elwell tried more
cases than any other judge upon the bench
of the State, as many important cases were
certified to Columbia county from other dis-
tricts and tried before him. It is worthy of
mention that of all the cases tried in the courts
of Oyer and Terminer, Quarter Sessions and
the (Drphans' court, not a single one from this
county was reversed during the more than
twenty-six years he was upon the bench, and
very few in the Common Pleas court.
It may not be out of place here to record
the fact that a tribute was publicly paid to
Judge Elwell during his lifetime that does not
often fall to the lot even of distinguished citi-
zens. It is almost the universal custom to
wait until after the cold clods have rattled
upon the casket before public appreciation of
a man's life and character is expressed. When
such action is taken during a man's life-
time it is a matter of great gratifica-
tion to him who receives the recognition, and
it is also highly creditable to those who are
responsible for its expression. As the inci-
dent here referred to has appeared in print
only in the newspapers, the files of which are
accessible to but few people, and as the mat-
ter is a part of the history of the court of
Columbia county, it is deemed proper for it
to be here recorded in full, so that it may be
preserved in permanent form.
On Monday morning, Sept. 2.^, 1889, when
court opened, the room was filled with an
audience including many ladies, who had been
drawn there by the report that proceedings of
an unusual character would transpire at that
time. The president judge, Hon. E. R. Ikeler,
and Hons. C. B. McHenry and C. G. Murphy
were upon the bench. Court Crier D. R. Coft-
man opened the session by the usual proclama-
tion, and then B. F. Zarr, Esq., soHcitor to
the county commissioners, W. G. Girton,
Jesse Rittenhouse and Ezra Stephens, ad-
dressed the Bench in the following words :
"If Your Honors please, before the court
proceeds with its regular business, I wish to
bring to your attention a matter in which we
all feel a lively interest.
"There presided in these courts for a period
of more than twenty-five years a jurist dis-
tinguished for his legal knowledge, high moral
character, courteous treatment of the bar, uni-
form kindness and impartiality to all — the
Honorable William Elwell. The best years
of his life were spent here, and he is to-day
a venerable citizen of the county, one whom
the people delight to honor.
"Appreciation of the qualities that endear
a man to his countrymen is testified not more
by the rearing of imposing monuments than
by giving fitting expression to the sentiment
in their hearts. There may be in all the
walks of life great men, but great only when
by their acts they have signally benefited man-
kind. The preacher becomes great only when,
by his power and p>ersuasiveness, he causes
men to reverence and to obey the laws of God.
The soldier becomes great when, by his con-
quests over the enemies of liberty, he gives to
the people liberty and a home ; the statesman,
when by his wise economy he secures to them
prosperity ; the philanthropist, when he has
alleviated human suffering; the judge, when
he has faithfully administered the laws. True
greatness is always recognized and honored
by the people, and the man who makes it his
life work to labor for the good of the race is
entitled to such recognition and honor .
"The citizens of Columbia county hold in
the highest estimation the ability and integrity
of Judge Elwell. His reputation as an able
and conscientious administrator of the law
is not confined to the limits of the county, but
extends throughout the length and breadth of
the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and even
beyond her borders. His opinions and rulings
are cited with confidence by the pleader in
the courts, and are received by the highest
tribunals as authority of weight.
"The countv commissioners, joining with
other citizens in their just estimate of the
distinguished services rendered to the Com-
monwealth by Judge Elwell, have deemed it
68
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
eminently proper to cause to be prepared this
portrait" (here Prothonotary W. H. Snyder
withdrew a green cloth hanging on the wall
behind the Judges, disclosing a lifesize bust
portrait in handsome gilt frame) "of the Hon-
orable William Elwell, and to place it in this
temple of justice, not so much as a monument
to the past as a testimonial to the future, and
as an offering by which he himself may learn
the kindly feeling of our hearts. ... It
is my privilege, and I assure you my pleasure,
on behalf of the commissioners of the county,
to present to the court, to the bar, and to the
citizens, this portrait of His Honor, Judge
Elwell."
Judge Ikeler made the following response :
"In behalf of the bench, the bar, and the
citizens of the county, we accept this portrait
of Judge Elwell, as an appropriate memento
of him and of his honorable judicial career.
It cannot fail to be a constant reminder to us
who have been intimately associated with him,
to follow so far as possible in his footsteps.
Of the present commissioners of Columbia
county, a majority reside at a distance from
the county seat. Their act is undoubtedly
prompted and sustained by the public senti-
ment of respect, admiration and love for Judge
Elwell, which permeates the county _ to its
remotest bounds, but which, great as it is, is
only an index of our appreciation of his merits.
We, the members of the bar, who have been
closely associated with him in the administra-
tion of justice, though ours has been the fo-
rensic strife about a question of property, of
liberty, or of life, while it has been his office
well fulfilled to hold the seat of Justice with
her* sword and scales, conducting before him
unawed, unruffled and unswayed our legal
struggles, we have been taught by his rulings,
led by his learning, instructed as to manhood
by his dignified bearing. The perpetual pres-
ence here of this portrait, reminding us of
him and of his character, will be to us a con-
tinued incentive to diligence in our calling, and
to the cultivation of all manly graces. It will
stimulate the young men in training for the
bar ; they will learn the history of the eminent
jurist whom this portrait represents, and they
will be stirred with emulation of his great at-
tainments in legal lore, and of his surpassing
virtues as judge, and they will be infused with
new energy in working for the highest ideal
of achievement, and to usefulness in their
day and generation.
"If any of us should be so fortunate as to
arrive at the advanced age that Judge Elwell
has already reached, he will be happy if he
is able to look back upon a life's work as well
done as his — upon every duty as scrupulously
and zealously performed as it was by him
whose likeness hangs upon this wall."
In this connection it should be noted that
after the death of Judge Ikeler his portrait
was presented to the county. Of all the judges
who have presided over the courts of Co-
lumbia county, the likenesses of these two
jurists are the only ones that hang upon the
walls of the court room.
In November, 1887, Judge Elwell con-
tracted a cold which resulted in chronic
catarrh, and so affected his hearing and his
general health that he tendered his resigna-
tion to the governor, to take effect on July 31,
1888. From that time he led a retired life
until his death, which occurred on Oct. 15,
1895, when he was aged eighty-seven years.
A more complete story of the life of this great
judge appears among the biographies.
Judge Elwell's resignation left a vacancy to
be filled at the November election, with an ap-
pointment by the governor of a president
judge to serve until January, 1889. Henry M.
Hinckley of Danville received the appoint-
ment.
Judge Henry M. Hinckley was born June
2, 1850, in Harrisburg, Pa., where he received
his early education, and was graduated at
Princeton College in 1874. Having pursued
the study of law during his college course, he
was admitted to the bar of Montour county in
1875, and to the Supreme court in 1878. He
has long been recognized as one of the ablest
attorneys in this section of the State. He was
nominated for president judge by the Repub-
lican party in the district to succeed himself,
but the district being strongly Democratic he
was not elected. During the brief period of
his incumbency he discharged all his duties
with fidelity and marked ability. Since his
retirement from the bench he has devoted him-
self to his profession, and has a large prac-
tice, not only in Montour and Columbia coun-
ties, but in other counties outside of the dis-
trict. Before his appointment to the bench
he was for some years associated with I. X.
Grier, Esq., of Danville, in law business.
For the first time in the history of this ju-
dicial district, after Judge Elwell resigned
there were opposing aspirants for the nomina-
tion for president judge on the Democratic
ticket, Elijah R. Ikeler and Charles G. Bark-
ley, both of Bloomsburg, being the candidates.
An active and energetic canvass was made,
resulting in the nomination of Mr. Ikeler in
both counties, and he was elected in Novem-
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
69
ber, 1888, entering upon his duties in January,
1889, and serving until Aug. i, 1898, when the
hand of death was laid upon him. He con-
tracted a cold which resulted in pneumonia,
and after only a week's illness passed away.
Elijah R. Ikeler was a self-made man.
His studious and industrious habits enabled
him to obtain sufficient education at Green-
wood Seminary to enter upon the study of
law, which he took up after being engaged in
the milling business for a number of years.
He moved from Millville to Bloomsburg and
registered as a law student with Colonel
Freeze in 1864, and was admitted to the bar
in May, 1867. He soon forged ahead, and be-
came one of the leading practitioners of the
county. As a judge he was patient and care-
ful, always evincing a desire to do right ac-
cording to his best judgment.
At the time of his death Judge Ikeler was
a candidate for renomination, his opponent
being Robert R. Little — both Democrats. The
county conventions of both counties had been
held, Montour county instructing its conferees
for Ikeler, and Columbia county for Little.
The death of Judge Ikeler brought about a
complication in the judicial situation, such as
had probably never before occurred in the his-
tory of the State. On Aug. 10, 1898, Gov-
ernor Hastings appointed Grant Herring as
president judge to serve until January, 1899.
Robert R. Little was the Democratic candidate
in Columbia county for election for the full
term. What the situation was in Montour
county no one seemed to know, as Judge Ike-
ler had named his conferees in that county,
but they had not yet accepted. It was also
doubted whether their appointment would
stand after his death. There were also com-
plications in the Republican party on the
judgeship, Montour county having instructed
for James Scarlet and the Columbia conferees
favoring Charles C. Evans, Scarlet being
afterwards made the nominee.
•Appreciating the necessity of taking some
action in the matter, a call was issued for a
meeting of the Columbia bar on Aug. 17, 1898,
which was signed by thirty-eight members.
The call stated that "impressed by the convic-
tion that the selection of a president judge is
of transcendent importance to the public, and
observing that the ordinary agencies for the
nomination of a candidate do not in this in-
stance promise to succeed in giving to the
people harmonious and desirable results, we
do agree to confer together upon the selection
of a judge who shall be competent, inde-
pendent, and impartial, who shall be free from
faction, without friends to reward or enemies
to punish, and, if possible, wholly unconnected
in position or interest with past or present con-
troversy or dispute upon the question of the
judgeship, and take such action as the major-
ity of those present shall judge to be advisable,
prudent, wise, and necessary, to secure or aid
in securing, the selection of a president judge."
But eighteen of the signers were present at
the meeting. Hon. C. R. Buckalew was
chosen chairman, and a resolution was adopted
for the appointment of a committee, "to act
for and represent us in the conference which
must take place and enable us to present for
endorsement by the people of this district a
man competent and eminently fitted to serve
as president judge." Nothing ever came of
this action, however, mainly for the reason
that no lawyer from outside the district could
be found who was willing to enter the con-
test as a candidate, where there were so many
local aspirants, and where he would be a com-
parative stranger.
Meanwhile the fencing for advantage went
on. On Aug. 10 Mr. Little and conferees went
to Exchange, Montour county, and there met
the conferees appointed by Judge Ikeler, and
a judicial conference was organized, resulting
after several ballots in Mr. Little's nomina-
tion. The next day the Democratic standing
committee met at Danville. Judge Herring
claimed that the conference at Exchange was
void, for the reason that the conferees named
by Judge Ikeler had no authority to act, as it
ceased when Judge Ikeler died. The com-
mittee took this view of it and proceeded to
name a new candidate for Montour county,
Judge Herring being their choice. Judge Her-
ring then carried the matter to the Dauphin
county court to settle the question as to whose
name should be printed on the ballots as the
regular nominee. After hearing, the court
decided that the Exchange conference was a
nullity, as the evidence showed that the Ikeler
conferees had not been appointed in fact.
Judge Herring then appointed conferees for
"Montour, and after several meetings Herring
withdrew and Little was unanimously nomi-
nated, and was elected in November, 1898, de-
feating James Scarlet, the Republican nomi-
nee. He served until Feb. 26, 1906, when his
death occurred, after a protracted illness.
Judge Robert R. Little was born in Ber-
wick in May, 1852, and was the son of E. H.
Little, who was for many years a prominent
attorney of Columbia county. He graduated
at the Normal School in 1871, and subse-
quently attended the University of Rochester,
70
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
and Hamilton College, New York, after which
he read law with his father, and was admitted
to the bar on Sept. 4, 1874. He was elected
district attorney in 1878 and again in 1881,
filling the office with much ability. He was
possessed of an even temperament and quick
perception, and was considered a safe and
careful counsellor.
The death of Judge Little again made a
vacancy on the bench of the district to be
filled by an appointment by the governor.
There were a number of aspirants among the
Republican members of the bar, and strong
influences were brought to bear. On March
30th Governor Pennypacker appointed Charles
C. Evans, Esq., of Berwick, as president
judge, to serve until January, 1907. He was
nominated by the Republican conventions of
both counties to serve for a full term. In the
Democratic party the candidates for the nomi-
nation were John G. Harman and Grant
Herring, both of Bloomsburg. The Montour
county primaries were held first, resulting in
a vote of 1,030 for Herring and 528 for
Harman, giving the former twenty-three dele-
gates in the convention, and the latter five.
The following week the Columbia county pri-
maries were held, when Harman received
2,484 votes and Herring 1,912, thus giving
the conferees to Harman. This resulted in
a deadlock, and in September the case was
carried to the Democratic State executive
committee by Mr. Harman, after every effort
to secure an agreement by the conferees had
failed. The committee after several hear-
ings decided that they had jurisdiction, and
nominated Mr. Harman, to which Mr. Her-
ring filed exceptions in the Dauphin county
court, and after hearing the court decided that
Harman's nomination was invalid, thus leav-
ing the Democrats without a nominee. Both
candidates filed nomination papers. This
made a three-cornered fight, which resulted
in the election of Judge Evans, the Repub-
lican and Prohibition candidate, by a plural-
ity of 241 votes in the district, Evans receiv-
ing 4,474 votes, 3,325 in Columbia county and
1,149 in Montour; Harman, 4,233, 3,578 in
Columbia and 655 in Montour; Herring,
2,936, 1,964 in Columbia and 972 in Montour.
Thus for the first time in its history has
the district had a Republican president judge
elected for a full term. Judge Evans's term
will expire in January, 1917.
Judge Grant Herring, who served from
August, 1898, to January, 1899, was a son of
George A. Herring, and was born in Centre
township, Columbia county. He graduated
at the Bloomsburg Normal School in 1879,
and at Lafayette College in 1883. He read
law with E. R. Ikeler, Esq., and was admitted
to the bar in February, 1885, entering into
partnership with his preceptor at once, and
so continuing until Mr. Ikeler's elevation to
the bench. He served four years as collector
of internal revenue of this district during
President Cleveland's administration, and as
State senator from 1890 to 1894. A man of
strong personality, a brilliant speaker, and an
able lawyer, he acquired a large clientele. In
1907 he moved from Bloomsburg to Sunbury,
and entered into a law partnership with Hon.
S. P. Wolverton which continued for several
years, when it was dissolved, and Judge Her-
ring engaged in practice by himself. In 191 1
his health began to fail, and in 1912 he went
to Europe to visit his daughter, who was
studying music in Berlin, and to seek medical
assistance. While in Germany an attack of
his old complaint resulted fatally, and at his
own request he was buried there. His death
occurred on Aug. 4, 1912, in Berchtesgaden,
Bavaria.
Judge Charles C. Evans was bom in
Briarcreek township, Columbia county, Jan.
10, 1858. He graduated at the State Normal
School at Bloomsburg in 1877, ^"d ^t Lafay-
ette College in 1881. He immediately entered
the law office of Hon. Simon P. Wolverton,
at Sunbury, and July 14, 1883, was admitted
to the bar of Northumberland county. In
August. 1883, he commenced the practice of
law at Berwick, where he continued to prac-
tice until his appointment to the bench.
Judge Evans has made a good record on
the bench. He is careful and conscientious,
of even temperament, and his opinions show
that he makes exhaustive research in arriving
at legal conclusions. Like all judges, he has
had some of his decisions reversed by the
higher courts, but in this respect his record
will compare favorably with most of the judges
of the State. He has been called a number of
times to hold court in Wilkes-Barre, Scranton,
Philadelphia, and other places.
JUDICIAL DISTRICT
The territory now embraced in Columbia
county was formerly a part of Northumber-
land county, and was included in the Eighth
judicial district, composed of Northumber-
land, Union and Luzerne. Later on it was
placed in the Eleventh judicial district with
Montour, Luzerne and Wyoming, and again
with Sullivan and Wyoming in the Twenty-
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
71
sixth. In 1872 Columbia and Montour be-
came the Twenty-sixth district, and have so
remained until the present (1914).
Herewith we give a list of the president
judges who have presided over the courts in
this territory since 1813, with the dates of
their appointment or election. The first court
held in Bloomsburg, after the change of the
county seat from Danville, was in January,
1848, Judge Joseph B. Anthony presiding.
Col. John G. Freeze, at the time of his death,
July 8, 1913, the oldest member of the Co-
lumbia county bar, personally knew all of
these judges from Judge Anthony to the pres-
ent incumbent.
President Judges
Seth Chapman, appointed July 11, 181 1, re-
signed Oct. 10, 1833 ; Ellis Lewis, appointed
Oct. 14, 1833, served until Jan. 14, 1843;
Charles G. Donnel, appointed Jan. 14, 1843,
died March 18, 1844; Joseph B. Anthony, ap-
pointed in March, 1844, died Jan. 10, 1851 ;
James Pollock, appointed Jan. 16, 1851, com-
mission expired Nov. 5, 1851; John N.
Conyngham, appointed Nov. 15, 1851, district
changed; Warren J. Woodward, appointed
May 19, 1856, resigned Dec. 10, 1861 ; Aaron
K. Peckham, appointed Dec. 10, 1861, com-
mission expired Nov. 3, 1862 ; William Elwell,
elected Nov. 3, 1862, commission expired in
January, 1873; re-elected Nov. 6, 1872, com-
mission expired in January, 1883; re-elected
Nov. 7, 1882, resigned July 31, 1888; Henry
M. Hinckley, appointed Aug. i, 1888, com-
mission expired ]an. i, 1889; E. R. Ikeler,
elected Nov. 6, 1888, died Aug. i, 1898; Grant
Herring, appointed Aug. 10, 1898, commission
expired Jan. i, 1899; R. R. Little, elected Nov.
8, 1898, died Feb. 26, 1906; Charles C. Evans,
appointed March 30, 1906, commission ex-
pired in January, 1907; elected Nov. 6, 1906,
commission expires in January, 191 7.
Associate Judges
John Murray, appointed Oct. 11, 1813;
William Montgomery, appointed Aug. 5, 1815;
Leonard Rupert, appointed June 27, 1816;
William Donaldson, appointed March 26,
1840; George Mack, appointed March 27,
1840; Samuel Oakes, appointed March 6,
1845; Stephen Baldy, appointed March 11,
1845; George H. Willits, appointed March 12,
1850; John Covanhoven, appointed March
12, 1850; Leonard B. Rupert, elected Nov. 10,
185 1 ; George H. Willits, elected Nov. 10,
1 851; Peter Kline, elected Nov. 12, 1856;
Jacob Evans, elected Nov. 12, 1856; Stephen
Baldy, appointed Jan. 12, 1861, elected Nov.
23, 1861 ; John McReynolds, elected Nov. 23,
1861 ; Peter K. Herbein, elected Nov. 8, 1866,
died in office April i, 1869; Iram Derr, elected
Nov. 8, 1866; James Kester, appointed April
23, 1869 ; Charles F. Mann, elected Nov. 26,
1869, died in office Jan. 24, 1870; Isaac S.
Monroe, appointed Feb. i, 1870; Iram Derr,
elected Nov. 17, 1871 ; George Scott, elected
in November, 1875, died in office April 10,
1876; Mayberry G. Hughes, appointed April
26, 1876; Franklin L. Shuman, elected in
November, 1876; Isaac K. Krickbaum, elected
in November, 1876; Franklin L. Shuman,
elected in November, 1S81 ; James Lake,
elected in November, 1881 ; Charles G. Mur-
phy, elected Nov. 2, 1886 ; James Lake, elected
Nov. 2, 1886, died in office Jan. 4, 1887; Cyrus
B. McHenry, appointed Jan. 8, 1887; elected
in November, 1887, died in office Jan. 8, 1890
Mordecai W. Jackson, appointed Feb. 3, 1890
Charles G. Murphy, elected Nov. 3, 1891
Mordecai Millard, elected Nov. 4, 1890, and
Nov. 5, 1895; James T. Fox, elected Nov. 3,
1896, and Nov. 5, 1901 ; J. U. Kurtz, elected
Nov. 3, 1896; William Krickbaum, elected
Nov. 4, 1902, and Nov. 5, 1907; E. C. Yeager,
elected Nov. 6, 1906; Charles E. Houck,
elected in November, 191 1; M. H. Rhoads,
appointed in January, 1913, elected in Novem-
ber, 1913.
The Columbia County Bar Association was
organized Dec. 3, 1878. Morrison E. Jackson,
of Berwick, was the first president ; Col. J. G.
Freeze, vice president ; George E. Elwell, sec-
retary; and C. G. Barkley, treasurer. Mr.
Jackson died in July, 1879, and Colonel Freeze
was elected president, which position he held
up to the time of his death in July, 1913, Mr.
Elwell continuing as secretary up to that time.
The present officers (1914) are: A. W. Duy,
president ; C. C. Yetter, vice president ; H.
Mont. Smith, secretary; H. R. Stees, treas-
urer.
Members of the Bar *
Robert C. Grier,
William G. Hurley,
James Pleasants,
Samuel F. Headley,
Morrison E. Jackson,
LeGrand Bancroft,
B. K. Rhodes,
Charles R. Buckalew,
Bloomsburg,
Bloomsburg,
Catawissa.
Berwick,
Berwick,
Bloomsburg,
Bloomsburg,
Bloomsburg,
deceased,
deceased,
deceased,
deceased,
deceased,
deceased,
deceased,
deceased.
* Names listed in order of admission.
72
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
Robert F. Clark,
Reuben W. Weaver,
John G. Freeze,
Robert S. Howell,
Elisha C. Thompson,
Franklin Stewart,
Ephraim H. Little,
Alexander J. Frick,
Oliver C. Kahler,
Wesley Wirt,
Agib Ricketts,
W. A. Peck,
Charles G. Barkley,
Samuel Knorr,
Hervey H. Grotz,
William H. Abbott,
Chas. B. Brockway,
Wellington H. Ent,
M. M. Traugh,
James K. Brugler,
Peter S. Rishel,
Michael Whitmoyer,
M. M. LaVelle,
Russel R. Pealer,
Elijah R. Ikeler,
Charles W. Miller,
George S. Coleman,
James B. Robison,
J. H. James,
M. E. Walker,
O. B. Mellick,
James Bryson,
Milton Stiles,
LeRoy Thompson,
John M. Clark,
B. Frank Zarr,
A. C. Smith,
Hervey E. Smith,
John A. Opp,
Warren J. Buckalew,
George E. Elwell,
Robert R. Little,
Nevin U. Funk,
William L. Eyerly,
Charles B. Jackson,
Frank P. Billmeyer,
Levi E. Waller,
T. J. Vanderslice,
H. C. Bittenbender,
W. H. Rhawn,
William Brvson,
Paul E. Wirt.
Robert Buckingham,
L. S. Wintersteen,
Andrew L. Fritz.
Andrew K. Oswald,
Jacob H. Maize.
C. C. Peacock,
Hiester V. White.
A. E. Chapin,
John C. Yocum.
David Leche,
Guy Jacoby.
William Chrisman.
W. H. Snyder.
William E. Smith,
Grant Herring,
A. N. Yost,
C. E. Geyer,
S. P. Hanley,
Sterling W. Dickson,
Bloomsburg,
Bloomsburg,
Bloomsburg,
Espy,
Bloomsburg,
Berwick,
Bloomsburg,
Danville,
Bloomsburg,
Bloomsburg,
Wilkes-Barre,
Berwick,
Bloomsburg,
Bloomsburg,
Bloomsburg,
Catawissa,
Bloomsburg,
Bloomsburg,
Berwick,
Bloomsburg,
Bloomsburg,
Bloomsburg.
Centralia.
Bloomsburg,
Bloomsburg,
Bloomsburg.
Bloomsburg.
Bloomsburg,
Centralia,
Shickshinny,
Bloomsburg,
Centralia.
Berwick.
Berwick.
Bloomsburg.
Bloomsburg.
Bloomsburg,
Bloomsburg,
Plymouth.
Bloomsburg.
Bloomsburg.
Bloomsburg.
Bloomsburg.
Bloomsburg,
Berwick,
Montclair, N.J.
Wilkes-Barre.
Bloomsburg.
Lincoln. Nebr.
Catawissa.
Centralia.
Bloomsburg.
Bloomsburg.
New York,
Bloomsburg.
Berwick.
Bloomsburg.
Wilkes-Barre.
Bloomsburg.
Bloomsburg.
Catawissa.
Bloomsburg.
Bloomsburg.
Bloomsburg.
Orangeville.
Berwick.
Sunbury.
Bloomsburg.
Catawissa,
Berwick,
Berwick,
deceased.
deceased.
deceased.
deceased.
deceased.
deceased.
deceased.
not practicing.
deceased.
deceased.
practicing.
deceased.
deceased.
deceased.
deceased.
left the county.
deceased.
deceased.
deceased.
left the county.
left the county.
left the county.
deceased.
left the county.
deceased.
practicing.
deceased.
deceased.
deceased.
deceased,
deceased.
deceased.
not practicing.
deceased.
deceased.
deceased.
practicing.
deceased.
not practicing.
deceased.
practicing.
deceased.
deceased.
practicing,
practicing.
practicing.
deceased.
not practicing.
deceased.
deceased,
deceased,
practicing.
not practicing.
left the county.
deceased.
deceased.
practicing.
practicing.
deceased.
deceased.
deceased.
practicing.
practicing.
deceased.
practicing.
James M. Fritz,
William Leverett,
A. M. Freas.
James A. Rohrbach,
William D. Beckley,
E. H. Guie,
J. Simpson Kline,
H. A. McKillip,
Fred Ikeler,
Thomas B. Hanley,
James L. Evans,
Charles H. Weaver,
John R. Sharpless,
R. Rush Zarr,
Wilson A. Everet,
John G. Harman,
George M. Tustin,
Charles H. Bates,
Christian A. Small,
Frank Ikeler,
Edward J. Flynn,
Ralph R. John,
G. M. Quick,
H. J. Patterson,
B. F. McHenry,
D. Sylvester Pensyl,
Albert W. Duy,
Clemuel R. Weiss,
Harry M. Hamlin,
C. J. Fisher.
Wm. C. Johnston,
Clyde C. Yetter.
Clinton Herring,
J. Alexis Guie,
Harry R. Stees,
Harry M. Persing.
C. H. Marks,
C. E. Kreisher.
R. O. Brockway,
J. G. Jayne,
L. C. Mensch,
Boyd F. Maize,
H. Mont Smith.
William E. Elmes.
Alex. C. Jackson,
Charles S. Kline,
A. J. Robbins,
Warren S. Sharpless,
Neil Chrisman,
John A. Moran,
Conway W. Dickson.
Clark Dickson.
G. W. Moon,
Wilkes-Barre,
Philadelphia,
Wilkes-Barre.
Bloomsburg,
Bloomsburg,
Seattle, Wash.,
Sunbury,
Bloomsburg,
Bloomsburg,
New Y'k City.
Berwick,
Hazleton,
Kingston,
Bloomsburg,
Bloomsburg,
Bloomsburg,
Bloomsburg,
Bloomsburg,
Centralia,
Bloomsburg,
Bloomsburg,
Williamsport,
Bloomsburg,
Bloomsburg,
Bloomsburg,
Catawissa,
Bloomsburg,
Bloomsburg,
Bloomsburg,
Seattle, Wash.,
Bloomsburg,
Shickshinny,
Catawissa,
Berwick.
Berwick.
Catawissa,
Bloomsburg,
Bloomsburg,
Berwick,
Berwick.
Catawissa,
Wilkes-Barre.
Berwick,
Wilkes-Barre,
Centralia.
Berwick.
Berwick,
Bloomsburg,
practicmg.
not practicing.
left the county.
not practicing.
practicing.
practicing.
practicing.
practicing.
practicing.
left the county.
practicing.
not practicing.
left the county.
practicing.
practicing.
left the county.
practicing.
not practicing.
practicing.
practicing.
left the county.
practicing.
left the .county.
left the county.
practicing.
left the county.
practicing,
practicing,
practicing,
practicing,
practicing,
practicing,
not practicing.
practicing.
practicing.
practicing.
practicing.
not practicing.
practicing.
practicing.
practicing.
practicing.
practicing,
practicing,
practicing,
practicing,
practicing,
practicing.
TRIAL OF THE "mOLLIE MAGUIRES"
The most important criminal case which
ever came up before the courts of Cohtmbia
county was the trial of the "MolHe Maguires"
in 1869. This case was the beginning of a
series of incidents which became of almost
national fame, and finally resulted in a second
trial, in 1877, which closed the matter for all
time.
On Sunday, Oct. 18. 1868, the body of Alex-
ander W. Rea, agent for the Locust Mountain
Coal & Iron Company, of Centralia, was
found in the bushes on the road from Cen-
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
73
tralia to Mount Carmel, riddled with bullets.
On Nov. 17, 1868, John Duffy, Michael Prior
and Thomas Donohue were arrested for the
murder, and lodged in the Pottsville jail.
Later they were sent to Bloomsburg to await
trial. Suspicion also fastened upon Patrick
Hester, who had hastily decamped to Illinois,
and he later on returned to Bloomsburg and
surrendered. At the December session of
court a bill was found against Donohue, Duffy
and Prior, and at the February session, 1869,
a similar bill was returned against Hester.
The case was called by the district attorney
on Feb. 2, 1869, Judge Elwell presiding, and
separate trials granted the prisoners. The
Commonwealth was represented by District
Attorney E. R. Ikeler, Linn Bartholomew,
Robert F. Clark, Edward H. Baldy and M. M.
LaVelle. The prisoners were defended by
John W. Ryon, John G. Freeze, Myer Strouse,
S. P. Wolverton and W. A. Marr.
The theory of the prosecution was that,
Saturday being a general pay day in the coal
regions, a party of assassins concealed them-
selves at the point where the body was found
in the hope of securing the large sum of
money which Rea would carry. It was his
custom, however, to pay off the men on Fri-
day, a practice well known to all residents of
the vicinity. This caused the prosecution to
infer that the murder was committed by
some persons unfamiliar with the locality.
Donohue was tried and acquitted on Feb.
II, 1869; on the nth of May the case against
Hester was dismissed from lack of evidence,
and on the same date Duffy was tried and
acquitted. Prior also was tried and acquitted.
Seven years then passed and no further clews
to the murder were discovered.
Made bold by the release of the accused
miners, some laborers fn the hard coal regions
developed an organization for purposes of in-
timidation which soon absolutely controlled
the community and caused a complete reign
of terror over all of the southern part of
Columbia county and a great part of Schuyl-
kill and Carbon counties.
A common method of intimidating the
better class of coal miners was for a gang of
ten or more toughs to sweep through the min-
ing camps, forcing every man to join them,
the gradually increasing numbers overawing
any inclined to resist. On June 3, 1875, 0"^
thousand men stopped work at several mines
near Mahanoy City, and a similar band did
the same at Shenandoah. The same night a
breaker at Mount Carmel was burned, and a
few days later two contractors at the Oakdale
mine were shot.
Depredations became so common that every
passenger train passing through the affected
section had to be preceded by a locomotive
carrying an armed posse. Watchmen and
station agents were beaten, loaded cars put
upon the main line, switches misplaced, ware-
houses plundered, and bosses particularly
hated by the malcontents were served with
notices to leave, under pain of death. Such
threats were almost invariably executed.
The chief source of these atrocities was an
organization formed by the lawless element
and christened the "Mollie Maguires." They
terrorized the entire coal region from 1865 to
1875, had signs and passwords, and developed
such strength that not a man could be hired
unless he was approved by the society.
In exposing and suppressing this society the
president of the Philadelphia & Reading Coal
& Iron Company, Franklin B. Gowen, em-
ployed James McParlan, of the Pinkerton De-
tective Agency. McParlan posed as a miner,
joined the order, became one of the leaders,
and finally brought most of them to justice.
Nine of the "Mollies" were sentenced to death
in Schuylkill county, two in Carbon, and some
others were imprisoned for long terms.
At this time there was a man named Daniel
Kelly, an abandoned criminal, confined in the
Schuylkill county jail on the charge of larceny.
Suspicion having been directed against him as
having some knowledge of the murder of
Alexander W. Rea, he became frightened and
offered to turn State's evidence if allowed to
go free. Accordingly, on his testimony, Peter
McHugh and Patrick Tully were arrested in
the fall of 1876 as participants in the murder,
and Patrick Hester was again arrested as ac-
cessory before the fact. They were first
lodged in the Pottsville jail, but later brought
to Bloomsburg for trial.
On Feb. 7, 1877, the trial began, Messrs.
Hughes, Buckalew and District Attorney John
M. Clark appearing for the Commonwealth,
while Messrs. Ryon, Wolverton, Freeze,
Brockway, Mahan and George E. Elwell ap-
peared for the defense. All the accused
pleaded "not guilty" and were arraigned to-
gether. Daniel Kelly, pardoned by the gov-
ernor, was made the chief witness against
them. The trial lasted three weeks, when the
jury brought in a verdict of guilty, and the
prisoners were sentenced to hang. New trials
were refused them and the governor and
board of pardons would not interfere, so on
Aug. 9, 1877, Tully, McHugh and Hester
74
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
were executed upon a gallows at Bloomsburg,
borrowed from the authorities of Carbon
county. Two weeks before the execution
Tully confessed to Attorney Elwell that he
was guilty and corroborated the evidence of
Kelly. Hester and McHugh did not confess
their guilt in a public manner, although they
had the ministrations of a priest on the morn-
ing of their death. What they told the father
confessor is not known, as the secrets of the
confessional are kept inviolate by the Roman
Catholic Church, but the priest saw Tully's
confession and approved of its publication.
The informer, Kelly, was subsequently
made a witness in a similar trial at Wilkes-
Barre, where he confessed to an appaUing
series of crimes. His evidence was there
given without stipulated immunity, but as his
punishment would have prevented the bring-
ing of others to justice through similar con-
fessions of witnesses, he was allowed to go
free. He left this section, and what subse-
quently became of him is not known.
CHAPTER VIII
THE MEDICAL PROFESSION OF COLUMBIA COUNTY
(By Luther B. Kline, M. D., Catawissa, Pa.)
The noble profession of medicine has had
many representatives in the past who have left
their impress upon the history of Columbia
county. Doctors have always been the inti-
mate counselors and true friends of the peo-
ple, and in this county there are many who
have a warm spot in their hearts when the
family physician is discussed. To the pioneers
of this section of Pennsylvania the old-time
country doctor was one of the welcome visitors
at their isolated homes. In those days the
practice of medicine required good horseman-
ship, rugged health and all the courage and
endurance that the physician could command,
for the roads were often mere muddy trails,
the homes far apart, and the dangers of the
forests and morasses were added to by the
terrors of wild beasts and still more ferocious
savages.
All of the earlier physicians were obliged to
keep at least three good horses on hand at all
times, for often when the doctor had ridden
home from a twenty-mile trip he would have to
retrace his tracks without sufficient time to
make a change of garments. And besides the
hardships of the constant and long rides, the
old physicians were expected to wait for their
pay for an indefinite time. In the days of lack
of currency and trading there was some excuse
for this, but at the present time the physician
is still a waiter, and usually a good one. Most
everyone gets his money before the doctor is
paid, yet there is seldom a complaint from the
long-sufifering medico.
The first doctor who came to Columbia
county is supposed to have been Dr. E. B.
Bacon, who hailed from Connecticut, by way
of Kingston. At that time his practice ex-
tended from Catawissa to the headwaters of
Fishing creek. He removed to Wellsboro in
1817 and engaged in farming.
Drs. Townsend and Krider were the next
arrivals, and they located in Bloomsburg. The
former remained but a short time, but the lat-
ter practiced in the town until his death.
About 1818 Dr. Roe came, and divided his time
between healing and teaching school. He then
removed up Fishing creek and went to farming.
Dr. Ebenezer Daniels came to Catawissa
about 1822, and was followed the next year
by Dr. Harmon Gearhart, whom he highly
recommended to the people of the town. Dr.
Daniels sold his practice in 1834 to Dr. John
Ramsay, and removed to Indianapolis. Dr.
Gearhart died in 1833.
Dr. Ramsay removed to Bloomsburg and
took a leading part in the affairs of the town.
He was especially active in the paths of educa-
tion. He died suddenly in 1863.
Dr. William Petrikin came to Bloomsburg in
1834. He was a son of the famous Dr. David
Petrikin, of Danville, and had all of his fa-
ther's energy and brilliancy, but death carried
him off in 1842.
Dr. David N. Scott came to Bloomsburg in
1842 and resided in the part of town nick-
named "Scottown" from the fact that the
Doctor laid it out into lots, and built the first
house there. He removed to Kansas some
years later.
Dr. Thomas Vastine came to Bloomsburg in
1833, but soon left for Williamsport. Later
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
75
he located permanently in St. Louis. Dr. Ed-
ward Hawkins also came to the town for a
short time and then went to Michigan, after
1848. Drs. George Hill and Thomas Butler
were residents of Bloomsburg for a few years
after 1846, the former going to Muncy.
Dr. J. B. McKelvey came to Bloomsburg in
1851. He had previously located at Mifflin-
ville, in 1849, from there going to Graysville,
Ky., and Arkadelphia, Ark. He continued to
reside in Bloomsburg until his death. During
1914, while some workmen were excavating in
the alley beside his house on Main street, they
uncovered some human bones, which had prob-
ably been buried there after use in demonstra-
tion work. For a few hours all sorts of rumors
were current, until the true explanation was
found. The Doctor had a wide circle of
friends, and his death was a matter of regret
to all.
Mifflinville had few doctors at any period of
its history. One of the first was Dr. F. C.
Harrison, who located there in 1855. He
afterwards went to Lewisburg and became a
banker, a much more profitable occupation.
After his departure Dr. Wells, of Wilkes-
Barre, located there for a short time.
In 1855 Dr. William H. Bradley came to
Bloomsburg to practice, but soon after began to
edit a weekly paper. In 1868 Dr. William M.
Reber arrived in Bloomsburg. He had been a
surgeon in the navy and was a man of much
ability.
In 1874 Dr. Benjamin F. Gardner came to
Bloomsburg from Tennessee. He had been a
surgeon of high rank in the Confederate serv-
ice, and his change of location proved a wise
one. He found more opportunities and
speedier payment for his services in the North
than in the impoverished South. He is still
living, and is much respected by all the towns-
people.
Dr. Hugh McReynolds, another of the older
physicians, came to Bloomsburg from Buck-
horn, where he had practiced for some years
previous to 1872.
COLUMBIA COUNTY MEDICAL SOCIETY
This society had its origin in 1858. On
July 31st of that year a number of physicians
of Columbia and Montour counties formed an
organization for mutual protection and inter-
change of experiences. Dr. John Ramsay pre-
sided. In the following month it was decided
to become auxiliary to the State society, and
to invite the members of the profession in
Northumberland county to unite with them.
The name was changed to Susquehanna Union
Medical Society in 1859, but in 1864 it was
changed to Columbia and Montour Medical
Society. Still later the name was restored
to its first form.
By the act of June 18, 1881, all members of
the profession were required to register with
the State authorities. All who had been in
practice from 187 1 were permitted to continue,
even if not graduates of a medical school.
Others must produce certificates of graduation
to continue in the profession.
The years following organization were in-
teresting ones for the members of the society.
Many papers were read at the meetings and
much done to elevate the standards of the pro-
fession. So pleasant were the relations be-
tween the members from the two counties that
no thought of separation was held until June
16, 1874. Then the members from Montour
county, having quietly nominated only Co-
lumbia county men for all the offices and suc-
ceeded in getting them elected, stated their
intention of organizing the Montour County
Medical Society. The separation took place
without a particle of friction, and the two
societies still interchange ideas and visits.
At present the Columbia county society
meets in rotation at Berwick, Bloomsburg and
Catawissa the second Thursday of every
month, except in July, when the meeting is
held at Benton. A paper called "The Roster"
is issued monthly, edited by Dr. Luther B.
Kline, of Catawissa, and contains reviews of
the past work, programs of the future, and
articles of special interest to the members. It
has a circulation of 125 copies. The meetings
are well attended and are taken up with dis-
cussions of matters of value to the medical
profession. The society has forty-four active
members and one honorary member. Dr. John
C. Rutter.
The officers and committees for 1914 are:
President, Dr. Joseph Cohen, Berwick; first
vice president, Dr. Benjamin F. Gardner,
Bloomsburg; second vice president, Dr. John
M. Gemmell, Millville ; secretary and treasurer,
Dr. Luther B. Kline, Catawissa; librarians —
Dr. John W. Bruner and Dr. James R. Mont-
gomery, Bloomsburg. Censors — Dr. J. Elmer
Shuman, Bloomsburg; Dr. John H. Bowman,
Berwick ; Dr. Charles K. Albertson, Fairmount
Springs. Committee on Public Policy and
Legislation — Dr. B. Frank Sharpless, Cata-
wissa; Dr. John W. Bruner, Bloomsburg; Dr.
Charles T. Steck, Berwick. Scientific Pro-
gram — Dr. J. Brooks Follmer, Berwick; Dr.
William C. Hensyl, Berwick; Dr. Edwin A.
Glenn, Berwick.
76
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
REGISTERED PHYSICIANS PRACTICING IN COLUMBIA COUNTY SINCE ACT OF 1881 BECAME A LAW
Institution
Jefferson Medical College
University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania Medical College
Homeopathic Medical
Jefferson Medical College
Medical College of Virginia
Jefferson Medical College
Jefferson Medical College
Bellevue Hospital Medical College
Long Island Hospital
University of Vermont
Jefferson Medical College
Hahnemann Medical College
Jefferson Medical College
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia College
Philadelphia University
University of Pennsylvania
Jefferson Medical College
Eclectic Medical College
Jefferson Medical College
Jefferson Medical College
Jefferson Medical College
University of Pennsylvania
Eclectic Medical College
University of Pennsylvania
Jefferson Medical College
Jefferson Medical College
Jefferson Medical College
Jefferson Medical College
Jefferson Medical College
Pennsylvania Medical College
Jefferson Medical College
Hahnemann Medical College
Jefferson Medical College
University of Pennsylvania
Jefferson Medical College
Castleton Medical, Vermont
Jefferson Medical College
Jefferson Medical College
University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania
Medico-Chirurgical
Physicians and Surgeons, Baltimore
Physicians and Surgeons, Baltimore
Medico-Chirurgical
Medico-Chirurgical
Medico-Chirurgical
Jefferson Medical College
Hahnemann Medical College
Jefferson Medical College
University of Baltimore
Medico-Chirurgical
Jefferson Medical College
Physicians and Surgeons, Baltimore
University of Pennsylvania
Jefferson Medical College
Name
Residence
Diploma
♦John K. Robbins
Catawissa
March lo,
1842
*J. B. McKelvey
Bloomsburg
April 8,
1848
*H. W. McReynolds
Bloomsburg
April 8,
1848
♦Jacob Schuyler
Bloomsburg
March 7,
1843
John C. Rutter
Bloomsburg
March 3,
1855
♦William M. Reber
Bloomsburg
March 10,
1863
B. F. Gardner
Bloomsburg
March 11,
1861
Isaiah W. Willits
Bloomsburg
March 11,
1875
Luther B. Kline
Catawissa
March 9,
1867
♦Thomas J. Swisher
Jerseytown
March 10,
1862
Alexander B. McCrea
Berwick
June I,
i86s
♦George L. Reagan
Berwick
June,
1865
tF. W. Redeker
Espy
March 12,
1878
Alfred P. Stoddard
Orangeville
March 12,
1850
J. Jordan Brown
Bloomsburg
March 12,
1870
♦Thomas C. McHenry
Benton
March 30,
1870
tRalph M. Lashell
Centralia
♦D. H. Montgomery
Mifflinville
March 10,
1852
♦John B. Patton
MiUville
Feb. 23,
1869
♦Josiah Smith
Berwick
April I,
I8S4
J. R. Montgomery
Bloomsburg
March 13,
1880
♦Abia P. Heller
MillviUe
Feb. 22,
1854
♦Pius Zimmerman
Numidia
April 2,
1883
♦J. H. Vastine
Catawissa
March,
1858
♦Charles C. Willits
Catawissa
March 30,
1882
tjohn W. Carothers
Berwick
April 13,
1883
♦L. A. Shattuck
Bloomsburg
May 6,
1869
Charles T. Steck
Berwick
March 28,
1878
♦John G. Schaller
Rohrsburg
♦Samuel A. Gibson
Berwick
George L. Jolly
Orangeville
March i,
1883
J. C. Wintersteen
Numidia
April 2,
1886
N. J. Hendershott
Bloomsburg
Isaac L. Edwards
Benton
March 11,
1870
Isaac E. Patterson
Benton
March 12,
1869
♦William B. Robbins
Catawissa
March 12,
1873
David E. Krebs
Light Street
March 3,
i8S7
♦Frank P. Hill
Berwick
March 14,
1876
tEverett W. Rutter
Berwick
March 6,
1874
J. R. Gordner
Berwick
B. F. Sharpless
Catawissa
March 23,
1880
tChristian Leuker
Buckhorn
March 12,
1877
♦J.'R. M. Evans
Bloomsburg
March 5,
1859
♦0. A. Megargell
Orangeville
June 15,
1859
♦Louis J. Adams
Evansville
March 10,
1877
♦John C. Fruit
Jerseytown
March 7,
i8S7
Honora A. Robbins
Bloomsburg
Ambrose Shuman
Catawissa
June 7,
1894
John H. Bowman
Berwick
May I,
1888
Ralph E. Miller
Bloomsburg
June 15,
1904
C. F. Altmiller
Bloomsburg
May 25,
1901
Delbert M. Hess
Rohrsburg
April 29,
1902
J. B. Follmer
Berwick
March 4,
1884
John S. Hoffa
Benton
May 23,
1903
Allen V. Carl
Numidia
June 8,
1909
E. A. Alleman
Berwick
May,
1890
J. S. Lazarus
Bloomsburg
March,
1868
Frank R. Clark
Berwick
April 7,
1891
Jesse W. Gordner
Jerseytown
June,
1909
George F. Drum
Mifflinville
April 14,
1900
♦Irving C. Breece
Bloomsburg
Samuel B. Arment
Bloomsburg
March 10,
1877
Howard S. Christian
Millville
March 15,
1887
J. F. Pfahler
Berwick
J. Stacy John
Bloomsburg
June,
1896
L R. Wolfe
Espy
♦ Deceased.
t Removed.
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
77
REGISTERED PHYSICIANS PRACTICING
Name
tAndrew Graydon
tGeorge A. Poust
tRuth Tustin
Clifton Z. Robbins
tjohn Rhodes
tThomas C. Kutter
tj. K. Levan
tReuben O. Davis
*Montraville McHenry
tCarl H. Senn
tDavid A. Hart
■(■Frederick E. Ward
tjames C. Davis
tWalter C. Shew
*George H. Vastine
John T. MacDonald
Edward L. Davis
John M. Gemmell
Theodore C. iriarter
Edwin A. Glenn
Henry Bierman
tjacob A. Baer
Joseph Cohen
George E. Follmer
John VV. Bruner
Wilham T. Vanee
tH. V. Hower
J. E. Shuman
William C. Hensyl
tJ. F. Gardner
J. M. Vastine
Residence
Bloomsburg
Millville
Bloomsburg
Bloomsburg
Numidia
Berwick
Berwick
Berwick
Benton
Millville
Mainville
Berwick
Berwick
Jamison City
Catawissa
Bloomsburg
Berwick
Millville
Bloomsburg
Berwick
Bloomsburg
Berwick
Berwick
Orangeville
Bloomsburg
Orangeville
Mifflinville
Bloomsburg
Berwick
Millville
Catawissa
The following physicians are residents of
Columbia county, but are not members of the
local society, being either retired or connected
Lewis R. Davis Centralia
Howard C. Fortner Centralia
J. Bruce Hess Benton
Charles B. Yost Bloomsburg
IN COLUMBIA COUNTY SINCE ACT OF 1881 BECAME A LAW — Cotlt.
Diploma Institution
1902 Jefferson Medical College
1900 University of Pennsylvania
1906 University of New York
1890 Jefferson Medical College
1868 University of Vermont
1901 Medico-Chirurgical
igi3 Baltimore Medical College
1906 Medico-Chirurgical
1909 Jefferson Medical College
1906 Jefferson Medical College
1891 University of Pennsylvania
1910 Medico-Chirurgical
1899 University of Pennsylvania
1906 Maryland Medical College
1881 College of Physicians and Surgeons
1904 Hahnemann Medical College
1888 Hahnemann Medical College
1901 College of Physicians and Surgeons
1906 University of Pennsylvania
1907 Jefferson Medical College
1890 Jefferson Medical College
1881 University of Maryland
1887 College of Physicians and Surgeons
1891 University of Pennsylvania
1904 Jefferson Medical College
1900 Medico-Chirurgical
with other societies (Dr. Everett is a member
of the Lycoming county society) :
Edward Everett Millville
Honora C. Grimes Bloomsburg
George L. Jolly Orangeville
Thomas Kealy Centralia
May
29,
June
15,
June,
May,
March
May
28,
May
12,
June
I,
June
7.
June
I,
June,
June
6.
June,
June,
May,
April
6,
April
29.
June,
June
4.
April,
March
4.
March
1'=;,
May
I,
May
27,
June,
CHAPTER IX
WAR RECORDS OF THE COUNTIES
The border troubles kept the military spirit
of the pioneers of Columbia and Montour
counties alive until the second war with Eng-
land. Then followed the Black Hawk war,
the Seminole war, the Mexican war, and lastly
the Civil war. In these conflicts the two coun-
ties took part to the extent of furnishing men
and munitions of war, principally during the
Civil war. During the period between that
memorable conflict and the Indian times sev-
eral companies were organized in Danville,
Bloomsburg and Berwick, mention of which
is made in the chapters devoted to those
towns.
During the war of 1812 the scene of hos-
tilities was too far away to affect this sec-
tion directly. When the British threatened to
attack Baltimore, Governor Snyder ordered
the militia of Northumberland, Luzerne and
Columbia counties to rendezvous at Danville,
under Major Post. For a few weeks they re-
mained in camp, but the battle of New Orleans
and the termination of the war caused the
camp to be abandoned.
The requirements of the militia system were
at this time so simple that the military spirit
of the county became quiescent until the out-
break of the Mexican war caused its sudden
revival.
78
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
COLUMBIA GUARDS
This military company, belonging especially
to Danville, but famous all over Columbia
county by its service in two wars, was organ-
ized at Danville in 1817. At the breaking out
of the Mexican war it was under the com-
mand of Capt. John S. Wilson, and its offer
of assistance being accepted was mustered
into the United States service Dec. 28, 1846.
A number of citizens of the county escorted
the Guards as far as Pittsburgh, on their way
to the seat of war, and all along the journey
they met with a continuous ovation. They
were placed in the 2d Regiment, Pennsyl-
vania Volunteers, then commanded by Colo-
nel Wyncoop, and later under Colonel Geary,
afterwards governor of Pennsylvania.
Captain Wilson died at Vera Cruz on April
10, 1847, and the command devolved upon
Dr. C. H. Frick, who gallantly led the Guards
during the campaign. Their first engagement
was at the storming of \ era Cruz, and the
second at Cerro Gordo, where they lost one
man, John Smith. At the battle of Chapul-
tepec they lost two men, William Dietrich
and John Snyder. On approaching the City
of Mexico, the defense of San Angelo, with
all of the militarj' stores, was committed to
the Guards, and on the 13th of September,
1847, they were among the first to enter the
City of Mexico in triumph.
The Guards returned to Danville on July
28, 1849, and the whole town turned out to
welcome them. Hundreds of persons from
all over the county thronged the streets, and
such a demonstration as was then made has
never been seen in Danville before or since.
The Guards kept their organization until
the opening of the Civil war, when they
entered the service under Capt. Oscar Ephlin.
On the expiration of their term they were
honorably discharged, and the company then
disbanded.
The following is the muster roll of the
Guards soon after their organization (see
Chapter IV, IMontour county, for list of those
in Mexican war).
John S. Wilson, captain ; Clarence H. Frick,
first lieutenant: Edward E. LaClerc, second
lieutenant; William Brindle, second heuten-
ant; George S. Kline, first sergeant; James D.
Slater, second sergeant; Robert Clark, third
sergeant; Charles Evans, fourth sergeant;
John Adams, first corporal ; James Oliver, sec-
ond corporal; John Smith, third corporal;
Arthur Gearhart, fourth corporal ; Thomas
Clark, drummer; Jesse G. Clark, fifer.
The private soldiers were : Charles W.
Adams, Alvin M. Allen, Jacob App, George
W. Armstrong, Frederick Brandt, Samuel
Bums, Flam B. Bonham, William Banghart,
John Birkenbine, Samuel D. Baker, Francis
Bower, Francis B. Best, William Brunner,
William H. Birchfield, Randolph Ball, Peter
Brobst, Abram B. Carley, Michael Corrigan,
Wm. Dieterich (Dietrich), Wm. Erie, Daniel
S. Follmer, Charles W. Fortner, Robert H.
Forster, Sewell Gibbs, Edward Grove, George
Garner, Thomas Graham, Shepherd W. Girton,
Samuel Huntingdon, Adam Heisler, Henry
Hemcastle, Oliver Helme, William S. Kertz,
William King, Jerome Konkle, Charles Lytle,
Ira Lownsberry, Robert Lyon, John A. Low-
ery, Benjamin Laform, Benjamin J. Martin,
Jasper Musselman, Edward McGonnel, George
?^Iiller, William Moser, Archibald Mooney,
Mahlon K. Manly, John G. Mellon, Alex.
McDonald, Daniel Martial, Richard H. Mc-
Kean, Charles Moynthan, Robert McAlmont,
Hugh AIcFadden, James AlcClelland, Nor-
man B. Mack, William McDonald, Casper
Oatenwelder, Daniel Poorman, Peter S. Reed,
Philip Rake, James A. Stewart, Peter M.
Space, Jona R. Sanders, Oliver C. Stevens,
Daniel Snyder, Edward Seler, Peter Seig-
fried, John C. Snyder, John N. Scofield. Wil-
liam Swartz, Joseph Stratton, William W.
Sawaney, John A. Sarvey, Benjamin Tumble-
ton, Adam Wray, William White, George
Wagner, Jacob Willet, Jerome Walker, George
Wingar, Peter W. Yamell.
CIVIL WAR
Abraham Lincoln was inaugurated Presi-
dent of the United States Alarch 4, 1861. Fort
Sumter was fired on April 12th, and on the
15th of that month the President called on
the loyal States for 75,000 men. Calls and
orders were subsequently issued, under dates
of May 3d, July 22d and July 25th, for an
aggregate of 500,000 men. On the 2d of
July, 1862, there was another call for 500,-
000 men. and on the 4th of August one for
300,000.
On Sept. 5, 1862, the Confederates invaded
Maryland, and a levy en masse was called in
Pennsylvania. On Sept. 15th a large number
of "emergency men" left Bloomsburg, and on
the 17th the battle of Antietam was fought.
On the 1 8th the Confederates evacuated
Sharpsburg and recrossed the Potomac, and
on the 22d more "emergency men" left
Bloomsburg.
On June 15, 1863, a proclamation was made
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
79
for the militia. On Oct. 15th there was a
call for 300,000 men, and on Feb. i, 1864, the
President ordered a draft for 500,000 to be
made on the loth of March. On the 14th
there was a call for 200,000 more, on the
1 8th of July one for 500,000, and on the igth
of December one for 300,000. Besides these
there were a lot of "ninety-day militia" and
other irregular musters. These various calls
were filled by enlistments, volunteering and
drafts.
There were four drafts made in Columbia
and Montour counties — one by the State
authorities for the militia; one Sept. 17, 1863,
to fill previous calls; one on June 3, 1864; and
one on April 14, 1865. Lee having surrendered
April 9th, the men liable for service under the
last were released. The last battle of the war
was fought May 12, 1865, and the surrender
of the last of the Confederates, under Kirby
Smith, occurred on May 26th of the same
year.
During the war there were for Pennsyl-
vania two great emergencies, the first in Sep-
tember, 1862, relieved by McClellan's victory
at Antietam. At that time Governor Curtin
called for 50,000 men, and Columbia county
responded by sending four companies, and
Montour sent two. The second emergency
was in June, 1863, when the President called
for 100,000 men. Of the number required,
Columbia county sent five companies, and
Montour two.
The first company in Columbia county to en-
list for the Civil war was the "Iron Guards,"
under Col. W. W. Ricketts, from Orangeville,
and the first man to enlist from the county
was C. B. Brockway. Ricketts was a West
Point cadet, and he soon had his company
completed. He ofl:'ered it to the government,
but was rejected. Not daunted, the members
chartered canalboats and went to Harrisburg,
where they were finally accepted.
THE DRAFTS
At the beginning of the Civil war the mi-
litia of Pennsylvania existed practically only
on paper. There was a form of military
organization, and a tax was levied on each
voter liable to duty save those in volunteer
companies, but there were few companies in
a complete state of organization.
In 1862 an enrollment was ordered, and
the number subject to military duty in Colum-
bia county was found to be 4,587 ; the quota,
under all calls, was 1,447 ; the number in serv-
ice, 626; leaving a balance of 821 men to be
supplied by draft or otherwise. The draft
was ordered by the State to fill the ranks.
The townships of Catawissa and Pine, and
the borough of Berwick, filled their quota
with volunteers, but in the other divisions of
the county a total of 696 men were drawn.
Bloom supplied 45; Briarcreek, 49; Beaver,
40; Benton, 27; Conyngham, 60; Centre, 54;
Fishingcreek, 50 ; Franklin, 5 ; Greenwood, 45 ;
Hemlock, 25; Jackson, 19; Locust, 40; Mon-
tour, 24; Main, 18; Mount Pleasant, 27; Mif-
flin, 46; Madison, 48; Orange, 9; Scott, 36;
Sugarloaf, 29.
No opposition was manifested to this draft,
in fact it had the effect of stimulating enlist-
ments in the national service. The later drafts
on the part of the national government, how-
ever, were not received with equal unconcern.
The first was drawn at Troy, Pa., Sept. 17,
1863, and called for 634 men from Columbia
county. There was considerable opposition,
particularly in Fishingcreek, Benton, Sugar-
loaf, Jackson and Pine townships, and the
neighboring portions of Luzerne and Sullivan
counties. A series of semi-public meetings
was held in the disafifected sections for the
purpose of discussing the situation, at which
the usual windy oratory prevailed, but no
definite plans were made to meet the ques-
tion at hand. Some advocated resistance to
the draft, others suggested the hiring of sub-
stitutes, but all finally acted on their own sug-
gestions, individually. There were a number
who refused to report for duty, and, as is cus-
tomary in wartime, they were declared to be
deserters by the military authorities. This
angered the people greatly and many wild
threats were made by individuals, who after-
wards regretted their sudden ebullition of tem-
per. The culmination of the trouble came
when, in August, 1864, Lieutenant Robinson
of Luzerne county was shot and fatally
wounded by a party of citizens whom he had
challenged on the road near Raven Creek
post office. It has since been established that
Robinson had no official authority to appre-
hend deserters.
In the same month a detachment of United
States troops arrived in Bloomsburg and
camped at the Fair Grounds, ostensibly for
the purpose of enforcing the draft. This
force was increased later until it included
almost a thousand men, a company under Colo-
nel Lambert, part of the Keystone Battery
from Philadelphia, under Lieutenant Roberts,
a battalion of infantry under Lieutenant Colo-
nel Stewart, and a battalion of the Veteran
Reser^-e Corps. On Aug. i6th Major Gen-
80
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
eral Couch, commanding the Department of
the Susquehanna, arrived and conferred with
leading citizens. He was assured of the non-
resistant character of the inhabitants of the
affected townships, so he offered to remit the
charge of desertion if the drafted men would
report themselves before noon of the follow-
ing Saturday. He returned to Harrisburg be-
fore the time set, and the recalcitrants not hav-
ing reported Colonel Stewart proceeded with
a body of troops to Benton on Aug. iSth. On
the 28th Major General Cadwallader arrived
in Bloomsburg from Philadelphia, assumed
command, and followed the first troop to Ben-
ton. On the 31st about a hundred arrests
were made and the prisoners brought to Ben-
ton, where a preliminary examination was
made. Of the number, forty-four were dis-
patched under guard to Harrisburg. The sur-
rounding country was explored for alleged
"forts" and other evidences of resistance, but
none was found. General Cadwallader re-
turned to Philadelphia and the larger number
of the troops were withdrawn, but some re-
mained and arrests were made from time to
time. The aggrieved parties and their friends
took legal steps to release the prisoners and
to test the legality of the arrests. On Oct. 17,
1864, twenty-one of the prisoners were granted
conditional release. Of these five had been
previously discharged owing to illness and one
had died in prison. On the same date the
trials of the remaining twenty-three were be-
gun before a military commission at Harris-
burg. Seven were convicted and sentenced
to terms ranging from six months to two
years. One prisoner paid a fine of $500, one
was pardoned by President Lincoln and five
by President Johnson, several were acquitted,
and the charge against the rest was later with-
drawn.
Among the citizens of Columbia county even
at this late day there are conflicting opinions
regarding these troubles, their origin and the
results of the trials. One side claims that
there was an organized and armed opposition
to the drafts, that threats were made against
the authorities, that peaceable citizens were
threatened by violent sympathizers, and that
the military occupation was necessary to re-
store order and safety. The other side claims
that dishonest enrollment was made, that there
was no organized resistance, that no threats
were made, military interference was unnec-
essary, that the soldiers were guilty of many
outrages, that many innocent men were im-
prisoned without warrant of law, and that the
main object was to intimidate Democratic
voters in the presidential election of 1864.
These are matters that will in time work
out to a definite series of facts of history, and
the trouble will be looked upon with the same
lenience with which the old veterans of the
Civil war now view the deplorable conflict in
which they participated.
COMPANIES AND REGIMENTS
Notwithstanding the draft troubles, Colum-
bia county was well represented at the front
of battle in the war. One of the first com-
panies to see service was the "Iron Guards,"
mentioned previously. As members of the
35th Regiment, 6th Reserves, they were mus-
tered in July 27, 1861, participated in many
battles and skirmishes all through the war,
and were finally mustered out June 11, 1864,
at Harrisburg.
The 178th Regiment, drafted militia, was re-
cruited in Columbia, Montour, Lancaster and
Luzerne counties. Companies A, H and I
were from Columbia county, and F and G
mostly from Montour county. They were
mustered in Oct. 30, 1862, and mustered out
July 27, 1863, at Harrisburg. They were in
several skirmishes, but no important actions.
Company H, i ith Regiment, was from Mon-
tour county and served for three months, be-
ing in the engagement at Falling Waters, Md.,
against the redoubtable "Stonewall" Jack-
son.
Company C, 14th Regiment, was also from
Montour county, but did not see much service,
being on guard duty near Washington. On
the termination of the three months' service
many reenlisted in other regiments.
Company C, i6th Regiment, from Berwick,
was mustered in April 30, 1861, for three
months' service, and saw much fighting in
Virginia. Many of the company re-enlisted
after their first term ended.
Company C, 193d Regiment, was from Mon-
tour county, was mustered in July 17, 1864,
and mustered out Nov. 5, 1864. They served
as guards along the Baltimore & Ohio railroad
and on scout duty, but were never in any bat-
tles or skirmishes.
Company A, I32d Regiment, from Montour
county, was mustered in Aug. 15, 1862. It
had a first-class war record, being in the bat-
tles of South Mountain, Antietam, Fredericks-
burg and Chancellorsville, and was mustered
out May 24, 1863. Clinton W. Neal, of
Bloomsburg, was quartermaster of the regi-
ment. Company E of this regiment was com-
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
81
posed of the "Columbia Guards," recruited in
Bloomsburg. Company H, mustered in at
the same date, was the "Catawissa Guards,"
recruited entirely from that town.
Company I, 136th Regiment, was from Co-
lumbia county and first formed part of the
defense of Washington. Later it went through
a number of engagements, the regiment at the
battle of Fredericksburg losing 140 men. It
was mustered out May 29, 1863, at Harris-
burg.
Company A, 74th Regiment, was recruited
mostly in Columbia county, for one year's
service, in March, 1865, did guard duty along
the Baltimore & Ohio railroad, and was mus-
tered out at Clarksburg, Va., Aug. 29, 1865.
Company B, 103d Regiment, coming mostly
from Bloomsburg, was mustered into service
in the early part of 1865, and mustered out at
Newbem, N. C, June 25, 1865, after a few
skirmishes and lots of guard duty.
Company E, 209th Regiment, was recruited
in Columbia county in 1864 and sent to the
front at once, but saw little fighting except at
Forts Steadman and Sedgwick, which latter
they captured. After railroad work and scout-
ing they were mustered out May 31, 1865, at
Alexandria, Virginia.
Company E, 35th Regiment, 6th Reserves,
was recruited in Montour county. May 14,
1861, and saw service at South Mountain,
Fredericksburg, Gettysburg and Spottsylvania
Court House. They were mustered out June
II, 1864, with an unstained military record.
Battery F, ist Artillery, 43d Regiment, was
recruited in Columbia and Montour counties
in 1 86 1 and participated in the engagements
at Winchester, Bull Run, Chantilly, Antietam,
Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg,
Bristoe Station, Mine Run, Wilderness, Spott-
sylvania, Cold Harbor and Petersburg. It
remained in service till the close of the war.
Company G, 52d Regiment, was recruited
in Columbia county in 1861, being among the
first in the field and the last out. They saw
service in the advance on Richmond, in the
battles of Fair Oaks and Mechanicsville, the
assault on Port Royal, S. C, the attacks on
Forts Johnson and Sumter, and were at Ral-
eigh when Johnston surrendered. They were
mustered out at Harrisburg July 12, 1865.
Company D, 84th Regiment, also known as
the "Hurley Guards," was recruited in Co-
lumbia and Montour counties, a few men be-
ing later received from other points. They
reached Hancock, Md., Jan. 2, 1862, and were
in the battles of Winchester and Port Re-
public. They were also in the battles of Fred-
ericksburg and Chancellorsville, and the cam-
paign in the Wilderness, down to Petersburg.
In 1862 they were mustered out, but many of
them entered the 57th Regiment, Pennsylvania
Volunteers, serving until June 29, 1865. Sam-
uel M. Bowman of Columbia county was colo-
nel of the 84th Regiment.
Company H, 93d Regiment, was composed
of the "Baldy Guards," recruited in Dan-
ville and named from one of the town's prom-
inent citizens. It saw much and arduous serv-
ice, many of its members being killed and
wounded. They were in the following en-
gagements : Yorktown, Williamsburg, Fair
Oaks, Malvern Hill, Fredericksburg, Marye's
Heights, Salem Heights, Gettysburg, Wilder-
ness, Spottsylvania, Cold Harbor, Petersburg,
Opequan, Fisher's Hill and Cedar Creek. On
Jan. 25, 1865, they were mustered out. Col.
Charles W. Eckman, of Montour county, rose
to the command of the regiment.
Company B, 184th Regiment, was recruited
in Montour county and joined the Army of the
Potomac as it crossed the Pamunky river. May
28, 1864. The next day they were in the bat-
tle of Tolopotomy creek. At the battle of
Cold Harbor they lost heavily, and in constant
service in the assaults lost 350 men in twenty-
six days. They were continuously in battles
and skirmishes until the surrender at Appo-
mattox Court House, and then participated in
the grand review at Washington.
Company C, 187th Regiment, was formerly
Company D, 1st Battalion, organized for six
months' service and mustered out Jan. 9, 1864.
Upon reenlistment they went to Cold Harbor,
arriving there during the battle. Later they
were in all the heavy fighting before Peters-
burg. They headed the procession^ at the
burial of Lincoln, and were mustered out Aug.
2, 1865, at Harrisburg.
Battery F, 2d Artillery, 112th Regiment,
was recruited in Columbia and Montour coun-
ties. They garrisoned Washington for some
time and" then participated in the battles of
the Wilderness, Cold Harbor and Petersburg,
losing heavily at the famous mine explosion.
At Fort Harrison they lost 200 killed and
wounded. They remained in Virginia after
the evacuation of Petersburg until the end of
the war, being discharged at Philadelphia.
Company A, 52d Regiment, Pennsylvania
Volunteers, contained many Columbia county
men. It was in the Peninsular campaign, the
movement against Richmond, the taking of
Charleston, and its flag was the first that
floated over recaptured Fort Sumter. A num-
82
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
ber of Columbia county men were also in Com-
pany H of this regiment.
The 7th Cavalry, 80th Regiment, contained
a number of men from both of these counties,
to be found on the rolls of Companies D and
H. They saw long and severe service under
Buell in Kentucky and Tennessee, being dis-
charged Aug. 23, 1865.
COLUMBIA county's WAR FOOTING
With the world at war in 1914, it is inter-
esting to read the report of the assessors of
that year to the adjutant general at Harris-
burg, showing the number of men in this
county, between the ages of twenty-one and
forty-five, subject to military duty. The total
is 4,572, and in addition there are many who
would volunteer in case of war, thus making
a very respectable showing. The number by
districts is as follows :
Beaver 81
Benton Borough 82
Benton Township 82
Berwick 525
Bloomsburg, East 375
Bloomsburg, West 354
Briarcreek 1 56
Catawissa Township 56
Catawissa Borough 225
Centraha, ist 167
Centralia, 2d 180
Centre 143
Cleveland 73
Conyngham 210
Fishingcreek 60
Franklin 62
Greenwood 136
Hemlock 144
Jackson 53
Locust 90
Madison 123
Main 80
Mifflin 120
Millville 59
Montour 79
Mount Pleasant 26
Orange Township 52
OrangeviUe Borough 23
Pine 74
Roaringcreek 57
Scott 45
Sugarloaf 102
Stillwater Borough 8
West Berwick, ist 146
West Berwick, 2d 325
CHAPTER X
COUNTY FORMATION
The three original counties laid out by the
immortal founder of Pennsylvania were Bucks,
Philadelphia and Chester. Though the Prov-
ince was divided in 1682 into the three men-
tioned counties, their boundaries were not
distinctly ascertained until several years there-
after.
In 1729 the extension of the settlements and
the purchases from the Indians led to the estab-
lishment of Lancaster county. At that time
the Susquehanna marked the western limit of
the Province, but the purchase of 1736 opened
a triangular area west of the river, which was
attached to Lancaster county until the increase
of settlements demanded the erection in 1749
of York county, and in the following year of
Cumberland. The Indian boundary line of
the Kittatinny range marked the northern lim-
it of these counties. In 1752 the counties of
Berks and Northampton further divided this
section.
In 1771 Bedford county was erected, and
in 1772 the county of Northumberland, from
the territory of which Columbia and Montour
counties have since been formed, came into
being. It included an area now covered by
twenty-six counties and originally extended to
the border line of New York. It was organ-
ized March 27, 1772, and took in all the valley
of the West Branch of the Susquehanna, and,
with a small exception, the whole of the north-
ern part of the State. It contained 28,922
square miles, a territory larger than Connecti-
cut, Delaware, Massachusetts and New Jersey
combined.
At the first court held in that county, on
April 9, 1772, the county was divided into the
townships of Penn, Augusta, Turbut, Buffalo,
Bald Eagle, Muncy and Wyoming. Columbia
and several other counties were included with-
in the three townships of Augusta, Turbut and
Wyoming, the other four townships being cut
off from Northumberland in 1786 and included
in Luzerne county.
The territory of Northumberland was again
curtailed in 1789 by the formation of Mifflin
county; by Lycoming in 1795 ; Center in 1800;
Union and Columbia in 1813 ; and Montour in
1850. The townships also were gradually cut
up. Turbut township was bereft of territory
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
83
in 1775 to form Mahoning, and in 1786 another
portion was removed to torm Derry township.
The same year Chillisquaque was formed from
Mahoning. In 1785 "Catawassa" was formed
from Augusta, the name of that township grad-
ually being changed in spelling to "Catawese,"
"Catawessa," and finally remaining as "Cata-
wissa." This latter township was again re-
duced by the erection of Ralpho or Shamokin
township in 1788, and by Mifiiin township in
1797-
In 1786 the county of Luzerne took away
part of Wyoming township and the remainder
was named Fishingcreek. In 1797 this area
was again abbreviated by the formation of
Green Briarcreek township, and the following
year the township of Bloom was erected. In
1799 Greenwood was formed from Fishing-
creek, and in 1812 Harrison or Sugarloaf was
formed from the latter.
Columbia county was taken from North-
umberland and separately organized in 1813,
by an act of Assembly of March 226, and in-
cluded the townships of Chillisquaque and
Turbut. Danville was named in the report of
the commissioners appointed by the governor
to lay out the county and select a county seat.
In 181 5 the two townships of Chillisquaque
and Turbott (or Turbut, as it is now spelled)
were returned to Northumberland. This
prompt return of the townships after the loca-
tion of the county seat was construed by many
to be a trick to give Danville preference over
Bloomsburg, and for years thereafter a con-
tinual controversy raged between the rival
towns as to the location of the courthouse.
In 1816 the Assembly restored a portion of
the two townships to Columbia county, the
parts annexed being now Liberty and Lime-
stone townships in Montour county. Again
in 1818 another legislative act cut off a large
part of the eastern side of Columbia and gave
it to Schuylkill county. This dismemberment
of the county did not satisfy any of the rival
claimants for the county seat. Repeated ap-
plications were made to the Legislature to re-
move the seat of government to Bloomsburg,
and finally in 1845 the act was passed to author-
ize a vote on the question. The result was a
decisive one, the majority for removal being
1,334 out of a total of 4,492 votes. The
county buildings being completed, the records
were removed from Danville in November,
1847. 'ind the first session of court was held
in Bloomsburg in January, 1848.
But the location of the county seat at
Bloomsburg created another complaint from
those who now had to travel a great distance
to reach the courts and officials, and the case
was as bad as before, except that now Danville
was the sufferer. So by an act approved May
3, 1850, the county of Montour was created,
including the townships of Franklin, Mahon-
ing, Valley, Liberty, Limestone, Derry, An-
thony, and the borough of Danville.
The wrangling was not over, however, and
complaints were made that too much territory
had been taken from Columbia, so finally in
1853 the division line between the two counties
was established as it is at present. By the
same act, what was Madison township in
Columbia county was renamed Pine, and the
parts of Madison township which had been
set off to Mount Pleasant and Hemlock were
reannexed to the old territory in Columbia
county.
The division line as named in the act was as
follows : Beginning at the Northumberland
county line, at or near the house of Samuel
Reader, thence a direct course to the center
of Roaring creek in Franklin township, twenty
rods above a point in said creek opposite the
house of John Vought, thence from the middle
of said creek to the Susquehanna river, thence
up the center of the same to a point opposite
where the present county line of Columbia and
Montour strikes the north bank of the river,
thence to the said north bank, thence to the
schoolhouse near the residence of David Smith,
thence to a point near the residence of Daniel
Smith, thence to the bridge over Deerlick run
on the line between Derry and Madison town-
ships, thence by the line between said town-
ship of Madison and the townships of Derry
and Anthonv to the line of Lycoming county.
The township of Roaringcreek and parts of
the townships of Franklin, Madison and West
Hemlock were also taken from Montour and
reannexed to Columbia. As at present consti-
tuted, Columbia countv contains an area of a
little over 400 square miles, and a population of
48,467 persons.
The division line of 1850 so dismembered
the townships of Madison, Hemlock and Mon-
tour that some readjustment of the lines be-
came necessarv, so in 1852 what remained of
Madison south of Millville was attached in
part to Mount Pleasant and part to Hemlock,
the old name adhering to that portion which
extended alonsf the coimty line northwest of
Greenwood. By the act of 1853 the latter was
renamed Pine, and the restored portion, with
those attached to Hemlock and Mount Pleas-
ant, formed into a township under the old
name.
The division effected in the township of
84
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
Roaringcreek by the act of 1850 was subse-
quently made permanent, the restored portion
being named Scott. This was found to con-
flict with a township north of the river, then
under the advisement of the court, and a
month later the name of the southern township
was changed to Locust. Scott township was
formed the same year at the same session of
court, from the township of Bloom, which
had become too unwieldy for the election
commissioners.
A petition was laid before the court in 1855
stating that the township of Locust was from
twelve to fourteen miles long and from eight
to ten miles wide, and that the southern end
was chiefly a mining district, while the north-
ern end was devoted to farming, and asking
for the formation of a new township from
part of it. The commissioners reported
favorably, the court confirmed the report, and
the new township was named Conyngham,
after the judge of that date.
Finally, to complete the division of Colum-
bia county, the township of Cleveland was
formed from Locust in 1893, and named after
the president who had just been elected on
the Democratic ticket.
CHAPTER XI
COLUMBIA COUNTY AFTER 1850
The year 1850 fixed the date of the new
dispensation for Columbia county and the
birth of Montour county. At that date the
population of Columbia was 17,700. From
then until the present year of 1914 Columbia
county has steadily gained in population and
prosperity. Although the townships and some
of the smaller towns have lost somewhat, this
is only due to the modern tendency to concen-
trate in the places of greatest size and attrac-
tions. However, it is believed that the coming
years will show another exodus to the land
and give to this county the agricultural stimu-
lus which is all that is needed to make it an
earthly Eden.
The population of Columbia in i860, accord-
ing to government census figures, was 25,065 ;
in 1870 it was 28.766; 1880, 32,439; 1890,
36,832 ; 1900, 39.896 : 1910, 48,467. The total
area of the county is a little over four hundred
square miles.
COLUMBIA COUNTY COURTHOUSE
The first courthouse, which was used dur-
ing the time that this county also included
the territory of Montour county, is described
in the annals of the latter county in another
part of this volume, as its history has always
been a part of the history of Danville and it
was later again used for the business of the
new county of Montour.
One of the arguments of the opponents of
the removal of the county seat from Danville
to Bloomsburg was that the cost of the erec-
tion of the necessary public buildings would be
a severe burden upon the Bloomsburg people.
The act removing the county seat provided
that within three years thereafter the citizens
of Bloomsburg should erect at their own ex-
pense suitable buildings of brick or stone of
the most approved plans, and that the old pub-
lic grounds and buildings at Danville should
be disposed of, to pay the original subscribers
thereto, the surplus, if any, to revert to the
county treasury.
The Bloomsburg people met all these argu-
ments with the offer to donate the ground and
erect the buildings at their own expense, and
in carrying out these engagements they acted
in no niggardly spirit. William McKelvey
and Daniel Snyder were the prime movers in
this matter, and as soon as the question of re-
moval was settled entered actively upon the
work of erecting the courthouse and jail.
Elisha H. Biggs, who had made a liberal sub-
scription to the fund for erection, bought the
lot opposite the "Exchange Hotel," which he
at that time owned, and offered this as the site
of the courthouse. William Robison, who
owned the lot on the upper side, also donated
sufficient land, so that after the alleys on each
side were laid out the building site contained
about ninety feet front. Mr. Snyder con-
tributed two lots fronting on Center street, and
extending back to the upper line of the court-
house lot, for a jail site, which was accepted.
At this time the Presbyterian Church was plan-
ning for a new house of worship, and Rev.
D. J. Waller, Sr., went to Philadelphia to
secure approved plans for the two structures.
These plans were drawn by Napoleon Le Brun,
Old Courthouse, Bloomsburg, Pa.
Columbia County Courthouse, Bloomsburg, Pa.
i
A
!
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
85
and were scrupulously followed by the con-
tractors.
The new courthouse was constructed of
brick, burned by Daniel Snyder himself, and
was of the pure Ionic order of architecture.
It was 40 by 60 feet in size, with the county
offices below and the court and jury rooms
above. The cupola was fitted with a bell and
clock, the former put up in 1848, at a cost of
$400, and the latter provided by private sub-
scription. In 1868 the courthouse was ex-
tended by the addition of a 25-foot building,
the upper story for the law library and the
use of the judges and juries, and the lower
for the court records. The roof was also
raised at this time, which destroyed the true
architectural proportions. In 1882 a new clock
was installed in the cupola, and a year later
steam heating was introduced into the build-
ing.
At the September session of court, 1890, a
petition, signed by a large number of taxpayers,
was presented, asking for some changes and
improvements to the courthouse. This was
referred to the grand jury, who recommended
that an addition be built to the front of the
old building. In accordance with this the
county commissioners inspected plans sub-
mitted by architects, adopting those of A. S.
Wagner, of Williamsport. Bids were invited,
and the contract awarded on Nov. 19, 1890,
to Matthias Shaffer, for $21,600, that being
the lowest responsible bid. There was some
opposition to the expenditure of this money,
as there always is to public improvements, and
a move was made to procure an injunction to
prevent Shaffer from beginning the job, but
before this could be done he was at work with
his men early in the morning, and had the stone
steps and part of the porch at the front of the
building torn away. There was no injunction
asked for. While the work was in progress
Mr. Shaffer died, and the contract was com-
pleted by his son. Barton Shaffer, as adpiin-
istrator. The work was finished, and ac-
cepted by the county commissioners on Feb.
29, 1892.
The board of commissioners at the time the
contract was made was composed of William
G. Girton, Jesse Rittenhouse, and Ezra
Stephens, with J. D. Bodine as clerk. In
January, 1892, a new board went in office,
consisting of Jesse Rittenhouse, B. F. Edgar
and C. L. Sands. C. M. Terwilliger was
elected clerk.
This addition to the courthouse is 70 feet
on Main street and 40 feet deep to where it
joins on the old building, and is three stories
high, with a large square tower and a portico.
In the new part are the offices of the prothono-
tary and commissioners, on the first floor. On
the second floor are the judge's office, county
superintendent's office, jury rooms, and a re-
tirnig and rest room for women. A second
courtroom, 26 by 44 feet, is located on the third
floor, where is also a room occupied by the
Historical Society. The other county offices
remain as before. The building is heated by
steam and well supplied with all modern con-
veniences. The material in the addition is
brick, with brownstone trimmings. It pre-
sents an imposing appearance.
COUNTY JAIL
The first jail was constructed of brick and
stone, and combined the usual features of
jailer's residence and prison. It served the
county well for thirty years, although its in-
security in later years caused considerable
complaint. For a number of years successive
grand juries recommended the erection of a
new jail, but the opposition of the people pre-
vented any action. Finally the county com-
missioners made it known that if another jury
recommended action it would be taken. The
fourth grand jury sanctioned the report of its
predecessors, and in 1877 the county commis-
sioners began measures for the construction of
a new jail. For various reasons it was decided
to abandon the old site, and the Pursel lot, on
Market street, below Third, was conditionally
purchased for $4,000. These moves gave rise
to severe criticism of the commissioners'
plans.
The plans for the new prison were drawn
by a Mr. Wetzel, and on April 21, 1877, the
contract was awarded to Charles Krug. This
action intensified the dissatisfaction of the
critics, who rapidly included a large propor-
tion of the population in their ranks. It ap-
pears that there had been ten proposals, rang-
ing from $41,075 to $119,025, and that the
award was made to the second lowest bidder,
at a price $5,900 higher than the lowest one.
It was at once charged that these were grave
reasons for suspecting jobbery on the part of
the architect. The commissioners were urged
to dismiss him, abandon the new, expensive,
"mud-bottom" location, and either order a new
letting or promptly accept the lowest bid. The
commissioners refused, and on April 27th an
injunction was applied for to restrain the
authorities from building on the Pursel lot
and from entering into a contract with Krug.
The hearing developed that the lot was too
86
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
narrow, and would require changes in the plans
that were radical, therefore the court granted
a temporary injunction.
In the meantime Rev. D. J. Waller, Sr., had
offered a lot on Iron street, between Seventh
and Eighth, and in July the commissioners
abandoned the former location and accepted
Mr. Waller's donation. The new site was
open to some of the objections of the first one,
but the commissioners adhered to their final
decision. In the construction of the building
they evaded the order of the court by grantmg
contracts for the different parts of the struc-
ture to various contractors, some of whom
were smiply hirelings of Krug. Another com-
plaint was made that the cost had been in-
creased from the contract price of $56,975, to
$70,000.
The prison is a picturesque stone structure,
surrounded by bearing fruit trees and well
kept lawns. It has a high basement, and two
stories above, with a square tower on the
middle front. An oblong extension in the
rear contains the cells, which are arranged in
two tiers on either side of a corridor, lighted
by skylights in the arched roof. In the base-
ment are the workshops, steam heating plant
and the dungeons. Baths, closets, ventilation,
lighting and heating are all well provided for,
and the cells are reasonably secure, being lined
with metal and having two doors, of steel and
wood.
POORHOUSES
The only other public buildings in the county
are the several district poorhouses. In early
years the poor were "farmed out" to outsiders,
a most unsatisfactory method. In 1866 an act
was passed authorizing a county poorhouse,
but when the question was submitted to a vote
it was found that only Bloom, Greenwood and
Hemlock townships supported the project. In
1869 an act was passed authorizing the erec-
tion of a poorhouse in Bloom township and
providing that the application of ten taxables
in any other township should cause an election
to be held to decide whether that township
should unite with Bloom to form a poor dis-
trict. Under this act the townships of Scott,
Greenwood and Sugarloaf united with Bloom.
A farm of 100 acres on Fishingcreek was
purchased, in Mount Pleasant township, hav-
ing thereon a brick and a frame house, the
inmates being housed in the former. Other
additions and imnrovements have since been
made. In later years the borough of Millville
has united with the Bloom poor district.
In 1869 the township of Conyngham and
the borough of Centraha organized a district,
and a farm of seventy-five acres was pur-
chased, together with suitable buildings, all
of which were exempted from taxation. In
1872 Madison township also formed a poor
district and bought a farm of 100 acres, upon
which its poor are comfortably provided for.
The county itself has never had a poor farm,
and apparently it is not greatly needed, for
paupers are scarce in this thrifty section of the
State.
TOWNSHIPS
The several townships of Columbia county
and the dates of their erection are as follows:
Catawissa 1785
Fishingcreek 1789
Briarcreek 1797
Bloom 1798
Greenwood 1799
Mifflin 1799
Hemlock 1801
Sugarloaf 1812
Madison 1817
Mount Pleasant 1818
Roaringcreek 1832
Montour 1837
Jackson 1838
Orange 1839
Franklin 1843
Centre 1844
Main 1844
Beaver 1845
Benton 1850
Locust 1853
Pine 1853
Scott 1853
Conyngham 1856
Cleveland 1893
Scott, Pine, Locust, Conyngham and Cleve-
land townships were formed after the erection
of Montour county.
There are fifty-five election districts in
Columbia county in 19 14, their names being as
follows:
Beaver, Benton borough, Benton township,
Berwick northeast, Berwick southeast, Ber-
wick northwest, Berwick southwest, Bloom
first. Bloom second, Bloom third, Bloom
fourth, Briarcreek east, Briarcreek south,
Briarcreek west, Catawissa township, Cata-
wissa borough, Centralia first, Centralia
second, Centre north, Centre south, Cleveland,
Conyngham east-north, Conyngham west-
north, Conyngham west No. i, Conyngham
west No. 2, Convngham southwest, Conyng-
ham southeast, Fishinecreek east, Fishing-
creek west, Franklin, Greenwood east, Green-
wood west. Hemlock north, Hemlock south.
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
87
Jackson, Locust north, Locust south, Madison,
Main, Mifflin, Millville, Montour, Mount
Pleasant, Orange township, Orangeville bor-
ough. Pine north. Pine south, Roaringcreek,
Scott east, Scott west, Sugarloaf north,
Sugarloaf south, Stillwater borough. West
Berwick No. i, West Berwick No. 2.
COUNTY OFFICIALS
In the smaller counties the offices of protho-
notary and clerk, and register and recorder,
are consolidated. Under the constitution of
1790 the county officers, with the exception of
the sheriff and coroner, were appointed by the
governor, but in 1838 it was provided that they
be elected. The old constitution provided that
the people elect two candidates each for the
offices of sheriff and coroner, and that the gov-
ernor appoint one of them. By the amend-
ment of 1838 the people were permitted to
select these officers themselves, the governor to
commission them. The various offices have
been filled as follows :
Prothonotaries and Clerks
George A. Frick, appointed 1813; David
Petrikin, appointed March 15, 1821 ; John Rus-
sell, appointed Jan. 14, 1824; Jacob Eyerly,
appointed Jan. ly, 1830; James Donaldson, ap-
pointed Jan. 8, 1836, May i, 1838, and Jan. 10,
1839; Valentine Best, appointed Jan. 18, 1839;
Jacob Eyerly, elected in 1839; Jesse Coleman,
elected 1863; Wellington H. Ent, elected
1869, died Nov. 5, 1871 ; R. H. Ringler, ap-
pointed 1871; B. F. Zarr, elected 1872, and
1875; William Krickbaum, elected 1878, and
1881 ; William H. Snyder, elected 1884, and
Nov. 8, 1887; G. M. Quick, elected Nov. 4,
1890, and Nov., 1893 ; W. H. Henrie, elected
Nov. 3, 1896, and Nov. 3, 1899; C. M. Terwil-
Hger, elected Nov. 4, 1902, and Nov., 1905 ;
Freeze Quick, elected in November, 1908, and
again in 191 1.
Registers and Recorders
Josiah McClure, appointed in 1814; Ellis
Hughes, appointed 1821 ; Rudolph Sechler, ap-
pointed 1824; John Cooper, appointed 1830;
Alexander Best, appointed 1836; Philip Bill-
meyer, appointed Jan. 18, 1839, and elected in
the fall of 1839; Charles Conner, elected in
1842 and 1S45 ; Jesse G. Clark, elected in 1848
and 185 1 ; Daniel Lee, elected 1854, and re-
elected twice ; John G. Freeze, elected 1863
and 1866; Williamson H. Jacoby, elected 1869,
and reelected three times; George W. Sterner,
elected 1881 and 1884; Charles H. Campbell,
elected 1S87 and 1890; Charles B. Ent, elected
1893 and 1896; John C. Rutter, Jr., elected
1899 and 1902; Frank W. Miller, elected 1905
and 1908; James H. Mercer, elected 1911.
District Attorneys
District attorneys were first elected in 1854.
Up to that time the duties were performed by
a deputy attorney general appointed for each
county. The following persons have held the
office of district attorney since it became elec'
tive :
Robert F. Clark, 1854 to 1857; E. H. Little,
1857 to 1868; E. R. Ikeler, 1868 to 1871 ; James
Bryson, elected in 1871, resigned 1874; John
M. Clark, appointed Dec. 7, 1874 (to fill Bry-
son's unexpired term, his own term com-
mencing in January) ; John M. Clark,
elected in 1874; Robert R. Little, 1877
to 1883; Robert Buckingham, elected in 1883,
resigned 1885 ; F. P. Billmeyer, appointed in
1885; F. P. Billmeyer, elected in November,
1885, and in 1888, resigned in 1890; William
Ciirisman, appointed in April, 1890, elected in
November, 1890; Thomas B. Hanley, elected
in November, 1893, resigned June 27, 1896;
John G. Harman, appointed July 11, 1896;
John G. Harman, elected in November, 1896,
and in November, 1899; A. W. Duy, elected in
November, 1902 ; C. A. Small, elected in 1905,
reelected in 1908 and 191 1.
Sheriffs
The constitution of 1790 provided that sher-
iffs and coroners shall be chosen by the people
at the regular election ; two persons were
chosen for each office, one of whom respec-
tively was appointed by the governor. They
held office for three years or during good be-
havior, and until a successor was qualified,
but the sheriff could hold office only one term
in any period of six years. This was amended
by the constitution of 1838, so that only one
person could be chosen for each office. The
following persons have filled the office of
sheriff since the organization of the county :
Henry Alward, commissioned Jan. 13, 1814;
Joseph Prutzman, commissioned Oct. 10, 1816;
John Underwood, commissioned Oct. 8, 1819,
died in office; William Robison, appointed to
fill vacancy, Sept. 16, 1822 ; Andrew McRey-
nolds, commissioned Oct. 14, 1822 ; John
Rhoads, commissioned Oct. 22, 1821; ; William
Kitchen, commissioned Oct. 22, 1828; Isaiah
88
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
Reed, commissioned Oct. 24, 1831 ; Isaiah Sal-
mon, commissioned Oct. 25, 1834; William
Kitchen, commissioned Oct. 18, 1837; John
Fruit, commissioned Oct. 30, 1840; Iram Derr,
commissioned 1843; Benjamin Hay man, com-
missioned Nov. 5, 1846; Peter Billmeyer, com-
missioned Oct. 24, 1849; John Snyder, com-
missioned 1852; Stephen H. Miller, commis-
sioned 1855 ; John Snyder, commissioned 1S58;
Josiah H. Furman, commissioned 1861 ; Sam-
uel Snyder, commissioned 1864; Mordecai Mil-
lard, commissioned 1867; Aaron Smith, com-
missioned 1870; Michael Gruver, commis-
sioned 1873, <i'^d in office; Charles G. Murphy,
coroner, was sworn in April 5, 1876, and served
until May 5, 1876; Charles S. Fornwald, ap-
pointed by the governor May 5, 1876, served
until January, 1877 ; John W. Hoffman, elected
fall of 1876; Uzal H. Ent, elected fall of 1879;
John Mourey, elected fall of 1882 ; Samuel
Smith, elected fall of 1885 ; John B. Casey,
elected fall of 1888; John Mourey, elected fall
of 1891; J. B. McHenry, elected fall of 1894;
W. W. Black, elected fall of 1897; Daniel
Knorr, elected fall of 1900; W. W. Black,
elected fall of 1903 ; Charles B. Ent, elected
fall of 1906; W. P. Zehner, elected fall of
1909; B. F. Rice, elected fall of 1913.
County Commissioners
The following persons have served as county
commissioners in the years mentioned, since
1866. From that date until 1875 °^^ person
was elected each year for a term of two years.
After that three commissioners were elected
every three years.
1866 — Montgomery Cole, Allen Mann, John
F. Fowler. 1867 — David Yeager, John F.
Fowler, Montgomery Cole. 1868— W. Grier
Quick, Montgomery Cole, David Yeager. 1869
— David Yeager, W. G. Quick, Cyrus Robbins.
1870 — W. G. Quick, Cyrus Robbins, H. J.
Reeder. 1871 — William Shaffer, Cyrus Rob-
bins, H. J. Reeder. 1872 — William Lawton,
H. J. Reeder, William Shaffer. 1873— Wil-
liam Shaffer, William Lawton, John Herner.
1874 — William Lawton, John Herner, John
Ent. 1875 — Silas W. McHenry, John Herner,
Joseph E. Sands. 1878 — Stephen Pohe,
Charles Reichert, A. B. Herring. 1881 —
Charles Reichert, B. F. Edgar, Joshua Fetter-
man. 1884 — Stephen Pohe, Washington Parr,
Theodore Mendenhall. 1887— W. G. Girton,
Jesse Rittenhouse, Ezra Stephens. 1890 —
Jesse Rittenhouse, B. F. Edgar. C. L. Sands.
1893— G. M. Ikeler. J. G. Swank. W. H. Utt.
1896 — John N. Gordon, William Krickbaum,
N. Kitchen. 1899— W. H. Fisher, William
Krickbaum, N. Kitchen. 1902 — W. H. Fisher,
William Bogart, G. W. Sterner. 1905 — C. L.
Pohe, J. A. Hess, Elisha Ringrose. 1908 — C.
L. Pohe, J. A. Hess, C. F. Lenhart. 191 1 —
G. S. Fleckenstine, C. E. Welliver, C. F. Len-
hart.
Commissioners' Clerks
Since 1866 the clerks to the county commis-
sioners have been : Robert C. Fruit, William
Krickbaum, John B. Casey, J. D. Bodine, C.
M. Terwilliger, D. Z. Mensch, R. F. Vander-
slice, J. W. Hidlay, A. B. Black, Charles E.
Smith.
County Treasurers
This list shows the incumbents of this office
during the terms in the years before their
names, prior to 1870; from and after that time
the dates show when they began their terms :
1816, James Langhead; 1818, Josiah Mc-
Clure; 1820, 1822, William Wilson; 1826, 1828,
Andrew McReynolds; ' 1830, Hugh McWil-
Hams; 1832, 1834, John Fruit; 1836, 1838,
Hugh McWilliams; 1842, Leonard B. Rupert;
1844, David Clark; 1846, Charles F. Mann;
1S48, Emanuel Lazarus; 1850, Amandus Lev-
ers; 1852, Samuel Creasy; 1854, John Doak;
1856, Jacob Harris ; 1858, James S. McNinch ;
i860, John A. Funston ; 1862, James S. Mc-
Ninch ; 1864, Daniel McHenry; 1866, John J.
Stiles; 1868, Jacob Yohe ; 1870, David Lowen-
berg; 1873, John Snyder; 1876, H. W. McRey-
nolds ; 1879, H. A. Sweppenheiser ; 1882, A. M.
Johnson; 1885, P. A. Evans; 1888, George A.
Herring; 1891, John L. Kline ; 1894, J. R. Fow-
ler; 1897, G. S. Fleckenstine; 1900, Jeremiah
Snyder ; 1903, A. B. Croop ; 1906, M. H.
Rhodes; 1909, John Mourey; 1912, I. L. Rabb.
Toivnship and Borough Assessors
The township and borough assessors for
1914 are as follows : Beaver — Emanuel Har-
ger ; Benton borough — O. E. Sutton ; Benton
Tp. — John Ipher ; Berwick — Cyrus Smith ;
Blooni, W.— W. C. Sloan; Bloom, E,— P. B.
Heddens ; Briarcreek — William Ash ; Cata-
wissa Tp. — James Bibby ; Catawissa borough —
O. D. L. Kostenbauder ; Centralia, ist — M. W.
Brennan ; Centralia, 2d — A. T. Conway ; Cen-
tre — Frank Harris ; Cleveland — F. P. Small ;
Conyngham — Peter J. McHale ; Fishingcreek
— H. W. Hess; Franklin— D. M. Reeder;
Greenwood — W. L. Kelchner; Hemlock — •
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
89
Chas. L. Hartman; Jackson — M. O. Everhart;
Locust — D. C. Yocum; Madison — John J.
Kreamer; Main — Jerry Kelchner; Mifflin — P.
C. Glodfelter; Millville— Tillman Stadler;
Montour — Albert Newman ; Mt. Pleasant —
R. M. Creasy; Orange Tp. — Elmer Kline;
Orangeville borough — VV. W. Allabach ; Pine
— B. F. Karshner; Roaringcreek — C. M.
Yocum ; Scott — Harry Deiterick ; Sugarloaf —
Jesse Fritz; Stillwater borough — George
Dresher; W. Berwick, ist — William Croft;
W. Berwick, 2d— L. M. Pettit.
Representatives in Congress
Columbia county has been joined with a
number of other counties at dili'erent times in
the formation of a Congressional district. It
was originally placed in the Tenth district,
which included the counties of Northumber-
land, Union, Lycoming, Luzerne, Bradford,
Potter, Susquehanna and Tioga, with two Con-
gressmen, and was represented by the follow-
ing persons : William Wilson and Jared Irwin,
elected 1814; William Wilson and David
Scott, elected 1816. In 1817 Mr. Scott was
elected a judge and resigned, and John Murray
was elected to fill the vacancy. John Murray
and George Dennison were elected in 1818;
George Dennison and W. C. Ellis in 1820. In
1 82 1 Ellis resigned, and Thomas Murray, Jr.,
was elected to fill the vacancy.
In 1822 Columbia was put in the Ninth dis-
trict, with Union, Northumberland, Luzerne,
Susquehanna, Bradford, Lycoming, Potter,
Tioga and McKean, having three members, as
follows : W. C. Ellis, Samuel McKean, George
Kreamer, elected 1822 ; Samuel McKean,
George Kreamer, Espy Van Horn, elected
1824 and 1826 ; Philander Stevens, James Ford,
Allen Marr, elected 1828; Lewis Dewart, Phi-
lander Stevens, James Ford, elected 1830.
In 1832 Columbia was placed with Luzerne
as the Fifteenth district, with one member.
Andrew Beaumont was elected in 1832 and
1834; David Petrikin in 1836 and 1838; B. A.
Bidlock in 1840 and 1842.
In 1843 Wyoming was joined to Columbia
and Luzerne, forming the Eleventh district.
Owen D. Leib was elected in 1844 and 1846;
Chester Butler in 1848; Hendrick B. Wright
in 1850.
In 1852 Columbia was in the Twelfth dis-
trict with Luzerne. Montour and Wyoming.
Hendrick B. Wright was elected in 1852;
Henry M. Fuller in 1854 ; John G. Montgomery
in 1856 (he died before taking his seat, and
in 1857 Paul Leidy was elected) ; George W.
Scranton in 1858 and i860 (he died in March,
1861, and at a special election in June, H. B.
Wright was elected).
In 1861 Columbia was joined with Bradford,
Montour, Sullivan, Wyoming and all of North-
umberland, except Lower Mahoning township,
in the Twelfth district. Northumberland was
transferred to another district in 1862, and the
remaining counties elected Henry W. Tracy in
1862; Ulysses Mercur in 1864, 1866, 1868 and
1870; Dr. J. D. Strawbridge in 1872. Mercur
resigned in 1872, having been elected to the
Supreme bench, and at a special election, in
December, Frank Bunnell was chosen for the
short term.
In 1S73 Columbia was put in the Eleventh
district with Montour, Carbon, Monroe and
Pike counties ; the townships of Nescopeck,
Blackcreek, Sugarloaf, Butler, Hazel, Foster,
Bearcreek, Buck, Salem, Hollenback, Hunting-
ton, in Luzerne county; Fairmount, Roaring
Brook, Spring Brook, and that part of Scran-
ton south of Roaring Brook creek and east of
the Lackawanna river, in Lackawanna county ;
and the boroughs of Dunmore, New Columbus,
Gouldsboro, White Haven, Jeddo, and Hazle-
ton, in Luzerne and Lackawanna counties. It
was known as the "Shoestring" district. F. P.
Collins was elected in 1874 and 1876; Robert
Klotz in 1878 and 1880; John B. Storm in
1882 and 1884; C. R. Buckalew in 1886 and
1888.
In 1890 the Sixteenth Congressional district
was made up of Columbia, Montour, Northum-
berland and Sullivan counties, and so remains
in 1914. S. P. Wolverton was elected in 1890
and 1892; M. H. Kulp, 1894 and 1896; Rufus
K. Polk, 1898 and 1900 (died in office, and
Alexander Billmeyer was elected to fill the un-
expired term) ; Charles H. Dickerman, 1902;
E. W. Samuels, 1904; John G. McHenry, 1906,
1908 and 1910 (died shortly before the expi-
ration of his third term, and the vacancy was
not filled) ; John V. Lesher, 1912 and 1914.
State Senators
Columbia county was first placed in a Sena-
torial district with Luzerne, Susquehanna and
Union, Columbia and Union being added upon
the formation of the counties. This district
elected two senators, Thomas Murray, Jr., and
William Ross, Murray being reelected in 1814,
the first election for senator in which Columbia
participated.
In 181 5 the Ninth Senatorial district was
formed, and included Northumberland, Colum-
bia, Union, Luzerne and Susquehanna, with
90
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
two senators, chosen alternately, the term being
four years. Charles Frazier was elected in
1816; Simon Snyder, 1818; a special election
was lield in i8iy to till the vacancy caused by
the death of Simon Snyder, and Kobert Wil-
lett was elected. In 1820 Redmond Conyng-
ham was elected.
In 1822 the Tenth Senatorial district was
formed of Luzerne and Columbia, with one
member. In 1824 Robert Moore was elected.
The term was then changed to three years.
In 1827 Moore was reelected; Jacob Urum-
heller, 1830; Uzal Hopkins, 1833.
Another change of district took place in 1830,
when Columbia and Schuylkill were made the
Ninth district, with one senator. Charles
Fraley was elected in 1837; Samuel F. Head-
ley, 1840.
In 1843 Columbia and Luzerne were again
put together, as the Thirteenth district. Wil-
liam S. Ross was elected in 1844; Valentine
Best, 1847.
In 1850 Montour was added to these two
counties, and the district became the Sixteenth.
Charles R. Buckalew was elected in 1850 and
reelected in 1853; George P. Steele, 1856.
In 1857 Columbia, Montour, Northumber-
land and Snyder formed the Thirteenth dis-
trict, and C. R. Buckalew was elected senator,
but resigned at the end of one session. Reuben
Keller was elected in 1858 to fill the vacancy,
and reelected in i860. D. B. Montgomery was
elected in 1863.
In 1864 Sullivan was substituted for Snyder,
and the district was changed to the Fifteenth.
George D. Jackson was elected in 1866, and
C. R. Buckalew in 1869.
In 1871 Lycoming was substituted for North-
umberland, and Thomas Chalfant was elected
in 1872.
In 1874 the State was redistricted, no change
occurring in this district except the change of
the number to the Twenty-fourth. In 1874
and again in 1876 Robert P. Allen was elected ;
George D. Jackson, 1878, died in office, and
E. J. McHenry was elected in 1880 to fill the
vacancy; W. W. Hart, 1882; Verus H. Metz-
ger, 1886; Grant Herring, 1890; J. Henry
Cochran, 1894. 1898, 1902 and 1906; Charles
W. Sones. 1910 and 1914. No change has
been made in the formation of the district
from 1871 to the present (1914).
Members of General Assembly
By the Eighth section of the act creating
Columbia county in 1813 it was provided "that
the inhabitants of the counties of Northum-
berland, Union and Columbia shall jointly elect
four representatives" to the General Assembly.
Samuel Bound, Leonard Rupert, Thomas
Murray, Jr., and George Kreamer were elected
in 1813; David E. Owen, Robert Willett,
Joseph Hutchison and Henry Shaffer in 1814.
In 1815 Columbia was made a separate dis-
trict, with one member, and James McClure
was elected in that year; Samuel Bond, in
1816, 1817 and 1818; James McClure, 1819;
John Snyder, 1820; John Clark, 1821.
In 1822 the county was given two members,
and William McBride and Alexander Colley
were elected, and reelected in 1823; John Mc-
Reynolds and Eli Thornton, 1824; John
McReynolds and William McBride, 1826; John
McReynolds and Christian Bropst, 1827; John
McReynolds and John Robinson, 1828.
The representation was reduced to one mem-
ber in 1829, and John Robinson was elected;
Uzal Hopkins, 1830 and 1831 ; Isaac Kline,
1832 and 1833; John F. Derr, 1834 and 1835;
Evan O. Jackson, 1836; John Bowman, 1837;
William Colt, 1838 and 1839; Daniel Snyder,
1840, 1841, 1842, 1843; Thomas A. Funston,
1844 and 1845 ; Stewart Pierce, 1846, 1847,
1848; Benjamin P. Fortner, 1849.
In 1850 Columbia and Montour were joined
in a district, and John McReynolds was elected ;
M. E. Jackson in 1851; George Scott, 1852
and 1853; James G. Maxwell, 1854; John G.
Montgomery, 1855; Peter Ent, 1856.
In 1857 Columbia, Montour, Sullivan and
Wyoming were put together, with two mem-
bers, and Peter Ent and John V. Smith were
elected ; George A. Jackson and — ■ —
Oakes, 1858 and 1859 ; H. R. Kline and
Osterhaut, i860; Levi L. Tate and
Tutton, 1861 ; G. D. Jackson and J. C. Ellis,
1862 and 1863.
In 1864 Columbia and Montour were made
a district, and W. H. Jacoby was elected that
year and 1865; Thomas Chalfant, 1866 and
1867: George Scott, 1868 and 1869; Thomas
Chalfant, 1870.
In 1871 Columbia was placed alone, and C.
B. Brockway was elected, and reelected in 1872
and 1873.
In 1874, in accordance with the provisions
of the new constitution, Columbia was made a
separate district, and g^iven two members, and
the term of office was fixed at two years, E. J.
McHenrv and S. P. Rvan being first elected;
E. J. McHenrv and David S. Brown, 1876;
T. T. Vander^lire and Joseph B. Knittle, 1878
and 1880: William Brvson and T. J. Vander-
slice, 1882: A. L. Fritz and William Brvson
1884; A. L. Fritz and James T. Fox, 1886
James T. Fox and William Krickbaum, 1888
William Krickbaum and E. M. Tewksbury,
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
91
1890; E. M. Tewksbury and A. L. Fritz, 1892;
A. L. Fritz and William T. Creasy, 1894 ; W. T.
Creasy and William Chrisman, 1896 and i8g8;
W. T. Creasy and Fred Ikeler, 1900 and 1902 ;
W. T. Creasy and John G. Harman, 1904. The
representation was then reduced to one mem-
ber, and W. T. Creasy was elected in 1906;
Charles A. Shaffer, 1908, 1910, 1912 and 1914.
ASSESSMENT AND VALUATION, COLUMBIA
COUNTY
The total valuation of property in this county
in 1914, according to the report of the county
commissioners, was $13,987,354. This was
probably less than half the real value of prop-
erty, when the immense coal deposits in
Conyngham township and the materials and
finished products of the many factories and
industrial establishments are taken into con-
sideration.
Bloomsburg west of Center street alone had
a valuation of $1,586,830, which is remarkable,
considering the large amount of unoccupied
space. Bloomsburg east of Center street fol-
lows with a valuation of $1,538,095, and Ber-
wick is third in position, with a valuation of
$1,321,375. Following is the complete list:
Beaver township $ 222,425
Benton township 212,375
Benton borough 172,010
Berwick borough 1,321,375
Bloomsburg— east 1,538.095
Bloomsburg— west 1,586,830
Briarcreek township 494,750
Catawissa township 142,305
Catawissa borough 527,635
Centralia borough — 1st ward 186,520
Centralia borough — 2d ward 98,400
Centre township 518,700
Cleveland township 223,672
Conyngham township 1,356,327
Fishingcreek township 31S.71S
Franklin township 186,730
Greenwood township 351,180
Hemlock township 338,960
Jackson township 109,075
Locust township 319,003
Madison township 393,240
Main township 203,810
Mifflin township 375,585
Millville borough 158,305
Montour township 270,185
Mount Pleasant township 218,615
Orange township 176,430
Orangeville borough in ,555
Pine township 129,099
Roaringcreek township 146,378
Scott township 413.535
Sugarloaf township 153,935
Stillwater borough 65,345
West Berwick — ist ward 604,010
West Berwick — 2d ward 345,245
Total $13,987,354
The amount of money out at interest in
Columbia county in the year 1914 was as
follows :
Beaver township $ 24,733
Benton borough 74,143
Benton township 24,733
Berwick borough 238,200
Bloomsburg — east 209,303
Bloomsburg — west 241,442
Briarcreek township 33,790
Catawissa township 10,705
Catawissa borough 145,560
Centralia borough — 1st ward 7,i47
Centralia borough — 2d ward 48,925
Centre township 55,241
Cleveland township 40,897
Conyngham township 3,498
Fishingcreek township 26,700
Frankhn township 14,065
Greenwood township 33,287
Hemlock township 37,4l6
Jackson township 6,751
Locust township 1 13,665
Madison township 25,025
Main township 42,402
Mifflin township 54,II3
Millville borough 66,389
Montour township 10,191
Mount Pleasant township 7.594
Orange township 6,819
Orangeville borough 75, 136
Pine township 10,963
Roaringcreek township 44,175
Scott township 102,682
Sugarloaf township 34,593
Stillwater borough 15,188
West Berwick — 1st ward 29,960
West Berwick — 2d ward 61,745
Total $1,968,402
Even though the fact is acknowledged that
Columbia county has been almost denuded of
timber, there still remained in 1914 a total of
75,356 acres of timberland. Of this Conyng-
ham is credited with 11,135 acres, but most of
it is mountain scrub, unfit for any purpose but
mine props. The timber areas in acres are as
follows :
Beaver township 4,565
Benton borough 413
Benton township 8,895
Briarcreek township 1,741
Catawissa township 1,310
Catawissa borough 9
Centre township 1,303
Clevelnnd township 2,913
Conyngham township 1 1, 135
Fishingcreek township 3,113
Franklin township 1,499
Greenwood township 3.709
Hemlock township 1.720
Jackson township 4,188
Locust township 2,319
Madison township 5,185
Main township :,.... 1,283
Mifflin township 1,998
92
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
Millville borough 29
Montour township l.i/i
Mount Pleasant township 1,879
Orange township 1,98c)
Orangeville borough 54
Pine township 7,220
Roaringcreek township 4,277
Scott township 273
Sugarloaf township 7,264
Stillwater borough 441
Total 75,356
In addition to numerous lots in various bor-
oughs, Columbia county has 164,880 acres of
cleared land, according to the returns of the
assessors in 1914. Madison township leads the
county with 12,806 acres, with Fishingcreek
and Centre close seconds.
The acreage by districts is as follows :
Beaver township 6,658
Benton borough 413
Benton township 8,895
Bloomsburg — east 861
Bloomsburg — west 436
Briarcreek township 6,899
Catawissa township 4,574
Catawissa borough 182
Centralia borough — ist ward 150
Centre township 11,358
Cleveland township 7,5o8
Conyngham townsliip 5
Fishingcreek township II,SI2
Franklin township 6,152
Greenwood township 10,941
Hemlock township 7.640
Jackson township 6,003
Locust township 8,370
Madison township 12,806
Main township 5,558
Mifflin township 8,346
Millville borough 439
Montour township 3,885
Mount Pleasant township. . . . ; 7.292
Orange township 5.478
Orangeville borough 225
Pine township 7.102
Roaringcreek township 5,39i
Scott township 3.317
Sugarloaf township 4.949
Stillwater borough 1,092
West Berwick — ist ward 22
West Berwick — 2d ward 421
Total 164,880
In addition to the above the following num-
ber of lots have also been returned : Benton
borough, 237; Berwick, 1,178; Bloomsburg
— east, 1,246; Bloomsburg — west, 902; Briar-
creek, 959 ; Centralia — 1st ward, 328 ; Centralia
— 2d ward, 138; Conyngham, 411; Fishing-
creek, 55; Millville, 200; Orangeville borough,
123; West Berwick — 1st ward, 1,177; West
Berwick — 2d ward, 2,241.
The number of taxables in Columbia county
in 1914 showed an increase of 8,582 over the
statement for 1882, the date of the publication
of these figures in Colonel Freeze's history of
the county. For purposes of comparison the
following table is compiled :
1882 J914
Beaver township 257 171
Benton borough zgi
Benton township 292 258
Berwick borough 660 3,202
Bloomsburg — east 9S6 1.780
Bloomsburg — west 1,348
Briarcreek township 284 876
Catawissa township 646 150
Catawissa borough 802
Centralia — 1st ward 385 521
Centralia — 2d ward 444
Centre township 296 325
Conyngham township 512 898
Fishingcreek township 366 322
Franklin township 117 132
Greenwood township 431 383
Hemlock township 227 310
Jackson township 157 146
Locust township 456 349
Madison township 271 285
Main township 153 162
Mifflin township 272 377
Millville borough 246
Montour township 154 195
Mount Pleasant township 171 163
Orange township 253 108
Orangeville borough 154
Pine township 218 232
Roaringcreek township 129 152
Scott township 412 469
Sugarloaf township 215 381
Stillwater borough 50
West Berwick — ist ward 1,030
West Berwick — 2d ward 954
Total 8,320 16,908
The occupational tax of Columbia county
for 1914 was as follows:
Beaver township $ 14,690
Benton township 6,170
Benton borough 25,515
Berwick borough 169,440
Bloomsburg — east 146,320
Bloomsburg — west 1 18,600
Briarcreek township 54.575
Catawissa township 6,630
Catawissa borough 70,110
Centralia — ist ward 4i,970
Centralia — 2d ward 37.440
Centre township 16,610
Cleveland township 8,480
Conyngham township 83,890
Fishingcreek township 12,280
Franklin township 5.295
Greenwood township 13.620
Hemlock township 12,930
Jackson township 3,200
Locust township 14,205
Madison township 9,400
Main township 8,470
Mifflin township 23,095
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
93
Millville borough I9.4IS
Montour township 13,060
Mount Pleasant township 5.080
Orange township 2,300
Orangeville borough 13.010
Pine township 5.285
Roaringcreck township 3.600
Scott township 34.915
Sugarloaf township 11,930
Stillwater borough 3.520
W. Berwick— 1st ward 99,i5S
W. Berwick— 2d ward 48,360
Total $1,162,565
In 1914 Columbia county had 6,558 horses,
mares, geldings and mules, over the age of
four years, with an aggregate valuation of
$330,160. Madison township led, with Green-
wood a close second, but the average assessed
value varied greatly, according to the views
of the different assessors. The figures are as
follows :
Animals Value
Beaver township 200 $10,820
Benton township 299 15,645
Benton borough S8 2,170
Berwick borough 148 8,915
Bloomsburg— east 148 6,905
Bloomsburg — west 92 5.695
Briarcreek township 303 17.870
Catawissa township 149 7.455
Catawissa borough 69 2,450
Centralia — ist ward 37 520
Centralia — 2d ward 19 760
Centre township 374 '5.945
Cleveland township 307 13,820
Conyngham township 229 9,l6o
Fishingcreek township 286 12,260
Franklin township 179 9.010
Greenwood township 414 28,375
Hemlock township 274 14,500
Jackson township I7S 8,060
Locust township 385 16,185
Madison township 430 25,040
Main township 197 11,360
Mifflin township 269 11,870
Millville borough 66 2.710
Montour township 167 11,245
Mount Pleasant township 266 13,060
Orange township 178 7,560
Orangeville borough 36 1,27s
Pine township 217 10,425
Roaringcreek township 178 9,370
Scott township 170 7,685
Sugarloaf township 137 5,SI0
Stillwater borough 24 2,570
W.Berwick — 1st ward 33 1,905
W. Berwick — 2d ward 45 2,055
Totals 6,558 $330,160
For a number of years Madison, Centre and
Greenwood townships have striven for the
honor of having the largest number of cattle
within their borders in comparison with the
other townships of this county. More than one-
fifth of all the cattle in the county can be found
within these three townships. All of the town-
ships and districts except the 2d ward of Cen-
tralia have at least one cow, but that spot has
not one; and in spite of its large size, Conyng-
ham township has but five cattle in its confines.
The names of the divisions, number of cattle
and valuation, according to the assessors'
figures, are as follows :
No. Value
Beaver township 141 $ 2,820
Benton township 273 5,455
Benton borough 24 480
Berwick borough 8 200
Bloomsburg— east 44 1.080
Bloomsburg — west 58 2,430
Briarcreek township 300 9,040
Catawissa township 122 3,635
Catawissa borough 10 310
Centralia — ist ward 5 no
Centre township i77 9,375
Cleveland township 205 3.89S
Conyngham township 5 'OO
Fishingcreek township 311 6,390
Franklin township 109 2,495
Greenwood township 374 10,750
Hemlock township 251 5,240
Jackson township 152 2,205
Locust township 216 4,330
Madison township 385 9.6l5
Main township 169 3,380
Mifflin township 260 5,450
Millville borough 42 455
Montour township 181 4,390
Mount Pleasant township 250 5,035
Orange township 170 4,165
Orangeville borough 15 300
Pine township I93 3,295
Roaringcreek township 120 2,400
Scott township 145 3,210
Sugarloaf township 144 2,780
Stillwater borough 21 915
W. Berwick — ist ward 10 280
W. Berwick — 2d ward 20 515
Total 5.1 10 $116,604
The amounts paid for liquor licenses by the
various townships and boroughs for the year
1914 were as follows:
Beaver township $ lOO
Benton borough 200
Benton township lOO
Berwick borough 1,850
Bloomsburg 4.500
Briarcreek township 200
Catawissa township 200
Catawissa borough 1,250
Centralia borough 4,100
Conyngham township 975
Fishingcreek township 100
Greenwood township 200
Locust township 300
Madison township 100
Main township lOO
Mifflin township. 100
Montour township 200
94
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
Mount Pleasant township loo
Orangeville borough 400
Pine township 100
Sugarloaf township 300
West Berwick borough 3,400
Total $18,925
The tabulated statement of the mercantile
license fees paid in 1914 was as follows:
Beaver township $ 41.23
Benton borough 196.89
Benton township 6.30
Berwick borough 1,844.46
Bloomsburg borough 1,718.30
Briarcreek township 66.25
Catawissa township 5.65
Catawissa borough 418.66
Centralia borough 426.78
Centre township 72.66
Cleveland township 14.86
Conyngham township 18843
Fishingcreek township 43.15
Franklin township 20.58
Greenwood township S9.91
Hemlock township 14.24
Jackson township 10.80
Locust township 87.68
Madison township 21.79
Main township 35-99
Mifflin township 97.04
Millville borough 166.95
Montour township 23.21
Mount Pleasant township 14.50
Orange township 6.50
Orangeville borough 93.90
Pine township 10.51
Roaringcreek township 20.24
Scott township 1 14.38
Sugarloaf township 55-01
Stillwater borough 10.63
West Berwick borough 221.30
Total $6,128.78
CHAPTER XII
EDUCATIONAL GROWTH
As in most of the counties of Pennsylvania,
the growth of education in Columbia was con-
temporary with that of religion. As soon as
the pioneer had established his home in the
wilderness and begun to accumulate a little of
this world's goods he took note of the educa-
tional needs of his growing family. The first
one to turn to was the pastor of the sect to
which his religious allegiance was given. The
primitive pastor was often the schoolmaster
as well, and well did he perform that duty. To
these olden-time preachers we owe the deep
religious sentiment and honesty of the genera-
tion of which the present members of the com-
munity are sons.
Then came the era of "subscription schools."
These were inadequately supported by the con-
tributions of the parents and were at first held
in private homes. Later, voluntary subscrip-
tions were taken to build special habitations
for the schools, and they were of the same
primitive character as those of the household-
ers. The furnishings of these temples of
knowledge were also primitive in character.
The seats were puncheons, with peg legs ; the
desks lined the walls under the small windows,
the scholars stood up to use them ; and the
heat in wintertime came from an open and
wide-mouthed fireplace, the door of the hut
being made sjiecially wide to allow the scholars
at noon to roll in the great logs to replenish the
fire. A tin cup and a wooden pail completed
the furnishings.
In one respect Columbia county fared better
than her western neighbors in the counties near
to the Allegheny river — she did not have to
submit her little ones to the tender mercies of
the "Irish schoolmaster," that "knight of the
rod and bottle" so common in the western coun-
ties. Her teachers usually were drawn from
the families of the neighborhood, and though
sometimes of limited capacity were sober, earn-
est and religious instructors. Many of the
first schools were held in the homes of the
teachers and the children were given more care
and attention than at a later date, when the
common school laws came into effect.
THE COMMON SCHOOL LAW
In 1833, the year before the common school
system was inaugurated, it was estimated that
less than 24,000 children were educated at pub-
lic expense, and most of these by very incom-
petent teachers. These schools were called
"pauper schools," and were despised by the
rich and shunned by the poor. The children
were classified as pay and pauper scholars, and
thus the law practically separated the rich from
the poor, causing the development of the
"caste" idea in a democratic republic.
The svstem inaugurated bv the school law
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
95
of 1834 provided that each township could
accept or reject the plan, but this was iQund to
be unwise, and in 1849 the act was made com-
pulsory on every township. In 1857 the gen-
eral supervision was taken out of the hands of
the secretary of the Commonwealth and the
same year the normal school law was passed.
The school laws found some opposition in
Columbia county from the Germans, who were
greatly attached to their native tongue and
feared the teaching of English would cause
its abandonment by the younger generation.
Their forebodings were afterwards realized,
the stronger tongue gradually forcing out the
weaker, and English now prevails over all
other languages.
The equipment of the scholar of the olden
days was simple. A Webster speller, an Eng-
lish reader or a Testament, DaboU's arithme-
tic, a slate, a goose quill and a few sheets of
coarse writing paper covered the entire range
of known material winter after winter, so long
as he attended school. Later on Maltebrun's
geography and Smith's grammar were added,
and perhaps a Colton atlas. Contrasted with
the vast array of books laid before the present
scholar these first essentials were few and
simple.
SMALL BEGINNINGS
The first organized educational movement
made in the county was that of the Society of
Friends at Millville, who partitioned off one
end of their meetinghouse for use as a school-
room by Miss Elizabeth Eves. This school was
not sectarian in character, the children of all
denominations being welcomed. Other
schools were established — by the residents of
Fishingcreek in 1794, Benton in 1799, Berwick
in 1800, and other townships in rapid succes-
sion thereafter. These local schools are treated
in chapters devoted to the various townships.
The ambition for higher education was early
developed in this county, Berwick taking the
lead with her academy in 1839. It served its
purpose, and finally the building was torn down
in 1872. Millville high school was established
in 1851, became Greenwood Seminary in 1861
and is still running, although with but few
scholars. Orangeville Male and Female Aca-
demy was incorporated in 1858, opened the
following year, continued as an orphans' school
during 1864-66, and in 1894 was sold to the
township for common school uses. Catawissa
Seminary was chartered in 1866, having been
operated since 1839 as an academy, and finally
suspended in 1872. The history of these insti-
tutions, as well as that of the State Normal
School, will be found in the chapters devoted
to the local history of their home towns.
STATISTICS
Complete reports of the schools for different
years since the beginning of State supervision
would take up too much room in this work.
Reports may be had from the proper author-
ities at any time. We will, however, give a
few isolated figures for comparison, in addi-
tion to the latest reports available from the
county superintendent.
A writer of 1847 states that general educa-
tion had been neglected in many of the town-
ships, although but two — Miftlin and Valley-
had failed to adopt the common school system.
The compensation of the teachers — $16 for
the men and $9 for the women — was not such
as to induce competent persons to take up the
profession of teaching. At that date there
were in the county 104 schools, in operation
seven months in the year, employing 98 men
and 31 women teachers.
In 1885 there were 196 schools, in operation
for a little over six months ; 97 male teachers
and 124 female teachers, the men receiving an
average of $35 and the women $28 per month ;
and the number of scholars in attendance was
4,602 males and 4,187 females. The resources
of the schools in that year were $2,300 and the
liabilities $26,445, while the total expenditures
were $66,469.
MODERN DEVELOPMENTS
Possibly in no other particular is there
clearer evidence of the growth of Columbia
county in the last quarter of a century than
that shown by the advancement of education.
Perhaps the most fundamental improvement
has been the establishment of a uniform course
of studies. The boroughs were the first to see
the wisdom of this nlan and the countn,' dis-
tricts soon followed their example. The coun-
try children are now graded just as carefully
as those in the towns, promotions are made in
the same manner, and, in fact, there is little to
choose between the city and country school.
One of the best results of systematic study
and work in the county has been the stimulus
it has given to the establishment of township
high schools. Under the old methods the pupils
never advanced by grades, never graduated,
and there was no means of determining where
the common school should leave of? and the
high school begin. As soon as the present sys-
96
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
tern was adopted the pupils began to look for-
ward to something higher and school work
seemed to be worth while.
Within the last fifteen years there has been
a steady increase in the number of high schools
in the county, scarcely equaled in the rest of
the State. Fishingcreek, Mifflin, Scott, Sugar-
loaf, Hemlock, Madison, Briarcreek, Centre,
Beaver, Roaringcreek, Main, Locust, Green-
wood and Mount Pleasant by 1912 all had good
high schools, thoroughly established and en-
thusiastically patronized. The special appro-
priation for these high ^schools for the year
1912 was over $5,000. Besides the above there
have been high schools established at Benton,
Orangeville, Stillwater and Millville, and in
every township except Pine, Montour and
Jackson. The attendance at these schools is
remarkable, over ninety per cent of those who
begin the course remaining to graduate, a rec-
ord which some of the more wealthy and popu-
lous counties cannot equal. Wherever a high
school has been in operation for a few years
there will be found a social center composed of
intellectually bright young men and women who
will assist in the future development of the
mental and moral character of their section.
Each month the teachers in the different dis-
tricts meet to discuss ways and means of im-
proving their work, and each month the lead-
ing teachers of the county spend a day at the
county seat, where they listen to talks by some
of the greatest educators of the State.
In every district a local educational mass
meeting is held thrice yearly, and is largely at-
tended by the people. County institutes are
growing steadily in popularity ; graduation
exercises and commencements are held yearly ;
school frolics for the improvement of the
school buildings are often held ; an eight weeks'
summer review school is held each year at Ben-
ton and attended by 150 students ; an excursion
of progressive farmers, teachers and pupils
is made each year to the State College, to get
acquainted with the progress of scientific agri-
culture ; and a series of debating leagues are in
operation to develop the latent oratory of the
pupils. An exhibit of the schools of this county
at the National Educational Association in
Philadelphia in 1913 was pronounced to be the
best of any country schools in the State.
BUILDINGS
The character and equipment of the school-
houses have kept pace with and often out-
stripped that of the educational end. The old
rural schoolhouse of twenty-five years ago was
a frame structure, with an entrance directly into
the schoolroom, and no arrangements were
made for ventilation, the windows being closed
for the winter and seldom opened until the
warm breath of spring compelled it. As an old
resident said about the pioneer schoolhouses
and churches, "the atmosphere was carefully
preserved from one season to the other, and
one could tell he was in a schoolhouse or
church, even when his eyes were closed, by the
smell."
There were then no decorations or embellish-
ment of the walls or exterior, and often a sad
lack of repairs. The furniture consisted of
plain wooden benches and desks, the seats
sometimes having a close capacity for three or
four children together. The outbuildings were
small, dilapidated and unsanitary to the fullest
degree.
But these conditions do not prevail now.
The contrast is remarkable between the old-
time school and the one of these days. Even
the country schoolhouse now is often built of
enduring brick, and where wood is used the
style of architecture and furnishings are in
consonance with all that modern science can
show, while the efforts of the directors, teach-
ers and pupils are constantly directed to the
end of housing the scholar in a building where
he can gain an education without losing his
health and cheerfulness.
The location and character of the high
schools of the county are given below, and even
where there is no comment on the school it is
to be understood that the building is in as good
a state of repairs as its age will allow. The
grammar schools of the different townships
are described in the chapters devoted to the
general history of those divisions.
Superintendent Evans was elected to the of-
fice which he holds in 1901 and has been re-
peatedly reelected up to 1914. Most of the
recent educational growth of the county is due
to his efforts. His unflagging energy and
abundant resources of mind and body, coupled
with a genial personality, have endeared him
to all with whom he has been associated. He
has a fine and artistic sense, and through his
efforts the schools have had their lack of deco-
rative appearance filled by the placing upon
their walls of hundreds of finely framed pic-
tures from the old masters and modern artists.
Within the last year Superintendent Evans
had the honor given him of the presidency of
the Columbia County Historical Society, and
he intends to enlist the teachers and scholars
in the work of gathering material and relics
for the rooms of the society in the county court-
house. This will be a method of teaching his-
tory in a practical and effective manner.
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
97
HIGH SCHOOLS AND PRINCIPALS
Location Building
Beaver— Beaver Valley New ..
Benton— Benton Remodeled
Berwick OJd
Bloomsburg Old
Briarcreek- N. Berwick New
Centre— Grange Hall New
Catawissa 01° ' ,' ',■ ',■
Centralia ■' • • Kemodeled
Conyngham— AVistes New, 8 rooms J. A. Shovlin
Fishingcreek— Jonestown New bamuel J. Seesholtz
Greenwood New Hazel Kester
Hemlock— Buckhorn New Maurice Girton
Locust— Newlin New Charles W. Keeler
Principal
Myrtle Rice
L. Ray Appleman
J. Y. SliaiTibach
W. C. Mauser
R. C. Cole
Frank Adams
Frank A. Frear
R. A. Fetterman
Main — Mainville
. New John E. Klingerman
Madison— Jerseytown New
Mifflin— Mifflinville Remodeled
MillviUe New
Mount Pleasant— Canby New . . . .
Orangeville— Academy Remodeled
Roaringcrcek— Gulp New
Scott— Espy Old
Stillwater New
Sugarloaf — Grassmere New
West Berwick , New Harlan R. Snyder
In looi tliere were 246 teachers in the ability of County Superintendent Evans. Fol-
county ; now there are 325. Much of the re- lowing is the statement of the number of
cent educational growth is owing to the wide- schools, teachers, and financial standing of the
spread influence of the Normal School, and to county for the year 1912, taken from the re-
the unflagging energy and the fine organizing port of Superintendent Evans :
Kimber Hartman
Chas. W. Potter
Jjeo. M. Leehman
Amos Gruber
M. D. Mordan
Florence Hauck
Ernest Merrill
Ida Dreibelbis
A. S. Fritz
Districts
Schools
> B
Teachers
raj:
o
" s
2 ^
<
Scholars
B-t;
Tax and Rate Per Cent Receipts
> u
— ' c
Is
Beaver township 8
Benton horougli 6
Benton township 7
Berwick borough 2i
Bloomsburg 25
Briarcreek township 14
Catawissa borough 12
Catawissa township 3
Centralia borough 8
Centre township. 10
Cleveland township 7
Conyngham township 17
Fishingcreek township.... 9
Franklin township 4
Greenwood township 11
Hemlock township 8
Jack'^on township 4
T.orust township 11
Madison township 10
MTtn township 6
MifRin township 10
MillviUe borough 4
Montour townsliip 4
Mount Pleasant township. 8
Orange township 4
Orangeville borough 3
Pine township 8
Roarinccreek township. ... 5
Scott township 8
Stillwater borouch 3
Sugarloaf township 12
West Berwick borough. . . 20
7
4
4
$45-00
$45.00
89
94
131
83 $2.08
7
2
$2,700-00
$1,490.22
8
1
1
66.66
50-00
78
99
156
93
2.38
12
2,112.28
1.678-84
7
7
47-00
98
89
145
90
3-II
8
1,998.98
1,624.74
9
6
23
79-65
52-95
528
562
923
96
2.20
15
20,409.13
5.714-41
9
H
26
103.40
51-34
702
715
1,225
97
2-03
10
27.805.75
8,043.63
7
4
1 1
SO. 00
44.55
248
230
460
87
I 99
8
2
5,810.22
3,080.92
9
2
10
82.50
51-75
210
206
367
97
3-50
9-5
4
7,248.13
3,154-03
7
2
I
50.00
40.00
52
48
85
85
2.62
8
1,265.48
705.32
9
2
«
60.00
48.50
141
170
221
86
2-13
13
4.396-91
2,959.87
7
=;
■;
48.00
46.00
132
120
215
86
2.25
4
2.252.17
2,125.0s
7
I
6
SO. 00
50.00
123
124
190
77
.-87
8
1,828.03
1.436-13
9
7
1 1
85-24
57-23
336
308
530
85
3-35
13
11,493-78
2.984.99
7
^
h
55-00
43-33
109
91
173
81
2.60
6
2,328.93
1,820.76
7
2
2
50.00
45.00
59
65
88
87
1-97
6
1.382-03
976.89
7
4
7
53-75
44.28
145
126
229
92
2.25
7
2.912.42
2,261.29
7
I
7
65.00
41-43
80
86
156
8?
3-52
5
I
2,281.95
1-757-97
7
2
2
50.00
4S-00
66
47
83
88
2-52
10
1. 141. 52
1,083-03
7.09
I
11
65.00
44.00
142
140
22-7
88
2-35
9
3.163-06
2.327-79
7
•i
7
53-33
44.28
83
90
'53
43
3-28
6
2
4.164.54
2,049.65
7
2
4
57-50
47-50
51
63
103
94
3-07
6
2
1.732-00
1.096.84
7=;
?.
7
55-00
47.14
145
119
201
88
2.90
7
2.848.16
2.120.60
s
I
4
85.00
54.00
71
66
115
95
2.92
10
3
1.957-38
1.132. 51
8
2
2
45-00
40.00
60
62
92
88
1. 71
4
1.255-69
1. 197-53
7
2
6
45-00
48.33
73
93
145
gi
3-40
9
2,152.86
1,607.32
7
4
45-00
39
37
50
83
2.98
6
1.217-37
697.01
g
I
2
75.00
45-00
41
38
63
86
2.25
6
736-18
692.07
7
4
4
45.00
47-50
105
I 10
ISO
85
2.00
13
3
2,457-75
1.592.32
7
?.
2
40.00
55-00
88
61
108
84
1.85
7
1,200.00
1.053-95
7.12
4
4
50.00
50-00
129
108
188
93
^■ifl
4-5
I
2,642-57
1.651-58
7
^
46.66
21
35
54
94
2.85
7
508.55
766.13
7.16
6
6
48.60
46.97
175
193
321
86
1.96
13
5
3.305-25
2.423-50
9
4
17
71-25
50.00
477
46b
777
94
1-55
10
7
■5.327-12
6,013-21
290 7.8 92 222 $59.68 $47-33 4.896 4.861 8,124 87 $2.49 8.34 I $144.036.19 $69,320.09
98
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
Districts
Receipts
rt X o
to rt
X to ^
^^ u p
C D D.
5 O =1-
P m rt
Expenditures
^^ c !>
o w -
rt to
C-C o
£c£
>.
ra
»<-.
ul
e^
o
i_
M
*«
4<
o
~
n
o
«
<
3-
4-
5-
6.
7-
8.
9-
10.
II.
12.
13.
14-
15-
16.
17-
IS.
19-
22.
23-
24-
25-
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
31.
32.
Beaver twp $3,878.97
Benton bor 3,626.19
Benton twp 1.998.98
Berwick bor 56,835.61
Bloomsburg 44.745.66
Briarcreek twp 5.527.22
Catawissa bor 8,750.90
Catawissa twp 1,267.91
Centralia bor 10,001.94
Centre twp 2,950.11
Cleveland twp 2,397.77
Conyngham twp 16,750.30
Fishingcreek twp...l. 2,764.68
Franklin twp 1,366.78
Greenwood twp 3.164.96
Hemlock twp 2,334.23
Jackson twp 1,200.19
Locust twp 3,876.87
Madison twp 4,687.41
Main twp 2.959.23
Mifflin twp 3.633.87
Millville bor 3,079.53
Montour twp 1,951.84
Mount Pleasant twp., 2,352.30
Orange twp 1,339-48
Orangeville bor 1,281.22
Pine twp 6.942.75
Roaringcreek twp 1,391.67
Scott twp 2,907.96
Stillwater bor 93187
Sugarloaf twp 4.421.99
West Berwick bor. . . . 16,426.54
$5. 369-19
5.30503
3,623.72
62,550.02
52,789.29
8,608.14
11,904.93
1.973-23
12,961.81
5,075.16
3,833-90
19.735-29
4,585-44
2,343-67
5,426-25
4.092.20
2,283.22
6,204.66
6,73706
4,056.07
5.754.47
4.212.04
3.149.37
3.959-62
2,036.49
1,973-29
8. 535-07
2,445.62
4.559-54
1,697.99
6,845.49
22,439-75
$921.98
$2,651.00
60.75
2,890.00
92.70
2.415.00
29,410.26
16,364.06
1,771-50
20,002.20
214.27
5,043-00
1,251.86
6,492-50
29-35
1,025.00
372.64
4,857-50
296.41
3,434-05
134-53
2,545-00
2,575.03
11,048.50
296.92
3,205.00
204.51
1,390.00
161.06
3.837-00
353-80
2,605.00
85-94
1,772.53
80J.45
4,220.00
75-31
3.440.00
661.23
2,155-00
1,13502
3,740-00
290-Sl
2,434-25
98-47
1,420.00
112.50
2,765.00
32.73
1,320.00
66.01
1,365.00
1.50
2,430.00
9-38
t.685.00
31-18
2,990.00
11.25
1,025.00
170.61
4.280.00
918.13
11,058.9s
$128.16
152.79
126.17
1,101.71
2,191.13
324-22
58S.98
57-37
344-21
29.04
35-40
775-34
54-66
95-70
34-03
59-91
152.39
61.94
137.87
234.07
82.76
24-85
67.12
181.02
25.60
5-75
57-18
19.46
121.13
498-31
$238-23
193-47
142.07
1,820.87
1,230.47
824.51
477-93
50-00
488.60
270.83
85-93
1,627.81
195-85
43-63
72.45
204.22
43-99
256.97
109.68
130.00
26398
297.70
64.01
88.40
54.16
36.00
98.80
109.14
100.73
47-86
254.00
818.17
$78.75
25.00
40.00
150.00
300.00
43-33
200-00
50.00
130.00
s6.oo
50.00
300.00
105.00
18.00
51.86
50.00
23.75
35-00
25.00
50.00
60.00
35-00
40.00
50.00
35.00
3588
38.40
32.50
92.51
16.00
66.95
108.33
$121.58
76.03
75.00
682.38
43-33
222.72
3S.28
206.10
65-05
63.18
394.62
88.45
16.00
50.00
50.00
21.91
113-58
50.00
50.00
38.92
40.88
50.00
36-37
83-78
42. oS
44-73
7952
108.;
$1,113.92
1,203.78
737-15
13,594.59
25.384.75
1,567.78
2,538.50
690.00
6,406.12
274.10
S15.08
3,009.59
579-74
352-62
646.93
23409
213.02
454-22
2,597-21
893-42
355-06
57360
366.70
711-47
309-31
62.28
5,283.17
388.88
740.60
53302
1,834.35
8,164.72
$5,253-6j
4,525-79
3.623.7s
62,516.49
51.562.43
8,060.44
11,772.49
1,940.00
12,805.17
4,425.48
3.729-lJ
19,730.89
4,470.96
2,079,42
4,915.00
3-497-II
2,195-17
5,941-13
6,399-59
4,001.59
5.741-93
3.904-35
2,112.82
3,802.2a
1,854.69
1,829.97
7,919-55
2,275.38
4.091.72
1.652.59
6.727.04
21,674-94
$227,746.93 $297.067.02 $42,649.09 $137,905.54 $7,768.27 $10.740.46 $2.392.26 $2,947.42 $82,629.77 $287,032.81
THE SUMMER SCHOOL
The eleventh annual session of the Benton
Summer School was held in 19 14, the term
being from May i8th to July 3d. During the
ten previous years over fifteen hundred stu-
dents had attended the sessions, many of them
coming from distant points.
Not only is the school designed for teachers,
but it is also of immense value to students who
desire to advance themselves rapidly and cut
down the time of high school work. The re-
markable success of this school is due to the
interest the teachers take in the work and the
lack of "frills and fads" in the work. Several
prominent speakers address the classes during
the term each year.
The faculty for 1914 were : William Evans,
county superintendent ; L. Ray Appleman,
principal Benton high school ; Mary Shambach,
Berwick high school ; M. D. Mordan. Orange-
ville: Gordon Baker, Medico-Chirurgical Col-
lege, Philadelphia; George M. Lehman. Mill-
'ville high school; Charles W. Potter, IMifflin
high school; Ida Walter, Catawissa primary
school ; Blanche Shultz, State College ; T. R.
Griffith, supervisor of music. West Berwick
schools ; Daisy Olive Buterbaugh, drawing, of
State Normal College, Indiana, Pennsylvania.
The enrolled students for 1914 were: Hazel
L. Krapp, Hester Beach, Cora Kline, Beaver
Valley; Pansy Brink, Frank Brink, Rupert
Belles, Maude Cole, Myrtle Conner, Larue
Hess, Bessie Hess, Florence Hess, E. E. Haney,
\\'arren Kile, Susan Kile, Flossie Siegfried,
Edna Snyder, Arthur Wood, Griffith Yocum,
Fannie Harris, Benton ; Edward F. Bower,
Clara Cole, Charles Cole, Jesse Eves, Helen
Ferster, Earl Hartman, Helen Spaide, Letha
M. Smith, Berwick; Charles Butler, Anna
Bogart, Bloomsburg ; Mary E. Achy, Effie
Bittner, Austin Cherrington, Newton Rider,
Gruver Rhoads. Edward C. Rhoads, Harry
Berninger, John Goodman, Hester Barndt,
Ross Creasv. Hazel Bucher, Catawissa : Anna
Kealy, Ella Rooney. Anthony McDonald, Char-
lotte Price, Ethel Fennessy, Pearl Singleton,
Loretto Conroy, Annie Gallagher, Martha Bod-
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
99
man, Hannah McHale, Margaret Kostenbau-
der, Griffith Yocum, Mary Maguire, Mary
Steelfox, Irene Mohan, Centraha; G. R. Hart-
man, Espy ; Stanley R. Davis, Frank Hartman,
Leota Hess, Mamie L. Wenner, Harland
Thomas, Forks ; Lulu Sutliff, Central ; Pearl
Eves. Zelpha Hendershott, Rosa D. Hill, Helen
Sees, Myrtle Mordan, Marian Turner, Jersey-
town ; Belma Colder, Jamison City ; Lulu
Giberson, Eva Hess, Lulu Hess, Fred Stout,
Leona Harrington, Marie Fritz, Jamison City ;
Harold Sutliff, Laquin; Helen Cole, Henry
Fought, Clara Shoemaker, Grace Thomas,
Margaret A. Welsh, Jay Watts, Mamie Kess-
ler, Frank Fought, Millville; Harry Hauck,
Fannie Gearhart, Mainville ; Florence A.
Gruver, Emory Seely, Calvin E. Dice, Nesco-
peck ; Chloe Trivelpiece, Fairmount Springs ;
Freda Brown, Harold Campbell, Helen Creasy,
Edith Oman, Elva Hayhurst, Myrtle Hartman,
Mae Kline, Phyllis Turner, Orangeville; Car-
roll Appleman, Roy Girard, Ora Miller, Emer-
son Reece, RohrslDurg; Effie Hehvig, Lester
Yeager, Roaringcreek ; Angie Beishline, Sallie
Beishline, Her\-ey Reinard, Edna Pealer, Still-
water; Anna Heydenreich, Strawberry Ridge;
Bertelle Hayman, New Columbus ; Walter
Stackhouse, Forrest Peterman, Unityville ;
Anna Kasnitz, Francis Peters, Ruth McCleery,
West Berwick ; Edith Lindermuth, Zion.
COUNTY SUPERINTENDENTS
The act of 1854 provided for the election of
county superintendents of public schools. In
some of the old histories of Columbia county a
partial list of the different incumbents of this
office has been printed, but below will be found
the first correct list of names, together with the
dates of election or appointment. The names
of the county superintendents from the first
year to the present date (1914) are as follows:
Joel E. Bradley, elected June 5, 1854; Reu-
ben W. Weaver, appointed Jan. i, 1855; Wil-
liam Burgess, elected May 4, 1857; Lewis
.Appleman, elected May 7, i860 ; William Bur-
gess, appointed Oct. 23, 1861 ; John B. Patton,
appointed March 31, 1863; Charles G. Bark-
ley, elected Mav 4, 1863, reelected May i,
1866, and May 4, 1869; William H. Snyder,
elected May 7, 1872, reelected May 4, 1875, ^"d
May 7, 1878 ; J. S. Grimes, elected May 3, 1881,
reelected May 6, 1884. and May, 1887; Wil-
liam C. Johnston, elected May, 1890, and re-
elected May, 1893; J. K. Miller, elected May,
1896, and reelected May, 1899; William W.
Evans, elected May, 1902, and reelected 1905,
1908, 191 1 and 1914.
Under the school code of 191 1, the term
of office was extended to four years.
CHAPTER XIII
THE PRESS
Probably the most potent force in shaping
the actions of a community is the newspaper
published by the leading men and read by the
majority of the people. Columbia county has
had a number of these mouthpieces and most
of them have left an impress upon the history
of the county. This review of the rise and fall
of the different organs of the parties and
leaders of the past and present is gathered
from many sources, and is considered correct.
BLOOM SBURG
The Bloomsburg Register, published by
James Delevan, was begun about the first of
October, 1826, as appears by the oldest copy
which was in the possession of Hon. Leonard
B. Rupert, in 1883, bearing date May 10, 1827,
and being Vol. I, No. 32. It was a sheet io><
by 17 inches.
In April, 1828, Thomas Painter purchased
the paper from the owners and changed the
name to the Columbia County Register. He
continued the publication until April, 1844,
when it was discontinued. The Register was
devoted to the party opposed to the Democ-
racy, and was vigorously edited by Mr. Painter.
The Columbia Democrat was established by
John S. Ingram, and the first number issued
April 29, 1837. Then, or shortly after, he was
joined by Franklin S. Mills. They conducted
the paper for one year, and in 1838 sold it to
Capt. Henry Webb. He gave it permanence,
and in March, 1847, sold it to Col. Levi L.
Tate, who continued it until 1866, and in Feb-
ruary of that year sold it to Elijah R. Ikeler.
He consolidated it with the Star of The North,
and called the combination the Democrat and
Star, the name changing subsequently to the
Bloomsburg Democrat. It was continued
100
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
under that name until January, 1869, when it
was bought by Capt. Charles B. Brockway,
and merged into the Columbian. The paper
was, under all its names and varying fortunes,
consistently Democratic in its politics, and was
always deservedly influential. Of its editors,
Ingram went from here to Pottsville, Mills to
New Jersey, Tate to Williamsport.
The Star of the North was established by
Reuben W. Weaver and Benjamin S. Gilmore,
Feb. I, 1849. Gilmore retired Aug. i, 1850,
and the paper was continued by Mr. Weaver
until his death, Dec. 2, 1857. It was subse-
quently sold by his administrator and bought
by Williamson H. Jacoby in January, 1858.
He published it until Oct. 16, 1862, when he
went into the army, and the paper was sus-
pended until August, 1863, when he returne'd
and resumed the publication. It was carried
on under the old name until February, 1866,
when it was consolidated with the Columbia
Democrat, then owned by Elijah R. Ikeler, as
the Democrat and Star. At the end of about
seven months Mr. Ikeler sold his interest in
the establishment to Josiah P. Shuman, and
Jacoby and Shuman ran the paper until Jan-
uary, 1867, when Mr. Shuman retired, Jacoby
continuing the paper as the Bloomsburg Demo-
crat until January, 1869, when he sold it to
Capt. Charles B. Brockway, who merged it into
the Columbian.
The Columbia County Republican was estab-
lished in Bloomsburg March i, 1857, by Dr.
Palemon John. In 1869 he sold the paper to a
stock company, and Dr. WilHam H. Bradley
was editor. Dr. Bradley and Lewis Gordon
subsequently purchased the paper, and in 187 1
sold it to Daniel A. Beckley and John S.
Phillips, who became the publishers, the edi-
torial department being managed by Mr. Beck-
ley. In 1873 E. M. Wardin bought the interest
of John S. Phillips, and not long after that of
Daniel A. Beckley and became the sole pro-
prietor. On the first of August, 1875, James
C. Brown purchased the paper from E. M.
Wardin, and for a number of years conducted
it with D. A. Beckley as associate editor. Mr.
Beckley retired, and Mr. Brown continued as
sole proprietor until 1908, when he sold the
paper to O. B. Ammerman, and subsequently
the ownership was changed into a stock com-
pany, with Mr. Ammerman as president. It
was published and managed by C. W.
Matthews as a semi-weekly, for the company,
for a short time, when Mr. Matthews retired
and John S. Woods succeeded him. The pres-
ent owner is the Bloomsburg Publishing Com-
pany, and Charles E. Kesty is the editor.
The Columbian was established in Blooms-
burg May 5, 1866, as the organ of the Johnson
Republicans, under the management of George
H. Moore, who published thirty-five numbers.
The good will, subscription list and material
were then purchased by a number of Demo-
crats of the county, and placed under the
charge of John G. Freeze, Jan. 4, 1867, as a
Democratic newspaper, beginning Vol. I, No. i.
He continued until Feb. 15. 1867, when Capt.
Charles B. Brockway became associated with
him, and eventually bought up the stock and
took entire charge and ownership of the paper.
It was enlarged July 12, 1867, and began to
be printed on a steampower press. On the
1st of January, 1869, by the purchase of the
Bloomsburg Democrat from Mr. Jacoby, the
Columbian became the sole Democratic paper
in the county. On the ist of January, 1871,
Henry L. DiefTenbach bought the paper and
published it one year, when Captain Brockway
resumed the control. In July, 1873. Mr. Dief-
fenbach again took the paper, and continued
until Oct. I, 1875, when Charles B. Brockway
and George E. Elwell purchased it. They con-
tinued it to Oct. I, 1879, when Captain Brock-
way retired, and on that day John K. Bitten-
bender purchased Brockway's interest in the
paper, and the publishing firm became Elwell
& Bittenbender. It continued under this man-
agement until Feb. 20, 1893, when Mr. Bitten-
bender sold his interest to George E. Elwell,
who became the sole proprietor.
In September, 1909, Mr. Elwell associated
with him his son, G. Edward Elwell. Jr., and
on April i, 1910, the son became a partner, the
firm name changing to George E. Elwell &
Son. On April 7, 1910, the publication of the
Columbian ceased, for the reason that the job
printing part of the business had so increased
as to demand all the time of the proprietors,
and the further reason that the financial re-
turns from a weekly newspaper were no longer
commensurate with the labor required. Prop-
ositions to sell the paper, and to consolidate
with another, were both declined, and the
establishment retains the name of the "Colum-
bian Printing House," by which it has been
known for the last forty-six years.
From January, 1867, the Columbian was
Democratic in politics, and devoted to the gen-
eral policy of that party. In October, 1881,
the office was moved into its own three-story
brick building, 25 by 75 feet, erected especially
for it, on Main street. The presses are run
by electric power, and in all its appointments
the office is one of the finest printing establish-
ments in the interior of the State.
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
101
The Christian Messenger was started by
Edward E. Orvis, at Benton, in January, 1870.
It was a monthly of twenty-four pages. In
1872 the name was changed to the Messenger
and Laborer, and D. Oliphant, of London,
Canada, became co-editor, with Mr. Orvis as
pubHsher. The paper was enlarged to thirty-
two pages. In January, 1875, it was changed
to a four-page weekly. The office was moved
to Orangeville Oct. i, 1875, and the paper sus-
pended on Dec. 26th of that year for lack of
support.
The Democratic Sentinel was established in
Bloomsburg in 1871, by Charles M. Vander-
slice, who conducted it in a building which
stood at the rear of the lot now occupied by the
Townsend building. On April 12, 1885, the
paper was purchased by William Krickbaum,
and the office was subsequently moved to its
present location, east of the courthouse. In
1888, J. C. Rutter, Jr., was made manager of
the plant, and continued in that position for
eighteen years. In 1892 a daily edition was
started in the Sentinel office under the title of
the Bloomsburg Daily, the first daily paper
published in the county, except the short-lived
Sun. J. C. Rutter, Jr., was the editor and
manager. On January I, 1904, Mr. Rutter
purchased the plant and made the Sentinel a
semi-weekly, continuing the publication of the
Bloomsburg Daily. He held the office under
his control until June, 1906, when he sold to
John G. McHenry. Percy Brewington, the
present editor of the Benton Argus, was made
editor and held that office for a year. The
business was incorporated as a stock company
and in 1908 the daily was .called the Daily
Mail, the corporation the Sentinel Printery,
and George D. Herbert was made president
and manager. In July, 1909, J. C. Rutter, Jr.,
succeeded him, remaining until March, 1914.
The Dailv Sentinel came into being in Febru-
ary, 1892, and is at present published by Dr.
C. F. Altmiller, who is also editor-in-chief.
J. P. Ziegler is business manager; C. A. Har-
rington, city editor; and C. R. Smith, foreman
of the mechanical department.
The Independent JVeekly was started by
William H. Smith and E. E. Orvis in Benton
on April i, 1874, as a Democratic newspaper.
On Oct. I, 1875, they removed it to Orange-
ville with the Messenger and Laborer, and
Smith & Orvis dissolved partnership. Smith
continuing to publish the Independent.
On April I, 1876, the Independent JVeekly
was moved back to Benton, where it was pub-
lished until September, 1877, when the plant
was removed to Milton by Mr. Smith, who
started a paper there called the Argus. His
office was totally destroyed in the great Milton
fire in 1884, but he started it again and con-
tinued it until 1892, when he went back to
Benton and reestablished the Argus, which he
conducted until August, 1892, when he died.
Its publication was continued by his widow
until Aug. 30, 1901, with Percy Brewington
as manager. On the latter date it was pur-
chased by Brewington and Alfred Edgar, who
owned it until May, 1906, when Mr. Brewing-
ton purchased his partner's interest and became
sole owner. In 1913 the ownership changed
to C. L. Hirleman, Mr. Brewington remaining
as manager, and he is now again the owner.
It has a large circulation in the upper end of
the county.
The Bloomsburg Journal was begim in 1876,
by G. A. Potter, as a temperance and family
newspaper. It was a five-column, four-page
paper. In October, 1881, the form was
changed to a quarto of twelve pages, and then
of sixteen pages. In September, 1882, Dr.
Jacob Schuyler purchased a half interest in
the paper, and the new firm changed the form
to the old folio style. Mr. Potter again became
owner in 1887 and moved the plant to Mill-
ville, where he started the Weekly Tablet.
Since the death of Mr. Potter the paper has
been published by his son-in-law, Boyd Tres-
cott, who is also a surveyor and justice of the
peace.
The Sun. a daily paper, was started in April,
1S81, by Alem B. Tate and H. W. Kahler, and
about eighty numbers were issued. Dissen-
sions in the management and difficulties grow-
ing out of a want of support put an eclipse upon
the Sun. at the end of about three months.
The Herald of Freedom was published by a
gentleman named Case, between the years 1850
and i860. It was a sort of workingman's free-
soil advocate. After an unsuccessful struggle
the establishment was transported from
Bloomsburg to McEwensville ; and the paper
ceased to be published there after a few
months.
The Morning Press was established in
Bloomsburg on March i. 1902, by Paul R.
Eyerly and Charles Thomas Vanderslice, as
a morning daily. From the first issue it sprang
into favor. Beginning as a four-page, six-
column sheet, the demands upon its space grew
so rapidly that in the fall of the same year it
was enlarged to six pages, and the next spring
to eight pages, which it has since maintained.
The handsome and commodious home which
the Press now occupies is in striking compari-
son with the quarters in which it first was
102
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
printed. When the paper was bom in 1902
two small rooms in the Dentler building on
Main street were all that were required, and
into these were crowded both the editorial and
composing rooms, while a small corner of the
basement was given over to the pressroom.
There on the night before the first paper was
issued the proprietors battled all night with
a flood, wading knee-deep in the water until by
daylight they had reduced its level sufficiently
to enable them to print the first edition. Thus
the birth of the Press is associated with the
memorable flood of 1902, for the second day
of its existence brought the news of the terri-
ble destruction wrought. The Press was the
only paper that managed to circulate through
this section that day, and the enterprise of the
proprietors in getting and publishing the news
then set a standard which has never been sur-
passed, and which they have lived up to in
every period of the paper's subsequent history.
The new home of the Press, erected in 1908,
on Main near Market street, is unquestionably
one of the most artistic and substantially con-
structed buildings in central Pennsylvania.
Classical in design, it is essentially different in
appearance from any other buildings in this
section, and commands the admiration and
attention of the beholder. The front of the
building is perhaps the finest example of ar-
chitecture in the county, and is the work of
Verus T. Ritter, an architect of more than
local fame. The entire front is designed in
the form of an arch, the stonework of which
is distinctive and extremely decorative. Into
the design have been worked a number of orna-
ments surrounding the doors and windows,
and the whole is surmounted by a globe repre-
senting the two Americas, encircled by a
wreath. This front is in part stone, grey
pressed brick and metal, the delicate shades
and contrasts forming a harmonious whole.
The construction of the entire building is most
substantial, double floors being used exclus-
ively, while vibration has been completely elim-
inated by the use of heavy steel beams and
wall anchors for the joists. With an outside
measurement of 23 by 64 feet, the building
has four floors, the pressroom being in the
basement. Here are the large Duplex press,
the folders and the mailing department. The
equipment of the composing room is the most
complete that experience and foresight could
provide. Here are located the typesetting ma-
chines and the necessary equipment for the
production of a modem daily paper. The job
department is fitted up in the most scientific
and convenient manner, and is provided with
sufficient material and machines to produce the
higher class of commercial printed stationery.
At the head of the mechanical and business
department is C. T. Vanderslice, a member of
the firm and a printer of many years' experi-
ence, and he has surrounded himself with as-
sistants of ability in the various departments.
Paul R. Eyerly, another of the proprietors, is
in charge of the outside news gathering and
other business. Charles Kline is the circula-
tion manager.
With a circulation at the outset of 500 the
paper grew to 2,400 at the end of the first year,
and in 1914 is above the 5,000 mark, and this is
claimed to be the largest of any inland paper
in similar territory in the State.
CAT.\\VISS.\
The first newspaper published in Catawissa
was the Catazvissa Advertiser, which was
started in 1876 by Henry John and Joseph
Rhinard. It did not survive to the end of its
first volume.
The Nezvs Item was established in Catawissa
by G. E. Myers on May 16, 1878, as a five-
column folio. In 1879 it was increased to
twenty-four columns, and in 1881 to twenty-
eight columns. Mr. Myers conducted it until
1884, when Charles E. Randall and J. C. Yo-
cum became the owners, continuing until 1887,
when Mr. Randall became sole owner, and has
so continued to the present time. The Nezvs
Item has a large circulation on the south side
of the river. Mr. Randall is a fearless and
pungent writer and enjoys merited prosperity.
BERWICK
In the following the facts concerning the
newspapers which existed in Berwick up to
1883 are gleaned from an article written by
Col. John M. Snyder, a veteran editor, now
deceased, which appeared in Freeze's History
of Columbia County (1883).
The Independent American was established
in the spring of 1812 or 1813, by WilHam
Carothers, who continued it until 1818, when
it came into the possession of David Owen, son
of Evan Owen, the founder of Berwick. In a
short time he was succeeded by Orlando Por-
ter, under whose management it remained until
1827. He was followed by Daniel Bowen, who
conducted it until 1832, when' George Mack
became the owner, and changed the name to
the Berzvick Gazette; he made it a Democratic
journal. After several years the office came
into the possession of Evan O. Jackson, who
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
103
continued it as a Democratic paper until 1839,
when he disposed of it to Col. Levi L. Tate,
who changed the name to the Democratic Sen-
tinel. In 1840 Colonel Tate took A. M.
Gangewere in as partner, Mr. Gangewere re-
tiring in 1883. Colonel Tate then established
the Enquirer, and in 1845 B. S. Gilmore pur-
chased a half interest in the paper and took
charge of the office, Colonel Tate going to
Wilkes-Barre, where he started the Lucerne
Democrat. In 1847 ^'^^- Gilmore bought
Colonel Tate's interest in the Enquirer, and
Colonel Tate about the same time purchased
the Columbia Democrat from Capt. Henry
Webb, and removed to Bloomsburg. The pub-
lication of the Enquirer was continued by Mr.
Gilmore until the spring of 1849, when he
moved the office to Bloomsburg and formed a
partnership with Reuben W. Weaver, estab-
lishing the Star of the North, an account of
which will be found among the Bloomsburg
papers.
The Sentinel, a Whig paper, was started in
1834 by John T. Davis, and continued until
about 1838, when it was bought by Wilbur &
Joslin and the name changed to the Independ-
ent Ledger. It was made an eight-page liter-
ary paper, and conducted for about one year,
when it was bought by several gentlemen, and
the name again changed.
The Conservator was issued by them with
John T. Davis as editor. It continued through
the "Hard Cider" campaign of 1840, and is
supposed to have been discontinued after the
election.
The Star of the North was started by A. M.
Gangewere in 1843, and published by him
about one year. He sold it to N. J. Jones and
John H. Winter, who continued it until 1848,
when they sold it to Dewitt C. Kitchen, who
changed the name to the Standard, and made
it politically opposed to the Democrats. He
issued it from 1848 to 1850, when it again
changed hands and name. Col. John M. Snyder
being the purchaser.
The Telegraph was the new title, and the
policy returned to the Democracy. From
April, 1850, until the spring of 1851 it was thus
published, when Colonel Snyder sold it to
James McClintock Laird, who published it
until the spring of 1853, when it was sold,
but to whom does not appear.
The Investigator was established in 1853 by
Stewart Pearce and John M. Snyder, the
former retiring at the end of a month. Colonel
Snyder continued it until the spring of 1855,
when it was purchased by Col. Levi L. Tate,
and the name changed to the Berwick Gazette.
The Berzi'ick Gazette was conducted by Tate
& Irvin until 1856, when they were succeeded
by Walter H. Hibbs. He was followed by
Alem B. Tate, who continued it until i860,
when it was purchased by Jeremiah S. San-
ders and issued by him here until 1869, when
he moved the outfit to Hazleton. This left
Berwick without a local paper for the first
time in fifty years.
The Independent was started by Charles B.
Snyder on June i, 1871, with a new outfit.
Frank L. Snyder was assistant editor, and
Col. John M. Snyder the local editor. For
about nine years the Snyders published an
excellent paper, until Sept. i, 1879, when they
sold it to Robert S. Bowman, who changed the
title to the Berwick Independent. Mr. Bow-
man conducted it ably until July, 1904, when
he sold it to C. A. Rasely, who consolidated it
with the Berivick Weekly Enterprise.
The Berwick Gazette, the third of that name,
was started on March 25, 1882, by J. H. Diet-
erick. On Jan. i, 1884, he sold it to M. B.
Margerum, who in September, 1885, associ-
ated H. R. Reedy with him as a partner. This
paper ceased publication after a brief exist-
ence.
The Berwick Weekly Enterprise was estab-
lished by C. A. Rasefy on Feb. 3, 1900. In
July, 1904, he purchased the Independent and
consolidated the two under the name of the
Berznck Independent. He continued this pub-
lication until Jan. 31, 1907, when it passed out
of existence.
The Berzvick Daily Enterprise, the first daily
paper published in Berwick, was launched by
C. A. Rasely April 6, 1903. It was a sprightly
paper and filled a long-felt want. He con-
ducted it until Jan. 31, 1907, when he sold
the newspaper to C. T. Vanderslice and Paul
R. Eyerly, owners and publishers of the
Bloomsburg Morning Press. Mr. Rasely re-
tained the job printing department of the office,
and still conducts it. He has a well equipped
modern printing office.
Vanderslice & Eyerly moved the Enterprise
to another building, where they soon installed
a new press, enlarged the paper, and are giving
Berwick and vicinity an up-to-date journal.
CENTR.-\LIA
The Centralia Journal was started by Her-
skovits & Co. in Centralia in December, 1893.
It was a small weekly paper and expired after
a short life.
CHAPTER XIV
BLOOMSBURG
Bloomsburg is essentially a city of homes.
Its abundant resources make it an ideal place
in which to live and raise a family, and as the
biographical portion of this history will show
the people have not been neglectful of these
advantages. In the heart of a rich and pro-
gressive agricultural district, supplied with the
finest of soil, provided with an abundance of
pure water, elevated to a height above the sea
which gives purity of air, and with a popula-
tion noted for culture, refinement and intellec-
tual attainments, there is nothing to prevent
the continued growth of this beautiful town.
And beautiful she is, in truth. Most of the
streets are shaded by closely set maple trees,
the roadways are kept in smooth and dustless
condition, the residents vie with each other in
the cultivation of flowers, and a spirit of civic
pride induces everyone to exert his best efforts
to keep the town at the front in every endeavor
that will make for her growth and advance-
ment.
FOUNDING THE TOWN
In 1772 the site of the present town of
Bloomsburg was not only located in the town-
ship of Fishingcreek, county of Northumber-
land, of the State of Pennsylvania, but at the
same time designated by the State of Connec-
ticut as part of the township of Wyoming, of
their county of Westmoreland, claimed by
them at the time. Under the Connecticut
claim James McClure came here in May, 1769,
and located a home site, while on his way to
Wyoming, but he seems to have believed in
the right of Pennsylvania to dispose of the
land, for he obtained a patent from Francis
Stewart in 1772. Stewart had never at-
tempted to improve the land, which he had
surveyed in 1769 under the title of "Beau-
champ." McClure, after his purchase of the
tract, built a log house, and within that humble
domicile James McClure, Jr., the first white
child born within the forks of the Susque-
hanna, saw the light.
The McClures were not long alone. During
the year of their arrival Evan Owen (the
founder of Berwick ) and John Doan came
from Chester county with the intention of
founding a settlement of Quakers. Owen lo-
cated south of Kinney's run, while Doan set-
tled near its mouth. Samuel Boone, also a
Quaker, emigrated from Exeter township,
Northumberland county, in 1775, and secured
title to four hundred acres at the "Point," be-
tween the river and Fishing creek, extending
along the banks of both. From all the evi-
dence so far unearthed it seems that the only
other families living on the site of Bloomsburg
before the Revolutionary war were the Clay-
tons, Coopers and Kinneys. Thomas Clayton
was a Quaker from Chester county, Kinney
was from New Jersey, while nothing is known
of the nativity of Cooper.
Just before the commencement of the Revo-
lutionary war James McClure died, but his
widow cultivated the plantation until the Wy-
oming massacre, in 1778, when she placed all
her portable possessions on a raft and floated
down the Susquehanna to Lancaster, remain-
ing there until all danger was over. With her
went the widow of Capt. Lazarus Stewart,
who had been killed at Wyoming. Maj. Moses
\^an Campen, who had married the daughter
of Widow McClure, built the second fort in
the county on her farm, one mile above the
mouth of Fishing creek, calling it after his
respected mother-in-law. The site of this fort
is now marked by a tablet placed there by Fort
McClure Chapter, D. A. R., of Bloomsburg.
The fate of the last of the pioneers of
Bloomsburg — Cooper — was most unfortunate.
Robert Lyon, a soldier of Fort Augusta (Sun-
bury), was sent to Wyoming with a boatload
of stores. He landed at the mouth of Fishing
creek and left his canoe and gun in the care of
his dog, intending to visit the daughter of
Cooper. He was captured a short distance
away by Shenap, an Indian chief, and taken to
Niagara, where he was finally released by his
104
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
105
brother, an officer in the British army. Cooper
had been somewhat antagonistic to the suit of
Lyon, so that the latter's sudden disappear-
ance caused his arrest. While on his way to
the jail at Sunbury a rifle belonging to one of
the posse was dropped into the river, and in
the altercation Cooper, who was accused of
throwing it overboard, was struck by the
owner with a tomahawk. He lived for twenty
days, and then expired in prison. Later on
Lyon returned and the dead man's innocence
was established.
After the peace of 1783 immigration once
more turned toward this section, but Blooms-
burg, owing to its supposed swampy location,
was not the gainer. Thomas Clayton had
meanwhile removed to Catawissa, while Evan
Owen had gone to found Berwick. In 1783
Elisha Barton came to this spot. He built the
"Red" mill on Hemlock creek, owned a large
farm there and became justice of the peace,
the first one in this section of the county.
Upon Owen's departure his land came into the
possession of Joseph B. Long, of New Jersey,
who later sold it to Ludwig Eyer, the founder
of Bloomsburg. In 1801 Joseph Hendershott
and Andrew Schooley arrived, as also did
Jacob Wanich.
Ludwig Eyer at this time decided to give
impetus to the settlement of the locality and in
1802 laid out the town of Bloomsburg. At the
time the town was laid out there were three
buildings on the site, the Episcopal church,
John Chamberlain's tavern and a deserted log
house. But these were soon increased by the
building operations of the incoming settlers.
Soon after the founding of the town George
Vance, a Scotch-Irish Presbyterian from New
Jersey, built a cabin on the south side of Main
street, at the junction of East. Abraham
Grotz came from Easton in 1806 and built the
first frame house in the new town, at what is
now the corner of Second and Iron streets.
Christopher Kahler and John Coleman also
came from New Jersey in that year, the latter
occupying the first mentioned deserted log
house until he could build on what is now the
corner of Center and Third streets. He
planted there the first orchard in the town.
In 1S09 Philip Alehrling, a native Hessian,
opened the first store, near where the "Central
Hotel" now stands. Daniel Snyder came in
1810 and bought land next to the town plat
from John Vance. At this time the town bore
the name of Oyertown or Eycrstaedtel.
BLOOMSBURG IN l8l2
From reminiscences of an old resident of
the town a mental picture of the appearance
of Bloomsburg in 1812 can be made. At that
time a log house stood on First street at the
site of the Tustin home ; the frame home of
Daniel Fry stood at the corner of First and
West ; at the forks on the east end of Second
street was a one-story log house, owned and
occupied by Daniel Snyder, who later opened
a hotel there ; .\hraham Grotz, the hatter, was
at the southwest corner of Second and Iron
streets ; Christopher Kahler's home was on a
lot east of the "Central Hotel": John Cham-
berlain, the hotelkeeper, lived in a frame
house on the site of Moyer's drug store ; oppo-
site Kahler's house was the home of John
Hagenbuch, and on the northwest corner was
the one-story frame store of Philip Mehrling,
who was later succeeded by William McKel-
vy, Cyrus Barton and E. H. Biggs; a two-
story frame hotel occupied the site of the
present "Exchange Hotel" ; a one-story frame
was at the comer of Jefferson alley and Second
street, occupied by Mrs. Mooney ; a log house
on the corner of Center and Second, owned by
Mr. Fisher ; the two-story frame hotel of John
Chamberlain on the northv^'est corner of
Second and Center ; and on the opposite corner
the Episcopal church, where the Townsend
building now stands. On the north side of
Second street there was no house nearer than
the log home of John Hess, at the site of the
residence of J. C. Rutter, Jr. The original
town laid out by Eyer was from Iron to West
streets. All of the section on East street, be-
low Third, was called "Hopkinsville," after
Rev. Caleb Hopkins, the Episcopal minister
who laid out an addition to the town at that
point. At that date a subscription school,
taught by a Mr. Ferguson, stood at the north-
east corner of Second and Iron streets.
OLD TAVERNS .■\ND THEIR SUCCESSORS
At the time John Chamberlain kept his tav-
ern each guest was expected to spend at least
sixpence at the bar for the privilege of sleep-
ing on the bare floor of the public room that
night. His establishment was a pretentious
frame structure on the corner of Second and
Center.
Casper Chrisman was the host of a smaller
tavern on the site of the present "Exchange
Hotel." This house was burned Feb. 24, 1870,
when Henry J. Clark was the proprietor. The
second building on the site was erected soon
106
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
after, by John S. Sterner, and sold to W. B.
Koons. The property was again damaged by
fire in 1877. Soon after this it was bought by
I. W. McKelvy, who leased it to George H.
Brown, W. R. Tubbs, and James McClosky,
successively, until 1894, when Gehrad Snyder
bought it, and conducted it until 191 1. Then
James Magee became the owner. Since then
Robert J. Huntzinger has been the landlord.
Conrad Hess ran a hotel on Main street,
below Jefferson, on the site of the former I.
W. Hartman property, for a number of years.
The predecessor of the "Central Hotel" was
a log structure erected in 1818 by Philip Mehr-
ling, who was accidentally killed during its
construction. Subsequently a brick building
was erected on the site and conducted and
owned by John Laycock from 1853 until his
death, in 1879. Other owners were I. S, Kuhn,
C. B. Ent, and J. Kline. Among the other
former landlords were George H. Brown,
George Aurand, Bernard Stohner, C. B. Ent
and James Kline. It is now owned by Mrs.
James Kline and is leased by George Wagen-
seller, who has given the house a high reputa-
tion. The hotel has in late years been much
enlarged and improved.
The "Forks Hotel," which stood at the head
of Main street, at East street, was built in 1825
by Daniel Snyder, and for many years the
older settlers resorted there to pass the evening
in interchange of stories and reminiscences.
It was torn down in 1875. Among the various
landlords of the "Forks" were G. W. Mauger
and T. Bent Taylor. The pump at the corner
furnished the hotel water supply.
The "St. Elmo Hotel" was first opened by
J. L. Girton in the property of James Cadman.
It has since had a number of tenants, among
them H. F. Deitterich, and George Wagen-
seller. It is now conducted by H. S. Kelchner.
The "City Hotel" was first opened by G. W.
Sterner, who bought the land of I. W. Hart-
man in 1875 and erected the building. He sold
to the present proprietor, W. A. Hartzell, in
1896.
Back in the early seventies there was a pub-
lic house in the building now owned by Moyer
Brothers, called the "City Hotel." It was
built by Bernard Stohner, and he and George
H. Brown and J. L. Girton were the successive
landlords vmtil 1881, when it was purchased
by Moyer Brothers, rebuilt and enlarged, and
since then used by them in their extensive
drug business.
"East End Hotel" was operated for many
years by William Giger. Since then it has had
several tenants, a few years ago coming into
the hands of J. L. Fisher, the present landlord.
"Hotel Stauffer" was first opened some
years ago by Mrs. B. Stohner. It had several
tenants and several changes of name until P.
B. Heddens became the owner and changed
the name to "Hotel Heddens." A few years
ago he leased it to the present landlord, E.
Staufifer.
"Hotel Irvin" is leased by Irvin A. Snyder,
who for many years was connected with the
"Exchange Hotel." It is a modern structure
at Main and Railroad streets, and was first
called "Hotel Lee" after the landlord. The
next tenant, T. B. Brittain, changed it to
"Hotel Brittain," and Mr. Snyder christened
it with its present name.
"Hotel Hidlay" when first licensed was
managed by W. F. Stohner. At the end of a
year Bruce Hidlay leased it, and later trans-
ferred it to his father, A. C. Hidlay, who con-
tinued it until 19 1 4, when he sold to O. E.
Myers, the present occupant.
The "Colonial Hotel," Metheral and Guin-
ard, proprietors, is a new and commodious inn
at Fifth and East streets. It was opened in
1914.
MERCANTILE ESTABLISHMENTS
Philip Mehrling, the first of the Bloomsburg
merchants, appears to have been a man of
wealth for those times. He assisted in the de-
velopment of the town and built many of the
houses as well as a hotel. In 1810 a Mr.
Bishop opened a store at the northwest corner
of Second and Center streets, and John Barton
also opened a store about this date. The larg-
est store in the town was opened by William
McKelvy in 1816, on Market Square, and
conducted by him and McKelvy & Neal for
sixty years. They were succeeded by I. W.
McKelvy, until 1894, when the store passed
into the ownership of F. P. Pursel, the present
occupant.
The wholesale drug business of Moyer
Brothers was founded in 1835 by John R.
Moyer, with a capital of but $100. Another
well known store was that of Eyer & Hefley,
which was carried on from 1835 to 1845. In
1843 I. W. Hartman began business in the old
Arcade building, which stood on the site of
the present Townsend building, comer of
Market and Second streets.
FIRST INDUSTRIES
Many small shops were established at differ-
ent early periods in Bloomsburg, catering to
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
107
the wants of the few people, and the town was
amply supplied with blacksmiths, carpenters,
weavers, etc. The first industry of importance
was the tannery of Daniel Snyder, at Main
street and Light Street road, started in 1812
after many obstacles of a financial nature.
Another tannery was opened by Philip Christ-
man, who sold out afterwards to William
Robison.
The first wagon shop was started under
peculiar circumstances. In the year 1816 a
stranger came to Bloomsburg and stopped at
one of the taverns overnight. Inquiries of the
landlord elicited the fact that he was a wagon-
maker, his name was James Wells, and he was
from Connecticut. The landlord needed a
waeon, as did also others, this useful vehicle
being conspicuous by its absence at the time in
the town. Wells endeavor^ to obtain the use
of tools from the carpenters of the town, but
the prejudice against "Yankees" was so great
that he was repeatedly refused. Finally Wil-
liam Sloan agreed to let him have a bench and
the use of tools in his shop, then located on
Market street on the site of the present Lu-
theran church. They went to the farm of Sloan
near Bloomsburg and procured from the
fences sufficient seasoned wood to build the
first one-horse wagon ever seen in the town.
Sloan at once began the manufacture of wag-
ons, the product being of the "Dearborn"
class. He sent salesmen around and soon had
a thriving business. In 1832 John K. Grotz
became his partner and decided to add the
making of plows to the factory. He went to
Lewistown, Mifflin county, to buy a plow, and
started for home with it in his wagon, but on
the way sold the latter, and fastening a sapling
to the plow point hauled it sled-fashion more
than half the way. The making of plows was
not very successful, but the wagon business
prospered under the original founders and
their successors, M. C. Sloan & Brother, until
1890, when it was discontinued.
In 1832 a number of canalboats of the "ark"
variety were built in Bloomsburg by John
Whitenight, John Barton, Isaac Green, Samuel
Ludwig and George Frey. These boats were
loaded with grain and other products and
shipped to southern ports, where both the
boats and their contents were sold.
Other smaller plants of the past were the
foundry of S. M. Hess, which produced car
wheels and fencing, and the establishment of
the Bloomsburg Planing & Cabinet Company.
In 1864 Peter S. Harman and Benjamin F.
Sharpless opened a foundry and machine shop,
running it for four years, after which Mr.
I
Harman severed his connection and Mr.
Sharpless continued the establishment for
some years as the Eagle Iron Works. It stood
on Third street, next to the Colonel Freeze
property, and was removed when Center street
was opened through it.
One of the local industries between 1838
and 1841 was the culture of the silkworm by
Robert Cathcart and William G. Hurley, their
mulberry grove being on the north side of
First street. But it was mainly a "fad" and
soon languished, the promoters hardly making
expenses.
PROSPERITY AND GROWTH
The growth of the town was gradual and of
a substantial character, and never savored of
the "boom" method which so often wrecks a
town as well as the promoters. In 1838 the
population was a little over three hundred and
the log and frame houses had for the most part
been superseded by brick structures. The dis-
covery of iron in the hills near had resulted
in an increase of population, but it was not un-
til the building of the furnaces in the early
fifties that the town took its first spurt of
growth.
After the establishment of the iron business
the advent of the Lackawanna & Bloomsburg
railroad in 1858 gave a fresh impulse to the
population. This road had a station originally
outside of the town limits, but before many
years the depot was well within the built-up
portion. In 1881 the North & West Branch
railroad was built and helped somewhat to de-
velop the river side of the town, l)ut for some
years the only means of reaching the depot
across the river was by ferry.
In 1888 the bridge question was agitated
and the Bloomsburg Bridge Company was or-
ganized. The Pennsylvania Railroad Com-
pany proposed the erection of a bridge to cost
$100,000, they to take $55,000 of the stock,
and the Bridge Company $45,000. After sev-
eral interviews the project was abandoned,
and the Bridge Company dissolved in 1890.
An account of the subsequent building of this
bridge is given elsewhere.
These lines of railroad seemed to presage
the development of Bloomsburg into a railroad
center, but so far the prediction has not been
fulfilled, although there is little to complain
of in the way of shipping or passenger facil-
ities. The only thing needed to complete the
chain of railroads is a through line north and
south connecting the Reading with the roads
108
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
in Sullivan county by way of the Bloomsburg
& Sullivan.
Until 1889 the nearest point to reach the
Philadelphia & Reading railroad from Blooms-
burg was at Rupert, two miles distant, where
an omnibus line met all passenger trains.
Travelers of those days will remember the
dusty ride to town in the rumbling coach. A
branch of the Reading was constructed into
Bloomsburg in 1889, with its terminal at Fifth
and Railroad streets, where a building was
erected by courtesy called a station. It was
something better than a "shack" but not much
more than a respectable "shanty." At one
time an effort was made to locate the station
on Market street diagonally across from the
Lackawanna depot, which would necessitate
crossing the tracks of the latter company be-
low the town. This was resisted by the Lack-
awanna Company, but after several years'
litigation the Reading procured a favorable
decision from the Supreme court. The project
was abandoned, however, owing to the finan-
cial stringency of the Reading at that time, and
also to the fact that heavy damages were de-
manded by property owners in case their lands
were confiscated by the railroad. The old lo-
cation was retained, and in 1912 a handsome
new depot was erected, the grounds neatly
laid out, and every convenience provided for
both passenger and freight traffic. Mr. F. R.
Carpenter was the agent of the Reading Com-
pany at Rupert before the building of the an-
nex, from 1883, and since 1889 has had charge
of the Bloomsburg station. His services at
the two places cover a period of thirty-one
years, and he has always been and is a most
efficient and obliging official.
The Lackawanna Railroad Company also
has been fortunate in having as its agent at
Bloomsburg a man whose efficiency and popu-
larity have caused his retention in that posi-
tion from 1882 up to the present time. Mr.
W. R. Kocher, while thoroughly attentive to
his official duties, is also engaged in the coal
trade. He is an active and useful citizen, in
both business and religious relations, being an
officer of the Methodist Church and also of
the Business Men's Association. He was
president of the town council in 1897.
The Lackawanna freight station was de-
stroyed by fire on May 2, 1914, and a new brick
structure has taken its place. It is of rough
pressed brick made by the Bloomsburg Brick
Company, and is far more commodious and
attractive than the former one.
The returns of the mercantile appraiser for
1886 showed an aggregate of seventy-one
dealers in various commodities. Hardly one-
third of that number existed in 1858. In 1914
the appraiser's figures for Bloomsburg are
165 dealers, wholesale and retail.
As the town grew in size the plat was added
to by many lots and additions, under various
names, most of which are now forgotten. Be-
sides "Hopkinsville," before mentioned, there
were the suburbs of "Port Noble," on the
banks of the canal ; "Snyder's addition," made
in 1837; "Welsh Hill," formed by Rev. D. J.
Waller in 1845 ; "Ramsay's addition," from its
owner, Dr. John Ramsay; "Hurley's addition"
of 1848; "Scottown," from Dr. David N.
Scott, on the southwest ; the "Rupert & Barton
addition," bounded by Fourth, Iron and East
streets and the canal; "Morgantown," at the
Irondale furnaces ; and "Rabbtown," at the
Bloom furnaces.
INCORPORATION — POPULATION
Bloom township was one of the original
twelve with which the county was organized in
1813. From it at various periods were taken
portions to be added to Mount Pleasant,
Orange, Centre and Scott. The final remains
were organized in 1870 as the Town of
Bloomsburg, and include all the land between
the two great bends of Fishing creek, the
Susquehanna and the township of Scott.
After the last slice had been taken from
Bloom township and the town incorporated
the population in i860 was 2,668; in 1870,
3,340; in 1880, 3,702; in 1890, 4.635; in 1900,
6,170; in 1910, 7,413.
The town council consists of a president and
si.x memljers, who are elected annually. Since
the organization of the town the officials have
been as follows :
1870 — President, Elias Mendenhall ; mem-
bers, Joseph Sharpless, Stephen Knorr, W. B.
Koons, F. C. Eyer, Caleb Barton, C. G.
Barkley.
1871 — President, Elias Mendenhall; mem-
bers, Joseph Sharpless, C. G. Barkley, Stephen
Knorr. W. B. Koons, F. C. Eyer, John Rinker.
1872 — President, Elias Mendenhall; mem-
bers, Freas Brown, Stephen Knorr, Caleb
Barton, John S. Sterner, James Dennis, J. H.
Maize vice W. B. Koons, resigned.
1873 — President, Stephen Knorr ; mem-
bers, Louis Bernhard, Charles Thomas, C. W.
Miller, Samuel Knorr, J. S. Evans, John S.
Sterner.
1874 — President, David Lowenberg; mem-
bers, Joseph Hendershott, P. S. Harman, J. K.
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
109
Eyer. Louis Bernhard, Stephen Knorr, W.
Peacock.
1875 — President, David Lowenberg; mem-
bers, E. R. Drinker, G. W. Sterner, Eli Jones,
Isaiah Hagenbuch, W. O. Holmes, Welling-
ton Hartman vice John Cadman, resigned.
1876 — President, David Lowenberg; mem-
bers, Peter Jones, Isaiah Hagenbuch. E. R.
Drinker, George E. Elwell, W. O. Holmes, E.
M. Knorr.
1877 — President, David Lowenberg; mem-
bers, E. R. Drinker, W. Rabb, W. O. Holmes,
Peter Jones, G. W. Correll, G. E. Elwell.
1878 — President, G. A. Herring; members,
J. S. Evans, E. R. Drinker, W. Rabb, G. E.
Elwell, B. F. Sharpless, W. O. Holmes.
1879^ — President, I. S. Kuhn ; members, T-
S. Evans, W. O. Holmes, G. M. Lockard, B.
F. Sharpless, E. R. Drinker, W. Rabb.
1880 — President, G. A. Herring; members,
W. Rabb, J. S. Evans, B. F. Sharpless, Charles
Thomas. George Hassert, W. O. Holmes.
t88i — President, G. A. Herring; members,
W. Rabli, George Hassert, J. K. Lockard, I.
W. Hartman, G. W. Correll, C._W. Neal.
1882 — President, G. A. Herring; members,
C. B. Sterling, W. Rabb, George Hassert, W.
S. Moyer. L. E. Waller, I. W. Hartman.
1883 — President, G. A. Herring; members,
C. B. Sterling. W. Rabb, George Hassert, I.
W. Hartman, L. E. Waller, W. S. Moyer.
1884 — President, L. B. Rupert; members,
C. B. Sterling, W. Rabb, Eli Jones, C. A.
Moyer, Isaiah Hagenbuch, L. T. Sharpless.
1885 — President, L. B. Rupert; members,
C. B. Sterling, J. C. Sterner, Henry Rosen-
stock, C. A. Moyer, Isaiah Hagenbuch, L. T.
Sharpless.
1886 — President, B. F. Zarr; members, C.
B. Sterling, T. C. Sterner, Henry Rosenstock,
E. B. Clark, "L. T. Sharpless, W. J. Correll.
1887 — President, P. S. Harman ; members,
Chnton Sterling, F. D. Dentler, E. B. Clark,
L. S. Wintersteen, R. H. Ringler, James
Cadow.
1888 — President, P. S. Harman; members,
Clinton Sterling, John Wolf, Charles Hassert,
James Cadow, E. C. Wells, R. H. Ringler.
i88g — President. P. S. Harman; members,
R. H. Ringler, E. C. Wells, Louis Gross,
Joshua Fetterman, Fred Schwinn, I. E. Yost.
1890 — President, G. A. Herring; members,
William Rabb, S. W. Shntt, E. C. Wells, Louis
Gross, J. Fetterman, F. Schwinn.
1891 — President, P. S. Harman ; members,
Thomas Gorrey, W. B. Allen, J. S. White, I.
W. Willits, E. R. Furman, Harry Rhodes.
1892 — President, F. P. Drinker; members.
C. C. Peacock, W. O. Holmes, W. H. Gilmore,
William Kreamer, Harry Rhodes, Thomas
Gorrey.
1893 — President, F. P. Drinker; members,
Stephen Knorr, Thomas Gorrey, C. C.
Peacock, W. O. Holmes, W. H. House, W. H.
Swentzel.
1894 — President, F. P. Drinker; members,
B. F. Hicks, S. C. Creasy, J. E. Wilson,
Stephen Knorr, Clinton Sterling, Isaac Yost.
1895 — President, S. C. Creasy; members,
W. F. Hartman, J. E. Wilson, Stephen Knorr,
G. M. Lockard, E. M. Kester, Thomas Gorrey.
1896 — President, W. O. Holmes; members,
F. J. Richard, E. A. Rawlings, W. D. Brobst,
Thomas Gorrey, Charles Kunkle, W. R.
Kocher.
1897 — President, W. R. Kocher; members,
F. J. Richard, Thomas Gorrey, John Kelly, H.
G. Supplee, W. S. Rishton, Henry Hower.
1898— President, W. O. Holmes; members,
W. S. Rishton, J. S. Blue, W. L. Demaree, D.
Butler, G. M. Lockard, F. B. Hartman.
1899 — President, W. O. Holmes ; members,
F. B. Hartman, W. L. Demaree, T. L. Smith,
J. R. Cox, Con Cronin, J. S. Blue.
1900 — President, Frank Ikeler ; members,
Con Cronin, H. F. Dieffenbach, John R. Cox,
Theo. Smith, F. B. Hartman, J. S. John.
1901 — President, Frank Ikeler; members,
Thomas Webb, Con Cronin, W. Kashner, H.
F. Dieffenbach, F. B. Hartman, C. F. Rabb.
1902 — President, John R. Townsend ; mem-
bers, G. M. Hughes,"W. Kashner, C. H. Reim-
ard, J. L. Wolverton, Josiah Giger, John A.
Cox.
1903 — President, John R. Townsend; mem-
bers, C. H. Reimard, J. H. Giger, Samuel
Pursel, G. M. Hughes, J. A. Cox, Charles
Gulp.
1904 — President, John R. Townsend; mem-
bers, C. H. Reimard, Josiah Giger, Samuel
Pursel, Charles Gulp, M. H. Rhodes, G. M.
Hughes.
1905 — President, C. C. Yetter; members,
M. H. Rhodes, James Magee, C. W. Runyon,
J. W. Mifflin. Josiah Giger. John Deily.
1906 — President, C. C. Yetter; members,
J. E. Fidler, R. R. Hartman, James Magee, W.
Kashner, C. W. Runyon, John Deily.
1907 — President, J. H. Coleman ; members,
C. W. Runyon, James Magee, J. W. Zeigler,
John Deily, William Kashner, H. C. Rulon.
1908 — President, J. H. Coleman; members,
James Magee, H. C. Rulon, A. B. Naylor,
Jacob Stiner, C. A. Pursel, C. W. Runyon.
1909 — President, F. J. Richard; members.
110
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
James Magee, I. L. Rabb, W. Kashner, C. W.
Runyon, C. A. Pursel, H. C. Rulon.
1910 — President, Joseph L. Townsend;
members, I. L. Rabb, C. A. Pursel, C. W.
Runyon, Thomas Gunter, H. C. Pollock, H.
C. Rulon.
191 1 — President, James Magee; members,
G. H. Welliver, C. A. Pursel, R. R. Hartman,
Oscar Lowenberg, J. W. Bruner, Isaiah Ohl.
191 2 — Under amendments to the State con-
stitution last year's council held over.
1913 — President, Oscar Lowenberg; mem-
bers. Karl F. Wirt, C. A. Pursel, A. C Hidlay,
J. H. Coleman, H. C. Rulon, Dr. G. H.
Welliver.
George Nathan Wagner, chief of police of
Bloomsburg, elected in 191 2, is a native of
Conyngham, Luzerne county. Previous to his
assuming his present office he served one en-
listment in Battery E, 4th Coast Artillery, and
two enlistments in Troop D of the State Con-
stabulary.
MUNICIP.\L IMPROVEMENTS
The election of the first town couhcil was
the beginning of municipal improvements.
Most of the repairs to the streets and town
bridges had previously been made by the town-
ship supervisors, or by benevolent and enter-
prising citizens who paid for them out of their
own pockets. In 1874 Market street was
finally opened clear through by the removal of
the house of Martha Wells, below Third street.
In the following year the brick "Forks Hotel"
was removed and Second street extended to
the Normal grounds. Center street was also
opened and extended from Second to First.
Samuel Neyhard drew the plans in 1872 for
the grading of East street. He afterwards
drew the plans for the regrading of almost
every street in the town. [Mr. Neyhard died
Oct. 27, 1914.]
Contemporary with the street improvements
the problem of water supply w^as solved by the
organization of the Bloomsburg Water Com-
pany in 1874 for the purpose of procuring a
supply of water from Stony brook, and a prop-
osition made to the town council. However,
an act of the Legislature was passed prohibit-
ing an increase of the bonded indebtedness of
the town, and the company dissolved. In 1877
a second company was organized, the directors
being D. T- Waller, L. N. Mover. M. S. Apple-
man, E. H. Little, R. C. Neal, C. G. Barkley,
J. A. Funston, George E. Elwell and H. J.
Clark.
As no springs of sufficient height above the
level of the town could be found, a reservoir
was dug on the hill immediately north of town,
the water taken from Fishing creek to a brick
well and from there pumped to the reservoir,
whence it was distributed over the town by
means of iron pipes.
The waterworks have been greatly improved
and enlarged since 1886, notably by the build-
ing of a second reservoir, enlarging the power-
house and adding new machinery, and in
March, 1913, a filtering plant was completed
at a cost of $50,000. Paul E. Wirt is president
of the company, Frank P. Zarr, secretary, and
the directors are Paul E. Wirt, A. Z. Schoch,
B. F. Sharpless, L. N. Mover, W. H. Hidlay,
A. B. Grotz, L. E. Waller, Ellis Eves. Dr. J. J.
Brown.
In May, 1874, the Bloomsburg Gas Com-
pany was formed, and in October of that year
the streets were first illuminated by this
method. Col. S. Knorr was the first presi-
dent, and C. W. Miller the first secretary, of
the company.
The first public sewers were introduced in
1884 and since then a complete system of
drainage has been installed.
The first paving done in Bloomsburg was
on Main street, from Market Square to Iron
street, in 1906, J. R. Fowler being the con-
tractor. In 1914 the paving was extended from
Iron street to East street, and also from
Market Square to West street, under the
supervision of the council.
An interesting and novel plant is that of the
Bloomsburg Heating Company, which pro-
vides heat for many of the public buildings,
business houses and residences of Bloomsburg.
This comparatively modern method of heat-
ing was introduced in the town as early as
1885 by the incorporation of the Bloomsburg
Steam & Electric Light Company. In con-
nection with their electric light plant they in-
tended to use the waste steam for heating pur-
poses, but the heating department was devel-
oped first. Pipes are laid to the homes and
stores, and steam at a good pressure is sup-
plied even in the coldest weather. In 1908
the plant was purchased by J. T. Tracy and
A. W. Sharpless, who soon made it an im-
portant business investment. Since the death
of Air. Tracy the sole ownership has been
vested in Mr. Sharpless. Having a number
of coal dredges in operation in the summer, he
is assured of an abundant and cheaply obtained
supply of fuel, taken from the bed of the
Susquehanna river.
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
111
ELECTRIC LIGHTING
The original electric light company in the
county was the Bloomsburg Electric Light
Company, organized in November, 1890, with
the following officers: President. W. R.
Tubbs ; secretary, L. E. Waller ; treasurer, Dr.
I. W. Willits; directors, C. W. Miller, J. H.
Mercer, P. S. Harman, C. C. Peacock, F. P.
Drinker. The light was turned on for the
first time March 10, 1891. The company con-
tinued to operate until 1899, when it passed
into the hands of the American Electric Light
& Gas Co., which at the same time purchased
the Bloomsburg Gas Co., and consolidated
the two under one management. The name
was subsequently changed to the United Gas
& Electric Company, and this a few years
ago passed into the control of the Columbia
Power, Light & Railways Company. The
Bloomsburg Electric Light Company had its
plant at Eighth and Catherine streets ; it is now
abandoned.
The Irondale Electric Light, Heat & Power
Company was organized in April, 1902. Those
actively interested in it at its inception were
W. S. Moyer, Dr. J. J. Brown, Dr. W. M.
Reber, C. W. Runyon, J. C. Brown, N. U.
Funk, C. A. Kleim, Grant Herring, C. M.
Creveling, H. A. McKillip. The old power-
house formerly used by the Bloomsburg Iron
Company at Irondale was purchased from the
Bloomsburg Water Company, including the
dam at Arbutus Park and the race. The
building was remodeled and powerful turbines
instead of the old overshot water wheel, and
the latest machinery for both steam and water
power was procured. A complete modern
equipment for the manufacture of commercial
electric current was erected, and the company
began business in August, 1903. In 19 13 the
timber dam was torn out with great difficulty,
owing to the many cribs and piling in the
creek bed, and a new timber dam, 12 feet
high and 760 feet long, placed in position. A
concrete dam could not be built owing to the
fact that bed rock was over ten feet below the
creek bed. The old dams had been subject
to frequent damage by freshets.
For a time there was sharp competition be-
tween the Irondale Company and the Blooms-
burg Electric Light Company, until a few
years ago, when both companies passed into
the control of the Columbia Power, Light &
Railways Company. The officers at the time
of the consolidation were : C. M. Creveling,
president; N. U. Funk, secretary: M. Mill-
eisen, treasurer; directors, C. M. Creveling,
M. Milleisen, Dr. J. J. Brown, N. U. Funk,
Robert Runyon, C. A. Kleim, J. C. Brown, Dr.
C. S. Altmiller, J. L. Moyer.
FIRE DEP.\RTMENT
Until 1868 Bloomsburg had no protection
against fires but the "bucket brigade." When
a fire occurred two lines of people were formed
at a well or cistern, and full buckets were
passed along one line to the fire, the empty
buckets being returned by the other line. If the
water supply became exhausted, the fire con-
tinued as long as there was anything left to
burn. In February, 1868, the Bloomsburg Fire
Company was organized. A subscription fund
of $450 was raised, and with it a hand engine
was purchased from the Friendship Fire Com-
pany of Philadelphia by William H. Gilmore.
It was a double decker, made for city use,
with water supplied from a plug. It arrived
in Bloomsburg on April 2, 1S68. Having no
suction pipe it was still necessary to supply it
with water by the lines of bucket passers, but
it was an improvement on the brigade because
a stream could be thrown farther. Much
good work was done with it, and it saved
property worth many times its cost.
After the erection of waterworks the old
hand engine made its appearance only in fire-
men's parades. It was sold in November, 1886,
to the Volunteer Firemen's Association of
Philadelphia, and was kept by them as a relic
of the early days of the city fire fighters until
1892, when it was destroyed in a fire.
In 1880 the Bloomsburg Fire Company was
changed to Friendship Fire Company, No. i.
The town purchased a steam fire engine in
1890, and put it in the charge of this com-
pany, where it has remained ever since. Of the
charter members but few are living, among
these being W. H. Gilmore, J. H. Long, J. L.
Walter, W. J. Correll, F. M. Gilmore, Jacob
Av\\, Edward Searles, John Roadarmel, Charles
Decker, William Thomas and T. L. Gunton.
This company has quarters in the town hall*,
having well appointed rooms for the appa-
ratus and for meetings. For more than forty
years this company has held an annual ball
which is always largely attended.
The Friendship Fire Company is contem-
plating the purchase of an automobile chem-
ical fire engine.
Rescue Fire Company was incorporated
Feb. II, 1869. The petition for the charter
was signed by J. I. Stees, F. M. Everett, P. E.
Wirt, A. T. Drake, Cain Mauser, W. Marr, W.
J. Buckalew, S. W. Shutt, E. S. Shutt, J. Gir-
112
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
ton, G. Warr, T. W'arr, W. Wirt, W. Roan.
There were many more charter members. The
name was changed to Rescue Hook and Lad-
der Company on May 12, 1900. This com-
pany's location is on East Fifth street, above
East street, where by its own efforts a fine
brick building has been erected, up-to-date for
the purposes, with pool table, kitchen, quar-
ters for apparatus, and with rpeeting rooms on
the second floor.
Winona Fire Company, No. 3, was organ-
ized in July, 1880, and chartered Aug. 20, 1880.
The charter members were : Robert Buck-
ingham, S. F. Peacock, Arthur A. Clark, E. B.
Clark, C. B. Robbins, W. Clark Sloan, Geo. E.
Elwell, J. F. Peacock, Less Alexander, C. F.
Woodhouse, E. E. Moyer, T. K. Bittenbender,
F. P. Pursel, R. F. Snyder", H. W. McKelvy,
F. S. Kinports, L. S. Wintersteen, F. D. Dent-
ler, W. D. Beckley, R. R. Little, Paul E. Wirt,
W. B. Allen, Frank Maloy, J. W^ Gibbs, W. C.
McKinney, H. M. Rupert, Harry Billmeyer,
John Palmer. The company occupied the third
floor over what is now the Bloomsburg Na-
tional Bank in handsomely furnished rooms,
and for six or eight years kept up an active
organization. Each year during the holidays
it gave a ball which was the leading social
event of the year. But for various reasons
the interest died out, and the organization was
abandoned. Later on, however, it was renewed
by younger men, and still exists with a goodly
number of brave fire fighters. The company
has very comfortable rooms over the J. L.
Sharpless store.
Liberty Fire Company, No. 4, was incor-
porated Feb. 10, 1906, with a large number
of charter members. They own their own
house through their own eff^orts. It is located
on Leonard street near Main street, and ad-
mirably adapted to their uses, containing ap-
paratus and meeting rooms, pool tables, kitch-
ens, etc.
Another company known as the Good Will
Fire Company organized about the same
time, and provided themselves with a chemical
outfit, but disbanded after a few years' ex-
istence.
With three fire companies in town there was
no arrangement for concert of action in case
of a fire, as there was no recognized head, and
so the companies each appointed a committee
to confer with the others, and to draft a con-
stitution and by-laws for the organization of a
fire department. The committees performed
their duty and on Jan. 25, 1881, the result of
their work was presented to the town council,
and approved by that body, and stands to-day
with few if any changes. Among other things
it provided that a chief engineer and three as-
sistants shall be elected annually in December
by the several fire companies, and that the
officers shall rotate among the companies, be-
ginning with Friendship No. i, and so on, the
assistants coming from the companies not hav-
ing the chief.
A fire alarm system was installed in 1900
connected with the courthouse bell, with alarm
boxes in various parts of the town. H. P.
Chamberlin was the contractor.
THE TOWN FOUNTAIN
David Stroup died in August, 1884, and in
his will made a bequest "to the Town of
Bloomsburg to assist in supplying the same
with water, two thousand dollars, to' be in-
vested and kept at interest, the latter to be
applied to that object, or to be expended upon
water works erected or maintained by the
Town, or to be invested in stocks or bonds of
any water company organized to supply the
town with water, on such terms as the Town
Council may prescribe."
The Bloomsburg Water Company proposed
that if the town council would cause the money
so devised to be expended in the erection of a
fountain at or near the public square the com-
pany would furnish water for it free of ex-
pense. This proposition was accepted by the
council, and a petition setting forth these facts
was presented to the court on Aug. 18, 1892.
After the necessary legal proceedings Judge
Ikeler made a decree granting the petition.
The town council appointed President F. P.
Drinker and Councilmen W. O. Holmes and
W. H. Gilmore a committee to select a foun-
tain and also the drinking fountain which now
stands at the post office corner. The fountains
were selected, and their erection completed in
October, 1892. An inscription on the large
fountain reads: "Erected by David Stroup,
1892."
TOWN H.JiLL
The town hall was erected at East and Main
streets, and dedicated on Sept. 14, 1890. The
occasion was observed by a parade in which
numerous organizations took part. A pro-
gram consisting of music, and speeches by a
number of citizens, was followed, and a large
crowd was present. The town is justly proud
of the hall. It is a three-story brick building
of pleasing architecture. On the first floor is
the council room. Friendship Fire Company
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
113
room, and lock-up. On the second and third
floors are two large rooms, and several smaller
rooms, for public meetings, the fire companies,
etc. The building is supplied with all modern
conveniences. David Hensinger was the con-
tractor and builder, and the cost was $15,000.
Up to the time of the erection of this building
the town had occupied rented quarters for a
council room.
INDUSTRIES AND BUSINESS HOUSES
One of the oldest industrial establishments
in Bloomsburg is the extensive foundry and
machine shops of Harman & Hassert. This
business was founded by Peter S. Harman and
George Hassert in 1875. Mr. Harman had
had many years' experience in the foundry
business, and Mr. Hassert was a machinist of
unusual skill. They began on a small scale in
a building 60 by 50 feet, making plows and
stoves, but the business grew rapidly, demand-
ing additional buildings and machinery. Start-
ing modestly, they soon did a business of
over $2,000 a year, but by 1879 the trade had
increased until they were employing thirty per-
sons, and had entered the manufacture of min-
ing cars. By 1886 they were doing a business
of $55,000 per annum and were preparing to
enlarge when in 1888 the entire works were
destroyed by fire. They immediately replaced
the burned frame buildings by ones of brick,
and added others, making the plant the largest
in the town at that time. At present the plant
turns out mining cars, hand cars, casts col-
umns, and does general custom machine work.
The famous old founders of the company
passed to their final reward some years ago,
and the business has been continued by mem-
bers of their families. It is now an incor-
porated concern under the name of Harman
& Hassert, with the following officers : Presi-
dent, general manager and treasurer, J. Lee
Harman ; vice president, George E. Hassert ;
secretary, John G. Harman.
Carriage Works
One of the oldest concerns in this section
is the establishment of J. B. Brobst, known as
the Bloomsburg Carriage Works. The busi-
ness was established by David Brobst in 1849,
and conducted by him for thirty-five years.
In 1884 it came into the hands of J. B. Brobst
and his brother. This partnership continued
until 1907, when J. B. Brobst assumed entire
control and management of the plant. The
premises occupied consist of a repair and
blacksmith shop and carriage factory. In a
separate building across the street are the paint
shops, a large new brick building and a
frame building. In the conduct of this busi-
ness Mr. Brobst is ably assisted by his son
Paul.
American Car & Foundry Company
The Bloomsburg branch of the American
Car & Foundry Company had its origin in
the machine shop and foundry of Semple &
Taylor, started in 1863. In 1S71 more capital
was enlisted, the facilities increased and the
manufacture of mine cars commenced, under
the firm name of the Columbia County Iron
Manufacturing Company. The company be-
coming involved during the panic of 1873, the
plant was sold to M. \V. Jackson, of Berwick,
who sold an interest to G. M. & J. K. Lock-
ard, who had been foremen in the old shop.
In 1879 they became sole owners and that year
fire destroyed the entire works, with a loss of
$40,000 and only $18,000 insurance. How-
ever, in three months they rebuilt and entered
upon a career of prosperity, during the follow-
ing four years producing over four thousand
cars, and doing a business of more than one
million dollars annually, having two to three
hundred men on their payroll, with a wage
list of $10,000 a month. Subsequently the
plant became the property of the Bloomsburg
Car Company and was incorporated on the
consolidation of the American Car & Foundry
Company in 1900. The plant consists of a
group of frame buildings which cover the
larger part of a city block, and which are fit-
ted with the latest improved machinery and
labor-saving devices, and employment is given
to over three hundred skilled workmen. The
capacity is two thousand freight cars and
three thousand mine cars annually, which find
a market throughout the coal regions and in
several of the South American countries. In
1914 an addition to the export building, of
65 by 112 feet, was made, and the company
started on an order of four hundred cars for
the Lehigh Valley railroad.
The Bloomsburg Woolen Mills
were established in 1882 by S. A. Caswell, M.
E. Caswell, E. C. Caswell and H. C. Half-
penny. They are located at Sixth and West
streets. After the death of the first two part-
ners named above, and the withdrawal of Mr.
Halfpenny, the firm name was changed to
E. C. Caswell & Co., the other member of the
114
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
firm being Carlton A. Caswell. This plant
has twice met with misfortune, once by fire,
and again in 1896 by a cyclone which destroyed
the upper part, leaving only the first story
standing. In spite of this it recovered from
the loss and has prospered, being one of the
leading industrial establishments of Blooms-
burg. It has seldom been shut down for lack
of orders since its founding. From 1887 to
1901 J. M. Staver had an interest in the busi-
ness of the factory. In the latter year his
interest was purchased by Carlton A. Caswell,
who was already a half owner of the plant.
Mr. Staver died in 191 2, E. C. Caswell died
in February, 1914, and C. A. Caswell is now
sole owner.
The Bloomsburg School Furnishing Company
was an important industry for some years. It
was incorporated July 17, 1885, "for the pur-
pose of manufacturing school and church fur-
niture, and doing general planing mill, foundry
and machine work." The officers were: C. W.
Miller, president; W. S. Moyer, Dr. D. J.
Waller, Jr., A. Z. Schoch, W. M. Reber,
J. C. Brown, directors. It was successfully
operated until February, 1899, when it was
sold to the American School Desk Company.
The plant was operated by them for several
years, when, largely by reason of troublesome
strikes, it was shut down, and the machinery
removed to other factories of the corporation.
Bloomsburg thus lost an industry that em-
ployed many skilled mechanics. On Aug. 30,
1888, the factory was destroyed by fire, the
loss on buildings and finished product being
about $60,000, with insurance of less than half
that amount. It was rebuilt. About 1909 the
American School Desk Company sold the plant
to the Fred Fear Match Company.
The Bloomsburg Silk Mill
was founded in 1888 by Joseph Ratti, and in
1890 was incorporated as a company. At the
branch factory in Lock Haven the company
manufactures dress silks, linings and tie silks.
The Bloomsburg plant is of commodious size,
having 45,000 square feet of floor space, which
in all its appointments is most modernly fitted
for convenience, and over three hundred looms
are installed. The company gives employment
to three hundred and fifty skilled operators.
During Mr. Ratti's lifetime he was ably as-
sisted in the management of the mill by Mr. F.
G. Yorks, a gentleman of wide experience in
silk manufacture. In 1906 Mr. Ratti went to
his home in Italy in the spring, as was his
custom, and became ill while there. In the
fall news of his serious condition reached here,
and Mr. Yorks, already a large stockholder,
made a flying trip to Italy, where he secured
a majority of the stock by an agreement with
Mr. Ratti. The death of the latter occurred
on Oct. 25, 1906, at Rogeno, Italy. Under
Mr. Yorks's guiding hand the mills continued
to prosper, and are now among the largest
employers of labor in this section. The dress
silks made at the Bloomsburg mills have at-
tained a high standing wherever they have been
introduced, and that means over a large por-
tion of the United States. On the morning
of Sept. 12, 1913, Mr. Yorks died suddenly
after but a few hours' illness. Thereafter the
management of the mills passed to his son,
Milton K, Yorks, who had been an able assist-
ant to his father for several years. At present
he is the general manager.
Pottery
The Hyssong Pottery was started by Rabb
& Rehm about 1874. They were succeeded by
A. L. Hyssong, who carried on the business
until 1913, when he was succeeded by his son,
C. A. Hyssong. This is the only pottery in this
section of the State and has been located at
the same spot in the west end of Bloomsburg
ever since the beginning. The clay is procured
from New Jersey and the product is stone-
ware, jugs, poultry fountains, water coolers,
glazed flower pots, jardinieres, dipping cups
for the dye works, drain tile and sewer pipe.
The Magee Carpet Company
is the outgrowth of a small plant of twenty-
five looms which were run in Philadelphia by
James Magee & Co. at Tulip and Palmer
streets. Mr. James Magee comes from a fam-
ily of carpet manufacturers, his father having
started in Philadelphia at the close of the Civil
war with four hand looms. In those days the
modern mill was unknown. A manufacturer
used the lower rooms of his home or else an
outside shed in which to carry on his work.
James Magee started in his father's mill,
sweeping the floors. From this he passed
through the various departments, spooling,
winding, weaving, fixing, until he became the
superintendent of the mills in Philadelphia,
moving the machinery from a crowded, ill
adapted mill to one of the best appointed in
that city. In 1885, on his return from a year's
experience in the West, feeling that there
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
115
would be no opportunity of rising in his
father's mill, he founded a partnership with
a yarn spinner and commenced the manufac-
ture of ingrain carpets.
After running the plant in Philadelphia sev-
eral years, believing that it would be more ad-
vantageous to manufacture in a country town,
he visited Bloomsburg, as well as a number of
other places, and decided to remove his plant
there, which he did in 1891. He brought with
him his cousin, James Magee (ist), and W. H.
Vanderherchen, both practical men, and with
thirty-five looms the company was started,
making nothing but ingrain carpets. Foresee-
ing the gradual disuse of this class of carpet
in 1896, the tapestry mill and spinning mill
were built and the manufacture of tapestry
carpets was started. The company partnership
meanwhile had sold out to the Bloomsburg
Carpet Works and the latter merged a few
years later into the Magee Carpet Works.
The company's brand of "Bar None Tapestry"
was favorably known throughout the country.
A short time afterwards velvet carpets were
made, to be followed later by the manufacture
of seamed rugs. In this work the company
brought out a grade of velvets which had
never been produced before. In fact, it was
freely asserted that the grade could not be
done. But it was, and "Blue Ribbon Velvets"
were sold in every city of the Union. Again
the caprice of fashion compelled a complete
readjustment of plant. The demand was for a
seamless velvet rug. To supply their trade
with this the company made the biggest effort
of its business life, erecting in 1913 one of the
finest mills of the country, with 500,000 feet
of floor space, and enough looms to produce
three hundred rugs every day.
The Magee Carpet Company is one of the
largest producers of velvet carpet and rugs
in the country, its plant covering ten acres of
floor space, and being a model of its kind. All
of the equipment is up-to-date, and the product
goes into every State of the Union, also to
Porto Rico, Chile, and Hawaii. All processes
of the business are done at the mills. The raw
wool is imported from Russia, China, Turkey
and other foreign countries. Both worsted
warp and woolen yarns are spun in the com-
pany's own plant. A large dyehouse and tap-
estry printing department color the yarns by
the use of the latest machinery. After being
steamed, washed and dried, the printed yarns
are spooled, and then go to the setting depart-
ment, where skilled operatives "set" the pat-
tern, straightening out the crooked lines and
beaming the yarns ready for the weaver. The
weaving department is on the top floor of the
new mill, where abundance of light and ven-
tilation may be obtained. To save vibration,
the floor was made 7 inches thick, resting on
heavy steel girders. The contract called for
a carrying load of 300 pounds to the square
foot. On this floor are narrow looms which
weave the carpets, the small rugs and the car-
pets for carriages and automobiles. It may
not be generally known that the Magee Carpet
company produces three fourths of the car-
pets used in carriages and automobiles, having
made a specialty of such carpets for many
years. The weaving department also con-
tains broad looms which weave a 9 by 12 rug
without a seam. They are marvels of con-
struction, handling a wire 10 feet long, put-
ting them in and cutting the loops and with-
drawing them, all automatically. Some idea of
the size of these looms can be obtained when
the reader is told that they weigh 22,000
pounds each. From the weaving room the
rugs are taken to the finishing rooms, where
they are cleaned, steamed, stretched, worked
and rolled up with a pole in the middle to
keep them from breaking in transportation.
The older portions of the building are re-
served for storage purposes, where many thou-
sands of rugs are kept ready for prompt ship-
ment on receipt of orders. The company has
a private siding for shipping in carload lots
and for taking in wool and coal in bulk. The
plant burns 6,000 tons of coal a year, uses
500,000 gallons of water per day, works up
6,000,000 pounds of wools and yarns every
year, employs over seven hundred people and
pays out in wages every day over $1,200. The
management is in the hands of men who are
practically conversant with the business, and
who give their full time and attention to the
work.
Mr. Magee also conducts the I-eader Depart-
ment Store, one of the largest of Bloomsburg's
mercantile establishments.
The Monroe-Hall Furniture Company
is among the leading progressive industries of
the town. The plant is thoroughly equipped
with modern woodworking machinery for the
production of high-grade furniture of all
kinds. It was originally built in 1891 by W. H.
-Schuyler, Theodore Redeker and Jacol) Keifer,
who conducted it about one year, when the
Bloomsburg Furniture Company took over the
plant and conducted it for a time. This com-
pany was reorganized under the name of the
North Branch Furniture Company, who ran
116
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
the plant until 1898. It was then leased to
Robert Hawley and William H. Slate, they
conducting it until 1906, when the present
company was formed and incorporated. The
officers are : W. R. Monroe, president, treas-
urer and general manager; H. A. Hall, secre-
tary. This company has built up a magnifi-
cent trade, extending throughout the United
States, as a result of its up-to-the-minute busi-
ness methods.
"The Pen is Mightier Than the Sword"
Among the products of Bloomsburg which
have gained world-wide fame there is none
more favorably known than the Paul E. Wirt
Fountain Pen, one of the first of these famous
writing instruments which have become a ne-
cessity to Americans and by them have been
carried to the ends of the earth. The factory
in Bloomsburg was started in 1885 by Paul
E. Wirt, one of the leading attorneys of the
town, and has been carried on ever since with
continued and increasing success. Millions of
these pens have been sold, the sales in the
United States exceeding five hundred thou-
sand in a single year. So widely known has
this pen become that there is scarcely a coun-
try on earth which is not supplied with it
through retail merchants. The pen is a "loop-
feeder" and has stood the test of time, having
many imitators, but none equal to it. Although
there are many other firms marketing foimtain
pens, the sales of the Wirt pen have never
fallen ofl^, but have increased yearly.
The factory where the pens are made is a
two-story building, 25 by 75 feet in dimen-
sions, with an addition 40 by 75, recently
erected. Forty employees are engaged in the
manufacture, divided between the gold pen,
rubber case, assembling and shipping depart-
ments. Most of the employees have been with
the firm for years and have become unusually
skillful. Every part is made in the factory,
the gold for the pens being received from the
mint, the rubber from South America, and the
iridium from which the pen points are made
from Russia. This metal has a value of $125
an ounce.
Mr. Wirt and his son, Karl, have become
substantially identified with the life of the
town and are connected with many of the other
important industries, as well as holding posi-
tions in the local government and the board of
trustees of the State Normal School. C. W.
Funston has been associated with this industr\-
almost from its inception.
Paragon Plaster & Siipph Company
The Bloomsburg plant of this company was
established in 1895, but the company has been
incorporated for 24 years. The business is
housed in a brick and concrete building 70 by
200 feet in size, which is supplied with the best
facilities for the manufacture of "Paragon"
plaster. The company also manufactures
"Paragon" high-grade lime in the new plant,
built five years ago at the lime works of Low
Bros. & Co., at Lime Ridge, and also deals
wholesale and retail in lime, plaster, cement,
hair, marble dust, flue linings, etc. The head
offices of the company are located at Scranton,
the local branch being under the efficient man-
agement of W. L. White.
The Artificial Ice & Cold Storage Company
was established in 1892 by the Bloomsburg
Cold Storage and Artificial Ice Company, and
later was operated by T. J. Pugsley. Finan-
cial difficulties closed it down in August, 1914,
when it was purchased by C. R. Dickerman, of
Milton, at sheriff^'s sale.
The Bloomsburg Brick Company
has an extensive shale brick plant at Blooms-
burg. The officers are : George L. Low, presi-
dent ; Dr. J. E. Shuman, vice president ; W. R.
Kocher, treasurer; H. R. Mears, secretary;
W. W. Swengel, general manager. The com-
pany has an authorized capital of $30,000, and
has acquired control of a valuable deposit of
particularly fine red shale suitable for the man-
ufacture of high-grade pressed brick, paving
brick and other products. The plant has a
capacity of 6,000,000 bricks per annum, and is
electrically equipped and fitted with the latest
and most approved brick making machinery.
The product is among the best, and large quan-
tities are being shipped to distant points ; a
big home trade is also supplied. Most of the
plant was destroyed by fire in September,
1914, but has been rebuilt.
Planing Mill
The planing mill of A. Bruce Hartnian is a
handy shop conducted by a handy man, where
all kinds of woodworking is done, and odd
pieces made. It is a. great convenience to the
community and receives liberal and well mer-
ited patronage.
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
117
The Ricliard Manufacturing Company
is a plant of great value to Bloomsburg, both
in the employment of skilled workmen and the
money the products bring to the town, and
also in the advertising value to this place from
the fact that some of the greatest public works
in America bear the name of this firm on
their mechanical and structural parts. The
work of this company may be found all over
the Union and in England and France. The
business includes the manufacture of almost
anything in iron or brass, but the specialty is
wire and tube drawing machinery. The com-
pany has fitted out some of the largest plants
in this country with wire-drawing machines,
making what is probably the simplest and rnost
successful of this class of machinery. Besides
producing ammunition lifts, torpedo anchors,
observation towers and lighthouse lanterns for
the government, the Richard Company built a
cast-iron sectional lighthouse for the Miah
Maue shoals in Delaware bay, erecting the
structure in Bloomsburg upon a concrete foun-
dation and then dismounting it and shipping it
to the spot where it finally was located. As
a single order in 1907 over 100,000 pairs of
roller skates were put out for a customer. One
of the notable and historic orders filled by this
firm was for a miter lock for the great gates
of the Panama canal locks, the first one used
when the canal was opened to the public.
Bloomsburg's name is fixed for many years
upon these gates.
The firm was organized in 1899 by F. J.
Richard, S. H. Harman and J. L. Richardson.
The present officers are : F. J- Richard, presi-
dent and general manager; j. L. Richardson,
treasurer; C. F. Altmiller, secretary.
TIic Bloomsburg Hosiery Mills
Barger, Bains & Munn, proprietors, was estab-
lished nine years ago, and is a branch of the
plant owned and conducted by this firm in
Philadelphia, where the company's specialty is
ladies' hosiery. In Bloomsburg the product
manufactured is' exclusively infants' hosiery,
finished at the Philadelphia mills, and the
goods are marketed throughout the United
States. The local plant is situated in a mod-
ernly constructed brick building, which is con-
veniently fitted and supplied with the latest and
best makes of knitting machines. The indi-
vidual members of the company are Charles C.
Barger, Edward Bains and W. F. Munn. The
two former are active in the business, while
Mr. Munn holds other large interests. Mr.
Barger is a resident of Bloomsburg. J. P.
Barger, his son, is the superintendent of the
Bloomsburg plant. There is a branch mill at
Nescopeck, Pennsylvania.
The Fred Fear Match Company
is one of the more recent additions to the in-
dustries of the town, having been established
in T909, with a capital stock of $500,000. The
plant consists of a group of brick buildings
covering about four acres. The Fred Fear
Match Company is owned by Fred Fear of
Fred Fear & Co., New York. The products
made are double tip and parlor matches, which
are manufactured under special processes
owned by the company. The plant is specially
fitted for this work and the best and most
modern machinery used in the manufacture of
matches is installed.
The company is also engaged in the manu-
facture of salad dressing, fly paper and Easter
egg dyes. It has plants also in Bradford, Pa.,
Chicago and New York. The officers are:
Fred Fear, president and treasurer ; C. C. Yet-
ter, vice president and secretary ; A. E. Nal-
trett, superintendent.
The White Milling Company
was established in 1885 by H. V. White and
ably conducted by him up to 1900, when the
White Milling Company was incorporated with
the following officers: President, H. V. White;
treasurer, A. B. White ; secretary, M. Powell.
The company manufactures and deals in all
kinds of milling products, including spring and
winter wheat flour, rye flour, buckwheat flour,
corn meal, feeds, chops, etc., making a spe-
cialty of its celebrated "White Seal" flour
and other well known brands. The mills have
a capacity of 125 barrels of wheat flour, one
hundred barrels of buckwheat flour, twenty-
five barrels of rye flour and twenty-five tons
of feed per day, besides other products. The
plant is a group of modernly constructed build-
ings, including the main mill, elevators, ware
and store houses. Each department is sup-
plied with the best improved milling ma-
chinery. The board of directors is: John
Eves, G. FI. Harter, Elhs Eves, J. C. Brown,
O. W. Cherrington, A. C. Creasy. The head
miller is P. C. Beyer.
The Bloomsburg Roller Mills
were established in 1897 by R. R. Ikeler. The
plant is built of brick and is fitted with im-
118
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
proved machinery, including the roller process,
and has a capacity of sixty barrels of flour
per day exclusive of the corn meal and feed
mills. Mr. Ikeler is a practical miller of many
years' experience. In connection with the mill-
ing business he handles coal and wood.
The Dillon Greenhouses
are among the largest establishments of the
kind in the State. In 1875 this enterprise was
established in a comparatively small way by
the late J. L. Dillon, who for a number of
years was one of Bloomsburg's leading busi-
ness men. The original houses were located
back of the normal school, having something
over 40,000 square feet of glass. Twenty
years ago the houses on Fifth street were com-
menced and these were added to from time
to time, until there are now fifteen, having
almost 100,000 square feet of glass. Some
years ago the normal school purchased the land
where the greenhouses stood on the hill, and
in accordance with the agreement the buildings
were removed and possession delivered to the
school in May, 1913, the entire Dillon busi-
ness being removed to the Fifth street location.
After Mr. Dillon's death the business was for
a time conducted by his heirs. It is now in
the hands of his widow, who is ably assisted
by her son Charles and her nephew, Charles
Hutchison.
Miscellaneous Mercantile Houses
At the head of the list of mercantile estab-
lishments in Bloomsburg are the department
stores. The store of Gelb & Mayer carries
everything for the household and in the line
of wearing apparel, except men's clothing.
David Mayer is the managing proprietor.
The other department stores are the Leader
Store Company, Limited, with two branches,
at the corner of Fourth and Market streets,
and in the Exchange Hotel ; and F. P. Pursel,
the oldest and largest in town, at the corner
of Main and Market streets. Heyman Broth-
ers carry men's and women's wear, and Bres-
nick's Women's Shop has everything for
women.
The druggists are Moyer Brothers, C. A.
Kleim, T- H. Mercer, W. S. Rishton, George
A. McKelvy, G. P. Ringler.
Hardware Dealers — J. R. Schuvler, W.
McK. Reber, H. B. Sharpless.
Electrical Supplies — H. S. Kauf?man, F. P.
Edwards, George E. Keller.
The grocers and provision dealers are : J. F.
Tooley & Co., C. R. Stecker, J. L. Sharpless,
Schneider Brothers (wholesale), C. H. Sharp-
less, H. G. Pennington, A. L. Snyder, J. K.
Pensyl, Fritz & Fritz, C. H. Harris, S. A.
Lutz, J. C. Kahler, A. J. Learn, Theodore Gar-
rison, F. M. Everett, T. C. Snyder, George
Trump, K. M. Moon, Mrs. E. Cronin, G. P.
Davis, U. W. Cherrington, Mrs. C. E. Kelch-
ner, Mrs. S. David, J. C. Hile, Mrs. W. H.
Hartzell, J. L. Turner.
Confectionery and ice cream parlors are con-
ducted by E. M. Savidge, Harmany Brothers,
Alexander & Co., J. L. Pohe & Son, W. F.
O'Neill, P. B. Irvin, John Bush, Joe Fest, A.
Svveisfort. The restaurants are kept by Mrs.
Freeze, Ralph H. Smoyer, W. Eastman, and
Alexander & Co.
There are but five licensed retail liquor es-
tablishments in Bloomsburg, exclusive of the
hotels, which are licensed, and they are kept
by Gilmore Bros., John Gross, J. E. Zeigler,
Frank Derr, Joseph Sands. J. S. Bachman is
the only licensed wholesale dealer.
Of the exclusive cigar stores there are four,
the establishments of \\'illiam Vial, The Pal-
ace, J. Ralston, Edward Shaffer. There are
many barber shops, kept by E. F. Row, James
Reilly, Glasgow Cameron, Frank Parks, Frank
Gensemer, Charles Fisher, Fred Vanderslice,
A. R. Kashner.
Meat Markets — Frank Bomboy, D. L. Bom-
boy, R. A. Hicks, C. Bergold, Paul & Pensyl,
J. E. White, C. P. Kressler.
Coal Dealers— J. S. Edwards, W. R.
Kocher, R. R. Ikeler, Harman & Hassert,
W. H. Henrie, O. W. Drake.
Wall Paper— P. K. Vannatta, S. R. Bidle-
man, S. L. Appleman.
Plumbers— W. O. Holmes & Son, W. F.
Hartman, L. C. Conner, William Ludwig.
Millinery — Mrs. John Tracy, Mrs. Elmer
Brugler, Mrs. C. "C. Furman, Miss Bessie
Quick, Miss Ada Cox.
Pianos and Music — Mrs. F. Anstock, James
H. Saltzer.
Shoes — Buckalew & Kemp, C. M. Evans, A.
Davis, Ralph H. Smoyer.
Shoemakers — R. R. Hartman, Otto Wolfe,
Lloyd Hartman.
Clothing — John R. Townsend, D. Lowen-
berg Estate, C. C. Housenick & Co., L. Gross
& Son, A. Evans, Emil Kroll, B. T. Pursel,
Manufacturers' Clothing Co.
Jewelers — James E. Roys, George W. Hess,
George Rosenstock.
Saddlers — M. L. Kline, Samuel Pullen.
Five and Ten Cent Stores — F. W. Wool-
worth & Co., The Fair.
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
119
Liverymen — H. J. Shoemaker, Charles
Brink, Charles Moss.
Garages — Fernand Seller, Jules Seiler, C. S.
Gheen, J. W. Wright, H. B. Correll, Gunter
& Knittle.
Miscellaneous — Lesser Alexander, whole-
sale cigars and confectionery; J. W. Moyer,
stationery ; J. Keller's Sons, wholesale notions ;
W. H. Brower, carpets; Zehner Brothers, M.
P. Whitenight, F. W. Miller, farm imple-
ments; W. W. Crawford, mineral waters; Jo-
seph E. Gross, soft drinks ; H. E. Dieffenbach,
W. B. Ferguson, ice; J. Papania, fruits; S. C.
Creasy, lumber; E. W. Ritter, newsdealer; E.
M. Savidge, H. W. Walter, bakeries; C. E.
Crawford, lunchroom; W. A. Watters, laun-
dry; W. J. Correll & Co., furniture.
THE BLOOMSBURG HOSPITAL
This institution was promoted by Joseph
Ratti, the principal owner of the Bloomsburg
Silk Mill. He and a number of friends met
on March 8, 1905, for organization. A. Z.
Schoch was elected president of the corpora-
tion; J. G. Harman, secretary; Joseph Ratti,
treasurer ; F. G. Yorks, assistant treasurer.
The residence of W. L. Ritter on East Fifth
street was purchased by Mr. Ratti, and exten-
sive repairs and improvements made to adapt
it for hospital purposes. Friends of the en-
terprise were solicited, and contributed $6,190,
Mr. Ratti supplying the balance, about $9,000,
to meet the expense incurred. The equipment
included a complete set of the most modern
surgical instruments, and an operating room
fitted with all the sanitary appliances known
to the surgical profession.
In April, 1905, action was taken to change
the name to the Joseph Ratti Hospital, which
was done at the May term of court.
At the meeting in January, 1910, action was
taken looking to the erection of a new build-
ing. The Legislature of 1909 had appropriated
$5,000 towards the project. Plans for the new
building prepared by McCormick & French of
Wilkes-Barre were adopted in 191 1, and the
contract was awarded to the Shamokin Lum-
ber Company. The Legislature of 191 1 ap-
propriated an additional $3,000 for the build-
ing. A canvass of the community for sub-
scriptions was made, which with several lega-
cies enabled the corporation to complete the
building ready for occupancy in July, 1912.
The property has cost $55,000.
The legacies received up to 1914 have been:
Julia Waller, $1,000; Mrs. Antoinette Tellier,
$4,000; Capt. H. J. Conner, $1,000; Col. John
G. Freeze, $1,000. A new laundry building,
ample in size and modernly equipped, was
completed in 1913.
At the meeting in January, 1912, action was
taken towards changing the name back to
"Bloomsburg Hospital," in order to remove the
impression of the public that it was a private
hospital conducted for personal gain, and by
action of the court of that year the institution
is now named the Bloomsburg Hospital.
There are four public wards, with accommo-
dations for sixteen patients, and also sixteen
private rooms. In an emergency this capacity
may be considerably increased. The adminis-
tration of the hospital is in charge of a board
of twenty-five directors, in five groups, elected
for terms of five years each. For 19x4 they
are, Paul E. Wirt, C. M. Creveling, Dr. J. J
Brown, Dr. B. F. Gardner, Dr. L. B. Kline,
For 1915, L. N. Moyer, Dr. I. R. Wolfe, J. G
Harman, Dr. J. S. John, Dr. J. E. Shuman
For 1916, A. Z. Schoch, J. C. Brown, Dr. J
W. Bruner, Dr. J. R. Montgomery, James
Magee. For 1917, Dr. R. E. Miller, Frank
Ikeler, M. K. Yorks, Dr. A. Shuman, S. C.
Creasv. For 1918, Dr. S. B. Arment, Dr. C.
F. Altmiller, L. E. Waller, Dr. C. Z. Robbins,
I. X. Grier.
The building committee was composed of
A. Z. Schoch, J. C. Brown, S. C. Creasy, Dr.
J. J. Brown, Dr. J. W. Bruner. Dr. Bruner
was the first chief of staff, and Dr. John is
now in that position, which he has held for
some years past. The present officers are : Dr.
J. S. John, president ; J. C. Brown, secretary
and treasurer : Dr. C. Z. Robbins, assistant
treasurer. The Sisters of Mercy have the di-
rect care of the patients, and Sister M. Stanis-
laus is the superintendent. A number of
trained nurses are graduated each year from
the institution.
The hospital has already in its brief career
earned an enviable reputation for the success-
ful treatment of critical surgical cases, due
largely to the ability of the physicians and the
careful nursing of the Sisters. While many
gave valuable assistance in the establishment
of the hospital, the successful outcome of the
project is due more to the untiring efforts of
A. Z. Schoch and J. C. Brown than to any
other two persons.,
BLOOMSBURG PUBLIC LIBRARY
The charter of the Bloomsburg Library
Company was adopted Feb. 19, 1889, and the
management of the company's affairs vested in
a board of directors made up of the follow-
120
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
ing: Rev. Frank P. Manhart, president;
Maud C. Walker, vice president ; Eva Rupert,
secretary; Mrs. E. H. Little, treasurer; Martin
P. Lutz, Anna M. Frymire, Mary A. Correll.
Mr. Manhart having very shortly after re-
moved from town, Col. John G. Freeze suc-
ceeded him as president.
The Library shared its first quarters with
the W. C. T. U., this organization very gen-
erously making over a collection of books
which it owned to the control of the Library
directors. In the spring of 1891 this partner-
ship was dissolved, and the Library's equip-
ment moved to the Y. M. C. A. room. After
operating for four years its afifairs, like those
of many other early semi-public libraries,
languished, and for over ten years the town
was without any active organization. Before
the expiration of this time the women's clubs
began to agitate the matter of a public library,
and in 1902 the Civic club with its Library
department was organized.
In 1902 the project of a public library which
should also be free, was put forth by the wom-
en's clubs of the town. Contributions of books
and money were solicited and entertainments
given, with the result that practically every cit-
izen of the town owned some share in the suc-
cess which attended the institution from the
start. The largest sum given by an individual
was the thousand-dollar bequest of Mrs. D. J.
Waller, and the largest amount from any one
source was the $1,100 from the Bloomsburg
Centennial fund. The Civic, Century, Wednes-
day and Ivy clubs stood sponsors at its incep-
tion, and have been loyal supporters through-
out its years of growth.
The new Library Company is operating the
free public library under the original charter,
although its by-laws were amended to increase
the number of directors to twelve, including
two members of the town council. The first
board after the reorganization was as follows :
Mrs. S. C. Creasy, president; Mrs. J. L. Dil-
lon, vice president ; Miss Sarah E. I. Van Tas-
sel, secretary; Mrs. C. W. McKelvy, treasurer;
Miss Laura Waller, Mrs. E. B. Tustin, Mrs.
J. P. Welsh, Col. J. G. Freeze, C. W. Miller,
Louis Cohen, O. H. Bakeless, John R. Town-
send.
A room was secured in the Clark building
on Center street, the Library organized by
Miss Elizabeth Renninger, and on June 18,
1903, with Mrs. Mary S. R. Worthington as
librarian, and with four thousand books on the
shelves, the Bloomsburg Free Public Library
was opened to the people. Five years later
the Library was expanded to its present size
of two large rooms and storage space. The
same year, upon petition of the people, council
came to the financial aid of the institution.
Since that time the appropriation has been in-
creased until in 191 1 the present ruling was
passed : Council voting to duplicate any sum
raised by the board of directors, provided
that sum be not in excess of $1,000. The
library has also accumulated, despite its scanty
resources, an endowment fund which at pres-
ent stands at somewhat over $3,000. With
over 4,500 volumes added to the original col-
lection, and with all possible storage space
crowded with unbound periodicals and other
needed material, the Library has reached its
limit of growth in the present situation. It is
generally conceded by the board and by towns-
people that a building of its own is the only
solution of this congested condition, and that
this building when erected must be commen-
surate with the town itself in beauty, and fitted
to the growth of the town for at least twenty
years to come.
The board at this time consists of the fol-
lowing persons : J. R. Townsend, president ;
James H. Coleman, vice president; Miss Mary
Unangst, secretary ; Mrs. Samuel Wigfall,
treasurer; Mrs. C. W. McKelvy, Miss Sarah
E. I. Van Tassel, Mrs. C. W. Funston, Mrs.
H. G. Eshelman, Miss Anna Creasy, C. W.
Miller, O. H. Bakeless, Dr. G. H. Welliver,
James Magee, Dr. J. W. Bruner. Trustees,
J. R. Townsend, A. Z. Schoch, George E.
Elwell.
The following librarians have served as
noted: Mrs. Worthington, 1903-1908; Miss
Irene Mercer, 1908-1909; Miss Clark, June,
1909; Miss Blanche Williams, 1909-1911;
Miss Edith Patterson, 1911-1914.
Each year the library is financially aided by
a "tag day," in which the townspeople as well
as traveling public are importuned by girls
selected for the occasion to buy a tag or
streamer, the price varying with the inclination
of the purchaser. In 1914 seventy girls par-
ticipated and the sum realized was $270, the
largest on record.
soldiers' monument
The erection of a monument in honor of
the men of Columbia county who fought for
the preservation of the LInion in the Civil war
was a subject agitated and discussed for many
years before its accomplishment. Back in the
seventies an eff'ort was made to raise a fund
for this purpose. A small amount was real-
ized by entertainments and in other ways, but
I
SOLDIICRS' AND SaILORS' MoNUMKXT
Erected Ijy the County at Bloomsburg
Dedicated Nov. 2Q, tqoS
Sol.DIIiKS' ]\[()XLMEXT. C" ATA W I SS A. L'a.
ColAMlllA L'uL-XTV IaIL, J '.1.( k )M SI'.T R( 1, I'a.
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
121
the public interest in the movement did not
appear to be sufficiently aroused in the project
at that time and so it slept for more than
twenty years, when the agitation was again
started. This culminated in 1898 when, on
Feb. 8th, a petition was presented to the court
by citizens asking for the erection of a monu-
ment. Aftei being approved and disapproved
by various grand juries through several years
a contract was finally awarded to J. U. Kurtz,
of Berwick, whose bid was $7,795, the lowest
of five. The monument was erected in Mar-
ket Square.
The dedication of the monument, which
took place Nov. 19, 1908, was probably the
most imposing open-air ceremony ever wit-
nessed in the county. The weather was fine
and thousands of people were present. The
program included a parade which started at
the Town Hall, headed by Chief Marshal W.
O. Holmes, County Commissioners J. A. Hess,
C. L. Pohe and Elisha Ringrose, Assistant
Marshals W. G. Lentz and R. A. Hicks, all
mounted. The procession included five brass
bands, mounted police. Sons of Veterans,
Patriotic Order Sons of America, the Drum
Corps of Danville, Knights of the Golden
Eagle Commandery, Improved Order of
Red Men, speakers of the day in carriages,
veterans of the Civil war, Ladies of the
G. A. R., Bloomsburg Fire Department. The
parade ended at the monument, Market
Square, where the exercises were opened by
J. C. Eves, president of the Monument Asso-
ciation. After "America" and a prayer, Presi-
dent Judge Charles C. Evans in a very excel-
lent address, on behalf of the county commis-
sioners, presented the monument to the public
generally, and to the war veterans in particu-
lar. E. E. Bittenbender, commander of Ent
Post, G. A. R., delivered the address of thanks
for the monument. An eloquent and impress-
ive speech was made by Hon. W. E. Andrews,
of Washington, D. C, the orator of the day,
and was followed by Congressman John G.
McHenry, whose address closed the exercises.
This monument has often been declared to be
more beautiful than some costing twice as
much.
POST OFFICE
The first post office at Bloomsburg was
established on Oct. I, 1807, with William Park
as postmaster. He held the position until
April I, 1810, when John Park succeeded him.
Then came John Barton, on April 17, 1819,
who continued until March 21, 1837, when
Bernard Rupert was appointed. John R.
Moyer assumed the position May 10, 1840,
the office being located in his store on Mar-
ket Square, where the residence of the late
John L. Moyer now stands. Then came
Leonard B. Rupert, on June 3, 1847; John M.
Chamberlin, June i, 1849, office in his build-
ing on Main street, now occupied and owned
by Josiah Ralston; Philip Unangst, May 6,
1853, office in his shoe shop, corner of Main
and Center, on the site of Gelb & Mayer's store ;
Leonard B. Rupert, April 7, 1858, office in
building where Moyer Brothers building now
stands, below the square on Main street ;
Palemon John, April 9, 1861, office in room
now occupied by Western Union Telegraph
office and Andrew Evans' tailor shop ; D. A.
Bcckley, April ]2, 1865, office in same location ;
John B. Pursel, Aug. 9, 1866, office in store
room on west side of what is now the Farm-
ers' National Bank building; D. A. Beckley,
April 5, 1869, office in a one-story frame build-
ing that stood on the site of the Morning Press
building; George A. Clark, May 5, 1885; A. B.
Cathcart, Aug. 2, 1889; James H. Mercer, Feb.
5, 1894. The three last named had the office
in the Paul E. Wirt building where the
Bloomsburg National Bank now is. The old-
fashioned boxes and fixtures of the former
office were discarded, and new modern appli-
ances were adopted. O. B. Mellick became
postmaster on Feb. 25, 1898, and the office con-
tinued in the same quarters until June 16, 1899,
when it was moved to the L. N. Moyer build-
ing in the room now occupied by the Columbia
& Montour Electric Company, the fixtures that
were in the Wirt building being retained. Mr.
Mellick was succeeded on March 7, 1902, by
James C. Brown, who held the office until Sep-
tember, 1914, when J. H. Maust was appointed.
On Sept. 29, 1906, the post office moved into
its present commodious quarters in the First
National Bank building, where it was equipped
throughout with up-to-date appliances.
FINANCIAL
The Industrial Building & Loan Associa-
tion was organized in 189 1. It has been so
carefully conducted that it has never been
obliged to foreclose a mortgage on any of its
loans. The officers are: John R. Townsend,
president ; F. R. Carpenter, vice president ; H.
S. Barton, secretary ; Samuel Wigfall, treas-
urer. Directors: George E. Elwell, O. W.
Cherrington, W. H. Hidlay, Willie Law.
From the time of its organization up to De-
cember, 1913, it made loans amounting to
$87,630.
122
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
/
There are three financial institutions in
Bloomsburg in 1914, the First National Bank,
the Fanners' National Bank and the Blooms-
bury National Bank.
On Feb. 5, 1S64, a company was formed for
the transaction of a bankmg business by Wil-
liam jMcKelvy, William Neal, I. W. McKelvy,
Robert Cathcart, Robert F. Clark, John K.
Grotz, George Hughes, Lloyd Paxton and
Charles R. Paxton. On Feb. 29, 1864, it was
authorized to become a national bank, and on
March 7th it was formally opened for busi-
ness with C. R. Paxton as president, and J.
P. Tustin as cashier. Its capital was $50,000,
and it was located in a room in the corner of
the building that was then the residence of Wil-
liam ]\IcKelvy. After Mr. McKelvy's death the
building was purchased from his estate by Col.
S. Knorr and L. S. Wintersteen, and subse-
quently was bought by the First National
Bank. In 1906 the building was practically re-
built and enlarged, a third story being added
and the entire interior changed, making one of
the most imposing structures in the town. The
bank occupies the first floor and is equipped
with all the most modern banking fixtures,
with banking rooms that will compare favor-
ably with many in the large cities. It now has
a capital of $100,000, and in June, 1914, a
surplus fund and undivided profits of $144,-
862.20. The present officers and board of
directors are: M. I. Low, president; George
L. Low, vice president; Frank Ikeler, cashier;
Fred Ikeler, S. C. Creasy, Louis Gross, Clinton
Herring, Dr. H. V. Hower, M. E. Stackhouse,
A. W. Duy, Dr. R. E. Miller.
The Farmers' National Bank was organized
in January, 1891, with a capital of $60,000, and
the first board of directors were : W. S. Moyer,
C. A. Kleim, W'. Kramer, C. M. Creveling, G.
A. Herring, W. Gingles, C. W. Runyon, J. W.
Eves, P. A. Evans. W. S. Moyer was presi-
dent, and Frank Ikeler, cashier. It began busi-
ness in a room in what was then Mrs. M. E.
Ent's building, its quarters being much less
than half the size of its present offices. In
1909 the bank purchased the building and re-
built it, adding a third story and changing it
throughout. The bank occupies the entire first
floor, elegantly fitted with all the modern con-
veniences, finished in mahogany and marble,
one of the handsomest banking houses in the
State. Its capital stock in June, 1914, is
$60,000, with a surplus and profits of $137,-
850.93. C. M. Creveling is president, and AI.
Milleisen, cashier. The directors are : W. L.
White, N. U. Funk, C. A. Kleim, C. M. Crev-
eling, Dr. J. J. Brown, M. Milleisen, J. E.
W hite. Dr. J. S. John.
The Bloomsburg National Bank was organ-
ized in 1899 and began business on Aug. ist
with a capital of $60,000, which was increased
to $100,000 in 1905. The bank is located in
the building of Paul E. Wirt ne.xt to the Ex-
change Hotel, occupying the entire first floor,
is beautifully finished, and fitted with every
appliance for modern banking. In June, 1914,
its surplus and profits amounted to $106,480.08,
in addition to its capital stock. A. Z. Schoch
is president ; W. H. Hidlay, cashier ; and the
directors are : Paul E. Wirt, IM. K. Yorks,
Dr. M. J. Hess, Dr. J. E. Shuman, R. J. Ruhl,
C. A. Caswell, W. M. Longenberger, Samuel
Wigfall, W. H. Hidlay, A. Z. Schoch.
The deposits in the three banks aggregated
$2,087,111.45 on April 4, 1913.
The Bloomsburg Banking Company went
out of business in 1896.
The Bloomsburg Board of Trade was or-
ganized in 1886, and during its existence was
instrumental in helping to bring to Bloomsburg
both the carpet mill and the silk mill. After
a few years of usefulness the organization
ceased.
The Bloomsburg Chamber of Commerce was
organized in 1907. The following are the
present officers : President, C. C. Yetter ; vice
president, Paul E. Wirt ; treasurer, Dr. C. F.
Altmiller; secretary, A. N. Yost; trustees, A.
Z. Schoch, J. M. Robbins, Dr. D. J. Waller;
executive committee, Karl F. Wirt, F. T. Rich-
ard, C. W. Funston, Dr. Altmiller, C. "C. Yet-
ter. Through its efforts largely the Fred
Fear Match Factory was brought to Blooms-
burg. It is still an active organization, and has
done much to foster and develop the manufac-
turing and business interests of the town.
The Business Men's Association of Blooms-
burg was first organized as the Business Men's
Protective Association in the spring of 1910.
At a meeting of business men held in the Town
Hall on May 9th of that year a committee was
appointed to draft a constitution and by-laws.
These were adopted on May 20th. The or-
ganization was effected May 31, 1910, when
the officers were elected as follows : President,
James Magee II ; vice president, J. W. Craw-
ford ; secretary, G. Edward Elwell, Jr. ; treas-
urer. Tames E. Rovs ; directors, F. P. Pursel,
\Y. S.'Rishton, W. McK. Reber, William Low-
enberg, Lewis W. Buckalew. These officers
were reelected at the subsequent election on
Jan. 10, 191 1. The organization prospered
until May, 191 1, when a period of inactivity
set in, which continued until Jan. 10, 1913,
;2
I
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
123
when it was reorganized under the new name,
and the following officers elected : President,
H. V. White; vice president, James E. Roys;
secretary, G. Edward Elwell, Jr. ; treasurer,
C. H. Sharpless; executive committee, F. P.
Pursel, W. R. Kocher, W. McK. Reber, Lewis
W. Buckalew, WilHam Lowenberg.
The aim of the association in general is town
betterment. Its membership of over one hun-
dred includes merchants, wholesale and retail,
in all lines, manufacturers, clergymen and
professional men. It has the functions of a
board of trade, a credit rating bureau, collec-
tion agency and civic club. An office with a
stenographer is maintained in the First Na-
tional Bank building. The officers for 1914
are the same as above, except the following:
Secretary, R. S. Hemingway; executive com-
mittee, J. S. Coleman, W. R. Kocher, G. E.
Elwell, Jr., William Lowenberg, Paul Bom-
boy.
OAK GROVE
Oak Grove Park Association was organized
on May 26, 1886, "for the purpose of pur-
chasing Or leasing grounds to be fitted up as a
park, within the Town of Bloomsburg, Pa., or
any other portion* of the County of Columbia,
to be used for holding celebrations, picnics, and
any and all purposes for which similar places
are used." The capital stock was $10,000.
The incorporators were : W. R. Tubbs, Har-
man & Hassert, J. R. Schuyler. Buckalew
Brothers, J. C. Brown, R. C. Neal, David
Lowenberg, J. F. Peacock, J. H. Mercer, J.
W. Gibbs, I. W. McKelvy, James McClosky,
George E. Elwell, J. L. Moyei', H. H. Grotz.
C. W. Neal, G. W. Creveling, C. B. Robbins,
E. Jacoby, L. T. Sharpless, F. P. Billmeyer,
L. E. Waller, C. M. Creveling, I. S. Kuhn,
C. W. Miller.
The main object of this organization was to
preserve the beautiful grove at East Fifth and
Park streets, as the town was in need of such
a resort, and it was feared that these fine old
trees would be felled for commercial purposes.
The company made a lease with Mr. Nesbit
and the Hoyt heirs, the owners, and pro-
ceeded to beautify the place. A high fence
was built around it, the grounds were cleaned
up, a large rustic dancing pavilion was erected,
water was introduced and a fountain con-
structed, walks made, kitchen built, tables and
benches and swings provided, and the whole
grove made attractive, at a cost of about
$2,000 to the stockholders.
At first it was patronized fairly well, but
the income was not sufficient to pay the rent,
so that at the end of five years the company
proposed to turn over the park with all the
improvements to the owners, the Land Im-
provement Company, which had purchased it
in the meantime, in payment of rent due,
which was accepted by the latter, and in 1891
the lease was cancelled and Oak Grove Park
Association disbanded. The members, who
were among the leading business men of the
town, lost all they invested, and the town lost
a beautiful grove, whose site will some day be
within the built-up portions of Bloomsburg.
Then the town of Bloomsburg bought the
grove from the Land Improvement Company
for $5,500, and paid $1,000 on it, under the
agreement that the town should pay a rental
of $1,500 a year, and after a certain number
of payments the town was to own the grove.
The rent was not paid, however, as subsecjuent
councils refused to recognize the contract, and
the company sued the town and obtained a
verdict of $2,300, subject to a reserved ques-
tion of law as to the power of the town to
buy parks. In December, 1905, Judge Staples,
who heard the case, filed an opinion finding
in favor of the town on the ground that the
town had no legal right to make the purchase,
and therefore the contract could not be en-
forced. In 1912 the Improvement Company
sold the timber, and it has all been removed,
a few stumps being all that is left to mark
the site of this once beautiful grove.
RUPERT GROVE
For many years the only easily accessible
grove in this section was what was known
as Hess' Grove or Rupert Grove, near the
bridge over Fishing creek at Rupert. It was
used for picnics, festivals, camp meetings and
other gatherings, and though not large was
an attractive spot. It was owned by Thomas
Knorr and his estate for many years before
being used as a grove. Reuben Hess bought
the Knorr property, and fitted up the grove for
picnic grounds. For a number of years it was
used each summer for a week or more as a
camp meeting ground by the A. M. E. Church,
and other gatherings were of frequent occur-
rence. Subsequently G. W. Keiter purchased
the grove from Mr. Hess, and on Jan. i, 1904,
C. A. Kleim became the owner. He improved
the grounds by enlarging the pavilion and add-
ing to the attractions and conveniences gener-
ally. The trolley cars on the Catawissa line
pass close to the grove, making it easily
accessible.
124
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
ATHLETIC PARK
The town of Bloomsburg purchased from
Rev. D. J. Waller, Sr., on Dec. i8, 1873, three
acres of land on Seventh street between Center
and Iron, "to be used for public purposes" as
stated in the deed. The intention at the time
was to make a public park of it. The price
paid was $2,000. Forty-one years have passed
and it is no nearer being a public park than
the day it was bought. It has been used mostly
for a ball ground, and several times leased to
circuses. At one time the Civic club planted
a number of trees therein, which if they had
been properly cared for would by this time
have afforded some shade. There are great
possibilities for a beautiful public resort here,
and it is to be hoped that the next historian
will be able to record that the original purpose
for which the purchase was made has been
realized.
EDUCATIONAL
The first school of any consequence in
Bloomsburg was taught by George Vance in
a log building on the site of the present
Episcopal church in 1802, and about the same
time Ludwig Eyer taught a German school in
a building on the northeast corner of Market
and Second streets. Other teachers of early
date were Robert Fields, William Ferguson,
Murray Manvilie and Joseph Worden.
The highest branches taught in these schools
were the "three R's," the advanced classes
reading in the Bible. The second schoolhouse
on the site of the first one was of frame con-
struction and was taught by William Love.
The next school was established in a build-
ing in the lower end of the town, on the site
of the cabinet shop of Joseph E. Barkley, now
owned by the C. S. Furman estate. Robert
Fields was the first teacher here. .A.bout the
year 1830 a school was opened in a chair or
wagon shop at the site of the Masonic Temple,
Hiram W. Thornton being the teacher.
The old academy was erected on what at the
present time is the site of Dr. Montgomery's
residence, contained four class rooms, and was
used for school purposes until 1875.
The first actual high school was conducted
between 1850 and i860 by Prof. Joel E. Brad-
ley in a room later used by tlie Democratic
Sentinel, while Airs. Anna Drake taught pri-
mary classes in the adjoining room. About
the same period Miss Mattie Wells taught a
select school in a building later occupied by
William Gilmore, and Miss Susan Painter had
another in the rear of her father's ofince on
Market street.
Upon the passage of the public school act
in 1842 schoolhouses were built at various
points in town, but there was no system of
grading or general supervision until 1870,
when the Fifth street school was built at a
cost of $12,000, and opened with F. M. Bates
as principal and George E. Elwell, assistant
principal. Three years later the Third street
school was built, I. E. Schoonover being the
first principal. In 1885 all the schools were
placed under the superintendency of D. A.
Beckley, who prepared a regular course of
studies and greatly improved the condition of
the schools.
The increase in the number of pupils in
the schools was such that a third building soon
became necessary, and so it was determined to
erect a high school building. The lot formerly
occupied by the jail on First street was pur-
chased from the county by the school district,
and in 1888 the present imposing edifice was
completed. The directors at the time were :
John R. Townsend, J. C. Brown, O. T. Wilson,
W. Kramer, W. Chrisman, Joseph Garrison.
The architect was E. E. Ritter, and the
builder, David Geisinger. Since D. A. Beck-
ley's time the following persons hSve been
principals of the high school : William J.
Wolverton, J. F. Harkins, L. P. Sterner and
W. C. Mauser. L. P. Sterner was elected su-
pervising principal of the schools in 1891 and
most efficiently filled that position until July,
1914, when he was elected district superin-
tendent, and the district thus became inde-
pendent. Large additions have been made to
the three buildings from time to time, with
sufficient additional room supposedly for
many years in the future, but on the opening
of the schools in the fall of 1914 every room
was filled to overflowing, and the necessity for
a fourth building was made imperative ; steps
are being taken for its erection. In 1914 W.
C. Mauser is principal of the high school,
B. H. Johnson of the Third street school and
Harry Rider of the Fifth street school. E.x-
tensive improvements were made to the latter
grounds this year, and recent additions have
been made in the chemical, scientific and com-
mercial departments of the high school. Man-
ual training has been introduced in the other
two schools, and sewing classes are conducted
for the girls.
State Normal School
Crowning an elevation 150 feet above the
Susquehanna and overlooking the town of
Bloomsburg, the situation of the State Normal
■s.
^
a
O
c
o
I
1
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
125
School is one of unrivaled beauty and health-
fulness. The buildings are grouped in such a
way as to be easy of access to the students
and are surrounded with well kept lawns and
numerous trees of nearly every variety capable
of growth in this latitude. Bloomsburg is a
city of homes and the Normal pupils gain
thus all the advantages of homelike surround-
ings and social opj)ortunities, without the
temptations of a larger city.
This school is one of the largest in the
United States and many of its graduates fill
positions of importance throughout this and
other States. The school is one of the best
disciplined in the country, while the educa-
tional work is so carefully supervised that a
strong corps of university and college trained
teachers has been brought together for a fac-
ulty. As a result the young men and women
graduated from the college and preparatory
courses are taking high rank among their fel-
lows and reflecting great credit on their alma
mater.
Nineteen acres of campus afford ample
space for lawns and athletic grounds and in-
clude a beautiful oak grove, while the seven
buildings are admirably adapted to their differ-
ent uses. Institute Hall, built in 1867, con-
tains six spacious classrooms, and an audi-
torium on the second floor with a seating ca-
pacity of 1,000. The Model School building,
where the prospective teachers are given
classes of little ones to instruct, thus getting
practical experience in their life work, is a
handsome three-story building next to Insti-
tute Hall. It is 80 by 90 feet in dimensions
and contains twenty-eight study and recitation
rooms, well ventilated and fitted out for the
most improved methods of instruction.
The main dormitory is four stories high,
having a frontage of 165 feet and an extension
of 75 feet, and a wing 40 by 104 feet. This
wing furnishes accommodations for seventy
students. Extending across this wing forward
to the front building is the most attractive por-
tion of the entire cluster of school buildings.
It is a piazza 140 feet in length, which fronts
the beautiful Susquehanna, and from this
vantage point one of the most charming views
in eastern Pennsylvania may be enjoyed. The
river, like a ribbon, edges the plain on the
south, disappearing through a bold gorge three
miles to the southwest. Rising immediately
beyond the river is a precipitous ridge 400
feet high, backed by the majestic brow of
Catawissa mountain. The town spreads be-
fore the eye to the right and left, while in
front is an expanse of green and golden field
and farm. This is a spot to rest and feast the
eye, and is always at the service of the student.
In this main building is located the dining
room, with a floor space of over four thousand
square feet. It is in charge of a professional
chef and meals are served by individual orders.
What is known as the north end addition
was built within a few years past and ex-
tends to within a short distance of the Model
School building, with which it is connected by
a two-story covered passage-way. Here are
located the study hall, library, dormitories for
young men, etc. At the northwestern ex-
tremity of this building is the gymnasium
building, 45 by 90 feet, fitted with all the
necessary appliances, and one of the best in
the State. The main building is equipped with
an elevator and sanitary appliances, and all
buildings are thoroughly illuminated, heated
and ventilated.
Science Hall, on the west, was erected
within recent years at a cost of $65,000 and
is a model of its kind. North Hall is 40 by 70
feet, three stories high, with a basement that
contains the laundry. A part of the top floor
is fitted up as an infirmary.
Besides the instruction in the classrooms,
many of the classes in botany, agriculture, ge-
ology, etc., are taken on long trips weekly
around the country to study their subjects
at close quarters. These trips are useful, in-
structive, entertaining and healthful, and are
eagerly attended by the students.
The beginning of the present Normal School
was made in 1839, when a building at the
corner of Third and Jefferson streets, Blooms-
burg, was opened as a private school for in-
struction in the higher branches. The first
teacher proved incompetent and the same year
C. P. Waller, a graduate of Williams College
and subsequently a president judge of this
State, was induced to come here and found an
academy. He remained for two years and left
the institution in a flourishing condition.
After this teachers in the public schools in
their summer vacations taught in this school,
one of them, Joel E. Bradley, restoring to
some extent the high standard set by Mr. Wal-
ler.
About the year 1854 Mr. B. F. Eaton
opened a classical school in the Primitive Meth-
odist church (on what is now the site of St.
Columba's church), and continued it with
such success that his friends took measures to
make it permanent. In 1856 Rev. D. J. Waller
prepared a charter and William Robinson and
others circulated it. The original signers
were : A. J. Sloan, M. Coffman, E. Menden-
126
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
hall, A. T. Evans, William McKelvy, J. J.
Brower, 13. F. Hartman, S. H. Miller, J. M.
Chamberlain, Philip Unangst, Jesse G. Clark,
A. Witman, Michael Henderson, John G.
Freeze, Levi L. Tate, Peter Billmeyer, M. C.
Sloan, Jonathan ^Iosteller, Alexander J.
Frick, E. B. Beidleman, Robert F. Clark, A.
M. Rupert, R. B. Menagh, W. J. Beidleman,
Robert Cathcart, A. C. Mensch, H. C. Hower.
The charter provided for the establishment
and maintenance of a school to be known as
the "Bloomsburg Literary Institute," for the
promotion of education in both the ordinary
and the higher branches of English literature
and science, and in the ancient and modern
languages. Under the articles of incorpora-
tion Rev. D. J. Waller, William Robinson,
Leonard B. Rupert, William Snyder, Elisha
C. Barton, William Goodrich, Joseph Sharp-
less, John K. Grotz and I. W. Hartman were
constituted trustees.
For a time after the granting of the charter
the school was conducted with varying degrees
of success by William Lowrey, Daniel A.
Beckley and Henry Rinker in the old "acad-
emy," and by others in the Episcopal church
building, until it was for a time suspended.
The "church building" was the first building
erected as the Episcopal church upon the
present property of that denomination. Being
a frame building it was moved to the back
part of the lot on the southwest corner of
Main and Center streets, and in it Joel E.
Bradley and subsec]uently William Lowrey
conducted a school.
The need for a higher school than the
'regular public institutions was becoming more
acute, however, and at this critical period the
right man appeared on the scene in 1866.
Henry Carver, a native of Binghamton, N. Y.,
came through the valley on a pleasure tour
and was introduced to Rev. D. J. Waller and
others. The fact that he had been principal
of an academy and in the preparatory depart-
ment of the University of California induced
the citizens to persuade him to remain and re-
open the school in the old academy building.
He did, and his success exceeded all previous
records.
After continuing the school for a year Mr.
Carver refused to carry it on longer unless
better accommodations were made for the rap-
idly increasing classes. The general confidence
in his methods caused the townspeople to de-
cide to revive the charter of the Literary In-
stitute. This was done, the elected officials
being Rev. D. J. Waller, president : I. W.
Hartman, secretary ; John G. Freeze, R. F.
Clark, William Neal, trustees. A committee
was appointed to secure money and another
to decide on a suitable location for the insti-
tute. After much discussion the site offered
by William Snyder was accepted and plans
drawn for a building to cost not exceeding
$15,000. The selection of the final site was de-
cided by the agreement of the town authorities
to remove the old "Forks Hotel" from the cen-
ter of Main street. The building was finally
completed in 1867 and dedicated on April 4th
of that year, the occasion being made a gala
one by the citizens of the town. The total cost
of the building and its furniture was $24,000.
The following year a bell, costing $1,200 and
weighing 2,171 pounds, was secured by sub-
scriptions through the eft'orts of D. J. Waller
(son of Rev. D. J. Waller), George E. Elwell
and Charles Unangst, the members of the class
of that first year of the new school. Two of
them are prominent residents of Bloomsburg.
Rev. D. J. Waller heads the institution so ably
promoted by his father. Mr. Elwell's father
was president of the board of trustees for
eighteen years, and he succeeded his father as
a trustee, for nearly twenty years. Mr.
Unangst resides in New York City, vi'bere he
is a prosperous lawyer. The first faculty in
the academy was composed of Professor Car-
ver, mathematics and the higher English
branches; Rev. J. R. Dimm, Latin and Greek;
Miss Sarah Carver, the lower English
branches. Two courses of study were ar-
ranged and four years allowed to complete
them.
Thus the school opened under local control
and with a small attendance, but the year had
scarce begun before steps were taken to add a
State Normal school to the one just completed.
A meeting was held in 1868 at which it was re-
solved to establish a State Normal under the
act of 1857 and to procure grounds and erect
a building as soon as $70,000 had been sub-
scribed. Rapidly the plans developed and on
June 25, 1868, the cornerstone of the Normal
School building was laid by Gov. John W.
Geary. Hon. William Elwell spoke in behalf
of the trustees and Hon. Leonard B. Rupert
read the history of the Institute. Within nine
months the dormitory building was completed
at a cost of $36,000, and the school was for-
mally recognized by the State Feb. 19, 1869.
None of the functions of the "Literary In-
stitute" were canceled when it became a nor-
mal school; the charter name is still "The
Bloomsburg Literary Institute and State Nor-
mal School" and the courses of study orig-
inally provided for the Institute are still main-
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
127
tained, according to the terms of the original
agreement with the Commonwealth. As a con-
sequence this school is different from other
normals in that it prepares students for col-
leges and maintains courses in both vocal and
instrumental music. The work of the Insti-
tute has never interfered with the training of
teachers ; in fact, the necessity of keeping well
trained instructors in the sciences, languages,
mathematics, history and literature to comply
with the requirements of the Institute has pro-
vided better instruction in the elements of
these branches for students of the normal de-
partments. The school at all times has at least
125 representatives in the various colleges and
universities.
The first principal of the school. Prof.
Henry Carver, held the position until Decem-
ber, 1 871. He was an excellent disciplinarian
and organizer and had the happy faculty of
inspiring young people to make the most of
themselves. After his withdrawal from the
principalship the school passed through a finan-
cial struggle that is best described in the words
of Col. John G. Freeze, in his "History of
Columbia County," as follows:
"The very large amount of money required,
the falling off of subscribers, the want of
prompt payment of those which were good,
the talk of those who were not in sympathy
with the movement, were all discouraging cir-
cumstances. The trustees were therefore
obliged to assume personally the cost of carry-
ing on the work. They had upon themselves
at one time, as a personal obligation, more than
$20,000, repairs, expenditures and deficiencies
to the amount of from $1,000 to $3,000 annu-
ally having been provided for by them, on
their personal responsibility. They have given
days and nights to the business of the school,
they have borne, for the public and general
good, burdens which no man in the town has
struggled under in his own business. When
State aid came slowly or not at all, when sub-
scriptions failed, when the daily pressure of
debts was almost unbearable, the trustees
shouldered the work and accepted the respon-
sibility."
The second principal of the school was the
well known lawyer, Charles G. Barkley, Esq.,
previously County Superintendent of Schools,
who accepted the position temporarily and on
condition that he would be relieved as soon
as possible. His principalship extended only
from Dec. 20, 1871, to March 27, 1872, but a
marked improvement in the school in all re-
spects was apparent at the time of his resig-
nation, and the trustees would have been glad
to retain him at the head of the institution.
He was for years one of the leading trustees
of the school, being chairman of the committee
on instruction and discipline.
Mr. Barkley's successor was Rev. John
Hewitt, rector of the Episcopal Church of
Bloomsburg, who held the position until the
end of the school year in June, 1S73. Im-
provement continued, but still the income did
not meet expenses and the struggles of the
board of trustees continued. In September,
1875, the boarding hall was burned, the loss
being only partially covered by insurance.
The hall was rebuilt in the ensuing year. Mr.
Hewitt was succeeded by Dr. T. L. Griswold,
who continued as principal until June, 1877.
Under his administration the school first paid
expenses. In the fall of 1877 Rev. David J.
\\'aller, Jr., assumed the duties of principal
and his administration was very successful.
It was during his administration that the model
school building and the east wing of the dor-
mitory were erected. Throughout the thirteen
years of his connection with the institution
there was a constant growth in its material
equipment, size, and efficiency; and when, in
1890, Dr. Waller was appointed State super-
intendent of public instruction the school was
in a most prosperous condition.
In July, 1890, Judson P. Welsh, Ph. D., as-
sumed the duties of the position. The "Na-
tional Educator," in its issue of March 18,
1896, says of the prosperity of the school un-
der his administration : "Through the influ-
ence of Dr. Welsh, the growth and prosperity
of the school has been phenomenal. We will
briefly enumerate some of the material changes
which have gone hand-in-hand with the edu-
cational improvements. New furniture came
first, then the beautiful auditorium was re-
modeled. Next the large four-story dormi-
tory and the gymnasium were built. Electric
lights, the new library, the elevator, and the
servants' dormitory soon followed. The new
athletic field is another remarkable feature of
this growth. In short, the school has grown
so wonderfully that those who have not visited
it for five years would be astonished to see the
transformation."
Science Hall was built under the adminis-
tration of Dr. Welsh, and opened in the fall of
iqo6, just after his resignation. It was erected
and equipped at a cost of $65,000.
In August, 1906, Dr. Welsh resigned the
principalship to accept a position in the State
College, and the trustees for the second time
extended a call to Rev. D. J. Waller, Jr., who
upon retiring from the office of State superin-
128
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
tendent had been elected principal of the Nor-
mal School at Indiana, Pa. He accepted, and
again became principal here in the fall of 1906.
The school has continued to grow, the attend-
ance in 191 2 reaching eight hundred during
the year. Several additions to the buildings
have been made during these years, the most
notable being Science Hall. In April, 1913, at
a meeting of the stockholders, it was voted to
sell the school to the State under the provisions
of the School Code, and in the near future its
ownership and control will pass to the Com-
monwealth.
The State Normal School is under the care
of a board of trustees of eighteen members,
nine of these representing the Commonwealth
and nine representing the stockholders. The
stockholders are the contributors of the orig-
inal $30,000 which the State requires to be
furnished by the community in which a nor-
mal school is established. They are not stock-
holders in the sense of being participators of
the earnings of the school, but they elect the
trustees annually and suggest to the Common-
wealth those who may be appointed to repre-
sent the State. The trustees of this school
have upon more than one occasion furnished
funds to the institution from their private
means, and have frequently compromised their
personal estates by placing their names on
paper to help the school out of financial em-
barrassment, when the State failed to appro-
priate sufficient funds, or withheld payment of
funds appropriated. The annual appropria-
tion of the State to the school at present is
$7,500, which is not half the sum paid in
salaries to the instructors.
The State also makes an appropriation of
one dollar and fifty cents per week to stu-
dents at least seventeen years old, who take
the teacher's course of instruction and declare
their intention to become teachers for not less
than two years in the public schools of the
Commonwealth. This aid to the students is
of no direct value to the school, as it does not
furnish any additional funds.
The following well known business and pro-
fessional men constituted the 1913 board of
trustees: A. Z. Schoch, president; J. C.
Brown, vice president; J. M. Clark, secretary;
Col. John G. Freeze, N. U. Funk, L. E. Wal-
ler, 0. W. Cherrington, Hon. Voris Auten, G.
J. Clark, on the part of the stockholders, and
T. R. Townsend, C. W. Miller, Dr. J. J. Brown,
R. C. Neal, M. J. Hess, Paul E. Wirt, A. L.
Fritz, F. G. Yorks, A. W. Duy, W. H. Hid-
lay, treasurer, on the part of the State. Of
the above trustees, four died between July 8th
and Sept. 21st, 1913, namely, Col. John G.
Freeze, A. L. Fritz, F. G. Yorks and R. C.
Neal. At the May election, 1914, these vacan-
cies were filled by the election of Milton K.
Yorks by the stockholders, and M. G. Young-
man, L. E. McGinnes and Benjamin Apple
for the State.
Rev. D. J. Waller, Sr., was the first presi-
dent of the board of trustees. He was suc-
ceeded by Hon. L. B. Rupert, who continued
in office until 1873, when Hon. William Elwell
was elected. He resigned in 1891 and was
followed by William Neal until his death,
when A. Z. Schoch was chosen and still fills
the office (1914). I. W. Hartman is the only
survivor of the original trustees.
Four fifths of the yearly income of the
school is spent in the town, and it is esti-
mated that the students in their personal ex-
penditures bring into the town each year at
least $15,000. During seven years previous
to 1898 the annual income of the school in-
creased from $42,000 to $69,000, or almost
sixty-five per cent. The income expended in
Bloomsburg during that time was $346,000
for rqnning expenses. Add to this the sum
expended by the students and the estimated
total is $431,000. Besides this the additions
and repairs to the school buildings repre-
sented $70,000, which was disbursed among
residents of the town, so that the grand total
that the town gained from the proximity of
the school was at least half a million dollars.
MASONIC
The history of the fraternity of Freemasons
in Bloomsburg is coincident with the history
of the town itself. While the town was still
a small village, practically a settlement, Rising
Sun Lodge, No. 100, F. & A. M., was organ-
ized, and met at the house of WiUiam Miller
in Bloomsburg. The warrant was dated Jan.
2, 1804, and the first worthy master named
was Daniel B. Potter, who however declined ;
Christian Brobst was named in his stead. In
1805 and for a number of years thereafter
the meetings were held alternately at Blooms-
burg and Catawissa. There were twelve mem-
bers of the lodge, among them John Clark, W.
M. : Philip Moyer, S. W. ; Casper Christman,
y. W. ; Gabriel Lount, secretary, and Isaiah
Willits, treasurer. This lodge continued until
about 1820 or 1822, when it surrendered its
warrant.
The next lodge here was formed on March
15, 1852, when Christian Frederick Knapp,
33°, William Sloan and others met and
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
129
organized Washington Lodge, No. 265, F.
& A. M., which is still in successful existence,
holding its meetings in the Cathedral.
The Scottish Rite bodies of Freemasonry
were organized in Bloomsburg May 19, 1865.
Conspicuous among the fourteen charter mem-
bers were Christian Frederick Knapp, ^^°,
Elisha W. M. Low, 32°, and Jonathan Rose
Dimm, 32° ; Dr. Dimm, now president-emeri-
tus of Susquehanna University, at Selins-
grove, being the only surviving charter
member. These bodies have a membership of
over twelve hundred and occupy their own
building, known as Caldwell Consistory Ca-
thedral.
The Cathedral is located on Market Square,
a building which, with its complete appoint-
ments, is the pride of Bloomsburg, as it might
well be of a much larger city. It is a three-
story brick with brownstone trimmings. On
the first floor is a large entrance hall, with
wide stairs at the back leading to the second
floor. On either side of this hall are the
rooms of the Craftsman Club, which include
reception rooms, reading rooms, card room and
billiard room, with all modem conveniences.
Back of these are an immense banquet hall,
capable of seating five hundred or more per-
sons at the tables, and a kitchen fully equipped
witli all the latest accessories necessary to pre-
pare a meal for so large a number.
The auditorium or lodge room is on the sec-
ond floor. It has a gallery around the sides
and one end, and a perfectly arranged stage
with beautiful scenery, and electric lights of
various colors. This floor also contains cloak
rooms, office rooms and a large reception room.
The building is used exclusively for Masonic
purposes.
At one time Washington Lodge, No. 265,
F. & A. M., occupied rooms in the building
now owned by Moyer Brothers on Main street,
below Alarket Square. When J. J. Brower
erected the three-story brick building east of
the courthouse, now owned by Paul E. Wirt,
the Masons moved to its third floor and re-
mained there until the completion of the
Cathedral.
Prior to 1906 the growth of the order had
made larger and more commodious quarters
imperative, and various locations were consid-
ered for the erection of a temple. In January,
1906, purchase was made of the property then
owned by the Young Men's Christian Associa-
tion, formerly for many years the home of
William Neal. Plans were procured for a
building that would cover the entire lot. The
work of demolishing the old building was soon
begun, and the foundation walls progressed
so that the laying of the cornerstone took place
on June 14, 1906, with impressive ceremonies
conducted by Right Worshipful Grand Master
George W. Kendrick, Jr. Other members of
the Grand Lodge who were present were:
Deputy Grand Master George B. Orlady,
Senior Grand Warden George W. Guthrie,
Junior Grand Warden W. C. Gorgas, Grand
Treasurer Thomas R. Patton, Grand Secretary
William A. Sinn. The following was the or-
der of ceremonies :
Formation at Lodge Room, ii 130 A. M.
Opening Prayer, Gra}id Chaplain.
Music, "Spirit of Power and Might,"
Caldwell Choir.
Proclamation, Grand Marshal.
Address to R. W. Grand Master, Chair-
man of Building Committee.
Invocation, Grand Chaplain.
Deposit of Box in Cornerstone, Grand
Treasurer.
List of Articles Deposited, Grand Secre-
tary.
Music, "Who Enters Here," Caldwell
Choir.
Preparation for Laying Cornerstone,
Right Worshipful Grand Master.
Plumb, Level and Square, Grand Officers.
Cornerstone Placed in Position, Right
Worshipful Grand Master and Grand Officers.
Music, "Great Architect, Our Heav-
enly King," Caldzvell Choir.
Cornerstone Laid, Right Worshipful
Grand Master.
Music, "Shine on Our Souls," Caldwell
Choir.
Corn, Wine & Oil, Grand Officers.
Music, "God Is My Strong Salvation,"
Caldzvell Choir.
Presentation of Architect, Chairman of
Building Committee.
Music, Hymn, "Jerusalem the Golden,"
Caldzvell Choir.
Proclam.'^tion, Grand Marshal.
Oration, /. Henry Williams.
Chorus, "Glorious Things of Thee Are
Spoken," Caldzvell Choir.
Benediction, Grand Chaplain.
Chant, "So Mote It Be," Caldzvell Choir.
The building was completed in September,
1907, and the dedication of the Cathedral took
place on the 24th, 25th and 26th of that
month. On Tuesday morning, the 24th, the
opening services were held. In the Lodge of
Perfection, H. A. McKillip presiding, the re-
port of Architect Reitmyer was read, followed
130
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
by the report of the building committee by
R. E. Hartman, its secretary. The key of the
building was then handed over to Frederick
W. Ulrich, Commander in Chief, by the
builder, E. E. Ritter, and passed by him to
John R. Townsend, chairman of the board of
trustees. In the afternoon, the ceremony of
dedication was conducted by Hon. Henry L.
Palmer, 33°, M. P. Sovereign Grand Com-
mander of the Supreme Council, N. M. J.,
assisted by James Isaac Buchanan, 33^, Dep-
uty for Pennsylvania, and the officers of the
Supreme Council.
The reception on Tuesday evening was at-
tended by about fifteen hundred people, in-
cluding members of the Consistory and of
other Masonic bodies, and their wives. The
guests were received by the officers of the
Supreme Council, and the officers of the Con-
sistory. Each lady was presented a souvenir
in the shape of a hatpin, the head being a
triangle with the figures 32 in the center.
A concert was given by Charles P. Elwell's
orchestra of twelve pieces in the auditorium.
Following this, Caldwell Choir rendered an ex-
cellent vocal program for a half hour. During
the early part of the evening refreshments
were served in the banquet hall. At 9 130 the
banquet hall was utilized as a ballroom, and
lovers of the dance enjoyed themselves until
after midnight. Wednesday and Thursday
were occupied with Masonic work, a large
number of candidates being advanced to the
thirty-second degree. The celebration ended
with a banquet in the banquet hall in the
evening, at which H. A. McKillip, 33°, pre-
sided as toastmaster. Provision was made for
550 guests.
The following were the officers of Cald-
well Consistory at the time of the dedication :
Frederick W. Ulrich, 32°, 111. Com. in Chief ;
John R. Townsend, 32°, 111. First Lt. Com.;
John S. Mack, 32°, 111. Sec. Lt. Com.; E.
Skyles McKillip, 32°, 111. Min. of S. G. O.;
Eugene F. Carpenter, 32°, 111. Chancellor;
George L. Low. 32°, 111. G. Treasurer : H. A.
McKillip, 33°, 111. G. Sec. & K. of S. & A. ;
David S. Bachman, 32°, 111. G. Eng. and A.;
William J. Hehl, 32°, 111. G. Hospitaler; Wil-
liam M. Tinker, 32°, 111. G. Master of C. ;
Alfred L. Reichenbach, 32°, 111. G. Stan.
Bearer; Joseph L. Townsend, 32°, 111. Capt.
of the G.; Birch B. Freas, 32°, 111. G. Sen-
tinel. Trustees, John R. Townsend, 32°,
Robert E. Hartman, 32°, Harrv J. Achenbach,
32°.
The bodies which meet in the Cathedral are :
Washington Lodge, No. 265, F. & A. M. ;
Bloomsburg Royal Arch Chapter, No. 218;
Mount Moriah Council, No. 10, R. & S.
M.; Crusade Commandery, No. 12, Knights
Templar ; Orient Conclave, No. 2, K. of R. C.
of C. ; besides the four bodies of the Ancient
Accepted Scottish Rite of the Valley of
Bloomsburg: Enoch Lodge of Perfection, 14° ;
Zerubbabel Council, P. of J., 16° ; Evergreen
Chapter, R. C, 18° ; and Caldwell Consistory,
S. P. R. S., 32°, the latter body being owner
of the Cathedral, whose present trustees are
Cortez B. Robbins, 33° ; C. Thomas Vander-
slice, 32° ; Robert D. Young, 32°.
OTHER FRATERNITIES
Theta Castle, No. 276, Knights of the
Golden Eagle, is one of the most prominent
lodges of Bloomsburg. It has a large mem-
bership, and a considerable fund mvested.
One of its features is the commandery, a
handsomely uniformed and well drilled body
of young men, whose maneuvers have elicited
great applause wherever they have appeared.
La Valletta Commandery, No. 91, A. & L.
O., Knights of Malta, was organized July 2,
1891. The present officers are: Sir knight
commander, John Fortner; sir knight gener-
alissimo, John W. Harman; treasurer, J.
Lewis ; recorder, D. W. Campbell ; prelate,
William Lemon; captain general, William
Traub; senior warden, C. H. Gilmore.
Bloomsburg Conclave, No. 254, Improved
Order of Heptasophs, was organized March
7, 1893. The present officers are: Archon,
John Lewis ; secretary, T. C. Harter ; financier,
H. M. Sommer; treasurer, C. A. Kleim; past
archon, R. G. Phillips; provost, T. J. Morris;
prelate, J. E. Aloyer; inspector, G. P. Ringler;
warden, W. F. Hartman ; trustees, G. P. Ring-
ler, John Posten, R. G. Phillips.
Washington Camp, No. 319, Patriotic Order
Sons of America, was organized May i, 1888.
Present officers are: President, John F.
Adams ; vice president, Paul Harvey ; past
president, J. W. Robison ; financial secretary,
Isaiah Deily ; recording secretary, Clark Kash-
ner; treasurer, C. E. Whitenight; master of
forms and ceremonies, Jacob Stiner; con-
ductor, James Yost; inspector, W. E. Miller;
outside guard, D. R. Stiner; trustees, C. L.
Rupert, Isaiah Deily, J. Stiner. Chaplain,
C. S. Ranck ; assistant secretary, S. G. Kash-
ner; sentinels, Jacob Millard. Irvin Askew,
James Hunsinger, Clark Evans.
Honayawas Tribe, No. 372, Improved Order
of Red Men, was organized Aug. 21, 1907.
The officers now are: Sachem, N. J. Hofer;
prophet, John Tringle ; senior sagamore, B.
\ (
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
131
Lanyon; junior sagamore, H. Cleaver; chief
of records, A. W. Walters; collector of wam-
pum, W. L. Earnest; keeper of wampum, J. B.
Earhart.
The Protected Home Circle was organized
Aug. 27, 1895. The present officers are: R.
H. Smoyer, president ; C. H. Kline, secretary ;
Fred Holmes, treasurer.
Bloomsburg Lodge, No. 436, of the Benev-
olent I'rotective Order of Elks, of the United
States of America, was granted a charter April
14, 189S, and the following have served (each
one year) as exalted rulers of this organiza-
tion: I. A. Snyder, William K. West, W. H.
Henrie, C. E. Randall, P. W. Gordon, Hon.
John G. Harman, Clyde Charles Yetter, Esq.,
Charles M. Evans, C. A. Small, Esq., Edward
Schenke, Gerald Gross, Anthony Menzebach,
William D. Holmes and David W. Powell.
This organization accumulated resources,
and on the 18th day of March, 1909, purchased
the Hartman property on Market Square,
which was remodeled. The home with the
furnishings today is valued at forty thousand
dollars. It is a three-story brick structure with
a store and basement. The second and third
stories are used for lodge and club purposes.
The organization frequently gives the use of
its quarters for charitable and civic purposes.
It has a membership of 208 men, and its char-
ity fund at all times of the year is distributed
with such promptness and in such a manner
that it has received the commendation of
Bloomsburg citizens. The present officers are :
Joseph Flaherty, exalted ruler; Dr. C. F. Alt-
miller, esteemed leading knight ; Myron E.
Sands, esteemed loyal knight; J. H. Coleman,
esteemed lecturing knight ; J. F. Watson, sec-
retary ; F. D. Dentler, treasurer ; W. G. Lentz,
esquire; D. W. Campbell, chaplain; R. N.
Wolverton, inner guard; M. W. Betz, tiler; J.
E. Roys, organist. Trustees, K. F. Wirt, F. J.
Richards, Frank Ikeler.
The lodge has been honored by the appoint-
ment of Clyde Charles Yetter, Esq., one of its
members, to the office of district deputy grand
exalted ruler, of this District, which comprised
nineteen lodges in the years 1912-13.
Bloomsburg Nest, Order of Owls, No. 1133,
was organized June 30, 1913. The officers are :
Past president, Jeremiah Geese ; president, A.
E. Tillburg ; secretary, J. H. Fahringer ; treas-
urer, E. L. Buck.
Bloomsburg Camp, No. 9808, Modern
Woodmen of America, was organized March
30, 1905. The officers now are: Venerable
consul, Robert Eunson ; worthy adviser, P. C.
Bomboy ; banker, J. L. Townsend ; clerk, W.
B. Linville; escort, J. B. Creveling; sentry,
Rhode Huff ; managers, W. P. Zehner, G. W.
Hess, L. E. Smith.
Bloomsburg Lodge, No. 2557, Knights and
Ladies of Honor, was organized April 22,
1904. The officers are: Past protector, Aliss
Grace Cook; protector. Miss Lusetta Achy;
vice protector. Miss Lizzie Wilson; recording
secretary, Frank H. Evans; financial secretary,
J. Hurley Walters; treasurer, L. E. Smith;
chaplain. Miss Bertha Gross; guide, Wildie
Dent; guardian. Miss Harriet Barber; sentinel,
Simon Poust; trustees, J. H. Walters, F. H.
Evans, Wildie Dent.
Bloomsburg Lodge of the Junior Order of
United American Alechanics organized Nov.
22, 1890. In 1905 there was a split in the or-
ganization and the local lodge went with the
Order of Independent Americans, becoming
American Union Council, No. 537. The pres-
ent officers are : Past councilor, J. H.
Cramer ; councilor, Rush Cook ; vice councilor,
J. W. Cadow ; recording secretary, R. W.
Alexander; assistant recording secretar}', A. L.
Sobers; financial secretary, M. C. Jones.
Bloomsburg Camp of Woodmen of the
World was organized in December, 191 1, by
Charles S. Myers, district deputy. The of-
ficers are : Consul commander, E. H. B. Ab-
bett; adviser lieutenant, Robert F. Shaffer;
clerk, Joseph H. Dennis; banker, E. J. Gear-
inger. There are four other camps of this
order in the county, located respectively at
Benton, Berwick, Millville and Numidia.
Van Camp Lodge, No. 140, I. O. O. F.,
was chartered Nov. 17, 1845, with these of-
ficers : Andrew D. Cool, noble grand ; Eph-
raim Armstrong, vice grand ; Edward Keifer,
secretary; Henry Webb, assistant secretary;
George W. Abbott, treasurer. George Cath-
cart, the last surviving charter member, died
in Danville in 1879. The present officers for
1914 are: W. H. John, noble grand; George
A. Fornwald, vice grand ; Hurley E. Walter,
recording secretary; G. W. Hippensteel, finan-
cial secretary ; Theodore Kreigh. treasurer : R.
A. Hicks, William Vial, S. C. Beagle, trustees.
Bloomsburg Council, No. 146, Order United
American Mechanics, was chartered July 16,
1868. with these members: H. F. Bodine, To-
bias Henry, Harman Kline, H. J. Evans, M. S.
Housekne'cht, M. M. Snyder, A. S. Crossley,
Robert Roan, J. M. Thornton, Frederick Gil-
more. George Nicholas, I. K. Miller, J. S.
Jacobv, Edward Searles, William Thomas, Jo-
seph Christman, M. M. Johnson, J. S. Evans,
I. Hagenbuch, P. Welsh, J. Schultz, Henry
Shutt, W. M. Furman, John Gulp, George
132
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
Moyer and C. W. Miller. The officers in 1914
are : J. Edward Faust, councilor ; D. R. Kash-
ner, vice councilor; Silas Rhoat, assistant sec-
retary ; Joseph Rhoat, inductor ; Cleve Brodt,
examiner; J. H. Fahringer, outside protector;
Clark Miller, inside protector; H. W. Giger,
representative.
The Daughters of Liberty, Council No. 81,
has these officers: M. C. Jones, councilor; F.
J. Rubenstein, recording secretary ; ^Irs. M. C.
Jones, financial secretary; Mrs. Fanny Davis,
treasurer.
Ent Post, G. A. R., No. 152, Department of
Pennsylvania, was first organized in .A.ugust,
1868. with the following officers: Samuel
Knorr, post commander ; J. B. Robison,
senior vice commander ; X. W. Sample,
junior vice commander ; F. P. Drinker, quar-
termaster; Dr. \V. H. Bradley, surgeon; G. K.
Beidleman, officer of the day; A. Croop, offi-
cer of the guard; C. S. Fornwald, adjutant;
Ross Creveling, chaplain.
After a few years the charter was sur-
rendered, and in 1880 the post was reorganized
as No. 250, with the following officers: H. J.
Conner, post commander; C. P. Sloan, senior
vice commander; G. W. Mears, junior vice
commander ; W. H. Swentzell, quartermaster ;
N. B. Fowler, chaplain; G. K. Beidleman, offi-
cer of the day; W. H. Jacoby, officer of the
guard; Daniel Boice, surgeon; C. S. Forn-
wald, adjutant.
The present officers (1915) are: Dr. J. S.
Lazarus, post commander; William Thomas,
senior vice commander; Thomas Downs,
junior vice commander; W. R. Ringrose,
quartermaster ; Clark Kressler, chaplain ; J.
W. Shuman, officer of the day; F. M. Gil-
more, officer of the guard ; Charles Kunkle,
surgeon; C. S. Fornwald, adjutant.
The living members are: L. R. Bomboy, G.
K. Beidleman, George Brant, J. S. Bachman,
A. J. Beagle, W. J. Correll, C. H. Campbell,
O. B. Case, Louis Cohen, T. M. Dawson,
George Farver, C. S. Fornwald, B. B. Freas,
J. H. Fahringer, W. H. Gilmore, F. M. Gil-
more, A. V. Hower, Albert Herbine, Isaiah
Holter, W. C. Hagenbuch, Jonas Hughes,
William Hopper, G. W. Jacoby, L. D. Kase,
Jonas Kline, Charles Kunkle. Clark Kressler,
William Kern, Jonty Lemons, Frank Mc-
Bride, John McCormick, J. H. Maize, G. W.
Mears, "R. T. Morris. Camden Mears. Charles
Muffly, T- R. Alills. O. B. Price, W. B. Poust,
W. R. Ringrose. Ellis Ringrose. L. T. Rider,
John Roadarmel, John Shellenberger, E. A.
Searles. B. F. Sharpless, William Shoemaker,
H. H. Sands, William Thomas, T- H. Town-
send, John Turner, Charles Titel, William
Traub, Elias Utt, W. H. Utt, James Warr,
Amos Whitenight, Jerry Wagner, Robert
Watkins, Dr. I. W. Willitts.
About one hundred and twenty-two of the
members have died since the post was organ-
ized. The post occupies a hall in the Wells
building on Main street, and keeps up active
work, ably assisted therein by the ladies'
auxiliary.
In addition to the above there are lodges of
the Maccabees, Royal Arcanum, Daughters of
Rebekah, and Daughters of Pocahontas in
Bloomsburg.
LITER.\RY .\ND SOCI.AL CLUBS
The social life of Bloomsburg is well repre-
sented by the many clubs formed for mutual
interchange of ideas and the improvement of
the mind and body. Many of these societies
and clubs are of much value to the future
progress of the county, and others, especially
the Historical Society, will confer incalculable
benefits upon the coming generations.
The Bloomsburg Wheelmen
The Wheelmen was Bloomsburg's oldest
social club. Organized in the days of the
bicycle craze, the club's name became some-
what of a misnomer, but the members never
had a thought of changing it, but rather of
retaining the name in memory of the days they
rode awheel. The clubhouse was first located
on Third street, in the present home of W . H.
Fisher, and later moved to Main street, to the
building now occupied and owned by the
Ostrich Farm & Feather Company. The
organization of the Craftsman so reduced its
membership that in 1912 it moved to two
rooms in Wirt's building, and after one year
there disbanded, and the funds on hand were
donated to the Bloomsburg hospital. The
club's social events were always among the
most delightful affairs in this section, its an-
nual banquets being one of its leading features.
Craftsman Club
Among the most beautifully appointed club
rooms in central Pennsylvania are those of
the Craftsman Club, for membership in which
it is essential that the applicant must be affil-
iated with the Masonic fraternity. Located on
the first floor of the handsome Caldwell Cathe-
dral, the rooms are, without question, among
the most elaborate to be found in anv clubhouse
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
133
of the State. Beautiful in themselves, they
are most elaborately furnished, and excite the
admiration of all who have ever seen them.
The membership is large and fast growing.
Ever since the club came into existence it has
taken a prominent part in the social life of the
town. Its annual Christmas dance is the prin-
cipal social event of this part of the State, while
its ladies' day has become popular with those
ladies of town eligible to enjoy the hospitality
of the club.
The Elks
With a large number of Bloomsburg's repre-
sentative business and professional men in-
cluded among its membership, the Elks lodge
of Bloomsburg has exceptionally attractive
clubrooms in the Hartman building, purchased
a few years ago. Two of the floors devoted to
their own use are handsomely furnished and
arranged. The first floor is a large and hand-
some store room, and the third floor contains
the lodge rooms. A janitor and an expert chef
are in constant attendance. The charitable
acts of this organization are among its leading
characteristics.
The Centurv Club
In the autumn of 1893 Dr. J. P. Welsh, prin-
cipal of the Normal School, was the prime
mover of the "University Extension," held in
Bloomsburg for several years. It was well
received by the people of the town who were
inclined to the. study of literature. At the
second lecture of the first course it was sug-
gested by the lecturer that a number of the
people club together to study the author for
the next lecture, one of the English poets.
After the second lecture seven young women
came down Normal Hill together. Before
separating at Center street they had decided to
meet the following Friday evening at the home
of one of the party. When the seven young
women had been holding their meetings for
some time, some one suggested that it would be
well to have a name. One of the members
very happily sugeested "The Pleiades." In
1896, when others were added to the list, it
became necessary to change the name of the
club. The name "Century Club of Blooms-
burg" was selected. Mrs. ]. L. Dillon was
elected the first president, which position she
very ablv filled for five years. The original
object of the Century Club was for social and
literary work and for the establishment of a
library. The last twenty years have been
spent in the study of literature, several foreign
countries, miscellaneous programs, the Bible,
and the "Racial Element in the Formation of
the People of the United States," under the
title of "Our Great Republic." The club has
the following active members, honorary mem-
bers and associate members: Mrs. O. H.
Bakeless, Mrs. W. H. Brooke, Mrs. R. C But-
ler, Mrs. R. F. Colley, Mrs. S. C. Creasy, Mrs.
J. L. Dillon, Mrs. R. E. Hartman, Mrs. G. H.
Hemingway, Mrs. S. J. Houk, Mrs. R. R.
Little, Miss Helen Low, of Lime Ridge, Miss
Georgia Pursel, Mrs. J. L. Richardson, Mrs.
L. P. Sterner, Mrs. H. M. Smith, Miss Mary
Tustin, Miss Mary Unangst, Miss Sarah Van
Tassel, Mrs. R. R. Zarr, Mrs. J. S. Grimes,
Mrs. E. B. Tustin, Mrs. J. K. Miller, Mrs.
C. A. Caswell and Miss May Sharpless.
The present officers are : Mrs. S. J. Houk,
president ; Miss May Sharpless, vice president ;
Miss Mary Unangst, treasurer; Mrs. Carlton
A. Caswell, secretary.
The Ivy Club
Early in the nineties Miss Helen John, Miss
Ida Bernhard, Dr. Eva Rawlings, Mrs. Ed-
ward Ever (Miss Emma Townsend) and Miss
Stella Lowenberg held weekly meetings for
reading and discussion. In November, 1894,
this reading circle organized a literary society
known as the A. A. P. Club. It remained as
such until March 6, 1897, when it was reor-
ganized as the Ivy Club with a membership
of eight persons. The main oljjects of the Ivy
Club are to aid in maintaining the Public
Library and the advancement of its members.
The club was admitted to the State Federation
of Women's Clubs in 189S. The organization
has fifteen members and the officers are : Pres-
ident, Miss Margaret Waller ; vice president,
Miss Helen John ; secretary, Mrs. D. S. Hart-
line; treasurer, Mrs. J. W. Bruner.
The Wednesday Club
The Wednesday Club, of Bloomsburg, was
organized as a reading circle in the fall of
1892, taking for its first work "The Discovery
of America," by John Fiske. There were
fifteen members of the club at that time. In
January, 189=;. Miss Eva Rupert was elected
president. The same year the name of the
reading circle was changed to the Mosaic Club.
In January, 1898, the Mosaic found that the
purchase of books would be necessary to en-
able them to do the work that they had planned.
It was decided that these books should form
134
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
the nucleus of a public library for the town of
Bloomsburg. The club joined the State Fed-
eration of Women's Clubs in June, 1898, and
still belongs to the Federation. On June 29,
1899, the name of the Mosaic Club was
changed to the Wednesday Club, of Blooms-
burg. In all these years the moneys from
fines, dues and entertainments were devoted
to the use and maintenance of the Public
Library. The officers now are : Mrs. Samuel
Wigfall, president; Mrs. R. E. Miller, vice
president; Mrs. D. J. Waller, Jr., secretary;
Mrs. George E. Elwell, treasurer.
The "S" Club
This club was organized on Oct. 21, 1912.
The "S" stands for "study and service." The
first officers were Miss Harriet Waller, presi-
dent ; Miss Mary Demaree, vice president ;
Miss Margaret C. Brooke, secretary ; Miss
Jean Andres, treasurer.
The object of the club is the intellectual im-
provement of its members, and town better-
ment. The present officers are : . Mrs. G. Ed-
ward Ehvell, Jr., president : Miss Gertrude
Gross, vice president ; Mrs. William W. Fagely,
secretary ; Mrs. Frederic O. Mvisser, treasurer ;
Mrs. Charles C. Housenick, club reporter.
The membership includes Miss Jean Andres,
Miss Armantine Arment, Mrs. William
Lawrence Butler, Mrs. Arthur Stevenson Clay,
Mrs. Edward C. Creasy, Mrs. John M. De-
laney, Mrs. George Edward Elwell, Jr., Mrs.
William \\'. Fagely, Miss Gertrude Gross, Mrs.
Paul Z. Harman, Mrs. Charles C. Housenick,
'\fi';s Margaret Jenkins, Mrs. Ralph Keller.
Mrs. Clyde Kemp, Mrs. Frederic O. Musser.
Miss Edith Patterson. Miss Harriet Waller,
Mrs. Karl Funston Wirt.
Fort McClure Chapter. D. A. R.
Fort McClure Chapter of the Daughters of
the American Revolution was organized April
10, 1905, and the date of its charter is April
22, 1905. The charter members were: Miss
Martha L. Caldwell, Mrs. S. C. Creasv, Mrs.
W. L. Demaree, Mrs. Geo. E. Elwell, Mrs. M.
E. Ent, Mrs. Helena Ikeler, Miss Mary P.
Leverett. Miss Anna T. Leverett, Mrs. R. R.
Little, Mrs. C. W. Miller, Mrs. R. G. Phillips,
Mrs. F. P. Pursel, Mrs. L. P. Sterner. Miss
Mary Tustin. ]\Tiss Sarah E. I. Van Tassel,
Mrs. H. V. White. Mrs. Mary Worthington.
Other resident members are: Mrs. M. F.
Caswell, Miss Ethel Creasy, Miss Hannah
Evans, Mrs. C. W. Funston, Miss Julia H.
Furman, Miss Clora G. Furman, Mrs. S. J.
Houk, Mrs. D. S. Hartline, Mrs. J. S. John,
Miss Martha McNinch, Mrs. H. R. Mears,
Mrs. C. Z. Rpbbins. The club meets weekly
from September to June, and papers on his-
torical subjects are read by the members.
In 1907 this club erected a suitable marker
on the site of Fort McClure on the Hughes
farm, and dedicated it with appropriate exer-
cises on April loth. The marker was unveiled
by Miss AlcClure, a direct descendant of Maj.
James McClure, after whom the fort was
named. In the afternoon a public meeting was
held in the courthouse, and among the exercises
was an address delivered by Rev. A. J. P. Mc-
Clure, a great-grandson of Major McClure.
The object of this society is the preservation
of that spirit of liberty which animated the
fathers and mothers of the .\merican Revolu-
tion. The present regent is Miss S. \'an Tas-
sel ; vice regent, Mrs. C. W. Funston ; secre-
tary, Mrs. C. Z. Robbins ; treasurer, Mrs. R. G.
Phillips; chaplain. Miss Mary Tustin.
Columbia County Historical Society
The first steps for the formation of this
society were taken May 9, 1914, at a meeting
held in the courthouse at Bloomsburg, which
was called by the officers of Fort McClure
Chapter, D. A. R. The meeting was called to
order by James C. Brown, who made a few
remarks and then introduced Dr. S. P. Heil-
man, of Lebanon County, secretary of the
Pennsylvania State Federation of Historical
Societies. Dr. Heilman gave a practical talk
on his experiences in the sixteen years he had
been in the work. His address was full of
hopeful suggestions and of great benefit to the
organization. William W. Evans moved a
vote of thanks be given Dr. Heilman, seconded
by Professor Hartline and carried unani-
mously.
Fort McClure Chapter presented to Mr.
Brown a copy of a constitution and by-laws
which they thought would fill the needs of the
proposed Columbia County Historical Society.
The constitution and by-laws were read and
accepted and ordered printed. George Parke,
representing J. H. Beers & Co., publishers,
Chicago, 111., gave a short address, telling of
his work along historical lines in Columbia
County, and presented one copy of this His-
tory of Columbia County to the society, also
many interesting photographs he had made,
and local material that would be very valuable.
Mr. A. W. Duy moved that Mr. Parke be
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
135
thanked for his generous offer, seconded by
Mrs. C. A. Caswell and carried.
The nominating committee then presented
the following names for the offices mentioned
and they were elected : President, Wil-
liam W. Evans : vice presidents, Charles E.
Randall, Catawissa, John W. Evans, Berwick ;
secretary. Miss Elizabeth A. Low, Lime
Ridge; treasurer, John W. Shuman, Blooms-
burg; librarian. Miss Martha L. Caldwell,
Bloomsburg ; executive committee : Clinton
Herring, Orangeville ; Miss Myra M. Eves,
Millville ; Mrs. I. R. Wolfe, Espy ; Miss May
McHenry, Stillwater; W. M. Longenberger,
Mainville ; John H. Aikman, Cabin Run ; L. P.
Sterner, Bloomsburg; Miss Sarah M. Hagen-
buch, Centre township; R. W. Smith, Mifflin.
William W. Evans thanked those present
for giving him the honor of being the first
president of the Columbia County Historical
Society. He emphasized the fact that what we
of today are doing will be of the same interest
to posterity as the days of our forefathers are
to us, and our inability to learn simple facts of
those days shows the importance we should
give today's happenings in our county.
At the second quarterly meeting six stand-
ing committees were appointed, viz. : history,
biography, genealogy, relics and curios, necrol-
ogy, and household arts. The committee on
history, consisting of A. W. Duy, Esq., Mrs.
L. P. Sterner and Miss Edith Patterson, col-
lect and collate books, newspapers, manu-
scripts, letters and histories of the industries
of the county, as well as historical data pertain-
ing to the county's past. The biographical
committee, consisting of J. C. Brown, Dr. I. W.
Willits and Mrs. M. E. Ent, prepare and tab-
ulate the data of the lives of the men who have
aided in the county's development and secure
portraits and paintings of those prominent in
its history. Charles E. Randall, of the Cata-
wissa A^ezvs Item: Dr. J. R. Montgomery, of
Bloomsburg, and Miss Sarah M. Hagenbuch,
of Centre township, are the members of the
genealogical committee, whose work lies along
the lines of co-operating with the organized
family reunions, tracing the antecedents of
the prominent families to an earlier date.
The relic and curios committee, consisting
of Mrs. C. W. Funston, Mrs. H. H. Grotz, of
Bloomsburg, and Miss Myra Eves, of Mill-
ville, have the task of collecting tools, imple-
ments and especially firearms that were used
by the early settlers of the county, and secur-
ing a history of each article.
The necrology committee. Prof. D. S. Hart-
line, Dr. Jeannette M. Trench and Mrs. J. R.
Schuyler, investigate ancient tombstones in the
county graveyards and keep a record of deaths
throughout the county. Household arts in the
county receives attention at the hands of the
Historical Society with especial attention to
the work that was done by the early settlers.
Specimens of spinning, weaving, old wearing
apparel, and old-fashioned playthings are
among the articles collected. Miss Sarah E.
VanTassel was elected corresponding secre-
tary.
A room was secured from the county com-
missioners, to be used as an office and for the
preservation of the various articles collected by
the society.
The members who signed the charter were
(from Bloomsburg except as noted): Mrs.
M. E. Ent, Mrs. M. A. John, Mr. and Mrs.
A. W. Duy, Prof, and Mrs. D. S. Hart-
Hne, Mrs. C. A. Caswell, Anna Leverett, Eliza-
beth Lowe, Helen Chrisman ; Sarah M. Hagen-
buch, Centre township ; Sarah Van Tassel,
Mrs. J. S. John ; Ella G. Stewart, Orangeville ;
Mary P. Leverett, Mrs. H. H. Grotz, Mrs. J.
R. Schuyler, Mrs. C. W. Funston ; Myra Eves,
Millville ; Mrs. H. A. M'Killip, Martha Cald-
well, Clara DiefTenbach, John W. Shuman, J.
C. Brown, W. W. Evans, Dr. I. W. Willits,
Dr. J. R. Montgomery, Edith Patterson, Dr.
Jeannette M. Trench, Mrs. G. P. Frymire,
Mrs. R. G. Phillips, Mrs. L. P. Sterner; W.
M. Longenberger, Mainville; May McHenry,
Stillwater; L. P. Sterner; Mrs.'S. B. Karns,
Benton: H. A. M'Killip; Mrs. I. R. Wolfe,
Espy; Dr. T. C. Harter, Charles E. Randall,
Catawissa; Clinton Herring, Orangeville; H.
\'. White, Mrs. Paul E. Wirt, Mrs. H. V.
White ; John W. Evans. Berwick : Mrs. Clinton
Herring, Orangeville; J. Bruce Hess, Benton;
T. H. Aikman, Cabin Run ; R. W. Smith, Mif-
flinville ; Mrs. E. H. Sloan, Orangeville ; O. D.
McHenry, Stillwater ; S. B. Karns, Benton ;
Mrs. Nellie T. Vastine, Catawissa; Larue
Funston Clark, Catawissa. George Parke,
who was engaged in the compilation and prep-
aration of this history of Columbia and Mon-
tour counties, was elected the first life corre-
sponding member.
THE BLOOMSBURG CENTENNIAL
The fact that Bloomsburg would reach the
one hundredth anniversary of its founding in
1902, with the suggestion that the occasion be
properly observed by a celebration, was first
mentioned in the issue of The Columbian of
Jan. 2, 1901. No steps were then taken, but
in April, 1902, the subject was again agitated
136
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
by the Morning Press and the Bloomsburg
Daily. This cuhninated in a public meeting at
the courthouse on April i8th, held for the pur-
pose of ascertaining public sentiment in the
matter. Mayor John R. Townsend presided,
and the prospects were so encouraging that
it was decided to organize and arrange for a
centennial celebration, to be held on August 27,
28 and 29, 1902.
A general executive committee was ap-
pointed consisting of Col. John G. Freeze, Dr.
[. P. Welsh, Louis Cohen, J. C. Brown, H. B.
Clark, W. S. Moyer, Dr. W. M. Reber, George
E. Elwell, L. N. Moyer, C. C. Peacock, A. Z.
Schoch, H. V. White, Paul E. Wirt, W. H.
Slate, W. O. Holmes, W. S. Rishton, R. E.
Hartman, I. M. Staver, A. W. Duy, H. A.
McKillip, F. G. Yorks, Frank Ikeler, W. P.
Meigs, J. G. Wells, F. P. Pursel, William
Chrisman, F. J. Richard, J. Lee Harman, E. C.
Caswell,- C. W. Aliller, M. F. D. Scanlan.
A meeting of the general committee was
held on April 29, 1902, when the following
permanent officers were elected : Chairman,
John R. Townsend; secretary, George E. El-
well; treasurer, L. N. Moyer; vice presidents,
A. Z. Schoch, Dr. J. P. Welsh. Committees
on finance and program were appointed, and
it was decided to hold a public meeting in
the courthouse on the evening of May 9th, to
which a special invitation was extended to the
ladies. This meeting was largely attended, the
courtroom bting filled to its capacity. Colonel
Freeze presided, and remarks were made by
him, and bv Rev. M. E. McLinn, F. B. Hart-
man, J. K.' Miller, H. V. White, Rev. J. D.
Smith and J. C. Brown. A report was made
by the program committee. Music was fur-
nished by the Bloomsburg Band. It was an
enthusiastic meeting, and from that time the
success of the celebration was assured.
The finance committee soon canvassed the
town, and subscriptions came in cheerfully and
liberally. The town was divided into districts
and solicitors were appointed for each dis-
trict, with the result that nearly $2,700 was
realized. This sum was subsequently increased
in various ways, from the sale of privileges,
from badges and souvenirs, from the Winona
Minstrel show ($65.93), Historical Museum
($220.24), base ball games ($173.10), P. O.
S. of A. excursion, and in other ways, until
the whole amount that came into the hands of
the treasurer reached a total of $3,586.83.
At a meeting of the executive committee
held on June 5th it was reported that the
town council had granted the control of all
privileges on the streets to the committee. The
Columbia & Montour Railway Company of-
fered to donate ten per cent of their receipts
for two days of the Centennial. The American
Electric Light Company offered to furnish
current for the illumination of all the arches
on the streets, and the Patriotic Order Sons of
America tendered one half of the profits of
their annual excursion. All of these offers
were accepted, and a vote of thanks extended
to all for their liberality. The committees
were appointed at this meeting, except those
on finance and program which had been previ-
ously selected.
That all of these committees performed their
duties in the most thorough and efficient man-
ner was evidenced by the grand success of the
Centennial in every particular. The general
public had no conception of the vast amount
of detail work that was done by the active
men and women who so unselfishly gave much
of their time and labor in the preparation of
the event. For more than two months Chair-
man Townsend gave his attention almost ex-
clusively to it, and to his fine executive ability
and good judgment was ascribed much of the
credit for the successful outcome. The secre-
tary and others gave almost as much of their
time, and from start to finish no one shirked |
any duty or responsibility that was assigned ,1
to him. The newspapers all gave valuable •■)
assistance in publicity. Twenty meetings of
the executive committee were held, all of 1
which were well attended and at which busi- 1
ness of importance was transacted, so that I
when the appointed time arrived everything i
was in readiness. ,-',
Among the many thoughtful arrangements
was a rest room in charge of the Civic club,
for women and children, in the courthouse ;
a hospital in St. Paul's parish house for emer-
gency cases of sickness or accident ; an ambu-
lance ; a police patrol wagon ; barrels of ice
water with drinking cups at numerous points
on the streets ; and a detective force from
Pinkerton's Detective Agency at Philadelphia,
to guard against pickpockets and other crooks.
The Celebration <
.■\nd now the eventful day, to which all had
been looking forward for four months with
pleasurable anticipation, arrived. The town
was lavishly decorated. The entire length of
Main street in the business portion was a grat-
ifying exposition of the decorator's art.
Everywhere throughout the town flags and
bunting were in evidence, not only on the
buildings, but also on the trees and poles, and
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
137
even the wires lent themselves to the purpose
of the decoration committee, all uniting in
making a scene that was gorgeous in its mag-
nificent splendor. There was scarcely a resi-
dence within the town limits that did not show
its loyalty to the spirit of the occasion. Many
strangers were heard to exclaim that the deco-
rations were more elaborate than they had ever
seen in a place the size of Bloomsburg. Beauti-
ful arches electrically illuminated were erected
at the Town Hall, Courthouse, Market Square,
Fifth and Market, West and IMain, Leonard
and Main, East and Fifth streets. That at
Market Square was erected by the Knights of
the Golden Eagle and the Royal Arcanum, and
the others out of the general fund.
The Centennial exercises opened on
Wednesday evening, Aug. 27, 1902, in the
Methodist Episcopal Church, where an audi-
ence of#wo thousand people assembled. It
was an inspiring sight, and an occasion never
to be forgotten. On the platform sat all the
clergymen of the town, and addresses were
made by Rev. D. N. Kirkby, rector of St.
Paul's Episcopal Church, whose text was
Psalm xlviii, 9-14; Rev. J. R. Murphy, pastor
of St. Columba's Roman Catholic Church,
whose stibject was "The Ethics of Politics";
and Rev. Dr. W. M. Frysinger, pastor of the
Methodist Episcopal Church, who took for his
discourse, "What do we owe to the Blooms-
burg of a hundred years ago, and what do we
owe to the Bloomsburg of a hundred years
from now?" The addresses were all able and
appropriate, and were listened to with marked
attention. Rev. J. D. Smith of the Baptist
Church offered the invocation ; Rev. W. R.
Whitney, Methodist, read a scripture lesson ;
Rev. M. E. McLinn, Lutheran, made a prayer ;
and Rev. J. W. Bentz, Evangelical, proiiounced
the benediction.
The music for the occasion was furnished
by the Centennial Chorus, organized from the
various churches and numbering nearly one
hundred, led by Prof. O. H. Yetter. 'They
rendered Kipling's hymn, "God of our
Fathers," and Mozart's "Gloria," and led in
the hymns, "All Hail the Power of Jesus'
Name," "Holy, Holy, Holy," and "America."
Made up as it was, of the town's best vocal
talent, the music was all beautifully rendered.
Mrs. Fred Holmes presided at the organ.
Never before had there been such an assem-
blage in Bloomsburg. Never before had an
audience listened to addresses from the same
platform, at the same time, by Episcopalian,
Roman Catholic and Methodist clergymen. It
was a most auspicious opening of the celebra-
tion, and it was fitting that we should show
our loyalty to our town by first showing our
loyalty to the Great Creator.
On Thursday morning, Aug. 28th, at 8
o'clock, the ringing of all the church bells and
the blowing of all the factory whistles for five
minutes ushered in the program of the day.
Brass bands arrived from Wilkes-Barre, Cata-
wissa, Berwick, Buckhorn and Lime Ridge.
The Bloomsburg Band gave its service gratu-
itously both days. All incoming trains brought
throngs of visitors, and the streets looked like
a county fair.
Governor Stone, who had accepted an invi-
tation to be present, arrived in the morning,
accompanied by his private secretary, in time
to attend the Historical meeting in the Normal
School auditorium at half past ten o'clock. A
large audience was present. Upon the stage
and in the audience were many men and
women who helped to make Bloomsburg a pro-
gressive industrial and educational center.
Mayor Townsend presided, and opened the
meeting with appropriate remarks. He then
presented to Roland Hemingway the prize
offered by the Century club for the best his-
torical essay on the "Town of Bloomsburg,"
the prize being ten dollars in gold. Addresses
were made by Governor Stone and Hon. Fred
Ikeler, a brief history of the several churches
in Bloomsburg was read by Rev. D. N. Kirkby,
and an historical address on Bloomsburg was
delivered by Col. J. G. Freeze. Several selec-
tions were sung by the Centennial Chorus.
At half past two the civic and industrial pa-
rade started from the fair grounds. It was
headed by mounted police, followed by W. O.
Holmes, chief marshal, and his aides, C. W.
Funston, C. W. McKelvy, A. W. Duy and
S. H. Harman. Then followed, in order, the
Bloomsburg Band ; Governor Stone and Mayor
Townsend ; Bloomsburg town council ; Dan-
ville Post, G. A. R. ; Ent Post, G. A. R. ; the
Catawissa Band ; Knights of the Golden Eagle
of Bloomsburg and Catawissa ; Lime Ridge
Band ; Patriotic Order Sons of America ; Or-
der of United American Mechanics ; Orange-
ville Band ; Junior O. U. A. M. ; Bricklayers'
and Masons' Union of Berwick ; Y. M. C. A.
Cadets of Berwick, led by Col. A. D. Seely;
John Knox Commandery, Knights of Malta,
No. 12, of Wilkes-Barre; the Berwick Band;
the Locomobile Club of Bloomsburg; the
Ninth Regiment Band of Wilkes-Barre; in-
dustrial and mercantile floats. A prize of $25
was awarded John Knox Commandery for
best appearance of secret organizations, and a
special prize of $20 for exhibition drill.
138
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
The various floats were prepared by the
following: F. P. Pursel, three floats; Richard
Manufacturing Company; G. W. Keiter; Alex-
ander Brothers ; Stegmaier Brewing Company ;
J. Saltzer; Morning Press; Moyer Brothers;
Tooley & Co., two floats; J. L. Dillon; White
Milling Company ; D. Lowenberg ; L. T.
Sharpless ; Harman & Hassert ; Atlantic Re-
fining Company; R. E. Hartman; J. F. Hid-
lay; Brower & Glover; Bloomsburg Car Com-
pany ; H. G. Supplee ; W. F. Slagle ; Blooms-
burg Fair Association ; Corner Thomas. A
wagon io6 years old was driven by Harvey
Creveling.
The parade was reviewed by Governor
Stone and Mayor Townsend from a stand
erected on Market Square. After the parade
the Governor was given a reception by Ent
Post, G. A. R., in their hall, and after lunch
at the Normal School he returned to Harris-
burg. It was estimated that at least fifteen
thousand people were present on this day.
In the evening at 8 130 o'clock a fine pyro-
technic display was shown on the Neal cinder
tip, and concerts were given earlier in difi^erent
portions of the town by the visiting bands.
Friday, Aug. 2Sth, was Firemen's day, and
the visiting companies arrived on early trains
and were met by their hosts and escorted
to the various hose houses. Visitors came
from all parts of this section of the State,
until it was estimated that there were from
twenty thousand to twenty-five thousand
people in the town. The weather was all
that could be desired. The parade started
at half past one from the Town Hall, under
the direction of William H. Gilmore, chief
marshal, and his aides, William Webb, J. Ohl,
S. H. Harhian, John Welliver and G. W.
Sterner. It was nearly a mile long. The vis-
iting companies were : No. 3 Hose Company,
Plymouth ; Hook & Ladder Company, North-
umberland ; Eagle, Pittston ; Lewisburg Fire
Department ; Good Will, Friendship, Conti-
nental, Washington Hose Companies, Dan-
ville : Reliance, Rangers, Berwick ; Lape Hose
Company, Mowrey Hose Company, Nanti-
coke. The following bands were in line:
Bloomsburg, Berwick, Catawissa, Buckhorn,
Danville, Lime Ridge and three drum corps.
The Northumberland Company had with them
a hand fire engine 106 years old.
The parade was the finest of the kind ever
seen in this section. It was reviewed by
Mayor Townsend and members of the com-
mittee from the stand on Market Square.
After the parade the drill corps of Eagle
Hose Company gave an exhibition drill, and
was awarded a prize of $25, Then followed
a hose contest by the Eagle, Reliance and
Mowrey Companies, Eagle winning, with Re-
liance second.
The baseball games both days were attended
by large crowds, the first day's game being
between the Cuban Giants and Berwick, score
5-4, and the second between the Giants and
Danville, score 9-4. A handsome sum was
realized for the Centennial fund from these
games.
Other attractions were the war balloon at
Seventh and Market streets, where passen-
gers were carried up one thousand feet, and
an exhibition of wireless telegraphy by the
Consolidated Wireless Telegraph and Tele-
phone Company of Philadelphia, under the
direction of Professor Shoemaker. Stations
were erected at the Courthouse and Normal
School, and the snapping of the spwks could
be heard for some distance. This was the
first exhibit of the kind in the interior of
the State.
But the leading attraction, aside from the
parade, was the Historical Museum. A won-
derful collection of antiques was gathered
by the Civic club in the old brick Presby-
terian Church that stood on the present site
of the Yorks residence. The articles were
attractively and systematically arranged, and
thousands of visitors were delighted by a
visit there. Such a collection was never be-
fore, and probably never will be again, seen
in Bloomsburg. It is impossible to name
the thousands of articles here. One of the
very interesting features at the Museum was
the spinning by Mrs. J. S. Woods, an aged
lady, on a spinning wheel. Mrs. S. A. Petri-
ken was also present part of the time and
operated a wheel that had been in her family
since 1810. On the opening night Mrs. Petri-
ken, aged eighty-seven years, sat at a piano
which was bought for her by her father,
Daniel Snyder, when she was a little girl.
It was the first piano ever brought to Blooms-
burg.
In the picture gallery of the Museum were
portraits of many of the men who had helped
to make Bloomsburg. Among them were
Rev. D. J. Waller, Sr., Judge William Elwell,
Senator Charles R. Buckalew, David Lowen-
berg, Prof. Henry Carver, William McKelvy,
William Neal, Elisha Barton, L. B. Rupert,
Peter Billmeyer, Daniel Snyder, Sr., William
Snyder, William Sloan, A. J. Sloan, George
Vance, Robert Cathcart, William Robison,
Rev. J. P. Tustin, Tohn R. Mover, Joseph W.
Hendershott, Dr. J. B. McKelvy, Gen. W. H.
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
139
Erit, Capt. C. B. Brockway and others. Alto-
gether the Museum was an exhibition such
as is rarely seen even in the large cities.
The work of the ladies of the Civic club
in preparing it was an arduous task, requir-
ing many weeks, and they reaped a rich re-
ward in the praises that were showered upon
them for the splendid success of their ef-
forts, and in the receipt of a substantial
amount of money for the Centennial fund.
After all the expenses were paid there re-
mained about $1,400 in the treasury, and this
was subsequently donated by the committee
to the iiloomsburg Public Library.
RELIGIOUS
Probably nothing illustrates more strikingly
the pride which the citizens of Bloomsburg
take in their town than the deep religious
and artistic sentiment expressed in the many
magnificent houses of worship which have
been constructed for the different religious
denominations here. The First Methodist
Church, the First Presbyterian Church, St.
Paul's Episcopal Church and St. Columba's
Roman Catholic Church have homes than
which there are few finer in this section, and
they are soon to be followed by others, sev-
eral congregations having taken definite steps
to rebuild.
The congregations of St. Matthew's Lu-
theran Church and the Reformed Church,
both of which have celebrated their centen-
nials, have a growing building fund in hand,
and the Baptist and Christian Churches, hav-
ing outgrown their present homes, are pre-
paring to build as soon as the funds warrant
the outlay.
Many thousands of dollars are already in-
vested in Bloomsburg church properties and
the next five or ten years will mark the ex-
penditure of many thousands more. It is no
exaggeration to state that the church proper-
ties themselves represent an intrinsic value
that is as great, if not greater, per capita
than any other town of equal size in the
United States.
St. Paul's Episcopal Church
Among Bloomsburg church properties the
one which first assumed its present handsome
proportions is St. Paul's Episcopal. For
years the property occupying a commanding
position at the corner of Main and Iron
streets, extending almo.'^t a half square on
Iron and more than that distance on Main,
has been one of the show places of the town.
The church and parish house, built of gray
stone, are of Gothic architecture, and with
the handsome tower, covered with beautiful
ivy, make a picture that once seen is always
remembered. The grounds surrounding the
parish house and church proper are large and
beautifully kept, and the rectory, on the sarne
property, is one of the handsomest homes in
this town of many beautiful residences.
Handsome as is the church's exterior, the
interior is equally beautiful. It is most hand-
somely finished, the soft coloring making an
exceptionally attractive effect. Improvements
have been made from time to time, but the
original building lines have never been
changed. The church property is one of the
most valuable in central Pennsylvania.
St. Paul's parish is the oldest religious
organization in Bloomsburg, dating from 1793,
when Rev. Caleb Hopkins was appointed rec-
tor of the territory comprised within the
forks of the Susquehanna. At this date a
crude log building was erected in the town
on the west side of the road "leading from
the house of Esquire Elisha Barton to Ber-
wick." It was through the efforts of Mr.
Barton that the building was erected and the
rector appointed. This church had no fire-
place, but was heated by means of a charcoal
fire in a rude grating before the chancel, the
rector's face frequently being obscured by
the smoke.
Rev. Caleb Hopkins officiated at this
church at irregular intervals until 1806, when
he was made stated minister, his field of labor
including the churches of Bloomsburg, Jer-
seytown and Sugarloaf. He resided in that
part of Bloomsburg known as Hopkinsvijle
until his retirement in 1819. Rev. Mr. Snow-
den succeeded Mr. Hopkins in 1820 and took
measures to have the church incorporated.
This event occurred in 1824, the wardens and
vestrymen being Daniel Pursel, Baltis Appel-
man, Littleton Townsend, Isaac Green, Rob-
ert Green, Philip Appelman, Elias Bidleman,
Peter Melick and John Barton. Rev. William
Eldred succeeded Mr. Snowden in 1825 and
was the last to officiate in the old log church.
This structure was replaced in 1827 by_ a
frame building of larger size, which contin-
ued in use until the completion of the third
church, a brick edifice, the cornerstone of
which was laid in July, 1837. The next effort
at church building was inaugurated in 1868,
when legislative action was secured for the
disinterment of and removal of the dead
from that part of the burial ground at the
140
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
corner of Second and Iron streets in order
to make room for another building, the cor-
nerstone of which was laid in September,
1868. The first service in the building was
held on Oct. 28, 1870, but it was not
till June 28, 1 88 1, that the dedication took
place, Bishop Howe conducting the services
and former rector Rev. T. H. Cullen preaching
the sermon. E. R. Drinker, the senior warden,
read the certificate of the vestry.
The cost of the building was $28,000. The
acre of ground upon which the church and
rectory stood was secured from Joseph Long
for the sum of five shillings, by Elislia Bar"
ton, John Trembly and Edmund Crawford,
in 1795. The rectory stands upon the site of
the brick church, and was built in 1883. In
1850 the church came into possession of a
house on East street by the will of Eliza-
beth Emmitt, and the proceeds of its sale
were applied to the purchase of a pastoral
residence on First street. The present rectory
was erected in 1876 during the incumbency of
Rev. L. Zahner.
In 1886 the parish extended a call to Rev.
William C. Leverett, the rector of St. John's
Church, Carlisle, which was accepted, and he
remained in charge until 1895. During his
incumbency tht parish house was begun, and
completed in 1892. It is a handsome stone
structure with an auditorium, and choir and
guild rooms on the first floor, and a dining
hall and kitchen in the basement. It stands
on the church grounds and is connected with
the church by a stone corridor. The furni-
ture for the auditorium was presented by
Mrs. Hester Barton.
In 1 89 1 the uncompleted tower of the
church was finished by Col. J. G. Freeze, and
a peal of bells was placed therein by Paul E.
Wirt, Esq., both as memorials to deceased
members of their families, and Mr. and Mrs.
John A. Funston presented new stained glass
windows for the chancel. A concrete pave-
ment was laid about the church properties, the
interior of the church was newly decorated,
largely through the efforts of the late George
S. Robbins, and a vested choir organized in
1892, by George E. Elwelk
With all these improvements, the parish
was ready for the centennial which was held
on May 29, 30 and 31, 1893. On these dates
sessions of the archdeaconry of Williamsport
were held in St. Paul's and Right Rev. N. S.
Rulison, assistant bishop of the Diocese, and
twenty-three clergymen were present, includ-
ing two former rectors. Services were held
in the church on each evening, and on Tuesday
and Wednesday mornings, with addresses at
different times by the Bishop, Rev. T. H. Cul-
len, Rev. H. L. Jones, D. D., Archdeacon
Groff, Rev. W. C. Leverett, and others. A
luncheon was served in the parish house on
Wednesday to the visitors. The close of the
first century of St. Paul's Church was marked
by a season of delightful exercises.
Owing to physical infirmities, Rev. W. C.
Leverett resigned on April 15, 1895, and was
succeeded by Rev. D. N. Kirkby, who took
charge on June 9th of the same year. In
1898 a new pipe organ was purchased, costing
over $3,000, in place of the smaller organ
purchased in 1874, the latter being the first
one brought to this county. Mr. Kirkby re-
signed in i'904, and was followed by Rev. R. S.
Nichols, who served as rector for two years.
Rev. J. W. Diggles was then called, and re-
mained until Aug. I, 1912, when he resigned.
In October, 1912, the vestry extended a call
to Rev. F. O. Musser, curate of St. Stephen's
Church, Wilkes-Barre, which was accepted,
and Mr. Musser entered upon his duties as
rector of St. Paul's on Nov. i, 1912. In May,
1913, the annual convention of the diocese
iif Harrisburg was held in this church.
The following is a list of clergymen who
have officiated here : Rev. Caleb Hopkins,
1704-1818; Rev. Mr. Snowden, 1823; Rev.
William Eldred, 1823-24; Rev. James Depuis,
1828-^2; Rev. Benjamin Hutchins, 1832-33;
Rev. G. C. Drake. 1833-42; Rev. William H.
Bourne, 1842-44; Rev. Samuel T. Lord,
1845-46; Rev. A. A. Marple, 1846-4S; Rev.
Joel Rudderow, 1848-53 ; Rev. Henry Tullidge,
"185^-57; Rev. A. M. Weilly, 1859-60; Rev. J.
A.' Russell, 1860-62; Rev. t. H. Cullen, 1863-
70; Rev. John Hewitt, 1870-77; Rev. Louis
Zahner, 1877-86; Rev. W. C. Leverett, 1886-
95; Rev. D. N. Kirkby, 1895-1904; Rev. R. S.
Nichols, 1904-06; Rev. J. W. Diggles, 1906-12;
Rev. F. O. Musser, 1912 to the present.
In 1906 George E. Elwell resigned the posi-
tion of choirmaster, after an almost contin-
uous service of thirty-five years, about twenty
vears of which he was organist. He was in-
strumental in raising the money for the pur-
chase of both pipe organs, and was a vestry-
man for thirty-three vears.
In 1907 the vestibule at the church entrance
was tiled. \\'qinscoted and decorated by the
members of St. Margaret's Guild, and in 1909
the aisles were tiled by the same organization,
and the chancel was similarly improved by
Mrs. George S. Robbins as a memorial to her
husband. The beautiful brass lectern in the
church was the gift of the children of Mrs.
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
141
Mary Drinker as a memorial to her, and a
very iiandsome brass pulpit was presented by
Robert C. Neal, Jr., of Harrisburg, as a
memorial to his grandmother, Mrs. Martha H.
Clark.
The present vestrymen are Paul E. Wirt,
A. W. Duy, G. B. Boggs, Uriah Thornton,
John Morris, J. L. Woods, James Mills, W. C.
Fortune, C. S. Ranck, A. E. Rogers. Col. J.
G. Freeze was a vestryman from 1886 to the
time of his death, which occurred on July
8, 1913.
Lutherans
During the first fifty years of their history
here the Lutherans, organized under the name
of St. Paul's congregation, worshipped in a
small building at the corner of First and
Center streets, built in 1808 in partnership
with the Reformed congregation. It was
almost square, with galleries on three sides
and a wineglass-shaped pulpit on the fourth
side. It was of logs and held about five
hundred persons. This building was re-
oved in 186 1, but the two congregations
still own the lot and the burial ground adjoin-
ing. The old graveyard is now a serious
olistruction to the improvement of that part of
town, being overgrown with weeds and poison
ivy. The joint ownership has prevented a
division and sale of the property. This plot
originally was bought from Ludwig Eyer for
fceight dollars.
Rev. Frederick Plitt was the first regular
Fpastor for the Lutherans, but as early as 1800
[Rev. Mr. Frederitze held services in the Epis-
copal church. The constitution of the church,
adopted in 1808, was signed by Mr. Plitt and
I John Dietterick and Bernard Lilly, elders and
[trustees, and Bernard Stetler, deacon. The
[early records were in German, as were also
[the services until 183^. Thereafter both Eng-
lish and German were used alternately until
185 1, when the tongue of the Fatherland was
abandoned. The church was incorporated in
1856 as St. Matthew's.
Since Rev. Mr. Plitt the successive pastors
I have been: Rev. J. Frederick Engel, 1809-16;
[Rev. Peter Kessler, 1817-2Q; Rev. Jeremiah
Schindel, 18-^0-37 : Rev. William J. Eyer, 1S37-
4S: Rev. Monroe J. Allen, 1845-47; Rev. Wil-
j liam T- Ever, 1847-51; Rev. PJiilip Weaver,
i8qT-5^: Rev. E. A." Sharretts. 1853-58; Rev.
I J. R.^Dimm, 1850-67; Rev. B. F. Alleman,
186*7-72; Rev. T-R. Williams, 1872-75; Rev.
J. MrCron. 1875-78: Rev. O. D. S. Marclay,
TS78-81; Rev. F. P. Manhart, 1881-80: Rev.
^P. A. Heilman, 1890-96; Rev. M. E. McLinn,
1896-1903; Rev. J. E. Byers, 1903 to the pres-
ent date.
The church building on Market street now
occupied by the Lutherans was erected in 1857,
and in the following year was the meeting
place of the East Pennsylvania synod. Since
that time the building has been remodeled and
additions built from time to time to meet the
needs of the congregation, but it is still too
small for their comfort. A larger and more
imposing structure is in prospect and funds
are being collected for the work. Several
thousand dollars were expended during Mr.
Manhart's pastorate upon chancel and pulpit
furniture, repairs to property, and a pipe organ
costing $900. A new parsonage was completed
in 1 89 1, and first occupied by Mr. Heilman,
and the same year the lower room of the
church was improved.
A few years ago, during Mr. Byers' pas-
torate, a fine new pipe organ was purchased,
Mr. Andrew Carnegie contributing $800, and
the congregation the balance, and the church
was newly papered and carpeted. In Novem-
ber, 1907, this church observed the fiftieth an-
niversary of the dedication of its present
church building, and the hundredth anni-
versary of the building of the first Lutheran
church in Bloomsburg, by a celebration lasting
from the 17th to the 24th, and including varied
and very interesting exercises, participated in
by a number of former pastors and others.
The organizations of the church are : A large
Sunday school, Young People's Society, Ladies'
Aid Society, Women's Missionary Society, and
Men's Brotherhood. A fund has been started
for the erection of a new church. The present
members of the church council are : Rev. J.
E. Byers, pastor and president ; F. H. Jenkins,
lay president ; W. A. Watters, secretary ; W.
H. Hidlay, treasurer. Elders, J. L. Wolver-
ton, C. H. Albert, J. H. Birch, F. Bomboy,
Daniel Creveling. Deacons, C. D. Bankes, W.
A. Watters, Edward Roth, Claude Maust.
Reformed Church
Among the German settlers in Bloomsburg
this denomination has been well represented.
The first pastor to preach to them was Rev.
John W. Ingold, the first services being held
in the Episcopal church. Being denied the
use of this building in 1806 the congregation
made use of a schoolhouse on Fiphing creek
until the buildingr of the co-operative church
on the corner of First and Center streets, in
i8o8._
Rev. John Dietterich Adams succeeded to
142
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
the pulpit on the death of Mr. Ingold in 1807,
and was followed by Rev. Jacob Dieitenbach
in 1815. The latter removed his family to
Espy, where a parsonage had been built for
him, and entered upon a pastorate that covered
but ten years, yet in that time he laid the foun-
dations of most of the Reformed Churches in
Columbia county. His field of labor included
Bloomsburg, Briarcreek, Mifflinville, Muncy,
Nescopeck, Wapwallopen, Shamokin, Cata-
wissa, and several smaller points. His imme-
diate successor was Rev. Mr. Larose, who died
in office, of malarial fever. Rev. Richard
Fisher of Catawissa preached at intervals until
1828, when Rev. Daniel S. Tobias became the
pastor. Following came Revs. Henry Funk,
William Goodrich, L. C. Sheip, F. J. Mohr,
T. F. Hoffmier, G. D. Gurley, Walter E. Krebs,
0. H. Strunck, S. R. Bridenbaugh.
On March i, 1887, Rev. J. S. Wagner
entered upon the duties of the pastorate of
the Bloomsburg Reformed Church. Owing
to ill health he served only one year. Rev.
William T. .\uman was pastor from June i,
1889, to June 13, 1892. He was succeeded by
Rev. C. H. Brandt, who served from Feb. i,
1893, to Oct. 24, 1898. The new parsonage
was erected during his pastorate. On Jan.
1, 1899, Rev. John D. Thomas, Ph. D., became
the pastor, and continued his labors until May,
1909, when he was called to a charge in Ohio
and was succeeded by Rev. W. C. Slough, the
latter entering upon his duties Oct. i, 1909,
and serving until 1913. Rev. P. H. Hoover
became pastor in the early part of 1914.
During the pastorate of Rev. Dr. Thomas
the church celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of
its establishment on the present site at the
corner of Third and Iron streets, and the one
hundredth anniversary of the founding of the
Reformed Church in Bloomsburg. This cele-
bration was held from Oct. 25 to 31, 1908, and
was a most interesting occasion, not only to
the members of the chtirch, but to the entire
community. An excellent program was suc-
cessfully carried out.
Some years ago a vocalion was presented to
the church by Mrs. M. E. Ent, and the same
generous donor later supplanted the vocalion
with a much larger pipe organ, dedicated on
Palm Sunday, 1910, as a memorial to her
daughter, Mrs. Fred Ikeler, her mother, Mrs.
S. A. Petriken, and her grandparents, Mr. and
Mrs. Daniel Snyder, Sr.
The church building and parsonage were
thoroughly repaired and much improved by
desired alterations during the summer of 1909.
The officers of the church in 191 3 were the
following : Elders, X. U. Funk, O. W. Cher-
rington, I". L. Smith ; deacons, \\'. C. Maustel-
ler, U. A. Leiby, H. 1. Leiby.
Presbyterians
Even before the founding of Bloomsburg
by Ludwig Eyer the Presbyterian denomina-
tion was active in this section of the county.
As early as 1789 Asa Dunham, a native of
Middlese.x county, N. J., and a Revolutionary
soldier, bought a farm on the hillside near the
site of Buckhorn, the birthplace later of the
Pursel family of Bloomsburg. Mr. Dunham
lived there with his wife, mother-in-law and
two brothers. While he was away from home
one day the house ^urned and his entire family
lost their lives. Some years later he married,
the lady being his fifth wife. He preached
occasionally at the barn of Elias Furman, be-
tween Bloomsburg and Espy, and at the Briar-
creek or Hidlay Church.
Before the organization of the Presbyterian
congregation in the town of Bloomsburg, in
181 7, the people had been dependent on the
generosity of the Episcopalians and Lutherans
for the use of their houses of w'brship. After
the organization the use of the Episcopal
church was obtained for the nominal rental of
$7 a year. The first elders elected were James
McClure, Paul Leidy and Peter Pursel, and
they at once prepared to erect a church build-
ing. They bought the lot now occupied by the
Manse on Third street and erected a 36 by 40
foot building, with a deep gallery around three
sides. Some discussion arose whether the
entrance should be from the rear, as was the
custom, or from the street. The new method
prevailed.
The congregation united with the Briarcreek
and Shamokin Churches in extending a call
to Rev. Samuel Henderson, his services to be
equally divided between the three churches, al-
though the Bloomsburg Church had made
jjreparations to provide the greater part of the
support. He came the year of organization
and greatly assisted in the building of the
church. He continued to serve the church un-
til 1824, when he was succeeded by Rev. John
Xiblock, from 1824 to 1826; Rev. James Lew-
ers, an Irishman ; Rev. Mr. Crosby, an eastern-
er, the founder of the first Sunday school ;
Revs. Matthew B. Patterson, Robert Bryson,
Irvin and Bigman.
Rev. John P. Hudson, a Virginian, ser\-ed
from 1832 to 1838, and was followed in quick
succession by Revs. Tobey and Daniel M.
Barber. Then in the fall of 1838 a call was
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
143
made to Rev. David J. Waller, a licentiate of
the Newcastle Presbytery, who had preached
in Eloomsburg in the summer of 1837. He
accepted the call and was installed in May,
1839, his charge consisting of all of Columbia
county. His pastorate continued uninter-
ruptedly for thirty-three years, and his activi-
ties were such that not only did his congrega-
tion gain thereby, but the whole of the sur-
rounding country formed the scene of his
labors, as much in a material as in a spiritual
way. Through his unflagging energy a rail-
road was built, industries establislied, many
families brought to swell the population of
Bloomsburg, and there was not a movement
for the betterment of the condition of his
people in which he did not take a prominent
part. His home was the stopping place of all
sorts and conditions of people, who were en-
tertained with great hospitality. So many
came to his home at one time that when the
landlord of a neighboring inn put up a new
sign some wag hung the old one over the door
of Mr. Waller's house.
Subsequent pastors of this church have
been Revs. Stuart Mitchell, D. D., until 1888;
I. M. Patterson, until September, 1896; Rev.
Dr. G. H. Hemingway, 1897 to 1909; and the
present pastor. Rev. S. C. Dickson.
When the county seat came to Bloomsburg
the congregation prepared to build anew, and
the site on Market street was purchased. Na-
poleon LeBrun prepared the plans, and the
second church was built at a cost of $3,000.
The last services in the Third Street church
were held in Au.giist, 1848, and the new church
was dedicated the following Wednesday. Its
site was that of the present Yorks home.
The lot formerly occupied by the old church
on Third street was also used for cemetery
purposes, and had long been sadly neglected.
By proceedings in the court the remains were
ordered removed, and a fine brick parsonage,
known as the Manse, was erected upon this lot
in 1880. The subject of building a new church
had been under consideration for some time,
and a fund started for this purpose. This
culminated in the purchase of several lots at
the corner of Fourth and Market streets, and
the erection of the present handsome edifice,
which was completed in 1891. It is of Hum-
melstown brownstone. and is very complete
and beautiful in all its appointments. The
officers of the church at the time were : Rev.
I. M. Patterson, pastor : trustees. William
Neal, H. V. White, C. A. Mover, S. A. Wilson,
L. Runyon ; elders, William Neal, C. A. Mover,
Dr. J. Schuyler, C. G. Barkley. The building
committee consisted of C. W. Miller and L. E.
Waller. The last service was held in the old
church on Sunday, June 7, 1891, and on June
nth the new church was dedicated, and with-
out a debt. A large pipe organ was put in at
this time.
The old brick church was used successively
as a chewing gum factory, a printing office
and for other purposes until purchased in 1903
by F. G. Yorks, who tore it down and erected
there the stately mansion that is one of the
ornaments of Bloomsburg.
At the time of the dedication of the present
church the membership was 136, now it is 448,
and the Sunday school has an enrollment of
319. The present officers are : C. W. Miller,
W. L. White, R. J. Ruhl, W. B. Sutliff, A. N.
Yost, elders; W. H. Brower, clerk; Arthur
S. Clay, R. J. Ruhl, M. K. Yorks, trustees ; M.
Milleisen, treasurer; W. H. Eyer, secretary.
The superintendent of the Sunday school is
Prof. W. B. Sutliff.
On July 13, 1914, Rev. D. J. Waller, Jr., son
of the former pastor, and principal of the
State Normal School, delivered the dedicatory
address at the laying of the cornerstone of the
Sunday school building, which will be a model
of utility, sanitation, convenience and beauty.
It is 40 by 80 feet, connected with the church
by a wing 28 by 54 feet, and is constructed of
Hummelstown brownstone, to correspond with
the church. It is estimated to cost thirty thou-
sand dollars. Composing the building com-
mittee are : Arthur S. Clay, John Lewis Moyer,
Frank P. Pursel, David J. Waller, Jr., and
Hiester V. White. The treasurer of the build-
ing fund is Robert J. Ruhl ; the architect of
the building, George E. Savage, of Philadel-
phia ; the contractor and builder, Aaron C.
Jury, Bloomsburg.
Metlwdists
One of the most imposing edifices in this
section of the State is the First Methodist
Episcopal church of Bloomsburg, at Market
and Third streets. Massive in construction
and artistic in design, it is a religious home
of which the congregation may well feel proud.
The first Methodist service was held in the
Episcopal church in Bloomsburg in 1829 by
Rev. George Lane of Berwick. Rev. Wesley
Howe, stationed at Berwick in 1831, preached
occasionally in the churches in Centre town-
ship and at Bloomsburg, and in the latter part
of that year exchanged with Rev. Alem Brit-
tain, who preached to a large audience in the
Bloom.sburg schoolhouse. This was the be-
144
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
ginning of regular services here, and in the
tollowing year a class was formed, which in-
cluded Dr. Harman Gearhart, William Paul,
Jesse Shannon, Delilah Barton and others.
Preaching was sometimes held in the school-
house, and when the attendance was small in
the carpenter shop of William Paul, on Mar-
ket, between First and Second streets.
In 1835 a frame church was built on Third
street, being replaced in 1857 by a brick struc-
ture, dedicated by Bishop Levi Scott. The
pastor at that time was Rev. George Warren.
A list of the pastors of this church will be
found in the previous chapter on religious de-
nominations of the county. Most of them up
to 1862 were in charge of other churches in
addition to that of Bloomsburg. At present
it is a charge by itself.
Pastors exclusively in charge of the Blooms-
burg Church have been : Revs. D. C. John,
R. E. Wilson, J. A. Price, J. A. Melick, B. H.
Crever, X. S. Buckingham, J. H. McGarragh,
J. S. Mc]\Iurray, M. L. Smyser, E. H. Yocum,
John Donahue, D. S. Monroe, F. B. Riddle, up
to 1886. It was during the pastorate of the
last named that the present commodious par-
sonage was purchased — 1884. After that date
the rapid growth of the congregation made the
building of a larger church very necessary,
and steps were taken looking towards that end.
The lots between the church lot and Market
street were purchased, and during the pastorate
of Rev. B. C. Conner active measures were
adopted and the new church scheme culmi-
nated.
Ground was broken in the fall of 1895, and
on Sunday, May 2, 1896, the cornerstone was
laid. The contract for the stone work had
been awarded to Thomas Evans, of Danville.
The walls were about completed when, on Aug.
24, i8q6. Mr. Evans accidentally fell from the
northeast corner to the ground, a distance of
about thirty feet, and was killed. A stained
glass window, the gift of his workmen, marks
the point where he fell.
The new church was dedicated on Sunday.
Sept. iq, i8o7, with imposing ceremonies. It
is built of Elk Run graystone, trimmed with
Indiana limestone, and cost S65.000. It is one
of the largest and finest church edifices in this
section, having a seating capacity of 1.200 in
the auditorium, and bv opening the glass parti-
tion between that and the Sunday school room
800 more can be seated. The large stained
glass window at the front, and the fine pipe
or?an. were the gifts of Mrs. Freas Brown.
The other windows were contributed by classes
and individuals. The trustees of the church
at the time of the building were: G. W. Cor-
rell, J. C. Brown, L. N. Moyer, Dr. J. J. Brown,
M. P. Lutz, C. C. Peacock, L. E. W hary, W. R.
Ringrose, S. C. Creasy. The building commit-
tee consisted of Messrs. J. C. Brown, Moyer,
Peacock, Correll, W. R. Kocher. The pastor
was Rev. B. C. Conner.
The pastors of this church since Rev. F. B.
Riddle, 1886, have been: S. M. Frost, 1886-
88; S. W. Sears, 18S9-91 ; W. G. Ferguson,
1892-94; B. C. Conner, 1895-99; ^^ ■ M- Fry-
^iiiger, 1900-02; W. P. Eveland, 1903-05 ; P. F.
Eyer, 1905 ; M. L. Ganoe, 1906-07; E. R. Heck-
man, 1907 to the present.
The officers are as follows: J. C. Brown,
president of trustees ; W. R. Kocher, secretary ;
Dr. J. J. Brown, treasurer; C. H. Kline, finan-
cial secretary; Fred Holmes, official board
treasurer; F. B. Hartman, Sunday school
superintendent. The church membership in
1913 is 1.036, and of the Sunday school, 1,465.
Baptist Church
Among the several congregations of town
which contemplate new church homes in the
near future is the Baptist congregation, whose
present edifice is located on Third between
Iron and Catherine streets. Established fifty-
five years ago at the same location, the church
has had a steady, substantial growth, and at
different times, to satisfy the growing demands
of the congregation, improvements have been
made to the church structure, but at the pres-
ent day it is again inadequate to the needs.
The parsonage of the church is located on
First street.
The first efTorts to establish the Baptist faith
in Bloomsburg were made in 1840 by Rev. J.
Green Miles, who preached in the Methodist
church once and in the union meetinghouse
six times. The next minister to come was Rev.
William S. Hall, of Berwick, who preached
two sermons in 1843 and baptized John Snyder
in Fishing creek in January of that year. This
was the first immersion in the town. For some
years afterward services were held at various
places in Bloomsburg bv Revs. Joseph B. Mor-
ris and A. D. Nichols'. In 1858 Rev. J. R.
Shanafelts. of Berwick, began to preach once
in three weeks in the courthouse, and in less
than a year a house of worship was dedicated.
This structure, with many alterations, is the
one at present in use.
The church was organized with Martin C.
Woodward as deacon; John Snyder, clerk;
Daniel Breece. treasurer ; and with nineteen
members on the roll. They were: Martin C.
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
145
Woodward, Sarah J. Woodward, Isaac Tyler,
Susan Tyler, Harriet Roan, Lena Fidler, Sarah
A. Phillips, John Snyder, Richard Edwards,
Martha Edwards, Daniel Breece, Robert Roan,
Elizabeth Cadman, Maria Logan, Margaret
Derr, Mary A. Breece, Lucy Cosper, Mary N.
Powell, Mahala Brittain.
Mr. Shanafelts resigned after a three years'
ministry and his successors have been : Revs.
J. G. Penny, G. W. Scott, J. P. Tustin, C. W.
Smith, D. J. R. Strayer, and again, in 1885,
Rev. J. P. Tustin. Rev. W. T. Galloway came
in 1888 and during his term the church was
improved at a cost of $1,100. Subsequent
pastors have been : Rev. George Weeks, 1892-
95; Rev. William M. Tinker, 1896-97; Rev. J.
D. Smith, 1898-1903; Rev. W. M. Tinker,
1903-06; Rev. R. G. Smith, 1906-10; and the
present pastor, Rev. T. E. Jepson, who came
in 191 1. In 1903 further improvements were
made to the church, and in 1913 the Sunday
school room was enlarged.
Rev. T. E. Jepson, pastor of the church, is
one of the youngest veterans of the Civil war
in the State, having enlisted as a drummer boy
at the age of twelve.
The present officers are : Deacons, C. B.
Edwards, T. E. Hyde, M. E. Stackhouse,
James Sterner; trustees. Dr. H. Bierman, W.
C. Johnston, John Shultz, James Reeser,
Franklin Keller ; clerk, T. V. Gunter ; treasurer,
H. R. Kahler.
Roman Catholics
The first religious services held in Blooms-
burg agreeably to the ritual of the Roman
Catholic Church were in the days of the con-
struction of the Pennsylvania canal, the work-
men on which were mostly Irish Catholics.
Father Fitzpatrick of Milton officiated at dif-
ferent times during this period. In 1844
Father Fitzsimmons held Mass on several
occasions for the workmen who erected the
Bloomsburg iron furnaces. These services
were held at the home of Michael Casey on
Iron street, near the canal, every month, but
the floating population departed and the re-
mainder was too small to support a pastor.
From then until 1874 a congregation was
slowly collected under the ministrations of
Fathers Sherdon, Murray, McGinnis, Smith
and Noonan, from Sunbury; and Schleuter,
from Danville.
Finallv the stone church once occupied by
the Primitive Methodists, on Third, between
Iron and Center streets, was purchased, re-
built and rededicated under the protection of
10
St. Columba. The pastoral residence adjoin-
ing was bought in 1883. Fathers O'Brien,
Reilly, Clarke and McCann were successive
pastors until 1889. Father J. R. Murphy suc-
ceeded Father McCann, and was followed in
1910 by Rev. Father E. A. Burhard, the pres-
ent incumbent.
The present handsome brick church was
erected in 1913, and dedicated on Oct. 12th of
that year. The brick residence on the corner
of Third and Iron streets was removed seventy
feet to the west and on its site the new church
was built. The residence is used as a rectory.
The new church is 43 by 85 feet, and the total
cost of the building and furnishings was over
si.xteen thousand dollars. Improvements to
the rectory, pavements and the grounds totaled
a cost of over four thousand more.
Evangelicals
The Central Pennsylvania Conference of the
Evangelical Association in March, 1873, de-
cided to occupy Bloomsburg as a mission and
place it under the care of Rev. R. C. Bower-
sox, together with several other points. Serv-
ices had been held in the "Port Noble" school-
house in 1867 by Rev. U. W. Harris, and a
class formed with George Rishel as leader.
Other members were Joseph Garrison, Henry
Garrison, Elijah Strohm and Tobias Henry.
Regular services had been held after that, but
it was not till 1880 that the congregation
worshipped in their own house, built on a lot
purchased in 1873. Bishop Thomas Bowman,
himself a native of Briarcreek township, dedi-
cated the completed building on Dec. nth.
Pastors of this church have been : Revs.
R. C. Bowersox, 1873-74; J. N. Irvine, 1875-
76; A. W. Sheuberger, J. S. Hertz, 1877; G.
W. Hunter, 1878-79: L. K. Harris, 1879-80;
S. E. Davis, 1880-81 ; S. P. Rehmer, 1882-84;
H. W. Buck, 1885-88; J. F. Shultz, 1888-89;
A. W. Swengle, C. W. Hunter, 1889-90; C. L.
Sones, 1890-93 ; J. Womeldorf , 1893-95 ; G. W.
Currin, 1895-99; J. W. Messenger, 1899-1900;
J. W. Bentz, 1900-03; J. Shambach, 1903-07;
E. B. Bailey, 1907- 11 ; and Rev. S. E. Koontz,
the present pastor, who came to the parish in
1911.
During 1894 the congregation became known
as the L^nited Evangelical Church, owing to
the denominational change of name. In 1898
the present parsonage on Fourth street was
erected.
The church has made remarkable strides
financially and spiritually, and recently the
146
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
mortgage on the parsonage was entirely paid,
freeing the church completely of debt.
Church of Christ
Starting out a few years ago with only a
few members who held regular meetings in a
room over the Hess jewelry store, the congre-
gation of the Church of Christ has grown
rapidly until now they own a large corner lot
at Fourth and West streets and occupy a
handsome frame structure built upon the West
street side of the lot. Intervening between
these two extremes, however, there were years
of struggle and toil, the results of which the
congregation is now reaping. After purchas-
ing the present lot they built a small rude
structure on Fourth street in which they met
until it proved to be inadequate to meet the
demands of the congregation, so the present
structure was erected.
This church was organized March lo, 1902,
the first pastor being Rev. R. H. Sawtelle, of
the Stillwater Church. He was succeeded in
1904 bv Rev. G. C. Zeigler. Following pastors
have been Revs. H. R. Bixell, 1910-12; H. H.
Carter, 1912-14; and C. V. Huffer, the pres-
ent pastor. The present officers of the church
are: G. G. Baker, A. M. Stevens, W. Brook-
ing, J. W. Mordan, A. L. Walter, C. D. Foll-
mer, O. W. Ashworth, Charles Alunson.
Pentecostal Church
The Eighth Street Mission Church was
erected in 1893 by W. B. Cummings, and was
first called the Methodist Mission. On July
9, 1908, it was organized as the Pentecostal
Church of the Nazarene, with Rev. H. G.
Trumbauer as pastor. He served until July,
1912, when he accepted a call elsewhere, and
was succeeded by Rev. H. N. Haas, who be-
gan his pastorate on April i, 1913.
A. M. E. Church
The African Methodist Episcopal Church
was organized in 1870. Rev. D. J. Waller, Sr.,
gave the building site on First street, near
Market, and Mrs. Edgar donated the lumber
for the building. The first pastor was Rev.
John Henson, who had been a slave at one
time. His successor was Rev. William West.
The present pastor is Rev. W. T. Watson, who
also has charge of the Danville Church.
YOUNG men's CHRISTI.AN .\SS0CI.\TI0N
The Y. M. C. A. of Bloomsburg was organ-
ized Nov. 16, 1890, in Hartman's hall, and the
first officers elected were: Rev. D. J. Wal-
ler, Jr., president; W. H. Brooke, vice presi-
dent; A. N. Yost, secretary; W. B. Cummings,
corresponding secretary ; E. B. Tustin, treas-
urer. Rooms were secured in the second and
third floors of the Dentler building, and in-
cluded a meeting hall, reading and game rooms,
which were conveniently fitted up and nicely
furnished.
In 1899 the William Xeal property was pur-
chased and rearranged for the use of the asso-
ciation. Dr. Waller was president until 1894,
and his successors were Dr. J. P. Welsh, S. C.
Creasy, F. N. Turner, C. H. Albert and W. L.
White. The successive secretaries were B. F.
Armstrong, C. E. Kesty, C. D. Lynn, B. F.
Armstrong, U. G. Morgain, A. E. Barton and
W. H. Walters.
Excellent work was done, but the financial
support was not sufficient to warrant a con-
tinuance, so in December, 1905, an offer hav-
ing been made for the purchase of the prop-
erty, it was sold to Caldwell Consistory for
$12,000, and the association suspended April
I, 1906. They then purchased from J. L.
Dillon the Phillips lot, on Market street, next
to the post office, for $8,000, and in .-Xpril,
1906, sold 4 feet front and 90 feet depth to
the First National Bank for $1,500. The re-
mainder of the lot is still owned by the Asso-
ciation, but is vacant, and there is no imme-
diate prospect of its being utilized for Y. M.
C. A. purposes.
YOUNG women's CHRISTI.\N .\SS0CI.\TI0X
A power for good in the life of Bloomsburg
was the Young W'omen's Christian Associa-
tion, which, organized several years ago, en-
deavored and succeeded in doing for the girls
of the town what the Young Men's Christian
Association did for the men. Not only was the
religious part of the girls' lives given careful
direction, but classes in practical subjects were
conducted, the better preparing them for fu-
ture careers. Located in the Evans building,
the Association succeeded in getting close to
a large number of the girls of the community
and the work has without doubt left its im-
print. Many social affairs given under the
direction of the Association aided mightily in
maintaining interest. Unfortunately the work
lagged for want of financial support, and the
organization disbanded. Mrs. George E. Wil-
bur was the organizer and the leading spirit
during its existence.
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
347
YOUNG MEN S CLUB
This club is a development of the Bible class
of St. Matthew's Lutheran Church, which
started with five members. At a banquet in
19 1 3 the proposition was made to organize a
club for young men of the town, regardless
of religious affiliation, who were without a
proper place for social meetings and amuse-
ments. The result was the formation of the
Young Men's Club, which has grown in 1914
to a membership of 118, with an average age
of twenty-five years, and has become a power
for good in the community. In the latter
year they rented the old office of Col. John G.
Freeze, on Center street, near Third, where
they have a library, reading room, game and
smoking room. The officers are : D. *L. Bom-
boy, president ; S. J. Johnston, vice president ;
W. E. Shafifer, secretary ; Howard Bomboy,
treasurer. Any young man is eligible for
membership and the monthly dues are very
low. It is under the direct care of the Luth-
eran Brotherhood.
ROSEMONT CEMETERY
The Rosemont Cemetery Company was or-
ganized by a number of leading citizens in 1854.
Prior to that time there were burial grounds on
several of the church properties. The Episco-
palians used their grounds up to the time of
the erection of the present stone church, its
predecessor, the brick church, then standing
on the site of the rectory, up to 1868. Where
the Presbyterian manse now is their church, a
frame building, stood, and the surrounding
grounds were used by them as a cemetery. A
number of graves were in the Methodist lot,
and the Welsh Baptists also buried around their
church, which stood on the site of Paul E.
Wirt's mansion. The Lutherans and German
Reformed congregations owned jointly the lot
on First and Center streets where their union
church stood. The church was torn down many
years ago, but the graves still remain, in a dilap-
idated condition. When the other grounds
named were needed for other purposes the dead
were removed to Rosemont.
The first minutes of the meetings of the
board of directors of the Rosemont Cemetery
Companv are dated June 1 1 . 1854, when a meet-
ing was held at the home of Daniel Snyder, Sr.,
those present being Mr. Snyder, Daniel Melick,
Jesse Shannon, Erastus Barton, Rev. William
Weaver and Rev. D. J. Waller, Sr. The first
board of directors consisted of those gentle-
men and Anthony Witman, Bernard Rupert,
E. P. Lutz, L. B. Rupert and S. Mendenhall.
A committee composed of Messrs. Waller, Wit-
man and B. Rupert was appointed to select a
site for the cemetery. They reported, and at
a meeting of the stockholders, Nov. 9, 1854,
■'the hill north of the town, and immediately
adjoining it," was selected. D. Snyder was the
first president, and E. P. Lutz the first secre-
tary. L. B. Rupert succeeded Snyder, and Mr.
Waller was elected president in 1856, and con-
tinued to serve until 1893, when Colonel Freeze
was chosen and so acted up to the time of his
death in 1913, when Frank Ikeler was elected.
The Soldiers' Circle was donated May 2,
1862. In 1888 additional land was purchased
from the Bloomsburg Iron Company, and other
lands were added at various times. Improve-
ments have been made by the erection of a
sexton's lodge and a superintendent's office, at
either side of the entrance ; by a fountain ; and
by a brick pavement from the entrance to the
top of the liill. In 1895 a large tract of land
up the Light Street road was purchased, and
named New Rosemont, but very few inter-
ments have been made there, probably on ac-
count of the location, being up a long hill.
In 1914 thirty acres were bought by the com-
pany along the road between Bloomsburg and
Espy, and a new cemetery has been laid out,
which will no doubt be needetl in the near
future, owing to the crowded condition of
Rosemont. The present officers of the com-
pany are : Frank Ikeler, president ; C. L.
Pensyl, secretary; W. H. Hidlay, treasurer;
W. R. Ringrose, superintendent ; other direc-
tors, G. G. Baker, J. W. Harman, W. E. Shaf-
fer, T. L. Smith. "J. G. Quick. C. A. Kleim,
P. K. \'annatta.
Mr. Ringrose has been superintendent since
1902. He is the first one in that position who
has given his entire time to the care of the
grounds, and under him they have been greatly
improved. When he assumed the office the
company had a debt of $5,500. This was paid
off, and $5,000 additional has been expended
for more land and for betterments, under the
direction of the efficient board of directors.
.\MUSEMENT HOUSES
The Bloomsburg Opera House was built in
1874 by B. H. \'annatta and Edward Rawlings.
At that time it was far ahead of any public
hall the town had ever had. its predecessors
having l)een merely rooms on the upper floors
of store buildings. Snyder's hall, in the build-
ing now occupied bythe H. B. Sharpless hard-
ware store and the City Cafe, and Hartman's
148
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
hall, on the third floor of what is now the Elks'
building, were the leading ones. Neither had
a stage. The opera house was conducted by
the lessees of the owners until 1876, when it
passed to the ownership of I. W. McKelvy,
whose lessees operated it until 1895. Then P.
A. Evans and J. R. Fowler bought it, and the
latter managed it until Mr. Evans's death, when
his half interest passed to his daughter, the
wife of Dr. J. S. John. A few years later Mr.
Fowler died, and Dr. John purchased his inter-
est. The auditorium was much improved, the
stage was enlarged and a gallery built, and the
name changed to the Columbia Theatre. It
v^fas run by lessees until September, 1914, when
Dr. John assumed the management.
The Neiv Lyric is an attractive moving pic-
ture house in the L. T. Sharpless building.
The first floor was rebuilt for this purpose, and
opened in 1911 by L. T. Sharpless and W. W.
Fagely, who have made it a popular place of
amusement.
The Arcade was the next bidder for public
favor. It is in what was the furniture store
of W. J. Correll & Co., and was opened in
19 1 3 with H. B. Correll as manager. It enjoys
a liberal patronage.
The Victoria, built by L. J. Chamberlin, of
Shamokin, and opened early in 1914, is one of
the handsomest picture houses in this section,
costing about $25,000, and with a seating ca-
pacity of 1,200. It is up to date in every
respect. J. W. Earned is the manager.
Three other moving picture rooms have been
opened, at various times, but succumbed after
a short run.
The Midway, owned by Thomas B. Moore
and H. J. Achenbach, opened in 1906, is an
amusement hall that has met the public wants
in various ways. It has been used as a bowl-
ing alley, billiard room, dance hall, for poultry
exhibitions, industrial fairs and the like. The
building is well adapted to its uses, and its
motto, "A nice place for nice people," has
always been well maintained by the manage-
ment.
OLD CITIZENS OF P.LOOMSBURG
Among those who were prominent and active
citizens in the earlier davs, and who have gone
to the "great beyond." the descendants of
many of whom are now among the representa-
tive citizens of the town, were Dr. Davi'd Scott,
Dr. John Ramsay, Daniel Snvder, Sr.. William
Robison, Philip Chrisman, William McKelvv.
Rev. D. J. Waller, Sr.. William Hurlev. Caleb
Barton, EH Barton, Elisha Barton, William
Neal, John R. Moyer, L. B. Rupert, Elias Men-
denhall, William Sloan, Joseph W. Hender-
shott, A. J. Sloan, Robert F. Clark, Philip.
Unangst, John M. Chamberlin, David Lowen-
berg, Dr. Jacob Schuyler, John K. Grotz, I. S.
Kuhn, J. J, Brower, Issachar Evans, A. J.
Evans, Col. Samuel Knorr, M. C. Sloan, John
A. Funston, James K. Eyer, Joseph Sharpless,
Andrew Rupert, E. P. Lutz, C. F. Knapp, John
Wolf, Senator Charles R. Buckalew, Judge
William Elwell, Dr. J. B. McKelvy, Isaiah W.
McKelvy, Rev. J. P. Tustin, H. J. Clark, E. R.
Drinker, Charles G. Barkley, C. B. Brockway,
M. S. Appleman, Josiah Furman, G. W. Cor-
rell, P. S. Harman, Robert Cathcart, Peter Bill-
myer, William Snyder, Gen. W. H. Ent, George
Hassert, Henry Rosenstock, B. F. Hartman,
as well as many others.
BRASS B.\NDS
For many years Bloomsburg has had at least
one brass band. Before the Civil war there
were two, and from these one was organized
and went to the war with the Iron Guards. In
1865 at a citizens' meeting a subscription w'as
taken up, and W. H. Gilmore was authorized
to go to Harrisburg and purchase instruments
for a band organized at that time, with John
Hower as leader.
In 1871 the Bloomsburg Band was started
with T. L. Gunton as president, and A. W.
Monroe as leader. In 1884 the band obtained
a charter. It has had a number of leaders,
among them Davis Brooks, who served faith-
fully for many years. The most notable one
was F. H. Losey, who afterwards attained
prominence as a bandmaster and composer.
The band has had its ups and downs, but
through it all T. L. Gunton, its first and only
president and manager, has never wavered,
and now has the satisfaction of having a fine
band of about thirty members, mostly young
men, well equipped, a credit to the town and to
themselves, as the result of his persistence.
The present leader is Clarence G. Herr.
In 1888 William H. Gilmore organized a
band and equipped it with uniforms and instru-
ments. It was known as Gilmore's Band, and
Thomas Metherel was the leader. After doing
good service for five years the organization was
discontinued in iSq"?, and the town had but one
band for the next fourteen years.
The Citizens' Band was organized in April,
TOO/, with eleven members, who had left the
Bloomsburg Band. Charles P. Elwell was the
bandmaster, and a few months later E. M. Sav-
idge became manager. Through Professor
m
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
149
Elwell's efforts additional members were se-
cured among the more experienced players,
until it numbered nearly thirty men. Rapid
progress was made under his direction, and
the band established a high reputation as one
of the best musical organizations in this sec-
tion. He retired in 19 lO, and Frank Hower
served as leader for a time, when he was suc-
ceeded by L. I.. James, the present efficient
director.
FERNVILLE
Fernville, although a suburb of Bloomsburg,
is in Hemlock township, situated just across
Fishing creek at the Hemlock bridge at Rail-
road street. The land on which it stands for-
merly belonged to the Bloomsburg Iron Com-
pany and later was purchased by E. R. and
F. P. Drinker, who laid out the level part of
it in town lots about 1890. County Commis-
sioner C. E. Welliver erected the third house
that was built there. The village contains about
fifty-five houses. The population is about three
hundred. Fernville is in the south election
district of Hemlock township and has about
seventy-five voters. A good schoolhouse fur-
nishes educational quarters for the cliildren in
the grades, while some attend the Bloomsburg
high school or the normal.
Here are located the dairy farms of J. G.
Quick and H. J. Traub, and the greenhouses
of George Kressler.
CHAPTER XV
BERWICK AND WEST BERWICK
Nature prepared the site of Berwick and
man has established upon the spot an ideal
modern industrial community of almost 14,000
souls. The first settlers considered it a logical
site, and their wisdom has been proved by
the subsequent development of the town.
When the borough was laid out the limits
were made one mile each way, but this re-
stricted area has been overflown, and the re-
sult is the existence of three growing suburbs,
which absorb the overflow in part, the borough
of Nescopeck, in Luzerne county, caring for
the remainder.
With the territorial expansion which fol-
lowed the industrial development of Berwick,
the populated area was extended across the
west line of the town, and West Berwick came
into being, with a population of 5,512; on the
north line grew up the suburb of North Ber-
wick, in Briarcreek township, with a popula-
tion of 1,430; East Berwick, lying in Salem
township, Luzerne county, is actually a part
of Berwick and holds a population of 1,350;
while Nescopeck, just across the Susque-
hanna in Luzerne county, could well be termed
South Berwick, with a population of 1,578.
Add to this the population of Berwick proper,
and we have a total of 15,227 persons de-
pendent in a great measure upon the car
works, shops and foundries of Greater Ber-
wick.
The expansion of Berwick has but partially
met the growing demands of the people, not
from failure to realize the necessity, but be-
cause of the growth setting the pace for the
promoters of improvements and expansion.
Within the ten years previous to 1914 fifty-
three new streets, totaling a length of twenty-
three miles, have been laid out ; ten miles have
been graded, two miles paved with brick, and
sixteen miles of sidewalks laid. Twenty-eight
miles of new water mains have been laid, and
eleven miles of gas mains.
Upon the public schools the sum of $105,000
has been expended, while over $60,000 has
been spent upon modern sewers. Part of this
amount has come from the American Car and
Foundry Company, a history of which is
found further on, the company employing dur-
ing working seasons at full capacity 6,200
men, to whom is paid out the monthly sum
of $260,000 in wages. Besides this, the
monthly wage list of the Baer Silk Mills, the
smaller factories and shops, and the numerous
stores and mercantile establishments, form a
total of no mean proportions, unequaled by
any other town in Columbia county.
With this fitting introduction to the indus-
trial city we will turn backward to the little
village of Berwick, or "Owensville," the
nucleus of the present city.
FOUNDING OF THE TOWN
When the land office was opened by the
Penns in 1769 for the sale of the estate of
Pennsylvania, Evan Owen, a member of the
Society of Friends, was one of the first to
150
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
take advantage of the opportunity to obtain
a home in the new world. He made his first
journey of reconnoissance with Benjamin
Doan and others in 1772, coming from Harris'
Ferry in a "Durham" boat, and stopping at
the mouth of Fishing creek, but the troublous
times caused him to return to a more civilized
locality. In 1780, eight yeans later, he came
back and selected as a permanent residence
the point opposite the mouth of Xescopeck
creek. He himself did not settle here until
a period of six years had intervened. In the
meantime John and Robert Brown were in-
duced by Owen to go to his lands and make
a home.
The Browns and their families made the
journey overland to Catawissa, where the
Quakers had already a thriving settlement, in
the period between 1780 and 1787. From that
village they went in canoes to the falls of
Nescopeck, landed on the site of Berwick and
located their separate allotments of land. Dur-
ing the first year they fastened treetops to-
gether, covering them with bark, and thus
made shelters for the period between their
arrival and the harvesting of the simple crops
of the virgin soil. The following year more
substantial homes of logs were erected, as the
farming land had proved to be of good quality.
The influx of actual settlers and the admir-
able site of the settlement induced Owen to
lay out a permanent town in 1786. The act
was a wise one. The location, two hundred
feet above the river, with the opening in the
hills southward offering an outlet to the older
settlements, and the ample supply of fuel and
water, combined with the picturesqueness of
the surroundings, offered a site that has dem-
onstrated its suitability through all the follow-
ing years.
The first settler to erect a dwelling was
John Brown, who built on the south side of
Front street, near Market, Robert Brown
locating on the opposite side. Evan Owen
himself built a house on the site of the present
"St. Charles Hotel," while Samuel Jackson, a
brother-in-law, took the opposite corner.
Josiah Jackson, brother of Samuel, opened
the first hat shop on Front street, below
Market. James Evans, a millwright. John
Smith and Henry Traugh complete the list
of the first settlers.
Owen made an extended trip through the
lower counties of the State, selling lots in the
projected town, and was fairly successful.
James Stackhouse, a wealthy farmer of Bucks
county, came and built a home on Second
street. He planted the first orchard, which
was vigorous for many years after the in-
corporation of the town. Others who came
were Thomas Cole, James Herrin, Benjamin
Doan and Jacob Cooper.
At first the town was laid off into lots and
the streets marked by blazing trees. From
these arboreal surroundings arose the names
of the streets Oak, Vine, Mulberry, Pine,
Chestnut and Walnut. At first the residents
called the town Owensville, but the Quaker
proprietor was modest and the name he gave
it was that of his old home in England —
Berwick-on-Tweed — with the hyphenated at-
tachment dropped. After the settlement of
the conflicting claims of Connecticut and
Pennsylvania part of the town plot was taken
from Owen and included in Salem township,
Luzerne county. This portion is now the site
of East Berwick.
In 1800, John Jones opened the first store
in the town on what is now the site of T. H.
Doan's hardware store. In the course of
time travel through the town increased and
the necessity of taverns became evident. The
first one in the town was opened in 1804, at
the comer of Second and Market streets, by
John Brown. He gave it the title of the
"Golden Lamb." John Jones was the next
proprietor, and was succeeded by Abraham
Klotz and Frederick Nicely. During the lat-
ter's ownership the place was known as the
"Cross Keys." Before the bridge was built
William Brien established a ferry and kept a
tavern at the site of the old bridge. As an
adjunct to this hostelry Richard Smith built
a log house below Brien's place, where he
carried on the vocations of shoemaking and
the distilling of a brand of "squirrel" whiskey.
Samuel F. Headley later kept a public house
at the comer of Front and Mulberry streets,
which he called the "Stage Coach Inn." -
In 1805 a market house was erected in the
center of the street afterwards named from
it, between Second and Third. It was sup-
ported on large square pillars, the space be-
neath being adapted to the storage of wagons
and the protection of the horses. It was lighted
by small green glass "bull's-eyes," which gave
but little light and almost completely pre-
vented ventilation. This building was devoted
to school purposes, preaching, public assem-
blies and elections, and most of the denomina-
tions of the present day had their birth in
this humble and crudely built edifice. At this
time the housewives of the village were accus-
tomed to spend "washday" on the banks of
the river, and the whole year round they left
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
151
their iron kettles hanging along the trees that
fringed the shore.
The first children born in Berwick were
John and Anne Brown, children of Robert
Brown (Anne was the wife of Jesse Bow-
man, deceased, and the first person married
in Berwick). The first church built was the
Quaker, a log building, where C. C. Evans'
residence now stands. The first lawyer was
named Bancroft; first judge, John Cooper;
doctors, Mooreland and Beisswick; post-
master, William Brien ; schoolmaster, Isaac
Holloway ; preachers, Carson and Painter.
ROADS AND BRIDGES
As time passed the necessity for adequate
roads to attract the patronage of the traveler
caused the founders of Berwick to apply to
the State for help. In 1787, Evan Owen was
appointed to superintend the construction of
a State road from Nescopeck falls to the
Lehigh. Two years later the work was com-
pleted and the Indian trail supplanted by a
passable road. On March 19, 1804, the Sus-
quehanna & Lehigh Turnpike & Road Com-
pany was incorporated, and in 1805 the old
road was made over into a graded turnpike
at a great expense, both to the State and to
private capitalists. Andrew Shaner, of Ber-
wick, was one of the contractors, and Chris-
tian Bowman was the first traveler to make
the journey through to Easton. The Susque-
hanna & Tioga Turnpike Road Company was
chartered in 1806 to build a road to the north-
ern line of the State. This road was finally
completed to Towanda. Pa., in 1818. Among
the projectors and stockholders were Nicholas
Seybert, Andrew Shaner, Jesse Bowman,
Jacob Mack, McKinney Buckalew and John
Bastian.
William Brien's ferry being inadequate for
the demands of the public, in 1812 a bridge
company was formed, with the following of-
ficers : President, Abram Miller, Sr. ; treas-
urer, John Brown ; managers, Silas Engle,
Thomas Bowman, Elisha Barton, Jr. Theo-
dore Burr received the contract and completed
the bridge in 1814. It was 1,260 feet long,
with piers of heavy planked timber, and cost
$52,435. The bridge formed the connecting
link for the highways, and a continuous route
was thus established between Towanda and
Easton. The position of Berwick at the junc-
tion of these two roads was of immense ad-
vantage, and she dated her growth and pros-
perity from the time of their construction. An
era of building was inaugurated. Frame and
brick houses replaced the simple log structures
of the pioneers and the village began to as-
sume the aspect of a town. The first frame
dwelling built at this period, by Robert Brown,
stood on Front street until 1902, when it was
torn down, although still in a fair state of
preservation. The first brick house erected
in the town, by Honteter Seybert, in 1816,
was a tavern, named after himself. It later
received the name of "St. Charles." The pres-
ent hotel of that name is built on the site of
the old one.
EARLY INDUSTRIES
The force of the current in the Susquehanna
induced Evan Owen to build a gristmill on the
banks, in the hope of utilizing the water-
power, but the attempt resulted in failure.
John Jones was more successful in his estab-
lishment of a limekiln on the banks of the
river. He obtained his raw material from a
ledge on the island that at that time existed in
the river near the Berwick side. The site is
simply a sandbar now. The forge across the
river on Nescopeck creek added to the pros-
perity of Berwick somewhat during later
years, as did the foundry of George Mack,
located at Foundryville, about a mile north
of town.
The first assessment list gives these names
of the founders of the respective industries
and vocations in Berwick : John and Peter
Suit, coopers ; John Brown, carpenter; Aquilla
Starr, blacksmith; Benjamin Doan, tailor;
Abel Dalby, chairmaker and painter ; Jonathan
Cooper, mason ; Bush, dyer ; Henry
Traugh, tanner; Vallershamp, dentist;
Herman Inman, tinner; Sleppy & Co., gun-
smiths ; James Evans, wheelwright ;
Marshall, silversmith ; Roxanna Cartwright,
milliner; Stackhouse, butcher; Polly
Mullen, weaver; Samuel Herrin, cabinet-
maker; Col. John Snyder, saddle and harness
maker ; John Jones, lime burner.
Paul Thompson came to Berwick in 1798
and erected the first pottery for the manufac-
ture of crocks, jugs and other coarse uten-
sils, on the spot where the Methodist church
now stands. He owned a flatboat and sold his
goods along the river. His son Hugh enlarged
the pottery and ran it till 1842, when his sons,
Joseph D. and Richard, took charge. Together
they operated the pottery on an extensive
scale until 1853, and then Joseph D. Thomp-
son continued it alone until 1863, when he
closed the business, owing to lack of demand
for that kind of goods.
152
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
Among the names that will be remembered
in connection with the history of Berwick
are these : Dr. Samuel Headley, Honteter Sey-
bert, Paul Thompson, Richard Smith, Mr.
Davenport, Samuel Herrin, Josiah F. Beach,
Wm. Kitchen, Dr. A. B. Wilson, Dr. Jackson,
Dr. Langdon, Thos. Coles, Sebastian Seybert,
A. Miller, Sr., Robert Smith, Charles Snyder,
Joseph Stackhouse, Lawrence Ruch, Judge
Mack, Andrew Shiner, Jonathan Cooper, Hugh
Thompson, Thomas Richardson, William
Herrin, J. W. Dietrick, John McAnall, Hud-
son Owen, Michael Frantz, Frederick Nicely,
Jesse Bowman, and Mrs. Eckert, nearly all of
whom died at an extremely old age.
Dr. Samuel Headley was one of the larg-
est landowners in Berwick. Where the rolling
mill now stands was part of his farm. Mul-
berry street was once all in his orchard. He
also owned the land from Judge Kurtz's resi-
dence up to the county line and back as far as
Fifth street, as well as the old ferry landing
on this side of the river. Christian Kunkle
owned the ferry landing on the Nescopeck
side.
MAIL SERVICE, ANCIENT AND MODERN
Berwick appears as a post village first in
1797. At that time the postmaster at Wilkes-
Barre appointed a post rider and designated
certain houses in Nescopeck and Berwick as
places for the distribution of the mails. In
1800 Jonathan Handcock carried the mail, and
several years later William Brien was ap-
pointed the first regular postmaster at Ber-
wick. In 181 1 Conrad Teter was awarded a
government contract for establishing mail
coaches between Sunbury and Painted Post.
He transferred that portion of the route be-
tween Sunbury and Wilkes-Barre to Miller
Horton, who owned the first line of coaches
between these points. In 1824 Jesse Miller
and Louis Horton assumed control of a mail
route from Baltimore to Owego, by way of
Harrisburg and Sunbury. A new era was in-
augurated. Four-horse coaches, substantial,
comfortable and attractive, rolled into Ber-
wick every day. The crack of the driver's
whip and the blast of his horn relieved the
otherwise monotonous quiet of the village.
John Jones, tavern keeper, farmer and lime
burner, also became a stage owner, operating
a line of coaches to Easton. The journey to
that point then required two days. Joshua
Dodson drove the first coach from Berwick
to Elmira, a week being required for the round
trip. Joshua Kindy was toll collector on the
Towanda road, beyond Berwick. Philip Ab-
bott and George Root were also long con-
nected with these routes of travel, the latter
driving a stage for more than forty years.
The first telegraph line was constructed
through Berwick in 1850.
The postal service kept progress with the
growth of the town. At present there are five
rural routes starting from Berwick, and the
carrier service covers the city and the sur-
rounding suburbs in a most satisfactory man-
ner. J
Following is the list of postmasters at Ber-
wick from the first: William Bryan (Brien),
appointed Jan. i, 1801 ; John Snyder, Jan. i,
181 5 ; David E. Owen, Nov. 20, 1820; Thomas
C. Foster, June 5, 1821 ; Robert McCurdy,
Jan. I, 1824; Isaiah Bahl, March 9, 1837: C. B.
Bowman, March 9, 1S42; Stephen Mansfield,
May 16, 1845; M. E. Jackson, June 25, 1846;
William B. Gardner, April 9, 1849; Adrian
Van Houten, Aug. 13, 1850; Isaiah Bahl, May
26, 1853; John J- McHenry, May 21,
1857; Levi F. Irwin, Oct. 28, 1857; John
Ruch, Aug. 17, 1858; E. G. Horn, April 22,
1867; John McAnall, Dec. 14, 1867; J. S.
Sanders, Dec. 20, 1867 ; John Ruch, March
17, 1869; Robert S. Bowman, Feb. 6, 1885;
Charles H. Dorr, May 18, 1893 ; Louis J.
Townsend, Oct. 8, 1895 ; Robert S. Bowman,
Dec. 20, 1899; J. U. Kurtz, Feb. 20, 1909;
Oscar E. Letteer, 1913.
THE STEAMBOAT EXPLOSION
Perhaps the most extraordinary event of
the early history of Berwick was the explosion
of the steamboat "Susquehanna" in 1826.
The navigation of the Susquehanna had long
been an accomplished fact so far as rafting
and flatboating were concerned, but no attempt
had been made to operate power boats further
than the forks of the north and west branches,
with the exception of a few experiments in
the way of horse-driven "arks." But the dis-
covery of steampower caused attention to be
directed to the Susquehanna by parties inter-
ested in the then great traffic thereon, and it
was deemed feasible to operate steamboats in
the trade. The Susquehanna had been de-
clared a navigable highway in 1771, and a sum
of money appropriated for its improvement.
The steamboat "Codorus" was built at York
Haven in 1825 and launched in October of
that year. She was sixty feet long, nine feet
wide, had a sheet iron hull, and drew seven
inches of water unloaded. The hold was two
and a half feet deep, two boilers supplied the
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
153
steam for a ten-horsepower engine, and sev-
enty persons could be carried, thirty in the
cabin and forty on deck. Under the command
of Capt. John Elgar the boat made a success-
ful trip up the Susquehanna from Harrisburg
in March and April, 1826, up to Binghamton,
New York.
The success of the "Codorus" caused the
owners of the "Susquehanna,'" a larger boat,
to attempt the trip. The "Susquehanna,"
Captain Collins commanding, was built in
1825 at Baltimore, was eighty feet long, four-
teen feet wide, drew twenty inches when
empty, had an iron wheel, nine feet in diame-
ter, as well as an iron hull, was operated by a
ten-horsepower engine, had two boilers, and
accommodations for almost two hundred per-
sons. Her speed was ten miles an hour. The
first trip was made in 1826, and on the after-
noon of May 3d of that year an attempt was
made to pass the Nescopeck rapids, where the
Berwick bridge now stands. The current be-
ing too swift, the captain allowed the boat to
drift down until she stranded on the rocks
near the shore, about the center of the chan-
nel below the present bridge. This caused the
stoppage of the wheel, and as one of the crew
was holding down the safety valve, the strain
became too much for the crude boilers, and
one of them exploded. The boat was not seri-
ously injured, but two men were instantly
killed and several scalded badly by the escap-
ing steam. Among the passengers who es-
caped with little injury was Col. Joseph Pax-
ton, of Rupert, who thus described the ac-
cident in an article printed in a Danville pa-
per: "With our pitch pine we succeeded in
raising a full head of steam, and set off in
fine style to ascend the rapids. The strength
of the current soon checked our headway, and
the boat, flanking towards the right bank of
the river, struck a rock. I stood on the for-
ward deck with a long ash pole in my hand,
and was in the act of placing it in the water
hoping to steady her, when the explosion took
place. Two young men standing near were
blown high into the air, and I was hurled sev-
eral yards into the water. I thought a cannon
had been fired, and shot my head off." Other
fortunate passengers on the ill-fated boat were
Christian Brobst of Catawissa, William \\'ood-
side, William Colt and Sheriff Underwood of
Danville, and John Foster, ^^^illiam G. Hur-
tley and Isaiah Barton of Bloomsburg. The
injured were borne to a warehouse near the
river bank and tenderly cared for by the peo-
ple of Berwick, the uninjured went to their
ways, while the dead were laid at rest in the
cemetery near the present Berwick Store.
Some of the victims of the explosion were
taken to the old brick building at the corner of
Front and Mulberry streets, which was at that
time a public tavern. The ballroom on the
second floor was covered with bales of cotton
saturated with oil and in this the suft'erers
were rolled. The stains of the oil are on the
floor to this day. The house now owned by
Mrs. Anne Jackson was also opened to the
injured, who were given every attention by her
people. Near the entrance gate of the ceme-
tery are the graves of the two principal victims
of the explosion, the tombstones being of sand-
stone, crudely carved with quaint lettering and
ornamentation, the inscriptions being as fol-
lows :
CALEB WHITMANS— Aged 24 Yrs.
This dust and ruin that remain
Are presious in his eyes,
These ruins shall be built again
And all that dust shall rise.
JOHN TURK— Aged 23 Yrs.
Farewell to all my dearest friends,
I rest me here from pain
I hope when christ shall call me hence
To see you all again.
The attempt of the "Susquehanna" deterred
other boats and the navigation of the river was
abandoned for all time. The agitation for the
building of the canal was taken up afresh and
by 1828 sufficient funds had been accumulated
to make the project a success.
NORTH BRANCH CANAL
The first work on the Pennsylvania canal
system in the central portion of the State was
inaugurated at Berwick by the breaking of
ground, July 4, 1828. The occasion was made
one of iinposing ceremonial. A procession of
all the societies and organizations of the town
and the local and visiting officials, headed by
Col. N. Hurlbut of Wilkes-Barre and William
G. Hurley of Bloomsburg, as marshals, pa-
raded the streets towards their destination, the
point near the river bank selected for the first
operations of digging. First came Dr. Whip-
ple, the chief engineer of the work, with two
assistants. Next, Nathan Beach of Beach
Grove, holding the handles of a plow, the oxen
dragging it being driven by John Lockhart of
Salem. Then followed Jesse Bowman of
Briarcreek and John L. Butler of Wilkes-
Barre, pushing wheelbarrows ; Alexander
154
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
Jameson of Salem and Arnold Colt of Wilkes-
Barre, carrying spades. The Berwick Infantry,
under Col. John Snyder, and the Luzerne
County Cornet Band, followed.
The first earth was thrown out by Gen.
Daniel Montgomery of Danville and Judge
Hollenback of Wilkes-Barre. After the cere-
monies it was intended to have a dinner on the
river bank for all the crowd, but a severe
downpour prevented this, so the repast was
served in the "Cross Keys Tavern," only part
of the assembly being provided for, although
the rooms of the tavern were crowded to the
utmost.
The building of the canal did much to in-
crease the growth of the town, but it scarcely
improved its moral tone, for in 1830, when the
first boat passed through, there were fourteen
drinking places in the village. After the open-
ing of the canal many of the workmen who
had assisted in the construction remained and
made their homes in Berwick, thus adding a
large Irish strain to the German of the first
settlers.
When the canal was finally abandoned the
Dela-ware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad
Company in 1904 filled up the bed, covering
the old locks of stone completely. It is in-
teresting to conjecture the opinions of the ex-
plorers of the next century who may uncover
these stone remains and find the old corner-
stone at the bottom of a deep excavation.
As an illustration of the growth of Berwick,
brought about mainly by her manufactories, it
will be noted that the population in 1840 was
452; in 1850, but 486; in i860, it had only
reached 625; in 1870 the growth of the Jack-
son & Woodin Company had caused it to in-
crease to 923, and by 1880, so rapid had been
the growth of the plant, the town's population
was 2,094. In 1890 the population was 2,701 ;
in 1900 it was 3,916; and in 1910, 5,357.
STORES AND BUILDINGS
As the population gradually increased their
wants were correspondingly catered to by
storekeepers and mechanics. John Jones
opened the first store about 1800, and was soon
followed by William Brien, at his hotel.
George Payne and Thomas Richardson came
from Boston in 1807 and opened mercantile
establishments, the former at the corner of
Market and Second streets, and the latter on
the west side of Second street, between Mar-
ket and Mulberry.
Others who had business establishments in
the period between 1830 and 1886 were:
Matthew McDowell, J. & A. Miller, Wright &
Slocum, Robert McCurdy, J. & E. Leidy,
Stowers & Ellis, J. & J. Bowman, Clark, John
Deily, Samuel Scoville, Rittenhouse & Shu-
man, Headley, McNair & Co., and George
Lane.
RAILROADS
So great was the traffic attracted by the
canal that in 1858 the Lackawanna & Blooms-
burg railroad was built through the county,
thus adding to the transportation facilities. In
1882 the North & West Branch railway be-
came a factor of importance in the transporta-
tion field. It is located on the opposite side
of the river from Berwick, and is now part of
the Pennsylvania system. The last steam
railroad to enter the town, the Susquehanna,
Bloomsburg & Berwick, was built in 1903.
Electric roads connect Berwick with Nesco-
peck, Bloomsburg, Danville, Catawissa, and
the smaller towns intervening.
POPULATION
An old history of 1847 states that Berwick
then contained about one hundred dwellings, a
Methodist church, an academy, several stores
and taverns, and had about eight hundred in-
habitants.
BUSINESS ESTABLISHMENTS
The list of firms doing business ifi Berwick
in 1 914 is as follows :
Department Stores — Berwick Store Com-
pany, Philadelphia Bargain House, Joseph M.
Schain.
General Merchandise — A. H. Baer, H. B.
Dodson, Garrison Bros., Harter & Son, Har-
ter & White, M. C. Hetler, F. A. Hippensteel,
James Lee, J. A. Rhodes, J. M. Schain, S. L.
"Seesoltz, Shiner Bros., J. C. Stone, Williams
Bros., C. B. Wilson.
Grocers — S. Aimetti, Charles Battista, C. A.
Benscoter, Vitale Bevilacqua, Tohn Cordora,
Thomas Cretella, Daroczi & Kish, Bruce H.
Hartman, E. H. Harvey, M. W. Hicks, W. C.
Keller, A. Kromo, Alfonso Marsicano, I. Mit-
tleman, John C. Oberdorf, J. W. Roberts, Cos-
imo Sacco, F. M. Smith, M. G. Smith, S. S.
Smith, John Timbrell.
Hardware — R. E. Benscoter, A. E. Bren-
ner, Harvey T. Doan.
Cigars and Tobacco — C. W. Bower, Eli Bull
& Co., George A. Confair, Diamond Cigar
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
155
I
Store, W. F. McMichael, Oscar Thornton,
United Cigar Stores Co.
Druggists — Clewell & Currin, Gould's Drug
Store, N. B. Shales, C. T. Steck, Edward A.
Steck, H. T. Waldner.
Confectioners — Boston Candy Kitchen, H.
H. Brown, George Confair, B. D. Fenster-
macher, John R. Gould, L. J. Manning, H. T.
Waldner.
Bakeries— Berwick Bakery, H. M. Fet-
terolf, W. C. Heckman. W. I. Herbine, Jant-
zen's Bakery.
Barbers — E. Bickel, H. H. Brown, James
Canouse, D. E. Lewis, J. M. Pollock, W. I.
Shrader.
Blacksmiths — Louis Dauber, C. E. Trescott,
Joseph E. Moore.
Restaurants — H. W. Prutzman, Plicks' Res-
taurant, Frank L. Wright, William F. Boyer,
George E. Clemens, S. K. Heller, Edward
Schenke, H. S. Williams.
Five and Ten Cent Stores — Robert W.
Harman, Sterling Store, F. W. Woolworth.
Florists— W. C. Brittain, D. W. Davis,
Dixon's Greenhouse, John A. Smethers &
Son.
Flour and Feed — T. M. Bomboy, John C.
Crisman & Son, H. L. Harrison & Bro., T. J.
Garrison, Howard Greenly.
Furniture — F. L. Distlehurst, Wilson Har-
ter, James Tierson.
Jewelers — S. E. Fenstermacher, W. D.
Hons, M. Sherman.
Ladies' Furnishings — Philadelphia Bargain
House, Bon Ton Bargain Store.
Liverymen — Ralph Edwards, D. W. Mitch-
ell & Son, H. O. Ruch, W. A. Sutliff, W. B.
Wright.
Lumber and Builders' Supplies — Berwick
Lumber & Supply Co., Harry Fahringer, Wil-
liam Krug, W. I. Mansfield, T- W. Sitler.
Meat Markets— C. H. Belles, E. A. Hart-
man, A. Kromo, S. L. Seesoltz, C. B. Wil-
son.
Men's Furnishings — Housenick & Co., Marx
Levy & Son, A. A. Lerch, Moss Clothing
Company.
Tailors— B. & B. Tailoring Co., Mike Broth-
ler, Bogard's Tailor Shop.
Millinery— Mrs. L. W. Hart, Mrs. G. P.
Wakefield, Bon Ton Bargain Store, Miss E.
B. De Voe.
Photographers — William J. Hertz, J. E.
Fenstemacher.
Plumbers — J. J. Clark, B. L. Eshleman &
Son, W. G. Fowler, O. W. George, Kirken-
dall & Brownson, Charles H. Smith.
Printers — Berwick Enterprise, B. F. Schol-
lenberger, Learn's Printing House, C. A.
Raseley.
Real Estate — S. W. Dickson, J. W. Evans,
S. T. Styer.
Shoe Dealers — Martin Basch, S. Bruan, Jo-
seph Badolato, L. Hofl:man, L. J. Manning,
A. B. Messersmith, R. O. Bower, H. H. Mer-
rion & Co., The $1.98 Shoe Store.
Undertakers — G. G. Baker, I. J. Hess &
Son, Kelchner, H. E. Walton.
Contractors — D. B. Beck, John Heavener,
William Krug, W. J. Mansfield, H. E. Shot-
well, C. E. Sitler, J. W. Sitler, Zeiser Bros.,
Zimmerman & Kendig.
HOTELS
One of the handsomest hotels in central
Pennsylvania is the Hotel Morton, Berwick,
of which George H. Morton is the proprie-
tor. The substantial brick building, with
seventy rooms, is located on the corner of
Front and Market streets, the site of the old
Cross Keys tavern built in early times by
John Jones.
The St. Charles Hotel, built on the site of
the original home of Evan Owen, the found-
er of Berwick, is now operated by John P.
Brenner, and is one of the best in the county.
Other hotels are the Aimetti, Algatt, Ber-
wick, Central, Columbia, Exchange, Fedora,
Bishop, Fairman, Friedman, Hanover, Reiter,
Linden, Kupsky, Alarko, Morton, Rome,
Schangler, Sponenberg, Weiss, Susquehanna.
PROFESSIONAL
The resident physicians in Berwick are Drs.
E. A. Alleman, J. H. Bowman, F. R. Clark,
Joseph Cohen, E. L. Davis, R. O. Davis, J. B.
Follmer, M. J. Freas, E. A. Glenn, W. H.
Ilensyl, P. H. Jamison, A. B. MacCrea, J. P.
Pfahler, C. T. Steck, R. E. Warntz.
The attorneys resident in Berwick are: R.
O. Brockway, Conway W. Dickson, S. W.
Dickson, W. E. Elmes, James L. Evans, A. C.
Jackson, J. G. Jayne, W. S. Sharpless.
Dentists: Drs. Paul W. Eves, B. G. Klein-
tob, H. H. Long, C. E. Schweppenheiser.
BANKS
First National Bank
Org-\nization. — During the summer of
1864 several informal meetings of the busi-
ness men of Berwick, Pa., were held with the
object of taking advantage of the National
156
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
Bank Act passed by Congress Feb. 25, 1863,
and to give Berwick banking facilities which
it had lacked up to that time.- After the pre-
liminaries had been complied with, the articles
of association were drawn and signed by the
following gentlemen : M. W. Jackson, P. M.
Traugh. Jesse Bowman, M. M. Cooper, Fran-
cis Evans, F. Niceley, S. B. Bowman, A. Mil-
ler, W. H. Woodin, M. E. Jackson, William
Lamon, H. Lamon.
The request of the association to enter the
National Banking System by virtue of the
charter was granted by the comptroller of the
currency under the title of the First National
Bank of Berwick, Pa., No. 568, Sept. 21, 1864,
for a term of twenty years.
The first meeting of the stockholders was
held Sept. 21, 1864, and organized by elect-
ing Jesse Bowman president of the meeting,
and A. Miller, secretary. The stockholders
at this meeting elected the following gentle-
men to serve as directors : M. W. Jackson,
Jesse Bowman, P. M. Traugh, A. Miller, W.
H. Woodin, Francis Evans, S. B. Bowman.
The board of directors elected by the stock-
holders held their first meeting the same day
(Sept. 21, 1864) and organized by the election
of M. W. Jackson to the office of president
and M. E. Jackson to the office of cashier.
The bank commenced business with a capi-
tal stock of $50,000, which was later increased
to $75,000, at which figure it has remained.
At the first annual meeting of the stock-
holders, which was held in the banking rooms,
the first board of directors and officers were
reelected. At this time the bank showed the
following condition :
Resources
U. S. Bonds $50,000.00
Revenue Stamps 150.00
Treasury Notes 5,000.00
Due from Banks 4i-6i
Loans and Investments 12,891.09
Cash and Reserve 43,747.25
$111,829.95
Liabilities
Capital $50,000.00
Circulation 40,000.00
Due to Banks 382.56
Deposits 21,447.39
$111,829.95
At the annual meeting of the bank held
Jan. 9, 1866, M. E. Jackson resigned as cash-
ier. His resignation was accepted with regret
by the board. At this meeting M. W. Jackson
was reelected president and Mr. B. R. Davis
was elected cashier. Mr. Davis ser\'ed as
cashier of the bank until Jan. 12, 1869. At
this meeting S. C. Jayne was elected cashier,
which position he still holds. Mr. Jayne has
the distinction of sending as cashier of a na-
tional bank for a greater length of time than
probably any other cashier in the State of
Pennsylvania.
On ]\Iay 12, 1869, John W. Evans was
elected teller, resigning Nov. 30, 1875, to take
effect Jan. i, 1876.
At the annual meeting held in January,
1876, AI. W. Jackson was elected president;
S. C. Jayne, cashier; and B. F. Crispin, teller.
The death of M. E. Jackson, attorney for the
bank and a member of the board, was offi-
cially announced.
On May 3, 1880, B. F. Crispin was unani-
mously elected a director to fill a vacancy
on the board caused by the death of Clarence
G. Jackson, who died May 3, 1880; and on
March 25, 1881, F. R. Jackson was elected
a director to fill a vacancy which then existed
on the board, while S. C. Jayne was elected
to the board Jan. 8, 1884.
Extended Corpor-^te Existence. — At a
regular meeting of the board held May 27,
1884, on motion it was resolved to extend the
corporate existence of the association for
twenty years, or until 1904. The articles of
association at this time were signed by the
following stockholders: M. W. Jackson, S.
B. Bowman, C. B. Jackson, Francis Evans, F.
R. Jackson, B. F. Crispin, S. C. Jayne, Anne
Y. Glenn, Mary B. Glenn, Freas Fowler, Eu-
dora W. Hanley, Elizabeth F. Woodin, J. W.
Bowman.
At this meeting of the stockholders, Benja-
min Evans was elected a director and ser\'ed
as such during the balance of his life.
At the annual meeting of the stockholders
held in January, 1885, the following state-
ment was presented to the stockholders, show-
ing the condition at the close of business Jan.
3, 1885:
Resources
U. S. Bonds $ 53,526.25
U. S. Treasury 1.350.00
Furniture and Fi.xtures 1,500.00
Due from Banks 5,952.21
Loans and Investments 156,709.50
Cash and Reserve 38,624.53
$257,662.49
Liabilities
Capital $ 75,000.00
Surplus 40,000.00
Circulation 27,000.00
Undivided Profits 1.919-59
Due to Banks 4.584.18
Deposits 109,158.72
$257,662.49
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
157
M. W. Jackson, who had served as presi-
dent of the bank for thirty years, died July
i8, 1894. The board at its meeting held Aug.
II, 1894, elected B. F. Crispin, president, and
C. B. Jackson, vice president. Mr. Jackson
served as vice president until his death Nov.
5, 1900, and he had been connected with the
bank officially as director, attorney and vice
president for a period of twenty years. B. F.
Crispin served as president until his death in
1903.
On Aug. 3, 1903, Messrs. H. P. Field, C.
G. Crispin and M. Jackson Crispin were
elected members of the board to fill vacancies
then existing, and at the same meeting F. R.
Jackson was elected president.
The necessity of additional help was felt
during the year 1903, owing to the increased
business of the bank, and the board elected
W. J. Hehl assistant cashier Oct. 5, 1903.
The bank had now been opened for busi-
ness for almost forty years, and at a regular
meeting of the board held Aug. i, 1904, on
motion, an application was made for a new
charter, which was granted by the comp-
troller, and the corporate existence was ex-
tended for a period of twenty years from
Sept. 21, .1904.
The statement presented to the stockhold-
ers at the annual meeting held in January,
1905, was as follows:
Resources
U. S. Bonds $ 25,000.00
U. S. Treasury 1,250.00
Furniture and Fixtures 25,000.00
Due from Banks 252.51
Bonds and Investments 431,521.13
Cash and Reserve 76,448.33
. ... $559,471-97
Liabilities
Capital $ 75,000.00
Surplus 50,000.00
Circulation 25,000.00
Undivided Profits 30.282.56
Due to Banks 7,597.i8
Deposits 371 ,592.23
$559,471-97
F. R. Jackson, president of the bank, died
June 22, 1909, after a service of twenty-seven
years as director and six years as president.
The board at a meeting held July 22, 1909,
elected as president M. Jackson Crispin, and
Messrs. Francis Evans and C. G. Crispin as
vice presidents, Mr. Evans it might be noted
being the only living director of the original
board. .A.t this meeting F. E. Brockway was
elected director to fill a vacancy on the board.
Three Generations Presidents. — M.
Jackson Crispin, the present president, is a
son of the late B. F. Crispin, and a grandson
of M. W. Jackson. Thus it will be seen that
three generations of the same family have
served as president of the institution.
It might be well to note that during the fifty
years the First National Bank of Berwick has
been oi>en for business it has passed through
periods of panics and depression unscathed.
The deposits have increased consistently and
remarkably, indicating the confidence mani-
fested by the public. A glance at the state-
ments incorporated herewith will show that
the resources have doubled in each period of
twenty years. This is a record of which the
stockholders may well be proud.
ST.\TEMENT MARCH 4, I914
Resources
U. S. Bonds $ 25,000.00
U. S. Treasury 1,250.00
Real Estate, F. & F 25,000.00
Other Real Estate 1.500.00
Overdrafts 896.44
Due from Banks 5,212.69
Loans and Bonds 1,020,411.25
Cash and Reserve 154,425.17
$1,233,695-55
Liabilities
Capital $ 75,000.00
Surplus 100,000.00
Circulation 25,000.00
Undivided Profits (net) 32,309.66
Unearned Interest 28.970.14
Due to Banks 3.270.68
Deposits 969,145.07
$1,233,695-55
The bank began to pay dividends June i,
1865, and has continued to pay dividends with
regularity.
The First National Bank of Berwick, Pa.,
was the first bank in Columbia county to pay
interest on time deposits. On Feb. 2, 1903,
the board resolved to pay 3 per cent, per an-
num on time deposits. This was an important
factor in stimulating the savings habit in the
community and resulted in greatly increased
deposits.
The success of the bank has been due to
the fact that it has been conducted along the
most consen'ative lines and with one object in
view — the mutual benefit of the stockholders
and the public.
A strong financial institution is the Berzvick
National Bank, organized April 3, 1902, with
a capital stock of $50,000 and a surplus of
$12,500. The first officers were: C. C. Evans,
president; S. W. Dickson, vice president; B.
D. Freas, cashier. This bank is located in
the Dickson building, one half of the first
floor having been specially constructed for it.
158
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
handsomely fitted up, and admirably adapted
to the needs of the business.
The Benvick Savings & Trust Company
was founded to fill the want of a savings bank
for the workers of Berwick, and it has grown
into strong popular favor. Business was be-
gun in 1903 with a capital stock of $125,000,
paid in, and the following were the first offi-
cers: S. W. Dickson, president; O. F. Fer-
ris, Isaiah Beaver, vice presidents ; B. D.
Freas, treasurer; C. C. Evans, solicitor. Di-
rectors: H. F. Glenn, H. R. Bower, J. M.
Schain, J. U. Kurtz, W. W. Hanly, F. A. Wit-
man, M. M. Harter, C. C Evans, Duval Dick-
son, B. H. Dodson, W. F. Lowry, J. J. Myers,
R. H. Davenport, O. F. Ferris. C. D. Eaton,
Isaiah Bower, F. Carkins, F. E. Brockway,
J. E. Smith, J. L. Evans, S. W. Dickson.
The bank is located in the Dickson build-
ing, and conducts a general banking busi-
ness, while the trust department acts as ex-
ecutor, administrator, guardian and trastee,
and in all other fiduciary capacities.
The Berwick Building and Loan Associa-
tion was organized in 1894 and has done a
good work in enabling persons of small means
to acquire homes. In 1914 the association
had $65,625 outstanding on mortgages; $6,185
on association stock; a net profit of $4,019 for
the year, and 967 shares outstanding. The net
profits from the time of organization were
$28,782. The capital authorized by the char-
ter is $500,000. The officers for 1914 are:
A. D. Seely, president; James E. Smith, vice
president ; John W. Evans, treasurer ; John H.
Smethers, secretary ; James L. Evans, solicitor.
Directors: B. D. Freas, Frank Shive. James
L. Evans, C. C. Lockhart, A. D. Seely, John
A. Kepner, P. C. Currin, Charles F. Hartman,
James E. Smith.
OFFICIALS OF BERWICK
Berwick was incorporated as a borough Jan.
29, 1818, but the names of the first officers
have become buried in the archives of the
past, too deep for the writer to unearth.
The officials in 1914 are: F. R. Kitchen,
burgess ; C. E. Sitler, C. E. Ross, W. T. Stout,
Thomas Morton, William Raup. E. A. Glenn,
Elliott Adams, councilmen. The city hall is lo-
cated on Second street.
WEST BERWICK
A petition presented Sept. 2, 1901, was ap-
proved on Sept. 5th, and on Dec. 9th the final
decree was made declaring West Berwick a
borough. There were then seventy-five free-
holders within the limits of the town. An
election was ordered held in February, 1902,
but on the 3d of that month the court an-
nulled the decree on the ground that all the
requirements of the law had not been com-
plied with. A new petition was filed, and on
May 10, 1902, the borough was declared to
be legally established, the election day being
fixed as June 24th. The election resulted as
follows : Eli Sherwood, burgess ; J. M. Fair-
child, John Dodson. Walter Hughes, J. C.
Sponenberg, Clark Heller, William Zerinden,
councilmen ; Jacob Smith, Samuel Hess, O. F.
Ferris, George E. Laub, R. Funk, C. G. Cris-
man, school directors ; Wilson Bond, Chester
Marr, overseers of the poor. On Sept. 7, 1905,
the borough was divided into two wards.
The officials for 1914 are: Chief burgess,
C. W. Freas ; members of council, D. R. Far-
rell, George Knecht, Harry Rasley, Wesley
Fairchild, C. W. Helt, James Levan ; poor
overseers, Frank Creasy, Chester Marr ;
justices of the peace, Frank Fenstermacher,
Samuel Grouse.
The West Berwick city hall is a frame
building, erected in 1903. The upper part is
used for council meetings and the lower floor
for the fire department.
BERWICK WATER COMPANY
The Berwick Water Company, one of the
oldest incorporated companies doing a pub-
lic service business in the eastern part of
Pennsylvania, dates its beginning as a char-
tered service company with the founding of
the borough of Berwick, within the territory
of which it has carried on its operations—
a contemporary indeed of the borough; for
the town of Berwick settled in 1786 was in-
corporated as a borough by act of Assembly
Jan. 29, 1 81 8. while the Berwick Water Com-
pany was incorporated Jan. 27, 1818.
Following the passage of the act provid-
ing for the incorporation of the company the
promoters of the enterprise began to secure
subscriptions to its capital. "A suitable book,"
as directed in the act, was provided and is
still in existence among the archives of the
company, in which the subscriptions of some
sixty persons are recorded in the original
handwriting. Among the names appears those
of many of the progenitors of the citizens of
this vicinity, for example: John Brown, Sam-
uel Headley, Thomas, Jesse and Christopher
Bowman, Samuel Jackson, Robert McCurdy,
Thomas C. Foster, Amassa Burlingame, John
Cooper. Hugh Thompson, Evan Owen, George
Mack, .'^amuel Herrin.
The incorporators early set about putting
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
159
in operation their corporate privilege, namely :
that of "introducing water into the borough by
means of pipes, trunks or acqueducts." A
water main constructed of good-sized logs,
bored with a four-inch diameter opening, fitted
and coupled with iron bands, was laid from
the town out Market street along the road to
a stream near the little village of Foundry-
ville, the water from this stream entering Briar
creek, impounded and tapped and thus con-
veyed into the town. For several years this
system of supply was kept in operation, but
as the population increased it eventually
proved inadequate, for according to the testi-
mony of older citizens who recall this pipe
line the logs would become clogged or ob-
structed. The pipe itself became rotten, the
different kinds of logs used at times making
repairs difficult and unsatisfactory. This con-
dition probably contributed to the need for
securing water elsewhere, for it is also a mat-
ter of history that children of that day were
frequently sent to the springs in the river
below the old dug road and carried the water
therefrom to supply the family needs. The
quality and quantity of water in these springs
being of the best, the use evidently was very
early suggested to the citizens of that time,
and they early became the property of the
Berwick Water Company. The water was
pumped into the mains by means of water-
power at the waste- weir at the locks at Ber-
wick. "The Works" were thus established
prior to the year 1848.
In 1852 the Legislature extended to the
Berwick Water Company the right previously
granted the Hydraulic Company of the bor-
ough of Berwick to use the waterpower at this
waste-weir. This old method of pumping
water by means of an old-type turbine or
water-wheel was continued with more or less
change and improvement until the late sev-
enties ; for "water wheel and pumping ma-
chinery'' appears in the balance sheets of
that day as one of the valued assets of the com-
pany.
Some time prior to the Civil war, on land
still owned by the company on Second and
Chestnut streets, a reservoir was constructed
for storage. In 1883 a seven and a half
foot standpipe was added to this reservoir, and
its use was continued until about 1890, when
the reservoir at Glen Brook was completed.
Following the era in which log pipe was used
the company constructed other conduits or pipe
lines of cement, and in late years these old
log and cement pipes have been at times ex-
cavated by the company's workmen. It is in-
teresting to know the manner of construc-
tion of this old cement pipe : A 2-inch wrought
pipe was covered with a layer of cement of
the thickness of two or more inches, and over
this cement covering a layer of sheet iron
was placed and secured by bands of iron.
When this cement had hardened sufficiently
the 2-inch pipe was withdrawn and the ce-
ment construction was in condition for lay-
ing.
Cast iron pipe in varying sizes, 2, 3, 4 and
6-inch, succeeded this old log and cement pipe.
In 1883, when the late George Depew be-
came superintendent of the company, an in-
ventory submitted by him to the board of man-
agers established the fact that the company
had four and three quarters miles of pipe lines,
all sizes.
The car and manufacturing business located
in the borough developed with great strides
after the Civil war and with this growth in
business the demands upon the water com-
pany's capacity to supply water became acute,
and in turn the company was put to the neces-
sity of meeting the increased demands for
water. Some time in 1884 and 1885 a stand-
pipe was erected at Market and Third streets,
primarily to accommodate the Jackson &
Woodin Company. In 1899 and 1900 a reser-
voir was constructed on property located in
Briarcreek and Salem townships, at the junc-
tion of the Wolfinger and Cope creeks, which
gave capacity for the storage of 15,000,000
gallons of water. This is now known as the
Glen Brook resenoir. The reservoirs at Glen
Brook were known as No. i and No. 2. This
in turn was followed by the construction of
another reservoir in Salem township, on the
Varner creek, in 1895, known as the Salem
reservoir. No. 3, having a capacity of some
3,000,000 gallons.
The pumping equipment had always been
kept in proper condition to operate in con-
junction with the storage supply at Glen Brook
and Salem reservoirs, and for a period of
approximately fifteen years had met the de-
mands of a growing population.
In 1899, the large manufacturing interests
of the town having been incorporated in the
American Car and Foundry Company and a
boom in general business following, Berwick
experienced a great increase in population.
The new steel car plant, new foundries, ma-
chine shops and mills provided work for from
five thousand to six thousand men. with a de-
pendent population of twenty thousand to
twenty-five thousand people in the boroughs of
Berwick, West Berwick and Nescopeck. In
1908 and 1909 a very large addition to the
storage capacity at Glen Brook was construct-
160
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
ed, the old reservoirs excavated and enlarged,
and a new reservoir built to impound a quan-
tity of 75,000,000 to 80,000,000 gallons. In
1906 a 20-inch main was laid from the
reservoirs some three miles, connecting with
mains at the north end of Market street and
Freas avenue. This provided the requisite pres-
sure for fire protection and distribution of the
increased supply. Upon the building of the
steel plant at the west end of the borough
limits, and extending into Briarcreek township,
the new borough of West Berwick came into
corporate existence. In 1892, prior to the be-
ginning of the new borough, the West Ber-
wick Water Supply Company was incorpo-
rated and pipe lines laid throughout the town
of West Berwick. Increase of population to
the east and north of the old borough limits
of Berwick made further demands upon the
company's water supply, and at that time the
supply companies were organized : West Salem
Water Supply Company and Briar Creek
Water Supply Company were incorporated in
1903 and 1904, respectively. The Nescopeck
Water Supply Company was incorporated to
supply water to the inhabitants of Nescopeck
in March, 1894, the water mains from Ber-
wick being connected by a line through the
Susquehanna river, approximately 1,300 feet
in length. These supply companies are con-
trolled and operated by the Berwick Water
Company.
The erection of a new filter plant on the
property of the company alongside of the
Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad
Company's tracks at the foot of Market street
was begun in 1913 and at this date (1914) is
in operation and is furnishing filtered water
for the boroughs. The pumping equipment is
undergoing changes, the pumping capacity is
more than doubled, and is to be operated by
electricity. The company has its own labora-
tory, and frequent examinations of water in
compliance with the present day demands are
made.
The company has always been well financed.
From the earliest to the present dividends have
been paid with regularity upon the capital in-
vested, while the fixed interest charge on the
bonded indebtedness of the Berwick and West
Berwick companies has always been paid with
punctuality. The tangible assets of the com-
pany are easily twice the amount of the in-
debtedness. From the report made to the
Water Commission of Pennsylvania the pipe
mileage exceeds thirty-two miles. Water pres-
sure is from eighty-five to ninety pounds, and
affords ample fire protection.
Prominent citizens of this section have in
the past been identified with the upbuilding
of the property, and we find mention in the
old records of : Morrison E. Jackson, Jesse
Bowman, Mordecai W. Jackson, Seth B. Bow-
man, F. Nicely, William H. Woodin, Sr., H. C.
Freas, John W. Evans, G. L. Reagan, C. H.
Zehnder, S. P. Hanly, S. C. Jayne, Freder-
ick H. Eaton, Wm. H. Hager, W. H. Woodin,
Jr., C. D. Eaton, W. W. Hanly, Capt. F. E.
Brock way.
The present board of managers consists of :
Clarence G. Crispin, vice president of the
First National Bank of Berwick ; Hon. Chas.
C. Evans, president judge of the Twenty-sixth
Pennsylvania Judicial district ; W. S. Johnson,
general superintendent of the American Car
and Foundry Company at Berwick; Howard
C. Wick, and M. J. Crispin.
The officers of the company are: C. G.
Crispin, president ; C. C. Evans, vice presi-
dent ; F. A. Witman, secretary and treasurer.
J. S. Hicks, who succeeded George Depew,
referred to elsewhere in this article, is the
very efficient superintendent of the company's
operations.
From log and cement pipes to 24-inch cast
iron mains and laterals extending over thirty-
two to thirty-five miles of territory and
equipped with controlling valves ; from the old-
style turbine water-wheel to electrically driven
centrifugal pumps ; from simple diversion of
a stream into a log pipe line to the modern
reservoirs constructed to impound upwards
of a hundred million gallons, as well as other
conditions that might be contrasted, measures
the activities of a company whose history
lacks only three years of reaching the century
mark.
FIRE PROTECTION
The first fire company of Berwick was the
Fearless, organized May 20, 1880, as a volun-
teer company. They purchased a hand en-
gine, two hose carriages and 350 feet of hose.
The officers were: R. W. Oswald, president;
S. W. Dickson, treasurer; J. W. Fry, secre-
tary; W. M. Boyles, foreman. This company
was disbanded in a few years, the Rangers
inheriting the fire apparatus. In 1914 there
are three fire companies in the borough.
The Rangers have a handsome club house
on East Front street, and use the old frame
Lutheran church as an engine house. Their
improvements upon the property have in-
creased its valuation to over $9,000.
The Reliance Fire Company has a fine brick
building on South Mulberry street, erected in
1903.
*i
A^JSp
.■ '/"eWSf :»1»', C ft ft WHEtt- SKOpV
TrHjE:: J^^jC,l^sSlQiN! K,- W/Q 0)D)l;l>lj !yiJ^\IN!t)tFA.,Efrrl)!^IN G! (EJQ).^
betrwich Pc^
C C ^ AC^SO^■ Vice PK
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
161
The Defender Hose Company has a brick
building of its own on Sixth street.
West Berwick Hose Company has a frame
home on West Front street. All of these fire
companies use the water from the mains for
fire purposes, as it has ample pressure for the
purpose.
LIFE STORY OF A GREAT INDUSTRY
The growth of the town of Berwick and
the prosperity and happiness of its people are
so closely associated with the great car works
there, which grew from a small foundry,
owned by two men, into the present gigantic
establishment, employing thousands, that the
story of one is the history of the other. With-
out this industrial development, brought about
by the energy and farsightedness of these two
men and their successors, Berwick might yet
be a village of but a few hundred inhabitants.
The foundations of the present immense
plant were laid in 1840, when Mordecai W.
Jackson and George Mack erected on the cor-
ner of Third and Market streets a foundry,
25 by 40 feet, with a small shed in the rear,
for the manufacture of agricultural imple-
ments. The firm remained Jackson & Mack
until 1843, when Mr. Jackson purchased
Mack's interest and took into partnership Rob-
ert McCurdy, adding to the manufacture of
agricultural implements that of hollowware.
About fifteen men were then employed, four
horses furnishing the power for running the
blower and lathe, the only machinery then in
use. Col. Clarence G. Jackson, afterwards
president of the company, was then a boy of
seven, and drove the horses that supplied the
power.
In 1846 the firm of Jackson & McCurdy was
dissolved and M. W. Jackson continued the
business alone, adding to the foundry a black-
smith shop, under the charge of Louis Enke,
and commencing the btiilding of heavy wagons.
In 1S40 William Hartman Woodin, who
had established a furnace and foundry at
Foundryvillc in 1847 ^^r the manufacture of
stoves and plows, united with Mr. Jackson,
and thus the famous firm of Jackson &
Woodin was born. Mr. Jackson was an ex-
pert mechanic and a fine manager of men,
while Mr. Woodin was a broad-gauge man,
possessing farsightedness and selling ability
that soon made the firm prominent in the local
field and in time placed them foremost in
their line among the manufacturers of the
State. A small machine shop was added to
the plant, the horses supplanted by an up-
right steam engine, and the manufacture of
U
the "Robb" stove, with open grate; a round
stove, with a bake oven on top, and the old-
time "Bull" plow, were undertaken. Tinware
and spouting were also made. The force was
increased to twenty-five men, and in 1850
the contract was taken to cast the pipes for
the Berwick waterworks, between five hun-
dred and one thousand pounds of iron being
melted in a day.
Rapid expansion followed, and in 1855 the
firm was making castings for the Lackawanna
& Bloomsburg Railroad Company, of which
Mr. Jackson was then a director and super-
intendent. Mill gearing and stationary en-
gines were also made, and in 1858, a con-
tract being taken to furnish the bridge cast-
ings for the Philadelphia & Erie railroad, an
addition was built to the foundry, about a
ton of iron melted in a day, and fifty men
were given employment.
In the fall of 1861 an order was received
for the building of twenty cars of four wheels
each, for the use of G. W. Creveling in his
limestone quarry at Espy, Columbia county.
To prepare for this (then) large order a
shed about nine feet high, in which the plows
were formerly painted, was boarded up, and
from this primitive car shop the first cars
were turned out. Two men were employed
on this branch of the work, and they suc-
ceeded in producing but one car a week.
The material was mortised, planed and framed
by hand, holes being cut in the roof to per-
mit the insertion of the iron rods into the
frames. During the following summer small
lots of cars were built, sometimes two a week,
the wheels being pressed onto the axles by
means of a hand press.
In 1862 some machinery was advertised for
sale at the car works at Taylorville, Luzerne
county, and Mr. Woodin attended the sale,
there buying a crosscut saw, a fifteen-foot one-
side bed planer, a tenoning machine, a hy-
draulic wheel press, and other pieces. These
he stored in a barn until needed. The pur-
chase proved extremely fortunate, for in a
short time a contract came in for the con-
struction of one hundred cars for H. S. Mer-
cur & Co., Pittston. Anxious to complete the
order in the time set, the saw was brought
from the barn and attached to an inch-and-a-
half line-shaft. This was a wise move, and
proved such an advantage that in a short time
the planer and wheel press were also set up
and attached to the line-shaft. Thus was the
first machinery solely for the manufacture of
cars in Berwick set in motion. The tenoning
machine was next set up, and the work pro-
ceeded so rapidly that five four-wheel cars
162
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
were completed in one week. Finally one
car a day became the capacity of the plant,
Mr. Woodin remarking that they "didn't want
to build more than one car a day." But so
well did matters progress that additions were
made to the machine shop, foundry, car and
blacksmith shops, a planer double the size
of the old one purchased, wooden tracks for
handling the cars laid around the works, and
two four-wheel cars were turned out in a
day.
By this time the firm of Jackson & Woodin
had acquired extensive repute as car build-
ers, and soon increased contracts called for
expansion. Another car shop, 24 by 80 feet,
was erected alongside the railroad "under the
hill," a forty-horsepower engine installed, and
two box cars were made there each day, the
repairing of old cars being done at the old
works. In 1863 another addition was made
to the car shop, increasing its capacity to six
four-wheel cars and two box cars per day.
Thus step by step the plant grew, until in
the winter of 1865-66 five or six eight-wheel
coal cars for the Philadelphia & Erie railroad
were being built every day, and about 150 men
employed.
A critical period in the history of the town
as well as the plant occurred when, on the
morning of March 17, 1866, the works were
totally destroyed by fire. A consultation was
held at the bank the following day, at which
many of the employees were present, and aft-
er a thorough discussion of the matter the
anxiously awaited decision was announced — ■
that the plant would be rebuilt. Plans for
the new buildings were at once prepared, ma-
chinery purchased, and out of the ashes arose
a better and more modem manufacturing es-
tablishment. So rapidly did the works grow
after this date that the necessary additions
soon encroached on the farm lands of M. W.
Jackson, in the rear of the plant, and in 1869
the firm was employing 550 men.
In March, 1872, the Jackson & Woodin
Manufacturing Company was organized, with
C. R. Woodin, president; C. G. Jackson, vice
president; Garrick Mallery, treasurer; M. W.
Jackson and W. H. Woodin, executive com-
mittee. The senior members of the firm then
retired from active management of the afifairs
of the company to enjoy a well-earned period
of rest, leaving their sons to continue the
work of developing the plant. The first move
of expansion then made was the building of
the "long switch," to connect the works with
the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western rail-
road. This was completed in 1872, and ran
from the main line up a ninety-foot embank-
ment, with a grade of 150 feet to the mile,
to the rolling mill (then in process of con-
struction), thence into the works. Previous
to the building of this switch the finished cars
were drawn by horses through Market street
to Canal, down Canal, with a grade of 400
feet, to the railroad ; a heavy toothed drag
and a brake being used to prevent the cars
sliding down the hill.
In the latter part of 1872 the rolling mill
was completed, thus enabling the firm to make
and shape their own iron work, which had
previously been done outside, and fill orders
for the general market. From year to year
thereafter other additions were made, notable
among them being the pipe works, for the
casting of gas and water pipe.
C. R. Woodin retiring from the presidency
in 1892, C. H. Zehnder was made president
and general manager. Under his direction the
company prospered greatly. In 1896 he ten-
dered his resignation and Frederick H. Eaton
was elected to succeed him.
Upon the organization in 1899 of the Ameri-
can Car and Foundry Company Mr. Eaton
was made first vice president of the corpo-
ration, and W. H. Woodin, son of C. R.
Woodin, was appointed district manager of
the Berwick plant. On June 27, 1901, the
newly elected board of directors met in New
York and elected Mr. Eaton to the presidency
of the corporation, and W. H. Woodin as his
assistant. William F. Lowry, who had been
with the Jackson & Woodin Company for
many years, was made district manager, in
charge of the plants in Berwick and Blooms-
burg.
Many interesting stories are told of the
energy and versatility of the founders of the
works. At one time a Root blower was
broken, and the shipment of the part to the
West for repair would have incurred expen-
sive delay, owing to slow freight methods,
as the entire works depended on the opera-
tion of the blower. So Mr. Woodin took the
broken part to the factory himself, had it re-
paired, and learned there how to keep it in
repair afterward.
The old upright engine that supplanted the
horses for power in the first car works was
used for a time to run a chop mill near Espy;
then E. A. Sneidman used it to run his ma-
chinery in a blacksmith shop at Almedia.
Next the engine served as power on a coal
dredge for Hoffman & Custer, until 1912.'
They then sold it to a junk dealer at Blooms-
burg.
t
American Car and Foundry Company, Berwick, Pa. — Upper Works
Soft Foundry, Wood Car Erecting Shops, Wood Machine Shops, Pipe Foundry,
Lumber Yards. General (Jffices and lierwick Store Co. to Left. 1903
American Car and Foundry Company, Berwick. Pa. — Lower Works
Rolling ;\Iill, Smith Shop, \Mieel Foundry, Truck Shop and Paint Shops. Steel
Car Department in the Background. 1907
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
163
The Modern Car Works
When the business of the Jackson & Woodin
Manufacturing Company at Berwick was
taken over by the American Car and Foundry
Company in 1899, the Berwick plant was the
largest car building concern in the eastern
part of the United States, and was serving
the principal railroads of New England and
the tier of States along the Atlantic seaboard.
There were then employed from two thousand
to two thousand five hundred workmen in the
upper and lower works. The upper works
included the car shops proper, equipped for
preparation of lumber and the building of
freight cars of wood construction, of every
variety then current upon modern railroads,
an extensive lumber yard, a foundry for the
manufacture of grey iron castings and a foun-
dry for the production of water and gas pipes
for city and town service. As an adjunct to
these an iron machine shop, fully equipped
with lathes, planers, drill presses and kindred
machinery, occupied the brick building on the
northeast corner of Third and Market streets,
now (in 1914) used as a storehouse for car
materials.
The lower works in 1899 were made up of
the rolling mill, forge shop and wheel foun-
dry, producing materials used in wood car
building and supplying outside trade.
In 1902-03 the "Big Boom" came to Ber-
wick. The railroads of the country began
to call for a freight car of all-steel construc-
tion for the transportation of coal. The Amer-
ican Car and Foundry Company gave a quick
response to that call and erected shops at St.
Louis, Detroit and Berwick, fitting them out
with the most up-to-date machinery and fa-
cilities for this new line of car building. This
meant a tremendous addition to the already
large Berwick plant. About three millions
of dollars were spent in the purchase of addi-
tional land, erection of buildings and installa-
tion of machinery. A central powerhouse,
equipped to furnish hydraulic, pneumatic and
electric power, was erected for the new steel
plant. Preparation, construction and erection
buildings of steel, brick and glass, of most
modern plans, were erected. These were 730
feet in length, with three aisles of 100 feet
width, or 300 feet. In these were set up hy-
draulic presses exerting a power of one thou-
sand tons pressure per square inch, great
shears capable of cutting steel plates one
inch in thickness by ten feet in length, power
punches planned to punch seventy-two holes
at one stroke, together with innumerable other
and smaller presses, shears, punches, drills.
riveters and what not going to make up an
up-to-date factory. Over these aisles travel
by electric power seven cranes of ten tons' ca-
pacity lift.
At the north end of the plant is situated
the storage yard for steel plates and shapes
arriving from manufacturing mills. This
yard, 200 by 300 feet, has two overhead travel-
ing electric cranes, ninety-foot span and ten-
ton lift. Thousands of tons of plates and
shapes are lifted from incoming trains of cars,
piled in the yards, and later transferred to the
shops adjacent, where the processes of shear-
ing, punching, pressing, riveting and erection
are carried on until from the other end of the
vast shop rolls a finished all-steel car with a
capacity for carrying a load of 100,000 to 150,-
000 pounds.
Supplementing the shops just mentioned,
other shops were erected at the "lower works"
— shops of steel and brick, 400 by 80 feet,
heated by steam, in which cars are painted
and lettered ; a shop 350 by 100 feet in which
wheels and axles are machined and mounted
and the completed trucks built to receive the
car bodies ; storehouses, offices for superin-
tendents and engineers, and many other build-
ings made necessary by the great operations.
Vast as the preparation was, the demand
for steel freight cars soon outstripped the ca-
pacity, so that 200 feet were added to the
length of the steel freight car shops, bringing
their length to 930 feet. With this increase
more machinery was added to powerhouse and
shop equipment.
The erection of the "steel plant" demanded
greater railroad facilities than those supplied
by the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western
alone, especially as that road had to be reached
over a switch two miles long down a steep
grade. The demand was met by the building
of the Susquehanna, Bloomsburg & Berwick
railroad, which runs between departments of
the plant of the American Car and Foundry
Company, reducing the private switching of
cars to a minimum.
The railroads, having seen how good is a
steel freight car, must have also an all steel
passenger car. Again the Berwick plant of
the American Car and Foundry Company
answered the cry of its customers. The sub-
ways of New York contain the earliest product
along this line, delivered in 1904, while in
1905 the first all steel passenger car ever pro-
duced for standard railroad service was turned
out of these shops. Many orders from the
leading Eastern railroads were booked and
passenger car shops of Berwick plant stand-
ards, steel, brick, glass, cement floored and
164
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
steam-heated, were erected alongside the
freight car shops. The passenger car finish-
ing, equipment, painting and varnishing shops,
in part two stories, are i,oio by 130 feet.
The several departments of the works are
connected by standard railroad tracks, which
with tracks for storage measure more than
thirty miles, on which are operated four loco-
motives, two locomotive cranes and two hun-
dred railroad cars owned by the plant for the
inter-transfer of materials. Up-to-date stor-
age battery electric engines are also in service
at special points about the works.
In 1907, when railroad buying in the United
States reached its maximum, the Berwick plant
was employing 5,500 men and produced its
greatest output. In November of that year,
with twenty-five working days, a total of 2,550
cars was built, an average of 102 for each
working day, made up of all steel passenger
cars, all steel freight cars and steel under-
frames with wood superstructures. This is
equivalent to four average freight trains per
day.
During the process of continued develop-
ment to this writing in 1914 many changes
have occurred in the plants. When a fire de-
stroyed the grey iron foundry at the upper
works a new and modern foundry took its
place, located at the extreme north of the
lower works. An iron machine shop 300 by
90 feet was erected and in it grouped machin-
ery before scattered throughout other build-
ings. A nut factory fully equipped with novel
machinery, operated electrically, was erected
for the production of nuts used in the many
plants of the company, east and west, supply-
ing also outside trade.
The plant of to-day covers eighty-two acres
of land, has modern shops, equipped with ma-
chinery of highest efficiency, is the largest sin-
gle plant of the fourteen owned by the Ameri-
can Car and Foundry Company, the only one
producing both passenger and freight cars, and
embraces within itself more varied depart-
ments than any other. It has a capacity of
two finished passenger cars daily ; sixty all
steel coal cars of fifty tons' load, or their equiv-
alent in the varied cars of other designs; 600
wheels for freight cars; 300 wheels for mine
cars ; 200 tons of bar iron ; 50 tons of flanged
pipe; 100 tons of grey iron castings, forgings,
nuts and kindred products. The plant has
never known an absolute shut down, the di-
versity of products, in the dullest times, keep-
ing a comfortable percentage of workmen em-
ployed.
"Safety First" is to-day a watchword on
the lips of all superintendents and foremen.
Fifty thousands of dollars have been expend-
ed in the last two years to safeguard ma-
chinery and prevent accidents to workmen, and
the end of the expenditure is not yet. The
management hopes to attain the high point
where the works are "fool proof" in their
operation, so that even the careless may not
be in danger.
Temperance in Columbia county has its
strongest advocate and support in these works.
Men given to the drink habit are excluded and
the so-called moderate drinker finds he must
change his plan of life or look elsewhere for
employment.
Among the employees are many "Old
Timers" — the list is too long to be given in
detail in this article.
The local management and shop organiza-
tion is made up of young men, comparatively
speaking, and a very unusual fact is that the
leaders are either native Berwickians or have
been connected with the plant all of their busi-
ness careers. A few of the names, with the
positions into which they have grown through
the years, are appended :
William F. Lowry, district manager; C. G.
Crispin, assistant district manager ; William S.
Johnson, general superintendent ; Frank Faust,
superintendent car department ; J. H. Catterall,
superintendent rolling mills ; John A. Kepner,
superintendent wood shops ; L. E. Hess, super-
intendent steel car department ; J. Frank Long,
local auditor; W. J. Harris, supply agent.
The American Car and Foundry Company
The American Car and Foundry Company
was incorporated Feb. 20, 1899, in New Jer-
sey, for the purpose of manufacturing rail-
way cars and supplies, pipe and lumber. The
company manufactures cars of all types,
classes and construction ; also cast iron water
pipe, car wheels, merchant bar iron, pig iron,
castings, forgings, interior woodwork, car
floats, repair parts and various other articles
and supplies of a miscellaneous character. The
following plants have been acquired from time
to time, those marked with an asterisk being
acquired at the time of incorporation :
Bloomsburg Car Mfg. Co.. .Bloomsburg, Pa.
*Buft"alo Car Mfg. Co Buft'alo, N. Y.
Common Sense Bolster Co Chicago, 111.
*Ensign Mfg. Co Huntington, W. Va.
Indianapolis Car Co Indianapolis, Ind.
Jackson & Sharpe Co Wilmington, Del.
*Jackson & Woodin Mfg. Co.. . .Berwick, Pa.
*"Michigan-Peninsular Co Detroit, Mich.
♦Missouri Car & Foundry Co.. . St. Louis, Mo.
*Murray, Dougal & Co Milton, Pa.
m
American Car axd Fhuxdry Company, Bervvu k, Pa.
Steel Car Department — Freight and Passenger. Iron Machine Shop. Xut Factory
and Soft Foundry in the Background. 1913
Berwick Store Company's Dep.\rtment Store, Berwick, Pa.
COLUMBIA- AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
165
♦Niagara Car Wheel Co Buffalo, N. Y.
*Ohio Falls Car Mfg. Co.. .Jeffersonville, Ind.
*Pennock Bros, (dismantled) .Minerva, Ohio
*St. Charles Car Co St. Charles, Mo.
Southern Car & Foundry Co. Memphis, Tenn.
*Terre Haute Car & Mfg. Co
Terre Haute, Ind.
*The Wells & French Co Chicago, 111.
*Union Car Co Depew, N. Y.
The manufacturing plants owned and oper-
ated consist of the following: Four passen-
ger car plants; sixteen freight car plants;
eleven wheel foundries ; twelve grey iron
foundries ; two water and gas pipe foundries ;
one malleable iron foundry; one brass foun-
dry; two sawmills; three rolling mills and
forges ; an architectural wood-working mill,
and a plant for building and repairing car
floats and light capacity vessels. The works
aftd store yards cover over 530 acres of
ground.
When running to capacity the company em-
ploys over 25,000 men and its annual sales
are approximately $100,000,000. The com-
pany has purchased a large tract of land at
Gary, Ind., adjacent to the new works of the
United States Steel Corporation, -with the
view of constructing there a plant with a
daily capacity of about one hundred steel
cars.
The annual capacity of the plants is 125,-
000 freight cars; 1,500 passenger cars; 350,-
000 tons of wheels ; 300,000 tons of forgings ;
150,000 tons of castings; 300,000 tons of bar
iron; 30,000 tons of cast iron pipe; 75,000
tons of bolts and nuts ; and 30,000,000 feet of
lumber.
The American Car and Foundry Company,
combining as it did eighteen matured car-
building plants, had in it the germs of a most
successful business proposition, but the prob-
lem of consolidating and amalgamating the
diverse methods in vogue so that the maxi-
mum economies would result called for
marked executive ability. The company was
fortunate in having at its command talent of
the highest order, and under the tutelage of
W. K. Bixby, of St. Louis, who was its pres-
ident from 1899 to 1901, and of Frederick
H. Eaton, of New York, Mr. Bixby's suc-
cessor and its present president, it has realized
fully its destiny. The company stands today
the premier institution of its kind. With its
product known in every civilized country, it
is the greatest manufacturer of cars in the
world.
During the life of the American Car and
Foundry Company railroad carriers have
been revolutionized. When it came into exist-
ence 60,000-pound capacity wooden cars, with
their limited life and high repair costs, and
wooden passenger coaches with their limited
protection to passengers, were standard every-
where. The company has matured and com-
mercialized the high-capacity steel freight car
— an economic advance of inestimable value
to the railroads. It has originated and devel-
oped the non-flammable steel passenger coach,
the greatest guarantee of safety the travel-
ing public has known.
Concurrent with the technical development
of its art has taken place an equally satis-
factory development of the financial strength
of the company. New plants have been built,
old plants modernized and the entire prop-
erty built up and maintained at a high pitch
of efficiency. The varying nature of the de-
mand for its product necessitates a large work-
ing capital, which is being successfully met
by accretions from earnings from time to
time — over $13,000,000 having been added in
this way since the formation of the com-
pany. Satisfactory dividends have at the same
time been distributed to the stockholders of
the company. Aggressiveness has been tem-
pered with conservatism, resulting in an insti-
tution which is held throughout the world of
commerce to be a model industrial creation.
The capital of the American Car and Foun-
dry Company is fixed at $60,000,000 and the
number of plants in the consolidation is eigh-
teen, of which the Berwick plant is the third
largest. The general offices are in New York
City and the present officials are: Frederick
H. Eaton, president; William H. Woodin, as-
sistant to the president; J. M. Buick, W. C.
Dickerman and Clarence Price, vice presi-
dents ; William M. Hager, secretary ; S. S.
Delano, treasurer; N. A. Doyle, auditor;
Charles J. Hardy, general counsel.
The executive committee is composed of
Frederick H. Eaton, C. R. Woodin and H. R.
Duval. The directors are : Frederick H.
Eaton, Berwick ; W. G. Oakman, New York ;
S. S. Delano, New York ; Thomas H. West,
St. Louis; J. M. Buick, St. Louis; A. P. Hep-
burn, New York; E. F. Carry, Chicago; H. R.
Duval, New York; C. R. Woodin, Berwick;
Gerald Hovt, New York ; George H. Russell,
Detroit ; William H. Woodin, New York ; Wil-
liam M. Hager, Roselle, N. J.; W. N. Atac-
Millan, London, England.
BERWICK STORE COMP.\NY
Closely identified with the history of Ber-
wick, and therefore of Columbia county, is
166
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
that of the Berwick Store Company, which,
founded in a small partnership, though large
for the period, has kept pace with every
stage of the town's growth. Its business has
developed into a store of some thirty depart-
ments, with a floor space equalling if not ex-
ceeding any modern establishment in the oth-
er towns and cities within a radius of fifty
miles. The extent of this store's merchandise
distribution may be understood when it is
stated that it will sell a customer any and
everything needed for personal and house-
hold requirements.
Some time prior to the building of the
Lackawanna & Bloomsburg railroad, when
the merchant of that day traveled by packet
to the city to "'lay in his stock of goods," and
before the Civil war, the predecessor of the
Berwick Store Company, the "old grocery at
the canal," had its beginning. Located along-
side of the canal, in those days the "main ar-
tery of travel," the old building and its wharf
occupied an ideal situation. The old store
was built primarily to cater to the canal
trade, but the disposition of the owners to
enlarge their activities soon made it a center
for a wider trade. The foundryman of that
day found it necessary in "the course of trade"
to finance his business by the exchange of
groceries and dry goods for labor and the
products of the foundry; for not until the
Civil war period of the sixties did the bank-
ing system of the country assume any kind
of connected existence. The old State bank-
ing system with its uncertain currency and
scarcity of ready money made it necessary
for every man doing business to resort to
the old method of barter and trade, and such
were the conditions that made it necessary
for M. W. Jackson and W. H. Woodin, who
composed the firm of Jackson & Woodin, to
establish a store which in the process of time
was destined to a development characteristic
of many of the great business places of the
country at large.
The recollection of the little old two-story
building, across the Lackawanna & Blooms-
burg railroad tracks, near the foot of the
"old dug road," with its associations, lives in
the memory of many of the present genera-
tion.
Of the employees of the old store, there
remains in the employ of the present store
Mr. John H. Taylor. With George B. Thomp-
son, of Pittston, Pa., Joshua F. Opdyke, of
Easton, Pa., Garrick Mallery, of Philadelphia,
Pa., the late S. P. Hanly and R. G. Crispin,
he was early associated with the original Jack-
son & Woodin store.
Among the hardships and inconveniences
which attended the business of keeping store
in that period, aside from the scarcity of ready
money, it is recalled that many a time, and
particularly during the "high water of 1865,"
the cellar of the old building was flooded;
that the mackerel and mess pork floated freely
and unopposed in the depths until the "pumps
were manned" and the place drained ; also,
that the hams and shoulders stored in the
dark room on the second floor were periodi-
cally removed, inspected, and freed from the
onslaught of the germs of that day, after-
wards carefully replaced, and sold — no pure
food inspector under high government com-
mission being in reach to decree otherwise;
that the clerks with congenial associates
roomed and slept peacefully on the second
floor next to the old meat room, disturbed per-
chance only by the ripple of the "Falls of the
Susquehanna" near by.
Sometime in 1872 or 1873 the caqal store
was abandoned and its stock of merchandise
transferred to more commodious quarters in
the new building of the Jackson & Woodin
Manufacturing Company on Market street,
next to the homestead of the late Hon. M. W.
Jackson. The store occupied the first floor
of the new building, while the Jackson &
Woodin Manufacturing Company's general of-
fices occupied the second floor, together with
the banking firm of Jackson, Woodin & Jack-
son. Later the Young Men's Christian As-
sociation opened rooms on the second and
third floors of this building and here first
conducted its work for young men and boys
in especially equipped reading rooms and li-
brary, the latter for that time comprising a
very well selected collection of books in charge
of Mr. Albert G. Kimberley, whose early train-
ing in the libraries of Birmingham, England,
well equipped him for the position of librarian.
Here began the annual courses of lectures and
entertainments which from the beginning to
the present have been continued over a period
embracing some thirty-five years.
In this new environment the store busi-
ness rapidly grew and became the leading
trading place for Berwick and the surround-
ing country, under the superintendence of J.
F. Opdyke and R. G. Crispin, and, for some
twenty odd years, Mr. C. C. Long; under
Mr. Long's supervision two additions were
made to the building, enlarging the facilities
for handling feed, grain and surplus stocks
of merchandise.
On Aug. I, 1 891, the old store's interest
was sold, together with the store building,
to a new partnership formed under an act
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
167
of Assembly, and continued its progress for
a brief period under the name of the Ber-
wick Store Association, Limited, its original
incorporators being W. F. Lowry, C. H. Zehn-
der, F. H. Eaton, W. H. Woodin, S. P. Hanly,
S. H. Watts.
In December, 1892, this association liqui-
dated its affairs and in its place a new part-
nership, the Berwick Store Company, Lim-
ited, came into existence.
In 1896, Mr. Long having resigned, he was
succeeded by R. H. Davenport, who had had
several years of association with the busi-
ness. A decided enlargement of the company's
operations took place at this time, it being
a period of rapid growth of the boroughs of
Berwick and West Berwick, as well as the
neighboring borough of Nescopeck across the
river. The transfer by purchase and sale of
Berwick's foundries and general car manufac-
turing business having taken place in 1899,
the boom in business and in consequence the
rapid growth in all phases of the community's
life made opportunity for the further en-
largement of the store company's establish-
ment. A new addition to the present store
building in the rear, making a total depth of
approximately 150 feet and a new office and
store room alongside of the original building,
more than doubled the original capacity and
enabled the company to add many new de-
partments.
Mr. Davenport having resigned to enter oth-
er business, the management passed in May,
1905, to W. C. Garrison, who having had large
experience in department store practice in
the West brought to the expanding business
ripe experience and ability, and as a result
the resystematizing of the business was put
into effect with marked expedition and suc-
cess. In addition, a readjustment of the ac-
counting system and the rearranging of the
store's departments, with further enlargement
and modifications of the buildings, was ac-
complished in 1905, greatly enhancing the
• value of the floor space and otherwise mak-
ing for economical operation.
The stables and warehouse of the com-
pany, situated on Bowman and Third streets
within easy access of the main store build-
ing, and occupying approximately two acres
of ground, were erected under the present
management in 1907, and comprise a very nec-
essary adjunct in the storage of merchandise;
in the selling of horses, of which seventy head
can be housed at one time ; and for the storage
of all classes of vehicles, including automo-
biles, a large and increasing volume of busi-
ness being done in the handling of automo-
biles.
The meat department does probably the
largest single business of its kind in this part
of the State. The thoroughly equipped mod-
ern abattoir, near Oak and Ninth streets,
along the tracks of the Susquehanna, Blooms-
burg & Berwick Railroad Company, erected
in 1907, also forms a part of the company's
plant. Mr. T. B. Brobst, the manager of
this department, buys a carload of cattle
every two weeks, and in season a carload
of hogs a week. Forty steers can be dressed
at one time and refrigerated.
The main store rooms have a frontage of
100 feet, large plate glass windows admit
the display of a great variety of attractive
merchandise, and the interior as well as the
window displays are marked features of the
store's publicity policy, in charge of C. J.
Gilds, the decorator.
The spacious floors encompass the activi-
ties of twenty-six departments, and the de-
partmental arrangement includes the follow-
ing classification of merchandise : Dress goods
and silks, domestics, wash goods, notions,
fancy goods, ladies' hosiery, corsets and un-
derwear, men's furnishings, infants' wear,
jewelry, stationery, drugs, groceries, hard-
ware, house furnishings, furniture, wall paper,
tobacco and cigars, candy, meats, flour and
feed, green groceries, wagons, horses, automo-
biles, coal.
A complete elevator service and a well ar-
ranged delivery system augment the conven-
iences in all the departments. Eight delivery
wagons, five meat wagons, ten coal wagons,
and six auto trucks are used in the transfer
of goods from counter to customer. The use
of the telephone in the attention given to the
Store Company's large trade is a feature that
the Store Company very early began to adopt,
and "order by telephone" has grown to be
a settled method through which the store
gives special accommodation to its customers.
Frequent renewals and repairs to the Store
Company's buildings and equipment operate
to keep the properties in a well maintained con-
dition, for the convenience of customers and
the anticipation of their requirements.
The refrigerator plant in the main building,
with five or six large refrigerators for the
storage of meats, fruits and vegetables, is
kept continuously in operation. For the up-
keep of the property, the refrigerating ma-
chinery, light and heating, etc., an engineer
and carpenters are constantly employed.
The volume of business done enables the
company to buy in large quantities at first
168
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
hand, and thus always insures to the cus-
tomers the freshest, newest and best goods at
the lowest available prices ; for instance, sugar
is bought in carload lots ; canned goods are
contracted for before the vegetables are actu-
ally planted, and large shipments are received
and find their way to the company's ware-
house. This can be said also about flour and
feed and other merchandise largely con-
sumed.
The above narrates in a historical way the
beginning, changes and growth of a business
the e.xact counterpart of which it would be
difficult to find ; the early situation as to the
manner of conducting trade that surrounded
the efforts of the founders of Berwick's
large business enterprises and the logic in
holding on and developing a well earned and
established place.
The purpose and policy of the Berwick
Store Company as announced in its advertise-
ment, namely, to furnish "everything to every-
body," states its principle to present its mer-
chandise to everyone in clean and attractive
condition and in courteous and expeditious
manner ; customers have always been given
full value at right prices. Fresh goods are
always kept on hand, and the store stands
ready to return cheerfully the money paid for
goods which for any reason have not proved
satisfactory.
The popularity of the store is attested by
the attendance on the special sale occasions
by residents from surrounding towns and the
large territory contributing to the town's gen-
eral business.
The oldest employee in the service of the
company is Mr. John H. Taylor, who has
been connected with the business, as previous-
ly stated, since the early days at the foot of
the "old dug road" on Canal street. Others
who have seen many years of service in the
company's employ are Messrs. Oscar E. Mc-
Bride and Harry M. Evans.
In November, 191 1, the limited partner-
ship under the title of the Berwick Store Com-
pany, Limited, passed out of existence by
sale to the newly incorporated company, the
present Berwick Store Company, the per-
sonnel of this concern being: W. C. Garrison,
president and manager; F. A. Witman, treas-
urer and secretary; R. L. Kline, credit mana-
ger; C. E. Ferris, assistant manager; C. J.
Gilds, artist and decorator; T. B. Brobst, man-
ager meat and automobile departments.
The United States Lumber & Supply Com-
pany, a Virginia corporation, which has a
branch office in Berwick, has here a fine four-
story planing' mill and lumber yard, to sup-
ply the local trade in building materials. A
two-story novelty plant is attached, in which
many articles used by builders are made. The
yards and buildings are on Second street.
The Standard Shirt Factory in the north
end of Berwick, owned by I. B. Abrams, is
two stories in height, electrically operated, em-
ploys seventy-five people and produces five
hundred dozen fine shirts weekly. The fac-
tory was established here in 1902 by Mr.
Abrams, in a small building, but in three years
had outgrown its quarters to enter the pres-
ent fine building.
The Berwick Silk Throiuing Mill of the
Universal Industrial Association, a New York
concern, is located in West Berwick. It was
formerly the Baer Silk Mill, until 1914. About
sixty employees are engaged in the manufac-
ture of silk yarn. The building is of brick,
three stories in height, and is one of the prin-
cipal industrial establishments of the borough.
Edward J. Hartman, son of the founder of the
mills at Danville, is the present manager of
the Berwick mill.
The Berwick Granite and Marble Works
were established in the town in 1870 by Levi
Kurtz, and are now in the control of his son,
J. U. Kurtz. Mr. Kurtz is an exceptionally
artistic carver and designer, and his work is
to be found all over this section of the State.
He erected the soldiers' and sailors' monu-
ment at Bloomsburg.
SCHOOLS
The early history of the Berwick schools
will probably never be told, for time has
erased all evidences of the old buildings, and
those whose memories bore records of the
old-time teachers and their pupils have also
passed away.
The first recorded school in Berwick was
opened by Isaac Holoway in the brick Quaker
meeting house. From that time until 1837
this and the market house were the only
buildings used for purposes of education.
Prominent among the teachers of the period
prior to 1818 were David E. Owen, son of
the founder of Berwick. Drs. Dutlon and Roe,
David Jones and James Dilvan. Between 1818
and 1837 the teachers were Rev. Mr. Crosby,
Simon Haik and Messrs. Comstock, Hoyt and
Richards.
Berwick Academy, "for the education of
youth in the English and other languages, and
in the useful arts and sciences and literature,"
was incorporated June 25, 1839, the trustees
being Marmaduke Pearce, John Bowman,
Thomas McNair, A. B. Wilson, George Mack
and A. B. Shuman. Rev. John R. Rittenhouse
Old Methodist Church AxNd Academy,
Berwick, Pa., in 1840
1'riexds" ^Ieetixg House, Catawissa. Pa., Erected in 1775
Passenger Boat on the Pennsvlv.vnia C.\.nal in i8C)8
First Jackson & W'oodin Store on the
River and Canal — Taken in 1865,
During High Water
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
169
and Miss Jones, of Troy, N. Y., were the
first teachers. George Waller and Joel E.
Bradley were also among the instructors con-
nected with this institution during its thirty-
three years of existence. A frame building
for the academy was erected in 1839 ^Y
Thomas Connelly on the site of the old mar-
ket house, but was removed in 1873 and the
proceeds applied to school purposes. The
languages, sciences, higher mathematics,
music, drawing and painting were taught, and
the academy ranked as a very fine educational
institution.
The Market street school building was
erected in 1870. In 1875 the Sixth street addi-
tion was built, and in 1893 the Fifth street end
was added. The directors under whose care
the present handsome edifice was completed
were: J. U. Kurtz, C. C. Evans, Dr. A. B.
MacCrea, W. F. Rough, John W. Evans, C. C.
Fenstermacher.
The Berwick Academy was abandoned in
1870 and the classes were removed to the
Market street schoolhouse. This school grad-
uated its first classes in 1871. In January,
1887, the high and grammar grade pupils en-
tered the (then) new high school building on
Third street. The school at Foundryville
which had supplanted the one taught previ-
ously in the old Quaker church was installed
in the Market street building, which accommo-
dated all grades up to the sixth, inclusive.
The Market street schoolhouse accommo-
dated all the grades and the high school until
1886. In that year C. R. Woodin donated
the lots on Third street upon which the pres-
ent high school stands, and the main portion
of the building was then erected. The classes
were moved from the Market street school in
the fall of 1886, and in June, 1887, the first
class was graduated, under the principalship
of Professor Clark.
The addition to the high school was made
in 1901. The school directors of that time
were: Dr. F. P. Hill, Thomas Sherwood, S.
W. Dickson, H. E. Walton, J. E. Smith, W. S.
Johnson.
From 1887 to i8go the principal of all the
schools had personal supervision over the
Market street school. Since the removal of
the high school in 1890 the principals of the
Market street school have been as follows :
Lloyd Bullard, 1890-93 ; Orval H. Yetter,
1893-94; A- U. Lesher. 1894-1912; Eckley
Hoyt, 191 2 to the present time.
The Chestnut street schoolhouse was
erected in 191 1. The school directors of that
date were: Henry Traugh, W. S. Johnson,
B. H. Bower, J. E. Smith, Walter Suit, H. P.
Field, Jr., L. E. Hess, Dr. F. P. Hill, Harvey
Doan. The principals of this school have
been : John Hause, Atlee Cryder and Howard
F. Fenstermacher.
On April 16, 1913, a bronze tablet at the
entrance of the Market street school in honor
of Professor Lesher, who died the summer
previous, was unveiled by- Helen Lesher, the
Professor's daughter. The tablet bears the
following inscription :
In Memory of
Prof. Albert Ulysses Lesher,
Teacher — Scholar — Poet — Patriot
Principal of the
Market Street School
From Sept., 1894, to June, 1912,
This tablet is placed by the teachers,
pupils, directors and friends of
the Berwick public schools.
Songs composed by Professor Lesher were
sung by children and addresses made by Prof.
R. M. Ebert, Rev. E. A. Loux, J. U. Kurtz,
William F. Lowry, Rev. B. S. Botsford, Rev.
E. A. Long and Rev. J. K. Adams.
The principals of the high school have been :
Timothy Mahoney, 1858; Michael Whitmire,
1859; Joseph Yocum, i860; Henry Keim,
1861 ; J. G. Cleveland, 1862; Samuel E. Furst,
1863; Reece W. Dodson, 1864; William Pat-
terson, 1865; J. H. Hurst, 1866; S. C. Tayne,
1867; H. M. Spaulding, 1868; H. D. Albright,
until 1872; J. G. WilHams, 1873; H. D. Al-
bright, 1874; C. F. Diffenderfer, 1875; A. H.
Stees, 1876; W. E. Smith, 1877-81; J. T.
Bevan, 1882; L. T. Conrad, 1883; Amelia
Armstrong, 1884-85; Henry G. Clark, 1886-
88 (resigned) ; Andrew Freas, April, 1888, to
June, 1889; Charles Dechant, 1889-91; E. K.
Richardson, 1891-97; Elmer E. Garr, 1897-99;
Charles H. Winder, 1899-1902; John W. Sny-
der, 1902-06 (resigned); James S. Sigman,
1907-13 (resigned) ; E. R. Ebert, January to
June, 1913; S. Irvine Shortess, September,
1913, to present time. J. Y. Shambach was
elected supervisory principal of the schools
in 1913 for three years.
The principal departments of the schools
which have been added since their establish-
ment are : The English department, added in
1900, with Miss Marie Kschinkia in charge,
to the high school; the primary department,
added in 1901 as a special branch. Miss Sarah
M. Hagenbuch being given the position of su-
pervisor, which she has held ever since ; draw-
ing, introduced in 1902 in all grades, with
Miss Grace Conner as instructor; the com-
mercial course, established the same year in
170
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
the high school, under the charge of Miss
Emma S. Liggett ; music, which became a
part of the course in all the grades in 1906,
Miss Bertha A. Bartley presiding; manual
training and penmanship, introduced in 1913,
under the direction of Frank Titman.
Having given the lot for the Y. M. C. A.
extension in 1894, Mr. C. R. Woodin desired
to do something for the girls of Berwick also.
He therefore offered to bear half the ex-
pense of the course if cooking was introduced
in the schools as a regular part of the work
of the girls. This offer was accepted and in
September, 1894, the course was started. But
at the end of three years the sentiment of the
people was so antagonistic to the course that
it was abandoned. Mrs. Fred Richardson was
the instructor at this time. In 191 3 a rever-
sion of feeling brought the cooking course
into favor again, and it was reintroduced in
connection with sewing, under the charge of
Miss Robertson. Mr. Woodin, however, did
not renew his offer, so the course is not as
complete or as thorough as at the first intro-
duction of the work.
Miss Emma S. Liggett, the former instruc-
tor of the commercial course in the high school,
is now with her sister, Isabella, in the Ching
Hua College, Pekin, China, having accepted a
second term of five years, the first term be-
ing for three years.
Previous to the Boxer uprising in China
the government had sent many boys to Ameri-
can colleges to gain a knowledge of occidental
manners and language. After the suppression
of the rebellion the property of the principal
Boxer chief was confiscated and on the site
a college was erected for adult scholars, the
money coming from America, which had re-
turned the indemnity given by China for the
damages Jo American missions and citizens.
As a measure of gratitude for this fairness
the Chinese government selected all of the
eighteen teachers from America. Miss Emma
S. Liggett and Miss Isabella Liggett being
two of the number.
Most of the scholars are married men and
form the leading class of reformers of modem
China. The old Chinese school calendar has
just been superseded by the Western one in
1913. Letters from the school come by way
of Siberia and Europe and take twenty-seven
days for the trip.
The school directors of Berwick are : Henry
F. Traugh, B. H. Bower, L. E. Hess, J. B.
Fulmer, N. G. Baker, James E. Smith, W. S.
Johnson.
WEST BERWICK SCHOOLS
The Ferris Heights school was built in 1908,
and the West Berwick high school in 191 3,
on the same hill. Prof. Harlan R. Snyder is
principal of the high and grammar schools,
the Ferris Heights school being on the same
lot with the high school, and under the prin-
cipal of the latter. William C. Belong is prin-
cipal of the Fairview school.
The school directors of West Berwick bor-
ough are : Frank Wenner, Harry Fahringer,
Walter Hughes, Thomas Hutchings, N. D.
Peters, William Fairchilds, E. M. Ritter.
RELIGIOUS
The church growth of Berwick has been
marvelous, and no city in this section of the
State possesses more active ministers or more
loyal congregations. Thirteen denominations
are represented, there are eighteen resident
ministers, and twenty churches, including three
missions.
The religious growth has kept pace with
the growth of population. Ministers of Ber-
wick foresaw the expansion into outlying dis-
tricts, and in many instances lots were pur-
chased before a house was built where now
the church building is the center of a built-up
community. Since Berwick's last boom there
have been eleven new congregations organized,
ten of which have erected churches, and four
parsonages. There have also been three new
churches erected by congregations which out-
grew old quarters, and one church built by a
congregation which had been for some time
organized, but not strong enough to under-
take the construction of a home.
That Berwick is a church-going community
is shown by the size of the congregations and
the expansion of the pastorates. Revival serv-
ices have also reaped large results, an exam-
ple being the Stough campaign of 191 3, in
which the Bower Memorial Evangelicals
gained 125 converts; the Methodists, 210; and
the West Berwick Evangelical Church, 100
also.
Quakers
The first to erect a house of worship in Ber-
wick was the Society of Friends, who pur-
chased on Oct. 21, 1799, the ground on which
in 1801 they built a small brick meetinghouse.
On Nov. II, 1800, a request was laid before
the Catawissa monthly meeting for permission
to hold services in Berwick on the first day of
each week, signed by Aquilla Starr. On April
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
171
25, 1801, the request was granted. The first
attendants were Evan Owen, Joseph Stack-
house, Andrew Shaner, William Rittenhouse,
Joseph Pilkington and Joseph Eck. The old
meetinghouse was used for a few years and
then abandoned. In 1837 or 1840 it was torn
down, the site now being occupied by the resi-
dence of C. C. Evans.
First Methodist Church
To a narrative prepared for and published
by Rev. Martin L. Smyser, then pastor of
the Methodist Episcopal Church of Berwick,
in "The Berwick Methodist," under date of
March 18, 1882, the writer of this sketch is
indebted for the facts relating to the history
of the local church from the beginning to the
year 1882.
Origin. — Methodism entered Berwick amid
the fervor of a religious revival in Briar-
creek valley, about four miles distant from
Berwick, where resided Rev. Thomas Bow-
man, an ordained local preacher of the Meth-
odist Episcopal Church, a man of zeal and
eloquence, who, with his brother. Rev. Chris-
tian Bowman, sowed pure Methodist seed in
all this region of country. In order that his
neighbors might have the regular ministra-
tions of the gospel he fitted up the third story
of his dwelling, a stone house (still standing
together with the original stone church near
Fowlerville in Briarcreek township), as a place
of worship, and invited the Methodist itiner-
ants to hold services therein. Here in the
year 1805, under the ministry of Rev. James
Paynter and Rev. Joseph Carson, occurred a
revival of great power and widespread influ-
ence. As an immediate result of this re-
ligious awakening a Methodist class was or-
ganized in Berwick, then a small settlement on
the frontier of civilization. This class con-
sisted of the following members : William
Stahl, leader ; Jane Herin. Rachel Traugh,
Hugh Thompson, Nancy Thompson, Robert
Brown, Samuel Steele, James Herin, William
Sisty, INIary Sisty, Andrew Pettit and Benja-
min Doan. Previous to this, however, occa-
sional visits were made by Revs. William
Colvert, James Paynter, ]\Iorris Howe and
Robert Burch, who, if they attempted to or-
ganize a class, did not receive the encourage-
ment necessary to success. Following the
organization of this class Berwick became a
regular appointment on the Wyoming Circuit,
which then extended from "near Northum-
berland in the State to Tioga Point in the
State of New York." This circuit was trav-
eled by Revs. James Paynter and Joseph Car-
son, who made its extensive rounds once in
every four weeks. Rev. Anning Owen, a con-
verted blacksmith of Kingston, Pa., and a
zealous evangelist of Wyoming valley, was
presiding elder, and was untiring in labor to
plant Methodism along the Susquehanna river
and its tributaries.
Northumberland Circuit. — In 1806 Ber-
wick was attached to what was known as the
Northumberland Circuit, with which it stood
connected until 1831, and was served by the
following regularly appointed ministers :
1806, Robert Burch, John Swartzwelder ;
1807. Nicholas Willis, Joel Smith; 1808,
Thomas Curren, John Rhodes; 1809, Timothy
Lee, Loring Grant ; 1810, Abraham Dawson,
Isaac Puffer: 1811, B. G. Paddock, J. H.
Baker, R. Lanning ; 1812, George Thomas,
Ebenezer Doolittle ; 1813, Joseph Kinkead, I.
Chamberlain ; 1814, John Hazzard, Abraham
Dawson: 1815, R. N. Everts, I. Cook; 1816,
John Thomas, Alpheus Davis; 1817, Benjamin
Bidlack, Peter Baker; 1818, Gideon Lanning,
Abraham Dawson ; 1819, John Rhodes, Darius
Williams ; 1820, John Rhodes, Israel Cook ;
1821, Marmaduke Pearce, J. Thomas; 1822,
John Thomas, lilordecai Barry ; 1823, J. R.
Shepherd, M. Barry; 1824, R. Cadden, F.
Macartney, R. Bond; 1825, Robert Cadden,
R. Bond; 1826, John Thomas, George Hildt;
1827, John Thomas, David Shaver; 1828,
Charles Kalbfus, William James; 1829, James
W. Donahay, Josiah Forrest ; 1830, James W.
Donahay, A. A. Eskridge.
Berwick Circuit. — Owing to the enlarge-
ment of the work, incident to the opening up
of the country, advancing population, multi-
plied congregations, and increasing demands
for ministerial service, in 1831 Berwick Cir-
cuit was formed, embracing twenty-eight
preaching places in Columbia and Luzerne
counties north of the river and including the
following pastoral charges : Bloomsburg,
Buckhorn, Jerseytown, Benton, Orangeville,
Espy, Light Street, Mifflinville, Beach Haven,
Bloomingdale, Muhlenburg and Berwick, all
within the bounds of the Baltimore Confer-
ence. The following pastors served this cir-
cuit: 1831, William Prettyman, Wesley
Howe; 1832, William Prettyman, Oliver Ege ;
1833, Marmaduke Pearce, Alem Brittain;
1834-35, J. Rhodes, J. H. Young; 1836, J.
Sanks, J- Hall; 1837, T- Sanks, George Guyer;
1838, Charles Kalbfus, J. Hall ; 1839, Charles
Kalbfus, Penfield Doll ; 1840, James Ewing,
William R. Mills; 1841, James Ewing, W. T.
D. Clemm ; 1842, Thomas Tanneyhill, Joseph
172
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
A. Ross; 1843, Thomas Tanneyhill, Thomas
Bowman ; 1844, Francis N. Mills, W. L. Spotts-
wood ; 1845, John Bowen, W. F. Pentz, T.
Bowman: 1846, John Bowen, J. W.,Bull, T.
Bowman ; 1847, A. Brittain, J. S. McMurray,
T. Bowman; 1848, A. Brittain, N. S. Bucking-
ham; 1849, Philip B. Reese; 1850, P. B.
Reese, B. B. Hamlin; 1851, H. G. Dill, Justice
A. Melick ; 1852, H. G. Dill, James Curns ;
1853, John Moorhead, J. Curns; 1854, John
Moorhead, Thomas Sherlock; 1855, Thomas
Barnhart, Samuel Barnes ; 1856, Thomas
Barnhart, M. L. Drum; 1857, H. ,G. Dill,
Thomas Sherlock; 1858, H. G. Dill, John
Guss; 1859, A. W. Gibson, C. H. Savidge;
i860, A. W. Gibson, S. L. Bowman; 1861,
S. L. Bowman, J. F. Porter ; 1862, A. M. Bar-
nitz, W. C. Hesser; 1863, A. M. Barnitz, F.
E. Church; 1864-65, M. P. Crosthwaite, S. C.
Swallow; 1866, John A. Gere, W. H. Nor-
cross.
Berwick Station. — Berwick having grown
in size and importance, and the church requir-
ing the entire time and service of a pastor, the
members petitioned the presiding bishop of
the East Baltimore Conference (Bishop Kings-
ley) in 1867 to set aside Berwick as a separate
charge. Accordingly, Berwick Station was
duly established, with Rev. John A. Gere,
D. D., as pastor. Under his wise administra-
tion and superior management the station, with
a membership of about 140, was thoroughly
organized and equipped for the work before
it. The official board of the new charge em-
braced the following well-known persons ;
Jesse Bowman, William H. Woodin, Morrison
E. Jackson, Mordecai W. Jackson, Clemuel
R. Woodin, Henry C. Freas, Paul Fortner,
William J. Knorr, E. B. Hull, J. W. Bowman,
James Jacoby. William H. Woodin was
elected recording steward and Sunday school
superintendent and in both capacities he served
the church with marked fidelity and success.
The ministers from this period forward have
been as follows: 1867-68, John A. Gere;
1869-70, Finley B. Riddle; 1871-73, William
W. Evans; 1874-75, Samuel Creighton ; 1876-
78, Tames H. McGarrah; 1879-82, Martin L.
Smyser; 1882-84, William W. Evans; 1885-
87, Ezra H. Yocum ; 1888-90, Benjamin H.
Mosser; 1891-93, Richard Hinkle ; 1894-96,
T. L. Tomkinson; 1897-99, Alexander R. Mil-
ler; 1900-06, Richard H. Gilbert; 1906-10,
Orlando G. Heck; 191O-15, J. Howard Ake.
CONNECTIONAL SYSTEM AND THE ITINER-
ANCY. — The Methodist Church of Berwick in
1867 was connected with a large district with
many appointments and in extent embraced a
territory equaling a quarter of the Common-
wealth of Pennsylvania, while at an earlier
period the circuit formed part of a district
which extended from Montreal in Canada to
Berwick and Clearfield in Pennsylvania. The
Berwick Methodist Church has been connected
with three Annual Conferences, the Baltimore,
the East Baltimore and. the Central Pennsyl-
vania. The itinerant ministry has given Ber-
wick a large number of ministers of diversified
talents, some of whom were giants in their
day and prominent in the councils of the
church. One of her ministers, born in Briar-
creek, near Berwick, Rev. Thomas Bowman,
who was attached to the Berwick appointment
in early manhood, became president of Dick-
inson Seminary, at Williamsport, Pa., and
later the president of DePauw University, at
Greencastle, Ind., and subsequently, in 1872,
was elected a bishop of the Methodist Epis-
copal Church. His death at the advanced age
of ninety-six years occurred in 1914. Another,
Rev. Jesse B. Young, D. D., soldier, preacher,
author and editor, was born in Berwick and
entered the ministry from the local church,
filling many appointments, was elected editor
of the "Central Christian Advocate" of St.
Louis, and in quite recent years published a
history of the battle of Gettysburg, pronounced
by critics a most accurate and comprehensive
account of this great battle.
Property. — For a few years the Methodists
occupied as a preaching place the second story
of the old Market house (also used for school
purposes), which stood in the center of Mar-
ket street immediately opposite the site of the
present church building. Afterwards an old
log building, originally erected as a dwelling,
later arranged as a storeroom, became the
sanctuary of these devout people. In 181 1, on
the completion of his new dwelling on Second
street, Hugh Thompson tendered to the grow-
ing society the use of his "best room" for di-
vine service, and, being accepted, the "old log
building" was vacated. On special occasions
of extraordinary interest, the house not af-
fording sufficient accommodation, the congre-
gation worshipped in the barn. Encouraged
by the increase in membership means were
taken towards the erection of a church. A lot
on the corner of Mulberry and Third streets
was secured and in 1817 a brick edifice was
raised thereon and dedicated. This building
still stands, now occupied as a dwelling. The
increasing congregations and growth necessi-
tated a more commodious and better arranged
edifice. The lots on the corner of Market and
.Second streets, then valued at $400, were do-
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
173
nated by Robert McCurdy and a two-story
brick church was erected having a seating ca-
pacity of 350, the entire cost of the structure,
then the finest church of the denomination in
the county, aggregating $5,000. It was dedi-
cated in the year 1845, under the pastorate of
Revs. John Bowen, William F. Pentz and T.
Bowman. In 1870, under the pastorate of
Rev. Finley B. Riddle, this church gave place
to another, of symmetrical elegance, dedicated
Sabbath, Feb. 19, 1871, bv Revs. Thomas Bow-
man, D. D., and Robert L. Dashiel, D. D. The
whole cost was $26,000. In subsequent years
this building was improved and enlarged and
a pipe organ, the gift of Mrs. Elizabeth S.
Jackson (wife of Col. C. G. Jackson), was in-
stalled. In the spring of 1902, under the pas-
torate of Rev. Richard H. Gilbert, D. D., the
third church building to occupy the present
site, the fourth to be owned by the denomina-
tion in Berwick, was begun. It is a beau-
tiful and commodious stone edifice, and was
dedicated in May, 1903, with appropriate serv-
ices lasting over a week, the late Bishop
(Chaplain) Charles C. McCabe conducting the
services of dedication. The finances were di-
rected by John W. Powell, of Buffalo, N. Y.
The cost of this structure was $50,000. The
present parsonage on Market street was
erected under the pastorate of Rev. W. W.
Evans, D. D., in 1883.
Organizations. — The first Sunday school
was organized about 1825 and was held in the
Methodist Church at the corner of Mulberry
and Third streets. Daniel Bowen, a Presby-
terian, was superintendent. Shortly after its
organization, about 1828, the Presbyterians
withdrew and the school became a Methodist
school, though the superintendent, Daniel
Bowen, continued in his relation as superin-
tendent. The Epworth League was organized
about 1894. The school and league have been
and are great factors in the life of the church.
The growth of the school has been commen-
surate with the growth of the community and
under the energetic pastorate of Rev. J. How-
ard Ake ranks numerically the second in the
county, having an enrollment of over 1,400
persons in all grades. The Sunday school can
soon celebrate its centennial.
Much attention has been given the musical
features of the church services. The several
choirs through the years past, as at the pres-
ent, have proved greatly attractive to the citi-
zens of the community.
Space prevents more elaborate mention of
many individual men and women, as well as
its present day officials, ministers excepted.
who have been and are identified in lay ca-
pacity with her activities. The membership of
the church has included many of the most
progressive business men of the region. The
policy of the church in spiritual and temporal
matters was molded by these men. To their
example the church owes its spirit of benevo-
lence. In a very liberal way she has sup-
ported the benevolent enterprises of the
church. Some of her members have been
prominent in the affairs of the State. Several
of her laymen have represented the Annual
Conference at the General Conference, to-
gether with several of her ministers. One of
her pastors, Rev. Richard H. Gilbert, D. D.,
whose service in the inception and consumma-
tion of the plan leading to the present church
building, deserves acknowledgment, was a del-
egate to the Ecumenical Conference of Meth-
odism in London, England, in 1901. The
church to-day is thoroughly representative,
well organized, well appointed, centrally lo-
cated, evangelical in spirit, and seeks the best
interest of the Greater Berwick in which it
serves. The membership is 1,100.
St. John's Ltitheran Church
In the year 1794 Evan Owen, the founder of
Berwick, donated a lot about in the center of
the town to Jacob Kisner, William Martz and
Sebastian Seybert, in trust, for the German
Lutheran Church of Berwick. This lot was
subsequently exchanged for another, on Mar-
ket street, in 1873.
There was no substantial organization of
this church before 1892, although several pas-
tors had preached in the town hall and the Y.
M. C. A. building before that date. Among
these pastors were Revs. Bahl, Fox, Henry,
Steck and German.
In 1892 Rev. Mr. Stupp became pastor of
this parish and moved into the parsonage, now
the club room of the Rangers, on East Front
street. He soon took in the situation and be-
gan to canvass the town for Lutheran people.
His energies proved fruitful, and on the even-
ing of Nov. 30, 1892, an Evangelical Luth-
eran congregation was organized, with twenty
members. The first services were held in the
parlor of the parsonage, but later the Y. M.
C. A. hall was secured for regular services.
On Feb. 13, 1893, the court granted the peti-
tion for incorporation. Arrangements were
made on April 9, 1893, to build a chapel on
the ground next to the parsonage, and the
completed building, a frame, was dedicated
Dec. 10, 1893.
174
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
In 1894 Rev. Mr. Stupp accepted a call to
another congregation, and Rev. G. G. Kunkle
was called to the parish, where he labored for
two years. In x'\pril, 1897, Rev. N. Scheffer
was called, serving faithfully for seven years.
He was succeeded in August, 1904, by Rev.
J. A. Schofer, who worked in this field for
three years. Near the close of his pastorate
the charge of five congregations was divided,
and the old chapel and parsonage sold to the
Rangers Fire Company.
The three congregations of St. John's Ber-
wick, St. Paul's, Salem township, Luzerne
County, and St. Peter's, Briarcreek town-
ship, Columbia county, formed the new Ber-
wick charge in 1906. Soon afterwards the
formation of a Lutheran congregation in Nes-
copeck, across the river from Berwick, so
depleted the membership of St. John's that it
was taken over by the Mission board, and has
since continued a mission.
In 1907 the three congregations built a
parsonage on East Eleventh street, and St.
John's laid the foundations for a new church
building at the corner of Eleventh and Pine
streets.
On July 19, 1908, Rev. W. II. Berk was
called to the pastorate. For ten months serv-
ices were held in the new parsonage, there be-
ing thirty members in good standing in attend-
ance during that time. In May, 1909, the new
church building, which cost $5,500, was dedi-
cated and occupied thereafter. The present
church membership is loi, that of the Sun-
day school, 95.
Protestant Episcopal
Although the Episcopalians were in Ber-
wick in sufficient numbers to have had an or-
ganization of some kind sufficient to own
property in 1804, there is no record of services
here before that date, nor until 1870. On
Dec. 26, 1804, Evan Owen deeded two lots to
the "Society of the Episcopal Church of Eng-
land," represented by Robert Brown, John
Brown and William Cox, for use in erecting a
church and schoolhouse, and for a burying
ground. Nothing was heard further regard-
ing this donation until 1873, when Col. John
G. Freeze investigated and found that both
lots had been appropriated by Jesse Bowman
and the Berwick Cemetery Association.
After a friendly suit Mr. Bowman trans-
ferred to the church the lot on the corner of
Market and Jackson streets, in return for the
lot he had taken. The lot in the cemetery was
allowed to remain in its use as a burying
ground by the Cemetery Association, having
been partially used for interments.
Services were held in Berwick intermittently
until March 31, 1902, when St. Mary's mission
was organized, and thereafter regular services
were held by Rev. Frederick Wenhani in the
Y. M. C. A. building. In the spring of 1903
the present frame church was built at a cost
of $2,100, the first services being held April
22d. When dedicated the church was given
the name of Christ. At that time there were
117 baptized persons and 45 communicants in
the church.
During 1905, under the rectorate of Rev. M.
A. Shipley, Jr., the church was renovated and
repaired. In 1906 the final payments on the
building were made and the church was ad-
mitted to the convention. The parish house
was built in 1914 at a cost of $2,000.
Rev. C. C. Kelsey, a native of England, took
the charge on Nov. i, 1912, and during his in-
cumbency the debt of the church has been
materially reduced. The communicants now
number loi and the Sunday school is grow-
ing rapidly. The frequent promotion of heads
of departments of the American Car and
Foundry Company, many of whom are mem-
bers, and their consequent removal from town,
has kept this church from growing as fast
as others in Berwick.
Besides those named. Revs. J. W. Diggles
and C. R. Fessenden have served as rectors of
this parish.
Benvick Presbyterian Church
The first organization of the Presbyterians
of this town was made at a meeting held in the
Brick Meeting House on Nov. 24, 1827, by
Rev. Joseph M. Ogden. The members of this
first congregational meeting were: William
and Sarah Wilson, Daniel Bowen, Isaac and
Abigail Hart, Mary and Eliza Pollock, Thomas
and Eleanor Lockart, Emanuel Kirkendall,
Rachel wife of Nathan Beach, Klonah wife
of Christian Kunkel, Frances wife of H. B.
Wilson, A. B. and Mary E. Shuman, Thurma
and Nancy McMaer, Benjamin F. Rittenhouse,
John H. Rittenhouse, Hannah H. Ritten-
house, Rachel Perkins, Sarah Sink, Rachel
Traugh, Elizabeth Palmer, Sarah Ann Solt,
Margaretta Traugh, Eliza and Nancy Adams,
Anna, Mary McNair, John Drake, Hamett
Drake, Thomas Edunder, William Edunder,
Mrs. David Walker, Isaiah Styles, William
Reed, James Evans, Andrew Seely, William
Sink, Samuel Pollock and wife, Matthias
Harns, Sr., Mrs. Jane Edwards, Mrs. William
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
175
Edwards, Mrs. David Sink, Mrs. E. Harris,
Miss Susanna Kiinetob, Miss M. Remaley,
Miss Hannah Shinly, Miss Melinda Dennis,
Miss Harriet Pollock, Miss Eleanor Kiinetob,
James Lamon, William Adams, Evan Adams,
Mrs. Hannah Lamon, Mrs. J. Moyer, Mrs.
Solomon Bower, Mrs. Andrew Seely, Mrs.
Anton Bowman, Hudson Onin, Clinton Trow-
bridge, A. B. Shuman, Alfred Longshin,
Tames Solt, Robert F. Russel, Mrs. Samuel
kelchner, Mrs. Catherine Adams, Mrs. Sidney
Pollock, Mrs. Clement Jones, Mrs. Kiziah
Brundage, Miss Martha C. Walker, Mr. and
Mrs. William Lindsley Walker, Christian
Kunkle, Mr. and Mrs. William Pollock, Mr.
and Mrs. Samuel Deprey, Nathaniel L. Camp-
bell, Mr. and Mrs. James Campbell, Sr, Mrs.
Silas Tacobs, Hannah Bonhams, Mrs. David
Hart, Mrs. Alexander Heltezton, J\lrs. John
Pollock, Mrs. Elizabeth Freeman, Mrs. Jane
Oilman, Mrs. Lyden Reder, Mrs. Hannah
Baird, Mrs. Hannah Kiinetob, Mrs. Sarah
Freas, Mrs. Lydia Freas, Mrs. Ephmain
Evans, Mrs. Mary Thompson, Mrs. Massy
Evans, Mrs. Elizabeth Nihart, Miss Rebecca
Adams, Jacob Cope, Frances Evans, John
McAnall,"Stephen H. Miller, Leonard Kirken-
dall and wife, Samuel J. Seely, Cornelius
Kirkendall, Miss Mary Kirkendall, Miss Eliza-
beth Grover, Miss Sarah Beck, Sarah A. De-
prey Rober, Mrs. Mary F. Pollock, Samuel
Pollock, Mrs. Paul Kirkendall, Mrs. Anna
Charity Evans, Mrs. Margaret Adams, Mrs.
Leah Bredbender, Miss Celinda Deprey, Miss
Mary E. Patterson, Miss Nancy J. Cortright,
Miss Sarah L. Patterson, John Pollock, Mrs.
Dekonah Doak, Mrs. Jacob Cope, Mrs. An-
drew Seely, Mrs. Mamina Walton, Jacob Pol-
lock, Albert Kiinetob, Mrs. Sarah Adams,
Miss Elizabeth Seybert, Miss Susan Ranbach,
John Schleppy, Mrs. Sarah Counos.
On the following Sabbath Daniel Bowen,
Isaac Hart and Thomas Lockart were installed
as ruling elders.
On July 30, 1839, Rev. David J. Waller
preached in Berwick and entered on the min-
utes of this congregation that the church had
for a long time been without a pastor; "and
though their number was small, they with
great liberality, resolved: That they would
unite with Bloomsburg and Briarcreek in the
support of a minister. Mr. D. J. Waller, a li-
centiate of New Castle Presbytery, was invited
to take charge of these congregations and was
ordained by the Presbytery of Northumber-
land and installed Pastor of the church in
Bloomsburg, with one-half of his time at his
discretion." Rev. D. J. Waller served the Ber-
wick Church in this way until relieved by Rev.
A. H. Hand in 1842.
At his own recjuest Rev. A. H. Hand took
this congregation into his extensive charge,
entered upon his duties July 17, 1842, and at
once took steps to revive the church ; also
ministering to Briarcreek and Salem churches.
He succeeded so well that in the following year
a completed brick church with basement was
dedicated by the Rev. George W. Yeomans,
President of Lafayette College. In 1881 this
building was improved by the addition of a
tower and was remodeled.
Rev. A. H. Hand resigned on account of ill
health and Aug. i, 1845, Rev. Alexander Heb-
erton became pastor. He was followed by
Rev. James F. Kennedy, who served from Jan.
23, 1848, to April 27, 1850. In turn he was
followed by Rev. T. K. Newton, who served
from August 18, 1853, to Sept. 29, 1855. R^^.
P. W. Mellick was pastor from (October, 1863,
to 1865. The preaching appointments were at
this time Berwick, Briarcreek, Stone Church,
Moore's Schoolhouse and Lockport (now
Beach Haven). The ne.xt minutes were en-
tered on Oct. 24, 1868, by Rev. James Dickson,
who served until Nov. 2, 1879. Following pas-
tors were: Rev. L. M. Kumler, 1880-88; Rev.
George H. Stephens, 1890-98; Rev. Joseph
Hunter, 1899-1905; and Rev. Edward A.
Loux, 1905-14. At different periods Rev. A.
M. Morgan, Rev. J. F. Kennedy, Rev. Joseph
Marr, Rev. Edward Kennedy, Rev. James M.
Salmon and Rev. James R. Gibson have sus-
tained pastoral relations with this church. Rev.
Edward Franklin Reimer, A. M., B. D., a
graduate of Lafayette College and Princeton
Seminary, who also spent a year in post-
graduate study in Princeton University and
Princeton Seminary, receiving then his divinity
degree, was installed pastor Oct. 31, 1914. He
is a native of Easton, Pa., and has had exten-
sive experience in evangelistic, missionary and
literary work.
The congregation has grown greatly in mod-
ern years, and at present numbers over 500
persons, with a Sunday school of 350 attend-
ants. The cornerstone of the present hand-
some brick building was laid in 1895, and the
completed building was dedicated the following
year, during the pastorate of Rev. George H.
Stephens. It is an attractive edifice, of modern
design and fittings, and is exceedingly com-
modious and artistic.
The church officials in 1914 are: Elders —
Francis Evans, William F. Lowry, O. F. Fer-
ris, Horace Breece, James E. Smith. Trustees
— T. Harv.ey Doan, Fred W. Bush, Thomas
376
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
Morton, Willard Smith, George Henkleman,
C. E. Ferris, W. S. Johnson, John H. Smeth-
ers, Charles C. Evans.
Baptists
Preaching was held in Berwick in 1841 by
Rev. J. S. Morris for the Baptists of the grow-
ing town, but it was not till the coming of
Rev. William S. Hall in 1842 that a regular or-
ganization was effected. The sermons of Mr.
Morris were delivered in the Methodist church,
but Mr. Hall held a series of meetings con-
tinuously in the storeroom of Samuel F. Head-
ley, corner of Second and Mulberry streets,
the result being forty-two conversions. On
Sept. 25, 1842, the congregation was organized
in Williams Grove, Nescopeck, with thirteen
members, as follows : J. T. Davis, B. S. Brock-
way, J. S. Havner, Levi L. Tate, Abram Mil-
ler, J. B. Dodson, Casper Reed, Joel E. Brad-
ley, Jacob Rider, Perry Gilmore, Thomas P.
Coles, Thomas Wilford and John Whitman.
The first deacons were Messrs. Davis, Miller
and Tate.
As the Baptist cause prospered, need of a
permanent place of meeting became impera-
tive. A charter for the new church was se-
cured, and a site for the new building, located
on the south side of West Front street, be-
tween Mulberry and Vine streets, was do-
nated by Sister Ann P. Evans ; and a frame
structure, with a seating capacity of about
two hundred, was erected, dedicated July 4,
1843-
At a time when the church had just finished
paying ofif a debt of $1,400 for repairs, at an
early hour, on Wednesday morning, Aug. 14,
1878, the building was burned to the ground.
It was decided to rebuild at once ; funds were
solicited, and the cornerstone of the new
structure was laid on Sept. 27th of the same
year.
The cornerstone of the present church
building was laid on Thursday, June 6, 1894,
the sermon being preached by Rev. Dr.
Woods, of Williamsport. This was made
necessary by reason of the fact that the old
building had been found to be unsafe
Within the last five years extensive im-
provements have been made to the church ; a
slate roof put on, a steam heating plant in-
stalled, the Sunday school room and audito-
rium frescoed, the church recarpeted, the base-
ment remodeled, and other lesser improve-
ments made. The present pastor, Rev. Charles
E. Miller, came to Berwick in 1909.
Pastors of the church since organization
have been: William S. Hall, 1842; Roswell R.
Prentiss, 1845; Levi Hamlin, 1849; John S.
Miller, 1850; John H. Worrell, 1852; E. M.
Alden, 1854; John R. Shanafelt, 1858; Wil-
liam W. Case, 1863; William Leacock, 1865;
George J. Brensinger, 1866; O. S. Rhoads,
1868; Walter Cattell, 1870; R. C. H. Catterall,
1880; William T. Galloway, 1884; P. S.
Brewster, 1889; Albert Hatcher Smith, 1894;
N. C. Naylor, 1901 ; W. Gordon Jones, 1906;
Horace C. Broughton, 1907; Charles E. Mil-
ler, 1909.
The officials for the year 1914 are: Deacons
— Hiram Eveland, E. M. Kocher, Harry Fah-
ringer, W. J. Harris, J. F. Birth. Trustees —
J. H. Catterall, president; O. K. McHenry,
secretary ; W. J. Harris, E. M. Kocher, Joseph
Kirkendall, J. F. Birth, Stephen Knelly, J. G.
Welch, Walter Swank.
Bower Memorial Church
Bower Memorial United Evangelical Church
was established in March, 1871, with Rev. P.
H. Rishel in charge. At that time a class, com-
posed of Isaiah Bower, Hannah Bower, Henry
J. Clewell, Susan Clewell, Elizabeth Clewell
and Fannie Kirkendall, met in the town hall
and held services there weekly until 1874. In
Alarch, 1871, Rev. W. H. Buck was placed in
charge, remaining until 1872. Rev. E. Swen-
gle followed him. In 1873 Rev. W. H. Buck
returned, and the congregation having in-
creased greatly it was decided to build. Dur-
ing that year the first church, of brick, was
begun, and in January, 1874, was finally dedi-
cated by Rev. H. B. Hartzler (now Bishop),
Revs. M. J. Carothers, George Hunter, S. T.
Buck and H. W. Buck assisting. That build-
ing cost $5,750, and was located on Second,
between Pine and Chestnut streets.
The congregation has been served by the
following pastors since its foundation : H. W
Buck, 1871-73; S. P. Reemer, 1874; W. M
Croman, 1875-76; J. A. Irvine, 1877-78; J
M. Ettinger, 1879-81 ; H. W. Buck, 1882-84
J. J. Lohr, 1885-87; E. Crumbling, 1888-90;
G. E. Zehner, 1891-92; A. Stapleton, 1893-
94; J. C. Reeser, 1895-98; J. J. Lohr, 1899-
1901 ; H. W. Buck, 1902-04; J. W. Thompson,
1905-08; I. E. Spangler, 190S-12; W. B. Cox,
1912-14.
During the pastorate of Rev. J. W. Thomp-
son it was decided to replace the old building
with one of larger size and modem construc-
tion, and this resulted in the dedication of
the present beautiful church on Sept. 23, 1906.
The congregation unanimously decided to
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
177
change the name to Bower Memorial Church,
in honor of Rev. Isaiah Bower and his wife
Hannah, who had contributed not only their
services to the upbuilding of the church, but
given the sum of $10,000 towards the con-
struction of the new home. The total cost of
the completed edifice was $48,000. The build-
ing is located on the corner of Pine and East
Second streets and is of orange terra cotta
brick, trimmed with Hummelstown brown-
stone. The brick were especially burned for
the work at Green Grove Furnace, Adams
county. A $2,000 pipe organ supplies the
musical requirements of the congregation, and
the interior is finished in a most artistic and
utilitarian manner.
On May 4, 1913, the last dollar due upon
the building was paid, although the congre-
gation has no wealthy members and has a
clause in its constitution forbidding such ex-
pedients as raffles, lawn parties, suppers or
entertainments at which admission is charged.
The following Monday after the payment of
the last note the church decided to build a
parsonage, with the result that the present
orange shale brick dwelling was erected on the
corner of Pine and East Front streets at a
cost of $10,000, including the lot.
This congregation has enjoyed a number of
extensive revivals. The first meeting held in
the town hall resulted in the conversion of
100 persons; under the ministrations of' Rev.
Mr. Reeser there were 200 conversions ; Rev.
Mr. Spangler obtained 140 converts during
his ministry; and in 1913 there were 148 con-
versions under the ministrations of Rev. Mr.
Cox. During the latter's pastorate there have
been 393 accessions to the church in two years,
181 of these being partly through the union
revival campaign of Rev. W. H. Stough. At
present there are 765 members in the church,
and 800 in the Sunday school. This is the
largest congregation in the Central Pennsyl-
vania Conference of the United Evangelical
Church. Since the founding of this church in
Berwick eight young men have been given to
the ministry from the congregation.
North Berwick United Evangelical Church
During the pastorate of Rev. E. E. Shaffer
on the Columbia circuit the congregation was
organized in North Berwick, being made an
appointment in April, 1901. In December of
that year the cornerstone of the present frame
building was laid, the completed edifice being
dedicated July 6, 1902. The cost of the
12
building was $3,500. In 1904 a parsonage was
built at a cost of $2,500.
The church was constituted a mission, in
connection with the West Berwick Church, in
March, 1903, but in March, 1904, it was de-
tached. In March, 1914, it was changed from
a mission to a station and made self-support-
ing.
Rev. E. E. Shaiifer (now deceased) con-
tinued pastor until March, 1907, when he was
succeeded by Rev. Noah Young, the present
pastor. During the summer of 1913 the
church was enlarged and much improved, at
a cost of $3,000. The remaining debt in 1914
is $1,100. The present valuation of the church
is $8,000, and of the parsonage, $2,000. The
membership of the church is 360, and 425
children are attendants of the Sunday school.
Holy Trinity Lutheran Church
Holy Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church
was organized Jan. 15, 1893, '" the Y. M. C. A.
building, by Rev. C. M. Aurand and wife,
Gertrude Aurand, P. E. Bergeman, Simon
Berry, Mrs. Simon Berry, Sarah Berry, John
Berry, Charles Berry, B. F. Driesbach, Mrs.
B. F. Driesbach, Mrs. Ira Hampton, A. T.
Ibach, Mrs. Daniel Loudenslager, A. F. Martz,
Mrs. A. F. Martz, Maggie Martz, Mrs. John
H. Martz, Mrs. A. T. Ibach, Mrs. C. E.
Miller.
The present church building was dedicated
Dec. 16, 1894. It is of brick, of commodious
size and artistic design, and together with
the lot cost $10,000. The present mem-
bership is as follows: Communicants, 200;
confirmed, 290; baptized, 412. The Sunday
school enrollment, including officers, teachers
and scholars, is 462.
The successive pastors have been Revs. C.
M. Aurand, 1893-98; M. M. Allbeck, 1899-
1904; W. Morgan Gross, 1904-05 ; J. B. Focht,
supply in January and March of 1906 ; and the
present pastor, Rev. C. R. Botsford, who came
in 1906.
First Christian Church
This church was organized May 17, 1903,
in the rooms of the Young Men's Christian
Association of Berwick, by Rev. L. O. Knipp,
late of Plymouth, Pa., the movement having
its culmination through the efforts of Mrs.
Jennie Whitesell and Mrs. C. E. Trescott.
The first members were A. P. Girton, G. C. B.
Whitesell. Mrs. Jennie Whitesell, Mrs. Ada
Boyd, A. W. McHenry, Mrs. Alice McHenry,
178
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
A. W. Harvey, William Berkey, Mrs. Jennie
Berkey, Miss Blanche Berkey, Miss Maine
Berkey. Mrs. O. M. Hess, Miss Ida Berkey,
Albert C. Young, Mrs. Jessie Young, Harry
O. McHenry, Mrs. VV. F. McEwen, Mrs. Jen-
nie Mann, Mrs. Lizzie Hartman, Mrs. Elnora
L. Trescott.
The present church, a neat frame, seating
about 225 persons, was erected in 1905 and
dedicated July 29, 1906. Its total cost was
$7,000. The congregation is about 200, and
the Sunday school, 150.
The pastors have been : Rev. L. O. Knipp,
who preached for a time as supply ; Rev. H.
J. Dudley, the first settled pastor; Rev. George
C. Zeigler; Rev. Theodore B. Shaffer, who was
accidentally killed while assisting at the con-
struction of a tabernacle in 1913 for the
Stough evangelistic campaign ; and Rev. C.
M. lams, who came in March, 1914, and is
still occupying the pulpit.
The elders of this church in 1914 are: K.
P. McHenry, S. S. Michael, A. C. Young, O.
M. Hess; deacons: Milton Sitler, Levi Blank,
Luther Coates, Charles Zimmerman, Charles
Woolley, Charles McHenry, John Hartman,
John Kyttle, John Wilson, Charles Chamber-
lain.
ice in the Austrian army. His successor was
Father John N. Danneker, of Lock Haven,
Pa., who took charge in 1914. Father Petro-
vits spoke and read nine languages ; Father
Danneker speaks only three. These require-
ments are necessitated by the many nationali-
ties represented in the congregation.
Salvation Army
The Salvation Army has been established in
Berwick for ten years and has done excellent
work among the poor and needy. The local
corps is under the charge of Captain Hen-
derson.
WEST BERWICK CHURCHES
With a large foreign population, speaking
ten or more different languages or dialects,
West Berwick is provided with many small
churches, most of them missions, and all
built since the growth of the population of
Berwick forced the laying out of this separate
borough beside the older one.
Grace Lutheran Church
Zwingli Reformed Church
was established in 1903 and the same year the
frame building on Vine street was built. The
congregation numbers about ninety, and the
present pastor is Rev. D. J. Ely.
Roman Catholics
St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church was es-
tablished in 1902, and the present handsome
frame church on Mulberry and Cemetery
streets was built in 1903. Some services
were held in Berwick during the building of
the canal, but the departure of the workmen
who had formed the congregation caused the
services to be abandoned for a time.
Father J. R. Murphy, pastor of the Blooms-
burg Church, organized a mission in Ber-
wick in 1902, and in the following year suc-
ceeded in getting together funds for the erec-
tion of the present church. He continued to
serve the Berwick Church until his departure
for Hanover, Pa., where he is now in charge
of St. Vincent's Church.
Father Joseph Petrovits was the next pas-
tor, serving until the beginning of the great
European war, when he volunteered for serv-
Rev. M. M. Allbeck, the pastor of Holy
Trinity Lutheran Church of Berwick, made a
canvass of the territory now known as West
Berwick and, as a result of his labors, organ-
ized a Sunday school May 26, 1901. The first
session was held in the old "White school-
house" in the afternoon with fifty-three per-
sons in attendance. Rev. Mr. Allbeck first
acted as superintendent, until the election of
Rufus Funk to fill the position. The other
officers were as follows : Adam Smith, assist-
ant superintendent; A. G. Birt, secretary; W.
C. Bond, treasurer; Miss Emma Pullen, or-
ganist.
After the session of Sunday school on May
4, 1902, Rev. Mr. Allbeck issued the call for
the organization of a congregation. A consti-
tution and by-laws were at once adopted. The
following persons were elected and installed as
the first church officers : Deacons — Dean
Funk, F. W. Hildebrand, William Pullen.
Elders — Charles Pullen, George H. Myers,
Samuel Michael.
The charter members of the congregation
were: Dean Funk, George H. Myers, Mrs.
George Myers, Samuel Michael, Mrs. Samuel
Michael, Willard Michael, William Pullen,
Mrs. William Pullen, Charles Pullen, Emma
Pullen, Z. T. Beagle, F. W. Hildebrand.
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
179
The meetings still continued to be held in
the schoolhouse until the church building was
erected on the corner of Arch and Fairview
avenues, and was formally dedicated to the
service and glory of God on Dec. 28, 1902.
The work growing too large for Rev. Mr.
Allbeck to take care of the field along with his
own pastorate, it was decided to call a regu-
lar pastor. Rev. H. E. Harman was called
and took charge on April 15, 1903.
The Sunday school outgrew its quarters, and
Sept. 18, 1904, ground was broken for the
annex to the church building. The dedicatory
service was held Jan. 24, 1905. The basement
was also fitted up for church use. The parson-
age was commenced July 3, 1905, and was
occupied by the pastor and his family on
Feb. I, 1906.
Since its founding the church has had the
following pastors: M. M. Allbeck, 1901 until
April 12, 1903; H. E. Harman, April 15, 1903,
until Fek i, 1912; Clarence E. Arnold, April
10, 191 2, to the present time.
The membership of the church is 250, and
of the Sunday school, 325. The present offi-
cers are as follows : Elders — D. B. Beck, N.
H. Ney, T. C. Kocher, William Pullen. Dea-
cons — I. H. Shellhammer, Charles Hock, Roy
Beagle, Andrew Beck.
Other Churches
St. Paul's Evangelical Church of West Ber-
wick was organized in 1903, and the frame
church erected in that year at a cost of $5,500.
There are 302 members in attendance, and
the number of scholars in the Sunday school
is 450. The present pastor is Rev. W. C.
Hoch.
The Methodist Protestant Church in West
Berwick was built in 1903 on Park avenue and
Front street. There was no regular pastor,
the congregation having slowly reduced in
numbers, and the services here were abandoned
in 191 1.
Calvary Methodist Episcopal Church of
West Berwick has a frame building, erected
in 1904 and remodeled in 1907. The church
property is valued at $7,200, the parsonage at
$3,000. It is a mission church and is under
the charge of Rev. John E. Beard. The
membership is 148.
The Chiesa Evangelica Presbyteriana, or
Italian Presbyterian mission of West Berwick,
is under the charge of Rev. Arture D'Albergo,
who serves a large congregation. The frame
church was built in 1907.
St. Peter's Staviansk\ Methodist Mission is
under the charge of Rev. George Olejar and
is attended by many different branches of the
Slavonic race. The frame church was built
in 1909.
The Ruthenian Greek Catholic Church in
West Berwick is dedicated to Saints Cyril and
Methodius, and is under the control of the
Roman Holy See. The services are held here
regularly by priests from Wilkes-Barre. The
congregation numbers over 300 and is com-
posed of many nationalities. The frame church
was built in 1907 and has been greatly en-
larged in 1914. The total cost will be $8,000.
The orthodox Russian Greek Calholic
Church of the Annunciation, West Berwick,
was organized in 1909, under the charge of
Rev. A. Boguslavsky. The congregation is
composed mostly of Russian Slavs from Aus-
tro-Hungary and numbers about six hundred
persons, speaking many diflr'erent dialects. The
church is a fine frame, the interior being
decorated with excellent oil paintings of By-
zantine character, on sacred subjects. There
are no pews in the church, a few seats being
])laced around the sides for the old people, but
the main body of the congregation stand all
during the long services. The cost of the
church was $10,000 and it was erected in 1910.
A school is conducted on Saturdays in the
building. The successive pastors have been :
Revs. Peter Shiskin, N. Borisoff, J. Stephano,
John Dzvonchik, Paul Bezkishkin, and the
present pastor, a native of Wilkes-Barre and
of Russian descent. Rev. Andrew \'anyush.
YOUNG men's CHRISTI.\N ASSOCIATION
The Young Men's Christian Association of
Berwick was organized Jime 9, 1878, in the
basement of the Methodist Episcopal Church,
by C. H. Zehnder, of Danville, secretary of
what was known at that time as the Seventh
I'ennsylvania District, assisted by George S.
Rippard and George S. Bennett, of Wilkes-
Barre, all of whom were connected -with the
Y. M. C. A. movement at that period. The
meeting was public and was attended by the
representative men of the town. An organiza-
tion was effected by the election of Col. Clar-
ence G. Jackson, of the Jackson & Woodin
Manufacturing Company, as president and
Isaiah Bower, as vice president.
The third floor of the Jackson & Woodin
Manufacturing Company's oflice building was
fitted up and placed at the disposal of the As-
sociation free of charge, and here the first
Young Men's Christian Association rooms
were opened, with the beginning of a library
180
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
that has now grown to some five thousand
volumes. There was donated by the Jackson
& Woodin Manufacturing Company a very
choice selection of over one thousand books,
considered by good authority to be one of the
most complete in the possession of any of the
smaller libraries of the country, and chosen
largely through the advice and supen-ision of
Albert G. Kimberley, who had been connected
with the public library of the city of Birming-
ham, England, and who at that time had taken
up iiis residence in Berwick. This was about
1880.
In 1879 ^^•'- C. H. Zehnder was elected sec-
retary of the Association and served for some
considerable time, until the Association got
well started in its work. The Association
thus very early became fi.xed on a firm founda-
tion.
The question of a building for Association
purposes was agitated about 1883. The As-
sociation was incorporated in that year, the
board of trustees being: W. H. Woodin, M.
W. Jackson, C. R. Woodin, B. F. Crispin, F.
R. Jackson, S. P. Hanly, L. F. Bower, S. C.
Jayne, C. H. Zehnder. The following year,
1884, C. R. Woodin deeded to the trustees
three lots on the corner of Market and Second
streets, part of the homestead of the late Jesse
Bowman, and also gave the sum of $11,000.
Mrs. Elizabeth S. Jackson, whose husband, the
late Col. C. G. Jackson, was the first president
of the Association, donated a dwelling house
on Market street, and also made cash sub-
scriptions of over $2,000. Steps were at
once taken to utilize these donations, and
the State secretary, Samuel W. Taggart,
came to Berwick and solicited subscriptions
for this purpose. So well did the pub-
lic respond that in the spring of 1885 a
new building was completed and the associa-
tion took up its quarters therein. This build-
ing was dedicated April 7, 1885.
From this period the Association grew
steadily in numbers and power for good in
the community. The library was a special
feature, while baths and reading rooms, to-
gether with the hall on the third floor, were
all agencies used to make pleasant and useful
quarters for the Association work.
For a number of years Rev. Henry S.
Mendenhall was the employed librarian and
did much to direct the reading of the youth
of the town who patronized the library.
The following persons have filled the office
of president: C. H. Zehnder, 1885; S. W.
Dickson, 1886-87; James E. Smith, 1888-90;
S. W. Dickson, 1890-93; J. S. Hicks, 1893-95;
John A. Kepner, 1895-98; S. W. Dickson,
1898-1900; John A. Kepner, 1900-05; S. W.
Dickson, 1905-11; W. S. Johnson, 1911-13;
Leslie E. Hess, 1913-14.
The employed secretaries : S. T. Dimmick,
1884-86; W. N. Multer, 1886-89; H. A. Lord,
1889-93; Horace Breece, 1894-1903; John R.
Riebe, 1903-06; E. A. Jesson, 1906-07; R. E.
Bomboy, 1907-13; W. B. VanScoter, 1913-14.
From the opening of the building in 1886
to 1907 the Association performed a very ex-
cellent work for young men and boys. The
increase in the population of Berwick by rea-
son of the chief industry of the town having
made large additions to its mills and car
shops, made it very apparent that the Associa-
tion needed increased facilities and larger
quarters for the carrying on of its work, and
in the period between 1907-14 the Association
therefore has received its greatest impetus.
The membership was increased to over one
thousand and subsequently the building was
remodeled and refurnished, a third story add-
ed, and an addition of 50 by 86 feet built in
the rear, together with a gymnasium 47 by 69
feet, equipped with modern apparatus. The
third story is furnished with dormitories,
while a swimming pool and bowling alleys
complete the equipment in the basement. The
Association has other property from which a
small revenue is derived.
Besides the Library features, that is, the
library and reading rooms, the Association has
from the beginning — extending now over a
period of thirty-five years — conducted a series
of lectures given by the best talent on the
American lecture platform, every winter, and
their courses are looked forward to by the
public and patronized very substantially and
liberally.
The Association maintains classes in com-
mercial and technical work for boys and men
who are employed during the day. Free lec-
tures are also given, and in numerous other
ways it seeks to exercise a leading part in
the community in the moral and spiritual up-
lift of its members.
In 191 1 there was a reorganization of the
board of managers with the following result:
W. S. Johnson, president; J. H. Smethers,
treasurer; G. B. Vance, recording secretary;
directors, S. W. Dickson, J. A. Kepner, J. S.
Hicks, E. M. Kocher, L. E. Hess, F. W. Bush,
W. C. Garrison, J. H. Catterall, R. L. Kline,
C. E. Ferris, E. A. Glenn, M. D., J. W. Shef-
fer, J. B. Landis.
The demands of the Association were such
that this board was selected with more than
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
181
usual care to handle to the best advantage
new and growing conditions in the Associa-
tion work.
The report of the secretary, W. B. Van-
Scoter, for the year 1913-14 shows a total of
972 members, of whom 786 were men and
186 boys. The average daily attendance at
the building was 350, and thirty men were
residents of the dormitories. Free tuition in
the different classes was given to members,
and 312 students were enrolled in these dif-
ferent classes, to the number of sixteen. The
subjects taught include arithmetic, shorthand,
bookkeeping, typewriting, mechanical drawing,
freehand drawing, shop mathematics, electric-
ity and common school branches for foreign-
ers ; there is also a day class for men who are
employed during the night. The Association
also provided rooms for a kindergarten which
was conducted by Miss Grace Hill from 9
to 12 A. M. Thirty-one practical talks were
given to men and boys besides the lecture
course herein referred to. One Book per day
during the year was the number donated by
friends of the library, and 1,825 books were
drawn out by the readers.
Among the many organizations that used
the building as a meeting place were the
Women's Christian Temperance Union, the
Twentieth Century Club, Sunday School
League, Ministerium, Patriotic Order Sons of
America, Retail Clerks' Association, Personal
Workers' League, Daughters of the American
Revolution, Civic League, King's Daughters,
and the Anti-Saloon League. The Ladies'
Auxiliary of the Young Men's Christian As-
sociation, which has been in existence as a
separate organization since the time that the
first building was opened, and which has al-
ways rendered effective help in the manage-
ment of the Association, has frequently used
the rooms to give delightful entertainments
and furnish refreshments during the year.
The religious work also has been a great
benefit to those who participated. Fourteen
different Bible classes were held, with an at-
tendance of 530 men and boys and a force of
sixteen teachers and assistants. Twenty-four
Sunday meetings were held, with an attend-
ance of 3,945 young men and boys. Shop
meetings are a feature and are largely at-
tended, while two shop Bible classes were
continuously conducted.
The work for the boys was both educational
and religious, and an important addition to
the equipment was donated by Mrs. Jane
Jackson-Gearhart, in honor of her mother,
the late Mrs. Elizabeth S. Jackson, consist-
ing of a moving picture projector and optical
lantern. By means of this outfit many in-
teresting lectures were given.
Besides the regular physical classes there
was formed a Boy Scout Troop, which has
helped in the work of developing the boys
into men of credit to the community. In the
gymnasium the attendance for the year was
7,281 men and boys.
In 1913 the entire basement was remodeled
and two new bowling alleys added, also a
men's game room. The total expenditures
for the year were $9,691, the receipts being
slightly less. The Association, however, is
self-supporting, the small difference being
caused by the expense of numerous improve-
ments and additions. Such is a brief state-
ment taken from the last annual report, 1913,
and indicating in a general way the activities
of this modern Association.
The officers and board of managers for the
present are : Leslie E. Hess, president ; John
H. Smethers, treasurer; Bernard G. Vance,
secretary; J. B. Landis, E. A. Glenn, M. D.,
lohn Sheffer, C. E. Ferris, R. L. Kline, E. M.
kocher, J. S. Hicks, W. E. Elmes, John A.
Kepner, Frederick Bush, W. S. Johnson, W.
C. Garrison. W. B. VanScoter is the gen-
eral secretary of the Association and with
him is associated B. T. Pond, the physical
director.
In addition to the board of managers, the
property of the Association is vested in the
following trustees : C. R. Woodin, Frederick
H. Eaton, S. W. Dickson, W. H. Woodin, R.
L. Kline, Francis Evans, W. C. Garrison, C.
G. Crispin, F. A. Witman.
The money invested in the property, that
is, the lots, the buildings, its library and fur-
nishings, represented originally the sum of
$30,000. With the addition in 1907-08 ; with
new furnishings and bowling alleys in 1913,
there is now invested a sum equaling in round
figures $100,000. For all this the Association
has been indebted through the years to the
enterprise of the citizens of greater Berwick
and its neighborhoods, but more largely in-
debted to the members of the trustees board
in control of the large car and foundry manu-
facturing business located in the town for
most liberal financial contributions to the in-
vestment and the maintenance of the Associa-
tion's work, without whose support it would
not be possible to maintain the standard set up
nor to make good the title, the Industrial
Young Men's Christian Association of Greater
Berwick.
182
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
TWENTIETH CENTURY CLUB
The first step towards the organization of
women for the undertaking of chib work was
taken under the leadership of Mrs. S. P.
Hanly. Ten women met at the Y. M. C. A.
Oct. 20, 1898, for the purpose of estabhshing
systematic readings and discussions. A Cur-
rent Events Club was the result, the following
officers being elected: Mrs. S. P. Hanly,
president; Mrs. H. F. Glenn, vice president;
Mrs. S. C. Jayne, secretary, and Mrs. W. H.
Woodin, treasurer. Looking over the outline
of work, the first three years' study consisted
of discussions of inventions, politics, music,
art, stage, educational interests and religious
interests. Certain periods were also spent in
reading portions from standard works of
literature, principally those of Shakespeare,
Dickens and Longfellow. During the third
year programs were arranged and printed, a
plan which has been followed each succeeding
year.
In 1901 the club joined the Federation of
Clubs of Pennsylvania Women as the Twen-
tieth Century Club of Berwick, Pa. The mem-
bers comprising the club are : Mrs. E. Adams,
Mrs. F. K. Crisman, Mrs. F. R. Clark, Mrs.
C. G. Crispin, Mrs. A. L. Canavan, Mrs. Dis-
telhurst, Mrs. T. H. Doan, Mrs. C. C. Evans,
Mrs. J. W. Evans, Mrs. B. F. Evans, Mrs. J.
L. Evans, Mrs. F. Faust, Mrs. W. C. Garrison,
Mrs. Eudera Hanly, Mrs. L. E. Hess. Mrs. A.
C. Jackson, Mrs. Anna Kirkendall, Mrs. E. A.
Loux. Mrs. William McKinney. Mrs. W. F.
Lowry, Mrs. J. H. Taylor; associate members :
Mrs. Theodore Berger, Mrs. S. W. Dickson,
Miss Dodson, Miss Elizabeth Glenn, Miss
Dickson, Mrs. Elizabeth Jackson, Miss Jame-
son, Miss Anna Oswald, Mrs. H. F. Glenn,
Mrs. Elizabeth Oswald ; non-resident members,
Mrs. M. M. Allbeck, Monongahela, Pa. ; Mrs.
M. J. Crispin, New York City; Mrs. F. H.
Eaton, New York City; Mrs. W. M. Hager,
Roselle, N. J. ; Mrs. Emma Jackson, Tiffin,
Ohio ; Mrs. T. S. Lewis, Philadelphia, Pa. ;
Mrs. R. H. Davenport, Kansas City; Mrs. C.
D. Eaton, Plainfield, N. J. ; Mrs. N.'C. Naylor,
Shenandoah, Pa. ; Mrs. Elizabeth Reber,
Bloomsburg, Pa. ; Mrs. C. L. Rodgers, Sligo,
Mo.: Mrs. N. Scheffer. R/feadville, Pa.; Mrs.
A. H. Smith, California; Mrs. P. Sturdevant.
Passaic, N. T- : Mrs. C. R. Woodin, New York
City ; Mrs. W. H. Woodin, New York City.
Mrs. F. Faust is the president in 1914.
D.\UGHTERS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION
Moses Van Campen Chapter, D. A. R., was
organized in Berwick Feb. 19, 1912. The
name was adopted for the reason that Moses
\an Campen was a resident for many years
of the section immediately west of Berwick
and his achievements were part of the history
of this section of the State. Van Campen
was born Jan. 21, 1757, and died Oct. 15,
1849. Some account of his life and acts will
be found in the earlier chapters of this work.
This branch of the D. A. R. meets the first
Friday of each month, from October to May,
at Berwick, and at these meetings addresses
are made and papers read on matters pertain-
ing to the history of America, the L'nitcd
States and the section of the State now in-
cluded in the counties of Columbia, Montour
and Luzerne.
The first officers elected by this chapter
were : Mrs. Clarence G. Crispin, regent ;
Mrs. C. E. Ferris, recording secretary ; Miss
Sarah M. Hagenbuch, corresponding secre-
tary ; Miss Harriet J. Alexander, registrar ;
Mrs. A. C. 'Jackson, historian; Miss Doretta
Distelhurst, treasurer; Mrs. E. A. Loux, chap-
lain. The only change made since organiza-
tion has been the election of Mrs. A. T.
Lowry as registrar in place of Miss Harriet
J. Alexander, who became vice regent.
The charter members of the chapter were :
Harriet Jenkins Alexander, Bessie Belle
Bishop, Elma Caroline Bishop, Mae L. Crispin,
Louise W. Crisman, Grace E. Distelhurst,
Doretta Chandlee Distelhurst, Gertrude May
Follmer, Carrie K. Ferris, Harriet Arabella
Ferris, Adelaide Lepha Ferris, Martha Jeane
Freas, Sarah Margaret Hagenbuch, Edna K.
Jackson, Anna C. Loux, Caroline H. Sponsler,
Helen Emily Trescott. Martha W. Williams.
BERWICK ATHLETIC AS.S0CIATI0N
The purposes of this organization, as stated
in the charter of April 15, 19 10, are the pur-
chase and maintenance of a private park and
facilities for baseball and other innocent ath-
letic sports, including clubs for that purpose.
The yearly income of the association is re-
stricted to $20,000 from other sources than
real estate.
The number of directors is fixed at nine,
the first board being J. U. Kurtz, M. C. Hetler,
Freas Fowler, George Confair, J. N. Harry,
\\'illiam Linden, John C. Crisman, J. W.
Evans, Charles C. Lockhart. The capital
stock was fixed at $5,000 and divided into 200
shares of $25 each: At present there are about
eighty-five stockholders.
The first officers were : J. N. Harry, presi-
I
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
183
dent ; John H. Sniethers. secretary ; Mahlon
C. Hetler, treasurer and business manager.
The present officers are : John C. Crisman,
president ; George Linville, secretary ; George
Confair, treasurer; M. C. Hetler, manager.
In the spring of 1910 the association leased
for five years a plot of ground in West Ber-
wick from Freas Fowler, calling it Fowler
Field. This property is valued at $9,CX30, and
the association has an option on it and has
made $6,000 worth of improvements, includ-
ing a grandstand. Here are held bicycle and
athletic meets, which attract crowds aver-
aging 2,500 persons, several times a year.
When the Susquehanna Baseball League of
six clubs was formed the association sup-
ported the home team. The league first con-
sisted of the Nescopeck, Shickshinny, Nanti-
coke. Bloomsburg, Berwick and Danville
clubs, for one year. The next year the Nesco-
peck, Shickshinny and Nanticoke clubs
dropped out, and the Sunbury club was added.
Many of the former members of the league
later played in the big national baseball
leagues.
THE BERWICK MARATHON ASSOCIATION
The Berwick Marathon Association has held
meets for seven consecutive years, at which
only the highest grade athletes have been seen,
in many contests for prizes, consisting mainly
of diamonds. The principal event is the ten-
mile foot race, in which the fastest records
in the Union have been made. The first meet
took place in 1908 on Thanksgiving Day, which
has been the day set for all the meets which
have taken place since. The officers of the
association are : A. E. Domrelle, Detroit,
president ; Prof. James Y. Sigman, Ph. G..
Berwick, vice president; C. N. MacCrea, Ber-
wick, secretary-treasurer.
THE grinders' CLUB
This unique organization combines fraternal
and social objects with literary and athletic
aspirations of varied character. Originally
organized by a few young men in West Ber-
wick in December, 191 1, as a debating society,
it has since expanded its arms to include mem-
bers from Bei^ick and Nescopeck. The
charter contains a clause prohibiting the sale
by the club of intoxicants and the by-laws
provide that gambling and the bringing of in-
toxicants into the clubrooms will be the cause
for expulsion of members. Card and game
playing on the Sabbath are also prohibited.
In the summer of 1912 members of the
Grinders' Club won the pennant in the Penn-
sylvania League of baseball clubs. In the
same year they pulled down the team prize in
the Berwick Athletic Association, also winning
the shield for the relay race, running against
a formidable field in both events.
In 1913 the club won the first prize in the
New Year's celebration by parading a com-
plete "Uncle Tom's Cabin'' troupe, sixty
strong, including the bloodhounds, as well as
Eva and Topsy. The Grinders, Jr., a branch,
won the boys' prize in the parade with a com-
plete Zouave company.
In the following year the club was winner
in -the New Year's parade with a company of
Jackson's soldiers of the war of 1812, com-
pletely uniformed, even to the buttons. The
"Grenadiers." an offshoot of the Grinders, Jr.,
of the previous year, won the boys' prize over
all competitors.
In the summer of 1914, after a bad start,
the Grinders' team won both series of the City
League, after a grueling finish. Their man-
ager was Ed. Tustin. The club also won a
number of debates that year and were suc-
cessful in the checkers and pinochle tourna-
ments.
In the season of 1913-14 the members won
the bowling championship of the City League,
under the management of V. R. Cousins.
Each year a banquet to the members and
their lady friends is given at the "St. Charles
Hotel." The club has presented flags to all
the public schools of both boroughs ; initiated
the custom of celebrating Surrender Day by
a reception in the town hall to the surviving
veterans of the Civil war; and made a national
reputation by establishing a camp. at the his-
toric battleground on the celebration of the
fiftieth anniversary of the battle of Gettys-
burg. The club has always been ready to
respond to appeals for help from the two bor-
oughs and has also furnished a room in the
new Berwick hospital at an expense of several
hundred dollars.
The first president of the club was P. B.
Lowry and the second Clyde Croft. William
Sherman was the first secretary-treasurer.
The present officers are : John A. Beeber, past
president ; Edward Foster, president ; W. B.
Croft, vice president; Frank M. Carey,
financial secretary; Clyde K. Croft, recording
secretary ; J. J. Kallbach, treasurer.
The club is located in commodious quarters
on Front and Orange streets, but a program
of larger scope is being prepared for the com-
ing year, which will necessitate the building
of a home of its own.
184
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
THE BERWICK CLUB
With handsomely furnished and equipped
rooms, the Berwick Club plays an important
part in the life of Berwick. The club was
organized in May, 1894, and its popularity
among the membership, which comprises many
of Berwick's most representative citizens, has
been constantly increasing. Reading room,
card room, pool room and grill room com-
prise the suite on the second floor of the Evans
building which has been occupied by the club
since its organization. Among the members
are some of the best pool shots in this section,
and pool tournaments are always a feature
during the winter.
MILITARY MATTERS
"Training Day," coming in the latter part
of May, was one of the important periods of
the year when the memory of the Revolu-
tionary and border wars was fresh in the
minds of the people. A motley crowd of men
and boys would gather in the streets and
march around to the tune of the fife and the
roll of the drum. An ancient cannon was
generally procurable, and this was cleaned,
loaded, primed and fired amid the delighted
shouts of the small boys and the shrill screams
of the ladies. Among the leaders of the past
on these occasions are recalled the names of
Capt. Matthew McDowell, the organizer of
the first military company ; James Pratt, the
drillmaster; John M. Snyder and John Bitten-
bender, colonels ; and George Kelchner and
Christopher Bowman, majors.
Berwick furnished a full quota of soldiers
in the Civil war, a company of thirteen en-
listing in May, 1861, and twenty-three a short
time afterwards, while many others joined the
armies during the progress of that great
struggle. A number of soldiers repose in the
cemetery at Berwick, two of the number,
Moses Davis and James Pratt, being veterans
of the Revolution ; three of the war of 1812,
and two of the Mexican war.
A number of military organizations existed
in the town in the past. The Jackson Guards,
organized in 1871, disbanded" in 1880. The
Berwick Guards, organized by Julius Hoft, a
student of the Prussian military academy, in
1886, with C. G. Jackson as captain, was
chiefly a juvenile company and had a short
life.
Capt. Clarence G. Jackson Post, No. 759,.
Grand Army of the Republic, was chartered
Jan. 26, 1886, with the following members:
George A. Buckingham, J. T. Chamberlain,
Samuel Simpson, D. W. Holley, Abner Welsh,
Reuben Moyer, George Keener, W. H. Mor-
ton, John Withers, R. H. Little, W. C. Bar-
nard, Minor Hartman, Martin 'McAllister,
Leroy T. Thompson, Tighlman Moharter, i.
C. Jayne, A. D. Seely, W. J. Scott, Michael
Thornton, John Wooley, E. D. Lipkicher.
This post is the successor of the one for-
merly known as W. W. Ricketts Post.
John H. Styer Camp, No. 25, Sons of
Veterans, was instituted May 29, 1862, with
D. C. Smith, captain; E. P. Wolfe, first
lieutenant; Harry Lowe, second lieutenant;
David Thomas, chaplain ; Augustus Lowe,
surgeon ; George Hoppes, orderly sergeant ;
Harry Barnato, sergeant of the guard; David
Thomas, quartermaster; Jerome Pifer, color
sergeant; Albert Lowe, corporal.
BERWICK CORNET BAND
Charles H. Stoes, the famous bandmaster
of Danville, came to Berwick about 1857 ^nd
gave private lessons to a number of musically
inclined young men of the town. He also
organized a band and purchased a number
of instruments. For a time the band partici-
pated in many of the events of the day, but
the interest finally lagged and disbandment
followed. The instruments were stored away
until 1868, when interest was revived, and the
permission of the surviving members of the
old band being obtained, the instruments were
given to the new organization.
The Berwick Cornet Band was organized in
April, 1868, with the following members: E.
M. Klinger, Capt. A. H. Rush, William Ruch,
Isaiah Bower, Dr. R. H. Little, Joseph Faust,
Col. A. D. Seely, Hiram A. Bower, Riter Keck,
Daniel Reedy, Isidore Chamberlain, Lyman
Fowler, Alem Connelly, Theodore Wein-
garten, Charles Becker, J. R. McAnall, J. F.
Opdyke, Theodore Fowler, Fred Spiker, Mor-
decai Bropst, Joseph E. Fry.
Under Harry Grozier, as leader, the band
made its first public appearance on Decora-
tion Day, May 30, 1870. They marched
proudly to the top of the hill, and the signal
being given, began to play. But scarce had
the first note been blown allien Col. Frank
Suit, who had planted his fieldpiece at the left
of the hilltop, pulled the lanyard, and a tre-
mendous explosion shook the earth, stopped
the band music and split the lips of most of
the players. Thereafter the music was of a
very poor quality and volume.
Mr. Grozier resigned after a few years and
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
185
George Rupert was elected to the position of
leader. He was followed by Richard Stout
and Prof. Adam Schalles, of Stockton, Pa.
During the latter's term (in 1888) the_ band
was incorporated, owing to the necessity of
protecting its property from loss and damage.
The next leader was Prof. J. O. Boyles,
who has been connected with the band since
he was a small boy, and under him the band
has reacht;d its present high position in the
musical world. The band has received prizes
at six county firemen's conventions, at Blooms-
burg, Scranton, Mahanoy City, Hazleton,
Danville and Milton; first prizes at the Red
Men's conventions at Williamsport and
Shamokin ; first prizes at the Elks' conventions
at Mahanoy City and Milton, and prizes at the
P. O. S. of A. convention at Scranton.
The first quarters of the band were in a
room over the wagon shop of Jeremiah See-
sholtz, where the Fenstermacher photograph
studio is now located. Next they located over
Wilson's drug store, now the Levy building,
and were then successively on the third floor
of the original Jackson & Woodin building,
over the stable of the "Warnett Hotel" (later
the "Fairman Hotel"), in the Thiel Pottery
building on Sixth street, in the Adams build-
ing, now occupied by Smith Brothers; in the
J. C. Furman blacksmith shop, over Joseph
Faust's carpenter shop, on the third floor of
the "Morton House," in the Town Hall, on
Second street ; and lastly in the brick building
belonging to the American Car and Foundry
Company, on Market street, which they now
use free of rent.
The Berwick Band, as it is now called, has
a membership of fifty-five musicians, and an
equipment of the latest make of instruments.
They wear blue fatigue uniforms and scarlet
and white parade dress, and the entire equip-
ment is valued at $8,000. The present officers
are: J. O. Boyles, director and manager;
Christopher Tubbs, president; W. E. Adams,
secretary; J. E. Fry, assistant secretary;
Harry Hayman, treasurer.
SECRET SOCIETIES
Berwick has more secret and ritualistic
societies than any other town in Columbia
or Montour counties. These societies include
within their circles the most substantial mem-
bers of society in the town and exert a tre-
mendous influence for good throughout the
community. The oldest of the organizations
and one of the strongest is the local lodge of
Odd Fellows.
Berwick Lodge, No. 246, I. O. O. F., was
instituted Jan. 23, 1847, the first members
being: Isaiah Bahl, O. H. P. Kitchen, Aaron
Dietterich, James S. Campbell, Stewart
Pearce, G. VV. Nicely, William Brewer, B. S.
Gilmour. A hall was built by the lodge in
1868 at a cost of $12,000.
Washington Camp, No. 105, P. O. S. of A.,
was established in 1869, but disbanded in 1878.
On Feb. 27, 1880, it was reorganized with the
following members : S. W. Dickson, W. A.
Ross, C. A. Croop, S. C. Marteeny, F. R.
Kitchen, C. E. Ross, H. C. Learn, F. S. Hart-
man, Anselm Loeb, Will H. Owen, W. M.
Hampshire, Conway Dickson, J. U. Kurtz, J.
S. Hicks, Charles W. Freas, F. P. Hill, George
B. Kester, J. C. Dietterick, John W. More-
head, J. C. Reedy, J. M. Witman, M. E. Rit-
tenhouse, William F. Rough, A. J. Learn, F.
G. Hull, J. E. Fry, A. Z. Hempfield. In
April, 1886, the fine hall now used by the
camp was first occupied. It was built by the
Odd Fellows in 1868 and purchased by the
P. O. S. of A. soon after the fire which par-
tially destroyed it in 1880. The building was
rebuilt and is now used for meeting purposes
and as a location for a motion picture theatre.
In 1914 the lodge reached the even figure
of 700 in membership, and was in exception-
ally fine financial condition. The officers for
that year were: J. W. McElwee, president;
Gaylord Spangler, vice president ; Arthur
Bechtel, master of forms; Walter Miller, con-
ductor; Samuel Garrison, inspector; Adam
Miller, guard; Cyrus Smith, trustee; Irvin
Spangler, secretary. The board of directors
were : C. E. Ross, J. O. Edwards, F. R.
Kitchen, A. N. Sheerer, H. E. Rabert, C. J.
Cortright, S. L. Hess, Guy Henrie, H. H.
Pursel.
Berwick Lodge of Elks
Berwick's new lodge of Elks has hand-
somely furnished club rooms on West Second
street. The large John W. Evans dwelling
house has been converted into a home that
makes the club particularly popular. There
is a large game room, reading room with
papers, and a pool room. The lodge room and
the ladies" parlor are on the second floor. The
building throughout is finely fitted with mis-
sion furniture and the appointments of the
meeting room are particularly fine, being of
hardwood. The lodge has been rapidly grow-
ing in membership and with excellent quarters,
a fine location and the high personnel of its
membership promises to be an ever-increasing
factor in the life of the community.
18G
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
Masonic
Knapp Lodge, No. 462, Free and Accepted
Masons, of Berwick, was constituted March
2, 1870, with the following officers and mem-
bers: John W. Taylor, worshipful master;
Frank E. Brockway, senior warden ; George
B. Thompson, junior warden. Charter mem-
bers: John H. Taylor, Frank E. Brockway,
George B. Thompson, Clarence G. Jackson, A.
B. MacCrea, Henry C. Freas, Clemuel R.
Woodin, Samuel Hetler, Hudson Owen,
Daniel Reedy, William H. Woodin, Adrian
Vanhouten, R. H. Little, J. W. Dreisbach,
Nicholas Seybert, George W. Fisher, Joshua
F. Opdyke, Joseph H. Hicks, Seth B. Bow-
man, N. W. Stecker, Benjamin Evans, William
Ross.
Meetings are held on the first Friday of
each month in the Evans building. The 1914
officers were : Worshipful master, Roland
O. Brockway ; senior warden, Ernest H.
Stiner ; junior warden, Herman T. Waldner;
treasurer, John W. Evans, P.M.; secretary,
James E. Smith, P. M. ; trustees, Charles T.
Steck, P. M., Stephen C. Seiple, P. M., Miles
S. Bredbenner, P. M. ; representative in grand
lodge, John C. Crisman, P. M. Past masters
by service : John H. Taylor, Frank E. Brock-
way, John F. Woodin, J. F. Hicks, J. F. Bit-
tenbender, David H. Thornton, William A.
Baucher, W. S. Heller, Henry C. Angstadt,
John W. Everard, Benjamin F. Crispin, Jr.,
Robert G. Crispin, William E. Smith, Julius
Hoft, John W. Evans, J. Simpson Kline, Elias
P. Rohbach, John A. Kepner, William T.
Emery, James E. Smith, Charles T. Steck, G.
Fred Miller, Elmer E. Garr, Je"nnings U.
Kurtz, William L. Houck, Barton D. Freas,
William D. Kline, Jesse Y. Glenn, Charles H.
Dorr, Henry P. Field, Jr., William E. Elmes,
Frank E. Patten, Nelson W. Bloss, Stephen
C. Seiple, Horton J. Kirkendall, Miles S.
Bredbenner, Dayton L. Ranck. John C. Cris-
man. Non-affiliated past ma'ster, Olaf F.
Ferris.
Knights of Malta
Susquehanna Commandery. No. 18, Ancient
and Illustrious Knights of Malta, was. insti-
tuted at Berwick Aug. 25, 1887, with A. E.
Shuman as commander. Starting with a mem-
bership of seventy-two, it has grown steadily
and substantially until in 1914 it numbers 230
members. Being a religious, beneficial and
fraternal organization, it has drawn to its
roster many of the best and most influential
men of the community. Three of the mem-
bers of this commandery were also members
of the Supreme Commandery of the Continent
of America, A. E. Shuman, John R. McAnall
and George W. Suit (deceased). The grand
commandery of Pennsylvania held the annual
session in Berwick in 1893, with W. J. Rough,
grand commander. The commandery now
meets every Thursday evening in the Odd Fel-
lows' hall. Reagan 13. Johnson is the present
commander, and I. L. B. Martz, recorder.
Anak Siesta, No. JJ, Princes of Bagdad (a
side degree of the Knights of Malta), was
organized in 1907, with a membership of
eighty. It has had a steady increase in mem-
bership and has proved the cementer of bonds
of brotherhood between the younger members
of the knights.
Other Lodges
Berwick Encampment, No. 131, Knights of
Khorassan ; Berwick Council, No. 176, Royal
Arcanum; Pewaukee Tribe, No. 240, Im-
proved Order of Red Men ; Tuscawilla Coun-
cil, No. 156, Daughters of Pocahontas; Ber-
wick Council, No. 698, Junior Order United '
American Mechanics ; Berwick Castle, No.
249, Knights of the Golden Eagle ; Berwick
Conclave, No. 783, I. O. H. ; Aerie No. 1281,
Fraternal Order of Eagles ; Berwick Tent, No.
282, Knights of the Maccabees.
BERWICK CEMETERY ASSOCIATION
This association was composed of plot
holders in the old cemetery and was formed in
1873 for the purpose of securing control, by
purchase or otherwise, of the grounds, thereby
to be enabled to improve and care for the
graves. The land had been given to four re-
ligious denominations by Evan Owen. In
May, 1 88 1, the association acquired control of
the land and immediately commenced the work
of improvement, which has gone on without
interruption up to the present time. The first
officers of the association were : H. C. Freas,
president; C. B. Jackson, secretary; O. H. P.
Kitchen, treasurer and superintendent.
BERWICK HOSPITAL
The Berwick Hospital Association was or-
ganized in January, 1905. The ladies of Ber-
wick were instrumental in collecting the funds
to furnish the first building, which was owned
by C. R. Woodin and accommodated twenty-
two patients. The first officers of the associa-
Berwick Hospital. Berwick, Pa.
Bloomsbukg Hospital, Bloomsburg, Pa.
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
187
tion were: Mrs. S. P. Hanly, president;
Mrs. C. C. Evans, first vice president; Mrs.
R. L. Kline, second vice president ; Miss Eliza-
beth Glenn, secretary; ]\Iiss Ella Moyer,
treasurer.
I-'rom the first hospital six nurses were
graduated yearly, all of whom lived in the
building; but soon the quarters became over-
crowded and in 1912 a meeting was held to
secure funds for the erection of a larger
building.
Much enthusiasm was aroused in the cam-
paign for funds, and the erection and furnish-
ing of the new hospital became a community
affair in which all classes participated. The
American Car and Foundry Company gave
large sums, workmen gave a day's wages to
the fund, and the Odd Fellows, Elks, P. O. S.
of A., Grinders' Club, Salem Grange, Frances
Willard liible Class of the Methodist Church,
and a number of other organizations, each
furnished a room in the hospital, at an average
cost of $150.
The new building was completed in 1913 at
a cost of $28,000, and the old building aban-
doned in January, 1914. The building is of
Bloomsburg brick, with limestone trimmings,
97 ^y 37 feet, with two floors, basement and
attic. There are four large wards, with a
capacity of thirty beds, ten private rooms,
space for four cribs for children, and rooms
for fourteen nurses and hospital help. The
training school will educate ten nurses, who
will graduate in 191 5. The new building is
located on Mulberry street and Garfield
avenue, in the north end of the town, while
the old building was situated on Maple street.
The number of free patients in 1913 in the
old building was 201 ; pay patients, 161 ; num-
ber of deaths, 23. The cost of maintenance
during the first five months after the occu-
pation of the new building was $5,000.
The officers of the Hospital Association for
1914 are: J. H. Catterall, president; J. U.
Kurtz, first vice president ; Frank Faust,
second vice president; B. D. Freas, treasurer;
Conway W. Dickson, secretary. The trustees
are: J. M. Schain, B. D. Freas, H. E. Wal-
ton, John W. Evans, Walter Hughes, J. H.
Catterall, A. N. Sheerer, three years; M. C.
Metier, J. U. Kurtz, C. W. Dickson, Wilson
Harter, Frank Faust, Wilbur Smith, James
Lee, two years; M. J. Crispin, M. F. Williams,
J. N. Harry, Jason Rhoades, J. W. Roberts,
Harry Fahringer, C. G. Crispin, one year.
The following are life members of the asso-
ciation : C. W. Sones, C. C. Lockhart, C. A.
Raseley, James Fox, A. C. Jackson, I. B.
Abrams, C. E. Sitler, M. C. Hetler, W. A.
Hughes, H. H. Long, J. A. Rhodes, M. G.
Smith, B. D. Freas, J. W. Roberts, Jacob
Kupsky, John M. Fairchild, J. C. Oberdorf,
H. E. Walton, S. C. Jayne, R. E. Warntz,
John Murko, W. F. McMichael, S. E. Fen-
stermacher, E. W. Garrison, Jacob S. Garrison,
R. O. Bower, Jno. W. Evans, George Unangst,
Elliott Adams, A. A. Lerch, F. A. Witman,
W. C. Garrison, J. F. Pfahler, Herbert Levy,
J. W. Sitler, Frank Fahringer, Hugh Thomp-
son, J. J. ;\Iyers, George W. Seybert, John K.
Adams, Wm. J. Fairchild, R. L. Kline, L. I.
Clewell, P. C. Currin, John N. Harr>', T. Har-
vey Doan, James L. Evans, T. B. Brobst, H.
R. Bower, Mary A. Lockhart, Conway Dick-
son, C. T. Steck, J. H. Bowman, W. C. Hensyl,
Jos. M. Schain, E. L. Davis, H. T. Waldner,
Joseph Cohen, M. F. Williams, John Frank,
Frank Faust, J. U. Kurtz, J. H. Catterall,
Wilson Harter, Jas. Harman, W. S. Johnson,
J. L. Halyburton.
CHAPTER XVI
CATAWJSSA BOROUGH— CATAWISSA TOWNSHIP
Catawissa township was formed from Au-
gusta in 1785, and originally included all of
ijeaver, Lonyngham, trankhn, Locust, Main,
Mittim, Mayoerry of Montour county, and
part of bnion township in Schuylkill county.
it was reduced in size by the lormation of
Roaringcreek township in 1832, l^'ranklin in
1843, and Main in 1844. It is the oldest sub-
division of the county and contains the oldest
settlements.
Authorities differ as to the meaning of the
Indian name "Catawese." Redmond Conyng-
ham, after whom the township of that name
was called, stated that the Piscatawese had a
settlement here. Stewart Pierce stated that
the Shawanese had a town here in 1697. The
word "Catawese" occurs in several of the
Indian dialects, and means "pure water." The
greater part of the eastern portion of the
township is occupied by the majestic Catawissa
mountain, the brow of which overshadows the
town. In the summer many parties are made
up to visit this eminence, from all parts of
the county. It was a favorite resort of the
Indians. Within a short distance of the sum-
mit is a fine, ever-flowing spring. Beside this
stood for many years an immense gum tree,
the only one for miles around, which was
looked upon with reverence by the savages.
The tree was overturned by a high wind some
years ago and has rotted away, but younger
descendants of the forest monarch are spring-
ing up to take its place.
The first European to visit Catawissa was
James LeTort, a French trader, who bore mes-
sages of amity to the Delaware chieftains and
the celebrated Madame Montour in 1728, pre-
senting each a "strowd match coat," as a token
of friendship. After the visit of this French
trader no mention is made of the place until
1754, when Conrad Weiser, the noted Morav-
ian missionary to the Indians, writes from
Shamokin, mentioning in the letter the Indian
village of "Oskohary," which was identical
with the Catawissa of the present. At that
time the chief of the village was the famous
Lapackpitton, a Delaware. Soon after this
date the place seems to have been abandoned
by the savages as a place of residence.
The first settlers in the Catawissa valley
were a number of English Quakers, from
Maiden-creek and Exeter in Berks county, who-
came by way of the valley of the "North
Branch." They arrived between 1774 and
1778. Before their arrival a number of per-
sons had obtained patents from the Penns,
among them being William Collins, William
Hughes, James Watson, John Lore, John
Mears, Isaiah Willits and John Lloyd. Other
settlers arrived at different periods, most of
them following the trails over the Broad, Blue,
Locust and Little mountains on horseback. The
first house in the vicinity of Catawissa was
built by Moses Roberts in 1774.
Among those who reached Catawissa in 1782
were Michael Geiger, Joseph Mclntyre, John
Furry, Thomas Wilkinson, George Huntzinger
and Conrad Wamphole. Soon after their ar-
rival a party of Indians came and occupied the
old site of their town. Their fishing operations
were interfered with by Wilkinson, who was
made to swim the river to escape their arrows.
He tried to explain to his friends that he was
only gauging the depth of the water, and thus
earned the nickname of "Tom Ganger." In
the same year a party of Indians made a raid
on the settlement, scalping and killing John
Furry, his wife and two daughters. Three
sons, John, Jonas and Lawrence, were absent
at the gristmill at Sunbury and thus escaped,
while another son, Henry, was taken captive.
Years later the three brothers met Henry in
Montreal, Canada, where he had developed into
a prosperous trader after his imprisonment
there by the French had ended.
This was the era of the "great retreat," dur-
ing which most of the settlers of'the valley fled
from their homes in fear of Indian raids. The
Quakers, owing to their confidence in the In-
188
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
189
dians' promises to the Penns, remained. This
confidence was never betrayed.
In 1787 VViUiam Hughes laid out the town of
"Hughesburg, in the County of Northumber-
land, State of Pennsylvania, North America,
on the banks of the northeast tract of the river
Susquehannam near the mouth of Catawessey
creek, about twenty miles above Sunbury and
about one hundred and si.x miles above Phila-
delphia." William Gray and John Sene were
the surveyors. According to the custom of the
day the lots were disposed of by lottery. Wil-
liam Henry was the original owner of the tract
in 1769, the patentees were later Edward and
Joseph Shippen, and from them the title was
transferred to William Hughes. In 17S9 John
Mears, a physician and justice of the peace,
secured title to sixty-five lots. In 1796 the
Roberts addition was laid out by James
Watson.
Although the original town plot was large
it was but thinly settled. The first industry
established was the tannery of Isaiah Willits,
in 1780, at the corner of Third and South
streets. The ferry was then run by Knappen-
berger & Willits. The first merchant was
Isaiah Hughes, who opened a store at an early
date on the river bank near the foot of South
street. Joseph Heister followed with a store
on Water street, near Main. He sold out to
John Clark, who kept it for some years.
The history of the township is so wrapped
up in that of the town that it is necessary to
include both in this sketch. The few farmers
remained near the town, for better protection
from the Indians, the most prominent ones in
those days being the Watsons, Jacksons,
Lounts, Lloyds and Hayhursts. The first jus-
tices of the peace were George Hughes and
William Mears. The first mill in the county
was liuilt on Catawissa creek in 1774 by a mem-
ber of the Societv of Friends whose name
cannot be ascertained. It was so crude in con-
struction as to be frequently out of repair, in
which event the farmers had to go to Sunbury
to get their grist ground. In 1799 Christian
Brobst rebuilt this mill. It was later operated
by Hollingshead & Scott, and last by T. M.
Fields, who received it from his father. It
was burned in IQ12, and is now but a ruin.
The fall of water was slight, so the wheel was
one of the widest and smallest in diameter of
any in the county. In 1797 a mill was erected on
the north side of the creek (but a few steps
above the present paper mill), by Jonathan
Shoemaker, and at once received the cream of
the patronage of that section of the town. In
1700 Christian Brobst built a mill about a
quarter of a mile above the former mill, on
the same side of the creek. The Shoemaker
mill was purchased by John Clark and Ben-
jamin Sharpless in 1809 and the machinery
removed to the stone mill (McKelvey mill,
now the oldest standing in this section) across
the creek, which they had just built. In
1811 Mr. Sharpless established a paper mill
in the old Shoemaker mill, which was later
enlarged, and then torn down when the own-
ers rebuilt on the present site — a group of
four large brick buildings on the north side
of the creek. At the time of the rebuilding
of the Brobst mill there was a regular line of
boats on the Susquehanna and the proprietor
became the chief man of the town of Cata-
wissa, operating the mill, a store and other
enterprises.
Other merchants of the days of the town's
early growth were Thomas Ellis, Stephen and
Christopher Baldy, Daniel Cleaver, Jacob Dyer
and Samuel Brobst. There was little money
then in circulation, trading being conducted by
the interchange of products and goods. The
shad fisheries ranked among the principal
sources of income, fish being exchanged for
salt, at the rate of six cents each.
From an old magazine in the possession of
the Columbia County Historical Society the
fact is gleaned that in August, 1801, there were
but forty-five houses in "Catawissy," one of
which was stone and the rest mostly log. At
that time an old Indian burying ground near
the river had washed out and some of the skele-
tons were exposed to view. The writer had
made the trip from Reading in that month,
stopping on the way at "Lavenberg's," on the
road near Little mountain.
One of the first buildings in the town was a
market house, built soon after the village was
laid out in lots. There appears to have been
but little need for this public building and it
soon became a home for the stray cows and
hogs of the place. An old resident said that
it was a noted resort for the elusive flea and
was declared a public nuisance. It was decided
in 1820 to demolish it, and a short time there-
after a loud explosion in the night sounded the
knell of the building. Slight effort was made
to discover the perpetrators of the deed, and
the building was not replaced. In 183 1 a prop-
osition was made to build a town hall and
market house on the site, but the proposal
brought on an acrimonious discussion which
defeated the nroject and caused the dissolution
of the onlv fire company in the town.
From an old history, published at Phila-
delphia in 1847, the information is had that in
190
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
1840 Catawissa had a population of Soo, ex-
ceeuing that of Bloonisburg by 150. The town
then contained tliree churches, several stores
and taverns and upwards ot two hundred
dwellings. There were a loundry, a paper mill
and several tanneries in and near the town.
I'he Germans predominated in the population
then.
THE BOOM DAYS
The building of the Catawissa railroad, a
description of which is found on another page,
was a blessing to the town and caused a rapid
increase of population. Six months after the
opening of the road the headquarters were
established in Catawissa and extensive repair
shops built in 1864. Thus the town became the
home of many operatives, and as the other
roads came in became quite a railroad center.
These operatives brought their families, estab-
lished homes and became important factors in
the growth of Catawissa for a number of years,
until the extension of the Reading road from
Shamokin to Milton caused a removal of much
traflk from the Catawissa division and reduced
the number of employees in the repair shops.
There are still a number of employees of the
Reading and Pennsylvania roads in the town,
but few compared with the past.
The rapid increase of population and the de-
mand for homes was the cause that led to the
organization of the Catawissa Land and Build-
ing Company and the Catawissa Mutual Build-
ing Fund Association, in 1865 and 1870, re-
spectively. The result of their formation was
a period of building activity, extending from
1869 to 1S73, during which many persons who
otherwise could not have obtained money were
enabled to own homes. The demand for homes
and lots caused F. L. Shuman to purchase the
Zarr farm and lay out the Shuman addition in
1882.
One of the prominent citizens of Catawissa
was Clark F. Harder, who built the planing
mill in 1866. He made it one of the chief in-
dustries of the town, and in 1885. during the
building boom, put up seventeen houses, fur-
nishing his own materials from the mill. Most
of the better class of residences of that date
were built by him.
David Cleaver, a pioneer merchant of the
town, built the "Susquehanna House" in 1868,
and leased it to several parties. It is now
operated by William Goodhart.
MUNICIPAL INCORPOR.VTION
The first movement to make Catawissa a
borough was taken in 1885, when a petition was
presented to the proper court. It was opposed
by some who feared added taxation, and by
others who did not wish to be left out of the
town. The grand jury of that year disap-
proved the petition. Again in 1887 a similar
petition met with a like fate. On Sept. 26,
1892, a third petition was presented by 250
freeholders, and in December of that year con-
firmed by the court.
The necessary officers for holding an elec-
tion were appointed, and the following officials
elected : C. C. Willits, chief burgess ; O. D. L.
Kostenbauder, C. O. Brown, E. B. Guie, I. H.
Seesholtz, T. E. Harder, William Hartman,
councilman. The first school board consisted
of J. B. Yetter, L. B. Kline, S. Raup, C. E.
Clewell, J. J. Lewis, A. S. Truckenmiller.
The present borough officials are: A. H.
Sharpless, burgess; W. H. Vastine, president
of the council: J. Berninger. Daniel Knittle,
Edward Billig, Alexander Lillie, Joseph Hart-
zell, councilmen ; G. H. Sharpless, clerk : L. C.
Mensch, solicitor.
The postmasters of Catawissa borough have
been as follows, together with the dates of their
appointments :
John Shoemaker, July i, 1802; John Clark,
July I, 1803; Joseph Paxton, Nov. 3, 1821 ;
Michael Fornwalt, June 23, 1829; C. A. Brobst,
May 18, 1841; Paul R. Baldy, Dec. 6, 1844;
John Schmick, Dec. 26, 1846; Charles Hart-
man, Feb. 15, 1849: John .Schmick, Jan. 27,
1853; Casper Rhawn, May 6, 1853; Levi
Keiler, Jan. 17, 1861 ; S. D. Rinard, Oct. 12,
1861 ; George H. Willis, Aug. 24, 1869; Luther
B. Kline, Sept. 24, 1878; Calvin Clark, Oct. 24,
1878: Joseph B. Knittle. Sept. 15, 1885; Wil-
liam H. Berger, April 27, 1889; J. H. Geary,
Dec. 20, 1889; Charles L. Pohe, May 6, 1896;
Christian E. Geyer, June 5, 1900; Charles M.
Harder, Aug. 2, 191 3.
C. S. W. Fox' was mercantile appraiser in
1899.
P0PUL.\TI0N
According to the United States census figures
the population of Catawissa township in 1820
was 2,520; in 1830, 3,130; in 1840, 2,060; in
1S50, 1,143: in i860, 1,176; in 1870, 1,627; in
1880, 2,003: in 1890, 2,348; in 1900, 560; in
1910, 503.
The population of Catawissa borough was
2.023 in 1900, and 1,930 in 1910. This gives
evidence of the fact that most of the popula-
tion of the township resided in the borough
in the early days.
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
19]
INDUSTRIES
One of the first of the nidustries of the town
was a nail factory, operated by Thomas Hart-
man, the product being handmade. In 1845
Fincher & Thomas, owners of the Esther fur-
nace, erected the "Penn" furnace near the
mill of Christian Brobst, a short distance
above Catawissa, on the creek. They ran it
for a short time only, the cost of transport-
ing the ore and coal being prohibitive, in
competition with the furnaces at Danville and
Bloomsburg. There was also the foundry of
O. D. Leib & Co., which made a specialty of
"ten-plate" stoves. Owen and George Hughes
were its last owners.
The largest manufacturing establishment in
Catawissa was the paper mill established in
1811 by Benjamin Sharpless. He was a resi-
dent of Sunbury, and while on a visit to a
brother in Ohio became acquainted with the
process of papermaking. Returning to Cata-
wissa he formed a partnership with John Clark,
bought the old Shoemaker gristmill and altered
it to accommodate the new industry. The
ancient hand process was used, the raw mate-
rial being rags. After passing through dif-
ferent hands and being greatly enlarged the
mill came into the possession of William Mc-
Kelvy, and was operated by his son, C. W.
McKelvy. At the death of the proprietor the
plant was managed by E. B. Guie, for the
estate, until it was sold to Edward and John
McCready, of Philadelphia. It was destroyed
by fire in 1882, but soon rebuilt for the exclus-
ive manufacture of wood pulp. McCready
Brothers met with financial reverses and the
plant was sold at sherifi^'s sale to a syndicate,
which reorganized it as the Pennsylvania Paper
Mills in 1900. After three years' operation the
mills closed down to install modern machinery
to double the output, but the new equipment
was mainly experimental and did not fulfill
expectations, so that after an expenditure of
$275,000 the mills passed into the hands of a
receiver. The plant was then appraised at
$396,000. The receiver failed to rehabilitate
the mill and at the end of two years it was sold
by order of court to the New York & Pennsyl-
vania Paper Company, owners of five other
mills. They dismantled the mill, distributed
the machinery among other plants, and in 19 13
sold the buildings to Mrs. Josephine Beckley.
A portion of the plant is now used by Clinton
E. and Frederick R. Long as a manufactory.
They produce the Panama Canal Puzzle, a sim-
ply constructed glider for children and an ad-
justable stilt which can be made to fit almost
any child. These toys they have designed and
patented themselves, and from a small begin-
ning have built up a trade that covers the entire
Union and reaches into some foreign countries.
Starting in 1912 with a small workshop, they
now have a capacity almost unlimited and em-
ploy in the busy season sixty hands.
The Knittle Flouring Mills were established
in Catawissa by Jacob Berninger more than
thirty years ago, since which time they have
passed into the hands of D. F. Knittle, a prom-
inent citizen of the town. Besides the milling
business he has a large grain elevator, with a
capacity of five thousand bushels, and deals
in coal, lumber and builders' supplies.
One of the valuable industries of Catawissa
is the marble and granite works of H. T. Young
& Sons, where modern compressed air machin-
ery and methods are used to design and com-
plete many of the most artistic monuments
and tombstones to be found in the cemeteries
of the county.
The Catawissa Knitting Mills were incor-
porated in 1911, with a capital of $20,000, stock
being held by various parties. The product
was several varieties of cotton stockings. The
officers were : T. E. Hoover, president ; Luther
Eyer, vice president ; C. P. Pfahler, treasurer :
W. S. Laubach, secretary and manager; H. S.
Grove, C. J. Fisher, M. J. Grimes, directors.
The enterprise failed in 19 13 and the plant was
closed.
In 1914 the plant was leased from the Cata-
wissa Knitting Mills Company by Harry West,
of Plymouth, Pa., for a term of five years. He
installed thirty-five additional machines for the
manufacture of half-hose, thus doubling the
capacity of the works, and re-employed most
of the old operatives. Mr. West is a son of
Thomas West, who made the town of Ply-
mouth noted for its production of knitted
goods.
The Shoe Factory
The most important industrial plant now in
Catawissa is the All W'ear shoe factory. The
manufacture of shoes was established in 1889
by a company composed of W. F. Creamer,
H. B. Anthony and Charles O. Brown, the
first named a native of Catawissa and the lat-
ter of Camden, N. J. A building was erected
on land of Frank L. Shuman and machinery
installed. From eighty to one hundred and
twenty emplovees were occupied constantly in
the production of ladies', misses' and children's
shoes to the number of from five hundred to
seven hundred pairs a day. The 1897 panic
192
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
caused an embarrassment of the firm and the
business was closed out by creditors.
The All W'ear Shoe Company is composed
of D. J. Finkelstein, president; L. C. Mensch,
treasurer ; and C. E. Kreischer, secretary. The
factory is fitted with modem shoe machinery,
housed in a fine concrete block building near
the Reading tracks, built in 1905, and produces
a medium grade of McKay sewed shoes for
misses and children, five hundred and fifty
pairs per day being the product, and eighty-
one persons employed. The superintendent
of the factory is A. C. Boyer, and the office
man is E. D. Weiser. The old factory in 1914
was remodeled into a dwelling.
Mercantile
Prominent among the representative busi-
ness houses in Catawissa is the department
store owned and conducted by H. S. Grove on
Main street, which was established in 1902 by
Mr. Grove. The premises occupied consist of a
large two-story frame building, with the entire
first floor and part of the second in use, and
containing upwards of five thousand square
feet of floor space. At the front of the store
is the well stocked dry goods department. The
grocery department is modernly equipped and
stocked with groceries and family provisions.
On the second floor are footwear, kitchen uten-
sils and men's furnishings.
The furniture trade in Catawissa is well rep-
resented by Thomas E. Harder, whose fine
store on Main street occupies a six-stor\- build-
ing, built in 1883, at a cost of $15,000, having
a floor space of twenty-five thousand square
feet. It is fitted with all conveniences and
stocked with the best makes of furniture and
house furnishings, including carpets, rugs, cur-
tains, etc. It is the largest store of this char-
acter in this section and the best equipped and
appointed, the entire building being used in
display and for storage purposes. Mr. Harder
is also an undertaker and embalmer, carries a
full line of caskets and other funeral requisites,
and owns his own funeral car.
The Catawissa Marble and Granite Works
was established in 1871 by Frederick B. Smith,
who is the pioneer marble and granite worker
in this section. Mr. Smith came to this coun-
try from Germany, where he learned his busi-
ness, of which he is a past master. He erected
the Soldiers' monument at Catawissa, which
is considered one of the best pieces of work of
the kind in this part of the country, and com-
pares with the work of great sculptors. He is
an artist of the old school, few of which are
now found.
The merchants of Catawissa include the fol-
lowing: Clothing — Paul R. Berger, D. J. Fin-
kelstein, H. Marks, O. F. Miller. Shoes— E.
G. Walter. General Stores— H. R. Baldy, J.
R. Deimer, Charles Pohe. Saloons — Daniel E.
Fegely, L. P. Hause, J. D. Yeager, D. P. Kist-
ler. Pool Rooms — A. Hollinshead, E. E. Lon-
genberger. Restaurants — A. E. Baer, P. B.
Erwin. Druggists — J. F. Fisher, John Wat-
ters & Co. Confectioneries — C. A. Baker, P.
B. Erwin, G. W. Yetter. Meat Markets— O.
P. Kostenbauder, W. H. Roberts. Junk —
Morris Engle, Jacob Liptzer. Feed — W. A.
McCloughan. Undertakers — T. D. Berninger
& Sons. Livery — M. J. Grimes & Bro., J. E.
Roberts. Stationery — A. S. Truckenmiller, H.
R. \'anDorster. Tinners — K. S. Clever, War-
ren Rhawn. Coal — E. B. Guie, D. F. Knittle.
Autos — Gunther & Knittle, M. J. Grimes &
Bro. Jeweler — David Hons. Milliner — Clara
Hamlin. Hardware — S. E. Young.
Financial
The First National Bank of Catawissa is a
successor to the Catawissa Deposit & Savings
Bank, incorporated May 26, 1871. The present
title was adopted the following year. John K.
Robbins was made president, and B. R. Davis,
cashier. The capital stock has always been
$50,000 up to the present. In 1891 the bank
received its national charter. The present
handsome quarters are owned by the bank, and
the officials in 1914 are: J. T. Fox, president;
W. j\L \'astine, cashier ; Luther Eyer and W.
H. Roberts, vice presidents ; J. M. Vastine, C.
E. Kreisher, Wilson Rhoads, K. P. Reifsny-
der, directors. The bank has a surplus and
undivided profits of $16,000 and deposits to
the amount of $240,000.
The other financial institution is the Cata-
wissa National Bank, chartered April 30, 1904,
with a capital of $50,000. It has now a sur-
plus and undivided profits of $26,000, and de-
posits to the amount of $310,000. The first
officials were: C. J. Fisher, president; C. P.
Pf abler, vice president ; C. S. W. Fox, cashier ;
N. P. Vastine, assistant cashier ; C. J. Fisher,
C. P. Pfahler, Lloyd Burger, Ambrose Shu-
man, Jeremiah Kester. John L. Kline, I. H.
Seesholtz, directors. The same officials are
still in charge, with the exception of directors
Kline and Seesholtz, deceased, whose places
are filled by W. T. Creasy and Ir\-in Kreisher.
The bank erected the fine brick building on
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
193
Main street in which it is located, sharing the
first floor with the post office.
HIGHWAYS
Catawissa is fortunate in having the finest
street of any town in Columbia county. It is
part of the State highway to Reading, and was
built in 1913 under the direction of R. A. Mc-
Cachran, assistant to Engineer Arthur S. Clay
of Bloomsburg. It is of brick, with a concrete
base 2,000 feet long, and runs from the river
bridge to the forks of the streets in the south-
ern part of the town, where it connects with a
tar-macadam road 2,240 feet long, running to
the creek bridge. The latter bridge was also
built by the State in 1905, and from it may
be had one of the finest views of natural scen-
ery in the county.
FIRE PROTECTION
The Catawissa Fire Company was organ-
ized May 17, 1827, at the hotel of Stacy Mar-
gerum, witli Joseph Paxton, president, and
Ezra S. Hayhurst, secretary. A committee,
consisting of Christian Brobst, George Hughes,
Stephen Baldy, George H. VVillits and Jacob
Rupert, was appointed to draft a constitution.
Four days later the document was signed by
fifty-four persons. Meetings were held quar-
terly at Margerum's and an assortment of
buckets, ladders, hooks and chains secured and
distributed at proper places. The utmost har-
mony prevailed in the organization until the
building of the town hall was brought up, when
in February, 1832, after repeated adjourn-
ments without agreement, the company was
disbanded.
At present the protection against fire con-
sists of a chartered volunteer company and a
hose reel and ladder truck, housed in the town
hall.
In Catawissa the water supply has been
solved to the entire satisfaction of the people
by the Catawissa Water Works, owned and
operated by P. H. Shuman, whose plant and
reservoirs are of sufficient capacity to take care
of all needs. The Catawissa Water Works was
organized and chartered in 1882, the original
members of the company being F. L. Shuman,
Reuben Shuman, W. H. Rhawn, P. H. Shuman
and Gideon Myers. These gentlemen soon had
the works in operation, and the mains laid
through the streets of the village giving the
best of service, which has been maintained since
the water was first turned on. Some years ago
the entire property came into the hands of P.
13
H. Shuman, who now is the sole owner, and
gives every detail of the works his personal
supervision. Nature and man's ingenuity have
combined to give Catawissa its pure water sup-
ply, which is drawn from springs in the Cata-
wissa hills and runs by gravity system into the
reservoir, which has a capacity of 330,000 gal-
lons, and from there is fed into pipes that sup-
ply the town, the gravity pressure being suffi-
cient to answer all purposes. In addition Mr.
Shuman has sunk several artesian wells, which,
if necessary, can be used during a very dry
season, and has a modern equipped pumping
station fitted with high power air compressor
and force pumps.
THE BAND
The Catawissa Silver Cornet Band Associa-
tion was organized April 7, 1869, with these
members: Monroe Seitzinger, Jeremiah S.
Cornelius, Allen L. Brandt, Emery Getchey,
Charles Schmick, Perry Walters, A. Z. Lewis,
J. M. Walsliaw, Luther Eyer, F. D. Berninger.
Charles H. Smith, the efficient leader, has held
that position for more than twenty years, and
the band has the deserved reputation of being
one of the best trained and cultivated musical
organizations in central Pennsylvania. The
association owns the building it occupies. A
fine "Boys' Band" is connected with the asso-
ciation, organized and conducted by Prof. John
T. Berger, from which members are drawn for
the adult band as soon as the boys become pro-
ficient.
soldiers' monument
Catawissa, which has often been in the lead
in matters civic in Columbia county, was the
first to honor the memory of the brave men who
gave up on the battlefield their choicest posses-
sion — life — for the services of their country,
by erecting a monument in the union cemetery,
at the site of the old Lutheran church. It was
dedicated Oct. 7, 1899. The shaft is 28 feet
high and bears a statue of an infantryman.
It is surrounded by a wide lawn, the angles
being marked by wartime relics in the shape
of mortars and cannon balls. The cost of the
monument was $4,000, and it was the work
of Frederick B. Smith, proprietor of the Cata-
wissa Marble & Granite Works. Those having
the matter of gathering the funds in their
charge were: Maj. I. H. Seesholtz, G. W.
Reifsnyder, A. H. Sharpless and George Wat-
ers. All of the money was raised by the mem-
bers of Lieut. H. H. Hoagland Post, No. 170,
194
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
G. A. R., and their friends, without an appro-
priation from any source.
At the dedication Governor Stone was pres-
ent and delivered an address, Rev. G. M. Klep-
fer, on behalf of the Post, presented the monu-
ment to the borough, and Miss Theresa Waters
unveiled it, W. H. Rhawn making the speech
of acceptance for the borough council. A
parade took place in the morning, in which the
local and visiting Posts, the Sons of V'eterans
and several secret societies participated, the
Catawissa Band leading all the others. It is
estimated that over five thousand people were
in attendance.
SOCIETIES
Lieut. H. H. Hoagland Post, No. 170, Grand
Army of the Republic, was organized in Octo-
ber, 1868, with the following members : M. M.
Brobst, Samuel Walters, Daniel Walters, John
G. Forborg, Thomas Harder, I. W. Willits,
Clark Harder, Henrv Thomas, Arthur Harder,
T. P. House, B. B. Schmick, George W.
Waters, John R. Brobst, John Reicheldeifer.
In 1876 it was disbanded and in 1880 reor-
ganized with practically the same member-
ship. Many of the members have passed away
in the years since, but a few of them are left
to answer the roll call.
Concordia Lodge, No. 60, Independent
Order of Odd Fellows, was organized Sept.
24, 1838, and has held regular weekly meetings
since that date. The first officers were Owen
D. Leib, noble grand ; John F. Mann, vice
grand; Michael Farnsworth, secretary; Joel E.
Bradley, assistant ; Christian A. Brobst, treas-
urer. Meetings were at first held at the home
of Mr. Brobst, until 1882, when the Pine street
schoolhouse was used, having been purchased
the previous year. This is the building
now occupied by the lodge as a place of meet-
ing. It is the twentieth oldest lodge of the
order in the State, and is one of the permanent
institutions of the town. The members are
very proud of their long record of usefulness.
Catawissa Lodge, No. 349, F. & A. M., was
granted a charter Dec. 5, 1864. The first of-
ficers were: John Sharpless, W. M. ; \V. M.
Monroe, S. W. ; Walter Scott, J. W.
Catawissa Chapter, Royal Arch Masons, was
instituted Feb. 19, 1855, with James D. Straw-
bridge, high priest; John K. Robbins and J.
Boyd McKelvy were other officers.
The Catawissa Masonic Association was or-
ganized Dec. 8, 1869, by the following members
of the chapter and lodge: I. H. Seeshohz,
George S. Gilbert, M. V. B. Kline, Walter
Scott, W. B. Koons, J. B. Knittle, W. H. Ab-
bott, C. Ellis, I. Monroe, John K. Robbins, C.
B. Brockway, John Thomas. A brick build-
ing was erected at the head of Main street, the
cornerstone being laid in 1869 and the com-
pleted structure occupied in 1870. The cost of
the building was $19,000. Storerooms occupy
the lower floor, a meeting hall the second, and
lodge rooms the third floor. The association
became involved financially in 1879 ^'""^ the
building was sold in July to George S. Gilbert
and A. H. Sharpless & Sons. In 1888 Gilbert's
interest was sold to the Sharpless family. In
1895 J. K. Sharpless, Jr., bought his father's
interest, and in 1904 transferred it to his
brother and sister, Harold and Mary Sharp-
less. This interest was later acquired by the
Masonic lodge, and the interest of J. K. Sharp-
less, Sr., conveyed after his death to Desde-
mona, widow of Dr. L. B. Kline. The title to
the hall now rests in Ambrose H. Sharpless,
the Kline heirs and the lodge.
Catawissa Council, No. 96, Order of United
American Mechanics, was chartered Oct. i,
1866, with this membership : Simon Raup,
Charles Garner, J. Q. A. Brobst, Henry S.
Geiger, Valentine Betz, Jacob Millard, Nathan
Northstein, John Getchey, C. P. Reese, Gideon
Haldeman. John M. Gordon, Andy Bowers,
Charles H. Letteer. This body is now dis-
banded.
Washington Camp No. 132, P. O. S. of A.,
was organized April 3, 1870, with the follow-
ing membership : W. H. Imhoff, Jacob Cool,
J. K. Rhawn, Harry Yeager, Charles H. Bibby,
Jacob Morrison, Samuel H. Young, C. P. Pfah-
ler, C. D. Hart, George L. Kostenbauder, \V.
K. Russell, P. A. Brown, Thomas E. Harder,
Dennis W'aters, W'illiam F. Bibby, Thomas B.
Cullinan, A. W. Stadtler, Charles D. Cool, W.
H. Abbott, O. D. Kostenbauder, Jacob Kosten-
bauder. The officers in 1914 are: Edward
Riegel, president ; Herbert Y. Harman, vice
president : Frank Riegel, master of forms ;
Paul Schlieder, conductor ; Ross Ervin, inspec-
tor; Charles Sassaman, guard; R. Bruce
Wheeler, trustee; R. B. W'heeler and Dr. L.
B. Kline, delegates to eight-county convention :
C. A. Paul, delegate to State camp. The num-
ber of the camp is now 540.
Catawissa Grange, No. 216, Patrons of Hus-
bandrv', was chartered April 30, 1874. The
first members were: Matthias Hartman, Jo-
siah Roberts, E. M. Tewksbury, Solomon Hel-
wig, Martin T. Hartman, Samuel Fisher, John
S. Mensch. The Catawissa Grange and Hall
Association was incorporated May 25, 1883,
and a commodious brick building was erected
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
195
by them the following year at a cost of $6,cxx3.
Hon. William T. Creasy was the first presi-
dent of the stock company which was formed
to take charge of the property.
The Fraternal Order of Eagles has a fine
brick hall near the river bridge, but the local
membership was sadly depleted by the removal
of the Reading shops. This hall was once
the residence of William Eyer, and is two
stories in height.
SCHOOLS — TOWN AND TOWNSHIP
The beginning of school work in the town-
ship was made in June, 1797, when a school
was established under the direction of John
Mears with funds derived from subscriptions
among the Friends of Philadelphia. He bought
a lot of ground and placed it in the hands of
John Lloyd, Robert Field, Charles Chapman
and Ellis Hughes, as trustees. The following
year John Pemberton, a prominent Friend of
Philadelphia, donated twenty pounds toward
the encouragement and support of the school.
This school continued to be attended by all
denominations until the dissolution of the
monthly meeting of the Friends.
The Germans also took an interest in the
school question, being anxious to preserve
their language, and opened a school in 1800
in the home of Martin Geiger, it being con-
ducted later at Joseph Mclntyre's and still
later at E. M. Tewksbury's, at the lower end
of the township. This school was taught by
Martin Stuck, of Hamburg, Berks county. The
following year he removed to a building
erected for the purpose, nearer Catawissa
creek. There were no school directors then,
but he was employed by Peter Fornwald,
Archibald Hower, Frederick Knittle, Thomas
Fester, and other neighbors.
In 1804 Mrs. Mary Paxton opened a school
in her residence near the Friends meeting-
house, where she also taught sewing and knit-
ting, being thus the first manual training
teacher in the county. Her son Joseph Paxton
afterward built an addition to his home, in
which his daughter Ruth Ann taught a school.
A small frarne house was built about this
time near the residence of Frederick Pfahler,
by the Friends, in which Elijah Barger and
Ellis Hughes taught. In 1815 a high school
was opened in the Keller home by a Mr. Kent
of New York, who was succeeded by a Mr.
Ely, of the same city.
in 1818 the largest educational institution
at that time in the county was opened by
Thomas Barger in the second floor of a spring-
house on land later owned by John Keififer.
His scholars came from Mainville and other
points, as well as from the town of Catawissa.
This school was in the eastern end of the town-
ship, on the road to Bloomsburg. Successive
teachers were John Stokes, Joseph Gittling
and Thomas Ellis. The present school near
this spot is located on the brow of the hill
amid a grove of trees, one of the beauty spots
of the township.
The year 1838 marked the beginning of or-
ganized school work, imder the act of 1836.
That year an academy was founded by Joel
E. Bradley, who had for some time taught
school in the town. He continued to uphold
a high standard of learning until 1842, when
Teremiah J. Brower took his place and car-
ried on the work until 1848.
The first board of school directors was
elected in March, 1838, and consisted of Wil-
liam Clayton, Isaiah John, Ezra S. Hayhurst,
Caspar Hartman, Christian A. Brobst, Milton
Boone. At their first meeting provision was
made for the erection of ten schoolhouses, to
cost from $185 to $210. During the following
year more than four thousand dollars was
expended for school purposes, and although the
money went to found much needed educa-
tional facilities, the taxpayers, as is common
in modern days, complained greatly, and al-
most defeated the continuance of the work at
the following election. However, by 1846,
the work had become so important and neces-
sary that but four dissenting votes were cast
at the regular election in May.
A charter for the Catawissa Seminary was
obtained in 1866, the trustees being George
H. Willitts, Charles W. McKelvy, Samuel B.
Diemer, George Scott, Isaiah John, Henry
Hollingshead, David Clark, John K. Robbing.
Professors Lance, Forsyth and Case were the
first teachers. The school started out well,
but the patronage grew gradually less, and it
closed and was sold in 1879 to the Episcopal
Church. This circumstance assisted in arous-
ing the people to the needs of the schools and
resulted in the building of a fine brick school-
house at the head of Main street in 1882. The
architect was W. W. Perry and the builder
Charles Krug. The school directors of the
township at this time were : E. B. Guie, B. R.
Davis, G. W. Reifsnvder, J. B. Yetter, Luther
Eyer, Dr. W. Walter. Charles H. Albert was
the first principal and E. B. Guie his assist-
ant.
At present the borough has twelve school
grades, with 416 scholars in attendance, while
196
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
the township has three schools and loo schol-
ars.
The school directors of Catawissa borough
are: W. A. McCloughan, Charles Berger, C.
E. Barwick, Ralph Young, Herman Bucher.
The school directors of Catawissa township
are: Mayberry Achy, J. W. Rider, J. J.
Cherington, C. M. Young, Oscar Leighow.
The principal of the high school is F. A.
Frear and his assistants are Ella Knittle and
Helen Margerum. The teachers of the pub-
lic schools are: Ida Walter, Hattie Abbott,
Bessie Grimes, Nellie Harder, Mary Fegley,
Bessie Long, Lucie Waters, Sarah Hamlin,
Mrs. Hester Derickson, Lulu C. Tyson.
RELIGIOUS
The Quaker Meetinghouse
Upon a low hill, surrounded by massive oaks
and half hidden by their luxuriant limbs, stands
the oldest place of worship between Sunbury
and Wyoming. This little log building at
Catawissa is the first home of the sect of
Friends in Columbia county. It has never
been definitely determined how long the build-
ing has stood here. It is severely plain in ap-
pearance and bears the scars of many a tem-
pest and winter's frost. Within, the fittings
are very plain and simple. A few wooden
benches and a table and desk are all that the
founders considered necessary to the worship
of God. All of these wooden articles of fur-
niture, as well as the partitions which sepa-
rated the men from the women, are handmade
and have neither nail nor bolt to hold their
parts together. These fittings are for the most
part older than the edifice in which they are
housed, and are of interesting character, owing
to their oddity and age.
Because of the aversion of the Society to
self-advertising it is hard to fix the age of
the building, there being no cornerstone or
other monument to mark the site and the date
of erection. The first record of services in
this vicinity is that of 1787, when William
Collins, William Hughes, James Watson, John
Love and other Friends resident in Catawissa
were granted permission to hold services at
this place by the Exeter (Berks county) Meet-
ing, under whom they were at the time. At
the Philadelphia Quarterly Meeting of No-
vember, 1795, the Exeter Friends reported the
necessity of this meeting in Catawissa, having
existed for some time previous, and at that
time the monthly meeting at Catawissa was
definitely established. The first official meet-
ing of the Catawissa branch was held April
23, 1796, and was attended by Ellis Yarnall,
Arthur Howell, Henry Drinker, John Morton,
James Cresson, David Potts, Thomas Light-
foot and Benjamin Scarlat, all of Philadelphia;
and by Amos Lee, Jacob Thomas, Owen
Hughes and Thomas Parson, from Exeter.
These effected an organization by the election
of Isaac Wiggins as clerk. Among other
business transacted was the appointment of
Ellis Hughes and William Ellis to prepare all
marriage certificates, and of James Watson,
John Lloyd, Joseph Carpenter, Benjamin
Warner, Thomas Eves, Reuben Lundy, Nathan
Lee and John Hughes to care for the Friends'
burying ground.
This series of monthly meetings continued
for twelve years, but by that date the num-
ber of members was so reduced by emigration
to points further west that the regular meet-
ings were abandoned and the meeting dissolved
formally on Dec. 24, 1808. From that time a
few earnest members met in the building at
irregular intervals until 1814, after which the
old meetinghouse was closed and for a time
abandoned to the silence of the forest that
surrounded it. For years it stood alone and
neglected, the property the resort of the loose
live stock of the town and a dumping ground
for the careless villagers.
But this state of neglect was not to be the
final fate of the historic old home of the
Quakers, for in the spring of 1890 there came
to Catawissa from Elysburg a maiden lady of
the sect, Mary Emma Walter, who had de-
termined to make the care of the old church
and the little cemetery beside it her especial
duty for the rest of her days. Quietly she
took up the task of clearing away the luxuriant
growth of weeds and grass from the graves
of her parents and the others who were laid
at rest there, and cleansing the old building
from the accumulations of years, restoring it
to a semblance of its former dignity. Among
the occupants of the lot on which the church
is located she found a pugnacious goat, who
had appropriated the plat as his special demesne
and resented her guardianship. But she used
firmness and kindness and soon shut out the
horned depredator, as well as the human
loungers who had previously spent their idle
hours there. But the predacious youth of the
village and the careless householder were still
to be reckoned with, and finding her efforts of
no avail to restrain them she suddenly appeared
one rainy day at the meeting of the town coun-
cil, quietly but firmly laid her cause before
the members, and as silently departed. Her
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
197
plea was unanimously granted and from that
day her troubles ceased, the people of the town
vying with each other in assisting to care
for the grounds and taking a pride in their
preservation. Among the most enthusiastic of
the volunteer caretakers are the railroad men,
who keep the grass cut and the fences and
gates in proper shape.
The property is still owned by the Philadel-
phia Society and each year a meeting is held
here by delegates from that city. In the
meantime Mary Emma Walter holds regular
solitary service in the old building on the first
day of the week, and during the period of her
residence here she has missed but two Sab-
baths, owing to the severe winters. She is
the daughter of John Walter and Eliza Violetta
Hicks (his second wife), was one of ten chil-
dren, and was born Sept. 4, 1841, near Elys-
burg, Pa. Her father was from Devonshire,
England, while her mother's ancestor, Robert
Hicks, settled on Long Island in 162 1. He
did not come over in the "Mayflower," owing
to the lack of room in that famous vessel, but
took a following boat. Arrangements will be
made to care for this famous meetinghouse
in the event of the death of the self-sacrificing
custodian, through the Columbia County His-
torical Society and the Society of Friends.
When a new roof was put on the old church
and some repairs made in 1914 it was found
that the white pine boards of the gable ends
had been worn down from one and one-eighth
inches to but three-eighths of an inch by the
storms and snows of 139 years. In the center
of the upper floor or garret was found a yel-
low pine girder 12 by 15 inches in size and 30
feet long, which was perfectly sound. The
joists were 3 by 7 inches and the rafters 3 by
5 inches, all of yellow pine, mortised and
fastened together with wooden pins.
The old hand- forged nails which fastened
the weatherboarding on were made at the time
the building was erected by some blacksmith,
from charcoal iron. These were preserved
and made into breastpins as souvenirs. The
wooden lock which had been used at first upon
the door was replaced in position, and the door
was lined with heavier boards to preserve it.
The grounds surrounding the old meeting-
house are now used by the citizens of Cata-
wissa as a park, in the absence of a public
place for gatherings and exercises. Within
the meetinghouse are two interesting stoves
. of the "tenplate" variety — so named from hav-
ing ten sections, fastened together by long
rods. One of these stoves was made in the
foundry of O. D. Leib & Co., Catawissa, and
the other at Valley Forge. Both are in fine
shape and the custodian says they will still
heat the room or bake a loaf of bread.
Lutherans
When Christian Brobst came to Catawissa
in 1795 he was accompanied by Rev. Mr. Seely,
a Lutheran minister from Berks county. On
May 1st of the following year (1796) the first
recorded communion was held in Brobst's
cabin, the following persons participating:
Michael Raup, Michael Hower, Daniel Geiger,
Christian Brobst, John Wirts, Jacob Yocum,
Conrad Geiger, Catharine Wirts, Barbara
Brobst, Regina Hartel, Maria Gillihans,
Catharine Hower. On Jan. ist of that year
the following children were baptized : Joseph,
son of Christian Brobst ; Edna, daughter of
Frederick Knittle ; and Maria, daughter of
Daniel Yockum. Thereafter until 1802 serv-
ices were held in the old stone house on the
Kostenbarger farm, and between 1802 and
1804 in a barn at the foot of the hill on the
farm now owned by P. H. Shuman.
During 1802 Rev. G. V. Stochs was pastor
of the Lutherans, and in 1808 Rev. John Diet-
rich held the services for the Reformed con-
gregation which affiliated then with the
Lutherans. By a deed of Sept. 4. 1802, Chris-
tian Brobst and his wife Barbara gave to Jacob
Yockum and Harman Yost, in trust, an acre
of ground near the town of "Hughesburg or
Catawese," for the use of the Lutheran and
Presbyterian (German Reformed) denomina-
tions, on which to build a union church and
establish a free burying ground. On March
10, 1804, articles of agreement were entered
into by both denominations for the joint own-
ership of a house of worship, signed by Michael
Hower, Jacob Yockum and Harman Yost,
elders ; and Samuel Felter and Daniel Geiger,
deacons. In that year the old stone union
church was built on the site of the present sol-
diers' monument. It was of the usual style
of architecture of those times, having galler-
ies around three sides and a "wineglass" pulpit.
It was occupied until 1852. when the second
church, a brick structure, replaced it.
The increase of English speaking members
by 1845 caused a separation of the congrega-
tion into two parts, St. John's and St. Mat-
thew's, the former retaining the old brick
church property, in partnership with the Re-
formed congregation. In 1881 the Lutherans
bought out the interest of the Reformed
Church and in July, 1890, laid the cornerstone
of the present brick building on a lot directly
198
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
opposite their old site. The completed build-
ing was dedicated in 1893. It has been re-
peatedly improved and enlarged, and in 1914
an addition was made to the Sunday school of
a gj-mnasium and meeting halls, costing $10,-
000. The value of the church building alone
is placed at $18,000.
During the 118 years of its existence this
church has had but fourteen pastors, and but
four since its occupation of the present build-
ing. They were: Rev. Mr. Seely, 1795; Rev.
G. V. Stochs, 1796; Rev. Frederick Plitt, 1808;
Rev. Peter Hall, 1817; Rev. Peter Kessler,
1820; Rev. Jeremiah Schindle, 1831 ; Rev.
William J. Eyer, 1837; Rev. William Laitzel,
1874; Rev. L. Lindenstreuth, 1878; Rev. J. H.
Neiman, 1881 ; Rev. E. L. Reed, 1892; Rev.
Peter Altpeter, 1898; Rev. William J. Nelson,
1906; and Rev. J. H. Sandt, the present pastor,
who came March 28, 1909.
The present officers of the church are :
Church council — Rev. J. H. Sandt, C. L. Pohe
(president), J. G. Nelson (secretary), John
B. Fortner (treasurer), D. E. Billeg, H. A.
Billeg, E. E. Longenberger, D. E. Nuss, P. J.
Deaner, P. H. Shuman, N. C. Creasy, C. E.
Kreisher, Dr. A. Shuman, Paul Henry, John
Miller, William Fedder, Burton Fortner, G. A.
Eckroat, James Hartman. Trustees — William
T. Creasy, J. E. Clayton, E. F. Weaver, C. G.
Smith, Samuel Eckroat, J. W. Kitchen.
The large membership of the church council
is due to the fact that many of the members
are railroad men, liable to calls of duty at any
hour, and there is danger of the lack of a
quorum at called meetings of the council. The
membership of the church is 420, and of the
Sundav school 350. Financially the church
is in very prosperous condition.
St. Matthezc's Church
The rapid increase of English 
