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SCHUYLKILL COUNTY COURT HOUSE, POTTSVILLE
HISTORY OF SCHUYLKILL COUNTY PENNSYLVANIA
IN TWO VOLUMES
Including a Genealogical and Biographical Record of Many Families and Persons in the County
EDITED BY ADOLF W. SCHALCK AND HON. D. C. HENNING
ILLUSTRATED
VOL. I
STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION 1907
١
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER I.
Page
Ancient Inhabitants-Penn and His Followers-Early Colonies, etc. . . . 17
CHAPTER II.
Organization-Early Settlers-Pioneer Life-Public Officers-Indians .. 38
CHAPTER III.
Land-Titles-First Settlers and Their Achievements-Waterways-Lum-
bering and Rafting-Schuylkill Navigation-The Union Canal. 55
CHAPTER IV.
Topography and Geology of Schuylkill County 63
CHAPTER V.
Removal of Seat of Justice and Public Buildings-County Infirmary and County Law Library Established-Early Wagon Roads and Building of the King's Highway-Center Turnpike and Stage Lines. 75
CHAPTER VI.
"Tales of the Blue Mountains"-A Miscellaneous Chapter Devoted to Early Historical Events, as Appearing in the Columns of the "Miners' Jour- nal," Principally from the Pen of Hon. D. C. Henning. 87
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CHAPTER VII.
Page
Development of the Coal Industry and Trade in Schuylkill County. . 98
CHAPTER VIII.
The Railroad Systems in Schuylkill County-Steam and Electric Roads ... 115
CHAPTER IX.
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Introduction of the Public School System in Pennsylvania and Educational Development in Schuylkill County. 125
CHAPTER X.
Military History of Schuylkill County-Prompt Response to the Nation's Calls-Patriots at Home-Early Militia-The Mexican War-Schuyl- kill's Contribution to the Civil War, and the War with Spain-National Guard of Pennsylvania, etc .. 135
CHAPTER XI.
Labor Troubles-Organization and Operation of Labor Societies-Crimes and Suppression of the Mollie Maguires-Strikes and "Turn-Outs" . . . 158
CHAPTER XII.
Medical and Scientific Societies-The Miners' Hospital-Agricultural Societies-Bible Society-Girard Estate-Pottsville Athenæum, etc .. 175 -
CHAPTER XIII.
Township and Borough History of Schuylkill County-Barry, Blythe and Branch Townships-New Philadelphia and Minersville Boroughs. .... 182
CHAPTER XIV.
Township and Borough History Continued-Butler and Cass Townships-
The Boroughs of Ashland, Gordon and Girardville. 195
CHAPTER XV.
Page
Township and Borough History Continued-East Brunswick and East Norwegian Townships-The Boroughs of New Ringgold, Palo Alto, Port Carbon and Saint Clair 206
CHAPTER XVI.
Township and Borough History Continued-East Union, Eldred, Foster, Frailey, Hegins, Hubley, Kline and Mahanoy Townships-Boroughs of Mahanoy City and Shenandoah . 219
CHAPTER XVII.
Township and Borough History Continued-New Castle, North Manheim, North Union and Norwegian Townships-The Boroughs of Mount Car- bon, Schuylkill Haven, Pottsville and Yorkville. 245
CHAPTER XVIII.
Township and Borough History Continued-Pine Grove, Porter, Rahn, Reilly, Rush, Ryan, Schuylkill, Walker and South Manheim Town- ships-The Boroughs of Tower City, Tamaqua, Coal Dale, Delano and Auburn 291
CHAPTER XIX.
Township and Borough History Concluded-Tremont, Union, Upper Ma- hantongo, Washington, Wayne, West Brunswick, West Mahanoy and West Penn Townships -- Boroughs of Orwigsburg, Port Clinton, Gil- berton and Frackville. 314
HISTORY OF SCHUYLKILL COUNTY
CHAPTER I.
ANCIENT INHABITANTS-PENN AND HIS FOLLOWERS-EARLY COLO- NIES, ETC.
It is not probable that this region was ever the permanent habita- tion of any Indian tribes. The large rivers on the east and west afforded greater facilities for rapid movements from place to place, while the ease with which food products could be taken from the Delaware and the Susquehanna were prime considerations, even in the savage mind. The valleys of these rivers also afforded better facilities for the rude agriculture of the Indians than did the valleys of the Schuylkill and its tributaries, which presented an almost impene- trable mass of laurel. Hunting and scouting parties of Indians traversed the region from time to time, and made temporary camps at various places within the present boundaries of Schuylkill county, but no permanent abiding place was established. Tradition locates an ancient Indian village near Orwigsburg, on or near Sculp Hill, but no evidence of its former existence remains.
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The Indians who inhabited eastern Pennsylvania at the time of its settlement by the whites, were the Lenni Lenapes, known by the white settlers as the "Delawares," probably because of their close proximity to the river of that name. When found here they were under the domination of the warlike Six Nations, who had reduced them to subjection, as their remarkable confederation had enabled them to do with the tribes inhabiting a large scope of territory, even outside of the boundaries of Pennsylvania. The Six Nations were known as the Mingoes or Iroquois, and were the most powerful enemies who confronted the pioneers in their development of the west.
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During the French and Indian war, the Delawares were restored to former prestige as a warlike tribe, and joined with some of the Iroquois tribes and the French, in their temporary strife; but they were not completely restored to tribal honors and prestige until the Revolu- tionary war terminated the power of the Iroquois in the east. The early purchases of territory, and the making of treaties, were conducted through the Iroquois, and to them was delegated the authority to remove the Delawares. On the occasion of a transfer of territory, in 1742, the noted Iroquois chief, Canassatiago, said in a speech at Philadelphia: "We conquered you, we made women of you; we charge you to remove instantly; we don't give you liberty to think about it." The Delaware chief, Teedyuscung, many years later, acknowl- edged this vassalage to the Iroquois when he said: "I was styled by my uncles the Six Nations a woman in former years and had no hatchet in my hand, but a pestle or hominy-pounder."
Heckewelder, the historian, inclines to the belief that the Lenapes were not conquered, but that their submission was voluntary, or the result of intrigue upon the part of the Six Nations; but other writers, equally trustworthy, incline to the opinion that the subjugation of the Lenapes was the result of conquest, and was complete. The Iroquois or tribes of the Six Nations, inhabited the northern border of the State, from the Delaware to Lake Erie, and were called Mingoes by the natives, "Iroquois" being the name given them by the French. They early formed an alliance with the Dutch settlers on the Hudson, whereby they procured fire-arms and ammunition, thus giving them a very decided advantage over other Indian tribes, and, in later years, rendering them formidable adversaries of the whites.
The Monseys, or Wolf tribes, also the Shawanees, inhabited the mountainous regions along the Susquehanna, but they were not numerous nor specially identified with the colonization period. When the first white settlers visited this country, these, as well as the Delawares, were under the domination of the Iroquois, to whom they paid tribute. The' conciliatory measures of the Dutch and Swedes in the early colonization of the territory occupied by them, was pro- ductive of peace and harmony between themselves and the Indians for many years.
The shores of the Delaware were first visited by European mariners in 1609, when a trading-post was established by the explorer, Captain Henry Hudson, under the patronage of the Dutch East India Com- pany. This was transferred in 1621 to the West India Company of the United Netherlands, a corporation formed in Holland to monop- olize trade in America.
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The first colony on the shores of the Delaware was established by Captain Cornelius Jacobus May, in 1623, when he erected Fort Nassau, a few miles below Philadelphia. This fort was afterward abandoned, and in 1631, Captain David Pietersen De-Vries reestablished the colony, and built Fort Oplandt near where Lewistown, Delaware, now stands. This settlement was destroyed by the Indians, who were incited to hostility, during the absence of De-Vries, on a very flimsy pretext. The Government of Sweden established permanent settlements along the Delaware in 1638. The Governor's mansion was established on Tinicum Island in 1642, and thus the foundation of the States of Delaware and Pennsylvania was laid in the unbroken forest. The Swedes joined with the Dutch in their methods of peace and friendship toward the Indians, recognizing them as the rightful owners of the soil, and treating with them in a spirit of fairness and honest.y.
Colonel John Printz, who was appointed Governor in 1642, was instructed by his home Government that the right of soil was acknowl- edged to be in the aborigines, and he was directed to refrain from every species of injury to the natives, and to cultivate their favor by a just and reciprocal commerce; to supply them with articles suitable to their wants, and to employ all friendly means to civilize and win them to the Christian faith.
During the whole period of Swedish dominion on the Delaware, there is no evidence that a single human being lost his life in strife, either between the Swedes and their European neighbors, or between them and the Indians. Their honesty, kindness and friendly deport- ment won the confidence of the Indians, and in this happy state the colonists found a rich reward for their noble attitude toward the uncivilized natives.
William Penn, whose name and fame are indissolubly connected with the history of Pennsylvania, arrived from England in the autumn of 1682, and found many of the principles which he wished to dissem- inate already established in the colony of which he became the pro- prietor. Alliances of hearty good will and friendship were established, which Penn's arrival stimulated and rendered enduring. The Swedes were a religious people, mostly of the Lutheran faith, and had brought ministers with them to the new country, many years before the arrival of William Penn, and have the honor of building the first house of worship within the boundaries of the present State of Pennsylvania. Their settlements were extended northward along the Delaware until their little hamlets occupied the most favorable sites as far north as the present site of Philadelphia. These settlements were protected
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from Indian depredations by a series of small forts, or strong log- houses; but the sturdy pioneers of that day, who first settled the southeastern portion of this State, being devout Christians, relied more implicitly on the Providence of God to save them from des- truction in a wilderness inhabited by wild beasts and uncivilized men.
Controversies arose between the Dutch and the Swedes as to terri- torial boundaries, and continued for years, but without bloodshed. The Dutch took possession of all the Swedish forts, and assumed jurisdiction of the colony, in 1655, the Swedes being allowed satis- factory terms as to their liberty and possession of their private prop- erty. The colony remained Swedish, though governed by the Dutch. In 1656 a Swedish ship arrived, which, through the intervention of friendly Indians, was permitted to land, though under the protest of the Dutch. This vessel contained some of the first settlers of Philadelphia. In 1664 the English conquered the New Netherlands and took possession of the fort at New Castle. Six years later the country was retaken by the Dutch, who held it for two years, when, upon the restoration of peace between Holland and England, it was restored permanently to English rule.
It is not within the scope of this work to deal with State history, as such, however interesting that subject may be But the history of every county in the State is so closely interwoven with the life and character of William Penn that a temporary digression may be pardon- able in presenting more than a passing notice of his eventful career.
Sir Edmund Andros administered the affairs of government at New York during the succeeding seven years, or until 1681, when Pennsylvania became a proprietary government under William Penn, whose memory is dear to every Pennsylvanian. Coming into posses- sion of a large tract of territory through purchase from the English crown, William Penn at once instituted a system of governmental reforms in the treatment of the colonists and Indians which stands without a parallel in history!
Inured to hardships and persecutions in his native land, being many times thrown into prison, and often denied the protection of his paternal home by reason of his religious convictions, he determined to establish an asylum of religious liberty in the New World! William Penn was born in London, Oct. 14, 1644, and was a son of Vice- Admiral, Sir William Penn, of the British Navy. Admiral Penn owned valuable estates in Ireland, and was prominent and influential throughout the United Kingdom. He moved his family to his Irish estates in 1656, and William pursued his studies at home under the direction of a private tutor. At the age of fifteen he went to Oxford,
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and entered upon a course of study at Christ Church College. While at Oxford he attended the religious services of the Society of Friends, derisively called "Quakers." He was deeply impressed with the sim- plicity and purity of their form of worship, and also had come to recog- nize the fact that the established church was, to his mind, too sub- servient to the dogmas and lifeless ceremonies of the creed. He took part in the religious services of the Friends, and withdrew from the prescribed national worship, thereby incurring the disapproval and . censure of the college faculty, ultimately resulting in his expulsion from the college.
His father, an ambitious, worldly man, was greatly incensed at William's "misconduct," and remonstrated in strong terms; but finding that William was strongly entrenched in his religious "fanati- cism," he expelled him from his home. Later the father relented, and sent the son to France, in company with some friends of rank and prominence, hoping thereby to divert the boy's mind into other channels of thought. But his sojourn in France, while giving him the polish of French society, did not wholly eradicate the serious demeanor which had so much displeased his father.
In 1666 William was furnished with a letter of introduction to Sir George Lane, then Secretary of the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, who received him with marked attention, and he became a welcome guest at a court of great splendor. During his residence there a mutiny arose among the soldiers in the garrison of Carrickfergus, and William demonstrated his familiarity with arms, and evinced so much cool- headed bravery and good judgment in quelling the mutiny that the duke tendered him a position as captain of infantry. He was highly flattered by this proposal, and showed a willingness to accept; but happily for himself and the world, parental authority interposed, and William Penn was reserved for a nobler sphere of action in the cause of humanity.
A kind Providence, ever watchful of the destinies of the world's benefactors, soon brought Penn's visions of worldly glory to an end, and outlined a policy which controlled his future life-work. Being in the city of Cork, he attended a meeting of the Friends which was conducted by his old pastor, Thomas Loe, formerly of Oxford. Penn was greatly impressed in listening to a discourse based upon these words: "There is a faith which overcomes the world, and there is a faith which is overcome by the world." From that hour Penn felt that his destiny was fixed. He determined to renounce worldly glory and devote himself to the service of God. But he was soon called to share in the physical sufferings of his friends, beng arrested and
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imprisoned with others, in Cork. While in prison he wrote his first public utterance on the subject of "liberty of conscience," and ended it in a plea to the Lord-President of Munster that persecution for religious dissent be stopped. After more than twenty years of arduous labor for universal religious toleration, his efforts were finally crowned with success.
Being liberated from prison, he returned to his home in England on request of his father, and was again subjected to the indignity of being expelled from his father's house. From this decision the father relented only on his death-bed.
In 1668 Penn felt himself called to the gospel ministry, in which he was distinguished, both as a preacher and as a writer of religious works. Some of his religious writings gave great offense to the clergy of the Church of England, particularly to the Bishop of London. The latter functionary procured from the Government an order for Penn's imprisonment in the Tower. During this imprisonment, which continued nearly nine months, Penn employed much of his time in writing religious books, some of which, as, "No Cross, No Crown," have been extensively circulated and read in many lan- guages.
Penn's reply to an emissary of the King, sent in an endeavor to change his views on religious questions, was characteristic of the man and of the principles which he advocated: "The Tower is the worst argument in the world to convince me; for, whoever was in the wrong, those who used force for religion never could be right." Penn was thrice arrested and twice imprisoned after his liberation from the Tower, but remained steadfast to the principles of universal toleration, writing, speaking and defending, with a conscientious zeal always characteristic of the man.
He was married in his twenty-eighth year, in 1672, choosing for his life-companion Gulielma Maria Springett, daughter of Sir William Springett. She was a woman esteemed for sweetness of temper and amiable disposition. Penn considered this a "Providential match." On the death of his father, Penn came into possession of an ample estate. The annual income was £1500, equivalent to about $7,000, which in the days of which we write was considered an ample fortune. This enabled him to contribute liberally to charity and worthy benev- olences, and there is abundant evidence to show that he made use of his wealth, throughout his life-time, to promote the comfort and happiness of his fellow-beings, rather than to promote his own ease and indulgence.
Probably no reformer of any time suffered greater persecutions
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than William Penn. His high and lofty ideals of the truth and honesty of mankind contributed, in a measure, to his persecution, both in England and America. He was stigmatized as a heretic, a Catholic, a Jesuit, an adventurer preying upon the credulity of the people, and was arrested and imprisoned, often at the instigation of men professing to be his friends. But he seldom gave attention to the voice of the maligner, except to prove the doctrines which he advo- cated, and his sincerity and honesty therein. A British critic in the Westminster Review said of him: "Induced by the voice of the calumniator to give the character of Penn a searching and uncompro- mising scrutiny, we rise from the task under the firm conviction that he was one of the best and wisest of men!" Macaulay, the English historian, shows prejudice against Penn, in recognition of the popular clamor of the day; but his statements derogatory to the exalted character of William Penn have been proved basely false.
The wife of William Penn died in England in 1693, and he was remarried in 1696, his second wife being Hannah Callowhill, the daughter of a Bristol merchant. This lady survived her husband for many years, and figured prominently in the affairs of the colonies after Penn's death. She and her parents were identified with the Society of Friends.
In 1674 William Penn first became interested in the colonization of the New World. His friend, Edward Byllinge, who was joint owner of New Jersey, with Berkley and Carteret, became involved in financial difficulties, and found it necessary to assign his property for the benefit of his creditors. William Penn was appointed one of the assignees, and took a prominent part in formulating the laws for the government of the colony.
In 1676, disputes having arisen between the proprietors and pur- chaser, the territory was divided by mutual consent, and Byllinge came into possession of West New Jersey as his share of the province. During this year, Penn and his associate trustees had prepared a constitution, concerning which Penn wrote to the colonists in these words: "Here we lay a foundation for after ages to understand their liberty as men and Christians, that they may not be brought in bond- age but by their own consent; for we put 'the power in the people,' that is to say, they to meet and choose one honest man for each pro- priety who hath subscribed the concessions (or Constitution); all these men to meet in an assembly, there to make and repeal laws, to choose a governor or a commissioner, and twelve assistants, to execute the laws during pleasure ; so every man is capable to choose or be chosen. No man to be arrested, condemned, imprisoned, or
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molested in his estate or liberty but by twelve men of the neighborhood; no man to lie in prison for debt, but that his estate satisfy as far as it will go, and be set at liberty to work; no person to be called in ques- tion or molested for his conscience, or for worshipping according to his conscience."
The colony of West New Jersey was prosperous under the manage- ment of Penn and his associates; the Indians, being kindly and justly treated, proved to be excellent neighbors, while the white population was constantly augmented by new arrivals from across the ocean. These were mostly Friends who accepted this opportunity of escaping persecution in their native land. The success of this colony probably had much to do with the future relations of William Penn to the New World. Penn's experience in framing the government of New Jersey, and the information he had acquired relative to the adjacent territory, prepared him for the greater enterprise in which he now determined to engage, namely: the founding of a colony on the western side of the Delaware, which proved to be the crowning achievement of his useful and eventful life.
Admiral Penn had bequeathed to his son a claim against the English government for the sum of sixteen thousand pounds. He petitioned Charles II. to grant him, in lieu of the sum of his claim, a tract of coun- try in America, lying north of Maryland, "bounded on the east by the Delaware river, on the west limited as Maryland, and northward to extend as far as 'plantable.'" Penn did not conceal from the English authorities the object of this enterprise, but plainly stated that his purpose was to provide a peaceful home for the persecuted members of his own Society, and an asylum for the oppressed of every nation; where the pure and peaceable principles of Christianity might be carried out in practice. The King favored Penn's propo- sition, especially as it was easier to part with unproductive territory in America than to pay the obligation in cash. But Lord Baltimore, then proprietor of Maryland, and who was kept advised of Penn's plans and proceedings, placed many obstacles in his way. But by pressing his claim with untiring energy, Penn's desire was at last gratified, and on the fourth of March, 1681, the grant was signed. Penn says, in this connection: "After many waitings, watchings, and disputes in council, my country was confirmed to me under the great seal of England. God will bless and make it the seed of a nation. I shall have a tender care of the government, that it be well laid at first."
The territory embraced a vast domain between three degrees of latitude and five degrees of longitude west from the Delaware, and
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was named "Pennsylvania" by decree of the King, though Penn desired that it be called "New Wales." In the preamble to the royal charter, the King states that he makes this grant to Penn on account of the "commendable desire he expresses to enlarge the British empire by promoting trade, to reduce the savage natives by just and gentle manners to the love of civil society and the Chris- tian religion, and to transport an ample colony to an uncultivated country. In return for this grant, it is provided that Penn shall pay two beaver-skins, to be delivered at our castle in Windsor, on the first day of January in every year, and also the fifth part of all gold and silver ore which may happen to be found."
William Penn died, after a lingering illness, at Rushcomb, Bucking- hamshire, England, on July 30, 1718. His name will live in history as a man who accomplished more for the cause of civil and religious liberty than any other man of his time. He was the representative of a despised and proscribed sect, yet by a wise and liberal adminis- tration of affairs in the government of his province, in accordance with the principles of that sect, he did more to bring it to the favorable notice of the world than could have been accomplished with fleets and armies. More than two centuries have passed since Penn estab- lished his policy of government on American soil, and yet political science has developed but little that is essential to the welfare and happiness of humanity which was not embodied in his system.
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