History of the Forest Lake Club, 1882-1932, Part 1

Author: Calhoun, William Caldwell, 1875-
Publication date:
Publisher: [publisher not identified]
Number of Pages: 360


USA > Pennsylvania > Pike County > History of the Forest Lake Club, 1882-1932 > Part 1


Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org.


Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15


STATE LIBRARY OF PENNSYLVANIA 3 0144 00266242 7


ORY OF ST LAKE CLUB


1882 - 1932 by


WILLIAM CALDWELL CALHOUN


5 367.9748


F9612


PENNSYLVANIA


17 45


STATE


IBRARY


History of THE FOREST LAKE CLUB 1882-1932


1


Digitized by the Internet Archive


This project is made possible by a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of Commonwealth Libraries in 2018 with funding from


https://archive.org/details/historyofforest/00calh


CAMP WILLIAMSON


HISTORY OF THE FOREST LAKE CLUB 1882-1932


By WILLIAM CALDWELL CALHOUN


AKE


FOREST LA


THE


CLUB.


LACKAWAXEN TOWNSHIP


PIKE COUNTY


PENNSYLVANIA


PRIVATELY PRINTED MCMXXXII


Copyright, 1932, by WILLIAM CALDWELL CALHOUN


All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced without the written permission of the author.


5 367.9748 F761Z C12


Printed in the United States of America


.


DEDICATED


TO


THE PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE MEMBERS OF THE FOREST LAKE CLUB, WITH THE FERVENT HOPE THAT OLD TRADITIONS, WHICH HAVE WORN WELL, MAY LONG SURVIVE AND MARCH HAND IN HAND WITH PROGRESS FOR THE SERVICE OF THE COMING GENERATIONS.


, P


308758


2


7


7


1


2


22


,


-


-


P


1


1


A


-


1


>


>


-


-


A


A


,


BANDA


A


nn


AF


-


A


0


A


-


1


1


-


1


1


PREFACE


THE idea of writing a history of The Forest Lake Club has been in the minds of several of its members for a number of years and it is particularly appro- priate that the history should be completed at this time inasmuch as the Club is to formally observe its fiftieth anniversary during the month of July, 1932. Historical facts readily become mere traditions, diffi- cult to preserve with the swift passage of time; and it accordingly seemed advisable to take advantage of the opportunity to prepare a history while the rec- ords were still accessible and valuable data could be obtained from the present members. Accordingly Doctor William C. Calhoun graciously consented to undertake the task of preparing this book with the hope that it may prove of interest to the Club mem- bers and of some historic value in years to come.


It will readily be appreciated that a history of this character which covers a half century of a great variety of activities and transactions, necessarily presents numerous difficulties in the way of accurate correlation. Consideration was at first given to the idea of discussing in their order the five decades em- bracing the Club's history from its beginning to the present time, but it was finally determined that the various phases contributing to the growth of the


PREFACE


Club, considered separately and under the respec- tive chapter headings of the volume, would be the preferable method of procedure.


It is impossible to over-estimate the vast amount of labor and research work undertaken by the author in the preparation of this book. In addition to a thorough study of the records contained in the minute books of the Board of Directors and of the various committees of the Club, the author inter- viewed many of the members with respect to the different aspects of the Club's activities and pro- cured much valuable data from certain of the older members who helped to make the early history of our Club.


The undersigned members were appointed by the Board at its meeting in February, 1932, to arrange with Doctor Calhoun for the printing and distribu- tion of this history. Our review of the mass of information studied and compiled by him convinces us that the Club is particularly fortunate in having had as its historian an author gifted with an easy and pleasing style and an ability to present the material in a most interesting and entertaining manner.


EVERETT W. GOULD, ELMER R. GREGOR, NORMAN R. FRAME.


[ viii ]


The author is deeply grateful to those fellow members who have so heartily cooperated with him in the preparation of this history and he hereby takes the opportunity to publicly thank them for their aid and encouragement.


CONTENTS


PREFACE


PAGE


vii


RECORD OF OFFICERS


XV


PRESENT MEMBERSHIP LIST xix CHAPTER


I. EARLY REGIONAL HISTORY


1


II. THE FOUNDING OF THE CLUB


20


III. THE ORIGINAL CLUB HOUSE


50


IV. ADDITIONS TO THE CLUB HOUSE


68


V. IMPROVEMENTS TO THE CLUB HOUSE AND PLANT 85


VI. THE COTTAGE COLONY


103


VII. A CLUB TRADITION


109


VIII. FINANCIAL TRANSACTIONS


.


112


IX. IMPROVEMENT OF GROUNDS


127


X. ACREAGE . 138


XI. TRANSPORTATION


148


XII. LAKES AND STREAMS


157


.


XIII. WOODS AND TRAILS


177


XIV. WILD LIFE


.


192


XV. SPORTS AND PASTIMES


203


XVI. OUR MEMBERSHIP


224


XVII. SKETCHES


235


A FINAL WORD


.


261


[xi ]


ILLUSTRATIONS


Camp Williamson Frontis piece FACING PAGE


On the Old Canal Near Lackawaxen .


12


Doctor Alexander Hadden, First President of The Forest Lake Club . 20


Stone Wall and Gate, Road to Mast Hope


44


Turnstile. "To Keep the Cows Out?" . 46


Original Club House


54


"Taken at Hawley" . 56


South Wing Added to Original Club House


68


Old "Water Wagon"


80


Present Club House


92


Davidson-Ogden Cottage


104


Oxcart. Round Corilla in the Distance


128


Wolf Lake Summer House .


132


First Map of the Club Property.


1884


138


Later Map of the Club Property, Including Wolf Lake. 1894 142


Map of Present Club Property


146


Twelve Passenger Stage 148


Spike Team En Route


152


Hawk's Nest Road


152


Big Corilla Lake .


158


[xiii ]


ILLUSTRATIONS


FACING PAGE


Wolf Lake and Grove .


162


Building of the Dam 166


The Spillway of the Completed Dam . 166


"Black Ash Run." (Forest Lake Brook) 174


Original Trap Shooting Range 208


Later Trap Shooting Range


208


Golf Course. 1899 210


Golf Course. 1915 212


Golf Course. 1932 216


"Aunt Tillie" of Callicoon


218


Old Time Picnic at Wolf 220


Winter Scene


222


William C. Mansfield, President of The Forest Lake Club. 1932 224


[xiv ]


.


A


A


-


an


A


P


A


VANIA


RECORD OF OFFICERS


President


Alexander Hadden, M.D.


1883-1905


Wm. A. Avis


1906, 1907


Joseph Van Vleck, Jr.


1908-1910


John D. Weston


1911-1920


Henry S. Livingston


1921


Joseph M. Merrill


1921-1923


Henry S. Livingston


1924, 1925


William L. Archer


1926, 1927


John D. Mills


1928


Clarence C. Guion, M.D.


1929, 1930


William C. Mansfield


1931, 1932


Vice-President


William Johnston


1883, 1886-1890


Edward G. Black


1884, 1885


Charles Whitlock 1891


Benjamin F. Judson


1892, 1893


Charles R. Gregor


1894-1899


Joseph Van Vleck


1900-1903


George N. Williams, Jr.


1904, 1905


James A. Frame


1906, 1907


John D. Weston


1908-1910


2


,


,


>


2


U


9 0


7 1


A


A


.


3


[xv ]


308758


RECORD OF OFFICERS Vice-President (Continued)


Everett W. Gould, M.D.


1911-1917


Frank E. Davidson


1918


William L. DeBost


1919-1921


Henry S. Livingston


1922, 1923


William L. Archer


1924, 1925


John D. Mills


1926, 1927


William C. Mansfield


1928-1930


H. Rodger Elgar


1931, 1932


Treasurer


Edward G. Black


1883, 1886, 1887


Robert Betty


1884, 1885


Charles Whitlock


1888-1890


Wm. A. Avis


1891, 1892


Francis McMulkin


1893-1896


Samuel Coles


1897-1899


Wm. H. Rockwood


1900-1903


D. M. Van Vliet


1904, 1905


Charles S. Gregor


1906, 1907


Joseph Lahey


1908-1913


William C. Davidson


1914-1917


Richard Lahey


1918-1922


Richard W. Lahey


1923-1925


Herbert D. Brown


1926-1932


Secretary


George L. Lyon 1883, 1886-1888 Wm. W. Ladd 1884, 1885


[xvi]


RECORD OF OFFICERS Secretary (Continued)


Frederick S. Wait


1889-1891


George N. Williams, Jr.


1892-1894


Wm. C. Davidson


1895-1905


Frank E. Davidson


1906-1908


Claude V. Pallister


1909, 1910


John F. Honness


1911-1914


Herbert D. Brown


1915-1920


Elmer R. Gregor


1921-1923


Bert W. Hendrickson


1924-1928


Norman R. Frame


1929-1932


Landscape Engineer


Alfred B. Ogden


1890-1892


George N. Williams


1893-1896


Jos. Van Vleck 1897-1907, 1911-1924, 1926-1932


Herbert D. Brown


1908-1910


Harold C. Williams


1925


Counsel


J. H. Van Etten


1883-1905


Elwin C. Mumford


1906-1918


James Gardner Sanderson


1919-1930


George R. Bull


1931, 1932


[xvii ]


PRESENT MEMBERSHIP LIST


Members


Archer, William L. 24 Willow Ave., Larchmont, N. Y. Bell, Amos S. 850 Lake St., Newark, N. J.


Board, Frederic Z. . 130 W. Franklin Ave., Ridgewood, N. J.


Brackett, George F. 210 Heights Rd., Ridgewood, N. J. Brobston, Joseph Nazareth, Pa.


Brown, Herbert D .. . . 133rd St. & Walnut Ave., New York City Calhoun, William C., M.D .. . 200 West 93rd St., New York City Campbell, Charles W. 269 Fifth Ave., New York City


Colburn, Myron L., Dr .. . 133 West 87th St., New York City Colby, Safford K .. c/o Aluminum Co., of America, Oliver Bldg., Pittsburgh, Pa.


Coster, Mrs. Frank . 490 West End Ave., New York City Davidson, Frank E. 1 Wall Street, New York City


DeBost, William L. 1065 Sixth Ave., New York City


Dos Passos, Louis Hays 165 Broadway, New York City Dyer, Frank L. 24 North Caldwell Ave., Ventnor, N. J. Elgar, H. Rodger . 100 Old Mamaroneck Rd., White Plains, N. Y. Foster, Howard Crosby. . 932 Cedar Brook Rd., Plainfield, N. J. Fountain, Gideon E. 17 East 42nd St., New York City


Frame, James A., Jr. Sasco Rd., Southport, Conn.


Frame, Norman R. 2700 Arlington Ave., Spuyten Duyvil, New York City


Frame, William H. 41 Neperan Rd., Tarrytown, N. Y. Gaines, John S., 2nd, M.D .. .. 200 West 71st St., New York City Gould, Everett W., M.D. 860 Park Ave., New York City Graham, J. Monroe . Old Short Hills Rd., Short Hills, N. J. Gregor, Elmer R. Sasco Rd., Southport, Conn.


[xix ]


MEMBERSHIP LIST


Guion, Clarence C., M.D .. 175 Centre Ave., New Rochelle, N. Y.


Harper, Rev. Emile S. 792 Carroll St., Brooklyn, N. Y.


Hendrickson, A. E. .Pier 56, North River, N. Y.


Hendrickson, Bert W. 80 Dellwood Rd., Bronxville,N. Y. Honness, John F. 75 Maiden Lane, New York City


Hurtzig, William G. 54 Morris St., Morristown, N. J.


Johnes, Charles B. 333 Forest Ave., South Orange, N. J. c/o New York Life Ins. Co.,


Johnson, Frederick M.


51 Madison Ave., New York City Jordan, Max O. . . Ash & Maple Drives, Great Neck, L. I., N. Y. Kemp, John B. 200 Godwin Ave., Ridgewood, N. J.


Kingsbury, Howard T


2 Rector St., New York City


Lahey, Mrs. Joseph


650 Main St., New Rochelle, N. Y.


Lahey, Richard W.


55 Poplar Place, New Rochelle, N. Y.


Lahey, William T.


1060 Park Ave., New York City


Livingston, Henry S. 16-26 Cooper Square, New York City


Livingston, Graham 2501 Palisade Ave., Spuyten Duyvil,


N. Y. C.


Lockhart, George .. South Norwalk, Conn.


MacGregor, Charles Russell. 1 Washington Pl., Morristown, N. J.


MacGregor, Charles S. 170 Broadway, New York City Mansfield, William C. ... 1203 Lexington Ave., New York City


Merrill, Joseph M. 9 Orchard St., Newark, N. J.


Metz, Arthur W. 696A Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn, N. Y.


Miller, Byron D.


Honesdale, Pa.


Miller, John A.


Nazareth, Pa.


Mills, John D. 75 Maiden Lane, New York City Pelham, Arleigh 149 Broadway, New York City Pelham, George F. 87 Broadview Ave., New Rochelle, N. Y. Pitcher, Charles R. 150 William St., New York City


Remey, W. Bertram.


279 West End Ave., Ridgewood, N. J.


Reynolds, George W. 78 Ridgewood Ave., Glen Ridge, N. J. Smith, Charles J. 413-14th St., Honesdale, Pa.


Starbuck, William W. 55 John St., New York City


Starr, Alfred R., Jr., Dr. 8 West 40th St., New York City


[xx]


MEMBERSHIP LIST


Stout, R. V. R. H. 2 Linden Place, Red Bank, N. J.


Tetor, Frederick A. 69 Wildwood Ave., Ridgewood, N. J.


Thomas, Mrs. Charles K. 310 Broad St., Red Bank, N. J.


Thomas, Charles K.


310 Broad St., Red Bank, N. J.


Van Vleck, Joseph 111 Fifth Ave., New York City Van Vleck, Joseph, Jr. 21 Van Vleck St., Montclair, N. J. Van Vleck, Howard Austin 59 Upper Mountain Ave.,


Montclair, N. J.


Van Vliet, D. M. 444 West 7th St., Plainfield, N. J. Walker, Miss Henrietta 214 Nutley Ave., Nutley, N. J. White, Raymond P. 252 Hillside Place, Ridgewood, N. J. Will, George W. 44 Wildwood Terrace, Glen Ridge, N. J. Williams, Arthur D. 55 Greenacres Ave., Scarsdale, N. Y.


Williams, Arthur Donald, Jr. . 55 John St., New York City Williams, George N., Jr. . . 239 Fisher Ave., White Plains, N. Y.


Williams, Harold C. 239 Fisher Ave., White Plains, N. Y.


Associate Members


Beasley, David S. 123 Heights Rd., Ridgewood, N. J.


Bull, George R. . Milford, Pa.


Dunham, Frederick C. 500 Fifth Ave., New York City


Freeman, Clayton E. 83 Ridgewood Ave., Gren Ridge, N. J. Hopper, Elmer J. 294 Bellair Rd., Ridgewood, N. J. Jarrett, Robert E. 316 West 84th St., New York City McClave, Mrs. Lucy W. .. 600 West 116th St., New York City Roth, Raymond. . . 129 Clarewell Ave., Upper Montclair, N. J. Sisley, Edward J. . Woodcliff Lake, N. J.


Toms, Madison L. Alvord Rd., Morristown, N. J.


[xxi]


History of THE FOREST LAKE CLUB 1882-1932


History of THE FOREST LAKE CLUB


I


EARLY REGIONAL HISTORY


T THE beautiful section of Pike County in which lies the domain of The Forest Lake Club is the most northern link of the Poconos of Pennsylvania, which, in turn, are part of the same family in the Appalachian Mountain chain, starting with the White and Green Mountains of New England and running down through the Adirondacks and Catskills of New York to the Blue Mountains of Virginia.


With the disappearance of the ice of the last glacial period many thousands of years ago, there was left scattered over this entire region of northeastern Penn- sylvania, immense numbers of stones, rocks and boulders; to quote Carroll B. Tyson in his very inter- esting and instructive book 1 "The Poconos," this "drift is of varying depths, from several hundred feet in some of the valleys, to a few feet or perhaps only an occasional boulder on some of the summits. Fre- quent depressions or 'kettle holes' occur in the drift, which, having become filled with water, now consti-


1 By permission of Carroll B. Tyson.


[1]


HISTORY OF THE FOREST LAKE CLUB


tute beautiful ponds and little lakes." Again he says, "Nature formed the plateau with its hills and moun- tains and valleys many millions of years ago; but she put on the finishing touches for us within the com- paratively recent time of the last million years."


To quote once more the above-mentioned author, "Pennsylvania was originally one of the best, if not the very best, of wooded states in the eastern half of the country. . . . Practically the entire state, with the exception of a few natural meadows and several rough mountain tops, was originally covered with trees. . .. Sixty or seventy years ago this whole country was one great pine forest containing the finest white pine on the continent." While the pine predominates, there are said to be over sixty different kinds of native trees in the Poconos, and Mr. Elmer R. Gregor, naturalist and author, has listed fifty different kinds native to our own preserve. On the higher plateaus, and said to be especially abundant in Pike County, are found mountain ash, larch, spruce and fir. These are members of the northern forests. Along the rivers are found the river birch, sycamore, swamp hickory, silver maple and black walnut; while about the lakes the gray birch, among many other kinds, is abundant.


In 1923, according to Mr. Joseph S. Illick of the Pennsylvania Department of Forests and Waters, there were in Pike County 261,118 acres of forest land or 38.3 acres to each inhabitant. The same author states that since 1898 there have been set out


[2]


EARLY REGIONAL HISTORY


nearly a million trees on the State Forests in Monroe and Pike Counties.2


And so, with these wonderful forest trees, wild flowers, plants, ferns and mosses, added to which, as "finishing touches" are our ponds and lakes and streams, we fortunate members of The Forest Lake Club have a setting that cannot be improved upon and scarcely equaled.


Of the original inhabitants of this region of ours we know nothing; but we do know that of the various eastern tribes of Indians, the Lenni-Lenape, more commonly known as the "Delawares," were the chief inhabitants of the Poconos before the coming of the white man. To the north of them in New York State were the "six nations" which embraced the Iroquois or "five nations" and the southern tribe of the Tuscaroras. Tradition relates that originally the Iroquois and the Lenni-Lenape were on friendly terms as they journeyed eastward together from beyond the Mississippi to reach the promised lands of their prophets. Later these two tribes became enemies and jealously guarded their chosen hunting grounds.


It is said that there was a strip of territory embrac- ing the land between the Wallenpaupac and the Lackawaxen streams on the south, and the State line on the north, that was the disputed hunting ground of these two Indian tribes,3 and if this tradition be related to fact, our Club lands lie within this area.


2 Referred to in "The Poconos," reproduced by permission of Carroll B. Tyson.


3 Referred to in "The Poconos," by Carroll B. Tyson.


[3]


HISTORY OF THE FOREST LAKE CLUB


Imagination can readily picture some of the bolder spirits among the braves of these two tribes frequently adventuring into this forbidden region to hunt and fish in what are now our woods and lakes. Indeed, imagination does not have to be drawn upon to any great degree when we stop to consider the Indian names of places within our immediate vicinity. Lackawaxen, the little village along the stream of the same name, within ten miles of the Club, is so called from a corruption of "Lechawesnik" which signifies "where the roads part." On a memorial tablet in Lackawaxen, the State Department of Highways in- terprets the term Lackawaxen as "Swift Waters." Shohola is derived from "Schauwihilla," the Indian word meaning "weak," "faint," or "depressed," the significance of which, at least to us, is not clear. To bring the matter nearer home, we have, within a mile of the Club House, and practically touching on our own preserve, Lake Teedyuscong, named after a cele- brated Delaware Indian Chief. To George H. Row- lands is given the credit for naming the lake. Chief Teedyuscong lived in the Pocono country all his life, and played a distinguished part during the border war in Revolutionary times. He was a man of marked intelligence, just and honest in his dealings with the whites, and inclined to peace rather than warfare with the invaders of his country. Lake Teedyuscong still has a "Chief" in the person of Daniel Carter Beard, head of the Boy Scouts of America and famous naturalist and author. It is


[ 4]


EARLY REGIONAL HISTORY


still a popular diversion for the young people of the Club to attend the Camp Fires at "Dan Beard's Camp."


The settlement by the white man of this part of the country although lying as it does within little more than one hundred miles of the metropolis, was, as time goes, a comparatively recent event; due largely, in all probability, to its rugged wild nature and its unsuitability to agricultural pursuits. Ac- cording to Egle's "History of Pennsylvania," the earliest white settlement in Pike County was made along the Delaware River below Milford by a party of Hollanders who came from Esopus (now Kings- ton) in New York State. The precise date is un- known, but it was at a period previous to the arrival of William Penn. The next settlement, according to the same author, was made at what is now Mast Hope. Here a cabin was built by a party of hunters and trappers, a clearing made, and a number of apple trees set out. This was sometime between 1729 and 1740. This was afterwards claimed as Manor land and the present owners of the property have the deed in their possession bearing the Proprietaries' Seal. Mathews' "History of Wayne, Pike and Monroe Counties," states that one of the earliest settlements in our immediate vicinity is supposed to have been made about the year 1757 by a man named Carter who with his family lived along the bank of the Wallenpaupac Creek,4 a branch of the Lackawaxen


4 Lake Wallenpaupac, lying south of Hawley, is the result of the damming of this stream.


[s]


HISTORY OF THE FOREST LAKE CLUB


dividing Wayne and Pike Counties. Within a short time Carter was killed by the Indians whose land he had invaded, and it was not until shortly before the Revolution that any other settlers ventured into these parts. Among the records of the earliest settlers of this part of Pike County occur the names of John Van Etten, Herman RosenKranz,5 Henry Decker, Cornelius Case, John Williamson, George H. Row- lands, and William Holbert; not only have these been handed down to our day in the names of places in the vicinity of the Club as, for instance, Rosen- Kranz' Corner, Casetown, Decker's Mills and Row- lands, but the names of the descendants, either direct or collateral, of William Holbert, John Van Etten, and John Williamson all appear in the Club's earliest records having to do either with its actual incorpora- tion or the purchase of its property. Some of the Club members of the present day are not so familiar with the little villages of Lackawaxen, Rowlands, and Mast Hope, which lie nearest to us, as were those of the era before the coming of the motor car, in the days when everyone came up by railroad. These old towns have become so much a part of the nomen- clature of the Club that it seems fitting to tell some- thing of their early settlement.


Lackawaxen township lying in the northwest cor- ner of Pike County was erected in 1798. Pike


5 The name of Herman RosenKranz appears in the original petition of what later became the township of Upper Smithfield (Milford), this includ- ing nearly all of Pike County about 1750. His son, Jacobus Rosencrans, probably was born in Westfall township and lived neighbor to old Jacobus Van Aken. He owned a large farm near the Delaware.


[6]


EARLY REGIONAL HISTORY


County was named in honor of Major Zebulon Mont- gomery Pike, who, under orders from the United States Government, carried on a series of explora- tions in the then Western Territories during the years 1805, 1806 and 1807. This intrepid explorer discovered the sources of the Mississippi, Arkansaw, Kansas, La Platte and the Pierre Juan rivers, and it was from him that Pike's Peak derived its name. Major Pike was killed at the battle of York near Ontario, April 27th, 1813, and was buried at Sacketts Harbor. Pike County, at its organization, comprised the townships of Middle Smithfield, Delaware, Upper Smithfield, Lackawaxen, and Palmyra.


Jonathan Conklin and James Barnes are said to have been the first settlers at the site of the present village of Lackawaxen, the former on the south side and the latter on the north side of the mouth of the Lackawaxen river where it enters the Delaware. This occurred before the Revolution, or more than twenty years before the township was mapped out.


The children of Jonathan Conklin were four sons, John, Lewis, Benjamin, and Absalom, all of whom were said to have lived to a great age; and four daughters, Thyre, Tamar, Lydia and Freelove. Strange as it may appear, the Conklin name is said to have become extinct in the region. John Barnes had four sons of whom descendants may be found among the people of this section up to the present day.


Lackawaxen seems to have been the center from


HISTORY OF THE FOREST LAKE CLUB


which in its early history sprang the nearby settle- ments of Mast Hope and Rowlands. A William Hol- bert who lived at Lackawaxen was among the early settlers of Mast Hope about the year 1800, and it was from his grandson, William Holbert, that the Club made its first purchase of land.


According to a reference in Mathews' "History of Wayne, Pike and Monroe Counties," Mast Hope was originally called Sim's Point, after Simeon Westfall, the first child born in the settlement. Doubt has been thrown on this statement, however, because of later information from two different sources show- ing Sim's Point to be a settlement at the present time near Casetown, which is several miles back of Mast Hope. Apparently, then, the original name of the town was Mast Hope, but here again we meet with divided opinion, this time regarding the origin of the name. One version has it thus: It is said that an old Indian Chief and his tribe held the whole ridge overlooking the settlement and the village was named "Maseope" after him (later Masthope, the deriva- tion). The second and probably truer version is the following: At the time of the building at Philadel- phia of the frigate Constitution, a party of men journeying up the Delaware in search of trees suit- able for its masts, finally arrived at Westfall's with- out having accomplished their object. They were discouraged and about to return when Westfall told them he could show them some timber that would come up to their specifications. He thereupon con-


[8]


EARLY REGIONAL HISTORY


ducted them to the spot where they found the tall straight pines for which they had been searching. And so the name Mast Hope. It is the opinion of the author that the name Mast Hope, of itself, is fairly convincing of the correctness of the latter ver- sion of its origin.


In the year 1867, there was a bad wreck at Mast Hope. A freight train took the switch there for a passenger train known as Number 3 which passed Lackawaxen westbound about midnight. On this night, Number 3 was late, the freight took the switch and the engineer fell asleep. He awakened after a time, and supposing Number 3 had gone past, proceeded to pull out of the switch. Just as he got out on the frog with his engine, Number 3 came along at high speed and crashed into them. Nine- teen persons were burned and the station was also destroyed.




Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.