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Gc 974.801 D26ba 1390144
M. L.
GENEALOGY COLLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01126 3412
Pediratory
To those who were born and reared in this valley. Those who now live here. Those who have at one time lived here and are now living elsewhere. Those who lived in this history and have now passed into the beyond.
To these folks, this Volume is respect- fully dedicated.
"Remember the Days of Old, Consider the Years of Many Generations." -- Deut. 32: 7.
Lykens-Williams Valley 7
History - Directory
and Pictorial Review
Embracing the entire Lykens and Williams Valley. in the effort to preserve the past and perpetuate the present.
Edited and Compiled by J. ALLEN BARRETT
Published by J. Allen Barrett
Press of The Telegraph Printing Company Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
AUTHOR'S PRELUDE NOTE
In a brief resume of the history of the Lykens and Williams Valley it is out of place to treat the Aborigines and even the early history of the state of Pennsylvania, save when some allusion to either may be deemed necessary. The founder of Pennsylvania is certainly deserving of grateful remembrance for his efforts to settle his Province, to protect the pioneers and to foster their industry and thrift. He was a remarkable man in many respects, and his "Frame of Government" is a model unequalled by the laws of any of the colonies or Provinees. The "Concessions" agreed upon in England for the encouragement of emigration to his Provinee was an important factor in that great movement which so materially assisted in building up this Western empire, and gave to the world the great state founded in peace. The indueements by Penn to settle were not confined to right of soil or voiee in government, but religious toleranee was guaranteed by him. The law of religious liberty as framed by him, and passed by the first Assembly at Chester on the 10th of December, 1682, was the first Act of toleration ever given to any people in the history of nations.
Owing to this toleration on the part of the Proprietary of Pennsylvania, that Province became a refuge and home to the people of all ereeds and religious beliefs. It is true that during the life time of the Founder, liberty of conscience was not questioned but at a later period, we regret to say, his re- ligious adherents would have throttled tolerance had they not feared revolution.
1390144
As a general thing the first settlers were staid farmers. Their mutual wants produced mutual dependence, hence they were kind and friendly to each other-they were even hospit-
5
6
LYKENS-WILLIAMS VALLEY HISTORY
able to strangers. Their want of money in the early times made it necessary for them to associate for the purpose of build- ing houses, cutting their grain, etc. This they did in turn for each other without any other pay than the pleasures which usually attended a country frolic. Strictly speaking, what is attributed to them as virtues might be called good qualities, arising from necessity and the peculiar state of society in which these people lived-patience, industry and temperance.
7
DIRECTORY AND PICTORIAL REVIEW
PREFATORY NOTE
The publication of this volume is made possible by the support of the business people whose advertisements are eon- tained herein. The Author earnestly requests the READER when in need of any commodity, to consult the Business Diree- tory of this book.
To those who are living in the present twentieth century, and have learned to revel in the resources into the past, the facts herein gathered should have a charm. The present will soon belong to the past, and thus, as the years roll on apaee, the very sketches here contained will be more highly treasured. If the sketehes of some who ought to have a place here are wanting, it is not the fault of the Publisher-it is that of the individual. Bearing in mind constantly, however, the limited space of this volume prohibits the dwelling in detail on any subjeet and ex- eluding altogether minor and non-important matter, thus af- fording room for the really important and interesting subjeets which permits the submission to the subseribers, of a perfectly reliable as well as valuable book.
As introductory to this volume, a resume of the history of the Lykens-Williams Valley is given, with other data nowhere else to be found. This feature being peculiar to this work.
In presenting the Lykens-Williams Valley History-Directory and Pietorial Review to its patrons, the Publisher and Author acknowledges with gratitude, the encouragement and support the enterprise has received, and the willing assistance in enab- ling him to surmount the many unforseen obstaeles to be met with in the production of a work of this nature and magnitude. To procure the material for its compilation, official records were carefully examined, newspaper files searched, manuscripts, letters and memoranda were sought, History volumes were eon- sulted and throughout the resume, excerpts were taken from Gordon's History of Pennsylvania, W. H. Egle's History of Pennsylvania, Egle's History of Dauphin and Lebanon Counties,
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LYKENS-WILLIAMS VALLEY HISTORY
The Biographical Encyclopedia of Dauphin County, Richard Nolan Diary, Diaries of old residents of the valley, Lykens Stan- dard, Millersburg Sentinel, Elizabethville Echo, Williamstown Times, Tower City Herald, and direct information from parties still living. To name those here would require several pages; therefore, ever mindful of the valuable assistance, my sincere thanks and appreciation are extended. Great care was taken to have sketches as free from error as possible, but I do not hold myself responsible for mistakes, as no charge was made for the insertion of any printed matter contained in this book, ex- cept for advertisements.
Therefore, kind reader, I submit to you this volume,-sin- cerely trusting you will be appreciable enough to realize the task involved to publish the same, that you will appreciate its value now and in time to come; and in knowing this, I feel that the effort has not been in vain.
J. ALLEN BARRETT.
Lykens, Pa., March 15th, 1922.
9
DIRECTORY AND PICTORIAL REVIEW
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Subject
Page
Business Directory
Last Page
Did You Know, or, Do You Remember Department, The 294
District Number 3. U. S. Selective Draft. Statistics 209
Elizabethville, Important Dates in History of 193
Early Families of The Valley 31
Early Settlers, How Lived 21
Game and Fish, Past and Present, By V. W. Barrett, Lykens Pa, .. 18.0
Geological Survey, A., of The Lykens-Williams Valley-By H. E. Buffington, Esq., Lykens, Pa. 13
Gratz Fair Association 55
High Schools In The Valley
208
Hoffman's Reformed Church 208
History of The Lykens-Williams Valley, Proper
22
History of Towns in The Valley-
History of Berrysburg
97
History of Elizabethville
131
History of Gratz
52
History of Lykens Township
51
History of Lykens Borough
100
History of Millersburg
63
History of Miffintownship 95
History of Porter Township 160
History of Tower City 165
89
History of Williamstown
145
History of The Discovery of Lykens Valley Coal
42
Honor Roll of The Valley ---
284
Honor Roll of Elizabethville
286
Honor Roll of Gratz
285
Honor Roll of Millersburg
280
Honor Roll of Tower City
290
Honor Roll of Wiconisco
283
Honor Roll of Williamstown 287
Indian, Lykens-Williams Valley 18
"Love Rock" A Legend of a Romantic Spot on Berry's Mt. 32
Lykens, Important Dates in The History of 192
Lykens-Wiconisco Athletic Club 224
Lykens Valley Summer-Rambo Apple 212
History of Wiconisco
Honor Roll of Berrysburg
279
Honor Roll of Lykens
10
LYKENS-WILLIAMS VALLEY HISTORY
Subject Page
Millersburg Gun Club
210
Mine Casualties at Lykens Valley Mines 193
Mine Casualties at Williamstown Mines 197
Mine Casualties at Towercity Mines
200
Mine Casualties at East and West Brookside Mines
200
Municipal Authorities of-
Berrysburg 187
Elizabethville
188
Gratz 185
Lykens
188
Millersburg
185
Tower City
191
Wiconisco Township
186
Washington Township
190
Williams Township
189
Williamstown
190
Public Services in The Valley
207
Roads in The Valley
206
Railroads and Transportations
206
Stone Church, The Old; Elizabethville
228
Sports of The Valley
213
St. John's Lutheran Church (Hill)
226
Twin County Base Ball League. Teams and Entire Statistics
for Season 1921 217
Towercity Swimming Pool
226
Who's Who in The Lykens-Williams Valley --
Elizabethville
260
Gratz
55
Lykens
239
Millersburg
231
Wiconisco
236
Williamstown
269
Towercity 275
"Wild Life in The Lykens-Williams Valley" By-Seth E. Gordon, Sec. Penna. State Game Commission 203
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DIRECTORY AND PICTORIAL REVIEW
INDEX TO PICTORIAL REVIEW.
Subject
Pages
Avenue, Scenes on Grand Avenue, Towercity 166, 168, 169, 170, 172, 173
Basin, Lykens Valley
46
Breaker, Lykens Valley 47
Breaker, Brookside Tower City
Breaker, Williamstown 48
49
Breaker, New at Brookside
50
Building, On Present Brubaker Site, Millersburg
65
Bridge, Across Wiconisco Creek
€8
Building, Brubaker, Millersburg
76
Bridge, Concrete Across Wiconisco Creek at Millersburg 81
90
Building, Old Polm; Where Present L. V. Bank now stands, Eliza- bethville
137
Budd, Portrait of the Late Cap't. Richard Budd, Williamstown
147
Canal, Old Wiconisco at Millersburg
44
Canal, Old Wiconisco, Loading Boats
44
Canal, Old Wiconisco, end of
45
Cottage Hill, Millersburg
67
Cemetery, Millersburg
69
Church, M. E. Millersburg
75
Church, Reformed Millersburg
78
Church, Lutheran Millersburg
79 89
Church, Zion Lutheran Lykens
103
Church, Grace M. E. Lykens
104
Church, Old Stone Elizabethville
133
Church, Salem Lutheran Elizabethville
134
Church, Salem Reformed Elizabethville
134
Church, Methodist Williamstown
149
Camp, Beaver One The West Branch Lykens
182
Club, Millersburg Gun
211
Depot, P. R. R., Millersburg
75
Draft, U. S. Selective Number 3 Elizabethville
209
Elizabethville, Market Street
133
House, Old Water.
For Wiconisco Canal
24
House, School, Millersburg, 1825-1860
70
Houses, Pioneer of Millersburg
S2
Hall, K. of P., Lykens
102
House, School, Elizabethville
132
Hotel, Snyder, Elizabethville
132
Hotel, Central, Williamstown
147
Hotel, Tower City
171
Lykens, Andrew, Drawing
100
Lykens, Main and Market Streets
101
Lykens, A scene in
104
Lykens, "When the Late Train Arrives"
105
Lykens, A scene in
106
Lykens, Main and Market Streets, 1860
107
House, School, Tower City
167
Creek, Wiconisco
Bridge, Trolley, at Wiconisco
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LYKENS-WILLIAMS VALLEY HISTORY
Lykens, Birds-E'ye-View 1888
108
Lykens, A Scene In
110
Lykens, Birds-Eye-View
112
Mountain, Berry's Below Millersburg
27
Mohantongo, Base of
28
Miller, Mrs. Daniel, Portrait
Market Square, Winter Scene, Millersburg
66
Market St., Millersburg
71
Market Sq., Millersburg, 1872
72
Millersburg, Bird's-Eye-View, 1872
72
Millersburg, The Original Town
73
Millersburg, Bird's-Eye-View
80
Map, Industrial of Elizabethville
135
Map, Elizabethville, 1875
136
Office, Old Shipping for Lykens Valley Coal Co.
43
Office, Post, Millersburg
78
Patrick, Mt., From End of Valley
25
Patrick, Mt., A Study in Reflection
26
Patrick, Mt., From Millersburg
30
Plant, New E'lectric, at Lykens Colliery
50
Park, Millersburg 64, 77
Pool Swimming, Lykens
111
Preserve, State Game, Scene on the Same
181
Preserve, State Game, Keepers Camp
204
Race Track, Gratz Fair Grounds
.56, 57, 60, 61
Railroad, Old Lykens Valley
68
Reservoir, Lykens
113
Reservoir, Tower City
173
Shaft, East, Brookside
47
Street Scene in Millersburg
.74, 76, 77
Seminary, Old Berrysburg
98
Trestle, Summit Branch at Mt. Patrick
45
Tower, Charlemagne, Portrait of 165
175
Team, Basket-Ball, Wiconisco H. S.
215
Team, Foot-Ball, L. & W. A. C.
225
Valley, A Scene Leading From Millersburg
23
Wisconisco, A Scene in the Town 91, 92
Wreck, P. R. R. Lykens, 1921 109
Williams, Daniel, from a Description
145
Williamstown, A Scene in the Borough,
146
Williamstown, Bird's-Eye-View from a Drawing in 1888
148
Wreck, P. & R. R., Tower City
Yard, Old Northern Central
174, 176 70
Tavern, Old Red, Elizabethville 137
Tower City, Bird's-Eye-View
63
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DIRECTORY AND PICTORIAL REVIEW
A GEOLOGICAL SURVEY by
H. E. BUFFINGTON, ESQ.
Lykens, Pa.
This geological review will embrace a short structural, strat- ographic, and economic survey, as well as the prehistoric forma- tion.
A structural survey of the northern part of Dauphin County, known as the Lykens, Williams and Pine Valleys, discloses them to be wholly within and at the western end of a large canoe shaped basin. The rock strata of the two last valleys dipping steeply toward each other, at Lykens dipping north, at Gratz dipping south, forming a huge cradle within which nestles the lofty Big Lick and Gratztown Mountains. The basin sinks deeply toward the east and rapidly rises and flattens out toward the west, until at Loyalton the same formation of bed rocks which underly Lykens and Gratz, unite at the surface and spread out as the broad, flat Lykens Valley, and extending beyond the river at Millersburg where it was thrown up into the air by the underlying Pocono rocks coming to the surface as the juncture
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LYKENS-WILLIAMS VALLEY HISTORY
of two mountains. The rocks of the Berry's Mountain dip to the north and those of the Mahantango to the south. The hard plates of Pocono sandstone which form the back bone of these mountains, having better withstood the elements while the soft shales of the valley were being croded and washed away, have created a well defined mountain as the boundary line, encir- cling the western end of the great syncline.
The big trough enfolds what is known as the Lower Anthra- cite basin, extending sixty miles long and six miles wide at its greatest width, from the mountain top at Loyalton, Dauphin County to Mauch Chunck, Carbon County.
East of Tower City, it is broken into or joined by a narrow over-throw syneline deep enough to carry the coal formations, and extending south-westward like a spur as the Stony and Sharp mountain.
The coal strata of the Big Lick Mountain dips north, while that of the Gratztown Mountain, dips south, bringing Bear Val- ley as the center line of the trough. The base line of the lower eoal veins spooning out at the surface on the mountain top at Loyalton, rapidly sinks toward the east until at Lykens it reaches a depth of 2702 feet. The pitch of the veins down the sides of the trough becomes very steep, at places approaching the perpendicular. The north dip or Lykens side is continuous and unbroken rounding the bottom and ascending the other side for a short distance; at this point the south dip or Gratz side has a down throw fault breaking its continuity ; the rock formation having at this point split off and slipped down. This fault has not been defined in the lower formations of the Lykens Valley.
The Stratography
When viewed according to their origin there are four kinds of rocks: Ignious, or those formed by fire as granite, ele., Sedi- mentary, fragments broken down from other rocks, washed away and deposited in water as the shales, sandstones, and con- glomerate; Animal origin, as the shells of oysters, etc., aceumu- lated under water, forming limestone, etc .; Vegetable source, producing carbon deposits, as coal, etc.
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DIRECTORY AND PICTORIAL REVIEW
Rocks of ignious or animal source do not appear in the Lykens Valley ; however with these exceptions the Cove Dyke crosses the river above Halifax and is lost in the Berry's Moun- tain south of Rife. The molten trap-roek coming up through this crack in the earth's crust most probably will be found to continue across the Lykens Valley, but at some distance beneath the surface. Also there is a well-defined layer of calcarious shale on the George Harner farm east of Elizabethville. This is the nearest approach to limestone found in the valley.
The rocks are all of a sedimentary formation with the up- permost layers interlaid with the vegetable rocks, the coals, and the slates.
Belonging to Devonian and Carboniferous series the rocks are here displayed in their truest types.
The Pocono white sandstone forming the backbone of the Berry's and Mahantango Mountains here attain a thickness of two thousand feet. The sandstones are white and gray, with very little shale but occasional layers of hard conglomerate. The Criswald Gap conglomerate here attains a thickness of twenty feet. There also appears in the gorge south of Lykens at Peewee Rock a fossiliferous shale containing an abundance of vegetable fossils, among which the writer has classified the Lepidodendron, Chemungeuse, and Primaevum, Archaeop- teris, Bochchiana, etc. Underlying the uppermost layer of con- glomerate in the Pocono formation is a stratum of laminate rock, It is very persistent .thus forming a reliable key rock.
The Manch Chunk red shale overlies the Pocono forming the whole surface bed of the three valleys, and here attains a thickness of over two thousand feet, consisting chiefiy of red shales with occasional thin layer of red sand stone.
The Pottsville formation is the typical conglomerate over- lying the Mauch Chunk shales, and having a thiekness of over six hundred feet. Hoisting its massive conglomerate rocks a thousand feet above the valleys it forms the rugged mountains north of Lykens, interlaced with six beds of coal it here yields three thick workcable veins of the famous Red Ash coal. The carboniferous proper where it appears in the Bear Valley,
16
LYKENS-WILLIAMS VALLEY HISTORY
north of Lykens, overlies the conglomerate with but a small part of its formation. Only the lower productive measures has its bottom beds sunk deep enough in the trough between the Big Lick and Gratztown Mountains to be retained. However towards the east more layers are preserved until finally all the beds of the series are included.
Economic
The shales of the valleys disintregrate into a fertile farming soil ; the Pocono sandstones are used for building purposes and road making. The coal is extensively mined by the most mod- ern and up-to-date equipped collieries in the world and forms the chief occupation of the region.
The trough formation precludes oil from ever being pro- duced in commercial quantities in the Lykens Valley. The ap- parent small anti-cline fold passing through Berrysburg is a structural trap sufficient to collect oil if a porous oil bearing rock is present, but its restricted area of drainage would make the pool so small as to be worthless.
There are no precious metals nor minerals found except the scant aluminum and the iron contained in the red shales.
Historic Formation.
When the primitive great upheaval hoisted the first land above the water, creating the formative base of the North American Continent, it appeared as a large mass of granite in Canada, shaped like the letter V, with its apex resting on the northern shores of the Great Lakes, its one broad arm extending toward Alaska, the other paralleling the St. Lawrence River, with the Hudson Bay occupying the center. All the rest of North America still remained under water. Within the sea along the eastern front, paralleling the Atlantic Shore line for a one thousand miles was a long deep, broad trough. A de- pression under the sea counter-balancing the great uplift.
During millions of years the elements were attacking the massive land granite, disintegrating, eroding and washing the
17
DIRECTORY AND PICTORIAL REVIEW
sediment into the sea, where it was deposited as level layers of mud, sand or gravel, determined by its nearness to the shore line at the time of being laid down.
The bottom of the great trough was filled up thicker than elsewhere, until at the close of the carboniferous era we find that the successive seas of the Cambrian, Silurian, Devonian and carboniferous periods had accumulated a deposit of over thirty-five thousand feet, more than seven miles thick.
This added weight to an already weakened crust at the trough line, caused a gradual sinking of the under part of the shell into the molten center mass. It melted off the bottom shell of the trough until it became too weak to withstand the lateral pressure of the tremendous shrinkage strain from the cooling of the earth.
The great squeeze, at the close of the carboniferous era, came as a thrust from the southeast lifting the crust out of the sea and folding it up for a distance of one thousand miles along what is now the Atlantic Coast Line. Known as the Appa- lachian uplift it formed the mountain system from Maine to North Carolina.
Across the continental trough at Lykens, it is estimated the distance of the then level strata was shortened twenty miles by the shrinkage thrust, resulting in a folding up and a stand- ing on end of the strata, forming the synclines and anticlines, the troughs and the hogbacks of our present geological struc- ture.
The end of this upheaval marked the second great day for the permanent uplifting of land out of the seas. From Kansas west the whole of the United States, except a few islands, was still under water.
At some places as at Bellefonte, the crust broke off and was shoved up seven miles into the air; at others, as at Rock- ville it folded over on itself and looped back; at Lykens, the South side of the coal trough arose to an anticline whose crest line extends from the Glen at Lykens to Fisherville, then sweep- ing south in a slightly depressed plateau it meets the Round Top-Inglenook anticline and dips south with the Peters moun-
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LYKENS-WILLIAMS VALLEY HISTORY
tain as the north side of Stony Mountain overthrow coal syn- celine. At the close of the upheaval a big layer of broken, split and erumbled up mass of Maneh Chunk shale, Pottsville conglomerate, and Carboniferous formation overlaid the three valleys thousands of feet thiek, with the still solid part tilted on its edge at an angle of sixty-five degrees.
Then for many more millions of years the rains and the elements kept eroding away at this covering mass and swept it into the then New Jersey sea, until today there remains only a small fraction of the carbonifers, and the Pottsville comglom- erate with its coal veins. For every ton remaining thousands have been swept away and lost on the bosom of the coastal lands.
THE LYKENS-WILLIAMS VALLEY INDIAN
In complexion, our uncivilized predecessors were of tawny color, inclining to red, which, differing from the complexion of every other portion of the human family, seems peculiar to most, if not all, the aborigines. Their cheek-bones were high and pro- minent; their eyes widely separated; their noses usually broad, even when curved in outline; and the ordinary east of their fea- tures was coarse and often inexpressive. The men were generally tall, straight, well proportioned, and hardly ever corpulent or in any manner deformed. The women were too apt to be short and elumsy ; their features were seldom delicate or handsome; and what feminine graces they had were soon obliterated by hard bodily labor combined with mental and moral degradation. The beautiful Indian maiden was only a myth or the dream of the poet. The mode of life of the men, and perchance their natural constitution, gave them a power of enduring fatique and priva- tion such as no European could rival. When necessary they would hunt for days together while suffering from hunger, or per- form long journeys through the forests with no other refresh- ment than a little parched corn and water.
For subsistence, the Indian depended much less upon agriculture than upon either fishing or hunting. They confined themselves chiefly to the raising of beans, corn, and tobacco. The corn and beans were cultivated by women and children,
19
DIRECTORY AND PICTORIAL REVIEW
the tobacco alone was thought worthy of the labor and attention of the men. The women of an ordinary family would commonly raise in a single season two or three heaps of corn, each con- taining twelve, fifteen, or twenty bushels. The corn was spread day after day in the sun, carefully shielded from the rain or dew, and when in this way sufficiently prepared was buried in the earth and thus preserved for the winter's subsistenee.
Hunting and fishing were perehance the chief dependence for food. The forest was filled with animals, some of them beasts of prey, others suitable for food, others valuable on account of their furs. Flocks of wild turkeys roamed through the woods, partridges and pheasants abounded, both in the woods and open country, and at certain times of the year the pigeons collected in such numbers that their flight seemed to obscure the light of the sun. The ponds, ereeks, and rivers swarmed with water-fowl. The river Susquehanna was alive with fish, and every spring great numbers of shad, rock-fish, salmon, and perch ascended the streams furnishing a seasonable supply to the natives when their provisions were exhausted by a long and severe winter.
The elothing of the natives was composed of skins cured so . as to be soft and pliable, and sometimes ornamental with paint and beads manufactured from shells. It may be stated in this connection that very little is known of the process used by the Indians to prepare bear- and deer-skins for shoes and clothing. Loskiel says, "Their shoes are of deer-skin, without heels, some being very neatly made by the women. Their skins are tanned with the brains of deer, which make them soft; some leave the fur upon the skin, and such fur shoes are remarkably light and easy." The buffalo robes sold by our furriers as tanned by the Indians are softer than those that are tanned by civilized people. Oeeasionally the women decked themselves in mantles made of feathers overlapping each other, as on the back of the fowl, and presenting an appearance of fantastie gayety which no doubt prodigiously delighted the wearers. Their dress consisted usually of two artieles, a leather skirt, or undergarment, ornamented with fringe, and a skirt of the same
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