USA > Pennsylvania > A gazetteer of the state of Pennsylvania : a part first, contains a general description of the state, its situation and extent, general geological construction, canals, and rail-roads, bridges, revenue, expenditures, public debt, &c. &c. ; part second, embraces ample descriptions of its counties, towns, cities, villages, mountains, lakes, rivers, creeks, &c. alphabetically arranged > Part 15
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 (link on the Part 1 page).
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 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87
A turnpike road runs W. across the mtns. from Chambersburg in Frank- lin co. by Bedford, to Somerset borough in Somerset co.
Bedford springs, near the town of Bedford, have become one of the most fashionable and beneficial watering places of the United States. (See ar- ticle Bedford Springs.)
The county of Bedford is wholly of transition formation, and in common with other parts of such formation, abounds with mineral wealth, of which bituminous coal and iron, of the best quality and in various forms, are found almost in every part of the county, but particularly on the waters of the Juni- ata, and in Morrison's cove.
The county was originally settled
state, and from the north of Ireland. The Germans and their descendants have however possessed themselves of the best lands. Many of these pertain to Tunker and Menonist sects and are remarkable for the simplicity, so- briety, frugality and thrift of these highly useful christians.
The population of this county was, in 1790, 13,124; in 1800, 12,039 ; in 1810, 15,746; in 1820, 20,248, and in 1830, 24,557. Of the last number, 12,188 were white males, 11,937 white females ; 204 free color- ed males, 228 free colored females ; 1 slave. There were 35 aliens, 13 deaf and dumb, and 8 blind persons. Taxables, in 1828, 4,442. We are indebted to an interesting memoir of Mr. Thomas B. McElwee for the fol- lowing notice of the population of this county, and for some other particulars we shall give in relation to it. And we avail ourselves of this opportunity to express a wish that every county had as good an annotator. In such cases a Gazetteer of Pennsylvania might be made a mirror of the state.
" Every landholder lives by the sweat of his brow. We have no slaves, nor do we boast of an exemption from that which it would be degradation to be subject to. Such a miserable thing as a slave, and such an arrogant thing as the master of a slave, are unknown to us."
The usual wages of a good hand, when boarding and lodging is provided, is from 5 to 7 dollars a month ; if by the day, from 31 to 371 cts. The cra- dler has from 75 to 80 cents per day, the reaper and mower from 374 to 50 cents. The food of the agricultural laborer, or help as he is called, is the same as that of his employer. No far- mer in the county could get a hireling, if he made any distinction ; and the entire family, maids, men and children, wife and master, eat at the same table. The quality of the fare depends on the circumstances of the master ; usually it is coffee, wheat bread, and bacon, fresh meat, poultry, or salt fish for
BED
33
BED
breakfast ; white bread, bacon, fresh ||ground poles are chopped at the length or salt meat, poultry, with abundance of vegetables or pies, and a glass of whiskey for dinner ; tea, the same sort of meat and bread for supper ; some- times mush and milk in winter."
" In summer farmers work from sun. rise to sunset, allowing an hour or an hour and a half for breakfast, and the same for dinner. In winter they breakfast by candle-light, and join their work at the first dawn of day; they are called to dinner, eat and go to it again." " Such a domestic as an English butler, is unknown; and ser- vants almost as much so. The far- mers adopt the admonition given by Martha Trapbois, to Glenvarlock, ' 'The wise man is his own best assist- ant,' and are aware that no man is tru- ly independent, who depends on the labor or fidelity of others for his com- fort."
So much of this gentleman's picture of rural economy is applicable to ev- ery agricultural district in the state, except in the vicinity of cities and large towns, where gentleman farmers do not feed with their domestics and laborers. But there are some traits of his pencil which, if not pertaining exclusively to Bedford co. belong to the new settled countries of the N. and W. These we present to the reader, as highly graphic, and he may apply them to most of the western counties of the state.
"When we wish to clear a piece of land, we in the first place stake it off, and provided with a grubbing hoe, take up by the roots every bush or sapling which a stout man can shake in the root, by grasping the stem and bending it backwards and forwards. If the roots give to this action, it is called a grub, and must be taken up. Dog-wood, iron-wood and witch-hazle are always classed among grubs wheth- er they shake in the root or not. Af- ter the land is grubbed, the brush is picked up in heaps. We then cut down every thing which does not ex- ceed 12 inches across the stump. Such parts of the sapling as are fit for
of 11 feet ; such parts as are fit for firewood are left for that purpose, and the top brush is thrown upon the heaps made of the grubs. Next the trees are deadened leaving one or two for shade. This process consists in chop- ping entirely round the tree a curf of three or four inches wide. A tree is not well deadened unless it be cut to the red ; the axe penetrating through the sap, but it is not thought necessa- ry to chip out more than the bark of oak.timber. Sugar maple, gum &c. must be chipped out half an inch or an inch. The advantages of deaden- ing timber, are immense; labor is saved in chopping down and burning the stuff on the ground. Indeed, in this country it is not possible to cut down the timber, unless we live in the vicinity of Bedford, because farmers are not rich enough to pay for it. The dead timber gives us fire wood for years, which obviates the necessity of resorting to the woods. When it falls the roots are taken out with the tree. On the other hand the falling branches incommode us for years ; covering our grain every winter and causing a great labor in picking up. The trees fall over the fences and demolish them ; sometimes they fall on horses and cat- tle, killing or maiming them ; and not unfrequently men and boys have been killed."
" As soon as the brush will burn, it is fired, and every particle consum- ed. The fire sometimes gets away from the workmen, and great havoc is com- mitted on fences, woods and mountains. After the clearing is burned, the rail timber is chopped and logged off, the rails mauled, fences made, and the tops of the rail timber hauled home for fire wood. If saw logs or building timber are wanted, they are cut down and hauled off. At any time between the Ist of Sept. and middle of Oct. the ground is scratched, (rough ploughed) a bushel of wheat to the acre sown broad cast, harrowed in and crossed. New ground is sometimes ploughed twice, but this is so seldom done as
F
BED
34
BED
scarcely to form an exception, though || that is, forgiveness of injuries. After it is admitted that a second ploughing adds a fourth to the crop."
"Wheat is universally the first crop sown on new land, unless we clear a patch for potatoes. The average crop is from 12 to 20 bushels per acre. The second crop is rye, oats follow, and then corn. This is the usual course. It is then left out for a year or two, and the course begins again, until it will produce nothing.
In eight or ten years the timber be- gins to fall rapidly. When the ground is pretty well covered with old logs, the farmer goes in to nigger off. This is effected by laying the broken limbs and smaller trees across the logs and putting fire to it. Boys or women fol- low to chunk up the fires. In a day or two the logs are niggered off, at the length of 12 or 15 feet ; some- times the entire tree is consumed. When the trees are thus reduced to lengths that can be handled by men, the owner has a log rolling. He gives the word to 18 or 20 of his neighbors the day before the frolic, and when they assemble they generally divide the force into two companies. A captain is chosen by acclamation, for each company, and the captains choose their companies, each naming a man alternately. When the whole is formed they sct to work, provided with hand spikes, and each company exerts itself to make more log heaps than the other. Nothing is charged for the work, and the only thing cx- ceptionable in these frolics is the im- moderate use of whiskey. In general great hilarity prevails ; but these meetings, like all others in this county, are sometimes disgraced by dread- ful combats between the persons com- posing them. Bedford co. like most mountainous countries, possesses a large proportion of stout athletic men. Bravery is a predominant feature in their character, and they value them- selves in proportion to their strength. Hence arise animosities which are sel- dom allayed but by battle. They pos- sess one noble quality, however, and
a fair trial of strength, though cach may have been so severely cut and bruised as to be disabled for several days, they will meet in perfect har- mony, and no trace of malice or even resentment appears. This, to one who has already looked upon the indignity of a blow as meriting the chastisement of death, seems impossible, but there can be no doubt of their tacit reconcil- iation.
The general price of clearing land is five dollars per acre, put under fence of six rails, and a ground pole, four feet worm, and ready for the plough. Sometimes it is cleared on the shares, and then if the proprietor finds the grubber in boarding and lodging, finds horses, seed and feed, and puts it in himself, the grubber gets the first crop or half the two first. If the underta- ker finds every thing he gets the two first, or the three first crops according as he can make his bargain, and the bargain is usually determined by the quality of the land and the difficulty of clearing. Meadow land is cleared for from four to seven crops."
" In addition to our log rolling frol- ics, we have frolics to haul out dung, to husk corn, and to raise our build- ings.
The first, the dung frolic, is getting out of use, and never ought to have been practiced, because a man can do the labor himself.
The corn husking is done at night. The neighbors meet at dark; the corn has been previously pulled, and hauled in a pile near the crib. The hands join it, the whiskey bottle goes round, the story, the laugh, and the rude song are heard. Three or four hundred bush- els are husked by 9 or 10 o'clock-a plentiful supper is provided, and some- times the frolic ends with a stag dance ; that is, men and boys, without females, dance like mad devils, but in good hu- mor, to the time of a neighbor's cat- gut and horse-hair, not always drawn with the melody and judgment of Gil- liaume."
"Our buildings are made of hewn
BED
35
BED
logs, on an average 24 feet long by 20 wide ; sometimes a wall of stone, about a foot above the level of the earth, is raised as a foundation ; but in general four large stones are laid at the corners, and the building raised on them. The house is covered some- times with shingles, sometimes with clap-boards. The advantage of the latter kind of roof is, it requires no lathes or rafters, and no nails, and is put on in much less time. It has been called a poor man's make-shift, and its use can only be justified by the pover. ty and other circumstances of the country. The ground logs being laid, a saddle shaped A on the upper edge, is cut with an axe, at the ends, as long as the logs are thick, then the end logs are raised and a notch cut to fit the saddle. This is the only tie or binder they have; and when the building is raised as many rounds as is intended, the ribs are raised, on which a course of clap boards is laid, butts resting on a butting pole. A press pole is laid upon the clap-boards immediately over the ribs, to keep them from shifting by the wind, and the pole is kept to its birth by stay blocks, resting in the first course against the butting pole and then against each preceding pole. The logs are run upon the building on skids by the help of wooden forks. The most experienced axe-men are placed on the building as corner men ; the rest of the company are on the ground to carry the logs and run them up. In this way a building is raised and covered in a day, without a mason, and without a pound of iron. The doors and windows are afterwards cut out as the owner pleases. As the country becomes rich and more dense- ly settled, those hastily constructed buildings give way to more durable and moro comfortable ones; but at present there are very few buildings in the country, except on the turnpike, of any other material than logs.
We raise no tobacco in the field. It is occasionally raised in gardens for family use. It will however grow well in our rich lands. A gentleman in the
adjoining county of Somerset, where the climate is much colder than it is here, so much so that in some parts of it Indian corn will not ripen, has for a number of years raised from five to ten acres of tobacco annually, and found a profitable market for his crop in Baltimore. It is very certain that the soil and climate of Pennsylvania can produce more tobacco than her population consumes.
We raise no cotton or sugar cane, but we manufacture sugar from the sugar maple (acer saccharinum). This tree, which arrives at a size rivalling the largest white oaks, flourishes in our sandy bottoms, spouty drafts, on the sides of our mountains, and the summit of the Allegheny. It is slow of growth, hard to kill, but when once dead, soon rots. The roots are nu- merous and strong, interlaced on or near the surface of the ground, so that it is impossible to plough near them.
When the sugar season begins, which is generally about the first of March, the sugar maker repairs his camp, if it is out of order. The camp is a small shed made of logs, covered with slabs or clapboards, and open at one side. Immediately before the opening, four wooden forks are plant- ed, on which is placed a strong pole. From this are suspended as many wood- en hooks as the sugar boiler has kettles, usually four. Wood is hauled, and it requires a large quantity to boil during a season. The troughs to receive the water are roughly hewn, of cucumber, white or yellow pine, or wild cherry, and contain from one to three gallons. The trees are tapped with a 2 auger, about one inch or an inch and a half deep. In the hole is placed a spile or spout 18 inches long, made of sumach. Two spiles are put in a tree. A good camp will contain 150 or 200 trees. When the troughs are full, the boiler goes round with a sled drawn by hors- es, on which are placed two barrels to receive the water. Having filled the barrels he returns to camp and fills up the vessels, which consist of his meat vessels, &c. well cleaned. The wa-
BED
36
BED
ter which is gathered in should be im -!! mediately boiled, because it makes the best sugar. If left to stand a few days it becomes sour and ropy. The ket- tles are filled as they boil down, until all is boiled in. In order to ascertain when the syrup is fit to stir off, a little of the molasses is taken out in a spoon and dropped into a tin of cold water. If the molasses is thick, it will form a thread in the water, and if this thread will break like glass when struck with a knife, it must be taken off the fire, and is fit to stir off. The kettle is set on the ground and occasionally stirred till it cools and granulates. Great judgment is required, and the most ex- act attention to take it off at the very moment it is fit. If it is taken off too soon, the sugar will be wet and tough ; if it is left on too long it will be burnt or be bitter, and scarcely fit for use. Some boilers try it by taking a few drops of the molasses between the thumb and finger, and if it ropes like glue when it cools, it is said to be in sugar. A tree is calculated to pro- duce, a season, a barrel of water of 30 gallons, and it requires six gallons to make a pound of sugar. This esti- mate, however, appears too large. I have never known a camp turn out, one tree with another, more than three pounds. In Jamaica it is not unusual for a gallon of raw cane liquor to yield a pound of sugar. It is supposed there can be no doubt of the fact that our trees do not produce as much as for- merly. Many of the trees have been injured by fire, but the fatal cause of their deterioration is the auger. When a tree is cut down which has been fre. quently tapped, there is a black and rotten streak for a foot above and be- low many of the auger holes. The great miracle is that a single sugar tree is alive in Bedford ; but the Al- mighty Fabricator of the universe has in his infinite wisdom and beneficence bestowed on this precious tree a tena- city of life truly wonderful. Though every year assaulted by the axe, the auger, or by fire, it clings to existence, and yields to its ungrateful possessor
a luxury and necessary of life, which, but for it, would command a price which would debar its use from the poor. The average price of maple sugar is from 6 to 10 cents per pound.
A society was formed in Centre coun- ty, two or three years ago, with the Hon. Charles Houston at its head, for the purpose of propagating the sugar tree and extracting the water from the roots. Whether they have succeeded in their enterprise, or whether the so. ciety has perished amidst political tur- moil, I know not. In this county a few partial attempts have been made to plant out the trees found in the woods, and they have succeeded."
There are now in operation in the county three furnaces, Elizabeth, Ha- nover and Hopewell ; at each of which from 25 to 30 tons of pig metal are made weekly, and employment given to more than 100 hands. There are 6 forges, viz. Bedford, Hopewell, Lem- nos, Hanover air, and the two Maria forges, which make each about 250 tons of bar iron annually, and employ about 50 hands. 6 Many other iron works are about to be erected. There are also about 70 grist and merchant mills, 80 saw mills, 25 fulling mills, some of which manufacture cloth- about 150 distilleries, 2 nail facto. ries, one or two oil mills, and about 20 carding machines. There is a con- siderable manufacture of cotton and wool in Providence township, and an- other in Morris cove.
The following remarks of an inha- bitant of Bedford co. on the important subject of education, merit attention, inasmuch as they are applicable to many other parts of the state. " The system of common school education in Pennsylvania is a bad one, and Bed- ford co. has experienced her full share of the evil. The aid heretofore grant- ed by the legislature to common schools has been cold and reluctant ; and it would have been better, perhaps, had it been altogether denied, for then the people might have been roused to the procurement of their own moral ali- ment. There is not a state in the union
BED
37
BED
where the necessity of public provision for general education is more intensely felt, and yet there is none in which this subject has been more inefficiently treated. Were the rising generation of Germans taught only to speak Eng- lish, what an immense change it would create in the resources and wealth of the state-what an addition it would give to the happiness of thou- sands, who now suffer from the lack of knowledge. Here, when we lose sight of the town of Bedford, with but few exceptions, we find hovels for schools, and men who would be retain- ed in no other employment, engaged in forming the plastic minds of our chil- dren. And even these miserable re- ceptacles and nurseries of knowledge are so sparingly scattered around us, that perhaps there are not two for ev- ery five hundred children in the coun- ty."
There is, however, an academy in the town of Bedford, which was incor- porated in 1810, and has received from the legislature a donation of two thousand dollars.
The public buildings of the county in Bedford borough, consisting of the court-house, offices and jail, are sub- stantially built. The court-house in- deed is said to be uncommonly orna- mental, planned after the Tuscan or- der, and said not to be surpassed by any like buildings in the state. There
are also several neat churches here. The towns are Bedford, Shellsburg, Martinsburg, Woodberry, Stoners- town, Bloody run, Werefordsburg and McConnellstown. For a description of which see their respective titles.
Bedford co. belongs to the 22d sen- atorial district, including Somerset, which sends one member to the senate ; and the county has two members in the house of representatives.
With Franklin and Somerset coun- ties, it forms the sixteenth judicial dis- trict, and the courts are held, at the town of Bedford, on the fourth Mon- days of January, April, August and November. President, Alexander Thompson, Esq.
The state treasury received from
this county, in 1831,
Tax on Writs 251 23
For tavern licenses, 926 67
Dividends on turnpike stock, viz.
Chambersburg and Bedford, 5,650 62 Bedford and Stoystown, 1,000 00
Duties on dealers in foreign mdz.
237 51
State maps,
9 50
Tin and clock pedlars, 57 00
$8,132 53
The taxable property by the return of the assessors of 1829 was valued,- real estate, $1,023,275 ; personal es- tate, including occupations, $142,892.
STATISTICAL TABLE OF BEDFORD COUNTY.
Townships.
Greatest Lth.
Bth.
¡Area in| acres.
1810
Population. 1820
1830
Tax- ables.
R. Est.
Pers.
Ms.
Air
11
4 1-2
25,960
1179
1760
1517
279
117,960
8988
5
Bedford bor.
15 1-2
4 1-2 32,640
1342
1321
1344
237
78,862
8204
6
Belfast
17
8
64,640
750
1196
1373
274
29,375
8020
61-2
Bethel
11 1-2
9 1-2 70,400
1095
1083
1208
140
57,409
8576
5 1-2
Coleraln
21
5 3-4
47,360
876
986
1170
200
71,298
7508
4 1-2
Cumberland valley
16
4
34,200
570
683
747
150
23,216
5368
8
Dublin .
12 1-2
9 1-2 53,760
820
713
801
160
24,795
4492
8
Greenfield
18
12 1-2
83,200
855
1114
1465
262
63,016
8176
4 1-2
Hopewell .
19
14
75,520
1997
1327
1634
326
56,967
8940
6
Londonderry
16 1-2
7 1-2
43,520
486
602
726
135
23,835
5000
6
Napier .
16
12 1-2 85,120
1764
2154
434
76,647
11,324
6 1-2
Providence
13
12
80,000
1492
1822
2209
413
76,639
13,568
5 1-2
Southampton
14
12 1-2 93,440
952
1158
1322
270
27,255
9224
6
· St. Clair
14
10 1-2
44,800
1847
1748
2134
336
67,119
11872
5 1-2
Woodberry
18 1-2
8 1-2 69,120
1658
2155
3375
582
133,088
20,092
5 1-2
15,746 20,248 24,536
14,442
1,023,275 142,892
547
789
870
163
78,820
2244
4
Bedford t-ship .
McConnellsburg bo.
491
92
16,974
1296
9
BED
38
BED
Bedford, p-t. borough and seat of| symmetry, lofty columns and com- manding cupola, are all in view. justice of Bedford co. situated on the great road leading from Phil. to Pitts- burg on the Raystown branch of the Juniata r. 200 ms. W. of Phil. and 100 E. of Pittsburg and 126 N. W. from Washington, and 105 W. from Har- risburg. Lat. 40° N. lon. 1º 30' W. of Washington C. It was formerly called Raystown; from it the stream on which it lies took its name. The site of the t. is uncommonly beautiful and healthy, built on an eminence formed of limestone and silex ; it is always clean. Almost enveloped by moun- tains which pour their limpid streams into the valley, and which are shaded by thick forests, it enjoys delightful summers, never incommoded by heat, but always refreshed by pure and cool- ing breezes. West of the town is Will's mountain, which is elevated more than 1300 feet and rising to the N. of Bedford it runs a few degrees W. of south. On the E. is Dunning's mountain, running parallel to Will's, and having an altitude of 1100 feet. These mountains are about a mile and a half distant from each other at their bases. The borough contains by the census of 1830, 879 inhabitants, and 163 taxables of whom 417 were white males, 405 white females, 27 black males, 30 black females. The build- ings, consisting of 150 dwellings, 8 stores, 8 taverns, &c. are mostly of stone or brick, the streets are spacious and have a business-like appearance. The citizens have adorned the town by several handsome public buildings, among which the Catholic, German, Lutheran, and Reformed, and the new Presbyterian churches, and the court house, are the most remarkable. The The curative power of these springs is said to have been discovered in the following manner. In the year 1804, a mechanic of Bedford, when fishing for trout in the stream near the prin- cipal fountain, was attracted by the beauty and singularity of the waters flowing from the bank, and drank free- ly of them. They proved purgative last, completed in 1829, surpasses in beauty most buildings of the kind in the state. It is of the Tuscan order, and the rules of architecture are said to have been carefully observed by the native artists engaged in its erection. It is seen to great advantage in ap- proaching the town by the turnpike road from the E. whence its beautiful and sudorific. He had suffered many
'The borough was incorporated by act of assembly of 13th March, 1795, and again by act of 5th Feb. 1817. The officers are burgesses, assistants, high constable and town clerk.
The summer here especially in the mornings and evenings, is cooler than it is either E. or W. on the same parallel of lat. A large volume of air on the W.of Dunning's mtn. is not heated by the rays of the sun before 10 o'clock in the morning, and a like volume on the E. of Will's mtn. begins to cool two hours before night-hence the heat is never intense, and cool breezes generally prevail. The scenery around Bedford, though picturesque and possessing many charms, is more remarkable for its beauty than its grandeur.
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.