USA > Pennsylvania > A history of the Juniata Valley and its people, Volume I > Part 12
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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
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HISTORY OF THE JUNIATA VALLEY
boney; 1828, Thomas Kerr; 1829, Francis Boggs; 1830, John Knox; 1831, Lukens Atkinson; 1832, Robert Milliken; 1833, Francis McCoy; 1834, John McClenahan; 1835, Samuel Alexander, Casper Dull; 1836, Thomas I. Postlethwaite; 1837, Isaiah Coplin; 1838, Hugh Conly; 1839, Robert McKee; 1840, Henry Leattor ; 1841, James Brisbin; 1842, Samuel Barr; 1843, John Fleming; 1844. George Bell; 1845, Solomon Kinser; 1846, David Jenkins; 1847, Levi Glass; 1848, William Custer; 1849, Gabriel Dunmire; 1850, Thomas Stroup; 1851, James Dorman; 1852, Cyrus Stine; 1853, James Fleming : 1854, Jacob Hoover ; 1855, Jacob Linthurst : 1856, William Wilson; 1857, William Creighton; 1858, John Peachey; 1859, Richeson Bratton; 1860, Samuel Brower; 1861, John McDowell; 1862, Samuel Drake; 1863, Moses Miller, Oliver P. Smith; 1864, John Taylor; 1865, James C. Dysart; 1866, John W. Kearns; 1867, Charles Naginey; 1868, Thomas Roup; 1869, James Shehan; 1870, Henry S. Wilson; 1871, Henry Garver; 1872, Moses Miller : 1873, Henry L. Close, Jacob Stine; 1874, David Hiester ; 1875, David Hiester, John Culbertson, William A. Orr; 1878, John Henry, Robert F. Cupples, Robert J. McNitt; 1881, John F. Stine, Francis .A. Means, H. C. Van Zandt: 1884, J. T. Wilson, Samuel Neese, Jacob Miller ; 1887, J. T. Wilson, B. C. Cubbison, William P. Witherow; 1890, John C. Shahen, Willis F. Kearns, William H. Taylor; 1893, Thomas J. Novinger, William H. Taylor, John C. Shahen; 1896, Albert WV. Nale, Thomas J. Novinger, J. R. Sterrett : 1899, Albert W. Nale, Horatio G. Bratton, J. R. Sterrett; 1902, Horatio G. Bratton, Samuel Dell, S. W. Fleming; 1905, James H. Close, Samuel Dell, George A. Butler; 1908, James H. Close, David S. Price, George A. Butler; 1911, David S. Price, William M. Baker, Robert C. Houser.
Registers and Recorders-Prior to 1809 the duties of this office were performed by the prothonotary. The list of registers and re- corders since 1809 is as follows: David Reynolds, 1809; David Milli- ken, 1816; Tobias Kreider, 1824; Joshua Beale, 1830; Daniel Eisen- beise, 1836; Enoch Beale, 1839; Jesse R. Crawford, 1842: James L. McIlvaine, 1848: James McDowell, 1851; Joseph S. Waream, 1857; Samuel Barr, 1860; Samuel W. Barr, 1862; Michael Hiney, 1865; John Baum, 1868; Willis V. B. Coplin, 1874; McClellan P. Wakefield, 1880 (reëlected in 1883) ; William H. Mendenhall, 1886: Samuel D. Coldren, 1889 (four terms) ; Harvey C. Burkett, 1901 (three terms) ; William B. Rodgers, 191I.
Surveyors -- This office was filed by appointment from the time it was established in 1812 until 1839. Michael M. Monahan, 1812; Robert Robison, 1829; David Hough, 1832: William Shaw, 1836; John Shaw, 1839; David Hough, 1842 ; John R. Weeks, 1850; John Swartzell, 1853; George H. Swigart, 1859; Thomas F. Niece, 1862; John Swartzell.
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HISTORY OF THE JUNIATA VALLEY
1868; William J. Swigart, 1874; David A. McNabb, 1877; David Hough, 1880; WV. Worrall Marks, elected in 1880, David Hough serving from January of that year until the election: Grantham G. Waters, 1883; John C. Swigart, 1886 (five terms) ; Samuel T. Moore, 1901 (reelected in 1904) ; John C. Swigart, 1907 (reelected in 1911).
Coroners-Like the surveyor's office, the coroner's office was made elective in 1839. Previous to that time the coroner was appointed. James Taylor, 1789; William Armstrong, 1791 : John Culbertson, 1792; Robert Steel, 1795; James C. Ramsey, 1798; Edward Williams, 1799; John Steel, 1802; James Walker, 1805; James Glasgow, 1809; William McCrum, 1811; John Stewart, 1826; Thomas J. Postlethwait, 1829; James McDowell, 1830; John McKee, 1836; Christian Hoover, 1839; Frederick Swartz, 1845: George Davis, 1848: George Wiley, 1851; James McCord, 1854; John McKee, 1857; John Musser, 1858: George Miller, 1859; John Davis, 1872; Samuel Bedford, 1875: George Miller, 1876; William W. Trout, 1877; William N. Hoffman, 1880: Grantham T. Waters, 1883; Samuel A. Walters, 1886 ( failed to qualify and M. M. Bricker appointed) ; Samuel A. Marks, 1890; William Printz, 1893; Henry M. Owens, 1896; J. A. Davidsizer, 1902; Emerson Potter, 1905 (reëlected in 1908 and again in 191I).
Directors of the Poor-On March 31, 1845, an act was passed by the legislature authorizing the people of Granville and Derry townships and the borough of Lewistown to vote upon the question as to whether a poor-farm should be purchased, and if a majority voted for the purchase, the townships and borough were each to contribute $2,500 for that purpose. The two townships and the borough purchased a poor-farm in accordance with the provisions of the act. On April 22, 1850, another act of the legislature provided that if that poor-farm should be sold a loan might be made and a county poor-house erected. The new law was carried out by the appointment of Samuel W. Taylor, Isaiah Coplin, Samuel Barr, David Jenkins and James Criswell as commissioners to purchase a suitable tract of land by August 1. 1850. They purchased a tract of James Burns containing 202 acres, located on the Kishacoquillas creek a short distance east of Lewistown, for $1,600 and the buildings upon it were converted into a home for the poor. Three directors of the poor were elected in that year and one annually thereafter, except that from 1858 to 1870 the county com- missioners were also made directors of the poor in accordance with an act of the legislature. The list of poor directors is as follows : 1850, James M. Brown, August Wakefield, Robert Mathews; 1851, William M. Fleming; 1852, Joshua Morrison: 1853, Adam Crisman; 1854, Henry Book; 1855, John Atkinson; 1856, John Peachey; 1857, John Cubbison; 1870, Alexander Morrison, Christian Hoover. James
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Kyle; 1871, Joseph H. Morrison; 1872, Charles Bratton, Jr .; 1873, Andrew Spanogle; 1874, Joseph M. Fleming; 1875, William Greer; 1876, William Wilson; 1877, Samuel B. Wills; 1878, Samuel Mitchell; 1879, Michael C. Bratton; 1880, Robert M Taylor; 1881, E. C. Kearns; 1882, David Norton; 1883, Jacob Bollenger ; 1884, Rob- ert Taylor; 1885, Joseph Winter ; 1886, John R. Garver; 1887, A. Stein- berger; 1888, John I. Smith; 1889, John R. Garver; 1890, Joseph Mckinstry; 1891, David S. Price; 1892, Clarence G. Milliken; 1893, Alexander Cummins ; 1894, David S. Price: 1895, Joseph M. Fleming ; 1896, Alexander Cummins; 1897, W. F. Riden; 1898, William B. Kyle; 1899, S. C. Myers; 1900, George Moyer ; 1901, Thomas H. Bailey ; 1902, S. C. Myers; 1903, George Moyer ; 1904, Thomas H. Bailey; 1905, David Rhodes; 1906, Sylvester Brought; 1907, James B. Smith ; 1908, Charles G. Kauffman; 1909, George S. Kemberly. Owing to a change in the law no poor director was elected in 1910. Thomas J. Hazlett and G. W. Carson were elected in 1911.
. State Senators-Ezra Doty, 1808: William Beale, 1812; Alexander Dysart, 1816; George McCulloch, 1832; Robert P. Maclay, 1838; J. J. Cunningham, 1850; Joseph S. Waream, 1874; John B. Selheimer, 1884; Joseph M. Woods, 1888; Walter H. Parcels, 1896; James W. McKee, 1900; William Manbeck, 1904; Franklin Martin, 1912.
Representatives-John Oliver, 1790; James Banks, 1790; Ezra Doty, 1790; Jonathan Rothrock, 1790; Daniel Christy, 1820; Robert Alexander, 1823; John Patterson, 1828; Joseph Kyle, 1828; John Cum- mings, 1830; Abraham S. Wilson, 1837 and 1840; James Burns, 1844; William Wilson, 1845; William Reed, 1846; Hugh McKee, 1847; Alex- ander Gibboney, 1849; John Ross, 1850; Henry P. Taylor, 1852; Alexander Gibboney, 1853; Elijah Morrison, 1854; John Purcell, 1855; Charles Bower, 1857; David Withrow, 1858: George Bates, 1859; A. F. Gibboney, 1860; James H. Ross, 1861; Holmes Maclay, 1862; C. C. Stanbarger, 1863; James M. Brown, 1865; John S. Miller, 1867; Henry S. Wharton, 1867; Samuel T. Brown and Amos H. Martin, 1868; Henry J. McAteer and Abraham Rohrer, 1869; George V. Mitchell, 1871; George Bates, 1872; Jerome Hetrick, 1873; Joseph W. Parker, 1874; E. H. H. Stackpole, 1876: Joseph H. Maclay, 1878; W. H. Parcels, 1882: George S. Hoffman, 1884; William P. Stevenson, 1886; Joseph H. McClintic, 1890; Walter H. Parcels, 1894; Gruber H. Bell, 1896; Samuel H. Rothrock, 1898; T. A. W. Webb, 1902; James M. Yeager, 1906; Joseph Kelley, 1908; J. H. Peachey, 1912.
CHAPTER VII
MIFFLIN COUNTY, TOWNSHIPS, BOROUGHS, ETC.
The Ten Townships-Armagh-Bratton-Brown-Decatur-Derry-Granville-Menno -Oliver-Union-Wayne-Early Indian Raids-Pioneers in Each Township- Schools-Drake's Ferry-Boroughs and Villages-Lewistown-Its Early History- Incorporation-Stump Pulling-Market Houses-Fire Department-Police Force- Water-works-Street Railway-Gas and Electric Light-McVeytown-Newton Hamilton - Allensville - Belleville - Burnham - Granville-Maitland-Milroy- Reedsville-Wagner-Yeagertown-Postoffices-Rural Free Delivery Routes.
M IFFLIN county is divided into ten townships, viz .: Armagh, Bratton, Brown, Decatur, Derry, Granville, Menno, Oliver, Union and Wayne. Three of these townships-Derry, Ar- magh, and Wayne-were erected in the order named before the forma- tion of the county as a separate and independent political division of the state.
Armagh township was created and organized by the authorities of Cumberland county in January, 1770, nearly twenty years before the erection of Mifflin county. About the close of the French and Indian war a number of settlers came into Derry township, Cumberland county, which township then included all of the present county of Mif- flin, and located in the valley north of Jack's mountain. The elec- tions were held, and in fact all the township business was transacted south of the mountain, and as there were no roads yet opened the peo- ple on the north side of the mountain were placed at a disadvantage. By the latter part of 1769 the population of the valley had increased until the settlers felt justified in asking for the formation of a new town- ship. A petition was accordingly presented to the Cumberland county court, which in January, 1770, took action upon the question as follows :
"Upon reading the petition of several of the inhabitants of Kishacho- quillas Great Valley, setting forth that they labour under the Burthen of being in one township with Derry, and as Jack's Mountain lies be-
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tween the Great Valley and the rest of the township, which cuts away all communication only at the Narrows. The Petitioners therefore humbly prayed that the Court would take them under due consideration and strike the Great Valley off into a township by itself, leaving Jack's Mountain to be the division line. The Court do thereupon consider and order that Jack's Mountain aforesaid be the Division line between the township of Derry and the part struck off from said township, which is called by the name of Armagh township, allowing the township of Armagh to include Kishachoquillas Narrows to where the road now crosses Kishachoquillas Creek."
When Brown and Menno townships were erected in 1836 Armagh township was reduced in size. It is bounded on the northwest by Cen- ter county; on the northeast by Union and Snyder counties; on the southeast by the townships of Decatur and Derry along the summit of Jack's mountain; and on the southwest by Brown township. Hunting- don county forms a small portion of the boundary at the northwest corner. After the formation of Brown township Armagh was described as being "six and a half miles in length and six miles in width, and from the Knobs eastward to the Union county line it is uninhabited, being a continuous range of mountains."
Among the early settlers in what is now Armagh township were the five McNitts-Alexander, John, James, Robert and William-who located near the foot of the Seven mountains in 1766. Other early settlers were George Sigler, James Alexander, Mathias Ruble, John and Edward Bates and George Bell. Indian depredations were of frequent occurrence in that day and the settlers united in building a fort of the stockade type near a spring, on the land taken up by Robert McNitt. The Indians continued their raids for more than ten years after the coming of the McNitts, when the white men in the valley had become so numerous that the savages apparently concluded that "discretion is the better part of valor" and ceased their forays. In July, 1775, a party of Indians captured George Sigler, Jr., a boy thirteen years of age, and carried him to Canada, where he was kept a prisoner until after the treaty of peace, when he was released and returned to his home. About the same time another party attacked Mathias Ruble's house in the east end of the Kishacoquillas valley, but several cross dogs owned by Ruble gave the alarm, which enabled the family to defend the house until one of the boys slipped out of the window unobserved and ran to
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HISTORY OF THE JUNIATA VALLEY
the nearest neighbors, who organized a rescuing party. The Indians had left, however, before the assistance arrived. In 1777, in one of the latest raids made by the Indians in this section, Robert McNitt, the eight-year-old son of Alexander McNitt, was captured and taken to Canada, where he was kept for four years. He was then rescued by a man named Lee, who had gone there after his daughter, also a captive among the Indians.
Among the pioneers on the Kishacoquillas the mill and the still- house were the principal manufacturing enterprises. As early as 1781 there were six mills, seven still-houses and two tan-yards in operation in Armagh township. William Brown, who operated two of the mills and two stills, was the owner of two negro slaves, and Matthew Taylor, who also operated two stills, was the owner of one negro. The first assessment roll after Mifflin county was erected in 1789 showed 159 tax- payers, of whom 126 were land owners.
Probably the first school house in the township was on the old road leading to Penn's valley. It was of round logs, with a clapboard roof, but the date when it was built is uncertain. The second school house was on Cameron hill, and another early school house was on James Armstrong's farm on the south side of Honey creek. In 1912 there were sixteen teachers employed in the several schools of the township, and seven were graduated in the township high school at Milroy.
The first postoffice in the township was established in 1828 under the name of Valley. William Thompson, the first postmaster, kept the office at his residence a short distance northwest of Milroy. In 1850 the name was changed to Milroy.
Bratton township was erected in 1850. The territory comprising it was taken from Oliver township, which was originally a part of Wayne. It is bounded on the north by the Juniata river, which sepa- rates it from Oliver township; on the east by the township of Granville; on the south by the Blue ridge, which separates it from Juniata county ; and on the west by Wayne township. It was named for Captain Will- iam Bratton, who lived in that part of Cumberland county which is now Mifflin at the time of the Revolutionary war, and who commanded a company in the Seventh Pennsylvania regiment in the Continental army.
Early in 1755 Andrew Bratton and his brother-in-law, Samuel Hol- liday, came over the mountains for the purpose of founding homes in
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HISTORY OF THE JUNIATA VALLEY
the Juniata Valley. Bratton selected a tract of land on the south side of the Juniata, and was the first actual settler in what is now Bratton township. The first warrant for land located in the township was issued to Alexander Hamilton on February 10, 1755, for 280 acres on the Juniata, but he did not become an actual resident until several months later. Andrew Bratton's land warrant was dated September 8, 1755- Before that time and the close of the century John, William, George, Jacob, Edward, James and John Bratton, Jr., had all entered lands in what is now Bratton township, and during the next fifteen years mein- bers of the family took up over 1,000 acres of land. Other early set- tlers were George Mitchell, Nathaniel Stanley, John Beatty, who was a native of Ireland, Elijah and Benjamin Criswell, John Beard and John Carlisle.
Andrew Bratton, the original pioneer, built a log meeting-house near his dwelling for the use of the Presbyterians in the vicinity, and Rev. Charles Beatty, the missionary, held services in this house in 1766. This is believed to have been the first regular religious service held in the township. The earliest school house of which there is any record was a small log building on the Bratton farm. It was erected about 1780, and James Jacobs was one of the early teachers. Some time prior to 1800 a log school house was built on John Beard's farm on Shank's run. Glass was a luxury in those days, and this school house had oiled paper for windows. In 1834 a brick school house was built by Andrew Bratton on his farm, and private or "pay" schools were taught in this house until it was purchased by the township authorities in 1851. In that year the township was divided into three-the Bratton, Yoder and Humphrey-school districts. Subsequently three new districts were added, and in 1912 there were six teachers employed in the public schools.
The Pennsylvania railroad runs along the northern border, follow- ing the course of the Juniata river, and there are three stations in the township-Longfellow, Horningford and Mattawana-the last named being the station for McVeytown, on the opposite side of the river, and is now generally called by that name.
Brown township, one of the northwestern tier, was established in January, 1837, and was named for Judge William Brown, who was the first settler in the Kishacoquillas valley. At the April term of court
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in 1836 a petition was presented asking for a division of Armagh and Union townships and the formation of two new ones in that part of the county. The court appointed Robert Miles, D. R. Reynolds and Thomas I. Postlethwait to view the townships and make a report as to the merits of the petition. On July 30, 1836, they reported that they had performed the duty for which they were appointed, and recommended the division of the township as asked for by the petitioners. They pre- sented a plot or map of the territory, showing the four townships as they would appear after the division, Brown being described as five and a half miles in length and having an average width of four and a half miles. The report of the viewers was accepted, and at the January term following the order was made by the court for the erection of Brown township. At that time there were within the limits of the new township 211 taxpayers, with property valued at nearly half a million dollars.
About 1752 William Brown and James Reed visited the Kishaco- quillas valley in search of suitable lands for farming purposes. These two men and Robert Taylor settled in the valley on land warrants taken out in 1755. Brown settled where the town of Reedsville now stands, and lived there for the remainder of his life. He erected a grist-mill and saw-mill there in 1781, and the place was known as Brown's Mills until Reedsville was laid out in 1838. Upon the erection of Mifflin county in 1789, Mr. Brown was made the presiding justice of the courts and two years later became an associate justice. Samuel Milliken settled in the township in 1772. He was a son of James Milliken, who came from Ireland in that year and settled in Dauphin county, where he died about a month after his arrival. Samuel came to the Kishacoquillas valley soon after his father's death, and at the time of his death in 1804 was the owner of over 1,000 acres of land in what is now Brown township. Another pioneer was Abraham Sanford, who owned a tract of land along the Kishacoquillas creek near the line of Derry and Brown townships and was running a grist-mill on the farm as early as 1772. Still-houses were built in the township by William Brown before 1790; William Henry in 1791 ; John Fleming about 1795; and Samuel Milliken about 1800. Matthew Taylor, John Cooper and Kyle & Milliken also operated stills in the township at an early date. In 1812 James, Jonas and George Spangler built a small stone shop in the Narrows and began the
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HISTORY OF THE JUNIATA VALLEY
manufacture of gun barrels. It was in this building that William Mann first began to make axes some years later. John Fleming, one of the early distillers, also had a grist-mill and a woolen mill, and John Taylor started a tan-yard on his farm about 1813.
Just where and when the first school was taught in the township is a matter of uncertainty. The Kishacoquillas Seminary had its beginning in the fall of 1847, when Rev. J. W. Elliott opened a select school in the Centre church, near the line between Union and Brown townships. It received a charter in 1854, and continued as a private school in a building erected by Mrs. Elizabeth Alexander on the road between Reedsville and Belleville for a number of years. The building was then sold to a man named Garver, who occupied it as a dwelling and store. In 1912 there were fourteen teachers employed in the public schools.
Decatur township, lying in the southeastern corner of the county, was a part of Derry township for forty-five years after the latter was organized by the Cumberland county court in 1767. In August, 1812, the people living in the eastern part of Derry township presented a peti- tion to the court of quarter sessions asking for the erection of a new township. In response to this petition the court appointed commissioners to investigate the matter and make a report. In their report, which was presented to the court at the January term in 1813. the viewers recom- mended the erection of a new township and closed the report by saying :
"They therefore submit to the Honorable Court the within plot or draft of Derry and the part of Beaver Dam lately annexed to it, and the division line which they have made and caused to be marked on the ground; the said line beginning at the North Boundary of Derry town- ship, in Jack's Mountain, and running south 25° east five and a half miles to the South Boundary of the said township in the Shade Moun- tain, and they further beg leave to represent that by the said line the said township is equally divided, and due consideration has been paid to the local interest of said township in said division."
The court confirmed the report, approved the recommendations of the commissioners, and ordered that the new township be called Decatur. The year following the erection of the township the assessment rolls showed 149 landowners in the township, eight saw-mills, two grist- mills, a fulling-mill and carding machine.
On January 26, 1763, an order of survey gave Jolin Gilchrist the
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HISTORY OF THE JUNIATA VALLEY
right to take up 300 acres of land in the Jack's creek valley, and he was probably the pioneer settler in Decatur township. The first land warrant bears date of August 1, 1766, and was issued to Jacob Bach for 250 acres. George Frey located 300 acres on February 12, 1767, and Philip and William Stroup were early settlers. George Sigler, who had been captured by the Indians in 1775, took out a warrant in 1784 for a tract of land at the head of Long Meadow run. In 1793 he was the owner of 400 acres. After the Revolution the settlement was more rapid, and before the close of the century the Bells, Hoffmans, Ever- harts, Wagners, Klines, Shillings, Yeaters, Tresters, Caleb Parshall and several other families had located in the Jack's creek valley, most of them near the old Indian path that ran from the Juniata to the Susque- hanna river. Some years later this path became a public highway, over which a stage line was operated, and the route is now closely followed by the line of the Sunbury division of the Pennsylvania railroad.
That part of Beaver Dam township mentioned in the report of the viewers was made a part of Union county soon after Decatur township was organized, but on March 16, 1819, by act of the legislature, the territory was again annexed to Mifflin county and became a part of Decatur township, where it still remains. With the lines thus estab- lished, Decatur is bounded on the northeast by the county of Snyder ; on the southeast by Juniata county; on the southwest by Derry town- ship, and on the northwest by the township of Armagh.
It is doubtful whether a regular school house was built in the town- ship prior to the adoption of the public school system in 1834. Before that time the schools were maintained by private subscriptions and were tistially taught in a room of some residence or in some abandoned struc- ture fitted up for the purpose. John H. Bell and Samuel Bair were appointed directors after the passage of the act of April 1, 1834, au- thorizing the establishment of public schools, and these directors divided the township into the first school districts, four in number. In 1912 there were eight teachers employed in the public schools.
A postoffice-the first in the township-was established at the tavern of Stephen Hinds early in the nineteenth century, but after several years it was abandoned. In 1853 another postoffice was established about a mile west of where the first was located, with George Sigler as postmaster. Upon the opening of the railroad, offices were estab-
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