USA > Pennsylvania > A history of the Juniata Valley and its people, Volume I > Part 30
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The Oak Grove furnace was originally called the Charlotte furnace. It was put in blast on December 4, 1827, having been built in that year by Adam and John Hays. About two years later the firm became Hays & McClure and the name was changed to Oak Grove. It continued in business until 1843.
What is now the Duncannon Iron Works had its beginning in 1828, when Duncan & Mahon erected a forge at the junction of the Susque- hanna river and Juniata creek and soon afterward purchased about 1,200 acres of land in the immediate vicinity. Duncan & Mahon continued to operate the forge until about 1832, when it was leased to John John- ston & Company. In the spring of 1836 the forge, with about 6,000 acres of land, passed to Fisher & Morgan, who operated the forge for a short time, when it was torn down and a rolling mill 60 by 100 feet was built in its place. In 1840 a nail factory was added, with a capacity of 20,000 kegs annually. A severe flood in Sherman's creek on March 14, 1846, carried away the dam and part of the rolling mill, but both were rebuilt in a short time. An anthracite furnace was put up in
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HISTORY OF THE JUNIATA VALLEY
1853 and was subsequently rebuilt, increasing the capacity to 15,000 tons per annum. A second flood in the spring of 1860 swept away the dam and from that time the works have been operated by steam. The firm suffered a considerable loss in 1860 when the nail mills were de- stroyed by fire. They were rebuilt during the year and the capacity doubled by the installation of new machines. On February 1, 1861, Fisher, Morgan & Company sold the property to the Duncannon Iron Company, incorporated, under which management it is still conducted.
Fio forge was built in the loop of Sherman's creek, near the line of Penn and Wheatfield townships, Perry county, in 1828. The proprietors, Downing & Davis, sold the property to Lindley & Speck before the forge was completed, and in 1841 it became the property of Jackson, Yocum & Kough, who operated it until a flood carried out the dam in March, 1846, after which the works were abandoned.
In June, 1834, Lindley, Downing & Fisher purchased a tract of land in Wheatfield and Miller townships and erected thereon the Montabello furnace, which was soon afterward sold to Fisher, Morgan & Company. The latter firm operated it in connection with the Duncannon Iron Works until 1846, when it was discontinued.
About a mile and a half south of Duncannon, William McIlvaine & Sons, of Philadelphia, purchased several hundred acres of land in 1863 and erected thereon the Cove forge. It went into blast in Sep- tember, 1865, with six fires, the blast being run by water power and a Sexton hammer run by steam. The firm also made charcoal on their lands for use in the furnace and the business was successfully carried on for several years before it became unprofitable and was closed.
The Marshall furnace, in Oliver township, Perry county, was built in 1871 by Egle, Phillips & Company, and the Logan Iron and Steel Company was organized at Lewistown. The latter concern purchased the property of the Freedom Iron and Steel Company, which had been established in 1866, and which erected the Emma furnace in 1868, a short distance above the old Freedom furnace of 1795. In November, 1871, the Logan Iron and Steel Company, under the presidency of John M. Kennedy, of Philadelphia, began the manufacture of both pig and bar iron by the charcoal process. The rolling mill and bar mill were at that time on what is known as the island, but in 1882 a new roll- ing mill was built on the west side of Kishacoquillas creek and upon
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its completion the old works were leased to the Standard Steel Com- pany.
The manufacture of steel at this point was commenced in 1868 by the Freedom Iron and Steel Company, by the Bessemer process, but after a few months the experiment was abandoned. When the plant was sold to the Logan Company in 1871, much of the machinery was sold to the Joliet Steel Company, of Illinois, which sold part of it to William Butcher, of Philadelphia, who began the manufacture of steel tires. After about three years Mr. Butcher became financially embarrassed and the works were operated for a short time by his creditors, when the Standard Company was organized and took over the concern. With- in the last decade the works have been greatly enlarged and several hundred men are now employed in the manufacture of locomotive driv- ing tires, trucks, tender and coach wheel tires, forged and rolled steel wheels, tool steel, steel and iron forgings and castings, steel crusher rolls, etc. Although the company has always been practically a part of the Baldwin Locomotive Works of Philadelphia, it is incorporated as a separate institution, with a capitalization of $7,000,000. Its plant is equipped with the most modern appliances and is the largest manu- facturing enterprise in the Juniata valley. Branch offices are main- tained in several cities of the country, but the main office is in Phila- delphia.
In 1835 William Mann began the manufacture of axes on a small scale in a little stone shop on Kishacoquillas creek, in what now bears the name of Mann's Narrows. The building in which he began had been erected some years before by a man named Spangler and used for the manufacture of gun barrels. At first Mr. Mann did his work with the assistance of one helper and the product was but six axes a day. As the quality of his axes became known to lumbermen the demand increased, his works were enlarged, skilled workmen were em- ployed and the output went up to about 1,400 axes daily. After the deatlı of the founder in 1855, his sons continued in the business. The plant is now located at Yeagertown and is known as the J. H. Mann axe factory. The Mann Edge Tool Company has its plant in Lewis- town.
In 1870 H. S. Wharton established a shoe factory in Huntingdon and two years later added a tannery. This concern, known as the Key-
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stone Boot, Shoe and Leather Manufacturing Company, soon occupied a well-equipped plant at the corner of Penn and Sixteenth streets, and during the forty years or more of its career has done a prosperous busi- ness.
The Huntingdon Car Works and Machine Shops were established in 1872 by Orbison & Company on the west side of Penn street, between Seventeenth and Eighteenth, occupying about five acres of ground. The first buildings were a wood-working department 70 by 160 feet, an erecting shop 60 by 165 feet, a machine and blacksmith shop 46 by 173 feet, and an engine house 26 by 32 feet. As the business grew larger, better buildings have been erected. The company manufactures cars and car-wheels and does a large amount of repair work on various kinds of machinery.
Other Huntingdon manufactories are turning out iron wares, sewer pipes, etc., but perhaps the business that has done more than any other to advertise Huntingdon to the outside world is the J. C. Blair Com- pany, manufacturing stationers. John C. Blair, the founder of the busi- ness. was the first man in the world to put up stationery in the form of tablets, to which he soon after added the decorated covers. He began in 1878 in a small store room at 422 Penn street, which was abandoned in 1881 for the old Presbyterian church. Three years later a five-story brick building was erected at Sixth and Allegheny streets, and in 1889 an eight-story building was put up and in May, 1891, the business was incorporated. The company employs about 250 people and its annual product reaches about $1,000,000, the Blair tablets going all over the world.
A recent industry of the Juniata valley that is attracting consider- able attention is the Suskana Silk Works of Lewistown, which were established in 1909. The plant at this point is one of a chain of six mills in the United States, the others being in New York City, two at Sunbury, Pennsylvania, Marion, Ohio, and Jersey Shore, Pennsylvania. The business was originally established in Germany about 1784 and this branch of the silk manufacturing industry is controlled by the Schniewind family, which also has eight mills in Germany. The Lewis- town mills are built on the most modern principles and employ, when running at their full capacity, about 500 persons.
Lack of space prevents a detailed account of every manufacturing
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establishment in the valley. In addition to those already given there are a number of smaller but successful industries scattered through the four counties. Belleville has a foundry and machine shop and a carpet factory. Besides the Duncannon Iron Works, that borough has estab- lishments turning out hosiery, shirts, flour, dairy products, etc. There is a foundry at Liverpool; sand and ocher mills at McVeytown; two large silica brick plants at Mount Union; a bending works and spoke factory, knitting mills and shirt factory at New Bloomfield; a silica sand works and creamery at Newton Hamilton; foundries and wood- working mills at Lewistown, Huntingdon and other places, and a num- ber of flour mills at various other points. At Newport there are iron furnaces, hosiery mills, a large tannery, planing mills, and a tanning extract works which uses thousands of cords of oak wood annually. The headquarters of the extract company are at Cincinnati, Ohio. The re- port of the state factory inspector for the year 1910 shows that inspec- tions were made of manufacturing concerns in the Juniata valley as follows :
Number of establishments
Number of operatives
Huntingdon county
37
2,277
Mifflin
44
3,920
Juniata
6
186
Perry
15
412
Total
102
6.795
Of the 102 plants inspected II were iron works, 18 were devoted to the textile industries and the remainder were of a miscellaneous char- acter-tanneries, bakeries, wood-working establishments, etc .- and of the 6,795 employees 1,067 were women and girls, employed chiefly in the knitting mills.
One of the important industries of Huntingdon and Mifflin counties is the manufacture or preparation of glass sand. This business orig- inated in 1868, when Wirt, Davis & Ross began taking sand from a hill a short distance northwest of McVeytown. The first car-load was shipped to Pittsburgh, where it was pronounced of excellent quality for the manufacture of glass, and in 1870 Bradley & Dull began operations on a more extensive scale. In 1876 John McGuire leased a small tract of land near McVeytown and opened a sand mine. A year or two later
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HISTORY OF THE JUNIATA VALLEY
he disposed of it to a man named Miller and in 1880 it was purchased by Dull & Wilson, who four years later had increased their shipments to about 6,000 cars annually. Investigations developed the fact that there were rich deposits of sand at other places along the river and in a few years a number of works were in active operation. For the last few years the business has been practically controlled by the Pennsylvania Glass Sand Company, with general offices in Lewistown and mines at McVeytown, Vineyard, Mapleton, and elsewhere. The Pennsylvania Pulverizing Company, which is closely allied to the sand company, has extensive works at the Juniata mines, near McVeytown, where the sand is finely pulverized for the use of potters and in enameling tile, etc.
The first attempts to utilize the coal deposits in the Broad Top fields were made about the beginning of the nineteenth century. Strange as it may seem to those of the present generation, the owners of the coal lands entertained the idea that the coal was a fertilizer, and in 1807 Samuel Riddle, who owned large tracts of the coal-bearing land, offered to furnish it free to farmers who might desire to make experiments with it. The next spring he announced that the coal, finely ground, would be furnished to farmers at the rate of two shillings and sixpence per bushel and gave the following directions for its use: "The coal should be ground or beaten into a fine powder, and applied at the rate of a handful to each hill of Indian corn immediately after hilling. and upon grass at the rate of two or three bushels to the acre. The sulphuric acid contained in the Stone Coal is said to destroy the Turnip fly and to banish the cut worm and other destructive insects from the Gardens and Fields upon which it has been sown. Farmers and others will confer a favor upon the subscriber by making trial of the coal for this purpose and communicating the result of their experiments."
After the failure of the coal as a fertilizer, no further efforts were made to develop the deposits until after the middle of the century. In 1856 the output of the mines was about 42,000 tons. With the comple- tion of the Huntingdon & Broad Top railroad the production increased and in 1870 was over 300.000 tons. Four years later the East Broad Top railroad tapped the fields and since then the amount of coal shipped from this field has steadily increased, until in 1912 it was over 3,400,000 tons. In Huntingdon county, the largest single producer is the Rock- hill Iron and Coal Company, which in the year mentioned shipped nearly
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HISTORY OF THE JUNIATA VALLEY
420,000 tons. Other large concerns are the Broad Top Coal and Min- eral Company and the Huntingdon Coal Company. Of the coal from this field it has been said that it makes "a bright, open, tenacious, and strong coke. The only other coals that approach it in this respect are the Connellsville, in Fayette county, and the Bennington, on the crest of the Allegheny mountains." An analysis shows that the Broad Top coal contains a larger percentage of fixed carbon, a lower percentage of ash and volatile matter and, therefore, a larger percentage of coke than any other coal in the state.
Within recent years considerable attention has been given to the development of the water power in the Juniata river and its tributaries, the power thus developed being used for the generation and transmis- sion of electricity to the surrounding towns and cities, where it is used both for lighting purposes and the operation of motors in manufacturing establishments. The Wilson Electric Company brings its current of electricity from Alexandria, a distance of seven miles, to Huntingdon. where it is used by a number of manufacturers for both light and power. About 1907 the Juniata Water Power Company built a large dam in the Juniata two miles above Huntingdon and furnishes the power for the operation of the street railway system of that borough. This com- pany has a capacity of about 5,000 horse power. The Raystown Water Power Company was organized in 1905 and chartered by the state on March 30, 1906, with a capital of $750,000. Its water power plant is located on the Raystown Branch, about seven miles from Huntingdon, and has a capacity of 3,900 horse power. It is now furnishing current to Huntingdon, Mapleton, Carlim, Williamsburg, and a few other points, and a force of men are constantly employed on new construction, ex- tending the lines, etc. The use of electricity as a power has been so much reduced in cost by these water power companies that only three of the manufacturing concerns in Huntingdon were using steam in 1910, according to the census reports.
While much of the surface in the district embraced in this work is hilly and not adapted to cultivation, agriculture is still the leading occupation. Much of the soil is of a strong limestone character and yields abundant crops of the cereals, grasses, and vegetables that are usually grown successfully in this latitude. Since the beginning of the present century many of the farmers have become interested in fruit
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HISTORY OF THE JUNIATA VALLEY
growing and the result is a number of thrifty young orchards, which promise to become profitable investments in the near future.
On April 16, 1828, a number of citizens of Huntingdon county met at the court-house and organized an agricultural society, with John Patton as president ; John Blair, vice-president ; Matthew D. Gregg and Jacob Miller, secretaries. At a meeting on August 15, 1828, a consti- tution was adopted, in which the name of the society was given as the Huntingdon County Agricultural and Manufacturing Society. No rec- ord of this organization can be found after January 14, 1829.
A second agricultural society was projected at a meeting on Novem- ber 15, 1854, and was permanently organized on the 9th of the following January by the election of Jonathan McWilliams, president; a vice- president from each township of the county; J. S. Barr and J. S. Isett, recording secretaries; John Gemmill, corresponding secretary; James Givin, treasurer; Theodore H. Cremer, librarian. The society was in- corporated at the August term of the court in 1871 and during the next twenty years a number of fairs were held, the premium list frequently running over $1,000. In the report of the state department of agricul- ture of 1910 no mention is made of the Huntingdon county society in the list of agricultural societies in Pennsylvania, and it has evidently lapsed into a state of inactivity.
An agricultural society was formed in Mifflin county in the first half of the nineteenth century, but after a few years it was disbanded. On November 19, 1874, the Mifflin County Fair Association was organized with a capital of $6,000. Twenty-one acres of ground were purchased from William R. Graham, a short distance east of Lewistown, and during the summer of 1875 the tract was fenced, a half-mile track con- structed, two buildings, each 40 by 60 feet, were erected, as well as a grandstand facing the race track, and the first fair was held in the fall of that year. Fairs were held annually until 1879, when a general lack of interest caused the society to disband. On the last day of the farm- ers' institute in December, 1912, the Mifflin County Horticultural and Agricultural Association was organized with M. M. Naginey, president ; H. H. Laub, Jr., secretary; W. J. McNitt, treasurer. It is the purpose of this society to give annual exhibits of horticultural and agricultural products of the county, but without going to the expense of maintaining a fair ground, at least for some years.
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HISTORY OF THE JUNIATA VALLEY
The first agricultural society in Juniata county was organized on February 26, 1852, with John Beale, president, and Lewis Burchfield, secretary. For several years it held fairs at Mifflintown and Perry- ville, alternately, and, on December 10, 1859, it was incorporated. Soon after the incorporation the society purchased a tract of ground at Port Royal, built a half-mile race track, and erected buildings costing over $1,- 000. Here fairs have since been held. In 1910 the society numbered 113 members, with Charles D. Frankhouse, president; James N. Groninger, secretary ; both residents of Port Royal. The fair that year was at- tended by about 40,000 people. The society received in 1910 the sum of $838 from the state and paid out over $1,000 in premiums.
An organization called the Riverside Park and Agricultural Associa- tion was organized at Patterson in May, 1874, but it was of a local nature, pertaining to Mifflintown and the immediate vicinity. A fair ground of fourteen acres, about half a mile down the river from Mifflin- town, was leased of Ezra S. Parker and several thousand dollars were spent in the construction of a race track and the erection of buildings. The first fair was held in September, 1874, and fairs were held annually thereafter until 1883, when the grounds were turned over to the owner and the society disbanded.
The writer has been unable to learn the early history of the Perry County Agricultural Society, but it has been in existence for many years. According to the report of the state department of agriculture for 1910, the society numbered 324 members, with T. H. Butturf, presi- dent : J. C. F. Stephens, secretary. Both these officials are residents of Newport, where the fair grounds of the society are situated. On these grounds are a number of buildings for the display of agricultural prod- ucts, a half-mile race track, and all the appurtenances of a well ordered fair ground. In 1910 the society received from the state $715.75 and paid out in premiums about $1,200.
Many of the valley farmers are regular attendants upon the farmers' institutes and are applying the information thus gained to their work upon their farms. In 1910 institutes were held in Huntingdon county at Shirleysburg, McAlevy's Fort, Alexandria, and Warriors Mark; in Mifflin county at McVeytown and Milroy ; in Juniata at McAlisterville and East Waterford; and in Perry at Newport, Roseglen, and Landis- burg. The attendance at these institutes was as follows: Hunting-
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HISTORY OF THE JUNIATA VALLEY
don, 2,489; Mifflin, 1,531; Juniata, 1,726; Perry, 1,610. Through the medium of these institutes over 8,000 farmers have been brought into contact with the best thought of scientific agriculturists, and the result is seen in the improved methods that are being adopted by the farmers and the greater yield of their fields. The institute managers of the dif- ferent counties are: Huntingdon, G. G. Hutchinson, Warriors Mark; Mifflin, M. M. Naginey, Milroy; Juniata, Matthew Rodgers, Mexico; Perry, A. T. Holman, Millerstown. J. H. Peachy, of Belleville, Mif- flin county, is one of the institute lecturers. Another lecturer from the valley district is Mrs. Sarah B. F. Ziegler, of Duncannon.
CHAPTER XVI
THE PROFESSIONS
Establishment of a Judiciary System-Early Courts-Judicial Districts Created- Prominent Members of the Bar-Judge Taylor-Lists of Judges and District At- torneys in the Several Counties-Land Lawyers-John Bannister Gibson-Bar As- sociations-The Medical Profession-Character and Hardships of the Country Doctor-Pioneer Physicians-Medical Societies-The Doctor as a Citizen.
I N the establishment of a judiciary system in Pennsylvania all judges were appointed by the governor and held their offices for life or during good behavior. This system prevailed until 1851. In 1850 an amendment was made to the state constitution providing for an elective judiciary and on April 15, 1851, the general assenibly passed an act giving full force to the amendment. Under this system the pres- ident judges are elected for ten years and the associate judges for five years. The office of district attorney was also made elective in 1850. Prior to that time the duties of this office had been discharged by an official appointed by the governor and known as a deputy attorney-gen- eral, or prosecuting attorney. Their appointment was made in an in- formal manner and the attorneys-general of the state kept no record of such appointments, hence it is impossible to give a list of those who filled the position prior to 1850.
When Huntingdon county, the oldest in the district included in this work, was established in 1787, Robert Galbraith was appointed president judge, receiving his commission as such on November 23, 1787. Nearly four years elapsed before the first associate judges were appointed, the courts being held by the president judge and the justices of the county, or, in the absence of the president judge, by the justices alone. The first justices in Huntingdon were Thomas D. Smith, John Williams, Thomas McCune, and William Phillips, and these gentlemen, with Judge Galbraith, constituted the first court in the county. On August 17, 1791, four associate justices were commissioned. Following is a list of the
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judicial officials of the county, as nearly complete and authentic as it can be compiled from the records :
President Judges-Robert Galbraith, 1787; Thomas Smith, 1791; James Riddle, 1794; Thomas Cooper, 1804; Jonathan Walker, 1806; Charles Huston, 1818: Thomas Burnside, 1826; George W. Woodward, 1841; Abraham S. Wilson. 1842; George Taylor, appointed in 1849. the first president judge to be elected in 1851 and reelected in 1861; John Dean, 1871; John H. Orvis, 1874: Adam Hoy, 1883: Austin O. Furst, 1885; John G. Love (elected in 1894 and served but six months when a change in the district left Huntingdon county without a presi- dent judge. William M. Williamson was appointed on June 24. 1895, and served until January, 1896, when he was succeeded by John M. Bailey, who was elected in November. 1895) : Joseph M. Woods, 1903. Judge Woods was first appointed on October 27, 1903, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Judge Bailey, and in November, 1904, he was elected for a full term of ten years.
By the act of April 13, 1791, the state was divided into five judicial districts, in each of which was established a court of common pleas, con- sisting of a president judge and not fewer than three nor more than four associate judges in each county. The Fourth district was com- posed of Cumberland, Franklin. Bedford, Huntingdon and Mifflin coun- ties. In Huntingdon county the following is the list of
Associate Judges-David Stewart, Robert Galbraith, John Canan, Benjamin Elliott, commissioned August 17, 1791, and Hugh Davidson, November 4, 1791 ; William Steel, 1804: Joseph McCune, 1810; Joseph Adams, 1826; John Ker, 1838; James Gwin, 1843; John Stewart, 1840; Jonathan Mc Williams, 1851 ; Jonathan McWilliams and Thomas F. Stewart, elected in 1851 ; B. F. Patton and John Brewster, 1856; Wil- liam B. Leas, 1860; B. F. Patton, 1861 : Anthony J. Beaver, 1865 : David Clarkson, 1866 (Beaver and Clarkson both elected for a second term) : Adam Heeter, 1875: Graffus Miller. 1880; George W. Johnson, 1881 : Charles R. McCarthy, 1885 : Wilson O. Watson, 1890; William J. Geis- singer, 1893; W. H. Benson, 1897: E. O. Rogers, 1898; W. E. Lightner, 1907: Harris Richardson, 1908.
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