USA > Pennsylvania > Luzerne County > Annals of Luzerne County; a record of interesting events, traditions, and anecdotes > Part 30
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Capouse, No. 170, Hyde Park.
Shickshinny, No. 180, Shickshinny.
Shawnee, No. 225, Plymouth.
Integrity, No. 234, Town Hill.
Forest, No. 251, White Haven.
Abington, No. 267, Waverly.
Lackawanna, No. 291, Scranton. .
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Vulcan, No. 292, South Wilkesbarre.
Conyngham, No. 308, Conyngham. Gohonta, No. 314, Pittston. Oneida, No. 371, Huntsville.
Archbald, No. 392, Archbald.
Hoffnung (German), No. 425, Wilkesbarre.
Benton, No. 433, Benton Centre.
White Haven, No. 457, White Haven.
Dunmore, No. 492, Dunmore.
Thistle, No. 512, Pittston.
Residenz (German), No. 513, Scranton.
Butler, No. 525, Drums.
Alliance, No. 540, Scranton.
The total is 24 lodges, with an aggregate contributing membership of 2000.
The Encampments in the county are six, viz. :
Outalissi, No. 39, at Wilkesbarre.
Beaver, No. 61, Hazelton.
Scrantonia, No. 81, Scranton.
Gohonta, No. 96, Pittston.
White Haven, No. 122, White Haven.
Armin (German), No. 124, Scranton.
Besides the two chief orders of Masonry and Odd Fel- lowship, there are other societies of inferior note in the county. We mention
The Herman Beneficial Society (German), which was established at Wilkesbarre, in 1846, and was named in honor of the Duke of the Cheruskers, a German tribe of people. Herman was the Washington of Germany.
The Wyoming Beneficial Society (German), established at Wilkesbarre, in 1848, chiefly through the exertions of Captain John Reichart.
The Ladies' Beneficial Society (German), organized at Wilkesbarre, in 1858.
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The Mechanics' Beneficial Association (German), or- ganized at Wilkesbarre, in 1859.
The Jewish Benevolent Society, established at Wilkes- barre, in 1858, for the relief of suffering Jews.
The Lackawanna Beneficial Society, organized at Seran- ton, in 1851, Bernard Ofner, president.
The Hibernia Beneficial Society, organized at Pittston, in 1852, Michael Reap, president.
It may not be amiss to note that on the 16th of July, 1832, an anti-tobacco meeting was held in Wilkesbarre. John P. Babb was called to the chair, and William B. Norton was appointed secretary. The meeting was ad- dressed by Dr. D. N. Scott, Ovid F. Johnson, and Luther Kidder, Esqs. A committee, consisting of Dr. T. W. Miner, J. P. Babb, Dr. E. L. Boyd, and Dr. D. N. Scott, was appointed to draft a constitution. Messrs. Kidder, Johnson, and Miner constituted a committee to prepare an address for the next meeting. But the organization of this society was never perfected. The day will pro- bably come when a general movement will be made, among the enlightened and observing, against the use of tobacco. It is making sad inroads on the health, the spirits, and usefulness of multitudes in all ranks of society. The mental and moral manifestations induced by its abuse are very similar to those consequent on the use of ardent spirits. When that day comes the feeble effort, here recorded, to oppose this evil, will possess interest in the eye of the philanthropist.
On the 11th day of February, 1858, Dr. C. F. Ingham, Dr. W. F. Dennis, E. L. Dana, J. P. Dennis, G. P. Par- rish, Wm. P. Miner, S. Woodward, H. M. Hoyt, G. B. Nicholson, C. E. Wright, W. H. Beaumont, S. Bowman, S. S. Winchester, J. B. Conyngham, and others, met at the Old Fell Tavern, in Wilkesbarre, to celebrate the
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fiftieth anniversary of the successful experiment of burn- ing anthracite coal in a grate. The old grate, with which Judge Fell experimented, was procured and set up in the fire-place, and a bright coal fire was soon glowing, and warming the assembled company. At this meeting it was proposed to establish a Historical Society, and the proposition meeting general approval, a committee was appointed to draft a constitution, to be presented at the next meeting, to be held at Templar Hall.
It is to be regretted that a historical and geological society was not formed in this county many years ago, while a number of the early settlers were yet living, and at a period when many curious relics of former ages, now beyond our reach, might have been procured and pre- served among us. The writer collected, in Wyoming Valley many years ago, a large number of Indian curi- osities, which are now deposited in the British Museum. There are numerous articles of interest in the Philadel- phia, New York, and New England cabinets, which were procured in Luzerne county.
On the 10th of May, 1858, the Wyoming Historical and Geological Society received corporate privileges, and soon after rented the present cabinet-room on Franklin Street, Captain E. L. Dana having been elected the first president. This room, it was supposed, would be sufficiently large for the wants of the society for many years to come. But, owing to the praiseworthy exertions of the cabinet com- mittee, and to the liberal donations of many gentlemen and ladies in and out of the county, it is now full and overflowing with a great variety of rare and valuable speci- inens of minerals, shells, coin, Indian relics, &c. The society is in possession of the valuable collection of H. A. Cham- bers, of Carbondale, who spent twenty years in gathering valuable curiosities of ancient and modern times, espe-
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cially coins and medals, of which he had upwards of 3000 pieces.
The society is indebted to General Wm. S. Ross, of Wilkesbarre, for this cabinet of rare curiosities. With a public spirit and a liberality seldom equaled, the General purchased the entire collection of Mr. Chambers for $2000, and presented it to the society. It forms a nucleus about which a great collection will eventually be gathered, inter- esting not to the antiquary alone, but to the people of all classes of society.
CHAPTER XIV.
ROADS, MAILS, AND STAGES.
THE first settlers from Connecticut, who came to Wyo- ming in 1762 and 1763, crossed the Hudson at or near Newburg, and proceeding westward, passed the Delaware at its junction with Shohola Creek. From this point they followed an Indian path along Roaring Brook to the Lackawanna river, and thence by another Indian path to the place of destination. The emigrants of 1769 followed the same route, but, being accompanied by carts drawn by oxen, they were compelled to use the axe, and from this period we date the first wagon-road from the Dela- ware to the North Branch of the Susquehanna.
In October, 1772, at a meeting of the settlers, held in the valley, Messrs. Jenkins, Goss, Carey, Gore, and Stew- art were appointed a committee to collect money by sub- scription to improve the road. The work was commenced in the following November, and prosecuted to completion in 1774.
The road through Kingston, parallel with the river, and 6 rods or 99 feet in width, was laid out in 1770. but as it did not connect with the east side of the river, another road was opened through the Kingston flats. crossing the Susquehanna at the head of Fish's Island. below Wilkesbarre, and uniting with the Wilkesbarre road. near the present residence of General E. W. Sturde- vant. A road was also laid out from Wilkesbarre to Pittston, on the east side of the river, and ferries were
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established at both of these places. The march of Sulli- van's army from Easton to Wyoming, in 1779, opened another road from the Delaware to the Susquehanna. This road was afterwards improved by the settlers, and when Luzerne county was organized in 1786, it was fur- ther improved by funds appropriated by the court from the county treasury, and finally became - the great thoroughfare between Philadelphia and North Eastern Pennsylvania.
In 1787, a road was laid out from the Nescopeck Falls to the Lehigh river, by authority of the Commonwealth, and Evan Owen, proprietor of Berwick, was appointed to superintend its construction. This road was completed in 1789, forming the third line of connection between this region and the Delaware, and the second with the Lehigh.
In 1788, the court of Luzerne county appointed Benja- min Carpenter, Abel Pierce, Lawrence Myers, James Sutton, Benjamin Smith, and John Dorrance, to view and lay out additional roads in Kingston township. The viewers for Hanover township were Christopher Hurlbut, Shubal Bidlack, Richard Inman, Conrad Lyon, John Hurlbut, Elisha Decker, and Nathan Nartrop. For Ply- mouth township, Samuel Allen, Rufus Lawrence, William Reynolds, Luke Swetland, Hezekiah Roberts, and Cor- nelius Atherton, were appointed viewers. For Salem township, the viewers were Nathan Beach, George R. Taylor, George Smithers, Amos Park, Jacob Shower, and Giles Parman.
In 1789, John Jenkins, Stephen Harding, Peter Harris, David Smith, S. Dailey, and J. Phillips, were appointed to view and lay out additional roads in Exeter township. For Wilkesbarre township, the viewers were Zebulon Butler, J. P. Schott, John Hollenback, Nathan Waller, Abraham Westbrook, and John Carey.
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In 1790, John Phillips, John Davidson, J. Blanchard, Caleb Bates, David Brown, and J. Rosin, were appointed viewers for Pittston township. In 1791, the viewers appointed for Providence township were Daniel Taylor, John Grifford, Gabriel Leggett, Isaac Tripp, James Abbott, and Constant Searl. In 1792, William Jackson, John Fairchild, Mason F. Alden, M. Smith, Daniel McMullin, and A. Smith, were appointed to view and lay out roads in Newport township. The surveyors, who accompanied the committees and laid out the work, were John Jenkins, Christopher Hurlbut, and Luke Swetland ; and as other townships were formed, and other road- viewers were appointed, their labors were extended until all the principal roads in the county, prior to 1798, were surveyed and in process of construction.
It is not to be supposed that these roads were smooth and adapted to carriages such as we use for pleasure, con- venience, or comfort in the present day. There was a plentiful sprinkling of stumps, roots, and rocks in them, and to travel them, with any degree of speed, was out of the question. The streams, if bridged at all, were spanned by round or split logs laid upon string-pieces. The springy land and the marshes were rendered passable by logs laid parallel to each other, forming what is called the corduroy road. The roads were usually laid out over the hills, the viewers then, as now, not reflecting that " the bale of a pot is no longer lying down than when standing up," and that a road made around, instead of over a hill, besides being no longer, would save the time of the traveler and the horse-flesh of his team. When heavy loads were not to be transported, the inhabitants generally traveled on horseback. The lover, with his "sweet- heart" mounted behind him, or the husband, wife, and child on the same horse, wended their way to church, to
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town, or to the social gathering, as the case might be. Broadcloth, silks, laces, and fine feathers, had not yet found their way into these mountain regions; but the unsophisticated people, clad in homespun, assembled at the evening party for innocent enjoyment, or congregated at the appointed place for religious services.
About the year 1783, a vehicle, called a "chair" or " gig," with a single seat, was introduced by Colonel Zebulon Butler from Connecticut, and, in 1808, the dear- born, a four-wheeled carriage, made its appearance in our valley.
TURNPIKES.
As the population, productions, and wealth of the county increased, there was an urgent demand for better roads, and easier communication between distant points. In 1802, a charter was procured from the state for con- structing the Easton and Wilkesbarre Turnpike. The turnpike occupied a large portion of the old road, and it was chiefly through the exertions of Arnold Colt that the first 29 miles, reckoning from Wilkesbarre, were com- pleted in 1806. Soon after, the whole distance from Wilkesbarre to the Wind Gap, 46 miles, was finished at a cost of $75,000.
In 1810, the company declared a dividend of $2.60 on each share of $50. During the embargo, in 1812 and 1813, the farmers of Northampton county were unable to procure plaster from the seaboard, and were compelled to use New York plaster, which was conveyed down the Susquehanna in arks to Wilkesbarre, and thence in sleds and wagons over the turnpike. This additional travel added to the dividends, which were $2.75 per share, after deducting the increased expenditures for improve- ments. A turnpike mania now seized the people. The
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old Nescopeck and Lehigh road was transformed into a turnpike, under the name of the Susquehanna and Lehigh Turnpike. The Susquehanna and Tioga Turnpike, ex- tending from Berwick in Columbia county, opposite Nescopeck, through Fairmount and Huntington town- ships in Luzerne, and thence to Towanda, was constructed at an enormous expense to the state and to individual stockholders. The stock finally became valueless, and the road was abandoned. Through the influence and energy of H. W. Drinker and Thomas Meredith, Esqs., what is known as Drinker's Turnpike was constructed, connecting the northern portion of this county with the Easton and Wilkesbarre Turnpike at Taylorsville.
The Wilkesbarre and Bridgewater Turnpike, extending northward, via Tunkhannock and Montrose, was also con- structed, and in common with the other roads, except the Easton and Wilkesbarre and the Susquehanna and Lehigh, was abandoned by its company several years ago.
PLANK-ROADS.
Lord Sydenham, governor-general of Canada, having observed, when in Russia, the operation of plank-roads, brought about the construction of a similar road in his provinces, extending eastward from Toronto. It was completed in 1834. In 1846, the Syracuse and Central Square Plank-road, in New York, the first in the United States, was completed. Since that period they have been constructed in various localities throughout the Union, especially in lumbering countries, where materials are cheap.
The Wilkesbarre and Providence Plank-road Company was incorporated in 1851. The distance from Wilkes- barre to Pittston, eight miles, was constructed at a cost
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of $43,500. The balance of the road was never placed under contract, and the stock has gone down from $25 per share to $4, its present value.
The Scranton and Carbondale Plank-road, constructed in 1853-4, has been abandoned from Scranton to the Blakely township line.
The Providence and Waverly Road is in process of transformation from a plank to a turnpike road, leaving the Bear Creek and Lehigh, and the Gouldsborough roads, as the only representatives of this kind of highway in the county.
The Bear Creek Road is 10 miles in length, extending from Port Jenkins, the head of the Lehigh navigation, to the Wilkesbarre and Easton Turnpike at Bear Creek. Here it is intersected by another plank-road, 2 miles in length, constructed by Messrs. McKean and Pursel, and connecting with their extensive lumber-mills. This road was built to facilitate the lumbering business, but has not as yet declared a dividend.
The Gouldsborough Plank-road extends from Goulds- borough station, on the Delaware, Lackawanna, and Western Railroad, to Gouldsborough, a distance of about S miles, and, we believe, has never declared a dividend on its stock. These roads, like many other enterprises, while advantageous to the country, have produced little or no profit to the pockets of stockholders. Improve- ments, carried through under high speculative excite- ment, when people invest their money without due consi- deration and investigation, scarcely ever make a profitable return on the capital consumed in their construction.
RAILROADS.
When coal began to be transported from the mines in England, rails were laid from the pit's mouth to the
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place of deposit, and having considerable inclination, a single horse could draw four or five cars containing two tons each. These were called tram-roads, the first of which was built on the river Tyne in 1676. In 1716, flat iron rails laid upon wooden string-pieces were intro- duced. From this period until 1800, when the first pas- senger railway was constructed from Stockton to Darling- ton, in England, the improvements introduced were a change in the flat rail, stone foundations afterwards aban- doned, the flange first upon the rail and then upon the wheels of the car.
In 1825, Parliament granted a charter for a railroad from Manchester to Liverpool, which was completed in 1830. In 1805, Captain Trevinick invented a steam- carriage, an improvement on that invented by Watt, several years before, but until the opening of the Man- chester and Liverpool Road horse-power was in general use. On the opening of that road locomotives were steadily and successfully employed.
It has been said, heretofore, that the first railroad in the United States was built in 1827, at Quincy, Mass., for the purpose of conveying granite from a quarry. But a writer in the Historical Magazine, for July, 1859, asserts, that the first railroad in this country was con- structed, in 1807, at Beaconhill, Mass., by Captain Silas Whitney, for the transportation of gravel. It was a double-track road with two cars, one empty, which was drawn up as the loaded one descended the hill.
The Mauch Chunk Railroad, connecting the coal-mines with the Lehigh, was commenced and finished in 1827, and was the first railroad in Pennsylvania.
The Mount Carbon road was commenced in 1829. The Boston and Lowell, the Camden and Amboy, and
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the Philadelphia and Columbia roads, were commenced in 1830. In 1831, the Pennsylvania Legislature char- tered twelve railroad companies, and from that period we may date the commencement of our railroad system, which has connected together all the principal points in the state.
Through the efforts of Morris and William Wurts, the enterprising projectors of the Delaware and Hudson Canal and Railroad Company, that work was commenced in 1826, and completed in 1828, J. B. Jervis acting as engineer. The canal is 108 miles in length from tide- water on the Hudson to Honesdale. It ascends to Hones- dale, 980 feet above tide, by means of 106 locks and 2 guard-locks. Its boats carry 125 tons, and draw 5} feet of water. The railroad originally connected the mines at Carbondale with the canal at Honesdale, having five planes and stationary engines, overcoming an elevation of 850 feet, and costing, with the canal, $3,500,000. Within a few years past the road has been extended to Archbald, and it is now in process of extension to the newly-pur- chased coal lands of the company, near Scranton and Providence. This was the first railroad in Luzerne county, and the second that was commenced in the United States, the small road at Beaconhill, before referred to, being the first.
The first locomotive in the United States was brought from England soon after the completion of the Delaware and Hudson Canal and Railroad, in 1828. It was con- veyed through the canal and placed on the road, where its self-moving power, as it rapidly coursed along the iron rail, excited the unbounded astonishment of the natives. But the bridges and trestle-work of the road proving too frail for the great weight of the steam-horse, it was aban- doned, and for several years lay rusting by the roadside.
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A portion of this engine, we are told, is now used in a colliery at Pittston.
The second railroad in Luzerne was commenced by the Baltimore Coal Company in 1834, and was completed in 1835. The road extends from the mines to the canal at Wilkesbarre, and is upwards of a mile in length. The loaded cars advance by gravity, while the empty ones, formerly returned by horse-power, are now moved by steam. 1
In 1835, the Lehigh Navigation Company, originated by Josiah White and Erskine Hazzard, extended their improvement to White Haven, and under their charter were required to slackwater the Lehigh as far as Stod- dartsville. , From this requirement the company was released, on condition that it would connect the Lehigh with the Susquehanna by railroad. The Lehigh and Susquehanna Railroad was consequently commenced in 1838, E. A. Douglas and Lord Butler, engineers. It would have been completed in 1841, but for the extraor- dinary floods of that year. However, it was finished in 1843, at a cost exceeding $1,350,000, and on the 23d of May, the first train of passenger cars entered Wyoming Valley, and the borough of Wilkesbarre. The people were highly excited, testified by their shouts and by the thunder of the cannon, for it was believed that a new era of progress and improvement had dawned upon us. The road is 20 miles in length, and is laid with the T rail. It has three planes ascending from the Susquehanna to an elevation of 1270 feet, and descending thence to White Haven with a grade of 50 feet to the mile. These planes are 4356, 3778, and 4797 feet, respectively, in length, and the cars are drawn up by stationary steam-power.
The railroad of the Pennsylvania Coal Company ex- tends from Port Griffith, on the Susquehanna, to Hawley,
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on the Delaware and Hudson Canal, 9 miles below Honesdale, and is 47 miles in length. This company was chartered in 1830, under the name of the Washing- ton Coal Association, which was afterwards changed to that of the Pennsylvania Coal Company. W. R. Griffith, Irad Hawley, and John Ewen, were the active projectors of this great work, which was completed in 1848-9, at a cost exceeding $2,000,000. James Archbald and W. R. Maffet were the engineers. The coal is conveyed in cars drawn by stationary steam-power, up the planes, of which there are twelve, ascending to a summit of about 900 feet, and the empty cars are returned by another track having ten planes.
The Delaware, Lackawanna, and Western Railroad extends, by way of Scranton, from Great Bend, where it connects with the New York and Erie road, to a point 5 miles below the Delaware Water Gap. It is 115 miles in length. The northern division, from Scranton to Great Bend, was commenced and completed under the general superintendence of Colonel George W. Scranton, in 1851, E. McNeill, engineer. The southern division of 65 miles from Scranton to the eastern terminus, where it connects with the New Jersey railroads, was finished in 1856, and on the 21st day of January in that year the first pas- senger train passed over the road. It cost $4,000,000, and is of the New York or wide gauge. It has heavy grades, the highest point of the road being 1100 feet above Scranton, and 1800 feet above tide-water.
The Lackawanna and Bloomsburg Railroad extends from Rupert, on the Catawissa, Williamsport, and Erie road, by the way of Bloomsburg and Berwick, in Colum- bia county, and the Wyoming and Lackawanna Valleys to Scranton. Its length is 58 miles. It was commenced in 1854, E. McNeill, engineer, and was finished in 1857,
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at a cost of $1,100,000. The grade is easy, as it follows the course of the Susquehanna and Lackawanna rivers, being about 3} feet per mile.11
The Lackawanna Railroad extends from Greenville, on the Delaware, Lackawanna, and Western road, to Archbald, 12 miles. It was finished in 1857, at a cost of about $300,000.
Hazelton, Eckley, Black Creek, and Jeansville, are connected with Mauch Chunk and the Lehigh Valley road, by means of railroads, upon which coal and passen- gers are conveyed.
The aggregate length of the railroads, before enume- rated, is 307 miles, of which 163 miles are within the limits of Luzerne county, and the cost of the same, in- cluding their equipments, together with the cost of the Delaware and Hudson Canal, and the works of the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company, exceeds $18,000,000. If to this we add the cost of the North Branch Canal, we have a sum exceeding $22,000,000, expended in means for conveying to market the products of our coal-fields.12
MAILS AND STAGES.
The first account we have of posts, or of news and letter- carriers, dates back more than 2200 years, to the days of Darius I. of Persia, who established post-riders, in the most populous portions of his empire, stationed at the distance of a day's journey apart. Augustus Cæsar, also, about the commencement of the Christian era, established a regular system of posts in the Roman empire. For several hundred years messages were transmitted on horseback, as occasion required, through Europe, and it was not until 1543 that a regular mail was sent from one point to another. This was between London and Edinburgh.
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MAIL COACH.
In 1581 Thomas Randolph was chosen the first Post- master-General of England. The invention of mail- coaches, by Mr. Palmer, enabled the English government to convey its mails with convenience and despatch.
In 1683 William Penn opened a post-office at Philadel- phia, and appointed Henry Waldy postmaster. A weekly post-route was established between that place and New Castle, Chester, and other settlements, and the rates of postage varied from five to nine pence. Notice of the times of the arrival and departure of the mail was carefully posted on the meeting-house door and other public places.
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