USA > Pennsylvania > Luzerne County > Annals of Luzerne County; a record of interesting events, traditions, and anecdotes > Part 32
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
467
NAVIGATION ON THE SUSQUEHANNA.
She measures between 50 and 60 tons. Her colors were flying from her stern, and nearly thirty persons were on board. The after block was knocked away-all was anxiety-but she did not move.
" The news of the embargo had just come to town, and she seemed aware that there was no business for her on the ocean, and she might as well lie in dry dock. The men on board all gathered near her bow, and then ran in a body to the stern. She started, moving for half a minute slowly. Her velocity increased, and she slid most gracefully into her destined element, amid the shouts of thousands. As she met the water, Captain Chapman christened her in the usual style 'The Luzerne, of Wilkesbarre.' Nothing could be more beautiful, and every spectator was amply gratified. Great credit is due to Mr. Mack, the shipwright who built her, and under whose superintendence she was launched, and to Mr. Arndt, the principal proprietor, who has been chiefly active in her building. We hope her voyage down the crooked and rocky Susquehanna may be safe, though our hopes are not without some fears for her safety, as she draws, without ballast, four feet of water."
In a few days this vessel left the Port of Wilkesbarre, on her downward passage to the ocean, and to the con- sternation of all on board she was dashed to pieces on the rocks at Conawaga Falls, near Middletown. With her were wrecked the hopes of her stockholders, together with the fond anticipations of timber-land and town-lot speculators. Thus failed a bold undertaking, which cost the enterprising citizens of Luzerne, and particularly those of Wilkesbarre, no small sum of money. It seems strange that with a full knowledge of the shallowness of the Susquehanna, men should have engaged in the hazardous experiment of building a ship of sixty tons,
468
ANNALS OF LUZERNE COUNTY.
two hundred miles from tide-water. Half a century has wrought a great change in the business affairs of the people of this region. The timber of Luzerne fifty years ago was to the inhabitants of that period, what anthracite coal is to the people of the present day. And ship-build- ing occupied the same relationship to the timber of the country then, that the iron manufacture does to the coal now. We evidently enjoy a high advantage over our fathers. The clouds may withhold their rains, and the Susquehanna may show us her dark and rocky bed, but that will not prevent the miner from dragging the black treasure from the bowels of the earth, nor its conveyance to the distant markets of the land.
LUMBER, RAFTS, AND ARKS.
Since 1794, and particularly after experience had shown the impracticability of ship-building in the inte- rior, for the consumption of our timber at home, the Susquehanna has been the great channel or avenue for supplying the lower markets with lumber. Our river has furnished the timbers, masts, and spars of ships built in Baltimore and in other seaports, and has brought to the mechanics of Philadelphia, Lancaster, and of various other places in Pennsylvania and Maryland, the materials wherewith to erect thousands of dwellings, the lowly cot- tage and the lofty palace. Seventy years ago a raft of sawed lumber had not yet been seen on the Susquehanna. However, in 1796, thirty rafts passed down the river, but not a single ark floated on its waters until the year 1800. The first object of the early settlers was to clear the land for agricultural purposes, and there being no demand for lumber, or means of manufacturing it into boards, timber of the best quality was rolled into heaps and consumed
469
NAVIGATION ON THE SUSQUEHANNA.
by fire. In a few years, however, after the country be- came settled, a farmer here and there would erect a saw- mill, and would manufacture lumber from the good timber cut on his annual clearings. It was not long before the surplus was floated to market below, in the spring or fall, during a freshet. As the demand increased the number of mills multiplied, and in 1804 no less than 552 rafts, or about 22,000,000 feet of lumber, were taken to market. In the same year, 84 arks and 19 Durham boats laden with wheat, furs, and fat cattle destined for Baltimore, and valued at $190,400, passed down the river. In speaking of this fleet of arks and boats with their valuable cargoes, the editor of the Federalist, pub- lished in Wilkesbarre at that time, expressed regret that the Easton and Wilkesbarre Turnpike was not completed, so as to induce a transhipment of the produce at Wilkes- barre, and secure its transportation over the road to Phi- ladelphia. In 1827, during a single freshet, from March Ist to April 5th, 1030 rafts and arks, many of them laden with agricultural productions, passed Wilkesbarre on their way to tide-water, and to Baltimore. Baltimore was long the natural, and only market, for the Upper Susquehanna trade. But after the construction of the Columbia and Philadelphia Railroad, and the state canals, the trade be- came divided between Baltimore, Philadelphia, and other populous places. The demand increased from year to year, and lumbering became an established business. With many it became the primary, while agriculture was a secondary pursuit. From 1827 to 1849, the increase of the lumber trade was rapid and enormous. From March 22d to April 17th, in the last-named year, 2243 rafts and 268 arks passed Wilkesbarre, on the swollen waters of the river. They contained about 100,000,000 of feet, and were valued at $600,000. Since 1849 the
470
ANNALS OF LUZERNE COUNTY.
number of rafts and arks has gradually diminished, owing to the scarcity of timber, and to the diversion of trade by the construction of the New York and Erie, and of other railroads, in Northern Pennsylvania and Southern New York. Very little lumber is now rafted within the limits of Luzerne, being conveyed to market chiefly on the railroads and Susquehanna canals, while a considerable quantity is consumed at home.
CANALS.
In 1824, the Legislature of Pennsylvania authorized and directed the governor to appoint three commissioners to examine routes along the Susquehanna, and other rivers in the state, with a view to the proper location and construction of canals. In February, 1826, a general internal improvement act was passed by the Assembly, under the operation of which the great public works of Pennsylvania were constructed at a cost exceeding $40,000,000.
In this stupendous undertaking the people of Luzerne naturally felt a deep interest, from the fact that it pro- mised a speedy development of her vast mineral resources. A state internal improvement convention was assembled at Harrisburg, in August, 1825, and Nathan Beach and Jacob Cist appeared there as representatives from Luzerne.
On the 14th of March, 1827, the corner-stone of the first lock was laid at Harrisburg, in the presence of a vast multitude. There were present Governor Shultz, Governor Findley, Governor Carrole of Tennessee, the speakers and members of the Senate and House of Repre- sentatives, members of the Masonic order, the military, and a great crowd of citizens. The occasion was cele- brated in the midst of discharges of cannon, the ringing of bells, and the shouts of the people.
471
NAVIGATION ON THE SUSQUEHANNA.
Garrick Mallery and George Denison, men of brilliant talents and great influence in the halls of legislation, were elected to represent Luzerne in the General Assembly of 1827-8. They were sent for the express purpose of securing speedy action in reference to the commencement of the North Branch Canal. Their efforts, strenuously directed to that end, were successful, and on their return home, they were welcomed by a grateful constituency, who gave them a public dinner at the Phoenix Hotel, in Wilkesbarre.
The commissioners were directed to place the North Branch division of canal, from Northumberland to the state line, under contract. The 4th of July, 1828, was fixed upon as the day to break ground at Berwick; and the writer, then a boy, numbered one among the great multitude assembled to witness the interesting scene. The military were there with their colors, and drums, and gay attire. Crowds came from Wilkesbarre, Ply- mouth, Kingston, Northumberland, Danville, Blooms- burg, and from all the region round about for thirty miles or more. Old men and women were there, and the boys and girls from town and country came. And there was good cider, and a vast supply of cakes and beer, that made the eyes of the drinker snap. At the appointed hour the ceremonies began, by plowing near the present lock at Berwick.
The plow was held by Nathan Beach, Esq., and was drawn by a yoke of splendid red oxen, owned and driven by Alexander Jameson, Esq. The loose earth was re- moved in wheelbarrows, a rock was blasted, cannon were fired, whiskey was drank, and all returned to their homes, happy and buoyant with the hope of a glorious future. The peace of the assemblage was disturbed by five dis-
472
ANNALS OF LUZERNE COUNTY.
plays of pugilistic science, called fist-fights, an absolute essential at all gatherings in those days.
The laborers upon the public works were principally Irishmen, who were accustomed to the pick and the shovel, and, when stimulated by the indispensable whis- key, could fight or work as the occasion required. At that day the idea of constructing a canal without whiskey would have been viewed as preposterous; and equally absurd would the conduct of a farmer have been pro- nounced, who would have presumed to gather his harvest without the fiery beverage. Every shanty was supplied with whiskey, which cooled them when it was hot, and heated them when it was cool; that was good in pros- perity or adversity, in sickness and in health, before breakfast in the morning, and on retiring to rest at night ; in a word, an article that possessed specific virtues at all times, on all occasions, and under all circumstances. But the cool-headed spectator plainly saw that whiskey was the origin of strikes, and riots, and feuds among the workmen themselves ; that it was the great head-breaker and blood- letter of the day.
In 1830 the canal was completed to the Nanticoke dam, and the first boat, named "The Wyoming," built by the Hon. John Koons, at Shickshinny, was launched and towed to Nanticoke, where she was laden with ten tons of anthracite coal, a quantity of flour, and other articles. Her destination was Philadelphia. The North Branch Canal being new and filling slowly with water, the Wyoming passed through the Nanticoke Schute, and thence down the river to Northumberland, where she entered the Susquehanna division of canal, and proceeded with considerable difficulty by the way of the Union and Schuylkill Canals to Philadelphia. The Wyoming re- ceived, in the city, fifteen tons of dry goods, and com-
473
NAVIGATION ON THE SUSQUEHANNA.
4
mencing her return trip, was frozen up in the ice and snow at New Buffalo, in January, 1831. From this place her carge was transported to Wilkesbarre on sleds. The voyage of the Wyoming was attended with many difficul- ties and detentions, and embraced a period of upwards of three months.
The second canal-boat, " The Luzerne," was built by Captain Derrick Bird, on the river bank, opposite Wilkes- barre, in 1831. She was laden with coal, which was conveyed to Philadelphia, whence she returned with a cargo of merchandise, arriving at the Nanticoke dam in July 1831. In 1834, the Luzerne, then commanded by Captain Buskirk, made the first complete round trip by canal from Wilkesbarre to Philadelphia, the North Branch division having been completed from Northumberland to the Lackawanna. In 1835, the first packet-boats, the " George Denison" and the "Gertrude," were launched by M. Horton and A. O. Cahoon, and commenced the con- veyance of passengers and light freight between Wilkes- barre and Northumberland.
All the main lines of canal in the Commonwealth were now completed, except the North Branch, from Lacka- wanna to the New York line, a distance of 94 miles. This work progressed slowly until 1838, when it was suspended or abandoned. In 1842, the Legislature incor- porated the North Branch Canal Company, with a capital stock of $1,500,000, and transferred to the company all the right, title, and interest of the Commonwealth in the unfinished work from the Lackawanna river to the south- ern boundary of New York, provided the company com- pleted the canal within a period of three years. In 1843 a supplement to the foregoing was passed by the General Assembly, donating to said company the finished canal, from the outlet lock at Solomon's Creek to the Lacka-
471
ANNALS OF LUZERNE COUNTY.
wanna, fourteen miles, as a further inducement to the formation of the company and the completion of the enterprise. It was supposed that the liberal offer of the state would induce prompt action on the part of capital- ists, but the presumption was not well founded, and in 1848 the Commonwealth resumed the work. Up to the 30th of November, 1857, this North Branch Extension, as it was called, had cost the state $4,658,491.12.
To connect the North Branch Canal with those of the state of New York, sixteen miles of additional canal were necessary, to construct which the Junction Canal Com- pany was formed. Through the energy of Mr. Arnot, of Elmira, Messrs. Laport, Mason, and others, of Towanda, Hollenback, Wright, and others, of Wilkesbarre, and Judge Mallery, of Philadelphia, the connection was effected. In November, 1856, the first boats laden with coal departed - from Pittston, destined for Weston, New York. The boat " Tonawanda," Captain A. Dennis, super- cargo Jno. Richards, Jr., laden with forty tons of coal from the mines of Mallery and Butler, and the boat " Ravine Coal Co. No. 4," Captain T. Knapp, were the first to ascend the canal, and with great difficulty reached their destination at Elmira. They were laden with half cargoes, and were drawn by double teams, yet their pro- gress was slow and heavy. Before the canal closed for that year, however, 1150 tons were transported north- ward, and in 1857, 2274 tons.
In 1858 the Legislature disposed of the state canals to the Sunbury and Erie Railroad Company, for the sum of three millions five hundred thousand (3,500,000) dollars. The Sunbury and Erie Railroad Company were scarcely in possession when they sold the North Branch division from Northumberland to the north line of the state, to the North Branch Canal Company, for $1,500,000. This
475
NAVIGATION ON THE SUSQUEHANNA.
last-named company soon after sold that portion extend ing from Northumberland town to Northampton Street, in Wilkesbarre, a distance of sixty-two miles, to the Wyo- ming Canal Company, for the sum of $990,000, retaining the part from Northampton Street to the state line, whose length is 104 miles.
The original dimensions of the Pennsylvania canals were 40 feet water level, 28 feet bottom, with 4 feet of depth, designed for boats carrying 80 tons weight. The canal from Wilkesbarre to the New York line has 3 dams and 30 locks, with an average lift of 8 feet, while that part extending from Wilkesbarre to Northumberland has 11 locks, with an average lift of 8 feet, and only one dam, the Nanticoke.
Since the North Branch Canal has passed into the hands of a private company, strong and united efforts have been making to forward coal northward.
On the 14th of July, 1858, S. T. Lippincott left Pitts- ton with five boats, laden with coal, and arrived at Elmira. From this place he proceeded with two boats to Roches- ter, via the Chemung Canal, and thence to Buffalo. Here he took the steamboat for Cleveland, Ohio, which he reached on the 8th of August. This was the first cargo of coal that ever reached Cleveland from Luzerne county, and was retailed at $8.50 per ton .*
* For a further account of the trade upon the canal, see Chapter XII., " Minerals and the Coal Trade."
CHAPTER XVI.
CLIMATE.
Soon came booming on 3 The deep voiced thunder, while at distance rolled The wild wiuds, dirge like, and yet tempest tone."
" How ealm, how beautiful comes on The stilly hour, when storms are gone, When warring winds have died away, And clouds, beneath the glancing ray, Melt off, and leave the land and sea Sleeping in bright tranquillity."
THE climate of this region is that of the north of Europe, yet, according to geographical position, we would expect a temperature like that of Naples in Italy, or Constanti- nople in the south of Turkey. The temperature of Wyo- ming Valley is that of a European country lying eight degrees farther north. Our climate is subject to great and sudden changes. The temperature has been known to rise to about 100° in summer, and to fall so low as 30° below zero in winter. It has been asserted that our climate has very much changed, and is more variable now than it was many years ago. We possess no very
accurate means of testing the truth of this statement, but, doubtless, it was a colder climate a hundred years back than it is now. The existence of an unbroken forest covered with snow and saturated with dampness, which could be but imperfectly acted upon by the sun's rays, produced a more severe and protracted degree of cold than we now experience.
(470)
477
CLIMATE.
In 1816, there was frost in every month throughout the year. The milky corn was frozen and rotted in the fields, filling the air with a disagreeable odor. Fourteen years after that, Sharp D. Lewis, Esq., editor of the Sus- quehanna Democrat, received a fine mess of green peas in the pod, accompanied with the following note :-
"Nanticoke, November 17th, 1830.
" Mrs. Washington Lee desires Mr. Lewis's acceptance of the accompanying instance of the unusual length and mildness of the present season."
In 1843, apples as large as walnuts were killed, by frost, on the trees.
We find on record a few instances of the state of the weather a hundred years ago. In 1755, there was great heat and drought in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Maryland. No rain had fallen for the space of eight weeks, and the governors of these several provinces, by proclamation, appointed a day of fasting and prayer, call- ing on the people to entreat heaven for rain and for the success of Braddock's army. Rain was granted, but Braddock was defeated.
The commanding officer at Fort Augusta (Sunbury), writing to the provincial authorities, under date of May 26th, 1758, says, "It is snowing here, and the ground is covered."
In more modern times we learn, that November 14th, 1819, the Susquehanna, at Wilkesbarre, was frozen over, and persons crossed on the ice. At the same place, on the 26th of March, 1836, loaded sleds crossed the river on the ice.
There are cases of extraordinary changes on record. For instance, October 4th, 1836, the weather was warm
478
ANNALS OF LUZERNE COUNTY.
and pleasant-next day the snow fell to the depth of 11 inches.
On the 19th of May, 1857, the mercury in the ther- mometer stood at 82°. The next day snow fell on the Pokono Mountain to the depth of 18 inches, and in the Wyoming and Lackawanna Valleys its depth was 10 inches.
January 26th, 1821, the mercury stood 23° below zero, and on the 27th, 3º below. In 1857, on the 24th, 25th, and 26th of January, the mercury stood at 30°, 22°, and 23°, respectively, below zero. On the 27th of the same month, it rose to 1º below zero.
The average temperature in our valley, during the day time, from the 15th of May to the 15th of September, is about 75° Fah.
FLOODS.
The valley of the Susquehanna, in common with others coursed through by broad, shallow rivers, has suffered at different periods from disastrous inundations. In January, 1784, snow fell in Wyoming and the surrounding coun- try to the depth of four feet, cutting off all communication between the state authorities at Philadelphia, and the Pennamite garrison in the valley. The soldiers at Fort Dickinson, so called by the Pennamites, or, by the Yan- kees, Fort Wyoming, were compelled to keep close quar- ters, and for sometime were unable to visit the surround- ing forest for fuel. The scattered inhabitants of the valley were barricaded in their dwellings, and could not call upon, or be called upon by their neighbors. In the following March the snow passed off with rain, producing what is known in the tradition of the country as the great Ice Flood. The Susquehanna and its tributaries were covered with thick ice, for the winter's cold had been unusually severe. It broke up suddenly in the
479
CLIMATE.
spring, and the river rose with alarming rapidity. It is related that the ice in the region of the present Nanti- coke dam remained firm and unbroken, while immense masses of loose ice from above were swept down, and lodged in the lower part of the valley, piling up in vast heaps, and forming a barrier to the free progress of the water. "One general inundation overspread the plains of Wyoming. The inhabitants took refuge on the sur- rounding heights, many being rescued from the roofs of their floating houses." When the accumulating pressure of the flood broke through the icy barrier, houses and barns, stacks of grain and of hay, horses, cattle, and swine were swept from the face of the earth. Major James Moore, writing under date of March 20th, 1784, from the fort at Wilkesbarre, to Mr. Dickinson, president of the Supreme Executive Council, says, " The people in this country have suffered exceedingly from the late freshet. Not less than 150 houses have been carried away. The grain is principally lost, and a very consi- derable part of the cattle drowned. The water was 30 feet above low-water mark. The water was so high in the garrison that some of the ammunition was injured." The huge blocks of ice, which were left on the plains after the inundation had subsided, remained unmelted by the sun's rays during the greater part of the ensuing summer.
In October, 1786, occurred what is called the Pumpkin Flood, from the vast quantities of that vegetable, which were carried down and strewed over the lower plains of the Susquehanna. In a letter, dated at Wilkesbarre, November 7th, 1786, written by John Franklin to Dr. Joseph Hamilton, the flood is thus described :-
" I expect you have heard of the late deluge. The rain on the 5th of October, which fell in about twenty-
480
ANNALS OF LUZERNE COUNTY.
four hours, raised the river about six feet, and in the narrows ten feet deeper than ever known. The small streams became mighty rivers. The mills are mostly swept off, and one-half of all kind of food for man and beast is for ever lost. Even the roots in the earth, such as potatoes, turnips, parsnips, &c., are mostly rotten in the earth. The greatest part of the rain fell in the after- noon and evening of the 5th. The Susquehanna river, that was fordable at four of the clock in the afternoon, was over the face of the earth, from mountain to moun- tain, at six o'clock the morning of the 6th. It is sur- prising to see the mountains in the smallest runs of water. You may see stones, from three pounds to three tons weight, drove to a great distance, and hove up in heaps. A stone, judged to weigh two tons, lies mounted on two stumps, near Toby's Creek, that was drove from a con- siderable distance. A number of cattle were drowned. Our fences are all gone. One man was drowned attempt- ing to save some effects."
From the statements we have, it would appear that the pumpkin flood was higher than the ice flood by six or ten feet, or that it rose forty feet above low-water mark. But the former seems not to have been so disas- trous as the latter, for the reason that there was no heaping up, and sudden rush of the flood, producing a current of irresistible force. In the pumpkin flood men were seen paddling their canoes through the swelling tide, and rescuing women and children from houses half filled with water. A few horses, held by the head by men in canoes, swam to the shore, while others, with most of the horned cattle, sheep, and swine, were swept away and lost.
The incidents and hairbreadth escapes of the two floods, occurring so near together, have likely become mixed,
481
CLIMATE.
and those of the ice assigned to the pumpkin flood, and vice versa.
It is related that the late Rev. Benjamin Bidlack, then a powerful muscular man, was swept down the river in his dwelling-house, in the ice flood, during the night. The house started from Plymouth, and was followed by people along the shore with torchlights. Sometimes the house would lodge on an obstruction, and after a short pause would be carried forward. On these occasions the stentorian voice of the soldier was heard above the loud roar of the waters and crashing of the ice, " Now I am standing still"-" Now I am going forward." The build- ing was permanently lodged among the trees, near Mr. Harvey's coal-mine, and Mr. Bidlack, thanks to his great endurance and strength, made a happy escape.
The widow Jameson, whose house stood near the resi- dence of the late James Lee, Esq., in Hanover, with her small children, was taken from the second story of the building into a canoe.
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.