USA > Pennsylvania > Armstrong County > Armstrong County, Pennsylvania her people past and present, embracing a history of the county and a genealogical and biographical record of representative families, Volume I > Part 31
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96
CHAPTER XV
APOLLO BOROUGH
LOCATION -- "WARREN'S SLEEPING PLACE"-EARLY ASSESSMENT LISTS-FERRIES AND BRIDGES- TRADES AND OCCUPATIONS-INDUSTRIES-MERCANTILE-ROLLING MILLS-THE APOLLO STEEL COMPANY-BANKING-WATER SUPPLY-NEWSPAPERS-CHURCHES-SECRET ORDERS-PUBLIC LIBRARY-WOMAN'S CLUB-W. C. T. U .- MILITARY-LAW AND MEDICINE-EDUCATIONAL --- THE BOROUGII HORSE
The location of Apollo has many natural ad- and J. Gallagher, the former resigning before vantages, situated as it is on a sloping plain his term had expired. in a beautiful cove of the Kiskiminetas, with a fine outlook on every side. The recent re- habilitation of the iron industry will greatly increase the population.
The town of Warren was surveyed off into lots, streets and alleys by William Watson, in November, 1816. These lots were fifty in number and respectively 66 by 165 feet, cach Apollo was formerly called "Warren," from either a trader or an Indian chief who bore that name. It obtained the title through the location of a grave, said to be that of an In- containing a quarter of an acre. Water (now Canal) and Back (now Church) streets are parallel to the Kiskiminetas river-the former being from 90 to 100 and the latter 60 feet dian chief, about a mile below the town. On wide, and are intersected at right angles by an ancient map this grave was given the name North, Main, Indiana and Coal Bank streets, of "Warren's Sleeping Place."
John Cochran and Abraham Ludwig cleared the principal part of the land on which the town afterward was built. The first settlers before the Pennsylvania canal was built were: Joseph Alford, John Cochran, Abraham Lud- Two acres adjoining Back street and opposite
wig, Isaac McLaughlin, Michael Risher, Rob- ert Stewart and John Wort.
each 60 feet wide. An alley 30 feet wide in- tersects Water street between lots Nos. 20 and 21 and Back street between lots Nos. II and 30. Four other alleys parallel to Water and Back streets are respectively 12 feet wide. the eastern end of Main street and lots Nos. IO and II were laid out agreeably to the terms location for a meeting-house, schoolhouse and cemetery.
Before the establishment of the postoffice of sale of the town lots free of charge, as a here, August 15, 1827, the points nearest to Warren for receiving mail matter were Free- port and Kittanning. Milton Dally was the Rev. William Speer and William Johnson laid out the town. The first houses built were four log structures on what is now known as Second street. The first one completed was the old McMullen house. The Guthrie. Chan- bers, Truby, Bovard, Jackson and Miller ad- first postmaster. The department gave this office a name different from that of the town, because there was another office in this State by the name of Warren. During 1913 there were two postmasters, Charles S. Hegeman
147
HISTORY OF ARMSTRONG COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
ditions have since been included in the town of Apollo.
The first separate assessment list of the town of Warren, then in Allegheny township, was made in 1830 thus: John Alford, lot No. 22, I horse, I head of cattle, total valuation, $58; James H. Belt, lot No. 16, I house, I other lot not known, $156; Catherine Cochran, lot No. 34, I house, I head of cattle, $31 ; Robert Cochran, single man, lot No. 9, $25; Andrew Cunningham, lot No. 48, I head of cattle, $31 ; William Davis, lot No. 17, I house, blacksmith, $91 ; Philip Dally, lot number not known, one house, $225; Samuel Gardiner, lot No. 225; William Graham, lot No. 48, I house, I head of cattle, $31; John Lewellyn, lot No. 4, I house, I horse, $255; Robert McKissen, lot No. 15, I house, i head of cattle, $106; Alcx- ander Mckinstry, lot No. 1, 1 house, $252; William Mckinstry, I lot and house, $225.25 ; John McElwain, lot No. 3, I house, 2 horses, I head of cattle, $601; Isaac Mclaughlin, lot No. 38, I house, transferred to John McEl- wain; William Mchaffey, half-lot No. 24; Peter Risher, lot No. 18, I house, I horse, $225; John Wort, lots Nos. 5 and 6, I house, I tanyard, I horse, 2 cattle, lot No. 12 un- seated, $247.
By act of Assembly March 15, 1848, War- ren, then in the township of Kiskiminetas, was incorporated into the borough of Apollo. One reason for changing its name was because goods shipped from the East were often car- ried past it to Warren, in Warren county, Pennsylvania. The old boundaries have been repeatedly extended to meet the demands of this growing town.
The first borough election was held May 8, 1848, when Robert McKissen was elected bur- gess, and William Nichols, William Miller, George C. Bovard, John T. Smith, John El- wood and David Risher town councilmen. The population at that time was 359 whites and two colored.
FERRIES AND BRIDGES
The first ferry was kept by Owen Jones where the bridge across the Kiskiminetas now is. Increased facilities for crossing that river were afforded by the bridge across it, which was erected by a company incorporated by the act of March 15, 1844, called the Warren Bridge Company. In the course of six or seven years after the bridge was erected, in- debtedness had so accumulated against the company that additional legislation was re- sorted to to enable it to discharge its liabilities
and after some litigation the bridge was sold in 1858. That bridge, which was a wooden structure, roofed over, had three stone piers. It was carried away by an ice gorge in 1881.
The present bridge is a steel one, erected by the Morse Bridge Company, of Youngs- town, Ohio, and was jointly constructed by Armstrong and Westmoreland counties. The commissioners were : James White, John Murphy and L. W. Corbett for Armstrong ; Henry Keeley, J. N. Townsend and William Taylor for Westmoreland.
Milton Dally is said to have been the cap- tain of the first boat that made a trip on the Pennsylvania canal west of the Allegheny mountains. John B. Chambers was the cap- tain of the first packet-boat that plied between Apollo and Pittsburgh.
TRADES AND OCCUPATIONS
The first tannery was opened by John Wort in 1823. In 1839 he was followed by James Guthrie, and in 1850 Simon S. Whitlinger also began to handle hides and leather. The lat- ter sold to John F. Whitlinger, who introduced modern methods, and it was in active opera- tion until his death, about 1910. A harness shop had also been added.
The first tavern was opened in 1824; the making of pottery was introduced in 1832; of saddles and harness in 1837; cabinet-making in 1836; of wagons in 1840; coverlet weaving in 1841; stonecutting in 1842; chairmaking in 1843; coopering in 1844; making tinware in 1848; carding in 1848; dentistry, cigarmaking, making mill-wheels, etc., making copperware, in 1851 ; grocery business, as a separate branch, in 1855; teaching music, confectionery as a separate business, and butchering in 1858; coal merchant and druggist in 1860; coal merchant and milling in 1851 ; coal mining in 1863 ; brick- making in 1865; auctioneer in 1867; plan- ingmill, foundry and salt merchant in 1868; stove and tin merchant, book agent and painter in 1870; oil merchant and broom-maker in 1871; undertaker and silversmith in 1873; oil dealer and photographer in 1874; lumber- man, furniture dealer and brickpresser in 1875.
INDUSTRIES
A cooperage was established by Samuel Jack, at the foot of Indiana street, in 1854-55, and was continued in operation until 1864-65. The annual product was about ten thousand barrels, and the number of employees 'varied from eight to twelve.
The Apollo gristmill was erected by John
148
HISTORY OF ARMSTRONG COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
H. and Eden Townsend in 1849. For the ten H. Truly. Tailors-George L. Teeters, S. Herman. Butchers-J. W. Whitlinger, H. W.
years subsequent to 1876 it was owned by George Brenner. It was three stories, frame, Walker & Son. with three runs of burrstones, smutmill, corn- cracker and sheller, and other modern improve-
ments. It was situated on the southerly side by H. D. Bellas; a plumbing establishment, D.
and at the lower end of Mill street.
The Superior Roller Mills are operated by William H. Carnahan & Co. The lumber and planing mills of W. W. Wallace Company are of greater capacity than any others in this part of the county, and do a business of con- siderable extent in this and Westmoreland counties.
The Apollo Foundry Company, organized in 1889, is still in a thriving condition and caters to a trade coming from all points in the Kiskiminetas valley.
The Apollo Lime & Ballast Company have a crushing plant and quarry half a mile east of the town, where on an average ten men are constantly employed in producing fine build- ing stone, and ballast for railroad track sur- facing. The officers are: Walter George, president ; Charles P. Wolfe, secretary.
The Apollo Woolen Mills Company was or- ganized in April, 1908, with a capital of $30,- 000, $36,000 being paid in. The present offi- cers are: T. E. Cunningham, president ; J. M. Hankey, secretary-treasurer. They have a large factory building in the west end of the town, employing thirty persons, manufacturing cloth for the United States army and blankets for some of the largest department stores in this country, under various trademarks sup- plied by the customers. So great has the busi- ness grown since its inception that the firm find it impossible to accept additional orders, owing to lack of capacity. They contemplate shortly enlarging the factory.
MISCELLANEOUS
Apollo has two hotels, the Hartman House, formerly the Chambers, kept by C. A. Hart- man, and the Arlington, of which William Troup is proprietor.
Confectioner-B. F. Bos- worth.
There are in Apollo also one garage, kept R. Hook, proprietor; one blacksmith, J. H. Snyder; one livery barn, kept by Joseph De- Shong; and six general stores.
The Women's Exchange has a store for the sale of homebaking and fancy work; the five and ten cent store is owned by T. G. McCul- lough; S. C. Miller operates a one cent to one dollar store; the real estate agents are R. M. McLaughlin, J. C. Gallagher and Ira J. Wray ; and the leading contractor and cement manu- facturer is Preston Grim.
Apollo has three motion picture theatres which are liberally patronized by the people of the town and surrounding territory.
ROLLING MILLS OF EARLY TIMES
In 1854 Dr. James P. Speer, who had been interested in the Ramsey furnace, donated a plot of ground and in company with George W. Cass and Washington Mcclintock organ- ized the Kiskiminetas Iron Company, for the manufacture of nails, using the water from the canal to operate an overshot wheel 20 feet in diameter with a 20 foot face, the fall of water being 24 feet. Owing to the unsuitability of the iron, which was of brittle quality, they failed to pay expenses, and the plant was sold by the sheriff in 1860 to Cass & McClintock for $4,100. Under the management of Dr. J. S. Kuhn the mill was run until 1861, when the Civil war put a stop to operations. Dr. Kuhn had, however, succeeded in producing good nails. The mill was also operated by George W. Cass & Co. for eighteen months. In 1863 Washington McClintock, William Rogers, Sr., and W. E. Foale, under the title of McClintock, Rogers & Co., leased the works. abandoned the manufacture of nails in 1869 and produced a good quality of plain sheet iron, for which they received 16 cents a pound. There is in 1913 a better quality of iron on the market which brings but 31/2 cents. The num- ber of employees during this period averaged fifty. Until the destruction of dam No. 2 in February, 1866, water power was used, but after the ice carried away the wheel the mill suspended operations until August of that year, when steam was substituted and the firm reorganized. It then became known as Rog- ers & Burchfield, with Thomas J. Hoskinson
The mercantile establishments of Apollo are : Druggists-WV. A. Gray, C. W. Bollinger, WV. F. Pauly, Frank T. Wray. Jewelers- William Johnston, O. F. Neale. Dry goods, clothing-The Famous Department Store, Thomas F. Sutton, E. A. Townsend & Son, Shaw-Phillips Company, W. F. Devers, Sut- ton & Flude, F. Porrica, The People's Store. Shoes-Ritts & Cochran, R. F. Orr. Furni- ture-C. J. Kepple & Co. Photographers- N. H. Stewart, Charles Bellas. Hardware- as silent partner. Additional rolls were put G. J. Brooks, A. D. Stewart, H. S. Steel, C. in and the manufacture of cold rolled iron
149
HISTORY OF ARMSTRONG COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
begun. The property in 1874 consisted of two mill was in operation at last. The first piece sheet mills, seven puddling furnaces, one heat- of iron was put through the soft rolls at 8:45 A. M. on No. 4 mill by roller W. E. Jones, John M. Fiscus, a veteran iron worker, taking the place of catcher, and President Lock running the screw. The first pair was broken down by rougher Ira Dodson at 9:05 A. M. and the first pack was finished by roller Jones at 9:21 A. M., when a great cheer went up from the large crowd of spectators and Apollo again took her rightful place among the iron producing towns of the valley, after a lapse of eleven years, lacking twelve days. ing furnace, two sheet furnaces, two anneal- ing furnaces, one steam hammer, two gas wells, three engines, twenty-one tenant houses, one storehouse and bakery and a wire suspen- sion bridge across the Kiskiminetas. The firm failed in 1875. From 1876 to 1893 P. H. Laufman & Co. owned the plant, having pur- chased it, and in the latter ycar the firm was changed to Apollo Iron & Steel Company, this company having bought the P. H. Laufman interests, and Mr. George McMurtry, of Pitts- burgh, an experienced iron and steel manu- The ponderous machinery moved off with- out a hitch and worked more like a mill that had been in operation for some time than one making the initial start. This is most remark- able when it is understood that the big gear wheel was received into the works at 11:30 P. M. Wednesday of the week before, and that the spider and other parts of the great drive facturer, was made president and general man- ager. After a few years of increasing success in making the "Apollo Brand" of blue sheets, in 1898 this company bought five hundred acres across the river from (and below ) Apollo and built a new mill and new town, named Vandergrift after the largest holder of stock in this Apollo Iron & Steel Company. The had arrived only a few days before. The work name was changed to the Vandergrift Steel Sheet & Tin Plate Company, and Mr. McMur- try continued as president. In 1902 they moved the Apollo mill to this plant or prac- tically wrecked it. Mr. McMurtry is now president of the board of directors of the United States Steel Corporation, who bought the plant in 1900.
THE APOLLO STEEL COMPANY
Ten years later, after many attempts to es- tablish another mill to help the town, Robert Lock, formerly a superintendent in Kirkpat- rick & Co.'s mills in Leechburg, and later with the Vandergrift mills and still later with the Allegheny Steel Company, at Brackenridge, went to Apollo and promoted a new company in conjunction with the business men of the town. The grounds were selected near the site of the oil mill.
of installing the drive was begun on Sunday night at 10 o'clock under the personal direc- tion of W. F. Monnich, erector for the United Engineering and Foundry Company, of Pitts- burgh, and the machinery was turned over for the first time at 11:45 P. M. Thursday, June 12, 1913. The machinery ran idle from that hour until the start was made on Monday morning at 8:00 o'clock. This is considered a remarkable record.
The plant is housed in a building 156 feet wide by 432 feet long, with an extension run- way 116 feet by 72 feet, partially roofed. The building is divided longitudinally into a main center span of 70 feet and 10 inches, with a furnace building 38 feet and 2 inches, and a stack aisle 6 feet and 7 inches wide on one side, and a shear building 40 feet and 2 inches wide on the other side. The equipment con- sists of six sheet mills, two cold mills and a galvanizing department, with the necessary accessories.
When the citizens of Apollo decided they needed a mill to take the place of the one The drive for the mill is a double helical- cut tooth gear, the largest of its kind in the world, and was designed and built by the United Engineer & Foundry Company, the cut- ting being done by the Wm. Todd Company, Youngstown, Ohio. It consists of two cast steel half rims attached to a central spider. The pinion is 15 feet in length, with pitch diameter of 30 inches, 42 inches face, and weighs 12 tons. The pitch diameter on the big gear is 19 feet, 4 inches. The two solid removed to Vandergrift they did not waste time in useless discussion, but went to work to form a company of their own. On February 16, 1912, the first citizens' meeting was held, a company formed and steps taken to build a plant for the manufacture of sheet steel. On June 3d of the same year the ground was bro- ken for the mill, on March 20, 1913, the fur- naces were fired, and on June 16th, exactly six- teen months after the first meeting, the first iron was rolled in the completed mill. The web fly wheels measure 13 feet, 6 inches diam- power was turned on by President Robert eter each and are of 50 tons weight. The gear, Lock, of the company, at 8:22 A. M., and the
spider, shaft and coupling weigh 85 tons. The
150
HISTORY OF ARMSTRONG COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
big gear rim is 40 tons weight and the spider 20 tons.
The large motor is of 1,400 h. p. 240 revo- lutions per minute, 235 full load, 60 cycles, 3 phase 2,300 volts induction motor, 332 amperes per phase, and was made by the General Elec-
The entire plant is equipped in the most modern manner and far excels any similar works in America. One of the splendid fea- tures of the construction is the electrical work. which is unsurpassed by any of its size in the country. The current is furnished by the West Penn Electric Company, and comes from their great power plant at Connellsville, Pennsylva- nia. The incoming lines carry 25,000 volts, height and prevent overturning.
3 phase, 60 cycles alternating current. This enters the transformer house or sub-station and is stepped down through three K V A transformers to 2,300 volts. This passes through conduits underground to the control pulpit located at the centre of the roll train and elevated about ten feet above the sheet floor. This location gives the operator an unobstructed view of the entire sheet floor.
The sub-station also contains three 75 K VA transformers which step the current down from 2,300 volts to 240 volts. This also passes underground through conduits to the mill switchboard, which is located beneath the con- trol pulpit, and this voltage is used for all lights, cranes and small motors. The sub-sta- tion also contains all necessary meters for registering the power consumption on the large motor, small motors and lights. On the con- trol pulpit, the switchboard which controls the starting and stopping of the 1,400 h. p. motor is located.
The furnace equipment, which consists of six combination sheet and pair furnaces and two annealing furnaces, was designed and built by George J. Hagan. All the furnaces are provided with American underfeed stokers. The galvanizing department consists of two pots, with necessary pickling and washing tanks, and the arrangement is of somewhat
novel design, being worked out along lines sug- gested by Robert Lock, president of the Apollo Steel Company.
As the plant is not provided with any regu- lar boiler equipment, it was necessary to in- stall a small low pressure boiler for heating tric Company. To protect the motor from the the pickling tanks in the galvanizing depart- severe shocks encountered in sheet rolling, it ment, and this is the only steam used in the plant. In order to avoid the use of high pres- sure steam, an air compressor was installed, which serves the power doublers, this being the only operation which could not conveni- ently be taken care of by electric motors. was necessary to obtain an exceptionally large fly wheel effect, and on this account it was deemed advisable to place the fly wheels on the motor shaft, making them of cast steel. The peripheral speed of these wheels is ap- proximately 10,000 feet per minute. The nec- The hoisting equipment consists of a 30-ton crane over the main mill building, and two 10- ton cranes in the furnace building. essary fly wheel effect, if obtained from a sin- gle wheel, would have required excessive rim weight, and for this reason, and also to balance the pinion shaft, two fly wheels of equal weight were used.
An interesting fact in relation to this mill was that there was no shop in Pennsylvania large enough to cut the helical gears, and they had to be shipped to Youngstown, Ohio, to be finished. On the trip there and back the ut- most care was necessary to prevent the great weight and height of the halves of the wheel from damaging the bridges and stations along the railroads. Several bridges were raised to permit the castings to pass, and the halves were sunk into the floor of the car to save
The last iron made in Apollo by the Amer- ican Sheet Steel Company was rolled by John Hanna on the 28th day of June, 1902. A. L. Zimmerman, then manager of the Apollo works, sent the last pack through the rolls.
BANKING
The Apollo Savings Bank was organized in 1870 and first assessed in 1872. Its capital stock was $50,000. In 1896 it was made a State bank, and in 1901 the name was changed to Apollo Trust Company. The capital now is $250,000. The officers are: J. N. Nelson, president ; E. A. Townsend, vice president ; John H. Jackson, secretary and treasurer ; Walter J. Guthrie, solicitor.
The First National Bank of Apollo, char- tered in 1901, with a capital of $50,000, occu- pies the new building, just completed at a cost of $35,000. The officers are: W. L. George, president ; Andrew Gallagher, vice president ; Charles P. Wolfe, cashier ; S. M. Jamison, as- sistant cashier.
FIRE PROTECTION AND WATER SUPPLY
Considering the size of Apollo and the facilities for fire protection in the past, the absence of any serious conflagrations, with the exception of that of 1876, is a credit to the
151
HISTORY OF ARMSTRONG COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
care of the inhabitants and the precautionary the Warren Lacon, in 1835, owned and edited measures taken since that date. For a period by Dr. Robert McKisson, who seems to have of sixty years after the founding of the town been the most prominent man in the town. only three buildings were burned. But this He was the first burgess, the first doctor, the period of rest was rudely broken by the fire first editor, the only storekeeper, boat agent, of 1876, in which twenty-nine buildings were wiped out, causing a loss of over $32,000, with but $12,000 insurance. This put the towns- people on their guard and they started the construction of the present excellent water system. Three volunteer fire companies are provided with hose carts and a hook and lad- der truck, the pressure of the street mains being ample for all purposes. A box system of alarms, connected with the telephone lines, is provided, and has saved the place from re- peated dangers. was a poet and a Democrat. His paper was published for several years. It bore little news, save death notices and marriages, and was finally discontinued for lack of patronage in 1840. In 1875 Miss Jennie Stentz started the Kiskiminetas Review and after a short time transferred it to J. Melhorn. The name was later changed to Herald and in 1883 the plant was purchased by William Davis, who later sold it to M. H. Cochrane. In 1883 Coch- rane died and his widow, who was left with two small sons and only the printing plant The Apollo Water Company have lately added to their plant, and now have two im- pounding reservoirs across Beaver run, in Westmoreland county, with a capacity of 60,- 000,000 gallons. Another reservoir and filter plant, on the Orr and Gilkerson farms, has a capacity of 10,000,000 gallons. On the Owens farm is the storage reservoir, from which the water goes direct to the mains. It has a capacity of 14,000,000 gallons. The old Al- legheny gas engine of 75 horsepower is cap- able of lifting 1,000,000 gallons daily, and the new Westinghouse gas engine and pump can handle 1,500,000 gallons. A pressure of 115 pounds to the square inch is continually car- ried, and can be increased to double, but the necessity has never arisen. These reservoirs could supply the towns of Apollo and Leech- burg for five months, without pumping, if nec- essary. Leechburg is supplied through mains six miles in length, from Beaver Run reser- voir. to make a livelihood, at once assumed the edi- torship and management of the paper. Re- maining in Apollo for fifteen years, or until 1898, she then moved the outfit to the new town of Vandergrift, following the line of progress, and changed the title of the publi- cation to The Vandergrift Citisen and was most successful as an editress, boosting the new town, which also stood by her and the paper, until in 1906 she married her second husband and sold the paper to E. H. Welsh. In 1894 C. W. Bollinger, now a prominent druggist of Apollo, started the Advertiser, his brothers conducting it till 1897, when it was sold and suspended. In 1895 a number of citizens formed a company and began the pub- lication of the News-Record, but it was not a very successful venture until the present pro- prietor, Mr. T. J. Baldrige, took possession in 1908. Mr. Baldrige has made a newspaper out of the ruins of the past journalistic fail- ures, and has added modern machines to the plant. He presents all the news in an interest- ing form, and is ever alert to advance the prosperity of Apollo.
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.