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 37
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JOHNETTA MINE
The property consists of about 2,400 acres, underlaid with the coals of the lower pro- ductive measures, of which the Upper Free- port and Lower Kittanning are workable. The latter vein is reached by shafts at a depth of about 100 feet below the surface and is a fine gas and domestic coal.
All mining and hauling is done by electric-
Johnetta is a separate school district. The returns of the commissioners show that the number of schools in 1913 was 2; average months taught, 8; male teachers, I; female teachers, I; average salaries, male, $55, fe- male, $55 ; male scholars, 68; female scholars, 53 ; average attendance, 98; cost per month, $1.05; tax levied, $1,867.40; received from State, $435.56; other sources, $1,728.33 ; value of schoolhouses, $6,300; teachers' wages, $962.50 ; fuel, fees, etc., $366.71.
The school directors are : Dr. D. O. Thomas, president ; S. B. Pierce, secretary ; Samuel Wilson, treasurer ; H. W. Smith, Alex Hoff- man, James A. Iddings.
POPULATION
Johnetta was incorporated as a borough in 1904, and the next census, in 1910, showed the population to be 662.
The assessment returns for 1913 show : Number of acres, 567, valued at $44,054; houses and lots, 34, valued at $10,150, aver- age, $298.52 ; horses, 17, value, $1,190, average, $70; cows, 8, value, $200, average, $25; tax- able occupations, 202, amount, $11,180 .; total valuation, $81,774. Money at interest, $1,425.
CHAPTER XIX
PARKS TOWNSHIP
BOUNDARIES-PIONEERS-STITT'S MILL-NORTH VANDERGRIFT-OLD SETTLERS-THE PARK FAM- ILY - SCHOOLS - RELIGIOUS - ELECTRIC RAILROAD - POPULATION - GEOLOGY
As was the case with Bethel and Gilpin, this Levi seems to have inherited his ability and township was formed from the territory of the has for many years been a master mechanic, or held other positions requiring skill in mech- anism, first with the Apollo Iron & Steel Company and later with their successors. the American Sheet & Tin Plate Company. An- other son, Thomas, lives with his mother on part of the old farm. The other builder, Levi Stitt, died a few years ago, after having opened coal mines at North Vandergrift only a mile south of the old mill.
original Allegheny township, now obsolete. It is bounded on the north and east by Bethel and Burrell, on the southeast and south by Kiskiminetas township and the Kiskiminetas river, and on the west by the same river and Gilpin township, giving it a fine water front. It is also drained by Carnahan's run and Guffy's run. It has very fertile farm lands with towering hills bordering some of the streams, also some beautiful valleys and fine table-lands running for two or three miles at a stretch, especially from the first river branch back of "Farmer's Delight," owned by Robert Parks, past Laurel Point through the Hill, Parks and William Crosby lands, all this being formerly known as the "Mar- tian" or old "Dutch Martin" tract, but later purchased by the late Hon. Jacob Hill, who represented this county in the Legislature in 1847 ; he served for two terms. His son Win- chester still occupies a large tract of the land.
The entire valley for five miles up Carna- han's run is a rich farming country. It is on this run and only one mile from its mouth that for years was located one of the most fa- mous old flouring mills in this part of the State, known as "Stitt's Mill." The building was a log one, most of which is still stand- ing, and the mill race and dam are well de- fined. It was built in 1847 by Frantz and Levi Stitt, two famous old-time millwrights. whose father John had owned the site before
pression "As good as wheat in Stitts' Mill" has been used, quoted and requoted from Pennsylvania to California, or wherever an Armstrong county man located. One of the builders, Frantz Stitt, met with a sad death by falling off the railroad bridge at Leech- burg, in his old age, in about 1895. His son
We may say just here that North Vander- grift is the only town in this township and has been built up in the last ten years, owing its existence to the locating, in 1904, of a large plant of the American Sheet & Tin Plate Company at Vandergrift, Westmoreland coun- ty, just across the river. The town has now about one thousand inhabitants.
Settlers in this township were few before 1814, among them being Samuel and David Hill and John Carney, who located on Carna- han's run; Jacob and William Hesselgesser and Robert Hanna, who had their homes on the Kiskiminetas ; John, Samuel and William Stitt, who settled on and near Taylor's run, and Elijah Eakmon, in the eastern part. near the river.
Peter Le Fevre kept the first ferry just be- low the mouth of Carnahan's run, from 1800 to 1825, when he left for other fields.
Among the names of later settlers were those of John Guthrie, Samuel Crosby, Philip Kearney, Greenberry Wilson, Thomas Foster. them. For nearly seventy-five years the ex- Jesse Graham, Jacob Painter, the Eakmons, Girts, Wyants, Gourleys, Bowmans, Heck- mans, Stitts, Altmans, Shaners, Kepples, Mc- Intires, Hawks, Lannings, and others. We want to add here that Richard Lanning, the head of that family, lived to be one hundred and four years old, notwithstanding the fact that he had a leg broken when he was one
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HISTORY OF ARMSTRONG COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
hundred and one years of age. The Stitts
In 1913 the number of schools was 7; were the most numerous of the residents, hav- months taught, 7; male teachers, I; female ing descended from several sturdy old pion- teachers, 6; average salaries, male, $50, fe- male, $45 ; male scholars, 120; female scholars, III ; average attendance, 171 ; cost per month, each scholar, $2.15; tax levied, $2,980.56; re- ceived from State, $1,204.38; other sources, $3,227.67; value of schoolhouses, $13,000; teachers' wages, $2,230; other expenses, $1,292.82. eers, who early in the last century settled near here. On one of their old properties, a large plot was set aside as a burial place, the site overlooking Carnahan's run, in a most beau- tiful location, shaded by old sugar maples and oaks, which, if they could speak, could tell us the history of from two to three hundred years. It is bordered by spruce and pine and The school directors are : H. F. Stitt, presi- dent; S. W. Wetzler, secretary; W. F. Hill, treasurer ; J. G. Smail, Lee Crebs. laurels, that keep the memories of the dead seemingly in evergreen remembrance. The cemetery is well kept and many besides the Stitts and their kith and kin lie buried here, RELIGIOUS beautiful monuments betokening the sacred- ness of the place.
Perhaps the most important of the first landowners was Robert Park, after whom this township was named. He came here in 1814, purchased the John Montgomery farm, naming it "Farmer's Delight," cultivat- ing it and working at his trade of shoemaking. So popular was he that the name of the town- ship was accepted without dissent, when sug- gested. He left a large number of descendants, who in the coming year (1914) will celebrate the one hundredth anniversary of continuous residence of some member of the family in the handsome brick home that stands near the Kiskiminetas river.
SCHOOLS
The first schoolhouse in this township was located on a branch of Carnahan's run, about 1812, and was taught successively by John Criswell and Samuel Taggart. Mrs. Alexan- der Gordon was the last surviving pupil in 1880,
Another school was near St. Paul's Luth- eran Church, on the eastern branch of Carna- han's run. Townsend Adams was its teacher in early days.
Parks township was famous as having the first graded school in this section of the county. As far back as 1866 there was a school- house near Stitt's Mill, also known as "Laurel Point," from being on an elevated location just at the edge of the stretch of table-land referred to in the first of this sketch. The directors, having been petitioned to build another school in a distant part of the township, decided to double the capacity of the one here by build- ing another room and grading the school. Strange to say, the citizens did not appreciate their foresight, and haled them to court. But the court very justly decided in the directors' favor.
The Lutherans were the first to have a home of their own in the limits of this township, building it in 1848, or later. The location is east of Dime post office, on a branch of Carnahan's run. The membership in early days was about 75, and the scholars of the Sabbath school numbered probably the same. The Zion's congregation is now under the care of Rev. J. Ash.
Another church was built in 1912 at North Vandergrift, in the southeastern end of the township. It is called Brethren in Christ Chapel, and the membership is about one hun- dred.
DIME
The village with this low-priced name is situated near the border line of Bethel town- ship. The first postmaster here was Amos Altman. His successors have been Josiah W. Klingensmith and his son, Frantz W., the present one. All of them were storekeepers, this place having a country-wide reputation. This is the only settlement or post office in the township. Two blacksmiths are located here, E. P. Darbaker and J. I. Leller.
TROLLEY LINE
In 1906 an electric railway for carrying pas- sengers and freight was promoted and built from Leechburg to Apollo, a distance of eight miles, following the seven-mile level along the old towpath of the Pennsylvania canal, over almost the entire route, the road skirting along the southern end of this township. This level received the name from the fact that the dam at Leechburg backed the water of the Kiskiminetas up to what was known as the outlet locks, one mile west of the center of the business district of Apollo, so that the
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HISTORY OF ARMSTRONG COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
boats were locked out of the canal into the ued at $59,310, average, $308.90; horses, 187, lake-like waters of this beautiful stream and value, $4,095, average, $21.88; cows, 200, for seven miles had clear sailing through a value, $2,034, average, $10.17; taxable occu- pations, 417, amount, $11,265; total valuation, $246,319. Money at interest, $6,015. most romantic valley, but recently vacated by the Indian tribes. This road has given the people of this township, or at least the south- ern end, a most convenient means of transit GEOLOGICAL to and from Leechburg, Vandergrift and Apollo, at all of which places may be found The following is the part of Rogers' report on the geology of Pennsylvania that refers to this section of Armstrong county : a fine market for any produce of the farm, garden or dairy. It is now under the control of the West Pennsylvania Traction Company.
POPULATION
Statistics of this township before 1878 are to be found in the sketch of Gilpin. The popu- lation, according to government reports, in 1880 was 715; in 1890 it was 704; in 1900, 572 ; in 1910, 936.
The assessment returns for 1913 show : Number of acres, timber, 1,305, clear, 7,007, valued at, $146,559; houses and lots, 192, val-
At the salt works, half a mile above Leech- burg, the upper Freeport coal, three and a half feet thick, covered by sixteen feet of shale, is sixty-two and a half feet above slackwater and sinks to an altitude of fifty feet for the next two miles up the river, and is there three and a half feet thick, covered by two feet of black slate and this by eight feet of sand- stone.
The highest point in the township, on the border of Burrell, is 1,561 feet above sea level.
CHAPTER XX
KISKIMINETAS TOWNSHIP
AN INDIAN NAME-POST'S EXPEDITION-SETTLERS-INDUSTRIES-OLDEST FURNACE IN WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA-SALT WORKS-RIVER IMPROVEMENT-ANCIENT LANDMARKS-MAYSVILLE- SPRING CHURCH-SHADY PLAIN-HICKSVILLE-SCHOOLS-POPULATION-GEOLOGICAL
This township was named from the river ghenies. He states in his journal of that year which forms its southern border. Hecke- that on "Wednesday, 14, set out north to Loyal Hannon, an old Indian town on a creek of the Ohio, called Kiskeminetas, to an Indian camp on said creek." welder, a Moravian missionary, who was well versed in Indian dialects, says Kiskiminetas means "make daylight" and is corrupted from the Indian word Gieschgumanito. It was probably the word of command given by a SETTLERS AND LANDOWNERS OF OLDEN TIMES chief to his comrades to arise and resume the journey at daybreak.
The township was formed in 1831 out of the upper end of Allegheny township, and the boundaries are the Kiskiminetas river on the south, Indiana county and South Bend township on the east, Burrell township on the north and Parks township on the west. Apollo is the only borough within its borders. Spring Church, Equitable, Shady Plain, Maysville, Hicksville and Edmon are villages of vary- ing sizes distributed over the township.
This section was visited in 1750 by Chris- topher Post, an emissary of the Ohio Com- pany, an association organized by Lawrence and Augustine Washington for the purpose of settling the wild lands west of the Alle-
The owners of the seventy-five original tracts of land in the territory of this town- ship were: John Montgomery, James Watson, Joseph Campbell, John Criswell, John Clark, Peter Yarnall, Hugh Bingham, Christopher Hays, John Henderson, James Biddle, Wil- liam Jackson, Jacob McCartney, John Jack- son, John Miller, Jacob Miller, Robert Clark, James Jackson, Robert Watson, Robert Rals- ton, William Kerr, James Armstrong, Joseph Irwin, Samuel Hutchison, John Martin, John Reighley, Isaac Warner. Alexander Black, John Pirn, T. Shoemaker, James Alexander, John Larner, Michael Campbell, Joseph Eak- man, John Burghy, Robert Kilgore, Jonathan Nesbitt, John Wilson, Reese Meredith, John
THE : PUBLIC LIBRARY
ASTOR, LENOX TILDEN FOUNDATIONS
THE NEW RO FUELIC LIBRARY
ASTON, LEN IN DL.
4
FIRST IRON FURNACE WEST OF THE ALLEGHENIES
OLD MILL AT COWANSHANNOCK CREEK NEAR KITTANNING (See page 227)
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HISTORY OF ARMSTRONG COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
Ewing, Daniel O'Brian, Jacob Burghy, Philip by Cooker & Moore. It is long out of use Schellhamer, Peter Van Gelder, Andrew Mc- now.
Kee, Evan Evans, Andrew Boner, Henry portable mills. Walker, John Steele, John Swift, Josepli Swift, John Schoemaker, John Kline, Andrew Scott, Thomas Duncan, Barnabas Bloss, James Wallace, John Fuller, Jacob Mechlin, Christopher Hayes, Thomas Allibone, Peter Yarnell, Isaac Townsend, Adam Johnston, Jacob Stilley, James Guthrie, Jacob Wolf, Michael Anderson, Samuel Guthrie, William Todd, Samuel Coulter, Joseph Shields, Henry Horn, Michael Anderson, Michael Sauerwalt, John Dornmoyer, George Clymer, George Reading, Jonathan D. Sergeant, Matthew Lampton, William Sampson, Moore Furman, Joseph Shirley, John Musser, Samuel Gray, John Swift, Frederick Foulk, Isaac Morton, John Barr, Henry Lyle, James Kerns, Benja- min Shermer, Nicholas Weitzel, Alexander Todd, Andrew Cunningham, Henry Bech, George Morgan, Robert Shirley, Abraham Schoemaker, Christopher Eiseman, Abraham Hunt, Samuel Handcock, Isaac Allen, John Leasure, Barnabas Steer, Solomon Dorn- moyer, Benjamin Couch, William Ball, Samuel McClelland, John Laughlin.
In 1805 the various tracts in Kiskiminetas township were rated at from twenty-five cents to one dollar an acre.
tracts of land in this township are dated as early as 1773, but the country was not settled very rapidly until after 1810.
Most of the sawing is now done by
The tanneries in this township were those of Raymond Dentzell, 1829; John Keely, 1834; Philip Hines and Philip Ventzel, 1850 to 1860; and R. M. Barr, 1865 to 1876. There are no tanneries in Armstrong county in 1913.
ROCK FURNACE
This township has the honor of being the home of the first iron furnace in western Pennsylvania, and the remains of this ancient "tea-kettle" stone structure are a point of in- terest to picnic and hunting parties from Apollo and all the surrounding towns. Views of the ruins and of other later examples of furnace construction in this county are shown elsewhere.
Rock Furnace was established by James W. Biddle in 1825, near the Big Falls, on the Kiskiminetas river, who announced in his ad- vertisement for woodchoppers and other la- borers, dated Oct. 5th, that it would "be in blast on Christmas day." It was a steam cold blast furnace, eight feet across the bosh by thirty feet high. The fuel used was char- coal. The number of employees is said to have been from fifty to seventy-five. It was
Some of the warrants and patents for the located on the Christopher Hays and John Henderson tract, between the mouth of Roar- ing run and its junction with Rattling run. It did not prove to be a pecuniary success either to its first or subsequent owners. It EARLY INDUSTRIES was finally sold by the sheriff. The last own- ers were Sharp, Woodard & Bro. That was
The first miller of note in this township was the first and last furnace for the manufacture William Hess, who ran a gristmill in 1810. of pig iron in this township.
Michael Anderson, James Findley and Robert Watson built and operated sawmills between 1811 and 1830.
SALT MANUFACTURE
Eight different saltworks appear to have
The assessment lists show the following in- dustries in the several years mentioned : been assessed from 1836 till 1845, respectively, Benjamin Couch, grist and sawmill in 1818; Jacob McCartney, fulling mill, 1820, gristmill in 1826, and a factory in 1843; Isaac Town- send, sawmill in 1824; John Fuller, grist and sawmill in 1830; Joseph McGuery, sawmill in 1831.
to Robert F. Stewart, John Laughlin, Bridget Trux, William H. Richardson & Co., John Johnston, H. Ridenour, J. McCauley and McCauley & Gamble. Those owned by Gam- ble & Son, about a hundred rods below the mouth of Flat run, continued to be operated For many years after the first settlers came they patronized the famous Stitt's mill, in Allegheny (now Parks) township. They even began a road to that mill, but did not con- plete it. after 1876. The mode and expense of drill- ing the wells and manufacturing the salt need not here be repeated. The barrels in which the salt was put up were at first brought to the wells on pack horses, and, after being In 1876 there were one gristmill and two sawmills in the township. A woolen mill was filled were transported to Pittsburgh down the Kiskiminetas and Allegheny rivers in canoes located on a branch of Rattling run, operated and flatboats. Considerable quantities were
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HISTORY OF ARMSTRONG COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
sent to Clarion and Jefferson counties by sled The space between the ground and side of and wagons. Those modes of transportation the rock at the front is about nine feet. The of course ceased after the completion of the Pennsylvania canal, which also increased the activity in various other branches of business.
RIVER IMPROVEMENTS
The improvement of the Kiskiminetas was commenced in 1811 by the removing of rocks and other obstructions as far up as the "Packsaddle." For years before that it had been dangerous boating over Big Falls, and several persons had been drowned there. By the act of 1821 the sum of $5,000 was appro- priated to improve the navigation of the Kis- kiminetas and Conemaugh rivers, and George Mulholland, Peter Wallace, Andrew Boggs, John Hill and Jacob Drum were appointed commissioners to supervise the expenditure.
After the completion of the Pennsylvania canal, about 1828, a dam was built known as Dam No. 2, at the foot of Big Falls, making slackwater navigation up to Dam No. 3, in Indiana county.
Boats in the canal were locked into the I blacksmith and I miner in the village. John river just above Apollo, the ruins of the old locks being still visible near the mouth of Roaring run. From Apollo to Dam No. I at Leechburg there stretched a great artificial lake which covered what is now the roadbed of the West Penn trolley line with three feet of water. At that time there was good fish- ing in the Kiskiminetas, but at present, owing to the pollution of the mills and mines, not even an insect can live in its waters. Yet it is still unlawful to fish in the waters with seines, although there is not the slightest pos- sibility of catching anything but a severe cold or being suffocated by the foulness of the stream.
ANCIENT LANDMARKS
rock slopes back to the ground a distance of about twelve feet. It gained considerable notoriety in that region by reason of a strange family by the name of Dunmire, who claimed to be part Indian, having resided there under the rock more or less of the time during sev- eral years, from whom it is called "Dunmire's Rock." There is about it considerable pebble- stone, in which is something resembling lead, which can be cut with a knife.
MAYSVILLE
This little village is situated on Long run, three miles above its junction with the Kis- kiminetas near the borough of Avonmore, Westmoreland county, and is in the southeast- ern part of the township. Its early records showed a population of seventy-five in 1876. The Long Run post office was established here in 1857, with Samuel Orr as the official in charge. In 1880 there were 4 laborers, 3 mer- chants, 4 farmers, 2 carpenters, I shoemaker, McAwley and James McAdoo were the store- keepers.
The Lutherans of this community attended service for some years at "Yockey's Church," in Westmoreland county, but in 1853 they or- ganized and called Rev. J. N. Burket as pastor. There were nineteen original members, most of whom came from the Spring Church con- gregation. Their first church was erected in 1854 and dedicated by Rev. David Earhart, who afterward served them in the course of his travels over Armstrong and Indiana coun- ties. The subsequent pastors were Revs. John A. Delo, 1860-64 ; John Welfley, 1864-68; Michael Colver. 1869-70; A. W. Mccullough. 1870-72 ; J. F. Tressler, 1872-75 ; G. F. Schaef- fer, 1876-82; C. B. King, 1883-90; T. J. Fred- erick, 1890-95; E. B. Burgess, 1895: O. F. J. C. Nicholas, 1900-01; M. S. Kemp, 1902- 12. The present pastor is Rev. William A. Logan, who also serves the Avonmore congre- gation. The membership in 1913 is 100, and the Sunday school has 120 members.
In 1862-63. on the farm of widow Coulter, Sanders, 1895-98; W. A. Hartman, 1898-99;
Samuel Lack cut down a white oak tree, near a small run that empties into the Kiskiminetas about fifteen rods above the gravel bar, whose diameter was three and a half feet. In saw- ing and splitting the trunk for barrel heads, he discovered a blaze which appears to have The present house of worship was erected been made with the bit of an ax, when the in 1886, and cost $2,247. It is a large frame diameter of the tree was ten inches. Be- building and the town is justly proud of it. tween the blaze and the bark were 246 rings or annual growths. SPRING CHURCH
About three miles above Apollo, on the right bank of the Kiskiminetas, is a sandstone rock This settlement is named from the boiling projecting out over the bank about nine feet. spring and the Presbyterian Church of that
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HISTORY OF ARMSTRONG COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
name located here. The first postmaster here fice. Communions were held twice a year, in 1852 was Robert M. Beatty. His grand- tokens bearing the letters "B. S." and made son, W. W. Beatty, is the present one. The only merchant here is Alvin Fiscus.
There are two churches here, the Lutheran and the Presbyterian, both of which, together with a Reformed congregation, were occupants until 1873 of the same edifice.
About 1839 the three bodies cooperated in the purchase of a plat and the erection of a log church, which was not completed until 1842. In the following year the Presbyterians sold their interest and after a few years the Hezekiah Magill, 1877-79; Rev. Samuel E. Reformed members were absorbed by the Elliott, 1880-84, and Rev. J. Q. A. Fullerton, Lutherans. In 1871 the present building was 1885 to 1890. Following this the congrega- erected at a cost of $2,000. . The pastors have tion has been occasionally supplied by the pas- tors of the Presbyterian Church at Apollo. The present pastor is Rev. J. W. Brockway.
been : Revs. Jacob Zimmerman, 1842-49; John Rugan, 1849-51 ; J. N. Burket, 1851-53 ; David Earhart, 1854-60: John A. Delo, 1860-64; John Welfley, 1864-68; Michael Colver, 1868- 72; J. F. Tressler, 1872-75; D. R. P. Barry, 1875-76; G. F. Schaeffer, 1876-82; C. B. King, 1883-90; T. J. Frederick, 1890-1910. Rev. T. J. Frederick resides near the church, but he C. G. Leatherman and T. G. Himes, D. D., from nearby churches. The church member- ship is now sixty-nine, and the Sunday school is one hundred.
Rev. Jacob Zimmerman is still living in this year of 1913, at the age of ninety-five, and is in good health. He resides with his son Harry, near Leechburg.
Boiling Spring Presbyterian Church was or- ganized in 1840 at the house of Charles Means, with twenty-five members. Among them were: William James, Isaac Warner, Ray- mond Dentzel, Hon. Robert M. Beatty, Hugh Graham, John Leech, Adam Ashbaugh, Wil- liam Ashbaugh, Daniel Deemer, Mrs. Mar- garet Scott, Samuel Martin, Andrew Miller, Sr., David Risher, Joseph Wilson, William Wilson, John Wilson. Charles Means, William Gallaher and Joseph McGeary. Rev. Levi M. Graves was the first pastor, serving until 1843. "Union Church," a frame structure, erected that year, was jointly used by the SCHOOLS German Reformed, Lutheran and Presbyterian congregations. In 1870 the building was sold As was the case in other parts of the coun- ty. Kiskiminetas township had no regular school teachers in early times, but had to de- pend upon the few educated persons who could be induced to take up this unremunera- tive and often distasteful task. The first and separate edifices erected by the different congregations ; the Presbyterians built in 1872, the Lutherans in 1873. Poverty and priva- tion were endured by the attendants in those early days. Some of them came to services ,on horseback, but many walked the long dis- schoolhouses were of the usual log construc- tances from their homes, generally carrying tion, very poor in their furnishings, and were run on the subscription plan. their "Sunday best" shoes in their hands, only donning them when in sight of the sacred edi-
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