USA > Pennsylvania > Blair County > Biographical and portrait cyclopedia of Blair County, Pennsylvania > Part 10
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105
OF BLAIR COUNTY.
the town. After several changes in owner- ship it came into possession of the Blair Iron and Coal Company, and under their management has regularly employed from fifty to seventy-five men.
The population of Frankstown township, since the formation of the county, by each United States census, has been as follows :
U. S. Census.
Population.
White.
Colored.
1850
1482
1478
4
1860
1363
1363
0
1870
1553
1551 2
1880
1753
. .
1890 1505
..
Freedom Township .- This township is bounded on the north by Juniata and Blair townships; on the east by Blair and Taylor; on the south by Greenfield township, and on the west by Juniata. It is drained by the Frankstown branch of the Juniata river and several of its tributary runs, and while broken in surface, yet contains some fine farming lands. Iron ore is mined in the township, which has received but mere mention in the Second Geological Survey of Pennsylvania.
Among the pioneer settlers and early res- idents of the township were :
Stephen Delaney.
Jacob Glass.
George Myers.
John Dodson.
William Earley.
Nicholas McGuire.
Jolm Shadle.
John Stiffler.
John Gost.
William Shaw.
Christopher Gost. Edward MeGraw. Peter MeGraw. George McKee. William Leamer.
William Dickey. Samuel West. Joachim Storm. John Tickerhoof. Charles Malone. Nicholas Burke.
Peter Hetrick. Jere. Reinhart.
Matthew Ivry.
Alex. Knox, sr. Dr. Wallace.
John McConnell. William Crawford. Henry Colelesser. John G. McKee.
David Crawford.
Harmon Forber.
Philip Beight.
Frederick Singer.
William Riddle. John Riddle.
There are three villages in the township : Poplar Run, in the western part; East Free- dom, on the Frankstown branch; and Mc- Kee's, on the Morrison Cove railroad.
Poplar Run was founded in 1840 by a man named Baird, under the quaint name of Puzzletown. Its present population is about ninety.
The first building at East Freedom was a log school house. The first house was built in 1838 by Joseph McCormick, and is now a part of the "Freedom House." The town was laid out in 1839 or 1840, and con- tained two hundred and seventeen inhabit- ants by the census of 1890.
McKee's Gap was owned before 1810 by George Myers, who had a grist and saw mill on the site of the present town. Sometime after 1810 George McKee purchased the Gap property, and since then the place has gone by his name. The stream of water passing through the Gap was utilized in 1830 by Dr. Peter Shoenberger for driving his iron forges. His son, Edward, built Martha forge in 1838 and Martha furnace in 1844. This furnace has been rebuilt and enlarged, and is now known as the Holli- daysburg and Gap Iron works. In oper- ating it, its owners, in 1880, employed over two hundred men. On April 4, 1871, Me- Kee's Gap was laid out as a town, and by the last census contained a population of one hundred and sixty-four.
The population of Freedom township, since 1860, has been as follows :
Richard Shirley. Peter Miller.
Samuel Donner.
106
BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
G. S. Census
Population.
White.
Colored.
1860
792
792
0
1870
1020
1020
0
1880
1228
1890
1140
..
Greenfield Township. - It was detached in 1846 from Bedford to form a part of Blair county, and comprised, besides its present territory, the townships of Juniata and Freedom. It is bounded on the north by Juniata and Freedom townships; on the east by Taylor township and Bedford county ; on the south by Bedford county; and on the west by Bedford and Cambria counties. Its surface is broken by precipitous moun- lain sides and narrow valleys, which are fertile and productive. The Blue Knobs run through the centre of the township and divide it into an eastern and a western (Swites ) part.
The early settlers were of German de- scent, and came from Bedford to the vicin- ity of Sarah furnace about 1770, and of that number were :
Thomas Ives. Jacob Lingenfelter.
- Dively. Geo. Lingenfelter.
Val. Lingenfelter. John Nicholas.
From 1783 to 1788 we find record of the following persons as having settled in the township :
ITenry Bennett. Henry Walters.
George Barnhart. David Walters.
Adam Black. John Walters.
Dodson. Justice.
Joseph Walters.
The only town in the township is Clays- burg. It is situated near the month of Beaver Dam creek. John Ulrich Zeth set- tied on the site of the village in 1804, and in the following year built a grist and saw mill. In 1838 Conrad Lang built a stone house, and on March 23, 1839, lots were
laid on the east side of Main street. From that time the village grew and prospered, and now has a population of nearly two hundred.
The only iron works ever built was Sarah furnace. It was erected by Dr. Peter Shoenberger in 1831-32, and the ore for running it was obtained in Taylor township. The furnace was never a paying investment after it passed out of Dr. Shoenberger's hands, and was torn down in 1882.
The population of Greenfield township since 1850 has been :
U. S. Census.
Population,
White.
Colored.
1850
1032
1032 0
1860
1099
1099 0
1870
1233
1229 4
1880
1285
..
1890 1319
..
Huston Township .- This township is in the southeastern part of the county, and is bounded on the north by Woodbury town- ship; on the east by Huntingdon county ; on the south by North Woodbury and Tay- lor townships; and on the west by Taylor and Frankstown townships. The western and central parts of the township lie in No. II geological formation, while the eastern part is in No. III, No. IV, and No. V. The township is well watered, contains many excellent farms, and has an industrious and thrifty population. Rebecca furnace was the first furnace, built in 1817, by Doctor Shoenberger, the great iron master. It afterward became the property of Edward Lytle, and was operated as late as 1881 by Dr. S. M. Royer, of Martinsburg.
Among the early settlers in Huston town- ship prior to 1776 were :
Jacob Brumbaugh. John Clapper.
Conrad Brumbaugh. Jacob Clapper.
Harmonus Clapper. Henry Clapper.
107
OF BLAIR COUNTY.
David Coughenour.
Jacob Smith, jr.
Isaac Hutson.
James Spencer.
Christian Hoover.
William Shirley.
Paul Rhodes.
John Shirley.
Jacob Rhodes.
Christopher Shrom.
Philip Metzker.
Henry Wesour.
Jacob Smith.
The only postoffice in the township is Clover Creek, which was known in an early day by the name of " Clappertown." The population of Huston township at each United States census from 1850 has been as follows :
U. S. Census.
Population.
White.
Colored.
1850
1174
1165
9
1860
1214
1214
0
1870
1335
1335 0
1880
1533
..
1890
1391
..
Juniata Township. - Juniata was erected in 1847 from Greenfield township, and ten years later Freedom was taken from its territory. It is bounded on the north by Allegheny township; on the east by Free- dom; on the south by Greenfield; and on the west by Cambria county. The surface of the township is rough, yet most of its inhabitants are engaged in agricultural pur- suits. Beds of iron ore and bituminous coal exist in many localities.
Among the early settled families of the township prior to 1800, were the Wilts, Burgers, Bousers, Costlows, Champenours, Deihls, Beegles, Feathers, Gaileys, Helsels, Conrads, Leightys, Lingenfelters, MeIn- toshes, Mashes, Morgans, Rhodes, Stifflers, Shows, Longs, and Yinglings.
The only village in Juniata township is Blue Knob, which has a population of sixty-seven. The population of Juniata township since the formation of the county has been as follows :
U. S. Census.
Population.
White.
Colored.
1850
1752
1752
0
1860
545
545
0
1870
621
621
0
1880
729
..
1890
684
. ..
..
Logan Township. - It was formed from Allegheny and Antis in 1850, and is bounded on the north by Cambria county and Antis township; on the east by Antis, Tyrone and Frankstown townships; on the south by Frankstown and Allegheny townships; and on the west by Allegheny township and Cam- bria county. Logan township is said to have been named for Captain Logan, the Cayuga chieftain. Jones says :
"The most prominent friendly Indian that ever resided in the valley (Logan), however, was Captain Logan. This, of course, was not his proper name, but a title bestowed upon him by the settlers. Ile is represented as having been a noble and honorable Indian, warm in his attach- ment to a friend, but, like all Indians, re- vengeful in his character. A kindness and an insult alike remained indelibly stamped upon the book and page of his memory; and to make a suitable return for the former he would have laid down his life-shed the last drop of his heart's blood. He was a man of medium height and heavy frame; notwithstanding which he was fleet of foot, and ever on the move. He came to the valley before Chillaway did, and settled with his family in the little valley east of Martin Bell's furnace, which is still known as Logan's valley. He had previously re- sided on the Susquehanna, where he was the captain of a brave band of warriors; but, unfortunately, in some engagement with another tribe, he had an eye destroyed by an arrow from the enemy. This was
108
BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
considered a mark of disgrace, and he was deposed; and it was owing to that cause that he abandoned his tribe and took up his residence in the Juniata valley. One day, while hunting, he happened to pass the beautiful spring near the mouth of the Bald Eagle -now in the heart of Tyrone city. The favorable location for both hunting and fishing, as well as the charming scenery, fascinated Logan; and he built himself a wigwam, immediately above the spring, to which he removed his family. Here he lived during the revolutionary war, not altogether inactive, for his sympathies were on the side of liberty. During that time he formed a strong attachment to Captain Ricketts, of Warrior's Mark, and they be- came fast friends. It was to Ricketts that Captain Logan first disclosed the plot of the tories under John Weston; and .Edward Bell gave it as his firm conviction that Logan was among the Indians who shot down Weston and his men on their arrival at Kittanning. Although Logan had learned to read from the Moravian missionaries when quite a lad, he knew very little of the formula of land purchases; so he failed to make a regular purchase of the spot on which his cabin stood, the consequence of which was that, after the war, some envious white man bought the land and warned the friendly savage off. Logan was too proud and haughty to contest the matter, or even bandy words with the intruder; so he left, and located at Chickalacamoose, where Clearfield now stands, on the west branch of the Susquehanna. Captain Logan con- tinned visiting the valley, and especially when any of his friends among the pioneers died. On such occasions he generally dis- carded his red and blue eagle feathers, and appeared in a plain suit of citizens' clothes.
But at length Logan came no more. The Great Spirit called him to a happier hunt- ing-ground; and all that is mortal of him -- unless his remains have been ruthlessly torn from the bosom of mother earth -lies beneath the sod, near the mouth of Chicka- lacamoose creek. It is to be regretted that more of his history has not been preserved, for, according to all accounts of him, he possessed many noble traits of character. Unlike Logan, the Mingo chief, Captain Logan, the Cayuga chief, had no biographer like Thomas Jefferson to embellish the pages of history with his eloquence. Well may we say, 'The evil that men do lives after them, while the good is oft interred with their bones.'"
From east to west the following geolog- ical formations are found in Logan town- ship: IV, Medina and Oneida sandstone; VIII, Chemung Shale and other rocks; IX, Catskill red sandstone; X, Pocono sandstone; XI., Mauch Chunk red shale; XII, Pottsville conglomerate; and XIII, Coal measures. The coal and iron ore lie in the central and western parts of the township, which are mountainous, while in the southeast and northeast good farming land is to be found. The township is well drained by streams affording good water power. The early iron manufactories were Allegheny and Blair furnace, and Coleless- er's ax and pick factory. Allegheny fur- nace was built in 1811 by Allison & Hender- son, and was run on charcoal until 1867. In 1835 it was purchased by Elias Baker and Roland Diller, of Lancaster county. In 1854 Mr. Baker erected a massive stone dwelling at a cost of seventy-five thousand dollars, and a mill which cost nearly twenty thousand dollars. Since his death, in 1854, his son, S. C. Baker, has managed the estate.
109
OF BLAIR COUNTY.
Daniel Colelesser established the Col- desser ax and pick manufactory, near Eldo- rado, in 1832.
Among the early settlers of Logan town- ship prior to the revolutionary war were :
Thomas Coleman. James Hart.
Michael Coleman. John Torrance.
Michael Wallack. John Guilleford.
James Hardin. Win. Guilleford.
In 1810 we have account of the Craw- fords, Colelessers, Crissmans, Gibboneys, Grays, Gwins, Hamiltons, Glunts, Hart- socks, Longs, Loudons, Kinsels, Lantz', Mc- Canleys, McCartneys, McAteers, Ruggles, Rces', Shomos, Trouts, Youngs, Akes, Bur- dines, Boyles, Hutchinsons, Hunters, Ir- wins, Myers, Matthews, Robinsons, Smiths, Snyders, Stewarts, and Yinglings.
The postoffices of Glen White and Kipple are in Logan township.
The population of Logan township by cach United States census since 1860 has been :
U. S. Census.
Population.
White.
Colored.
1860
2538
2517 21
1870
2422
2409 13
1880
4950
...
1890
7688 ...
North Woodbury Township .- This town- ship is described by one writer as follows:
"This township is the southeastern divis- jon of Blair county. From the extinguish- ment of the Indian title to lands in this re- gion, in 1758, to the time of the formation of Bedford county, in 1771, this bit of the vast domain of the commonwealth was in- iladed within the boundaries of Cumber- land, and from the latter year until the erection of Blair, in 1846, it formed part of Bedford. In 1855 a considerable portion was detached to form the present township of Taylor. Hence, as now organized, North
Woodbury is bounded on the north by Hus- ton township; east by Huntingdon and Bedford counties ; south by Bedford county ; and west by the latter county and Taylor township.
"With Tussey's mountain on the east, it embraces a portion of the beautiful and fer- tile region known as the Great, or Morri- son's Cove. Martinsburg borough is sit- uated in the northwest part. About three miles east of Martinsburg, near Clover creek, is the small village of Fredericks- burg, otherwise known as Clover Creek postoffice, southward from the latter place the hamlet known as Millerstown, and in the southeastern part of the township is IIenrietta, also a postoffice station, and the terminus of the Morrison's Cove branch of the Pennsylvania railroad.
"Iron ore abounds in many localities. Fine farms and farm buildings are seen on every side, and many evidences of prosper- ity and contentment prevail. Its only con- siderable water course, Clover creek, flows northerly through the eastern part, and in doing so turns the wheels of several grist and saw mills.
"About 1755 a colony of Dunkards, otherwise known as German Baptists, began to settle in the southern portion of the cove. They gradually worked their way north- ward until many of them became residents of the present townships of North Wood- bury, Taylor, and Huston, and numbers of their descendants hold possession to this day.
"It is an historical fact that the Great Cove, now known as Morrison's, which commences at Pattonsville, in Bedford county, and ends at Williamsburg, on the Frankstown branch of the Juniata, bounded by Dunuings and Lock mountains on the
110
BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
west, and Tussey's mountain on the east, was settled by Scotch-Irish as early as 1749; but these lands were yet owned by the In- diaus, and, in answer to their prayers, the bold squatters were expelled by officials representing the Penn family. Nothing dannted, however, many of them returned soon after and continued their improve- ments. Yet the northern, or Blair county portion of the cove, was almost unexplored until the Penns made the new purchase in 1754."
During the Indian wars from 1754 to 1765 numerous murders were committed in Morrison's cove, and some in what is now North Woodbury township. King Shingas and Beaver led one incursion in person. After the commencement of the revolution- ary war the Indians again raided Morri- son's cove, so that life and property were unsafe and insecure until that great strug- gle terminated in favor of the thirteen colonies.
Of the pioneer settlers of the township from 1781 to 1800, we have record of the Allrights, Allenbaughs, Blakes, Burkets, Bridenthals, Bowers, Brumbaughs, Ben- ners, Bulgers, Cowans, Camerers, Conrods, Dilfingers, Deeters, Eversoles, Emricks, Fleimers, Faulkners, Grabills, Gensingers, Hoovers, Holsingers, Knees, Lowers, Looses, Longeneckers, Martins, Metzkers, Myers, Moores, Nicodemuses, Nisewangers, Oungsts, Pularbaughs, Rhodes, Roemers, Strayers, Shoenfelts, Stoners, Skyleses, Stoufflers, Smiths, Stoudenones, Tetwillers, Winelands, and Zooks.
The township lies principally in geologi- eal formation II. "Extensive brown hem- atite iron ore mines of the Cambria Iron Company are located in Leathereracker cove, at Henrietta postoffice, in the extreme
southeast corner of the township, close to the Bedford county line; the most southern openings, in fact, lying almost on the boun- dary line. Henrietta postoffice is only six miles north of Pattonsville Gap, in Tussey mountain ; but its railroad communication is through McKee's Gap, of Dunning moun- tain, to Hollidaysburg and Altoona, the distance being twenty-eight miles to the latter. The mines are all in Leathercracker cove, and the chief features of its compli- cated geological structure have already been given in the detail of the structure of Blair county. The ore line has a different strike from the line of Tussey mountain, and the effect is to bring the ore the closer to the mountain in going to the southward.
"The main open cut of the Henrietta mines (mine No. 1) is the most northern point from which ore has been taken. It is opened on what was a very heavy surface outerop; the ground having been covered deep with loose ore lumps and wash ore. To the north of the mine there is no ore outerop, and trial pits put down around the north end of the mine failed to strike any ore. Some ore, however, was thrown out in digging the cellar of the store, which is two hundred and fifty yards north of the north end of the mine; this latter is the most northern point at which any ore has been found on this ore line. The ent has been gradually widened and deepened until it is now six hundred feet long, by two hundred feet wide, by sixty feet deep. Nearly all the stuff from the large opening has been washed, for it has been almost all ore clay. Projecting bowlders of limestone, much rounded and decomposed, stand up irregu- larly on the floor; and occasional masses of lean clay, bearing almost no iron ore, are left standing, the ore being followed around and
111
OF BLAIR COUNTY.
between them, as in the case with the limestone bowlders. Always on the east side of the pit is the black clay overlying the ore; always the west side the mass of limestone clay underlying; the solid lime- stone coming into and just west of the mine. The dip as given by the limestones is not over thirty degrees south, seventy degrees east; as given by the ore from its outerop to where it shows in the bottom it would be much steeper. But the ore dip is not the dip of the measures, for the hollow in which the ore lies does clearly not conform to the dip of the solid limestones. The uncertain and ever varying disintegration of the under- lying limestone throws the ore mass either back or forward, as the case may be, and gives it a locally steeper or gentler dip.
"Some of the main features of the mine are similar to features found in nearly all the brown hematite deposits of the Lower Siluro-Cambrian limestones. While nearly all of the ground removed was washed (ex- cept the stripping from the present east side of the mine), and while all the exposed face is wash ore (except the surface on east side), yet this wash stuff presents ex- tremely varied characteristics. At times the ore runs in great masses, packed to- gether and like a regular ore bed; but this fades out more or less gradually, plainly in sight, into a clay, carrying perhaps not so much as ten per cent. of ore in it. The streaks of clay follow no dip; they are folded and rolled in all shapes; come in suddenly and as suddenly entirely disap- pear; are in places white and perfectly free cithrer from ferruginous coloring matter, or from wash ore; and are again deep red or brown, and sticky."
The Henrietta ores are rich in iron and high in phosphorus. They are cheaply
mined, work easily in the furnace, and were very valuable ores when the heavy demand for iron rails made a constant market for such pig metal as would be yielded by these ores when judiciously admixed with some others.
When some one shall discover an econom- ieal way of eliminating phosphorus in the Bessemer converter, these ores will take a high grade. Such a discovery is claimed in the Thomas & Gilchrist process, which was brought to public notice in England in 1880.
The Millerstown Red Ore mine is one- half mile northeast of Millerstown. The mine is one large open pit, and was long since abandoned. The outerop at the mine is very heavy, but does not extend to any distance from the mine, and trial pits put down in different directions around the mine failed to reveal any deep deposit of wash ore.
North Woodbury township contains the. villages of Henrietta, Fredericksburg, and Millerstown. Henrietta is the southern terminus of the Morrison Cove branch of the Pennsylvania railroad, and contains over one hundred inhabitants.
By cach United States census since 1850, the population of North Woodbury town- ship has been as follows:
U. S. Census.
Population.
White.
Colored.
1850
1836
1829
7
1860
907
906
1
1870
953
953
0
1880
1695
..
1890
1651
..
Snyder Township. - It is in the northern part of the county, and is bounded on the north by Centre county; on the east by Huntingdon county ; on the south by Antis and Tyrone; and on the west by Cam- bria and Clearfield counties. The western
1
112
BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
part of the township lies ahnost wholly on the Allegheny mountains, and its heavily timbered tracts of land were cut over for charcoal making. Well watered and fer- tile land abounds in the southeastern part of the township.
Among the earliest settlers in the town- ship were the celebrated seven Ricket brothers, noted for their daring as Indian scouts, and many others whose names have passed away even beyond the traditions of the Juniata valley.
'The villages of the township are Tyrone Forge, Ironville, and Graziersville.
The population of Snyder township has been, since 1850, as follows :
U. S. Census.
Population. White.
Colored.
1850
1090
1083 7
1800
1422
1422
0
1870
1412
1412 0
1880
1424
1890 2011
Taylor Township .- This township is on the southern border of the county, and is bounded as follows: On the north by Blair and Frankstown townships; on the east by Iluston, Frankstown, and North Woodbury ; ou the south by Bedford county; and on the west by Greenfield, Freedom, and Blair townships. The southern and central parts of the township lie in the geological forma- tion V, or the Clinton shale. The western part is rich in iron ore, and the eastern part contains fine farming lands.
The celebrated Soister iron ore mine, which is now abandoned, lies in Taylor township. The ore is a limonite, hard and compact, and in color varies from a reddish brown to a vermilion. The Bloomfield iron ore mines are three miles south of Roaring Spring. These mines have been exten- sively worked to supply Bloomfield, Sarah,
Martha, and Rodman furnaces. The ores of these mines exist in unusually large quantities, and . are free from phosphoric acid. The mines have a fine and costly appointment for washing and shipping the ore, which is widely known for its excellent character. Captain Rodman preferred the Bloomfield pig metal for making heavy ordnance, and urged the United States gov- ernment to purchase the whole Bloomfield iron ore deposits.
Among the residents in this township from 1763 to 1775 were :
Jacob Neff. Martin Houser.
Christian Hoover. Jacob Houser.
In 1787 :
John Brumbach. Jacob Plummer.
Daniel Ellrich. Peter Hoover.
Christ. Markle. Philip Stoner.
Abraham Plummer. Peter Stoner.
From 1790 to 1800:
Jacob Shoenfelt, sr. Adam Lower.
John Ullery. Frederick Hartle.
Edward Cowen. John Morgan.
Neterer. Tobias Shiffler.
John Lower.
The main places in the township are Roaring Spring and East Sharpesburg. The Upper, Middle, and Lower Maria forges, now gone, were built by Dr. Shoenberger, respectively in 1828, 1830, and 1832. Rod- man furnace was built in ninety days, in 1862, to furnish metal for the construction of Rodman guns.
Since 1860 the population of Taylor township, by each United States census, has been as follows :
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