USA > Pennsylvania > Blair County > Biographical and portrait cyclopedia of Blair County, Pennsylvania > Part 9
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Emanuel (Altoona )
HEBREW (SYNAGOGUE).
Ahabath Achim (Altoona) 1857
AFRICAN METHODIST EPISCOPAL.
Allen Chapel (Altoona ). 1858
Early Schools .- From the "Centennial" school report of the State superintendent of Pennsylvania we glean the following facts :
In 1809 -- no matter what may have been the character of the schools up to that time-the first law was enacted tending toward a general system of publie free schools for the "education of the poor gratis." In 1834 the present law was parsed, which has been modified at various times. Two schools were established within the present limits of the county as early as 1790-one at Williamsburg, the other near "Red Ore Bank," on Clover creek. Wil- liamsburg was formerly called Aketown, and Jacob Ake owned the land upon which it was built. Believing that the education of the youth in his vicinity was a matter of importance, Mr. Ake secured teachers and paid all expenses out of his own purse. The system of instruction Mr. Ake estab- lished lasted fifteen years, when subscrip- tion schools began. Mr. James Martin taught until 1825. Ile was followed by Messrs. Cassel, Irvin, Opdyke, and Spencer, and Miss Nancy Anderson. The school on (Hover creek was taught by John Briden- thal, in a house which stood on what is now the Hyle farm. John Diltz taught a school in a private house in the vicinity of Leather
Cracker ( now Henrietta ), about 1795. Wil- liam Loose, George Glass, and --- Ket- ring were among other teachers who taught in this vicinity during that period. Another . school was established near Atna Furnace at an early day, which was in operation in 1797. In 1800 the house was destroyed by fire, and another to take its place was located near Keller's church. James Mar- tin is the only teacher of this school whose name has been handed down to posterity. About 1800 John Fisher taught a school in a private house near Sharpsburg, and in 1802 a school house was built in the same vicinity, known as the Hauser school. Most of the schools were German. The first English school taught in the "Cove" was in 1800, by Mr. Roach, in a house which stood near Roaring Spring. Thomas Kin- ney taught a school near Elizabeth furnace in 1800. Another school was taught near Bell's Mills in 1809. Alexander Kerr and Dudley Burnham were the leading teachers in this community. Sixty-seven years ago John Steele taught in a private house in Gaysport. Thomas Stearns, John Knox, Joshua Williamson, William Anderson, John Wertz, Robert McNamara, Joseph Cad- walder, S. F. Henry, and Ephraim Gal- braith are among the teachers who taught in Frankstown. (At the time Frankstown included the present territory of Allegheny and Blair townships.) In 1812 James Langham taught a school near Black's Mills, Greenfield township. John Dodson also taught in this neighborhood. John Swoveland built a school house at his own expense and donated it for school purposes. In 1815 a school house was built near Alle- gheny Furnace, called the Beales school. John Gwin and a Mr. Summerville were among the teachers here. Within the
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98
BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
present limits of Allegheny township, the first school house with shingle roof was built (in Duncansville ) in 1815.
Banks .- The inhabitants of the territory of Blair county were dependent for banking facilities upon the Huntingdon bank, until 1836 or 1837, when the "Branch of Ex- change bank of Pittsburg, at Hollidays- burg," was established. In 1849 it was succeeded by the First National bank, which, in 1863, was changed into the pres- ent First National bank of Hollidaysburg. In 1850 a branch of the Farmers' bank, of Lancaster, was started at Hollidaysburg, and has been succeeded by the banking houses of Bryan, Gleim & Co., Bryan, Gard- ner & Co., James Gardner, and Gardner, Morrow & Co., which last firm has existed since 1874.
The first banking house at Altoona was that of Bell, Johnson, Jack & Co., which continued until 1873. The present banks of the city were established as follows: First National, in 1864; Mechanics' Sav- ings, 1870; and the Altoona bank, in 1872.
The banks of Tyrone are the Tyrone bank, established April 1, 1871, and the Blair County Banking Company, organized December 15, 1874.
The Williamsburg bank was established on September 25, 1873; and the Bank of Bellwood has been lately organized.
County Societies .- The Blair County Med- ical society was organized at Hollidaysburg, July 25, 1848. The Blair County Agricul- tural association was chartered in March, 1873, and on January 30, 1875, officers were elected. The first fair was opened on Sep- tember 28th of that year, at Dell Delight, near Hollidaysburg, and the second and third fairs were held at Altoona park, re- pectively in 1878 and 1880.
Insurance .- The Blair County Protection Mutual Fire Insurance Company was organ- ized May 4, 1849, under the provisions of a special act of the legislature, approved April 8, 1848, and did a successful business in Centre, Cambria, Huntingdon, Mifflin, and Blair counties until 1880, when it went out of existence by mutual dissolution. For the last quarter of a century the leading fire, life, and accident insurance companies of the United States and Great Britain have been well represented in all the cities and larger town of the county.
Secret Orders .-- The leading secret and beneficial orders of the United States are well represented in Blair county.
Odd Fellowship .- We compile the follow- ing statistics of the lodges in Blair county for the year 1890 :
No.
Name.
Mem- bers.
Relief Afforded
119
Hollidaysburg
157 $1029
152
Tyrone.
122
902
227
Vandalia
63
793
315
Orphan's Home.
97
643
445
Roaring Spring
85
254
473
Altoona
180
1665
497
Bellview
59
72
532
Verandah.
170
896
713
Claysburg
38
53
819
Bellwood.
56
59
837
Mountain City
214
1536
856
Model
114
651
Totals
1355 $8553
The amount of relief in the above table embraces what was paid by these twelve lodges to relieve sick brothers, widowed families, burying the dead, and educating the orphans.
The order has the following degree lodges of the Daughters of Rebekah in the county :
99
OF BLAIR COUNTY.
NO.
NAME.
LOCATION.
21
Eleanor
Altoona.
174 Winona. Roaring Springs.
213 Lady Viola Tyrone.
An account of the other different orders will be found in this volume under the head- ing of miscellaneous.
Townships .- Blair county at this time contains fifteen townships, which were or- . ganized from the following townships and counties in the years named :
TOWNSHIP.
FROM. YEAR.
Allegheny.
Frankstown 1793
Antis
Allegheny 1810
Blair
Frankstown. 1839
Catharine Morris 1846
Frankstown Bedford county 1775
Freedom Juniata 1857
Greenfield Bedford county 1846
Inston Woodbury 1842
Juniata Greenfield. 1847
Logan Alleg'ny and Antis .. 1850
N. Woodbury Bedford county ... ... 1846
Snyder W. Mark and Antis 1841
Taylor Huston and North
Woodbury .. .... .. 1855
Tyrone.
Bedford Co., before 1787
Woodbury Bedford Co., before 1787
Allegheny. - This township is bounded on the north by Logan township ; ou the east by Logan, Frankstown and Blair townships; on the south by Blair and Juniata townships; and on the west by Juniata township and Cambria county. It originally embraced the territory of the townships of Antis and Logan. Coal mining, farming and the manufacture of lime and iron are the prin- cipal occupations of its inhabitants. Its greatest distance is from east to west, and its surface is drained by streams flowing toward the southwest.
In the western part of the township is to
be found the Kittanning Lower coal bed, which forms a coke-producing zone, in which coke is produced second only to the celebrated Connellsville coke. One hun- dred bee-hive ovens were erected in 1880, at Bennington, by the Cambria Iron Com- pany, and since then the coke industry has slowly increased until it has attained its present favorable proportions.
The iron ores were developed at an early day. The Portage Iron works, at Duncans- ville, were built in 1833, and Bennington furnace was erected in 1846 at Bennington, which is one of the iron centres of the county.
In 1787 among those living in the town- ship were : Thomas Armstrong, Jacob Bur- goon, Capt. Thomas Blair, Hon. John Blair, Robert Curry, Henry Caldwell, John Ed- miston, John Fetter, Michael Fetter, jr., George Fetter, Matthew Hofstadet, James Ilart, John Kerr, William McFarland, Hugh McFarland, Luke McGuire, Christopher Nipps, Matthew Patton, Daniel Titus, John Williams, Francis Whittinger, Jacob Whit- tinger, Matthew White, Charles Wellbaum, Henry Wertz, William Williams.
Jacob Burgoon settled on Burgoon's run, which takes its name from him. Captain Thomas Blair was a prominent resident of the township, in which, in 1788, he owned, at Blair's Gap, a grist and saw mill, one negro slave, four horses, four head of cattle, and three hundred acres of land. His son, IIon. John Blair, for whom the county was named, was also prominent in township as well as county affairs.
In this township, near the mouth of Sugar run, occurred the massacre of the "Bedford Scout."
Its principal villages are Duncansville, Bennington, and Germany, or "Foot of
100
BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
Ten." Duncansville is situated partly in Blair township, and lies on the Blairsville & Newry branch of the Pennsylvania rail- road, and the Huntingdon, Cambria & In- diana turnpike. The Gibboney foundry of the place was erected in 1842.
Bennington is in the northwestern part of the township, on the main line of the Pennsylvania railroad, and is near to vast coal beds. Foot of Ten, or Germanyville, derives its name from being at the foot of the tenth inclined plane of the old Portage railroad.
The population of Allegheny township since the formation of the county has been as follows :
U. S. Census.
Population.
White.
Colored.
1850
2352
2329
23
1860
1649
1642
7
1870
1913
1902
11
1880
2149
..
1890
2850
..
Antis Township. - It is one of the six western townships of the county, and is bounded on the north by Cambria county and Snyder township; on the east by Sny- der and Tyrone townships; on the south by Tyrone and Logan townships; and on the west by Logan township and Cambria county. It embraces a considerable part of the Tuckahoe valley, and the slope of its surface is to the northward. Workable beds of coal have been opened in the north- ern part, near the Snyder township line. One of these beds is 500 feet above Tipton station, and, therefore, 1,480 feet above ocean level, while the rest of the Alle- gheny mountain is only 790 feet above the coal vein at Kramer & Hart's mine. The main line of the Pennsylvania railroad northward through the eastern part of the township, and the main centers of popula-
tion, are at the towns of Bellwood, Fostoria, Tipton, and Elizabeth Furnace. Bellwood is the starting point of the Pennsylvania & Northwestern (formerly Bell's Gap) rail- road. This road was built in 1872 to bring coal from the mines on the mountain, but was afterward extended to Coalport, and to-day is much traveled by tourists and sight-seers, on account of the grand and romantic scenery along its course. It has been described by one who has passed over it in the following language: "This won- derful little road is a narrow gauge, and the average grade for seven miles from the starting point is at the rate of one hundred and fifty-five feet to the mile. The great cañon up which it threads its way is called Bell's Gap, although there are plenty of tourists who sigh for a more romantic name. In laying out the road the engineers were compelled to wind along the frowning preci- pice in order to successfully make the as- cent, and as this track is necessarily very crooked, it has not inaptly been compared to a huge serpent coiled about the hills. Starting from the little station on the main track of the Pennsylvania railroad, the cars are pushed up by a locomotive, and return of their own gravity with carefully man- aged brakes. Some very high trestle- bridges are passed over, which are now being obviated to a certain extent by fill- ings. The first trestle is eighty feet in height, and the curve has a radius of twenty- eight degrees, which makes it sharp and graceful. Another trestle over Shaw's run is seventy-six feet in height, with a similar curve. As the ascent is being made the view is very fine, and as the little locomo- tive sweeps around the graceful curves and dashes over the high bridges, it resembles a thing of life in these mountain solitudes.
101
OF BLAIR COUNTY.
After crossing Shaw's run trestle, which is appropriately termed the Horse Shoe Bend of the Bell's Gap road, the track rapidly pushes up the mountain at a grade of one hundred and fifty-five feet to the mile. A better idea of the sharpness of the curve may be formed when it is stated that it is two miles around from heel to heel, and probably not more than six hundred feet across from where the curve commences. From this sharp bend the road climbs the mountain rapidly, and when Point Lookout is rounded, a scene of unsur- passed grandeur is unfolded to the eye. In sweeping up from the great curve an altitude of three hundred feet has been gained, which puts the tourist nine hundred feet above the track of the main line at Bell's Mills ( Bellwood), only a few miles distant. But it is the sublime magnificence of the scene which is presented from the Point that captivates the eye and causes the traveler to stand spell-bound as he gazes upon it. As he looks down the wild gorge, bounded on either side by graceful mountains, clothed from base to summit with dark green foliage, and away beyond for six miles the view is exceedingly fine, until it is shut out by Brush mountain, which rises like an immense green curtain to form the background of the picture. The seene resembles an immense panorama sud- denly unveiled before the vision by some giant hands, and as the little locomotive halts at the point to breathe, as. it were, excursionists never fail to avail them- selves of the opportunity to drink in the glorious scene. The writer has seen wilder gorges in the Sierra Nevada mountains, but nothing to compare with this in softness of beauty, graceful outlines, and richness of foliage. The journey over the Switchback
has been extolled in rapturous language, but it must sink into comparative insignifi- cance when compared with the Allegheny scene."
There is account preserved of the follow- ing settlers in the township in 1787:
William Allen. John Glasgow.
James Crawford. Robert Ricketts.
Jonathan Edington. Edward Tipton.
Philip Edington. Mesaugh Tipton.
In 1793 among the additional residents
were:
Christian Black. Jacob Myers.
Manasseh Bradley. Daniel Swartz.
William Clark. John Swartz.
John Clark. Giles Stephens.
Abraham Crane. John Tussey.
Robert Edington. Caleb Tipton.
Samuel Edington. Tim'y Van Schoick.
Jacob Fetter. Aaron Van Schoick.
John Hunter, jr. Peter Wertz.
In 1811 John Ake owned a grist and saw mill; Edward Bell a grist mill and dis- tillery ; Shepley Priestly a distillery ; and Michael Wallace a saw mill.
After Bellwood, which is described in the list of boroughs, the most important places in the township are Tipton and Fostoria. Tipton was laid out January 1, 1856, by Herman Haupt, its proprietor. It was named for the Tiptons, who settled at its site in an early day, and Antis forge, whose fires went out in 1855, was built at the place in 1828 by Dysart & Lloyd. Fostoria is a promising railroad town between Bell- wood and Tipton. Davidsburg was a place of importance on the old wagon road from Bellefonte to the Portage railroad, but its glory departed with the coming of the Pennsylvania railroad.
The population of Antis township since 1850 has been :
-
102
BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
U. S. Census.
Population.
White.
Colored.
1860
2452
2450
2
1860
2204
2204
0
1870
1893
1893 0
1880
2281
1890
2060
Blair Township .- It is one of the three central townships, and is bounded on the north by Allegheny and Frankstown town- ships; on the east by Frankstown and Taylor; on the south by Taylor and Free- dom; and on the west by Freedom and Allegheny. Its territory lies in the Clinton red shale, or geological formation V, which carries several lime veins and the fossil iron ore bed, whose southern outerop is just northeast of Hollidaysburg. The surface, although broken, is mostly adapted to farm- ing. The iron manufacturing of the town- ship is carried on principally in the boroughs of Hollidaysburg and Gaysport. It is well supplied with railroads. From Hollidays- burg, one minor branch of the Pennsylvania railroad runs through the western part of the township to Newry ; and another branch runs south through the eastern part into Bedford county.
We have account of the following settlers in Blair township between 1768 and 1788: Patrick Cassidy.
Thomas MeCune. Henry Champinour. John MeCune.
Michael Fetter, sr. John McDonald.
Michael Fetter, jr. James McDonald.
George Fetter. Angus McDonald.
Samuel Fetter. Patrick McDonald. John Fetter. William Pringle.
Paul Frazier. Jacob Shingletaker.
Wm. Holliday, sr. Stockleather.
Maj. John Holliday. James Somerville.
Wm. Holliday, jr. John Warcham.
John Holliday, jr.
Since 1850 the population of Blair town-
ship at each United States census has been as follows :
U. S. Census.
Population.
White.
Colored.
1850
991
972
19
1860
1176
1171
5
1870
1571
1561
10
1880
1094
...
1890
1143
...
Catharine Township. - It is one of the east central townships of the county, and is bounded on the north by Tyrone township and Huntingdon county; on the east by Huntingdon county and Woodbury town- ship; on the south by Woodbury and Frankstown townships; and on the west by Frankstown and Tyrone townships. The township lies principally in Canoe val- ley, and is in the Trenton, or No. II geo- logical formation, which carries limestone veins and the brown hematite iron ores. The surface is much broken by mountains and ridges, yet there is considerable good farm- ing land and many fine farms. It is drained by Canoe creek and the Frankstown branch of the Juniata river. Among the pioneer settlers of Canoe valley in this township, between the French and Indian and revo- lutionary wars, were : John Bell, John and Matthew Dean, the Beattys, Ferguses, Moreheads, Lowrys, and Stewarts, Jacob Roller, sr., John Sanders, Samuel Davis, Edward Milligan, and the Simontons and Van Zants.
Yellow Springs postoffice is in the central part of the township, and during the palmy days of the old turnpikes the Yellow Springs tavern was a noted place in Blair county. Etna furnace, which was blown out in 1877, was the first iron furnace erected in the county. It was built in 1809, and passed sometime afterward from the hands of its owners, Canan, Stewart & Moore, to Mr.
103
OF BLAIR COUNTY.
Stewart, who sold it in 1823 to Thomas Jackson, and since Mr. Jackson's owner- ship it has been successively the property of Henry Fisher, Henry Spang, Henry A. Spang, Spang, Keller & Co., and Isett, Kel- ler & Co.
In speaking of what is now Catharine township, Jones says: " Water street is an old place, and was settled prior to the rev- olution. A stream of water from the Canoe mountain, supposed to be the Arch spring of Sinking valley, passes down a ravine and empties into the Juniata at this place. For some distance through a narrow defile the road passed directly through the bed of this stream, a circumstance which induced the settlers to call it Water Street when the original settlement was made.
"This for a long time was an important point, being the canoe landing for the in- terior country; hence the name of Canoe valley, applied to the country now known as Catharine township, in Blair county. At this place was General Roberdeau's landing, where he received his stores for the lead mines in Sinking valley, and where he shipped the lead ore to be taken to Middle- town for smelting."
The population of Catharine township since the formation of the county has been :
U. S. Census.
Population
White.
Colored.
1850
889
885
4
1860
815
815 0
1870
907
907 0)
1880
596 ..
1890
513 ..
Frankstown Township .- It originally em- braced the present territory of Allegheny, Antis, Blair, Frankstown, and Logan town- ships and a part of Catharine township. It ja bounded on the north by Logan and Ty- roue townships; on the east by Catharine,
Woodbury, and Huston; on the south by Woodbury and Huston ; and on the west by Taylor, Blair, Allegheny, Logan, and Ty- rone. It has much rugged surface, but contains excellent farming lands in the northern part in Scotch valley, or Franks- town cove. Geologically it lies in forma- tion No. V., Clinton shale; No. VI., lower Helderberg; and No. VII., Oriskany sand- stone; and is rich in limestone, iron ores, and building rock. "The Frankstown ore bed is opened and worked near Franks- town. The ore bed can be found in a reg- ular position, four hundred feet below the double fossil bed, for a limited distance, as shown on the map; but beyond that short run it thins out to nothing. Numerous openings on the outerop of the horizon show the measures which overlie and under- lie the ore wherever it is a workable bed, in their usual position and thickness, but the ore bed entirely lacking. The ore is so val- uable that diligent search has been made for it along the mountain flanks in the vicinity of the Hollidaysburg and Frankstown re- gion, but so far without success, except along the small onterop line back of Franks- town.
"The ore is overlaid by blue slate, fossil- iferous for forty feet or more. In this blue slate there occur three regular and persist- ent 'ore pins,' as they are usually called. These are reddish colored, with numerous small fossils, usually siliceous, and of no practical value as iron ore. They range from one-half inch to two inches in thick- ness. The upper one is thirty-seven feet above the Frankstown ore bed; the middle one is twenty-six feet above the ore, and the lower one is seventeen feet above the Frankstown ore bed. The Frankstown ore bed is, on the average, about fifteen inches
104
BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
to sixteen inches in thickness, ranging from eight inches at the lowest to say twenty-two inches at the greatest thickness.
" Two small ' ore pins' come in under the ore bed-one four inches below the ore, and one ten inches below it. They are of no value."
The early history of the township, and the founding of Frankstown, is given in the account of the early settlement of the county. The first assessment of the town- ship was made in 1788, by Daniel Moore, assisted by Capt. Thomas Blair and Patrick Cassidy, and by their return the resident taxpayers of Frankstown township in 1788 were :
Jasper Brough. Lazarus Lowry.
Henry Baker.
John Laird.
Patrick Cassidy.
John McDonald.
Richard Clawson.
James McDonald.
Abraham Crum.
Henry Champinore. William Crawford. Samuel Davis. Samuel Edges.
Angus McDonald. Patrick McDonald. Simon Mason. John Mansfield. Thomas MeCune. John MeCune.
Thomas Ferguson.
Julın Freeman.
Michael Fetter, sr.
Adım Fleck.
Thomas Flynn. Alex. Fulton.
Michael Fink.
Daniel Moore.
Paul Frazier.
James Moore.
John Gripe.
John North. John Newcomer.
Samuel Gripe. John Henry. Benoni Halbert.
Daniel Nelson.
Win. Holliday, sr.
John Holliday.
Win. Holliday, jr.
William Reed.
John B. Hess.
Nicholas Keene.
Jacob Stephens. Jacob Shingletaker.
James Smith. John Wise.
Charles Stewart. . Michael Waters.
Christopher Shively. John Warren.
Peter Titus. Jolm Wareham.
Samuel Thomas.
John Waggoner.
John Vineman. William Wright.
Leonard Wolf.
The single freemen by the same assess- ment list were: Andrew and William De- venny, Dr. John McCloskey, John Davis, James Farrell, Stephen Atchinson, James Kerr, John Reed, Matthew Huffsteder, John Thompson, David MeRoberts, Daniel Mc- donald, Patrick Sullivan, William Patter- son, Samuel Caldwell, William Blair, Wil- liam Blair (from Ireland), John Babes, and Alexander McDonald.
Thomas Blair was assessed with one grist mill, one saw mill, and one negro slave; Samuel Davis, one negro slave; William Holliday, sr., one negro slave; Lazarus Lowry, one negro slave; and John Tor- rance, four negro slaves.
Frankstown village is now a station on the Hollidaysburg and Williamsburg branch of the Pennsylvania railroad, but has never recovered from the effects of losing the Pennsylvania canal reservoir. In 1790 Laz- arus Lowry sold goods here, and twenty years later it contained twenty houses, and Dr. John Buchanan was the resident phy- sician. It then had several distilleries, a tannery, mill, and two or three stores. It was incorporatated as a borough about 1831-32, but on account of Hollidaysburg securing the reservoir, and many of its leading men moving there, Frankstown never reported any borough officers, except a few constables, to the county authorities. About 1836 Frankstown furnace was erected by Daniel Ilileman and Stephen Hammond, and has contributed much to keeping up
William Pringle. John Royster. Abraham Robinson.
John McPherson. Hugh Murray. Andrew McIntosh. Donald MeIntosh. Samuel Moore.
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