Centennial history of Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania, Part 116

Author: Stocker, Rhamanthus Menville, 1848-
Publication date: 1887
Publisher: Philadelphia, Pa. : R. T. Peck
Number of Pages: 1318

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THE SUSQUEHANNA AND OAKLAND BRIDGE COM- PANY was incorporated in June, 1874. The first directors were M. B. Wright, M. H. Eisman, Thomas McDonald, H. Holdridge, J. C. Kane, Charles Beebe, J. G. Brewer, S. N. Mitchell, Henry Howell and J. H. Cook. J. H. Cook was elected president; M. H. Eisman, vice-president; J. G. Brewer, secretary ; and M. B. Wright, treasurer. The capital stock was fifteen thousand dollars, which, in 1875, was increased to twenty thousand dollars. The officers at present are the same that were first elected, and the present board of directors are M. H. Eisman, Robert Wallace, W. S. Mitchell, J. C. Cook, Adolph Spellenberg, J. H. Cook, H. Haldridge, Michael Milane, J. C. Kane, Charles Beebe, M. B. Wright and J. G. Brewer.

THE SUSQUEHANNA WATER COMPANY was incor-

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Gaylord Cuites

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porated in 1874 with a stock capital of five thousand dollars. The first officers were Gaylord Curtis, presi- dent; and C. A. Miller, secretary and treasurer. The directors were M. H. Eisman, James Bell, Lewis Freeman, M. B. Wright, E. N. Smith and S. N. Mitchell. The offices of president, secretary and treasurer have remained unchanged. The directors now are M. H. Eisman, James Bell, Lewis Freeman and M. B. Wright.

RAILROAD SHOPS .- These are the principal motive- power shops of the New York, Lake Erie and Western Railroad Company, covering about seven acres of ground, exclusive of many acres of yards, courts, side- tracks and switches. In the construction of these buildings the company has expended not less than one and one-fourth million dollars, and for machinery now in use nearly three hundred thousand dollars more. The company also constantly keeps on hand iron, lumber and other material to the value of about one hundred and twenty thousand dollars, and dis- burses monthly to its nine hundred employees at this place, on an average, about sixty thousand dollars. Yet these shops, which never fail to attract the atten- tion of all who first visit the place, are not the original ones erected here.

In 1847 the original shops were located about where the present ones now stand, and the next year they were constructed. They were inexpensive frame buildings, which, fully equipped with machinery, cost less than two hundred thousand dollars, and were de- signed to give employment to about two hundred men. In January, 1849, the first invoice of requisites was ordered for the Lanesboro' shops, as they were then called; the men were engaged, the machinery started, and the work of building and repairing locomotives began. A number of years after, during the war, it was evident that the increasing business of the road required greater and better facilities for keeping the motive-power in order than these shops provided ; hence, under instructions from the officers of the com- pany, James B. Gregg, then master mechanic, drew an outline of plans for buildings, such as, in his judgment, would be adapted to the purposes, and adequate to meet the necessities of the road. Draw- ings of these plans were then perfected by Mr. Minot, the general superintendent, submitted to the officers of the company, and, on being approved, the work of construction, in 1863, proceeded. In 1865 the build- ings were completed and formally dedicated by means of interesting and appropriate ceremonies. The main building is seven hundred and fifty feet long and one hundred and thirty-seven feet wide-a massive stone structure, whose roof, with the exception of many spacious sky·lights, is covered with slate and sup- ported by a symmetrical frame-work of timber, securely fastened together with iron bolts and stayed with numerous iron braces and pendants. In this building the following-named departments of the business are conducted : Erecting, machinery, tool,

rod, turning, planing, wheel, tin and copper, and stock. Adjoining the main building, on the north side, are six annexes, viz., boiler-shop, blacksmith- shop, engine-room and bath-room, store-room, paint- shop and pattern store-room, and carpenter-shop and pattern-shop. The carpenter-shop is built of stone and the others of brick, each annex being about one hundred and eighty feet long by eighty feet wide. The foundry, still farther north, detached from the other buildings a few feet, is a brick structure, two hundred and fifty feet long and seventy-two feet wide, provided with two large cupolas, from which sixty thousand pounds of molten iron is daily run into cast- ings, used in the construction of motive-power and otherwise. To the east, about two hundred feet dis- tant, is located the hammer-shop, a building one hundred and sixty feet long by eighty feet wide, which is provided with steam-power hammers, driven by powerful engines. The apparatus is so nicely ad- justed that with these hammers a blow of the exact force required can be produced, from the gentlest tap to the heaviest blow, within the momentum of the ponderous hammer driven by the power of the engine. On the west end of the main building the round- house, containing thirty-three stalls, is located; and still farther west are the gas-works and oil-works. The oil produced by these works is for lubricating purposes, and about sixteen hundred barrels is com- pounded monthly. The power to run the machinery in the main shop and in the annexes is furnished by a two hundred horse-power Corliss engine. They are kept comfortably warm, even in the coldest weather, by more than fifteen miles of steam pipes, and when necessary to work nights the buildings are made almost as light as day by an excellent system of elec- tric-lights and gas-lighas. Of conducting the business at these shops Mr. Gregg inaugurated a remarkably thorough system, which, instead of deteriorating in the least, has gradually been improved by those who have succeeded him; so that, at the present time, an almost exact date may be assigned when an order for any given number of locomotives will be filled. Be- sides keeping in order nearly two hundred locomo- tives, each of which, it is safe to say, must undergo repairs at least once a year, five new ones can be turned out per month.

The locomotives first used on the road were about eighteen tons in weight, and quite diminutive, com- pared with those now used. One of these, preserved as a relic, and protected from the soot and dust by glass partitions, now stands in the main shop, that the visitor may contrast it with the majestic ones in process of construction right by its side. Many of the locomotives now made weigh more than fifty tons, and are capable of drawing eighty loaded freight cars on an ordinary grade. Preferring hard-coal burners to those in which soft-coal is used, during the last two years many experiments have been made to construct such as would be capable of making the time made

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HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

by soft-coal burners, with the heavy and elaborate passenger trains, for which the road is celebrated. It is a pleasure to say that recently this desire has been realized in the construction of what is known as Ex- perimental Engine 102, a locomotive, for power and speed, probably not surpassed.

Master Mechanics .- John Brandt (1849-51); James B. Gregg (1851-72); Robert Wallaee (1872-76); Vin- cent Blackburn from 1876 to the present time. Mr. Brandt is now general superintendent of the Oregon and California Railroad, his office being at Portland, Oregon. Mr. Gregg was a farmer's son, born near Wilmington, Del., educated at Burlington, N. J., after which he learned the machinist's trade, at Wil- mington, and then entered the service of the Erie Company as general foreman of the Piermont shops. · In 1851 he came to Susquehanna, having been ap- pointed master mechanic of the shops. Having held this position nineteen years, in 1872 he resigned it and removed to Binghamton, N. Y., where he soon after engaged with others in manufacturing boots and shoes, under the firm-name of Anderson & Gregg, and afterwards as J. B. Gregg & Son, until his death, in 1885. While at Susquehanna Mr. Gregg not only had supervision of the work done in the shops, but he was also the company's land agent and attorney, and by him nearly all of the land that the company orig- inally purchased was parceled out, on favorable terms, to a class of worthy and industrious men who eame to this place seeking homes for themselves and families.

Robert Wallace was born in Ireland. After receiv- ing a liberal education at Bullock's Academy, at Bel- fast, lie served a seven years' apprenticeship as a ma- chinist, upon the completion of which, in 1848, he at once sailed for America. Here he found employment in the Rogers Locomotive Works, at Paterson, N. J., for the next three years. In 1851 he came to Susque- hanna and engaged in the service of the Erie Com- pany, a service that continued twenty-four years. In 1876 he resigned, and has since been engaged in mer- cantile pursuits. In 1850 he married Anne Allen, of Belfast, Ireland, who died at Susquehanna in 1873. In 1874 he married Mrs. Eliza B., widow of James B. Tucker, of Bermuda. Mrs. Wallace is an active member of the Protestant Episcopal Church, and to her the society at Susquehanna is much indebted. His sons are all in the employ of the railroad com- pany. John S. is at present chief storekeeper and book-keeper of the oil-works, and also a member of the School Board; William J. is foreman of the pattern- shop ; Martin E. is a draughtsman in the office of superintendent of motive-power, at Buffalo, N. Y .; and Robert, Jr., is a pattern-inaker at this place. The two daughters reside with their father at Susque- hanna.

Mr. Blackburn was born in New York City. When he was about four years old his parents removed with him to Schenectady, N. Y., where he was educated,

after which he spent six years in the Schenectady Locomotive Works, in learning different branches of the business. After working in several machine- shops elsewhere, in 1876 he succeeded Mr. Wallace as master mechanic of the shops at Susquehanna. Mr. Blackburn is a member of the Presbyterian Church, where he holds responsible offices and exerts much influence, being chorister and superintendent of the Sabbath-school and president of the board of trustees. During the past three years he has been president of the "Young Men's Library Association," and of the "Union Temperance League," recently organized, he is the president. In 1854 he married Margaretta Forman, of Fonda, N. Y. They have two sons- Charles, shop time-keeper, and Henry, machinist,- both employed in these shops.

Shop-Clerks .- James M. Ward, 1849-51; John J. Ward, 1851-52; Theodore Springsteen, Sr., 1852 to the present time.

Theodore Springsteen was born and educated in New York City. After leaving school he was em- ployed in a dry-goods store in New York until 1851, when he was appointed assistant shop-clerk for the shops at this place. In 1853 he was made a shop- clerk, and thus for the long term of thirty-five years he has most acceptably filled this important office. At the beginning he was assisted by Philip Brady-who still resides here-as time-keeper .. Now there are associated with him the following-named persons : Theodore Springsteen, Jr., assistant shop-clerk ; Tabor A. Hayward, engineers' and firemen's time-keeper ; Charles Blackburn, shop time-keeper; Frank Wein- man, clerk ; and a telegraph operator. He and his wife united with the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1855, when the society in this place was in its infancy, but some time ago united with the Presbyterians. Their other children are John, a pattern-maker, and William, a machinist, employed here, and their daughter at home.

General Foremen .- The following is the list in the order of their suecession : Charles Williams, Stephen Stinnard, Austin King, William Stamp, Robert Wal- lace, Thomas West, C. O. Vedder, John Hawthorne, Samuel Higgins, J. H. Moore. The department fore- men at the present time are O. H. Simmons, Thomas J. Hassett, Washington Shaeff, J. G. Espenlaub, R. J. McCarthy, William Hunt, S. L. French, Daniel White, Geo. H. Leal, O. D. Falkenbury, W. J. Wal- lace, B. C. Stoddard, M. H. Pope, A. T. Back, Isaae Bond, C. P. Weiss, Wm. Stamp, H. Fordyee, W. W. H. Robinson, J. H. Findon,

Superintendents of Motive-Power .- In 1872 the office of the superintendent was removed from New York to this place. Howard Frye then held the office. In 1874 he was succeeded by F. K. Hain, who held the office two years, when F. M. Wilder was appointed to the position. After having been superintendent for ten years Mr. Wilder resigned and R. M. Soule was appointed his successor. Upon coming into office, in

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1886, Mr. Soule found it would be more convenient were the offices located at Buffalo, N. Y .; therefore they were removed to that place. The removal from Susquehanna not only caused the departure of the superintendent, but took from our community about twenty gentlemen-a majority having families-em- ployed as accountants and book-keepers.

The Railroad Station buildings are large, fine brick structures. The freight-house is one hundred and fifty by thirty-six feet. The passenger depot, about three hundred feet long and thirty-six feet wide, is well appointed for the purpose, having waiting-rooms, ticket office, transportation office, telegraph office, etc., together with an excellent hotel conducted by C. A. Miller, Esq. In 1850 there were two through trains for passengers each way daily, two local trains, one coal train and one freight train. The capacity of freight cars at that time was about ten tons, while a very large proportion of the cars now used have a capacity of twenty-five tons. Now there pass through this place daily ten through trains for passengers each way and nine local trains, and about twenty-five freight trains each way. The number of freight cars reported at this office as passing this station during the month just closed (March, 1887) was thirty-eight thousand one hundred and fifty-three.

A table of freight tariffs for 1854, now hanging on the wall in the freight office, shows that for a stock car from Dunkirk to New York one hundred dollars was charged. While the stock cars now have double the capacity of those of 1854, yet from Buffalo to New York but thirty-five dollars is the tariff, and this is a fair comparison respecting all other classes of freight. To do the work performed at this station by clerks in the transportation office and freight office and on the yard as switchmen and switch-tenders, etc., seventy-two men are employed. The following, in the order of their succession, have been station-agents at Susquehanna : James Ward, Mr. Merrill, Mr. Sheafe, Samuel Gibson, J. T. Cameron, 1857-73 ; Ira A. Post, 1873-83; Clark Evans, 1883-86; and G. W. Conklin from 1886 to the present time. Ira A. Post has been in the service of the railroad company a long time. In 1848 he engaged in railroad business as a contractor, taking a number of contracts with the "Erie" while this road was being built. In 1851 he commenced running trains on the road as conductor. He followed this business nearly all of the time from 1851 to 1873, when he came to Susquehanna as station agent, which position he now fills.

The Telegraph Office .- Thomas E. Walsh, the pres- ent manager, entered this office when a young man, in 1865, as a messenger, and after learning the busi- ness he was promoted step by step, until 1874, when he was appointed manager, since which time he has filled this very important and responsible office and discharged its duties most acceptably. He has six persons employed in the office under his supervision.

Two packages of moncy sent by the United States

Express Company have been stolen at Susquehanna. One package of thirty thousand dollars was taken from the company's safe on October 13, 1871, and no clue to the thieves was ever found. Another pack- age, of forty thousand dollars, was taken in June, 1883. Pinkerton's detectives investigated the latter case, and arrested George H. Proctor, an employee of the company, for the crime, who confessed his guilt, revealing the names of some of his accomplices, and was sent to the Eastern Penitentiary for eight years, in 1885.

LIBRARY ASSOCIATION .- In 1848, when the rail- road company was making preparations to erect the shops and station buildings, a boarding-house was erected, which, thereafter, became the centre of so much interest, that a brief description of it and the purposes for which it was used will doubtless gratify the reader. This building-main part, forty-five by forty-five; wing thirty by fifty; two stories-stood about where the large smoke-stack is now. The whole of it was used a few years for a boarding-house, but about 1858 Mr. Gregg asked the company's per- mission to allow him to use a part of it for a circulat- ing library. The company cheerfully granted his re- quest, with assurances that it would also do whatever was reasonable to further his project. Hence he in- vited Messrs. Robert Wallace, Theodore Springsteen, Sr., Samuel Falkenbury, John T. Bourne and Wm. R. Greeley, to meet with him, whereupon an association was formed, entitled "The Young Men's Literary Association," and measures were taken to carry out the project. A commodious and pleasant reading- room and library was arranged. Committees were appointed, and succeeded in collecting about thirty volumes, and money to purchase four hundred vol- umes more; and February 5, 1859, the library was opened for the distribution of books. In 1866, the new shops and offices being completed, and suitable rooms, adjacent to the master mechanic's office having been provided by the railroad company, the library was removed to the place that it now occupies. At the same time, in the upper part of the new building, a large hall was neatly fitted up, called Mechanics' Hall, and the use of this was also given to the asso- ciation. In 1866 the railroad company appropriated three hundred and fifty dollars, and in 1869 one hun- dred dollars, more to enlarge the library ; and these donations from the company, together with funds raised by the citizens of the place, enabled the asso- ciation to purchase a large number of books, so that at the present time the catalogue includes over three thousand volumes of miscellaneous works. Under the auspices of the association, courses of lectures were held, in which some of the most eminent men of the country appeared. Here were also given con- certs, entertainments, festivals, etc., making them places of very frequent and pleasant resort. The first president of the association was M. H. C. Vail, M.D. The present officers are V. Blackburn, president; John

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HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

Graham, vice-president; Martha Hayward, secretary ; O. H. Simmons, treasurer ; Mary A. Nicol, librarian.

SUSQUEHANNA MUTUAL BENEFIT ASSOCIATION .- In pursuance of suggestions made by Mr. J. B. Gregg, in July, 1869, this association, commonly known as the "Shop Society," was organized. The objects of the organization were to provide weekly benefits for such of its members as should be ill or otherwise disabled, and on the death of any of its members to pay to the surviving widow or orphans such a sum as might be raised by an assessment of one dollar each on the membership. Each member pays twenty-five cents monthly dues. The association has a membership of three hundred and forty-five, and about fourteen hundred dollars in the general fund. Since its organization it has paid out, in bene- fits and expenses, about twenty-five thousand dollars. The present officers are E. W. Jackson, president ; F. Weinman, vice-president; T. Springsteen, Jr., secretary ; G. H. Leal, treasurer ; and Dr. S. S. Sim- mons, T. Taylor, Sr., and A. T. Back, trustees.

THE STRIKE OF 1874 .- While Mr. Frye was super- intendent of motive-power, a number of men not residents of Susquehanna, were employed. Some of them, however, after securing employment, brought their families here. The railroad company, laboring under financial embarrassments somewhat serious, was unable to make the monthly payments as promptly as many of the men desired. Those to whom we first alluded were especially clamorous because of the company's delay, whereupon 'a com- mittee composed of employees was appointed to con- fer with the superintendent, respecting the matter. The committee asked that the payments should be made not later than the 15th of each month. After some consultation the time was extended to the 25th of each month, and the company gave its assent. But for some reason, delay in making the monthly payments was not avoided ; hence agitation ensued until a large number were incited to revolt. Then the machinery in the shops was stopped, and the running of trains was not allowed, except those carrying the mails. No locomotives were permitted to leave the round-house; and as trains came into the station, the locomotives were taken off and run upon the switches. Mr. Helme, the sheriff of the county, was unable to restore order, so the Governor of the State was applied to for assistance. General Os- borne's division, including the Ninth Regiment, and a company of artillery from Wilkes-Barre, the First Regiment from Philadelphia, and the Telford Guards of Susquehanna were ordered to take possession of the railroad company's property, and restore order. The order was soon obeycd, and the officers of the railroad company were once more in peaceable possession of the shops. Then the employees were all paid off, and, gradually, nearly all of the men were taken back into the service of the company ;

yet, those who were the leaders in the strike were never again given employment.

THE TELFORD GUARDS .-- An independent com- pany of State militia was organized at Susquehanna, by Captain James Smith, in 1872, consisted of sixty- five men, called the Telford Zouaves, with James Smith, captain ; R. H. Hall, first lieutenant; and Jacob Malpass, second lieutenant ; all commissioned by Gover- nor Geary. In 1876 the company was brought under the jurisdiction of the National Guards' system ; hence the title was changed as above indicated; and in 1878, under a re-organization of the military system of the State, the company lost its individuality, and was joined to the Thirteenth Regiment, as Company G, of the National Guards of Pennsylvania, with its headquarters at Scranton. Many of the men com- posing the company were in the employ of the rail- road corporation, and as the Guards were quite fre- quently called into service by the Governor of the State, to the inconvenience of the railroad company, as well as of the men, in 1879 it disbanded. At the time of the re-organization, when the Guards were joined to the Thirteenth Regiment, Captain Smith was re-commissioned, S. L. French was commissioned first lieutenant, and Hon. Geo. Post, second lieutenant. Under order from State officials, the company was called into active service as follows : In 1874, at Susquehanna, on the occasion of the strike of the railroad em- ployees ; in 1875, at Hazelton, Buck Mountain and Wilkes-Barre, where the men were under arms thirty- seven days ; in 1876, at the Centennial Exposition, in Philadelphia ; in 1877, at Wilkes-Barre, two weeks ; in 1879, at Harrisburg, to attend the inauguration of Governor Hoyt.

Colonel W. H. Telford was born in Ireland in 1840, and canie to America in 1852, locating at Nor- wich, N. Y., where he received an academical educa- tion. In 1859 he went to Towanda, Pa., to engage in the marble business, and during 1861 organized the Goodrich Guards of that place. He enlisted a com- pany in Towanda, known as Company G, of the Fiftieth Regiment of Pennsylvania Volunteers, and while captain of the company he also acted as major of the regiment until February 8, 1865, when he was commissioned lieutenant-colonel, and May 15, 1865, he was made colonel. He was engaged in thirty-two important battles. He was taken prisoner at Spottsyl- vania Court-House in May, 1864, and remained a prisoner of war eight months. After making his es- cape three times, only to be recaptured again, the fourth attempt, from Columbia, S. C., proved successful. He reported to General Sherman at Savannah, where he met army officers, to whom he gave valuable informa- tion respecting the enemy's lines and fortifications. Before it was known that he had made his escape, his wife, whom he married a few months before he enlisted, had effected an exchange for him. With re- markable persistency she pursued her object until she

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gained an interview with President Lincoln and ef- fected her purpose. After the war he returned to Bradford County, and soon thereafter came to Sus- quehanua, where he has since resided. Telford Guards were so named in his honor.

SCHOOLS .- The first school-house at this place was a small building called the Pine-tree School-house, erected in 1850, and located just back of the present site of the Methodist Church, on what is now called Prospect Street. Afterwards this building was moved down the hill to the lot on the corner of Washington and Second Streets, where Mrs. Morgan now resides.

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Centennial history of Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania, Part 116

Author: Stocker, Rhamanthus Menville, 1848- Publication date: 1887 Publisher: Philadelphia, Pa. : R. T. Peck Number of Pages: 1318

Author: Stocker, Rhamanthus Menville, 1848-
Publication date: 1887
Publisher: Philadelphia, Pa. : R. T. Peck
Number of Pages: 1318