Centennial history of Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania, Part 86

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

USA > Pennsylvania > Susquehanna County > Centennial history of Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania > Part 86

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Among other later settlers who may be noted, on account of their nationality, were two Ger- man brothers, Jacob and Michael Andree, who had come to assist in boring for salt, near Middletown Centre, in 1829. After work was

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HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

suspended Jacob remained a few years, but Michael married and cleared up a farm about two miles west of the Centre, remaining there until his death.

During the third decade of the century a new and important element was introduced in Mid- dletown in the persons of The Welsh Settlers. Their history and character has been so well portrayed by Miss Blackman, that her account is here given entire :

" June, 1825, marks the arrival of David Thomas, the first Welshman, and family in Middletown, as also the first in the county. He was smitten down by a sunstroke six weeks after he arrived, and before he had completed his house. His was the third family in 'the Welsh settlement,' which has always been mostly over the line in Bradford County; so the widow and her six children had sympathy and care from those of their own tongue. David Thomas, Jr., now on the old place, was then but seventeen ; and his brother, the present Rev. Thomas Thomas, was but twelve years of age. Joseph (or David) Jenkins, the first Welshman of the settlement, came May, 1824, to the Bradford side; but, several years later, he came into Middletown, and remained some years ; then re- turned to Le Raysville, where he died. Edward Jones, Sr., the second person in the order of settlement came in the fall of 1824, and located just over the line. He had a brother, Thomas Jones, first. Thomas Jones, second, is a son of Edward, and is on the Sus- quehanna County side, as is also his brother James, Messrs. Jenkins and Jones were induced to look at land in this vicinity by a Welshman in Philadelphia (Simmons), who was a friend of Thomas Mitchell, the land-owner. The tract was then a wilderness, lying principally upon the hills. David Thomas landed at New York, went to Philadelphia, where he also fell in with Simmons, who recommended this locality. It is but three miles from Le Raysville. At that time Esquire Seymour had a small store at that point, and accommodated the incomers by selling them axes and a few common articles of daily use. To examine a more extended assortment, though sufficiently limited, the daughter of the pioneer would walk seven miles by a path through the woods to Friendsville, after the morning's work ; would do her shopping and visit, then walk back, and finish the evening's work.

"Samuel Davis joined the settlement in 1831, and is now living with his son, John S., on a high hill this side of the county line. This year the first Welsh church and school-house were erected on the opposite side of the line, on the hill facing the creek. Daniel D. Jones was the founder of the church, and its pastor nineteen years. He died in 1849, the year after the present edifice was built.

"Rev. Thomas Thomas, pastor of the Rushville and

Stevensville Churches, formerly preached in the Welsh settlement. His brother, Griffith, after making an improvement on the farm now occupied by J. D. Thomas, removed into Bradford County.

"The Welsh families were mostly from Cardigan- shire and Glamorganshire-the latter in the southern part, and the former about the centre of Wales. They had little sympathy with monarchical institutions, and one motive which induced them to leave the mother-country was to rid themselves of the obnox- ious tax for the support of the established church of England. This amounted to one-tenth of their in- come; and, in addition, as all are Presbyterian or Con- gregational in sentiment, they had to support their own churches. There was never a Roman Catholic among them. A majority of all the community are members of the Protestant Church. A oneness of interest and feeling pervades the entire settlement. In all, it con- tains from forty-five to fifty families, only fifteen of which are in Susquehanna County ; these are Evan Evans and David Jones (son of John) in Apolacon ; Thomas Williams, Thomas Owens, John D. and David Thomas, and Samuel Davis, with his son, John S., on farms adjoining Bradford County ; next, east of these, are Thomas J. Jones, Samuel F. Williams, James Jones (son of Edwin), Thomas Thomas, Henry and David E. Davis, brothers and sons of Evan Davis (brother of Samuel), who died on the passage from Wales; and near the North Branch of Wyalusing are Thomas Jones, second, Jenkin Jones (with his son John), John M. Davis (son of David, now dead) and Roger Philips.

"They are principally farmers, though a few are mechanics, and all are readers. A large number are school-teachers-several being college graduates. First among the latter is Evan W. Evans, at present Professor of Mathematics in Cornell University. He is a son of Wm. Evans, whose residence is across the line of Bradford County ; while his daughter, the wife of Rev. Thomas Thomas, is near him on this side. We are told, that when Professor Evans was a lad, his thirst for knowledge was so great that his father de- termined to send him to Yale College. Whilst there, he was said to be the most retiring, diffident and in- dustrious young man in the college. He was chief of the editors of the Yale Literary Magazine, and graduated with special distinction in literature. His knowledge of geology was such, that in a sojourn in Western Virginia a few years ago, he was induced to enter into some speculations in petroleum, and ac- quired a large fortune.

"He is the highest authority among the scholars of our country on the Celtic language and, literature, and has contributed articles to the journal of the American Philological Society on this subject. He was Professor of Mathematics in Marietta College, Ohio, but when the faculty of Cornell University was organized, he was offered the distinguished position he now fills."

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" A characteristic of Welsh names is that the omission of the final s changes a surname into a given name; thus, Evan Evans, Jenkin Jen- kins, Griffith Griffiths, etc., are common in- stances of alliteration among them. Politically, the Welsh are Republicans. On this side of the church and creek, which here crosses the county line, the settlement has recently been ac- commodated by the establishment of Neath post-office, Bradford County. The first inter- ment in the burying-ground was that of a child of David Thomas; its grandfather, John Howell, was the first adult buried here in 1834. The grave of one Union soldier is found even in this small inclosure-that of Theron H. Jones, who died in the service. Alas ! that the graves of others of Middletown, whose lives were sacrificed, should be remote and un known."

The Irish sustain a relation to the settlement of the township even more important than the Welsh. It is owing to their energy and thrift that many parts of Middletown have been re- deemed from a primeval condition and changed into fruitful farms. Coming with little or no means, unaccustomed as some of them were to agricultural pursuits, and disappointed in losing their regular occupations on public works, they had but few expectations, which their industry and frugality could not realize, and after having accepted the conditions of a pioneer's life, and learned how to adapt the means to the end, whereby they could obtain homes of their own, they soon became a most desirable class of citizens-cheerful, contented and progressive. Their success encouraged others to come, and, in the course of years this people demanded not only the wilderness for their homes, but purchased some of the choicest improvements in the township, and from being a small settle- ment, in the eastern part, are now found in all sections of Middletown. In their first efforts to secure honies they were much encouraged by Edward White, and his principal, Dr. R. H. Rose, who owned large tracts of land in this section. The former, as agent, lived in the northeastern part of the township, where he carried on a farm himself, and he exerted his influence to attract his countrymen to this place.

Dr. Rose gave them most favorable terms, be- sides often supplying stock for their farms and food until a crop could be grown ; nor was he ex- tortionate in his demands upon them. The older settlers on his lands always remembered his uniform kindness in this respect. According to their statement, " he never pushed a man for pay." The Irish are the opposite of the Welsh in politics and religion, nearly all being Roman Catholics. Their prosperity has made it pos- sible to create and maintain several parishes in the northwestern part of the county, each sup- plied with several churches. They have no house of worship in Middletown, but a chapel has been erected at Bixby's Pond, just across the line, in Rush, which is connected with the Friendsville parish.

The first Irish settlers, James Ferris and Philip Finnelly, came in 1829. The following year came Patrick Magee, Walter O'Flanlin, John Murphy, Thomas Colford and Bernard Keenan. The latter had been a mason on canal locks, but settled on a tract of land in the Wilson neighborhood, which he cleared up. This is now the farm of John O'Donnell. Later he bought lands of Samuel Spafford and the Elijah Baxter place, and an improved tract from Dr. Rose, cultivating the whole as one farm. This is now occupied by one of his sons, Peter. Another son, James, lives on an ad- , joining farm, which had once been occupied by Edward White and John Burke. On the for- mer place Mrs. Keenan is still living, at the age of eighty-two years.

Many of the Irish settled on the Wolf road, the highway north and south on the ridge of land near the Forest Lake line. This is so called because after the road was staked ont and partially cleared, the wolves used it as a path, and frequently traveled it in large packs. Even after the country was settled, an occasional wolf might be seen traveling to his former haunts. Herc were the Michael Cunningham and Joseph Tierney improvements, and later those of John Fitzgerald. In other parts of the township were, at an earlier day, Dennis McMahan, John Dougherty, Wm. Fennell, Edward Grimes, Michael Whalen, James Melhuish and Michael Madden. These began clearing up farms, some

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HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

changing their location and clearing up several farms in their life-time. Among those who came in 1840 were James Cooney, Michael Connaughton, Hugh McDonald, Daniel Farrell, Dennis Lane, Charles Heary, William Monni- han, Edward Reilley and James Quigley.

In 1841 James Curley settled in the forest, on the road from the North Branch to the Wolf road, which was at that time unbroken, and here he and his five sons each cleared up farms. One of these sons was thoroughly ed- ucated in Ireland, and taught the first school in that neighborhood. John Conboy came to the farm begun by J. Quigley ; John Flynn to the John Dougherty farm, where, later, lived his son, James Flynn ; John Horrigan and Patrick Smith to the North Branch ; Patrick Mc- Donough on a place opposite Hugh McDonald; and Thomas Luly was first on the Farrell Mill- mon place. Later Irish settlers were the Mo- rans, Degnans, Brennans, Learys, Keoghs, Mc- Cormicks and Gillans, all before 1850. A son of Edward Gillan became noted as a teacher in the county, and others of the Irish settlers gave their children the benefit of a higher education at St. Joseph College.

The general condition of the settlements in the township can be seen in the following list of taxables in 1838, after Forest Lake had been set off :

Michael Andree, John Burke, Asa Bixby, Cyrus Babcock, Jesse Birch- ard, John S. Birchard, Jesse T. Birchard, Jabez A. Birchard, George Birchard, James M. Bragg, James B. Ball, John Bradshaw, Robert Ber- beck, Ira Brister, John Bailey, Lewis Bailey, Abel H. Bailey, John Bennett, Linus Brister, Rial Brister, John Buxton, Eliab Buxton, John Buxton, Jr., Elijah Baxter, Dauiel Baxter, James Brink, Miles Baldwin, Peleg Baldwin, Richard Bixby, Sarah Coleman, Amos Coleman, Charles S. Campbell, Sherman Canfield, Andrew Camp, Jr., Jeremiah Camp, Amos Camp, Andrew Camp, Isaac Camp, Levi Camp, Albert Camp, Nel- son Camp, Amos Chapman, Phoebe Coggshall, S. B. Coggshall, Calvin D. Cobb, Thomas Colford, Michael Costigan, Ira Deuel, Samuel Davis, Stephen H. Darrow, Amos Darrow, Royal P. Darrow, John Dougherty, E. L. De Wolf, Anson Elsworth, Jonathan Elsworth, Hezekiah Esmund, James Ferry, William Farrell, Corentine Galutia, B. F. Glidden, Michael Graham, Joshua Gurney, William Grady. Servin J. Gage, Abraliam Hol- lis, William G. Handrick, William B. Handrick, Henry F. Handrick, John Holeman, John Holeman, Jr., John Hale, Gardner Hagar, Jonas Hagar, Joseph Hyde, Charles R. Hoadley, Samuel Horton, Thomas Jones, Addison Ketchem, Malatiah Kinsman, Bernard Keenan, Clinton Kenny, James Lewis, Calvin Leet, James Miles, John Melhuish James MacCarty, John McGovern, Michael Madden, Russell Pratt, Henry M. Pierce, Philip Peat, Samuel Richards, Otis Ross, Joseph Ross, Orin Ross, David Robbe, Samuel Spafferd, Silas Spafferd, Milton R. Spafferd, Sam- uel H. Spafferd, Judson Stone, Garrad Stone. Almira Stone, Peter San- derson. David Shelden, Daniel Shelden, Thomas Thomas, David Thomas, Samuel Taggart, Levi C. Tupper, Hial Tupper, Caleb True, Charles Wells, Samuel Wilson, Roswell Wilson, Rebecca White.

village within its bounds, and but few business interests, except those intimately connected with agricultural pursuits. The water-power was used, soon after the settlements were begun, to operate saw-mills, Josiah Grant having one in 1801. The first grist-mill was on the outlet of Wyalusing Lake, at what is now called Pratt- ville, and Henry Gaylord was the miller. The mill was small, having but one run of stones, and part of the building was used to house the family of the miller. Linus Brister became the owner of the mill and operated it in 1815. The water privilege was sold and Russell Pratt put up a factory for making chairs and other furni- ture. Work of this nature is still carried on, in a small way, by George Hardy. E. Billings had a saw-mill lower down this stream, where is now a saw-mill operated by Henry Wilson.

On the North Branch Joseph Ross put up a saw-mill about 1809, and some years later put up a grist-mill at the other end of the dam, which had at first only one run of stones. Another was added and the mills were operated by Ross until 1843, when the property, includ- ing thirty acres of land, was sold to Otis J. Frost. The saw-mill having gone down, he built a new mill on its site and operated it some years; then the property had as subsequent owners, Norman Ross, Nathan J. Sherwood, Philo Sherwood and Charles Tripp. The pres- ent owner is L. A. Howard, who added steam- power and also operates a steam saw-mill, doing a good business.

In 1816 Andrew Canfield and his son, Amos, put up a saw-mill on what became known as the Stedwell place, which was not long con- tinued. On his farm Samuel Spafford had a saw-mill, and for a short period a feed-mill was also operated. Above the Centre, on the North Branch, Amos Canfield had a mill, on the Don- ley place, which did good service a few years; and on the Apolacon township line John Bar- num put up a mill, which was afterwards operated by Newell Barnum, but which is idle at present. In the western part of the township Eliab Buxton and others had small saw-mills, which, like most of the above, have disappeared.

SALT WELLS .- Along the North Branch were

BUSINESS INTERESTS .- Middletown has no |a number of deer-licks, which led the early settlers

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to believe that salt in paying quantities could be found. This belief was strengthened by the traditions current at that time that the Indians had been accustomed to procure their supply of salt from some spring along the creek. By many it was supposed that the principal spring was in the lower part of the township, and sub- sequent investigations gave color to this opinion, as may be learned from the pages of the Gleaner in 1815:

" Three persons had come to Middletown from the State of New York, and told Mr. Brister they had reason to believe there was a salt-spring on his farm, and if he would let them come in on equal shares with him they would endeavor to find it. " He agreed; and they dug in the place directed (by the Indians, who formerly lived there, it is supposed), and were so for- tunate as to hit upon the right spot. On digging through three feet they came to a well five or six feet deep, laid up with logs and covered. by a large flat stone. It had evidently been worked by the abo- rigines."

It does not appear that any benefits were de- rived from this discovery, and the spring appears to have been forgotten until boring for salt was again begun farther up the creek. The effort there caused the matter to be agitated among the neighbors, and it was decided to form a stock company to prosecute the search for salt in the Brister neighborhood. For this purpose an act was passed in 1831 by the Legislature to authorize the formation of the "Wyalusing Salt Manufacturing Company." Salmon Bos- worth, Ira Brister, Jabez Hyde, Jr., Daniel Ross and Dimon Boswick were named as com- missioners, and in October, 1831, they gave notice that the company would elect its officers. Ira Brister was chosen president and Norman Ross was selected as a proper person to super- intend the sinking of a shaft. Instead of boring near the spring above mentioned, operations were begun on the Andrew Canfield farm, as the nature of the country in that locality was deemed more favorable for such work. A depth of nearly five hundred feet was reached, but no brine of any great strength was found, and work was discontinued under such discouraging circumstances that " the drill was left sticking in the well." At this time the people along the creek were greatly excited, and visions of rapidly-

accumulated wealth from that source passed away, not again to appear.

But, prior to this action, digging operations had been carried on above Middletown Centre, on the present Cahill farm. Here were large deer-licks and unmistakable signs of strong brine. The neighbors along the creek, at dif- ferent periods, had dug wells near the creek, but were always obliged to stop on reaching a strata of quicksand, which closed in on their work. In 1825 Dr. R. H. Rose and Samuel Milligan determined to sink a test well, and succeeded in forcing a tube through the sand to the solid rock, twenty-six feet below the surface, when it was comparatively easy to drill. A depth of more than four hundred feet was reached, but the prospects not being sufficient to encourage further work, operations were sus- pended for several years. In 1828-29 work was resumed under the direction of the Andrees, who were skilled in this business and who had been brought here by Milligan and Rose for this purpose. The shaft was sunk from fifty to a hundred feet deeper, when a vein of strong brine was struck. Enough of the water was evapo- rated to show that it yielded salt at the rate of one bushel to every fifty gallons of water, and at different times about twenty bushels of salt were made. After an interval of a few years the evaporation was carried on more extensively by John Darrow and David Green, who had nine patent kettles, and made enough salt to supply the country for many miles around.

At the end of two years they were obliged to give up this work, not having sufficient patron- age to pay them to continue. Many who had used the salt believed that it was too impure to be wholesome, and others claimed that it con- tained a poisonous ingredient which fatally affected some animals, especially dogs and cats.

Nothing more was now done until the oil excitement of 1865 again directed attention to this locality, when a new well was sunk, about four rods from the old one, which had become partly filled up. This is known as the Coryell well and was drilled to the depth of a little more than six hundred feet. A small engine only being used, the power was insufficient to go to a greater depth ; nor were the signs of oil strong

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HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

enough to warrant further work, though there was gas enough to burn hours at a time. The well was tubed and the water having strong saline properties, several kettles were procured and a limited quantity of salt was made. Un- like that of the old well, it was remarkable for its fineness and purity, comparing with the best salt made at Syracuse. Owing to the situation of the well, it was not deemed a paying enter- prise to make salt at this point, and the well has since been idle.

PRATTVILLE is a small hamlet in the south- western part of the township, named for the Pratt family, who had shops at this place. For a short time a store was also here kept by E. L. De Wolf, who was returned as an attorney and merchant in the tax-list of 1838. A few me- chanie shops are still carried on. East from this place, on the main road, along the North Branch Creek, the North Branch post-office was established July 9, 1878, with E. A. Jenner as postmaster. He was succeeded in 1886 by Clark W. Coleman, who keeps it at the house of Alonzo Coleman.

MIDDLETOWN CENTRE is the name applied to the hamlet at the Howard (Ross) Mills. The first merchandising at this place was done at the house of Otis Ross, in 1874, by the Patrons of Husbandry. Later, Luther A. Howard built a hall near his mill, in which this trade was continued a short time. Here the first regular store was opened by Charles Stevens, who traded a few years. Since March, 1884, Joseph P. Curley has sold goods in a building erected by him for this purpose, and has kept the Mid- dletown Centre post-office since 1885. This office was established February 13, 1853, with Perrin S. Ross as postmaster. In August, 1855, it was discontinued, but was re-established in 1860, with Mary A. Ross as postmistress, who served in this capacity until 1881. J. P. Donley was the next postmaster and was succeeded by J. P. Curley.

Jackson Valley post-office was established at the house of Charles Campbell, August 19, 1843, and kept there until 1851. It was then moved to the farm below, and Frederick Tag- gart was the postmaster. Charles Campbell returned to the Valley and opened a store in

1854, when the office was removed to his place of business, where he traded three years. He then sold out to Joseph Ross, and he to Samuel Means. The last merchants at this place were John Baldwin and Spencer Stevens. John T. Buxton has been the postmaster since 1855, and also carries on the vehicle and harness business. A tri-weekly mail from Le Raysville is sup- plied. In the southeastern part of the town- ship, on the Wolf road, Patrick White has been merchandising in a small way a number of years, this being the only interest besides farms in that locality.

THE RELIGIOUS INTERESTS of the township are to a large extent connected with those of Friendsville, and other organizations outside of its bounds. Near the Howard mill, at Mid- dletown Centre, a building was put up in early times by the citizens of this part of the town- ship for school and church purposes, in which meetings were quite regularly held by the Methodists, and that body had a promising membership. Among those who adhered to that faith, in early days, were Riel Brister, An- drew Canfield and wife, Joseph and Polly Ross, Nathaniel Billings, Silas Beardslee and wife, William Beardslee, Samuel Wilson and wife, Mrs. Jonathan Ellsworth, Russell Pratt, and children of Andrew Canfield's family. Some of the Quarterly Meetings were held at the house of Joseph Ross, and all the appointments were in connection with other charges. In the course of years time wrought great changes in the central part of the township, leaving but a few Methodists resident there, so that meetings were not well maintained. It was then deemed ad- visable to transfer the interest to another part of the township, and a meeting-house was built on the county line, near Prattville, where meet- ings are now held.

In Jackson Valley the Wesleyan Methodists erected a small meeting-house, about ten years ago, in which services are statedly held.

The first burial-ground in the township was opened on the North Branch, on the farm of Andrew Canfield. It contains some head- stones as old as 1804, and one of the first interred there was a member of the Joseph Ross family. In more recent years the grounds were

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enlarged, about one-half an acre being now in- cluded, which is inclosed with a substantial stone-wall. The title to the property was vested in John Barnum, Otis Ross, Jeremiah Canfield and their successors. The cemetery contains many graves and is moderately well kept.

Near Prattville, but within the bounds of Middletown township, a burial-ground has been opened, in which a number of interments liave been made, chiefly by people residing in that part of the township.

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Centennial history of Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania, Part 86

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