USA > Pennsylvania > Montour County > Danville > Danville, Montour County, Pennsylvania : a collection of historical and biographical sketches > Part 22
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HISTORY OF DANVILLE.
remain in the uninjured part of the Hospital, and another portion is in the Hospital at Warren.
The lower portion or Western extension of Danville, is facetiously called " Swampoodle." Why it is thus designated is a mystery as the place is innocent of any swamp and is one of the most delight- ful locations in the town ; affording a charming view of the river, South Danville, Riverside, the railroads on either side of the Susque- hanna, the canal, Montour Ridge and the cultivated grounds between the river and Mahoning creek. It is a pleasant place and should be known as West Danville or West End.
Among the older inhabitants of this place was John Faust. He bought a tract of land on the Eastern border of Danville, being a part of Gen. Daniel Montgomery's tract, and a portion of which is included in the borough. Mr. Faust married a Miss Bickley of Reading, and first built a small house and a distillery. He after- wards built the large brick house that stands near the upper end of Market street. He died at a good old age some years ago, and many of his descendants still remain in Danville.
Dan Cameron, a somewhat eccentric, old time resident of Dan - ville, was a great pedestrian and if living now would doubtless strip the belt from some of the noted walkists of the present day. Dan Cameron walked from Harrisburg to Danville in a day and considered it a small achievement.
Samuel Gulick owned a farm in the eastern part of Danville ; which had been a portion of the Daniel Montgomery tract and adjoining the farm of John Faust. A large part of this farm with a portion of the Faust farm, now constitutes what is known as " Gulick's addition to the borough of Danville." Two of his sons, John F. and Charles still reside on the place, Samuel having bought a farm adjoining Riv- erside, now resides over the river. Samuel Gulick, Sr., died a few years ago, leaving a handsome property, as well as the record of an honest life, as the heritage of his children.
A beautiful memorial window, in memory of J. D. Gosh, M. D., deceased, has been placed in Trinity Lutheran church by his mother.
Mr. Vanann is master mechanic and general superintendent of the machine shops at the Montour Iron and Steel Works. Mr. Leighow is millwright and has been for years past. E. C. Voris and P. J. Adams have been the longest continuous attachees of these
251
PROGRESSING.
works, extending over a period of nearly forty years. Frank Nay- lor was long the roll-turner. He died in March, 1881. He was an excellent mechanic and a good man in every sense of the word. E. O. Ridgway is boss roller. His experience here, in Ohio, Colorado and San Francisco has made him master of the iron business. James A. Gibson is also a roller worthy of note. J. R. Philips at the head of the heating department is the right man in the right place. He is also a justice of the peace and an active citizen. John R. Lun- ger takes his place at night and John Marks that of Ridgway. They both stand deservedly high. In a word these works, from Mr. Howe, the general manager, to the least in authority, are conducted by an excellent corps of superintendents, clerks and attachees.
M. D. Lafayette Sechler, grandson of John Sechler, one of the old settlers of Danville, still resides in the old homestead within the borough limits. There he was born about the time of Gen. Lafay- ette's triumphal visit to America and for him he was named. There . he has always lived and in our local affairs contributed a full share as an officer and as a citizen.
They have torn down the Episcopal church built in 1828, prepara- tory to the erection of a more elegant structure. For this purpose P. Baldy, Sr., left in his last will the sum of fifty thousand dollars. The new church is designed to be a magnificent building.
Progressing.
It is certainly very cheering to see our goodly town waking up and shaking off the dust of inaction and the rust of fogyism. It is seemingly just realizing the importance of its manifold local advant- ages. And though respectable fossils may be unwillingly disturbed ; yet the reward will come alike to all. On every hand, and in a mul- titude of enterprises, both old and new, we see the evidences of new life and spirit among our people. We see it in the growth of busi- ness establishments-in the enlargement of the old and the building of the new. There seems to be a wholesome energy and vigor among our people unknown before, save by a few. But if our town has not been quite as rapid in its advancement as some others, it has been more substantial. True its valuable resources were for years meas- urably unimproved, but it was for want of public spirit, and not for want of natural advantages.
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HISTORY OF DANVILLE.
The day is dawning upon us, when our young men need not seek other localities to find the aids that Danville has failed to afford. We have, it is true, a number of young men of our place who are now out in the world, manfully fighting the battles of life, and who occupy an honorable position in communities they have chosen, but in order to move " upward and onward," we can not deny they were compelled to leave the old home. Heretofore, a young man reared in Danville, unless specially favored, was forced to join his fortune with those who were further advanced. Now, with a few of the older citizens they are manifesting themselves in our midst. They seem to see the superior advantages of building up and improving their own locality. Their influence is seen and felt in every public enterprise springing up around us, and in every movement that tends towards our local prosperity. We see it in our manufactories and increased facilities of transportation. We see it in our prosperous railroads- in the building up of Riverside and South Danville-in the Opera House, and in the elegant residences that begin to adorn our streets. We see it in our contemplated public improvements, and in the in- dividual enterprise manifested on every hand. Danville is evidently waking up to her true interests and to her importance as one of the great business centers of the State. And who will say that the time may not come when our vast deposits of iron, coal and limestone, with the increasing energy of our people, will make Danville all it ought to be in view of its natural advantages.
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To the enterprising capitalist, the skilled mechanic and the man of enterprise in any department of labor adapted to our place, there is no better and no richer field than that which Danville affords at the present time. It presents superior advantages to the western towns of which we hear so much-towns that sometimes grow up as if by magic, and crumble away for want of a solid basis. Here we have the material and the means of transportation at hand to every market in the country ; and as our mineral resources are inexhaust- ible, our progress will be permanent and substantial.
The Maus Family.
Philip Maus a native of Prussia, was born in 1731. He came to Philadelphia in 1741, when only ten years of age. In 1750 he left school and was apprenticed to a stocking weaver. In due course of
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253
CASTE.
time he entered business on his own account and was married, when about twenty-five years of age to Frances Heap. Being prosperous in business he became wealthy ; but expended nearly all his wealth in the cause of the country during the Revolutionary war. He had purchased some lands on the Mahoning creek adjoining Montgomery's purchase, and came to this place in 1772. Gen. William Montgomery, his brother Daniel and four others were then the only settlers in what is now Danville. After the Indian troubles, Mr. Maus and his fam- ily moved to Mahoning. He was one of Nature's noblemen, and when provision failed in the infant settlement, Philip Maus bought many barrels of flour and also 200 bushels of wheat, had it hauled to this place and distributed among the destitute. In 1800 he built the stone mill at Mausdale, which is now successfully managed by his great-grandson P. E. Maus. After a long and useful life, Philip Maus, the old pioneer, died April 27, 1815. He was succeeded by his son Joseph who also died at a ripe old age, a few years ago. Philip F. Maus his son, now resides in the old homestead, and is bordering on threescore and ten. Charles, Jackson and David Maus, a branch of the old stock, are now among the active and influential men of the county. I close this brief note with the remark that the Maus family has done much for this place and deserves honorable mention among the pioneers of the past and the worthy men of the present.
Caste.
Generally speaking, the people of Danville in their social aspect are like those of other manufacturing towns of Pennsylvania. Like others, they manifest a variety of degrees in the scale. This is a necessary result of intellectual culture and of moral practice, and is right and proper. Social distinctions*are an absolute condition of civilized society, advanced beyond its pioneer state. But, unfortu- nately, there is another rule of caste no less imperious that is creep- ing into the social fabric of Danville. This is a law founded on false and pernicious principles, naturally growing out of the weak- ness of human nature. Its influence is alike corrupting to all classes of society. It is the assumed superiority founded on wealth or its seeming, or on the foolish pride of family. There are those whose ancestral blood has perhaps crept through intellectual imbeciles or
254
HISTORY OF DANVILLE.
moral delinquents ever since the flood, who arrogate to themselves an air of superiority and practice an exclusiveness, because they either acquired or inherited the title to a little more wealth than others who excel them in mental culture or in moral principles. And it is a remarkable fact, that in conceding this empty claim, the world pays but little regard to the means by which wealth is ac- quired. Some there are who obtained it through means that are universally condemned ; and yet the respect rendered to the posses- sion of wealth, and for its sake alone, is scarcely less general. How many there are, whose riches alone, give value to their opinions ? How many can you call to mind whose names have only a moneyed value and whose counsels have a metallic ring ? How many whose judgment is valued according to the houses, lands and bank stock they call their own ? How many who wield a controlling influence in the community, and whose wisdom would turn to foolishness in the crucible of poverty? Whilst there seems to be a natural inclina- tion to arrogance and presumption on the one hand, there is also unfortunately a natural tendency to play the sycophant on the other. Degenerated human nature, has never yet and never will abandon the worships of the Golden Calf, and by its practice, even in its most enlightened condition, still declares " These be thy gods, O Israel."
Distinctions in society, springing from this source, cannot fail to corrupt its subjects, to contract the mind, and to dwarf the better feelings of the heart. It requires no stretch of thought or profound judgment to recognize at a glance, those who have become enervated, vain and corrupted through this source. On the other hand the worthy poor are discouraged and are liable to estimate themselves as far below their proper worth. The weaker, or the more careless, seeing society thus constituted, accept the situation as " the course of human events" and plunge still further down the scale. Who knows how many have yielded to temptations on the ruinous concession of their own inferiority, and thus missed the mark of excellence to which they might have attained ? Forgetting that " The rank is but the guinea's stamp, the man's the gold for all that."
255
IRON ORES OF DANVILLE.
Iron Ores of Danville.
The following, in relation to the iron ores of Danville, is from Rogers' Geological Report, a work of the highest authority on the subject :
From the Narrows to the gap of Mahoning creek at Danville, the length of outcrop of the two ores on the south side of the mountain does not exceed about half a mile. That of the hard ore is consid- erably the longest, and as the iron sandstone containing it outcrops much higher on the ridge than the other ore, the quantity of this exposed above the water-level exceeds that of the latter many times. In this part of the ridge, the average length of the slope or breast of the iron sandstone ore, above the water-level alone, is probably more than 200 yards; that of the fossiliferous ore is materially less, while, for reasons already shown, the depth of breast of the soft and partially decomposed ore may not average more than 30 or 40 yards. The position of the hard ore, in the vicinity of the gorge of the Ma- honing, is shown in our transverse section of the ridge at that place. By inspecting the vertical section which I have introduced of the iron sandstone formation, analyzed in detail, the reader will perceive that while the red sandstone members include two or three excess- ively ponderous layers, rich enough in iron to be applicable as iron ores, the thickest of these-the only bed, indeed, which is of suffi- cient magnitude to be wrought at the present day-accompanies the lower bed of sandstone, and has dimensions varying from 14 to 18 inches. But there is another formation here developed, in which beds of iron ore are discoverable. This is the Surgent older or lower slate, this stratum possessing in Montour ridge a thickness of about 700 feet. Its ore has the form of a very ferruginous sand- stone in one or two thin and continuous layers, occupying a horizon, near the middle of the formation, between 350 and 400 feet below its superior limit. Scarcely any difference is perceptible either in aspect or composition between the ore now referred to and that of the iron sandstone. It is a sandstone with a large proportion of peroxide of iron diffused among the particles, and, like the other bed, includes numerous small flat fragments, or pebbles of greenish slate, which by their disintegration leave the surfaces of the blocks, wherever the weather has had access, pitted with little elongated
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256
HISTORY OF DANVILLE.
holes, forming one of the most distinctive features of these two ores. This ore-bed of the lower slate outcrops near the summit of the ridge on the east side of the Mahoning Gap at Danville, arching the anti- clinal axis at an elevation of about 300 feet above the bed of this transverse valley. Traced east and west from the Notch, the over- lying slate saddles it, and conceals it from view wherever the mount- ain is low and narrow, but wherever the anticlinal rises-or where ever, in other words, the wave in the strata increases in breadth and height-the ore no longer closes over the axis, but forms two sepa- rate lines of outcrop, one on each gentle declivity between the sum- mit and the shoulder, formed by the outcrop of the iron sandstone. In the vicinity of Danville, the thickness of this layer of ore is not such as to make it of much importance, so long as the thicker and therefore cheaper beds furnish an ample supply. Judging from the fragments at the point of outcrop, I infer its size to be between 6 and 8 inches. The facility and cost of mining it will of course de- pend upon several conditions connected with the dip and depth of covering, and will vary with each locality.
Our section of the strata at the Mahoning Gap represents the en- tire mass of the mountain as consisting there of the two Surgent slates and their included iron sandstone, while the calcareous or ore shales, with their fossiliferous ore, rest low at the north and south base. The upper beds of the Levant white sandstone have not been lifted to the level of the bed of the Notch, though their depth beneath it cannot be considerable. This proves a sinking of the axis from opposite the Narrows to this point; but when the ridge is ex- amined still further east, it becomes apparent that between the Ma- honing and Hemlock the anticlinal rises and swells again, causing the hard ore of the slate to diverge into two outcrops, and the belts of the iron sandstone to recede. About half way between those two streams is probably the neighborhood in which the section of the mountain has its greatest expansion, and the two belts of the iron sandstone are furthest asunder.
Let us now, before advancing any further east, attempt an esti- mate of the quantity of iron ore above the water level withina given length-say one mile of outcrop-in the vicinity of Danville.
I shall reject from my present calculation both the ore of the older slate and the compact unchanged fossiliferous ore; the former as
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257
IRON ORES OF DANVILLE.
being too thin and deeply covered to be profitably mined, and the latter as too poor in iron, and too calcareous, to be, under existing circumstances, adapted to the smelting furnace.
If we assume the soft fossiliferous ore of this neighborhood to have an average thickness of from 16 to 18 inches, which is probably not far from the truth, we may consider each square yard of its surface to represent about one ton of weight of ore. Let us now adopt the estimate I have already given of the depth to which the ore stratum has been converted into this soft ore, and accept 30 yards as the limit. Each yard of length along the outcrop will then be equiva- lent to 30 tons of the ore, and one mile of outcrop should supply about 52,800 tons. This amount, it will be understood, is irrespec- tive of elevation above the water-level. Turning now to the hard or siliceous ore of the iron sandstone, we shall find one mile of the outcrop bed to offer a far more enormous quantity of available ore. It is obvious that the whole of the bed is convertible to use, since the composition of the ore is such as to make it fit for the furnace without it undergoing any solvent action, of which, indeed, it is scarcely susceptible. The only limit to the depth to which it may be profitably wrought, is the cost of mining it, and since this element is materially increased the moment we pass below the water-level of the locality, it will be expedient to restrict our present estimate to the quantity of the ore above this natural line. It has been stated that in the vicinity of the Mahoning Gap, the average length of slope or breast belonging to the iron sandstone is about 200 yards ; on the south side it is somewhat greater, while on the north side it is prob- ably as much less. This is equivalent to 200 tons of ore to. each yard of the outcrop, the ore bed being from 14 to 16 inches thick. One mile of length of outcrop will therefore yield 352,000 tons of the ore above the water level. All that portion which is in this position is therefore nearly seven times as great as the similar part of the soft fossiliferous ore. The two ore beds together represent more . than 400,000 tons in a single mile of outcrop ; but as from the anti- clinal form of the mountain, there is a double line of outcrop for each kind of ore, it is clear that one mile of length of ridge must contain, upon the supposition of no deep ravines or notches inter- vening, the amazing quantity of 800,000 tons of ore. It is to be remarked that in the foregoing statement I exclude the considera-
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HISTORY OF DANVILLE.
tion of the ravines, which interrupt at frequent intervals the general line of the outcrop of the strata, and reduce materially the amount of ore above the water-level.
An abatement of one eighth from the quantity as above computed, on the supposition of a perfectly continuous outcrop, will probably more than compensate for the amount thus lost. With this reduc- tion we shall still have, in one mile of the ridge, 700,000 tons of good ore.
The ore estate attached to the Montour Iron Works of Danville, embraces, if I have been correctly informed, a total length of out- crop of the iron sandstone ore of 2,200 yards, equivalent alone to 385,000 tons ; the whole quantity of the soft fossiliferous ore I esti- mate at 45,000 tons ; making the entire amount of ore available under existing circumstances 430,000 tons. Such is the apparently enormous extent of the mineral wealth of this favored locality.
Nonsense.
Those who have no taste for nonsense can skip this chapter. It is placed here because it is connected with the work, and will tend to show the difficulties encountered in gathering the material necessary for its completion.
On visiting an octogenarian, he mistook me for a tax-collector or some other unwelcome person. He was very deaf, and on being requested to tax his memory in relation to his connection with a noted incident, he replied that he didn't owe any " tax." On ex- plaining to him that it was about the early settlement of Danville, he said he had no " settlement" to make and " wouldn't pay a cent." When told it was for a book, he said he never had any such book. "Go," said he, "I'm tired of people coming round with books and maps and all kinds of humbugs." Sadly I left no wiser ยท and no better. Perhaps not quite as good.
A pleasant old lady was visited next, when the following dialogue took place :
You have lived here a good while ?
" O, yes, longer as that."
When did you come to Danville ?
" It vas de time we moved here from Tulpehocken."
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OLD TOWNS.
You don't remember the exact period ?
" O, yes, I mind it goot."
Do you remember of anything important-anything that hap- pened about the time you came, by which we could fix the date ?
" O yes, it most the time when our Johnny vas born."
$
Ah, now we have it. How old is Johnny now ?
" He's no olt at all. He's deat." Could you tell me when he died ?
" Yes. It vas about four o'clock in de afternoon."
I don't mean the hour, I mean the year.
" Vy it vas in de same year as he vas born."
I left discouraged, as the old lady with a bland smile kindly said :
" Come again ven you vant some more dings to set in your book."
Old Towns.
Of old Indian towns and scenery in this vicinity, Mr. Wolfinger says :
Nishmekkachlo .- This town stood on the south side of Montour's ridge, and somewhere about midway between our present towns of Northumberland and Danville-exact spot unknown to the writer of this sketch. I am inclined to think it was the residence of Mana- wyhickon, a distinguished Delaware chief who ruled over the Indians of these parts before the great Shikellamy and Sassoonan chiefs made their appearance at Shohomokin or Shaumoking the old Indian town on the present site of Sunbury, since our old writer informs us that Manawyhickon lived somewhere on the North Branch, not far from Shaumoking.
Mahoning .- This town stood near the mouth of Mahoning creek, on its west side, a little below where the public bridge crosses the said creek, and about a mile below the present town of Danville, in Montour county.
Montour ridge, a pretty high and beautifully formed elevation of earth, runs northeastward from a point near Northumberland, but leaves a nice valley of beautiful land between its base and the North Branch of the Susquehanna river. This valley, as we approach Dan- ville from Northumberland, gets narrower until it ends in what is called " The Narrows "-grounds just wide enough for the public road to pass conveniently along the foot of the ridge. It was at the
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HISTORY OF DANVILLE.
eastern end of these narrows where the Indian town of Mahoning stood. Montour ridge at this point presents to the eye of the be- holder a high, bold and imposing appearance, and becomes more and more so until just on the north side of Danville it terminates very suddenly, with a high, wall-like face, towards the east, and then sweeping sharply around it runs north for several miles with the same high wall-like face on the west side of the small and narrow, but beautiful valley of Mahoning and its creek of the same name. Every traveler who visits Danville looks with admiration upon this high, bluffy and picturesque termination of Montour ridge and is delighted with the rich and beautiful dark green foliage of its thickly grown evergreen, pine and spruce trees that crown its top and sides, (excepting a cleared or bare spot just north of Danville) and towards the close of every sunny day throw a dark, rich shade over the snug little valley at its base. Its scenery looks wild and romantic even in our day, but must have been far wilder and grander when the Indians roamed over the ridge in the pursuit of wild turkeys and deer or speared the fish that sported in the waters close by.
Montour ridge at Danville looks as if Noah's deluge or some other great commotion of our earth's waters had burst a passage way through the ridge at this point, and so made this valley, for the ridge itself quickly reappears again with a sloping but nearly an equally elevated face on the east side of Danville, and then runs on the eastward to beyond the town of Bloomsburg, in Columbia county, where it gradually slopes down and disappears. Mahoning was there- fore, a choice spot for an Indian town and a town of more than com- mon note among the Indians.
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