USA > Pennsylvania > Montour County > Danville > Danville, Montour County, Pennsylvania : a collection of historical and biographical sketches > Part 4
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" Midnight shout and revelry, Tipsy dance and jollity."
The Ferry tavern, by George Barnhart where I often hurried by, fearing the sound of the fiddle, judging that old Satan could not be far distant from the violin, thus condemning that first of musical in- struments, from its association with much that is vile. Then there was the Jackson tavern, Mill street near Mahoning, by William Clark, a soldier of the revolution, with the likeness of General Jackson painted on its sign, thus superseding that of Washington, as the latter in its day had replaced that of George III : tempori parendum. The taverns then had a monopoly of retailing intoxi-
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FIFTY YEARS AGO.
cating liquors dealing them out by the gill; and rye whisky was the chief liquor used, and doubtless was less hurtful than the villainous compound now sold under that name. Some who then indulged in " potations pottle deep" nevertheless attained a great age ; when one of them was warned against indulging too freely in it, as it was a slow poison, replied that he was aware of that for he had been using it sixty years and it must be very slow. The coffee-houses, now destitute of coffee, the saloons, groceries and other refined modern drinking places were then unknown.
In addition to these taverns, Mrs. Spence kept a boarding-house, and had for her guests some of the most respectable people of the place.
Amongst the active and industrious citizens were the blacksmiths. John Lunger was one of the earliest, and had a shop on Ferry street. John Deen's smithy was on Market near Ferry street, where by many and well-directed blows he hammered out a fortune. Joseph Cor- nelison's was on Mahoning near Mill street.
George McCulley was one of the pioneer carpenters and removed to Ohio, near Wooster where some of his descendants still reside. Daniel Cameron, a worthy Scot and the great pedestrian who walked from Harrisburg to Danville in a day without deeming it any great exploit was a skilfull carpenter and builder. Adam Schuyler and George Lott were also engaged in that business.
The chairmakers were William Hartman who was also a wheel- wright, and the brothers Kirk. William Mann was also engaged in that calling for a year or two.
Shoemakers-William Woods, Gideon Mellon, Henry Sanders, Thomas Wiley.
Tailors-William M. Wiley, who removed to Harrisburg, William Whitaker, Amos E. Kitchen. William Ingold was a vagrant work- man who plied his needle 'at the houses of his employers, and was noted for his quips and quirks and idle pranks whereby he amused and often astonished the boys of the village.
Honest John Reynolds, from Reading, was the veteran hatter, who for long years supplied men and boys with hats. Martin McCollister was a more recent and very skilfull workman.
Thomas Blackwell carried on the fulling-mill and saw-mill near what is now the junction of Mill and Bloom streets.
40
HISTORY OF DANVILLE.
The first brewer was Richard Matchin. The citizens of that day were not, as we now phrase it, educated up to a due appreciation of that beverage, consequently it proved less profitable than brewing lager, weiss, and buck beer at the present time.
George Wilson was the first cabinet-maker, and some of his sub- stantial old-style furniture has survived to the present days. Bur- rows Moore was long engaged in the same business.
The Scotch weavers had been famous in the early days of the set- tlement. Of those who were engaged in the business fifty years since I can now only recall the names of Christopher Smith and Peter Goodman. The latter was a most respectable and industrious German from the Fatherland.
Coppersmiths and tinners-Alexander Wilson, James Wilson, John C. Theil.
Watchmaker and jeweler, Samuel Maus.
There were several saddlers-Alexander Best, Hugh Flack, Daniel Hoffman, and possibly others.
Rifles were in demand, and had always been much used by the pioneers. These were supplied by Samuel Baum and George Miller ; the son of the latter succeeded him and still continues the business.
Of public functionaries, we had but few, and their removals were few and far between. In the language of an eminent statesman it might then have been truly said : "Few die and none resign.'' Judge Seth Chapman was long the presiding judge of our courts. He was a man of moderate legal attainments, yet he made a good presiding officer. He was assisted by his associates, Judges Mont- gomery and Rupert. George A. Frick was prothonotary, having been appointed to that office by Governor Snyder in 1813.
William Wilson, Rudolph Sechler and Joseph Prutzman were the justices of the peace ; Andrew McReynolds, sheriff; Daniel Cam- eron, constable. Mr. Sechler was also register and recorder. James Loughead, a dignified yet popular gentleman of English origin, was postmaster, and held the office for the long term of fourteen years, twice as long as any other, with one exception. The office was first ยท established in 1806, Judge Montgomery being the first one appointed, and held his commission from President Jefferson, and filled the office for seven years. This just and pious man discharged this trust, as he did all others, to the entire satisfaction of the Government and the
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FIFTY YEARS AGO.
community. He was succeeded by that other faithful public servant, Rudolph Sechler, who held it for a like term of seven years, until Mr. Loughead's appointment. I never knew a more honest man than Mr. Sechler. With him it was innate. He could not be other- wise than honest. His countenance, his actions, his words, in short, everything about him proclaimed his sterling integrity ; and what gave a charm to it he was quite unconscious of his being more honest than other men. Of his large number of connections I never knew one whose integrity was called in question. It is highly gratifying to know that in the seventy years the office has been in existence, there has never been a defaulter to the National Government, and that all of the thirteen incumbents of the office have diligently and faithfully discharged the trust reposed in them. Had the same care and discrimination been exercised in making appointments elsewhere the nation would not have been disgraced by the peculations and plunderings of the people's money by unfaithful officers.
One of the eccentric characters of the vicinity was Mr. Fin- ney, who died ten or twelve years subsequently to the period of which I write, almost a centennarian. He was a man of gallantry, a kind of Beau Nash of more than eighty, with a peculiar child-like tenor voice, who delighted to play the gallant with the young ladies of the village, and drive them around the place and vicinity in his old style chaise. Robin Finney, as he was always called, from his great age and attention to the fair sex was a great favorite with them, and was well-known to the people of that day. His chaise and one owned by General D. Montgomery and one by Judge Montgomery, were the only pleasure carriages of that kind in the county. The old time carriage of Philip Maus which attracted the attention and excited the wonder of the village urchins and the more modern car- riage of General Montgomery were the only pleasure carriages of that style. Traveling on horseback was then the proper thing for both sexes, old and young, gentle and simple, and its general disuse is to be regretted. But it was too slow a mode of locomotion for this fast age.
Abe Brown was an African, or an American of African descent, and the only one in the place. He had been a mariner, and after he came here was a servant to Mr. Loughead. He emigrated to Mahoning county, Ohio, where by industry and frugality he ac-
42
HISTORY OF DANVILLE.
quired a competency and enjoys the respect of the community where he resides. Jack Harris was an octoroon, a fine looking lad, and so nearly white that he might pass for an Anglo-American. Though not darker than a brunette, the rude boys persisted in calling him Black Jack. These boys attended the schools, and were treated with more justice and consideration than fell to the lot of their race after the dictum that black men had no rights which the whites were bound to respect.
The members of Congress resident in Danville were as follows : General Daniel Montgomery, in 1810. This eminent citizen was one of the leading pioneers, and enjoyed the confidence and respect of the people. He was the Nestor of the community and resided in dignified retirement on his fine farm a mile or two up the river. Mr. Alem Marr who had from the organization of Columbia county been one of the leading lawyers, represented the district in 1830. Doctor Petrikin, a man of great energy, with strong attach- ments and equally strong resentments, was a member from 1837 to 1843. Although no great orator, he was a man of influence in the House. I met him at Washington during the exciting times in which he served and was impressed with his power as a politician. Mr. John G. Montgomery, an able lawyer and member elect to the Thirty-fifth Congress died in 1857 before the time arrived to take his seat. Mr. Leidy, his successor, served in 1858-9. Doctor Strawbridge was the last resident who represented the district in Congress.
The great flood of 1817, usually called the August flood, sur- rounded the place so that, for the time, it became insular. The only approach was by boats. I saw the bridge over the brook on the road, then an extension of Church street, float away with a man on it who secured it before it reached the river.
The inhabitants were supplied with flour from the mills of John and Alexander Montgomery and Joseph Maus all propelled by the water of the Mahoning. Farmers in the vicinity took their grain in sacks to the mills ; the miller ground it for a toll of one tenth. Except for the Baltimore, Philadelphia, or Reading markets, it was seldom put up in barrels. Steam power had not been introduced in the place or neighborhood, except at Boyd's mill which was then a new one on the left bank of the river above town.
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FIFTY YEARS AGO.
Whiskey was the Archimidean lever that moved the world. Con- tracts could not be made or performed without its potent aid. The merchant kept it on his counter, for his customers would not pur- chase goods without it. It was indispensable at musters and elec- tions. The farmer's fields could not be cultivated without its use as a motor. Mr. Robinson, in the vicinity, offered the laborers who were employed in his harvest fields extra pay if they would dispense with it, but they refused. The temperance cause was advocated by its friends, but its opponents, numerous, defiant, and violent, deter- mined that their liberties should not be subverted by a few fanatics who were worse than the Federals.
The Mormon delusion was in its incipiency. Joseph Smith, Sid- ney Rigdon, and Pearly B. Pratt were its chief apostles. Through their zeal it was introduced in Palmyra, Kirtland, Jackson county, Missouri, Nauvoo, and, finally, at Salt Lake City, at which latter place its most revolting feature of polygamy was introduced. The present revelator and prophet boasts that he has more control over his people than Moses had over the Israelites, yet he claims more credit for having produced ninety-three bushels of wheat from one acre than for any other of his deeds.
Slavery was acquiesced in under its constitutional guaranty. It was to be let alone, but no more slavery. Slaves were to be given up, but the area of slavery was not to be extended.
The first half century of our Independence was at its close. On the 4th of July, its two powerful advocates, Adams and Jefferson closed their long and eventful lives just fifty years after they had signed our great Charter of Liberty.
At that time, John Quincy Adams was President and J. Andrew Shulze. Governor. Stealing the public moneys was not then dis- guised under the mild terms of defaults and discrepancies.
The half century just closed has been an eventful, almost a mar- velous one. In 1826, we had no railways, telegraphs, type-writers, gas, petroleum, no canals, iron furnaces, forges, rolling-mills ; no bridge over the river, no fire engines of any kind, nor many other indispensable improvements, deprived of which we would speedily retrogade to what we were at that period. The population has in- creased more than tenfold, and Danville has kept pace with the rest of the world, and shown an energy and perseverence worthy of
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HISTORY OF DANVILLE.
her, notwithstanding the many depressions and conflicts incident to her position as a great manufacturing center. Her numerous sons, dispersed throughout the great West, and in other portions of our vast Republic, now in exile from her borders, look with pride upon her onward course in material prosperity, and her commendable progress in religion, morals, and science, the social virtues and the amenities of life, which they trust may continue, and enable her, for all future time, to maintain her elevated position in the good old Commonwealth.
Susquehanna Floods.
There was an old tradition, or rather a prophecy, among the In- dians that roamed about the Susquehanna, that great floods in this river occurred at regular intervals of fourteen years ; and this in some degree proved true in the days of our fathers. The first great flood of which we have any account was in 1744; the second in 1758; the third in 1772, and that which is known as the great " pumpkin flood " was in 1786. There being just fourteen years between each of these floods. The "pumpkin flood" was in the month of October and was so designated on account of the immense number of pumpkins that floated down the stream from the fields above. It began to rain on the 5th of October, 1786, and rained incessantly for several days. The water rose rapidly and swept all before it. Several persons were drowned near the place now called Rupert, and at Sunbury houses were overflowed and many people were lost. Northumberland was also flooded and much dam- age was done. This flood was long remembered and known among the old settlers as "the great pumpkin flood." In the spring of 1800, just fourteen years after the " pumpkin flood," another great freshet occurred. It rained three days and three nights, carrying off a deep snow and doing much damage. In 1814 there was another destructive flood that caused much loss of life and property. Here the old Indian tradition that floods occurred every fourteen years failed ; for the next was in 1817, after an interval of only three years. The next flood of note was in 1847. If there were any from 1817 to 1847 we have no record of them. Many of my readers will remember that of 1859 which also raised the water in the North Branch over eight feet above high water mark. Still more
45
OLDEN HABITS AND CUSTOMS.
vividly do they remember the extraordinary flood of March, 1865. The exciting scenes in Danville on the 17th and 18th days of that month will never be forgotten. The river began to rise on Fri- day, and on Saturday the water rose to four feet above the highest flood on record. A great portion of Danville was overflowed and many families were compelled to leave their homes in haste. Women and children were taken from their houses in boats. The whole dis- trict from Sageburg to Mill street was covered with water reaching up Mulberry street and to the scales in front of the Montgomery building. The low lands along the Mahoning were also under water. On Mulberry as well as on Mill street boats and rafts were moving among the houses and gliding high over the gardens. The river bridge was much injured but withstood the onset. Many stables and other buildings floated about and found new and strange foun- dations as the water receded, without any regard to the side that was up or down. Only one man, Peter Green, was drowned at this place. He fell into the Mahoning from a small raft while attempt- ing to supply his family with coal. His body was recovered and properly cared for. Another great flood in the North Branch in 1875 took the river bridge that had so long withstood the assaults of the angry torrent, but when the Catawissa bridge came down and struck it broadside it had to yield. It has since been rebuilt more substantially than before. We had very high water on the 12th of February, 1881.
Olden Habits and Customs.
The habits and customs of the last generation, it is true, may have been less refined in some respects, but they were more whole- some and more favorable to longevity. A thousand inventions of the present day, then unknown, invite to ease, indolence, and luxury ; but they are at the same time effeminating, and min- ister not only to new forms of bodily ailments but tend to shorten life. The physique, at least, of the last generation was superior to this, and as the full exercise of the mental powers depends on the proper development of the body, the palm of intellectual superiority and force of character may also be claimed. This is due to the habits and customs of the past and the changes that have been wrought in the last half century.
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HISTORY OF DANVILLE.
The boy who is reared in the lap of luxury grows up like a cryptogamous plant, and withers like Jonah's gourd in the strong light of the meridian sun. But he who from early youth is inured to toil, accustomed to simple diet, and taught by experience the lesson of self-reliance, will grow up strong and vigorous like the oak of the forest. Hence it is that not only the hardy athletes, but the solid thinkers and leading men of the times so often come up from the lower ranks of society and outstrip those who enjoyed every external advantage in the start. The habits and customs of the last generation were more favorable to the development of both mind and body. If not, why is it that the race of far-seeing and almost prophetic statesmen is passing away? Those now in the front ranks of political power are but pigmies in contrast with the leading spirits of the nation in the early history of the country. True, it is sometimes said they were only comparatively great, as others around them were small-just as the pedagogue is great in the midst of his pupils. But, "by their fruits ye shall know them." Their works and the fruit. of their planting not only remain as memorials of wisdom and of human greatness, but the highest glory of the present statesman is to approach as near as possible to the excellence of those who have gone before.
But let us look at some of the customs and habits of the past, and whilst we may find much to amuse us, there is also much to chal- lenge our more serious attention.
Pure air, exercise, and simple diet will produce a hardier people, stronger physically and intellectually, than impure air, close houses, feather-beds, indolence, and luxurious living. If the nourishment of the physical system consists of highly-seasoned dainties, and that of the mind, the no less poisonous aliment of the novel, both will become dyspeptic.
Now let us go back for half a century and take a look at the old folks. What are our grandfathers and grandmothers doing ? See that rude pile of stones from which the smoke slowly arises. And what means that " rap, rap, rap ?" Sometimes it is muffled, and then again it rings out quick and sharp. The man is breaking flax, and in the early winter you hear the sound of the " brake " echoing all over the country. Near the barn, the women folks, with wooden paddles, are " swingling " and preparing it for the " heckle." Then,
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OLDEN HABITS AND CUSTOMS.
in the long winter evenings they ply the spinning-wheel whose whirr is heard far in the night. See, that mischievous boy has got his fingers in the "flyers !" Ah ! that was the fate of many a youngster. The yarn thus spun was woven into cloth, and little else than " homespun " was worn in the family. The finer portions were bleached and made into underclothes and bedclothes, and the coarser into pantaloons, &c. There was too some taste about it. The thrifty housewife with hickory bark dyed it yellow, and this, warp-woven with the natural woof, made what was called " sham- baree ;" or it was striped and barred with the same, white and yellow.
When the sheep were sheared, the wool was cleansed and " picked," made into rolls with a pair of hand-cards, spun on a big wheel, dyed, woven and made into winter garments, all within the family. Don't you remember the big wheel ? What a whirr the spinner would give it, and then step backwards to extend the thread as it took the twist, and forwards again as it wound on the spindle. Then she gave it another whirl that made it buzz and hum all over the house. A young lady who was a good spinner was respected accordingly in those days. Some went out to spin among the neighbors, and it was no uncommon thing to meet a woman on the road with a spinning- wheel on her shoulder, " going out to spin " by the day or by the dozen. Of course this passage from family to family was rather favorable to " gossip," and then we heard of " spinning yarns," but spinners generally married in due time. A few who did not were called " spinsters," and now all old maids are designated in the same way.
When a young lady was married, no matter how humble the cir- cumstances of her parents might be, she always got an outfit of a bureau, a bed, a cow, and a spinning-wheel. If she had no parents to provide them, she went to work industriously until she earned them herself, or she was " bound to work " in a richer family until she was eighteen years old, and the bed, the cow, the bureau, and spinning wheel were provided for in the indenture. In all cases the wedding was postponed until she had the outfit, as it was a lasting disgrace to marry without it. The more wealthy added a horse and a side-saddle, but the spinning-wheel was no less essential. We may hereafter take a look at a wedding in the olden time. At present we shall only glance at some items tending to establish the proposi- tion in hand.
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HISTORY OF DANVILLE.
Again we listen to the regular sounds of a ceaseless hammering in yonder barn. Like the stroke of the flax-brake it is muffled at times, and again it rings out sharp and clear as it strikes the floor. They are threshing with the flail. These flails were sometimes called " poverty sticks," because the poorer day laborers went round among the farmers in the winter time and flailed out the grain for the tenth bushel. There were generally two in company, and the precision with which they kept stroke in striking the same spot and flinging the " suple " end of the flail round their heads would astonish you at this day. Each man could earn a bushel or more of wheat or rye in a day. Another mode of threshing grain then in vogue was to lay it on a floor and then drive a team of horses over it in a circle, until the grain was tramped out. Corn was threshed in the same way, for there were no machines to do the work.
Wheat and rye were harvested with the sickle, and as many as fifty reapers could be seen together in an oblique line gathering the golden grain. Good reapers were highly prized, and the best was generally made the leader for the day. It was considered mean for the owner to take the lead, as the number and the length of the rests under the trees, as well as the number of drinks, was regulated by the leader. Hence it was considered proper to have one who was disinterested. Of course, they looked for a full bottle of whisky and plenty of fresh water every " through," or oftener, if the field was long. These were usually supplied by little urchins, called " bottle boys." These " bottle boys," for small pay, were bound to have fresh water and the whisky at the proper time and place, as ordained by the leader. This was generally under the shade of a tree nearest the next resting place. Each reaper, in turn, seized the bottle by the neck and took a draught, as they said, "by the word of mouth," amid the songs and jokes of the gay reapers assembled for a brief respite under the wide-spreading walnut tree. At last the welcome sound of the dinner horn is heard, when a two hours' rest was taken. At four o'clock the lunch arrived 'and was often spread in the shade on the green sod, and never were the sub- stantial dishes of the good lady better appreciated nor were ever rosy-cheeked girls more heartily welcomed than those who brought them to the field.
It may .seem strange, but it is true, that there was but little
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CHRIST'S EPISCOPAL CHURCH.
drunkenness, notwithstanding the workingmen drank from ten to twenty times a day, and the diseases that now choke the life out of habitual drinkers were unknown. The only solution is in the fact that the liquor was pure. Compounders of liquors had not been born, and it was free from the poisons now often decocted. This fact in addition to the constant exercise of drinkers in the open air, prevented injurious results. To drink was more common then than now. Scarcely a family was without at least a jug in the house, and many families bought it by the barrel. ' The boys could drink when they pleased, and whisky was always set out to visitors, and especially when the pastor called ; and the writer remembers well with what a bland smile some of these walked up to a decanter and seized it by the neck. It was then considered no less respectable to swallow spirits than it was to take a glass of water. It was cheap, too. Pure rye whisky was retailed at all the stores, at from eight to ten cents a quart. In public houses it was sold for three cents for half a gill. When a drink was called for at the bar the bar-tender always set out a half-gill stem glass and filled it himself. The cus- tomer himself never got hold of the bottle at all. But this was then regarded the same as it is for a saloon-keeper to measure out a glass of lager. Who knows but the world may continue to improve until, under its civilization, it will become the fashion to roll a keg of beer to a customer, to take his fill, and call it a drink?
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