USA > Pennsylvania > Armstrong County > Apollo > History of Apollo, Pennsylvania. The year of a hundred years 1816-1916 > Part 5
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THE HISTORY OF APOLLO.
withdrawn and by touching successive spots with a sharp stick wet on the point small scales were caused to fly off the fragment until the head was shaped. Arrowheads are classified by collectors according to shape into notched, stem, leaf and triangular. In the writer's col- lection, most of which were picked up on the Allison farm, may be seen all these shapes. There is a pipe with some attempt at orna- mentation which was found by James Foster at Eldersridge thirty years ago. A skinning stone and a celt were taken out of the crevice of the rock by Linus T. Henry when the foundry was being built at Vandergrift.
DR. ROBERT McKISSEN.
Dr. McKissen came to the village of Warren prior to 1820 from the country somewhere along Blacklegs Creek a few miles from Salts- burg. He opened up a small store on Main Street on the lot best known now as the R. O. Hunter property. He sold both groceries and drugs and practiced medicine. He did some surveying in his spare time. After the canal was in operation he purchased an inter- est in a packet line. He was the author of two volumes of poems. The first volume was printed by Butler & Lambdin, Pittsburgh, and was issued in 1820. The second volume was published in 1829. A copy of each volume is in the possession of T. J. Henry. Robert McKissen was born in the North of Ireland. He came to this country while yet a youth and entered the old Jefferson College at Cannonsburg, Pa. He was probably graduated therefrom but the records of W. & J. College do not go back further than 1824. His knowledge of Latin and Greek was better than the average as is shown by the dedication of his poems in the former and his translations of Ovid's Metamor- phosis. If he ever attended Medical College he makes no allusion to it in his writings. He probably read medicine under some doctor and began practice at once as was permitted at that time. In 1835 he es- tablished the first newspaper in the Kiskiminetas Valley. It was called the Warren Lacon and the first number was issued Nov. 6th. It contained but little local news except marriages and deaths. The rest of the space was taken up with solid reading on various subjects and advertisements. It was all home print. Dr. McKissen was ed- itor and proprietor and Jerry Murphy was compositor. Jerry Murphy was succeeded by Robert Shannon. The printing office was on Main (S. Second) Street on the corner of the R. O. Hunter lot and was not torn down until 1906. The Warren Lacon was published for several years and was aided by state printing which was procured through the influence of Gov. Wm. F. Johnston who was a personal friend of McKissen. He published some small books, among them a child's primer. He was irascible and often very sarcastic. He was a Seceder by profession. When at church in the old stone building, if a sermon
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FIRST PRINTING OFFICE OF WARREN LACON. (Picture by T. J. Henry.)
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THE HISTORY OF APOLLO.
did not suit him, he would mutter his disapproval and go down to the Methodist Church for the rest of the services. His next issue of the Lacon would contain a very caustic review of the sermon.
The Rev. Hineman once went to remonstrate with him for some criticism and the doctor became so enraged that he would have caned the minister had he not beat a hasty retreat. He was a lover of books and frequently brought a number from Philadelphia when he went to buy goods. These he would distribute among the young men about the village and encourage them to read. Of two young men who greased their hair, he said they were too sleek and he never offered them reading matter. His favorite resort for writing and resting was up the little ravine in Paulton just above J. J. Orr's house. He married Ellen Patterson and had two daughters who were married at an early age, Letitia to Jas. Heron and Eliza Jane to Hugh Skiles. He was in partnership with them in stores at different periods. When the village of Warren was incorporated as the Borough of Apollo, in 1848, in May of that year he was elected Burgess. He went to Blue Grass, Scott Co., Iowa with his sons-in-law. He died at that place, on what date is not now known here.
His first volume of poems is dedicated to Hon. John Young. His preface begins as follows:
"Conscious that the following poems will meet with the censure of critics and the sneer of the vulgar, I just advertise that I am ready to bear the anticipated shock; knowing well there is abundant ground for both."
Dr. McKissen once erect became a hunchback through spinal dis- ease and probably this may account for the biting sarcasms in which he at times indulged.
The following selections are from the first volume of his poems. The first is an undoubted imitation of Burns' "Address to the Tooth- ache."
To a Copperhead that Bit the Author.
"Destruction sieze your venom sting; You cursed, hatefu' crawling thing, That can sic wofu' tortures bring Wi' bitter pain, An' can sic wretched poison fling Thro' ev'ry vein."
On Returning to the Place of My Former Residence
"Hail! Blacklegs Stream, to me well known, Where all my youthful days have shone; Where juvenile hours oft I spent And blest with gleams of sweet content. But, O alas! how moments fly And prospects vanish from the eye,
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THE HISTORY OF APOLLO.
We grasp at shadows, empty, vain, And phantoms follow o'er lifes plain Pursuing ignis fatuus flight 'Til folded round with gloomy night; On dreadful fate these mortals press In vain pursuing earthly bliss. Yet still I love thy gurgling rill As winding on thro' many a hill, Or moving swift, or slowly glide "Till lost in Kiskiminetas' tide."
One verse from "Man Was Born to Die." "Thus nature yields to nature's God; Thus fall the just and brave. Nor art one moment's life can add When fate points to the grave. Thus fleeting time's still on the wing And death pursuing nigh, Nor spares the plebeian nor the king, But proves that all must die."
The following epitaphs deserve mention:
"A Quack's Epitaph." "Here lies a quack beneath the clay, Took many a worthy life away, The sexton sore his death may rue, For now he gets no work to do."
A Lawyer's Epitaph. "Here lies the man took ev'ry plan The poor to cheat and fleece; If all his sort would here resort, The land might soon have peace."
A Preacher's Epitaph. "Here lies the man in silent clay, Long pointed out the proper way; But like the index on the road, Ne'er went the path that he had show'd."
POETRY.
Altho a number of citizens have written communications in meter on various occasions, but three have published their efforts in book form. Mention of Dr. McKissen's poems is made in his biography. Linus Townsend, a local historian as well as poet published in 1883, his book of "Original Poems." A number of his subjects were local as is the following:
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THE HISTORY OF APOLLO. THE APOLLO BRIDGE
Auspicious the morn, but with tears we encounter The sad, sombre change that's come over our dream; Apollo alone, in its glory triumphant, Pauses in sorrow to witness the scene. Its picturesque beauty, late sadly impressive, Like a phantom of night it has silently flown; The old bridge with its fame of traditional story, A mass of wrecked debris forever has gone. The pillars that carried its time honored arches Stand isolate,- toys of the wind and the tide, And are sadly rebuked by the floes of bleak Winter As o'er the proud waves they triumphantly ride. No more will the lovers of artistic beauty Behold its quaint outlines as they pass in the train, Nor will the boy with his erratic wheelbarrow Patrol in his glory its casement again. No more with the mail pouch and its sacred treasure Will he trip in its shade with his heart full of glee For it's making a trip of its own too, by water To fill the last page of its lone destiny. For thirty long years we've extolled it with pleasure Looming in view with a beauty untold, But now in our hearts with the saddest forebodings, Its wrecked lonely piers we only behold.
Mrs. Annie E. Smith, a former citizen of Apollo, while a resident of Pittsburgh, published "In the Summer of St. Martin" and "Club Poems." Mrs. Smith was President of the Woman's Club of Pitts- burgh in 1907-8, Honorary President of "The Woman's Club of Kiski- minetas Valley" and Chairman of Library Extension Work Among the Negroes of the Southern States. The following is from her vol- ume of Club Poems:
APOLLO'S FOUNTAIN.
Come to this fountain and drink 'Twill wash from your bodies all strife; This sparkling wine flows in every clime, And is God's own elixir of life.
'Tis pure as the dews of the morn Baptizing the young spring grass; It will slake thirst of the weary-born Who empty the cup as they pass.
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THE HISTORY OF APOLLO.
Come to this fountain and drink Thou toilers of man's behest; And with thankful neigh as you pass away Carry content in your tired breast.
Come to this fountain and drink Songsters of every clime,
With fluttering wings on the brink, Warble cantos in every rhyme.
Thus in endless forms and ways As this liquid of life you drink; You bring untold joy to the Woman's Club, So drink every creature, drink.
Born here in our gift today Is one secret of life to live- Not for ourselves is the water of life,
We live but we live to give.
GALA DAYS.
Notwithstanding the panic and the "Big Fire" in 1876, Apollo people pulled themselves together and had a big celebration on the Fourth, glorious in its Centennial.
On July Fourth, 1888 a great celebration was given by the Apollo Patriotic and Industrial Association.
S. M. Nelson, Pres., M. H. Cochran, Sec'y, R. F. Orr, Treas.
Members of Committee-M. E. Uncapher, Geo. G. McMurtry, Jas. H. Cooley, Walter Sutton and J. Y. Lauffer.
Chief Marshall, James Kirkwood.
Programme: bands, races, ball games, fantastics and fireworks.
In 1889, the Junior Order of American Mechanics, then a very strong organization, gave a big picnic and parade. On the same day the organization presented the Apollo Public Schools the first flag to float over the school building. A flag pole had been prepared and the Red, White and Blue was raised with great ceremony.
In 1897 another grand Fourth of July celebration was held, but Old Home Week was the crowning effort of all. This was held in 1907. Space will not permit of a detailed description of this "Gathering Homeward From Every Land" and the reunions of friends and rel- atives, often after many years. W. D. Boyce, of Chicago, Logan Truxall, of DuBois and James S. Whitworth of Vandergrift made ap- propriate addresses.
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THE HISTORY OF APOLLO. OLD HOME COMING. By Mrs. M. J. Guthrie. Written for Old Home Week.
They are gathering in the gloaming And they're whispering soft and low, Those who peopled old Apollo In the time of long ago.
They'll be seeking for the homesteads And the rippling waters flow, Where their tiny feet once wandered, In the time of long ago.
They'll be looking for the graveyard And the meeting house of stone, Where it stood 'mid shafts of marble Grizzled, gray and all alone.
They'll be looking for the crossing O'er old Kiski's pebbly bed, With its span of giant woodwork Numbered now among the dead.
They'll be looking for their neighbors, When the evening shadows fall, They'll be smiling in their slumbers When they hear their loved ones call.
Stilled the voices, though they're speaking Of the days that have gone by, And we'll hear the soft low murmur From beyond the star-lit sky.
We'll be sure to speak in kindness Of each shadow on us cast, And we'll give a hearty handshake To our neighbors of the past.
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THE HISTORY OF APOLLO. The program for Apollo's Centennial is appended.
CENTENNIAL WEEK PROGRAM
(Subject to any changes that seem necessary later on.)
Sunday, July 2, 1916.
Special services in all churches, 10 a. m. Union services in grove, 3 p. m. "Holy City," 8 p. m.
Monday, July 3, 1916.
Registration-Ringing of Bells-Blowing of Whistles, 9:00 a. m. Reception, 2 p. m. Automobile Parade, 3 p. m. Campfire and Band Concert, 8 p. m.
Tuesday, July 4, 1916.
Parade, 9:30 a. m. Baseball 10:30 a. m. Historical Pageant, 2:30 p. m. Humorous Races, 4:30 p. m. Fireworks, 8:30 p. m.
Wednesday, July 5, 1916.
Track Meet, Field Meet, Tennis Tournament, 9 a. m. Baseball, 2 p. m. Entertainment (Lecture Course) 8 p. m.
Thursday, July 6, 1916.
Industrial Parade, 9:30 a. m. Picnic, 11 a. m. Speaking and music, 2 p. m. Historical Evening, 8 p. m. Choral Club, 8 p. m. Farmers' Day.
Friday, July 7, 1916.
Visits to neighboring towns and local industries, 9 a. m. Re- unions and conventions, 10 a. m. Pageant, 2 p. m. Dance 9 p. m.
Saturday, July 8, 1916.
Fantastic Automobile Parade 10 a. m. Baseball, 2 p. m. Ringing of bells to close, 6 p. m.
Reunions.
Churches or organizations planning reunions are asked to report all such to Chairman of Committee on Reunions, so that conflicting dates may, as far as possible be avoided.
CO. I, 78th REG. PA. VOL. AT LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN, TENN. (Copy of Civil War Picture.)
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THE HISTORY OF APOLLO. THE SALT INDUSTRY.
Salt is such a common commodity now that many do not realize its physiological and preservative value. In the Youghiogheny region in 1790 it was so scarce that 20 bushels of wheat was the price for one bushel of salt. In 1800 a great deal of our salt came from Ken- tucky in barrels about one-third larger than barrels of the present day. These sold in Pittsburgh for $14 per barrel and retailed for 12 to 18 cents a quart. In 1779 salt was so expensive that Continental Congress passed resolutions controlling the price. In this region salt was packed over the mountains on horseback and commanded $5 a bushel. About 1812, an old lady Mrs. John Deemer, great grand- mother of Mrs. Ella Deemer Painter, of Warren Avenue, living above the present site of Saltsburg, noticed that cattle frequented a spring in the middle of the river during low water. She tasted the water and found it had a brackish taste. She then boiled some mush in it and found it palatable. This becoming known, Dr. Samuel Talmage, (grandfather of Mrs. Mary A. Henry, of North Fourth Street) who was then practicing at Broad Fording near there, puddled a barrel in the spring and placing spouts he succeeded in running the water to shore. He used the large iron or sap kettles to evaporate the water and thus was made the first salt in the valley. This could be done only when the river was low, but was continued all summer. Wm. Johnston, who lived at that place conceived the idea of trying to strike the stream along the shore. Carrying out this idea he rigged up a spring-pole and drill. About the latter part of 1812 or the bx- ginning of 1813 he struck a good salt well at the depth of 280 feet. It took about a year to drill a well. The news spread and soon other wells were put down. At first a spring pole and tramp treadle were used for drilling and the water evaporated in sap kettles with wood for fuel. Later large shallow pans 10x20 feet were used over furn- aces. The wells were three inches in diameter for the first 200 fret and two inches the rest of the depth. Copper tubing was used and bags of linseed meal were packed around this to prevent other water from reaching the salt stream. At first the Johnston well made $30 a day. It took 30 gallons of water to produce a bushel of salt. The wells were pumped by horse power at first but steam was soon intro- duced for both drilling and pumping. On the old plan it is said that it took eight men three years to drill a well 500 feet at Sewickly.
The excitement in the valley was similar to the oil excitement in Western Pennsylvania in later years. It was for the time being one of the most important regions in the state. There was no town at this place at the beginning of the salt industry, but later this town was built as was the town of Saltsburg and took its place as a mart.
The Gordon salt wells were at Gravel Bar. John and Isaac Me- Laughlin had wells across the river near the site of the Hick's Mines. Boggs and Anderson had good producers above town at Cow Bell Riffle on the Westmoreland side. At one time Silverman owned these.
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THE HISTORY OF APOLLO.
This riffle was very shallow and was used as a fording. The road which led from the Armstrong side continued to the wells and thence up over Callen's point toward Saltsburg. It used to be told that an Indian had rung a cowbell and thus lured a woman to her death at this place but the name was given it because of the tinkling of the bells as the herd crossed the river for pasture. McCauley and Trux had wells at Roaring Run. Gamble and had wells yet further up the stream. These were run for many years after most of wells were forgotten. Dr. Talmage becoming interested in salt wells, came to the Boggs & Anderson works in 1826 where he also practiced med- icine on either side of the river thus identifying himself with the early history of Warren. Later he and Wm. Henry employed John Cowan, Sr., (J. Wes Cowan's grandfather) to drill wells for them at the site of the old Kiskiminetas Indian town. This place they called Hope Salt Works. The wells being productive they worked them for twenty years. The salt at first was shipped to Pittsburgh and other points in flat or keel boats. When the canal was constructed, Warren became a prominent shipping point.
In 1830 Armstrong Co. produced 65, 500 bushels of salt at an average price of $2.50 per bushel.
THE CANAL.
In 1824 the Assembly appointed three commissioners to explore a canal route from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh. The Union Canal con- nected the Schuylkill with the Susquehanna. The State ordered the new canal to start near Middleton at the terminal and build to the mouth of the Juniata and from Pittsburgh to the mouth of the Kis- kiminetas. The object was to make the Juniata and the Kiskiminetas navigable by slackwater produced by dams. In the Fall of 1827, water was first let into the levels at Leechburg. This was at dam No. 1 or Seven Mile Dam, so called because it produced seven miles of slackwater reaching to the fording north of Apollo, where it was necessary to begin a canal to get the boats above the Falls of the Kiskiminetas. The main canal from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh was completed in 1831. There were 126 miles of railroad and 292 miles of canal at a cost of $35,000,000. The first canal boat ever built or run on the Pennsylvania canal west of the mountains was the "Gen- eral Abner Lacock." It was built by Philip Dally under the auspices of Patrick Leonard. The boat was named after Genl. Abner Lacock who was Supervisor of the Western Division. It was built near the abutment of the bridge, launched in the river, floated down to the out- let lock where it was run into the canal. It was intended for freight and passengers and had berths and curtains after the style of steam- boats. Milton Dally was captain of this boat and John B. Chambers captain and owner of the first line of packets which plied between Apollo and Pittsburgh. S. M. Jackson was succeeding captain of this line. John Kelly was another boat captain and also a sub supervisor
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THE HISTORY OF APOLLO.
from Johnston to Pittsburgh. The canal was four feet deep and forty feet wide. Locks were 16 feet wide and 90 feet long. The dam at Leechburg was 27 feet high and 574 feet long. The boats on this waterway were classified as packets, line, section and transient boats. The crew consisted of five, two steersmen, two drivers and one bows- man, the captain and cook completed the outfit. The motor power of the boats consisted of six mules, three in service at a time, traveling on the tow path.
In 1834, Thos. Caruthers made an attempt to run a canal boat, the "Adaline," by steam. It made one trip from Pittsburgh to Johns- town but was unsatisfactory in many ways. The canal was a prodig- ious undertaking at that period of our history. It required an aque- duct of eight piers and two abutments to carry the canal across the riv- er at Freeport. The canal at Apollo was called the Warren or Three-Mile Level, being three miles from the outlet lock to the dam at Roaring Run.
The canal bridge at Apollo was built at the foot of North St. and diverted the traffic from Main Street. There were several foot bridges. A floating bridge was the means of crossing to the mill. It was swung to one side to permit boats to pass. The others permitted them to pass under.
Dam No. 2 was at Roaring Run and had a guard lock to pass the boats in and out of the canal. The Western Division was 103 miles long. It had 666 feet of fall to overcome which took 64 locks and 20 miles of slackwater.
From Johnstown to Hollidaysburg it required the portage system. It was 36 miles. This distance had eleven levels, ten inclines and one tunnel. Charles Dickens passed through Warren on a boat in 1842, (See his American Notes) and after the Mexican War, Zachary Tay- lor's war horse was sent East by this route. A regiment of soldiers for the Mexican War passed through here from the eastern part of the state. There were three locks at Warren. Two at the outlet and one near the site of the Apollo Steel Works. The outlet lock was the scene of many sad partings when the soldiers went to the civil war. Where the boats put out into the river at that point was where the good-byes, many of them the last, were said.
When the P. R. R. was built in 1864 the canal was purchased by that Company and later abandoned. Most of the soldiers who went away on the boats returned on the railroad.
On August 19, 1899, the 14th reunion of Old Boatment was held in Apollo. There were 80 members present. Capt. Peter Burkey, of St. Paul, Minn., came to preside. He began life as a cabin boy at the age of 14. He was captain of a freight boat for David Leech and son, of Leechburg. At the present writing there are but two in Apollo who belong to the Old Boatmen, Alex Miller and Aunt Nan Jack. The latter as the wife of Captain Carnahan lived and cooked on his boat. The youngest "Old Boatman" in Apollo was Wm. Kirkwood who drove on the towpath for a couple of days when a mere boy.
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THE HISTORY OF APOLLO. THE POST OFFICE.
A post office was first established in the town August 15, 1827. Prior to this mail was received through Kittanning and Freeport offices. Since there was a Warren P. O. in Pennsylvania, it was necessary to give this office a different name. It is not known who suggested the name Apollo. It is not probable that Post Master Gen- eral McLain would have named it without consulting some of the citizens. Dr. Robert McKissen being a man of classical education and of poetic aspirations is the logical source of the suggestion. Milton Dally was appointed first postmaster. The subsequent post- masters as near as can be learned were Robert McKissen, James X. McIlwain, John T. Smith, Samuel M. Jackson, Wm. Wray, Wm. Jack, James Chambers, Charles Silverman, R. S. Cochran, Lebanah Townsend, D. D. P. Alexander, E. A. Townsend, Thos. Johnston, T. A. Cochran, Charles Hageman, J. E. Gallagher, F. M. Newingham.
The office was not much sought in early days. It was usually kept where most convenient. For the most part it was in a store. J. X. McIlwain had it in his harness shop in 1859. He was succeeded by S. M. Jackson who resigned while he was in the army, Wm. T. Jackson having had it in charge up to that time. Wm. Wray then received the appointment. John T. Smith had it in his tavern, Wm. Jack was a shoemaker and Wm. Wray a druggist. The office was burned in 1876. It was robbed under the administrations of R. S. Cochran and E. A. Townsend.
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BURGESSES.
On account of the loss of some of the archives of Apollo, it is not possible to give a list of all the burgesses. Until 1892, the burgess served without remuneration for services. In that year his salary was placed at $50 per annum. The term of office now is four years instead of one as formerly. Following is the list: Dr. McKis- sen, 1848; Samuel Jack, 1873; Jacob Freetly; Col. S. M. Jackson; Samuel McElroy, 1883; T. A. Cochran, 1887; A. J. Wilson, 1888; J. D. Lauffer, 1889; Dr. Wm. Bryar, 1890; George W. Wilson, 1891; M. E. Uncapher, 1894; J. A. Kennedy, 1897; John Q. Cochrane, 1900; Harry Carnahan, 1903; J. D. Lauffer, 1906; J. C. Hunter, 1908; Geo. W. Steel, 1909. Dr. J. C. Hunter is the present burgess.
PHYSICIANS.
Until 1881 it was not necessary to register to practice medicine. It is difficult to get dates of location on that account.
The following have practiced in Apollo: Robert McKissen, Wm. P. Mccullough, surgeon in 78th Regiment, Thos. C. Mccullough, J. S. Kuhn, - - Speer, Thos. H. Allison, Wm. McBryar, O. P. Bollinger, surgeon in 78th Regiment, J. S. McNutt, W. B. Ansley, J. W. Bell, R. E. McCauley, Wm. K. Young, T. A. Kimmell, W. W. Leech, J. H.
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OLD SOLDIERS LEAVING APOLLO FOR THE FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY OF GETTYSBURG. (Picture by Ira J. Wray.)
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THE HISTORY OF APOLLO.
Smith, W. L. McBryar, 1886; T. J. Henry, 1887; M. C. Householder, 1888; F. E. Henry, 1891; J. C. Hunter, 1893; A. D. McElroy, 1894; H. W. Tittle, 1896; A. H. Townsend, 1902; J. W. Stamm, 1907; James Edgehill; Robert Finlay, J. E. Armstrong, 1915.
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