History of Armstrong County, Pennsylvania, Part 31

Author: Smith, Robert Walter
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Chicago : Waterman, Watkins
Number of Pages: 790

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Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

About a year after this company began business they purchased a gas well, about three miles west of the works, which had been struck by parties boring for oil three years before. The gas from this well was conveyed to the works in 32-inch pipes, and has since been the only fuel used in the puddling process. As the flow, which is very strong, making a pressure of eighty-five pounds to

* The company has remained unchanged, with the exception of the removal by death of James E. Brown. His interest was taken by the other members of the company.

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THE BOROUGH OF KITTANNING.

the square inch, has never sensibly abated, it is fair to infer that it may remain undiminished for a very long period.

The company gives employment in its furnace, mill and coal bank to about 400 men, and to about 300 more elsewhere, chiefly in its iron mines. It is thus carrying on an industry very valuable to Kittanning and also to other localities in this county and its northern neighbor.

The facilities for grinding grain were for many years very meager. At an early day, probably in 1805-6, Abraham Parkinson fitted up a hand-mill on lot No. 30, fronting Vine and Jefferson streets. James Gibson also had such a mill somewhat later on one of his lots fronting on High and Water streets, and still later Michael Truby had one of the same kind on lot No. 75. For other milling facilities the people were dependent on the mills on Cowanshannock, Crooked Creek, Rinker's Run and other streams several miles distant, until the late Andrew Arnold erected a steam grist-mill on Jacob between Water and Jefferson streets in 1834-5, which continued in operation but a short time. Charles Cumpsley who had previously manufactured mowing machines, a large number of government wagons for use in the West and wheel- barrows for the contractors on the Allegheny Val- ley railroad, erected the steam grist-mill, in 1857, on the site of James Pink's old oil-mill on lot No. 66, which is a two-story brick building, containing two runs of stones, and which has been for several years past known as the Briney mill. The Klin- gensmith or Federal Spring steam grist-mill, brick, three stories, three runs of stones, was erected on lot No. 3, corner of High and Jefferson streets, in 1859, and went into operation Jannary 1, 1860. Those two mills accommodate not only the people of this borough, but of the surrounding country, especially when the water in the streams is too low, by reason of drouth, for running water mills.

The first tannery was established by Henry Worts, probably in 1804-5, on lot No. 30, fronting southwardly on Vine, between Water and Jefferson streets. The vats and other parts of his tannery having been seriously damaged by high water in the river, he abandoned the business, disposed of those and his other lots, Nos. 126 and 218, and re- turned to Carlisle, Pennsylvania, whence he came. It appears from the assessment list that John Da- vison and Henry Jack had tanneries in 1808. That of the former was on lot No. 6, on the west side and near the upper end of Jefferson street, and the latter on lot No. 164, on the north side of Jacob, and between Jefferson street and the public alley, parallel to the latter. Lot No. 248, corner of Wal-

nut and McKean streets, was assessed that year to William Reynolds, tanner, who about that time started thereon his tannery. Mr. Davison carried on his tannery until 1816-17, when he removed to Stoystown; Mr. Jack until about 1830, when he sold to Andrew Arnold, by whom it was operated until 1850, and then by H. J. Arnold and others until 1855-6; Mr. Reynolds until about 1840. There was another tanyard on lot No. 170, south side of Jacob, between Water and Jefferson streets, which was operated by A. Boyd & Co. for a year or so prior to October, 1830, and for a term of years thereafter, i. e. from October 16 in the last-men- tioned year, by Joseph Galbraith and John Shields. In October, 1843, that property was conveyed to Joseph McCartney, who used it as a tannery until 1862. Stephen B. Young carried on the same business on ground adjoining Arnold's steam mill for a limited period in 1835-6. John S. Alexan- der's tannery was started on lot No. 34, corner of Vine and Jefferson streets, and continued until 1873-4, when occurred, thus far at least, the finale of the manufacture of leather in this borough. The products of these tanneries were sole, upper and harness leather in considerable quantities.

Before the spinning of yarn and thread was cheapened by machinery, or, as some good old ladies would say, before pianos were substituted for spinning wheels, the business of the wheel- wright was a necessary and important branch of manufactures. In 1804 lot No. 90, on west side of McKean, next but one below Arch street, was assessed to James MeElhenny as wheelwright, but not afterward. It was carried on by George Clark in 1809 and perhaps later, by Daniel Morrow in 1812-13, by Robert Robinson, Sr., for awhile, by Thomas Clyde from 1813 until 1817-18, by James Richart in 1819, as appears from the assessment lists. James MeCullongh, Sr., settled here in 1820, and soon entered into that branch of manufactures, on or near that part of lot No. 127 where the First National Bank is located. In the course of a few years he had three shops in different parts of the borough, in which that kind of wheels was made, to the making of which he added that of chairs. After his retirement from the business, in 1862, it was conducted for several years by his son Alex- ander, on lot No. 167, northeast corner of Jacob and Mckean streets. D. B. Heiner, who learned his trade with the elder Mccullough, also carried on the manufacture of spinning-wheels, on both sides of Jefferson, near Arch street, from 1829 until 1854, exclusive of several years, during which he was engaged in mercantile business.

In the Columbian of June 21, 1828, is an adver-

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HISTORY OF ARMSTRONG COUNTY.

tisement of John Clugsten, in which he stated, among other things, that he had " commenced the manufacture of eight-day and thirty-hour brass clocks, in the frame building next door to Thomas Blair's office," which was on lot No. 122, on the north side of Market, a little above Jefferson street, and opposite the old Register's office. He, how- ever, made none of the thirty-hour and but five of the eight-day kind. Those which he did make were the long-case corner clocks, one of which was . purchased by John Mechling, which is now owned by J. E. Brown; one by James Mccullough, Sr., who still keeps it in good running order, the cost of both clock and case being $40; one by the late David Reynolds, which is still in the dining-room of the Reynolds House, but it has not been kept in running gear for several years; one by the late James Monteith, which became the property of his daughter, the late Mrs. Dr. John Gilpin, and was removed by Dr. Gilpin, several years before his death, to his homestead in Cecil county, Maryland, and the remaining one by the late James Mat- thews, which was sold with his other effects after his death. Mr. Clugsten's part of the work con- sisted in making, polishing and fitting the different parts of the machinery, and adjusting them to the dial-plate, which he did in such a way as to be creditable to Kittanning artisanship. There are attachments to those clocks showing the day of the month and the phases of the moon.

The first carding machine was operated by Richard Graham, and then, in 1822, by Robert Richards, on lot No. 59, now owned by David Patterson, on the east side of Jefferson street and on the south side of a public alley between, and parallel to, Arch and Vine streets, probably not longer than a year or two, for, in 1823-5, he was assessed as a schoolmaster, and shortly afterward, for a year or two, as a surveyor.

The next carding machine, with fulling-mill and spinning machinery, was operated by Hugh Fuller- ton, on lot No. 51, on east side of Water street near the mouth of 'Truby's run, in 1855, and con- tinued to operate the same until the fall of 1860, when he sold to J. Kennerdell & Co., who extended the business by manufacturing jeans, blankets, flannels and cassimeres, producing daily about 100 yards of those articles. The machinery, etc., cost $4,000. In the fall of 1863 the machinery was transferred to the three-story brick building known as the Iron Store, on lot No. 145, on Water street and the public alley between and parallel to Market and Jacob streets. It soon after changed hands. J. E. Brown and J. B. Finlay became largely inter- ested in the factory. Large accessions were made

to the machinery, costing $70,000 or $80,000. The products were flannels, blankets and cassimeres, amounting to about 500 yards a day. The number of employés was about fifty. With occasional stoppages, it continued to be operated the last few years of its existence by Goodell & Co., until Wednesday morning, March 25, 1874, when it was destroyed by a fire, which originated, it is sup- posed, in the engine-room. It was insured for a considerable amount, the claim for which, or a part of it, is in litigation. How long before, or whether ever, it will be rebuilt is questionable.

It is said that lightning strikes the same spot but once. Be that as it may, fire sometimes rav- ages the same locality more than once. On the site of that factory a three-story brick building was erected prior to 1820, in which resided, for several years, John Brodhead, deceased, who was a son of Gen. Daniel - Brodhead, who was the commandant of Fort Pitt in 1778-9. This house was, twenty or more years after the death of that descendant of Gen. Brodhead, occupied by Rev. Joseph Painter, and Thursday night, Novem- ber 14, 1844, was destroyed by fire, which subjected him and his family to such loss and inconvenience as such disasters usually occasion. Hence, the trustees of the academy gave him the use of the lower story of their building until April 1, 1845, and elected him principal.

In the spring of 1837 the late John S. Watson began the manufacture of farm, road and Dearborn wagons, chaises, buggies, sulkies, barouches, gigs, sleighs, etc., at the corner of Mckean and Jacob streets, near Isaac Scott's pottery, and continued it a few years.

About 1842, L. C. Pinney commenced the manu- facture of buggies, carriages and sleighs, on lot No. 142, on the corner of two public alleys, which was afterward continued by Pinney & Combs, and by Pinney & Son until 1870, on the opposite corner on the old court-honse square. It was sub- sequently carried on by Croll & Myers, in the old schoolhouse building on Jacob, between McKean street and the public alley parallel thereto, and it is now conducted there by J. F. Keener.

The manufacture of threshing machines was commenced by Henry Rush in 1849, and it is still continued, averaging about twelve per year.

In 1866, the first and as yet the only planing mill in this borough, was put in operation by the Heiner Brothers, on lot No. 86, corner of Arch street and Grant avenue, which was removed to their new brick building on lot No. 10, on the west side of that avenue, in 1874. The average quan- tity of lumber used annually is about one million

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THE BOROUGH OF KITTANNING.

feet. The products are worked and rough Inmber, doors, sash, moldings, brackets, window and door frames, shutters, mantels, palings, and the various kinds of seroll work. The machinery consists of planers, molders, scroll and circular saws, mor- ticers, and tenon-machine, which are worked by steam.

In 1873 the manufacture of machinery, of brass work, and the repairing of engines, boilers, and threshing machines, etc., was commenced by George M. Read, on lot No. 103 on the east side of McKean street and the public alley between and parallel to Arch and Market streets. The machin- ery was worked by steam, and continued in operation until the building was destroyed by fire, on the morning of Saturday, November 27, 1875, since when this distinctive branch of manufac- tures has ceased, except so as it is carried on in connection with the foundries.

The manufacture of hats was carried on by dif- ferent individuals, from at least as early as 1804 until 1858, when it ceased.

The manufacture of cabinet-ware was com- menced in 1807-8, and is still continued, though much of the furniture sold by the cabinet-makers, for some years past, has been purchased from large manufacturing establishments elsewhere.

The number of tailors has increased with the increase of population from 1803-4 until now. Of late years they have generally been merchant tailors, keeping on hand assortments of cloths, trimmings, and ready-made clothing, but still making many suits to order from their own stock or from material furnished by their customers.

The number of shoemakers has been, since the laying out of this town, commensurate with the wants of its population. Several of this class of tradesmen have, for several years past, combined with their manufacture of boots and shoes the purchase and sale of the ready-made. So that boot and shoe makers' shops have, in some in- stances, been expanded into large boot and shoe stores.

The manufacture of tinware, which was from 1823 until recently a branch by itself, is now con- nected mostly with the foundries.

The business of the silversmith, i. e., repairing watches and other chronometers, was introduced here in 1820-1. For most of the time since then, there have been at least two establishments there- for, which of late years have kept more or less ex- tensive, varied and suitable assortments of clocks, watches and jewelry- made elsewhere.

The milliners, in addition to what they make themselves, have, for a number of years past, kept

supplies of articles in their line, purchased in the great marts of trade.

It appears from the assessment lists, that the fol- lowing trades and occupations began to be exer- cised here thus: Cooper, in 1808; weavers, 1811-12; saddle and harness-maker, 1815; gunsmith, 1821; tinner, etc., 1823; barber, confectioner, 1833; mnill- wright, grocer, buteher and dentist. 1843; plow- maker, 1834; windmill-maker, stone-cutter, 1844; baker, 1848; brewer of lager beer, marble-cutter, 1849; pump-borer, druggist or apothecary, 1831; bookseller, lumber-merchant, 1853; livery stable- keeper, 1856; banker, broker, restaurant-keeper, 1856-7; daguerrotyper -; photographer, 1863; bookbinder, 1871; undertaker, 1873. Several of these branches of business may have been con- menced somewhat earlier than the assessment lists indicate. What used to be called strong beer was brewed, on a small scale, between 1820 and 1830, on lot No. 75, on Water street. There was an in- terval of several years between the cessation of brewing this kind of beer and the beginning of the brewing of lager beer. Daguerreotyping has been substituted by photographing. The rest of these branches of business, with a few exceptions, are still carried on-most of them have been extended to meet the increasing wants of the community.

The number of stone and brick masons, plaster- ers and carpenters has, from the first, kept pace with the increasing demand for their labor. Much of the carpenter work formerly done by hand is now done by machinery ; especially that of plan- ing, molding and carving. House painting became an established branch of business here at a some- what later period, and the number of those now engaged in it has increased. Since 1858, there has been a marked change for the better in the style of buildings ; an improved architectural taste has been evinced in most of the edifices since then erected.

The first pottery was started by John Black, ac- cording to the assessment list, in 1814. Lot No. 215 was then assessed to him, which is on the sonth- east corner of McKean and Mulberry streets. The next year lot No. 202, on the opposite side of Me- Kean, being the third lot above Mulberry street, was also assessed to him. Afterward, from 1816 to 1818 inclusive, he was assessed with lot No. 184 only. He seems to have commenced the pottery business on the first named, and to have closed it on the last named lot. He occasionally taught singing-school in his own house. Portions of Me- Kean street were then quite swampy, and the frogs were so numerous that it was called " Frog street." A common expression, when they were

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HISTORY OF ARMSTRONG COUNTY.

croaking near his residence, was, " There's Black's singing-school."

The pottery manufacture was resumed by the late Isaac Scott, on lot No. 184, on the west side of MeKean street, being the third lot below Jacob street, in 1822, in which he was succeeded in 1846-7 by George Buyers, who carried it on until his death, which was caused by the accidental dis- charge of his gun that was lying on the bags of grain in his wagon, behind which he was walking on his way to the mill near the mouth of the Cowanshannock, in the summer or fall of 1849. His successors were George Gabel, John M. Dosch and John Volk. The last-named retired from the business in 1863. After Mr. Scott ceased to oper- ate the pottery, it was probably transferred to lot No. 190, which was assessed to George Buyers un- til his death ; while lot No. 184 was assessed from 1847 to 1851-2 to Benjamin Blanchard, as a wind- mill-maker. The products of the pottery were chiefly earthenware.

Plows were manufactured, on a limited scale, by Francis Dobbs, on lot No. 136, west side of Jefferson, between Market street and the public alley parallel thereto, in 1843-5. Adam Cook was assessed as a plow-maker in 1844.

Brickmaking must have started, not exactly within the borough limits, but just " over the bor- der," or northern limit, opposite out-lot No. 3, as early at least as 1805, for articles of agreement were made February 22, 1806, whereby Andrew Gondy leased to Paul Morrow his." brick-yard and land appurtenant, situate just above the town of Kittanning "-which some of the oldest inhabit- ants distinctly remember was in the locality above indicated-for one year from that date, "together with all the clay already dug, the molding tools, two spades, one ax and a wheelbarrow." Gondy also agreed to repair the roof of the shed and per- mit Morrow to carry away the casing of the kiln and any cordivood that might remain after the bricks were burned. For all which Morrow agreed to pay Goudy, his heirs or assigns, the sum of $30 on the 1st day of November then next, and the further sum of three shillings and sixpence for every cord of wood then cut. It does not appear from any endorsement on that lease, or any other accessible source, whether that lease was con- tinned for a term or terms running through the three or four subsequent years. But it does appear from the county commissioners' records that Paul Morrow furnished 189,000 brick for the first court-house, in 1809-10. The piece of land on which that brick-yard was located contained two acres and sixteen perches, and was one of the "two

fragments or pieces of land" which James Arm- strong, of Carlisle, Pennsylvania, conveyed to Robert Brown for $130 by deed dated October 18, 1809, and which the latter, for $500, by deed dated January 1, 1813, conveyed to Robert Stewart, who supplied this town with brick therefrom until 1827. He was one of the very few marked " colored " on the Kittanning assessment lists. His complexion, it is said, indicated that he was of African descent, but his hair did not, so that he was regarded by some as a Portuguese. His successor in that brick- yard until 1830 was John Hunt, who was followed by James Daugherty, deceased, and William Sir- well, Sr. The latter there erected the first dry- house and made the first pressed brick in this county, in 1851. Since then, that ground has been used for other purposes. One-fourth of an acre of it was conveyed to John W. Rohrer and wife, by deed dated April 1, 1852, for $250 .. Another. quarter of an acre in the rear part of it has been covered with water, winter and summer, since it was excavated, making a pond which does not dry up at any season of the year and affords a con- siderable supply of good ice in the winter, and has no visible inlet or outlet.

The manufacture of brick was carried on, at different points within the borough limits, at dif- ferent periods, from 1838-9 until 1866, by the above- mentioned James Daugherty, and then by John F. Nulton, H. D. & G. B. Daugherty, and, perhaps, some others, until 1866. The Avenue Brick Works, on out-lots Nos. 20 and 21, are owned and operated by G. B. Daugherty, with which are connected a dry-house capable of holding 6,000 bricks, and two kiln walls, etc. Their present capacity is equal to the manufacture of 4,500,000 bricks per annum.

The annual product of the various kilns has varied from 100,000 to 1,000,000 bricks.

BANKING.

In the Gazette of February 17, 1836, is a call for a meeting of the citizens of Kittanning and vicinity to be held in the grand jury room on Saturday evening, the 27th of that month, for the purpose of forming a Mechanics' Savings Fund Company. The call also stated that drafts of a constitution and by-laws would be submitted. That meeting was held and the company organized.

At a meeting of the directors March 16, 1836, a resolution was adopted requiring the members of the company to pay into its treasury respectively five dollars on Saturday, the 26th then instant. As that institution is one of the things of the distant past, readers may be interested to know who the officers and directors of that first banking company

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THE BOROUGH OF KITTANNING.

in this borough were. From the papers of those times they appear to have been: William F. John- ston, president; William Matthews, secretary; Jo- seph M. Jordan, treasurer; Frederick Rohrer, Nathaniel Henry, Francis Dobbs, Hugh Campbell and Archibald Dickey, directors.

The stockholders were almost exclusively me- chanies. There is but a faint recollection of this financial institution left in the minds of even those who were its stockholders. I have not been able to obtain a copy of its constitution and by-laws or access to its records, so that I cannot state the ainount of stock subscribed, or that of each share, or how long it continued in operation. I am, how- ever, informed by one of the stockholders that stock was paid up and some loans made, but to his surprise it was determined at one of the meetings of the officers or managers to close-wind up the affairs of the company-which was accordingly done, and the amount of stock which each had paid, together with its earnings, was refunded. It was not, of course, clothed with banking powers and privileges, but was intended to afford without them some of the facilities incident to banking institutions. My informant suggests that opposi- tion to it originated among the merchants, because it afforded its members facilities for loaning money with which they purchased such goods as they needed in Pittsburgh or elsewhere. Another cause of its discontinuance, suggested by another infor- mant, was, according to his best recollection, dissat- isfaction among such of its members as could not be accommodated with loans when they wanted them.

For several years after 1836 there was a great, a distressing scarcity of money here as well as everywhere else in this country. So general was the dearth of currency that merchants and other business men in Kittanning and other places re- luetantly resorted to the issuing of scrip or " shin- plasters," as they were called, as a medium of small change or currency. The following is a copy of one of those " shinplasters ":

" Payment secured by the individual responsi- bility of the Members of the Co."

No. 275. "50 CENTS. .50

Received by the KITTANNING SAVINGS COMPANY from R. Cunningham, on deposit, Fifty Cents, which is payable to him or bearer, on demand, in current

Bank Notes of the City of Pittsburgh,

With interest, at one per cent per annum, by A. Colwell, R. Robinson, P. Mechling, J. E. Brown, G. Monroe, and T. McConnell, or either of them, when presented in sums amounting to five dollars.

(Signed) "P. MECHLING, PRESIDENT."

" R. ROBINSON, Treasurer.

" Kittanning, 1 June, 1837."

" ** >"FIFTY CENTS."K -...

Though the paper-promises, of one of which the foregoing is a copy, were not as widely and univer- sally current as is the present United States scrip or fractional currency, they nevertheless were very convenient in those truly hard times as a means of exchange, or as small currency here, and where the solvency and reputation of the promisers were known.

A number of citizens of this borough inaugu- rated a movement for the establishment of a bank : here in 1844, as appears from their notice, dated June 27, that they would apply to the legislature at its next session for the incorporation of the Armstrong County Bank. That application did not prove to be successful.

By the act of May 5, 1857, the Kittanning Bank was incorporated, with a capital stock of $100,000 and the right to increase it to $300,000, to be divided into shares of fifty dollars each; to be organized, managed and governed as provided by the general act regulating banks, approved April 16, 1850; and to pay a bonus of one per cent of the amount of its capital stock into the state treasury. Its charter is dated June 24, 1857. It was duly organized and commenced business in August, 1857, in a small brick office adjacent to the present building, on lot No. 127. Its capital stock was $200,000. During the general bank suspension of specie payments in 1857-8 it continued to pay specie. It was one of the very few that did not suspend. In those times bills of banks were not readily received out of their own states or vicini- ties. During that general suspension the writer had occasion to purchase a railroad ticket in Cleve- land, Ohio, but had with him only bills of the Kittanning Bank, which the ticket agent at first refused to accept, requiring bills of such banks as were in his own state, but on my assuring him that that was a specie paying bank, and that it had never suspended, he receded from the stand which he had taken and sold me a ticket.

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History of Armstrong County, Pennsylvania, Part 31

Author: Smith, Robert Walter Publication date: 1883 Publisher: Chicago : Waterman, Watkins Number of Pages: 790

Author: Smith, Robert Walter
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Chicago : Waterman, Watkins
Number of Pages: 790