History of Bedford, Somerset, Fulton counties Pennsylvania, Part 108

Author: Waterman, Watkins & Co.
Publication date: 1884
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 967

USA > Pennsylvania > Bedford County > History of Bedford, Somerset, Fulton counties Pennsylvania > Part 108
USA > Pennsylvania > Fulton County > History of Bedford, Somerset, Fulton counties Pennsylvania > Part 108
USA > Pennsylvania > Somerset County > History of Bedford, Somerset, Fulton counties Pennsylvania > Part 108

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).

Christ Reformed congregation, of Davidsville, was organized by Rev. W. H. Bates, May 4, 1879, with sixteen members. The congregation has no church edifice, but worships in an old schoolhouse. There are eighteen members at present. Rev. W. H. Bates was the first pastor, and his successor, Rev. M. H. Diefenderfer, is now in charge.

Conemaugh Church of the Brethren, or Ger- man Baptists, was organized in 1810. It now has three meeting-houses and one hundred and fifty members. Two of the meeting-houses are situated in Conemaugh township. S. Benshoof is the present bishop. This church is partly in Cambria county.

The Centennial church of the Evangelical Association was erected in 1876, during the pas- torate of Rev. T. Eisenhower, and cost fifteen hundred dollars. Church officers : Jacob Mish-

ler, Adam Shaffer, Levi Mishler, James Mishler and John R. Livingstone. Present member- hip : church, forty-five; sabbath school, one hundred.

The Amish have a church of about one hun- dred members. The first minister of that sect who preached in this township was Jacob Eash, who, with Jacob Miller, labored many years in this section of the county. All the early meet- ings were held in private houses. The church erected a frame meeting-house northeast of Davidsville, in 1875, at a cost of about eight hundred dollars. The present ministers are M. B. Miller and Jonathan Hershberger.

There are three Mennonite churches in the township. Many years ago the people of this denomination worshiped in a log building in the southern part of the township, not far from the spot where the present church stands. Jacob and Samuel Blough were the first Mennonite ministers in the township. The present house, a frame building, 40 X 48 feet, was erected about 1859, at a cost of about one thousand dollars. The present membership is about eighty. The second of the Mennonite churches is a frame structure, situated in the western part of the township. It was built at a cost of about one thousand dollars. The present membership is about eighty. The third, situated in the eastern part of the township, is also a frame building, and cost about seven hundred dollars. This, too, has nearly eighty members. The ministers of the churches are Jonas Blough, Joseph and Samuel Gindlesperger and Cyrus Hershberger.

CHAPTER LXV.

PAINT.

Paint Township Organized in 1837 - First Mills, Stores and Industries- Mary Ann Forge - Tax List, 1887-Pioneer Families - Experience of Early Settlers - Bethel - A Fast Growing Village - Churches of the Township - Mount Zion and St. Thomas. Lutheran - Bethel United Brethren.

P AINT township was formerly a part of Shade. It was organized as a separate township and election precinct in 1837. The township was named after Paint creek.

The first gristmill in the township (a log structure) was erected at the mouth of Shade creek, by David Livingston, in 1812. He also built the first sawmill about the same time. The first store was opened by Jacob Berke-

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bile, at Hillsboro', in 1848. Mr. Berke- bile is now living in Shade township. His suc- cessor in the mercantile business was Hiram Boyts.

There never was a distillery in the township, so far as the present inhabitants know. The manufacturing interests have been very few. There is one woolenmill, which was built about the same time with the first gristmill, and near the same place. It is still in operation.

Coal abounds throughout the township. As yet it has not been mined to any considerable extent.

The first brick house in the township was erected by Daniel Berkey. It is the only brick building at present.

About 1811, Joseph Vickroy and Conrad Piper built Mary Ann forge, five miles below Shade furnace, and near the junction of Shade creek and Stony creek. Richard Geary, the father of Gov. John W. Geary, was the mill- wright who built the forge for the owners. Subsequently David Livingston owned the forge and operated it for several years. It is `stated that pig-iron was brought on horseback from Bedford county to this forge. In return bar-iron and salt from the Conemaugh salt works was carried back.

The first church was erected near Livingston's mill by the Mennonites, Reformed and Luther- ans. The German Baptists built the second The first sermon in the township was preached by Jacob Blough, a Mennonite minister. The first free school was taught in 1843. J, B. Stickler was one of the first teachers.

Paint township did not attract the earliest settlers of the county. The land was not taken up rapidly, and there were but few farms in the township until other settlements of the county had become large and flourishing. The eastern part of Paint still abounds in timber, and extensive tracts are still unimproved. The woodlands of this part of the county were the favorite hunting-grounds of the early set- tlers. Game of all kinds was very abundant, and for some years the pioneers depended largely upon it for the means of subsistence.

The following were the taxable inhabitants of Paint township in the year 1837 :

Geo. Arres, Jac. Ash, Peter Berkey (justice), Jac. Blough, Jesse Berkebile, Andrew Berke bile, Henry Berkey, Dan'l Berkey (justice), Peter Berkey, Abr. Burghard, Dav, Blough,

Dan. Berkey (of Peter), John Foust, John Fyock, Sr., John Fyock, Jr., Geo. Frahn, John Fisher, Henry Foust (miller), Dav. Fyock, Chris. Fry, Jos. Growden, John Giser (carpen- ter), John Heltzle, John Huffman, Geo. Heltzle, Dan. Helman, Isaac Holsapbel, Adam Holsap- bel, Joseph Johns, Harrison Jones, Fred Kuster, Jac. Kuster, widow Kocher, John Kuntz, Jac. Lint, Geo. Lint, Isaac Lehman, Dav. Livingston (saw and grist mill and carding-machine), Jao. Livingston, Henry Lehman, Moses Miller, Jao. Messebaugh (saw and grist mill), Dav. Moyers, Chris. Miller, John Messeny (tailor), Wm. Moore (saw and grist mill, miller), Dan. Nies- sly, Chris. Niessly, John Neuner (cabinetmaker), Jos. Oaks, Emanuel Penrod, Peter Ripple, Nich. Ripple, John Ripple, Fred. Rininger (fulling and carding mill), John Roudebush, Andrew Sprowel, Dav. Shaffer, Jr., Peter Short, Mel- choir Seese, Dav. Shaffer, Sr., John Shaffer, Ph. Seese, Jac. Shaffer, Levi Shaffer, Sam. Stehr, Conrad Seese, John Slanghbangh, Bar- bara Seese, Emanuel Seese, Chris. Thomas, John Wirich (mason), Fred. Wirich, John Wertz, Adam Wasem, John Wible, Jos. Yoder, John Yont.

Single freemen : Benj. Miller, Jac. Wertz, Sam. Livingston, John Seese (of Con.), John Feil, Wm. Kocher.

Total valuation of Paint, etc., 1887, twenty- seven thousand two hundred and forty-one dol- lars.

John Fyock is believed to have been the first settler, and to have cleared the first land within the territory which now constitutes Paint town- ship. Joseph and David Troyer, who came from the eastern part of the state, were also early pioneers. . Almost contemporary with them were: Melker Cessec, Philip Hoffman and Christian Kauffman.

David Livingston, a revolutionary soldier, came to this county from Maryland, about 1790, and settled in what is now Conemaugh town- ship. It was he who built the first gristmill and sawmill in Paint township. He died in 1843, aged eighty-three. He married Anna Mishler, and was the father of Samuel, David, Jacob, Freenie, Maria, Anna (Lehman) and Eve (Foust), all deceased.

Henry Foust married Eve Livingston, and was the father of eight children, five of whom are living : Samuel, Henry, Elizabeth, Sarah and Louisa. Samuel Foust is a miller, and runs the

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HISTORY OF SOMERSET COUNTY.

mill which was built by his father. It stands on the site of the old Livingston mill. Henry Foust is living on the farm originally owned by his grandfather.

Philip Hoffman came from Maryland prior to 1795, and settled in Paint township. He was a weaver, and made cloth for the settlers. His occupation, once so common, no longer ex- ists in farming communities of this county. Smoother and handsomer, but not more dura- ble, goods have taken the place of the plain homespun which once clothed every farmer and his family. Philip Hoffman died in this town- ship in 1854. He married Barbara Miller, and was the father of two sons, Jacob and John, and nine daughters. One of the daughters, Susan, now Mrs. Christian Thomas, is still liv- ing, and is now eighty-five years of age. Her husband, who is eighty-siz, is the oldest man in Paint township. He was born in Conemaugh township in 1797.

Jacob, the oldest son of Philip Hoffman, came to this township with his father. He re- moved to Cambria county, where he died in 1856. He married Hannah Mauggens. Three of his children are living : John, Elizabeth and Mary. John.was county commissioner in 1872. He has served as township constable, and was school director for eighteen years. His eldest son, Daniel, lives on the old homestead, which is the oldest farm in Paint. It.was cleared and improved by Samuel Fyock, the pioneer.

John, the second son of Philip Hoffman, was born in 1802. He moved to Cambria county, where he died at the age of thirty years. He married Susan Wertz, who is still living. Chil- dren : Samuel, Jacob and Aaron. Jacob lives on a farm in Paint, which was first improved by Adam Wassam, about forty-four years ago.

John Custer came from Franklin county to Conemangh township in 1820. He moved to Paint, where he died in 1828. He was a shoe- maker by trade. His children are all dead. Their names were John, Jacob, Henry, Fred- erick, Abram, Philip, Catharine, Susan and Elizabeth. Henry Custer came to this county with hisfather. He was born in 1790, and died in Paint township in 1870. His wife, whose maiden name was Elizabeth Holsapple, bore five chil- dren : Josiah, David, Henry P. J., Daniel and Priscilla (Whisler). Daniel died in the late war. Priscilla is also dead. Josiah was a soldier for ten months, He now resides on a

farm adjacent to the homestead ; the latter is now occupied by his brother, Henry P. J.

Frederick Custer, a native of Maryland, came to this county about 1795, and settled in Conemaugh township. He died in 1838. His children were Elizabeth, Jacob, Mary, Frede- rick, William, John, Michael, Catharine, Mar- garet, Nancy, Sarah and Hannah. Samuel J. Custer, who now resides in this township, is a grandson of the early settler above mentioned. Mr. Custer enlisted in August, 1861, in Co. I, 54th regt. Penn. Vols., and served until dis- charged in June, 1865. Entering the service as private, he was promoted to sergeant. He was taken prisoner at High Bridge, Virginia.

John Border, & native of Germany, was an early settler of Bedford county, where he died. He was married four times and was the father of twenty-two children. Daniel, one of his sons, was born in Bedford county in 1804. He moved to Somerset county about 1836, and followed his trade, carpentry and cabinetmak- ing. He died in Coremaugh in 1875. His wife was Charlotte Goeb, and their children were John, Frederick, Daniel W., Joseph, Edmund, Catharine, Magdalena, Charlotte, Mary E., Rebecca and Ellen. Daniel W. enlisted in September, 1861, and served till June, 1862, in Co. K, 186th regt. Penn. Vols.

The Brubakers, originally from Lancaster county, were among the early settlers of Somer- set county. Abram Brubaker was born in Conemaugh township in 1807. He has been a blacksmith and farmer. He was county com- missioner one term. He now resides in Shade township. Mr. Brubaker has been married four times. His children are Samuel, Cyrus (de- ceased), Daniel R., Michael, John, J. M., William, Sarah, Mary (deceased), Lena and Catharine. Cyrus and Daniel R. served in the late war. Cyrus was killed at Spottsylvania. Daniel R. was quartermaster of Co. H, 54th regt. Penn. Vols. ; enlisted March, 1862; dis- charged April, 1865. He is a blacksmith, and has been doing business at Scalp Level since 1870.

Joseph Lehman was a blacksmith, and followed his trade for fifty-five years. He was born in Cambria county in 1800; came to Som- erset county when about eighteen years of age ; died in Paint township in 1872. Mr. Lehman. held the office of constable in Conemaugh town- ship; he was also captain of a militia company.

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He married Anna, daughter of David Living- ston, and was the father of twelve children : John, David, Tobias, Samuel, Joseph (deceased), Henry, Jacob, Susanna, Eve, Fanny, Mary A. and Delilah. John, Samuel and Henry served in the late war. Tobias is living on the Custer homestead, formerly owned by his father-in-law.

David Weaver, of German descent, lived in Conemaugh township several years, then moved to Cambria county, where he died at the age of sixty-two. He was married to Susanna Mishler, and was the father of Tobias, William, Daniel, David and Abraham D. (living) ; Levi, Noah, Leah and Martha (deceased); Elizabeth and Hannah (living). Noah served in the late war, was wounded and died from the effects of the wound. Abraham D. owns two hundred and fifty-four acres of land in this township, where he has been farming since 1865.

BETHEL.

Bethel village has sprung up very recently. Though young, it is prosperous. It is laid out on land which was formerly the Henry Blough farm. The first building erected was the United Brethren church in 1874. The first dwelling was built by Hiram .H. Boyts in 1880. The next building erected was a gristmill, by John Hoover, in 1881. Tobias Mishler was the first storekeeper and postmaster. The postoffice . (Holsapple) was established in 1881. Bethel contained in June, 1883, two stores, one gristmill, one steam sawmill, one manufactory of fer- tilizers and one church.

J. W. Whisler, merchant, came from Cambria county to Paint township in 1870. In 1882 he engaged in the mercantile business, succeeding Tobias Mishler. He was appointed postmaster at Holsapple in March, 1883. Mr. Whisler is a grandson of Henry Custer, an early pioneer of this county.

John Hoover was born in Franklin county. In 1887 he came to Quemahoning township, Somerset county, and in 1881 settled in Paint township. Mr. Hoover is engaged in milling, which business he has followed for over forty years.

Joseph Boyer came from Eastern Pennsyl- vania to Somerset county. He served as a sol- dier in the Mexican war. He moved to Bedford county, where he died in 1869, aged about sev- enty-six. His sons were Abraham, Joseph,

Jonathan (deceased) and Samuel. Samuel Boyer was born in this county. He removed to Iowa in 1883. His only son, J. A. Boyer, is engaged in the manufacture of fertilizers at Bethel and is conducting a good business. He is the owner of twenty-eight town lots in the growing village of Bethel. He is a carpenter by trade, and has been engaged in the manufacture of lumber since 1871. He is the owner of a steam saw- mill, located at Bethel, and has also one hundred acres of timber land.

CHURCHES.

Lutheran .- Mount Zion Evangelical Lutheran church was organized in 1856 by Rev. L. J. Bell. The original members were John Seese, John Statler, Emanuel J. Seese, Adam Folmer, Daniel Shaffer, Frederick Keifer, Peter Statler, Philip Seese, M. Seese, Jr., Philip E. Seese, Jacob Seese, Sr., William Vaupel, Henry Berkey, Daniel Border and Andrew Shaffer. The pas- tors have been Revs. L. J. Bell, J. T. Kuhlman, P. Sheeder, A. R. Height, D. Stufft, J. A. Nuner, D. Stufft and A. M. Hubler. The house of wor- ship was built in 1857, at a cost of five hundred. dollars. The congregation is out of debt. Mem- bership : church, fifty ; sabbath school, seventy.

St. Thomas Evangelical Lutheran church was organized in 1874 by Rev. A. J. Nuner, with twenty-nine members. The first church officers were Reuben Miller and Thomas Lohr, elders ; David Naugle and John Kaltenbaugh, deacons. The pastors have been as follows : Revs. J. A. Nuner, D. Stufft and A. M. Hubler. The house of worship, built in 1874, cost five hundred dol- lars. The congregation is out of debt and has a membership of thirty-six in the church and fifty in the sabbath school.

United Brethren .- The Bethel United Brethren church, Paint township, was organized by Rev. Daniel Shank, in 1858. The first members were David J. Lehman and wife, William Dempsey and wife, Philip Moyer and wife, John Livingston and wife, and John D. Blough and wife. The pastors to date have been as follows : Revs. Daniel Shank, Joseph Potts, Joshua Reynolds, William Long, Daniel Brin- kel, Jackson, John Felix, William Beighley, Cicero Wartman, Justice Pershing, David Speck and A. E. Fulton. The house of worship, erected in 1874, cost seven hundred dollars. The church is out of debt. Membership : church, forty- two; sabbath school, sixty.

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CHAPTER LXVI.

SHADE.

Organization - Name - Caspar Statler, the Pioneer - He goes to Franklin County to Trade - Flees from the Indians - The First Wagon Road-The Customs of Early Days - Early Mills and Manufactures -Coal- Shade Furnace -Churches.

YHADE township, named after Shade creek, S was formed in 1814.' It then included the territory now known as Paint township. Aside from a very few early families, most of the inhabitants of Shade township are late settlers, who have moved to this part of the county from various localities. A large part of the eastern half of the township is still an uncultivated wilderness.

The earliest settlers of Shade were Caspar Statler, Jacob Moses, Daniel Gibler, George Lambert and others. Caspar Statler was prob- ably the first settler in the township, as well as one of the very earliest inhabitants of Somerset county. He came from Franklin county, follow- ing the old military road (built in 1758, and known to the early settlers as Forbes' road), and having reached the western slope of the Allegheny mountain, settled, and began making himself a farm. He and his wife must have led a lonely life for many years. Statler at first went to Greencastle, Franklin county, to trade. He was also obliged to flee several times from his mountain home and betake himself to that county, during the period of Indian hostilities. At such times he was accustomed to conceal his tools, and whatever of his personal property he could not take with him, by burying. Caspar Statler, the pioneer, was a thrifty, genial, whole-souled man. By his industry he accumu- lated wealth and was the owner of large bodies of land in Somerset and Bedford counties. The wife of Mr. Statler was Rebecca Walter. In

her early life she was captured by the Indians while living in Franklin county. After seven years of life among the savages, she succeeded in making her escape and returned to her home and friends. The children of Caspar and Rebecca Statler were Caspar, Emanuel, John, Samuel, and several daughters. Two of the daughters married Lamberts, who were among the first settlers in Shade township. Samuel, the son of Caspar, lived and died on the old Statler homestead, which his son Samuel now owns and occupies.

The early settlers suffered great inconven-

ience from a lack of mills and stores near them. Many were compelled either to boil wheat and make it serve for bread, or else make some- thing that resembled flour, by pounding the grain with a stone. Handmills were also used. The first gristmill in the township was built by Christian Brollier, three and one-half miles east of Stoystown, prior to 1800. The first sawmill was built by George Lambert, on Little Shade creek, probably about 1800. The first store in the township was kept by a man named Miller, at Buckstown, about 1849.

One of the earliest settlers in the northeastern part of the county, Michael Wagner, came from Germany. He served through the revolutionary war, and about 1791 settled in this county. He died in this township at the age of ninety-four. His children were : Michael, Jacob, Jonathan, Mary, Eve, Catharine, etc. Jonathan is still living. He was born in this township in 1799 and still resides here, being now among the oldest residents. He married Civilla Reel and is the father of Daniel, David E., Jonathan B., Charles A., Margaret (deceased), Maria (Lam- bert), Ann (Shank), Sophia (Statler) and Jane. Daniel is a merchant in Buckstown. Charles A. farms on the homestead. David E. and Jonathan B. have adjoining farms.

Christian Cable moved from one of the eastern counties of this state and settled in Brother's Valley, near Berlin, about 1780. He died in 1830. His children were Henry, Tobias, Christian, Jacob, Catharine, Rosanna, Sarah, Fannie and Elizabeth. Henry Cable was born near Berlin, in 1807. He moved to Shade town- ship in 1828. He died in 1868. His wife was Susan Specht, and their children were: Wash- ington (deceased), Joseph, Christian (deceased), Jonathan, Sarah (deceased), Eliza (Knupp), Theresa (Eversole) and Susan (Lambert). Dav- id lives on the homestead. Joseph is farming on a part of the old furnace property.

The first wagon road crossing the Alleghenies in this part of the state was the old military road leading to Fort Pitt. It led over the mountain in a course that was nearly straight, and conse- quently its grade was very steep. The wagon- ers who traveled it, when about to descend the mountain, were accustomed to cut logs and tie them to the hind axles of the wagon. The logs, dragging, thus served as brakes. When the foot of the mountain was reached, the logs were rolled or dragged out of the road into the woods.

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Q.B. Whiskey

J. B. WHIPKEY.

Turning back in the dim vistas of the past some four generations, we find the first representative of this immediate branch of the Whipkey family, in America, to have been David Whipkey, who emigrated from Germany to this " land of the free," and settled near Philadelphia. After a short rojourn here be removed to Somerset county, and here it was that he passed the remainder of his days amid hardships and deprivations, to which fortunately the present generation are strangers.

David Whipkey became the father of several children, and among others John, who was born in this county in 1797. Having reached mature years, John married Margaret Gerry. About 1847 they moved to Green county, and subsequently to Westmoreland county, Penn- sylvania, near Mount Pleasant, where he departed this life at the ad- vanced age of seventy-five years. The issue of their marriage was ten children - seven sons and three daughters. One of their sons, Peter G., who was born in 1821, remained in this county, having in the meantime married Mary, daughter of Daniel Moore, of Middle Creek township, and is now among the prosperous and progressive fariners of Middle Creek township. The honorable position he has acquired and now maintains in the community where be resides is due to his own exertions, for he commenced in the foresta to carve out a home for himself. Mr. Whipkey was a hearty advocate of the free-school system, and since its adoption bas served as school- director. Both Mr. and Mrs. Whipkey are consistent members of the Lutheran church. They are the parents of five sons, all of whom are still living. One of their sons, J. B. Whipkey, was born July 15, 1845. Reared on a farm, Mr. Whipkey early assisted his father, not only in the ordinary routine of farm labor, but also in the arduous task of clearing up and improving the farm, he assisting very materially in this direction. He thus early established habits of industry, which are the only sure foundation for a successful career in life.

He attended the common schools of his district, and was an apt pupil. While an attendant of the common school, he was highly commended by the county superintendent for the degree of pro- ficiency he had attained, which caused him to form the resolution of aspiring to the office of the county superintendency, which goal he

ultimately reached, although unforeseen obstacles presented them- selves, which is another verification of the trite saying, " Where there is a will, there is a way." He had attended two terms in a select school, when his father was drafted, in 1864. Possessed of much patriotism, also paternal love, he immediately offered himself as a substitute, and was accepted. He went as a recruit into the 61st Penn. Inf., then in the Shenandoah valley. He was in several engagements, and his company was the first to capture the Confed- erate colors after the fall of Petersburg. After the fall of Petersburg his corps, the 6th, followed the Confederates to Appomattox, and after the surrender here were despatched to Danville, to intercept Gen. Johnston, and here it was that he was discharged, in May, 1865. Returning home he engaged in farming, teaching school and attend- ing normal schools, until the spring of 1868, when he entered the Mount Union College in Ohio, from which institution he gradu- ated. in the commercial course, in 1871. But for sickness, which precluded farther study, he would also have graduated in the scien- tific course. He then resumed school-teaching in various places in the country, including normal schools. In 1873 be accepted the position of principal of the schools of Berlin, which position he was alling when elected county superintendent of schools, in 1875. Mr. Whipkey's services were very valuable in the way of elevating the standard of public instruction, and were generally so recognized, a fact which was attested by his being re elected to the same office in 1878. While filling this office he compiled the history of the schools of the county, which was published in a volume by the state, in 1877, in connection with the history of the other schools of the common- wealth. Since 1881, Mr. Whipkey has been quite extensively engaged in mining coal, near Salisbury, he being secretary and treasurer of the Fair View Coal Company, of which be is a member. Whatever success Mr. Whipkey has thus far attained is clearly traceable to his good character and to his own exertions. thus showing that true merit, if our efforts are properly directed, is sure of its reward. Po- litically he is a member of the republican party.

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History of Bedford, Somerset, Fulton counties Pennsylvania, Part 108

Author: Waterman, Watkins & Co. Publication date: 1884 Publisher: Number of Pages: 967

Author: Waterman, Watkins & Co.
Publication date: 1884
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 967