History of Bedford, Somerset, Fulton counties Pennsylvania, Part 116

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

USA > Pennsylvania > Bedford County > History of Bedford, Somerset, Fulton counties Pennsylvania > Part 116
USA > Pennsylvania > Fulton County > History of Bedford, Somerset, Fulton counties Pennsylvania > Part 116
USA > Pennsylvania > Somerset County > History of Bedford, Somerset, Fulton counties Pennsylvania > Part 116

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).

Harrison H. Kemp, whose ancestors were early settlers at West Salisbury, was born at Petersburg, and has resided in Lower Turkey- Foot since 1857. He has a beautiful and pleas- ant home, and is largely engaged in the nursery business.

Hiram Frantz, a native of Allegheny county, Maryland, came to this township in 1855. In 1881 he purchased his present farm of two hundred acres, near Confluence. Mr. Frantz served in the late war, in Co. B, 18th Penn. Cav .; enlisted at Pittsburgh, in February, 1864, and was mustered out in October, 1865.

Noah Scott, whose ancestors are mentioned in the history of Jefferson township, came to this township in 1869, and for some time fol- lowed the business of contractor on the railroad in partnership with Col. E. D. Yutzy, building about ten miles of the Pittsburgh & Connells- ville railroad, besides the Berlin, Salisbury and Ursina branches. He is now engaged in farm- ing, and has one of the finest homes in the township.

Harnedsville is a small and unimportant village, containing one church, one store, one tannery, one blacksmith-shop, one cabinetshop and one shoemaker-shop. The place takes its name from the Harneds, who formerly owned the land on which the village is.

Many interesting facts relative to early fami- lies and early events have been furnished for this chapter by Mr. Lee Forquer, of Ursina, who has made a special study of the early history of this region.

URSINA.

Ursina, as is elsewhere stated, occupies the site of the Ream farm, and was the point of one of the earliest settlements in the Turkey- Foot region. Evidences of Indian occupation are abundant. Arrow and spear heads and other stone implements of the aboriginal race are frequently found, even at this day, in the soil along the river. There is a tradition that the settlers once had a sort of rude fortification on

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the bank of the stream near the lower end of the town, close beside the tree that bears the name of "The Fort Oak." There is evidence that this was actually the case, a part of the works still being visible, while some of the logs, covered by the water of the river, are tolerably well-preserved. It is said that the old fort-house was connected with the river by a covered passageway, so that the occupants of the building could procure water without ex- posing themselves to danger from the Indians.

Ursina received its somewhat fanciful name from the fact that it was laid out by Hon. Will- iam J. Baer," now the president judge of this district, and who at that time owned the land on which the town was plotted: The town was laid out in 1868, H. L. Baer and R. J. Botzer being the surveyors.

The first house was built by Ephraim Kreger, in 1868, and was occupied as a hotel for several years. It is now a private dwelling.

The first store was erected in 1868, by Isaac A. Jenkins. Mr. Jenkins still carries on the mercantile business. In 1881 he began the erection of a three-story frame addition to his store, 51×60 feet.

The first blacksmith-shop was built by Judge Baer, in 1868. John Anderson was the first blacksmith. The same year Judge Baer erected a sawmill, which was in operation for several years. A gristmill, which is still in operation, was added in 1871.

The first saddler was Amelius Hoffmeier; the first shoemaker, Norman Lichliter.

While the railroad was building, and for sev- eral years succeeding, the town grew quite rap- idly, and many good and substantial buildings were erected.

In 1871 a stave factory was built and put in operation by Norman Lichliter. The building has recently been converted into a keg factory, owned by the Citizens' Oil Refining Company and operated by Edward Alcott.

The Ursina Branch railroad, built in 1871-2, was in operation for about three years, adding to the industries of this section the coal mines along its route.

A schoolhouse was erected in 1870, at a cost of about thirteen hundred dollars. The first teacher was John Griffith. In 1872 a two- story brick school-building, 34×44 feet, with a seating capacity of three hundred, was erected

at a cost of between seven thousand and eight thousand dollars. There is no better school- building in Somerset county.

Ursina was incorporated as a borough in 1872. In 1883 it had an estimated population of six hundred, and contained seven stores, one black- smith-shop, two saddleryshops, three hotels, three shoeshops, two millinershops, one keg factory, three churches and two physicians.

PERSONAL.

Col. E. D. Yutzy, who has been a resident of Ursina since 1869, is a native of this county and a son of Daniel Yutzy, mentioned in the history of Greenville township. Col. Yutzy was edu- cated at Mount Union College, Ohio, and after- ward taught school in Kentucky and Missouri. Returning to this county in 1859, he was elected county surveyor in 1860, and was also deputy prothonotary during the same term. In Sep- tember, 1861, he entered the army in Co. C, 54th regt. Penn. Vols. - a company which he had organized and enlisted. After four days as a private he was elected captain, and held that rank until February 1, 1868, when he was pro- moted to the rank of major. On January 16, 1865, he was commissioned colonel of the con- solidated regiment made up of the 3d and 4th Penn. reserves and the 54th regt. Penn. Vols. He was mustered out March 14, 1865. Col. Yutzy was a gallant soldier and has a noble military record. He participated in many severe en- gagements and was wounded at the battle of Winchester. After the war he was in the oil regions for a time, then became a railroad con- tractor and helped to build the Allegheny Val- ley, Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne & Chicago, Pitts- burgh & Connellsville, and other well-known roads. In 1874 he was elected state senator, and in 1876 re-elected to the same important office.

James Albright, merchant, was born and reared in Cumberland, Maryland. In 1859 he came to Somerset county and engaged in the mercantile business at Petersburg, for about four years. Thence he removed to Lavansville, where he followed the same occupation for about nine years. He then came to Ursina, built a store and engaged in business: Mr. Al- bright has held several borough offices.

Thomas Holliday, a shoemaker by trade, settled at Paddytown in 1803. He died in 1854. Of a family of eleven children which he reared,

* Ursus (Latin) signifies bear.

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J AI J. Wilson, Boston

NB Reau

Norman B. Ream, son of Levi and Highly (King) Ream, was born in Somerset county, Pennsylvania, November 5, 1844. The family is of German extraction, his ancestors having emigrated from Germany in an early day and settled in Eastern, and subsequently in Somerset county, Pennsylvania, where they engaged in agricultural pursuits. Reared on a farm, he was early taught habits of industry and economy after the manner of the sturdy Inhabitants of the Keystone State.

He only had opportunity for scholastic attainments afforded far- mers' sons -the common schools-except a course in the Normal Institute. So well did he improve these opportunities, that we find him following the vocation of a teacher at the early age of fourteen years. He carly developed an aptitude for business, and could not brook the circumscribed sphere of a farmer's life, and the first busi- ness he engaged in was taking ambrotypes, in which he was so suc- cessful as to win the admiration of those who sought to discourage him from the enterprise; thus demonstrating that he who would win must enter actively and earnestly into business enterprises that commend themselves to his judgment, and not to be discouraged by obstacles which may present themselves. Having by his own exertions procured the necessary means, he determined to enter the public school at Somerset-the county seat -the better to prepare himself for active business life. After a brief attendance he con- cluded it his duty to abandon his cherished designs to engage in his country's defense, and accordingly visited his parents and informed them of his conclusions, and they, with the patriotism so proverbial among Pennsylvanians, gave him their consent and blessing. He enlisted September 1, 1861, and assisted in raising Co. H, 85th regt. Penn. Vols., in which company he took the position of private, although tendered a commission. The same spirit of thoroughness that has characterized all his enterprises was exhibited in his mili- tary career, and his proficiency in military affairs was acknowledged by his promotions, first as sergeant and then as second and first lieutenants. February 22, 1864, he was wounded at Whitmarsh Island, Georgia, and again, June 17, 1861, at Wearbottom Church, Virginia, in a skirmish which, incapacitating him for military duty, he resigned in August, 1864.

Returning home, ne attended Commercial College in Pittsburgh, and then engaged as a clerk in Harnedsville, where he remained

until September, 1866, when he removed to Princeton, Illinois, and after serving as clerk for a few weeks, purchased bis employer's stock and commenced life as a merchant. Ten months later he was burned out, losing nearly everything. In January, 1868, he went to Osceola, Iowa, and operated extensively in grain and agricultural implements with marked success, until a succession of poor crops | rendered his creditors unable to discharge their liabilities, which caused him to suspend in 1870, with unprovided liabilities amount- ing to fifteen thousand dollars. Notwithstanding his temporary reverses, none doubted his integrity or honesty, which at this critical period in his career was of infinite value. He then went to Chicago and engaged in the live-stock and commission business, and having an extensive acquaintance with stock-raisers, they made their con- signments to him. The first money earned was sacredly applied to the extinguishment of his indebtedness until both principal and interest were liquidated.

From this time fortune has dealt kindly with him, for in 1875 he became a member of the Chicago Board of Trade, and his first operations, which were crowned with success, marked him as a man of keen perceptions and excellent judgment. He has conducted some of the largest operations of the board, and so successful has been his career that he is now numbered among the most extensive operators, and ranks financially among the millionaires of Chicago. He has served as vice-president of the call-board, his numerous business interests preventing his accepting other positions.

Since 1868 Mr. Ream has been engaged in the stock business on the plains, and in feeding stock. He was at one time interested with a company who obtained control of four and a half million acres in Montana -the largest ranch in the world. In the fall of 1883 Mr. Ream reorganized the Western Fire Insurance Company of Chicago, of which he is now vice-president. Mr. Ream is eminently a business man. His logical mind grasps, as if by instinct, all the intricacies of a business proposition, which, coupled with energy and dispatch, enables him to push matters to a successful issue. To such men success is assured.

February 17, 1876, he was married to Miss Carrie T. Putnam (a descendant of General Putnam of revolutionary fame) of Madison, New York, and they are the parents of four children.

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there is only one survivor - Andrew, who is a shoemaker in Ursina.

John Morrow, a saddler by trade, settled in the town of Somerset in 1819. In 1869 he moved to Harnedsville, and purchased a house and two lots of land of Joseph Mountain. He died in 1878, having followed his trade for sixty-five years. Mr. Morrow was a soldier in the war of 1812, and fought under Gen. Jack- son. He married Elizabeth Blocher, and was the father of six children, of whom two are living-Albert G. and Margaret M. Albert G. Morrow is a native of Addison township. In 1871 he settled in Ursina, and built the saddler's shop in which he now carries on business.

Joseph A. T. Hunter is a native of Bucks county. He came to Ursina in 1872, and at first worked at shoemaking. In 1878 he engaged in the mercantile business, which he still fol- lows. One of Mr. Hunter's sons, Napoleon B., served in the late war, in the 18th Penn. Cav. He contracted disease, died, and was buried at Harper's Ferry.

John Davis," who was born in Dauphin county, Pennsylvania, in 1810, settled in Lower Turkey-Foot in 1863, on the old Harned farm, near Harnedsville. He died in 1878. His son, Joseph B. Davis, who was born in Middle Creek township, came to Ursina in 1871, and engaged in the mercantile business as a member of the firm of Davis, Kuhlman & Co. Mr. Davis has since followed the same business. The present style of the firm is Davis & Coder. Mr. Davis has been school director and councilman of the borough for several years.

J. B. Jennings, grandson of Capt. Benjamin Jennings, elsewhere mentioned, moved to Ursina in 1873, and has since worked at shoemaking. He at first worked for Davis & Coder, and in 1875 bought out the firm. Mr. Jennings enlisted in the late war, and served from October, 1861, until July, 1863. He was wounded at the battle of Fair Oaks, Virginia. He has held' various borough offices, including those of councilman, school director and burgess.

William Shaw is a native of Indiana county, Pennsylvania. In 1866 he came to Somerfield, Somerset county, and in 1872 to Ursina, where he has followed gunsmithing and blacksmith- ing. Mr. Shaw has held nearly all of the

borough offices. He is at present justice of the peace, having been elected to that office in 1882. He served through the Mexican war under Gens. Scott and Taylor. He enlisted in the war of the rebellion in Ohio, and served nearly two years. He was wounded at the battle of Malvern.

Peter H. Sellers is a native of Bedford county. His grandfather, Jacob Sellers, and his father, John Sellers, were both residents of the same county. P. H. Sellers came to Somerset county in 1866, and settled at Shanksville. In 1869 he came to Ursina, built the store which he now . occupies, and engaged in the mercantile busi- ness which he still follows. Mr. Sellers has held various borough offices.

A. A. Miller is a grandson of Abraham Miller, elsewhere mentioned, who was the first sheriff of Somerset county. He was the first owner of the tannery now owned by J. Cunningham and sons, at Somerset. Of his ten children but two are living : Peter and Betsey. Abraham, son of Abraham, Sr., was born in Somerset in 1800, and died in 1867. His son, Abraham A. Miller, settled in Ursina in 1878, and followed railroad- ing until 1880, when he engaged in his present business - hotel-keeping.

SOCIETIES.

Odd-Fellows .- Ursina Lodge, No. 806, I.O. O.F., was instituted July 12, 1878, with the following charter members : John Leslie, R. M. Freshwater, Samuel Thompson, W. S. Harah, J. R. Weimer, William Caldwell, Samuel Minder, Alex. Leslie, Ed. Korns, B. F. Snyder, R. H. Dull, W. W. Wolff, I. J. Miller, N. B. Lichliter, W. H. Sanner, S. R. Johnston, J. B. Davis, W. J. Jones, J. P. Miller, William Shaw and J. S. Peterman. The first officers were : W. S. Harah, N.G .; W. J. Jones, V.G .; N. B. Lichliter, Sec'y ; I. J. Miller, Ass't Sec'y ; S. Minder, Treas. Since the organization one hundred and sixteen members have been admit- ted. Present membership, fifty-six; value of lodge property, two thousand dollars.

Grand Army .- Ross Rush Post, No. 361, G.A.R., was organized July 23, 1883. The offi- cers and charter members were as follows : Col. E. D. Yutzy, C .; B. F. Snyder, S.V.C .; G. W. Anderson, J.V.C .; T. W. Anderson, Chap .; Noah Scott, Q.M .; William H. Kepler, O.D .; Jackson Lenhart, O.G .; LeRoy Forquer, Adj .; J. B. Jennings, Jacob J. Rush, Andrew Holliday,

. Benjamin Davis, the father of John, was born in Bucks county in 1770, settled in Somerset county in 1824, died in 1850. John, the father of Benjamin, was a revolutionary soldier. He died in Elk Lick township in the eightieth year of his age.

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William R. Thomas, Alfred M. Snyder, Har- rison Younkin, Harrison Vansycle, John Enos, Andrew J. Cross, Samuel O'Neal, Abram A. Miller, Marcellus Andrews, Sylvester Herring, William Shaw, Charles Rose.

Ross Rush Post was named after Ross Rush, of Co. H, 85th regt. Penn. Vols., who was killed in an infantry charge at Petersburg, June 18, 1864. He was a son of Jacob Rush, and great-grandson of Jacob Rush, a revolutionary soldier.

CONFLUENCE.

Confluence takes its name from its location, which is at the junction of three streams-the Youghiogheny and Casselman rivers and Laurel Hill creek. It is a growing, prosperous town, and its commerce is constantly increasing in extent and importance. It is the largest ship- ping point on the Pittsburgh division of the Baltimore & Ohio railroad, between Cumber- land, Maryland, and Connellsville, Pennsylva- nia. Its situation at the confluence of three important streams renders it the natural outlet for the business of a wide extent of country. A great deal of timber is brought down the river to this point, whence it is shipped by rail to various markets.

The town was laid out in 1870, under the direction of the Confluence Land Company, an association which purchased from A. N. Tissue, Jacob Sterner and Peter Meyers the land on which Confluence is situated. The town grew rapidly, and in 1873 was incorporated as a borough. In 1883 it contained a population estimated at four hundred and fifty.

The first house within the borough limits was erected by Henry Adams, one of the pioneer settlers. After the town plot had been made, the first house was built by Andrew Bowlin, who still occupies it. The first store was opened by Van Horn & Liston in 1870. The first blacksmith and the first shoemaker came in 1871, and still work here John Stanton and T. B. Frantz.

An establishment for the manufacture of pot- tery and stoneware was erected by A. G. Black, in 1872. It does a large business.

Nearly all the charcoal made in Lower Tur- key-Foot township is shipped from Confluence station.

Among other early industries of the borough was the tannery built by Joseph Cummins, its present proprietor. A factory for the manufac-

ture of axlegrease was erected by a company from Westmoreland county, in 1876, but was operated only about eight months. A stave and heading factory, built by a Pittsburgh com- pany in 1875, was in successful operation about two years.

Confluence now contains seven general stores, one hardware store, one drugstore, three hotels, one tannery, one steam sawmill, two blacksmith- shops, two wagonshops, one shoemaker-shop, one millinershop, two churches, two physicians and one dentist.

The schoolhouse, erected in 1871, was used for the borough schools until 1882, when a two- story frame building, 88× 48 feet, with a seating capacity of two hundred, was erected at a cost of about two thousand dollars.

Adam R. Humbert is s native of Milford township, where the family were early settlers. In early life he taught school. For thirty years he has worked at carpentry, since 1870 in Con- fluence. He served in the late war during two terms of enlistment. (See military chapters). Mr. Humbert has held nearly all of the borough offices.

Levi W. Weakland is a native of Cambria county. From 1865 to 1872 he followed the shook and stave business in West Virginia. He then located in Confiuence, and engaged in the lumber business and the manufacture of shooks and staves. In 1882 he entered into partnership with E. T. Nutter in the mercantile business, under the firm name of Nutter, Weak- land & Co. Mr. Weakland has held various borough offices. The firm of which he is a member owns the timber on eighteen hundred acres of land in Addison township, and six hundred and fifteen acres of timber land in Fayette county, on both of which lots they have steam sawmills. They have shookshops at Casselman, Confluence, Draketown Siding and Fort Hill. The industry is of great importance to the citizens of the timbered region of this part of the county.

A. Marshall Ross, son of Gen. M. A. Ross, of Petersburg, has followed the mercantile business from his youth. Since 1870 he has been located at Confluence. Mr. Ross was in Co. E, 183d regt. Penn. Vols., for nine months.

John Groff, a miller by trade, came from Germany in 1840 and settled in Brother's Valley township. His children were: Frederick, Simon, George G., Catharine (Engelder), Bar-

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bara (Custer), Margaret, and Minnie (deceased). Frederick was elected state senator in the 36th district in 1878. He served in the war from September, 1861, to September, 1864, and was two months in Libby prison. He resides in Mey- ersdale. Geo. G. Groff built a store at Confluence in 1874, and engaged and is yet in the mercan- tile business. He is justice of the peace.

ODD-FELLOWS.

Confluence Lodge, I.O.O.F., was instituted December 12, 1872, with the following officers and charter members : F. R. Fleck, N.G .; Chas. Strohm, V.G .; James Baxter, Sec'y; W. S. Moun- tain, Ass't Sec'y ; H. Valentine , Treas .; W. R. Mountain, David Morrison, Henry D. Bole, J. K. P. Shoemaker, James Richardson, Ellsworth Mc- Cleary, Sam'l Neighley, Robt. Wallace, James B. Cross, M. Tannehill, W. H. Bishop, James Klingensmith, William Kessler. Present mem- bership, twenty-one ; value of lodge property, four hundred and eighty-three dollars and fifty- nine cents; cash in treasury, two hundred and eighty-three dollars and fifty-nine cents.

DRAKETOWN.

Draketown is a small village in Lower Tur- key-Foot township, containing two small stores, a blacksmith-shop and a small number of houses. Oliver Drake settled at this place, probably about the time of the revolutionary war. About 1787 he erected a small gristmill. A mill erected by his son Jonathan, on the same site, in 1812, was burned a few years later. The present mill was built about 1819. He also built a woolenmill and a sawmill. These were probably the first industrial establishments in Lower Turkey-Foot.

A blacksmith-shop was opened at Draketown as early as 1812, by William Tannehill.

A tannery, built in 1854, by Hendrickson & Welsh, is now owned and operated by Alfred Daniels.

The first schoolhouse was built about 1850, and rebuilt in 1875.

CHURCHES.

Turkey-Foot Baptist Church. - This organ- ization, which is more commonly known as the Jersey Baptist church, is the oldest Baptist church west of the Allegheny mountains. It is the oldest church of any kind in Somerset county, and perhaps the oldest in Southwestern Pennsylvania. For many years after its organ- ization, Maryland and Virginia settlers were among its members, while Sandy Creek Glades,

Virginia, formed a portion of its parish. The Turkey-Foot church is the parent of all the Baptist churches included in a region hundreds of miles in extent. The following is an exact copy of page seven of the minutes of the Tur- key-Foot Baptist church :

"The minutes of the proceedings of the church belonging to Turkey-Foot and Sandy Creek Glades. On Wednesday, the fourteenth day [of August], Anno Domini 1775, the Rev. Mr. Isaac Sutton and John Corbley met this church at the house of Moses Halls in Turkey-Foot, and after a sermon on the occasion they solemnly constituted a church in these places jointly con- sisting of the following members as subscribed to the succeeding covenant : *

"Robert Colburn, Jacob Rush, David Rush, John Rush, John King, Benjamin Leonard, James Mitchel, Willets Skinner, Nicles Hart- zell, Mary Rush, Mary Coventon, Mary Rush, Margaret Rush, Lucia Jones, Elizabeth Moun- tain, Sarah Skinner, Frankey Ketchem, Rebecca King."

April 5, 1789, William Blain was baptized and received into the church. July 4, 1789, Rebecca Blain was baptized and received into the church. Among other names of members belonging to the church we find the Whittakers, Melicks, Truaxes, Bosleys, Membles, Gordons, Kings, Joneses, Walls, Lobdills, Melotts, Man- ettas, Pitmans, Monys, Hannas, Tannehills, Woodmencys and Reams.

The first house was built in January, 1788. It was a two-story log structure with gallery, and was used as church, schoolhouse, and, tradition says, at one time as a blockhouse. While at- tending, many of the early settlers brought their rifles, which stood in a corner until service was concluded. The second house, a frame building, was erected in 1838; the third, also a frame, was finished in 1877, at a cost of twenty-five hundred dollars. At that time Mrs. Jane Brook, widow of John Brook and daughter of Hon. James Hanna, Sr., and her daughter, Mrs. Mary A. Forquer, paid to the building fund over twelve hundred dollars.

In 1862 Rebecca King bequeathed two thou- sand dollars to the use of the church ; and in May, 1881, Mrs .. Jane Brook donated one

* The names given are in the same handwriting, and were evidently all written at the same time; though probably not at the time the church was formed. Other names not here given seem to have been added later, without dates to distinguish them from the first given constituent members.

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History of Bedford, Somerset, Fulton counties Pennsylvania, Part 116

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

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