History of Bedford, Somerset, Fulton counties Pennsylvania, Part 40

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

USA > Pennsylvania > Bedford County > History of Bedford, Somerset, Fulton counties Pennsylvania > Part 40
USA > Pennsylvania > Fulton County > History of Bedford, Somerset, Fulton counties Pennsylvania > Part 40
USA > Pennsylvania > Somerset County > History of Bedford, Somerset, Fulton counties Pennsylvania > Part 40

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).

BEDFORD SPRINGS.

Bedford and Fulton, and extensive tanneries are now in operation at Pleasantville, Mann's Choice, Rainsburg, Everett and Fairview, in Bedford county ; at Franklin Mills, Well's. Tan- nery postoffice, Saluvia and McConnell's cove, in Fulton. The amount of bark consumed is enormous ; the larger tanneries of Bedford county use about 17,000 cords per annum, and those of Fulton county about 4,500 cords. Be-

sides these, there are many small tanneries in both counties, while a very large one in Mary- land, on Flintstone creek, draws such of its supply from Bean's cove and Black valley.

MINERAL WATERS.

About one mile and a half south of the borough of Bedford are celebrated springs of this name. The little valley in which they are found is not far from eleven hundred feet above tide. It appears that the tract of two hundred and four acres upon which the springs proper are situated was purchased by Dr. John Anderson from Frederick Nawgel, in 1808. The other tracts adjoining this (in all some fifteen hundred acres) were taken up on warrants by Thomas Anderson, the father of Dr. John Anderson, and the great-grandfather of the present Anderson heirs, in 1788. These lands have never been out of the posses- sion of the Anderson family from their first ownership, with the exception of the sale to the Bedford Min- eral Springs Company, in 1857. This company made many improvements about the grounds, and built the cottage and bathing-houses. However, after two or three seasons the springs again came into the possession of the Andersons, through Espy L. Anderson, Esq., who held a large amount of the com- pany stock. According to Gordon, the medicinal value of these springs was discov- ered in 1804 by a mechanic of Bedford, who, while fishing in Schober's creek near the large spring, drank freely of the water flowing from the bank. This proved purgative and sudorifio. He had suffered for many years from rheumatic pains and from severe ulcers on the legs. The com- fort resulting from the first use of the water led him to drink it and bathe in it daily. A cure resulted within a few weeks. Others learning

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of this incident came to the springs for relief, and the summer of 1805 brought many who were suffering from chronic diseases. Since that time the Bedford Springs have been a sum- mer resort for great numbers, both of the sick and the well.

The important spring of the series, medici- nally considered, is the Magnesia Spring. The water of this spring is diuretic and cathartic. It is believed to be useful in chronic liver derangements, dyspepsia, diseases of the kid- neys and in cases of general debility following the cure of acute diseases. The water admits of transportation and much is shipped to distant points.

The Sulphur Spring is nearly two hundred yards from the main spring. It exhales a strong odor of hydro-sulphuric acid. This spring certainly should be little inferior to the main spring in cathartic properties. The Magnesia Iron Spring is in the immediate vi- cinity of the last. In the vicinity of these springs are several limestone springs, one of which is of great volume and is familiarly known as the Large Limestone Spring. Unlike the other springs, it contains a comparatively small amount of saline ingredients.

But at the hotel is a spring of the purest soft water, containing, according to Dr. Genth's analysis, little more than one grain of mineral matter to the gallon of 281 cubic inches. All of these springs, except the sweet or soft water springs, issue from the Lower Helderberg lime- stone, which forms the cliff-like walls enclosing the narrow valley. A chalybeate spring issues at three-fourths of a mile southwest from the hotel. It evidently comes from the Marcellus shale. The analyses show that there is no ma- terial difference between the water of the Mag- nesia Spring and that of the Magnesia Iron Spring, although there is supposed to be some healing virtue in the latter which is not pos- sessed by the former ; and that in like manner the Magnesia Spring has some excellence which the Magnesia Iron has not.

The Chalybeate Spring

is located north from the Juniata river, about a mile northeast from the borough of Bed- ford. This spring issues from near the junc- tion of the Oriskany sandstone with the Mar- cellus shale. The water differs from that of the Bedford Chalybeate in an increased propor-

tion of carbonate of calcium and carbonate of manganese, while sulphate of magnesium is ab- sent, and iron is in less proportion. This water contains less of iron than that of the Reed & Lyon White Sulphur Spring.

The Reed & Lyon White Sulphur Spring.

This is in Harrison township, within Milli- gan's cove, and is opposite the gap in Buffalo mountain, through which the road leads to Sul- phur Spring station, on the Bedford railroad. The spring issues from Utica shale. The pres- ence of sulphuretted hydrogen is very percepti- ble. Though small, this spring is in high repute, and two small hotels are well filled during the summer season.

A. M. May's Springs.

These are also in Milligan's cove, half a mile south from the Reed & Lyon Spring, are re- puted to be of medicinal value, and the house is well filled with visitors during the summer. The springs issue from Utica shale, and are comparatively small. The westerly spring is a white sulphur, but it seems to contain less of sulphuretted hydrogen than is found in the Reed & Lyon spring. The water is utilized for bathing. The other spring is separated from it by about seven feet, and it is supposed to be a chalybeate spring.

Wolford's White Sulphur Spring

issues from the Lower Helderberg limestone. The volume is very small and the sulphuretted hydrogen only perceptible. In a general way it resembles the sulphur spring on A. M. May's property.

AGRICULTURAL RESOURCES.

Soils.

The soils of this district are of local origin, and are due, for the most part, to decomposition of the rocks on which they lie.

The distribution of limestone soils are con- fined to the outcrops and areas of the Lower Helderberg, Trenton and Calciferous lime- stone groups. They are found in Morrison's and Friend's coves. A petty area also exists on Chestnut ridge. These soils invited the earliest settlers, so that they have been long under cultivation. Little woodland remains in any of the coves, except along the borders, where sandstone debris covers the surface and renders farming difficult. In Morrison's cove,

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LOCATION, TOPOGRAPHY AND RESOURCES -MINERAL WATERS.

the "barrens" or ridges, covered by loose clay and sand, have still much timber.

There seems to be but little difference, in point of fertility, between soils derived from the Lower Helderberg, and those derived from the Trenton or Calciferous. On all, the farm- ing has been exhaustive for nearly one hundred years, and the crops are now much less than they should be. In Morrison's cove, the yield, in an ordinary year, is, per acre: Wheat, twenty bushels; corn, one hundred bushels of ears; oats, thirty-five bushels.

At all localities the crops are much smaller than they were fifty years ago. The land is limed heavily, but a large proportion of the farmers fail to appreciate properly the neces- sity of other amendments, so that the soil is forced.

Calcareous soils of mixed origin occur along the foot of Will's and Dunning's mountains ; in the Bedford basin, and along the east foot of Tussey mountain, in Bedford county. The soils at these localities are composed of ma- terials derived from Medina, Clinton, Lower Helderberg and Oriskany. The mixture of sands renders these less heavy and pasty than the more distinctively lime soils of the coves ; but their fertility is less durable, more care being required to keep the farms in good con- dition.

The wheat yield per acre in Black valley varies from twelve to eighteen bushels; corn, from thirty-five to sixty bushels of ears; oats, from twenty to twenty-five bushels ; in Bean's cove, the wheat crop is from eight to fifteen bushels, and that of oats from twenty to forty bushels ; very little corn is raised.

These mixed soils produce much good timber. Black-walnut is plentiful on the flats and in the lower part of swales extending into the ridges ; maples are large near the streams, while much oak, hickory and linn are found somewhat higher up.

The shale or slate soils rest on Mauch Chunk, Devonian, Utica and Hudson outcrops. They show much variation in quality.

Soils derived from Catskill rocks are fairly good, as those rocks disintegrate readily and form a fine though somewhat sandy soil. The Chemung beds above the upper conglomerate are equally good. Where lime can be obtained without difficulty these "red-slate" soils are easily rendered productive, lime being appar-

ently the chief amendment needed ; but else- where the crops are poor. Wheat yields from ten to twenty bushels, corn from fifty to seventy- five bushels of ears, and oats from twenty to twenty-five bushels, on unlimed and limed soils respectively. These soils carry rock-oak, poplar, white oak, walnut and abundance of pine.

The lower Devonian rocks do not give good soils. The shales are fissile and the sandstones tough, so that disintegration is ordinarily slow. On some farms that have been cultivated for nearly one hundred years, the soil is so thin that clover will not take good hold. Lime is of no little service, but its effects are far from being so marked as on Catskill soils. Bone-dust acts admirably for two or three seasons.

Soils of this character prevail east from War- rior ridge in West Providence, Monroe and Southampton townships, where wheat yields from seven to ten bushels, corn thirty to fifty bushels of ears, and oats ten to twenty bushels. On new land, wheat yields twenty bushels for two or three years, and in a few instances thirty bushels have been obtained. Better crops are obtained west from Will's mountain in London- derry and Harrison townships, of Bedford county, where the Lower Helderberg limestone is within easy reach. Though unprofitable when sown in grain, these soils yield large crops of excellent potatoes and are well adapted to fruit- raising. White and red oak, maple, chestnut and beech thrive on them.

The Hudson and Utica shales, like the Hamil- ton, disintegrate slowly, and give a soil which is thin and far from productive. That of Milli- gan's cove in Bedford county yields only ten bushels of wheat and twenty bushels of oats.

The greater part of the sandstone area is practically worthless for agricultural purposes. The Medina resists the weather, and the slopes of its ridges are covered with angular frag- ments which makes plowing impossible. On some ridges, the Oriskany and Pocono have yielded to the weather so as to break down into fine sand, which is rich in vegetable matter derived from decaying leaves. Some very fair farms were seen on the Bedford pike and the Old State road, east from Ray's hill, where only Pocono sandstone underlies the surface. These are said to yield much better crops than can be obtained from Chemung or Hamilton shales, when no lime is used. New ground yields nearly thirty bushels of wheat per acre.

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HISTORY OF BEDFORD COUNTY.

Water.

Though streams flowing across the Devonian beds are liable to become very low during pro- longed drouth, yet, as was proved during the excessively dry season of 1881, there is at most localities an ample supply of water for domestic use and for cattle. Springs occur abundantly, and many of them, especially those in limestone regions or their vicinity, are of great size. Those at Spring Hope, Spring Meadow, Bedford Springs and McConnell's cove have volume to run large mills. The numerous forks of Dun- ning's, Bobb's and George's creeks afford excel- lent mill-sites at the mouths of their gaps through the Chemung conglomerate ridge.

CHAPTER XVII.

COUNTY BUILDINGS - TOWNSHIPS AND BOROUGHS.

1 Commissioners Appointed in 1771, to Select Site for Court-House and Prison - Their Proceedings - A Court-House Built in 1774-5-Another Public Building Erected in 1796 fur Use of County Officials -The Court-House of the Present Built in 1826-9-The Jail in 1886 -Their Builders- Final Dis- position of the Old Structures - Original Townships of the County -Sixteen of them Embrace the Entire South west Quarter of the Province - Date of Erection of Subsequent Ones-Occasional Descriptions of Original Boundaries - Names of the Twenty-Three Townships and Eleven Boroughs Existing at the Present Time.

COUNTY BUILDINGS.

THE act of 1771, providing for the erection T of Bedford county, also contained the clause : "That it shall and may be lawful to and for Arthur St. Clair, Barnard Dougherty, esquires; Thomas Coulter, William Proctor and George Woods, gentlemen ; or any of them, to purchase and take assurance to them and their heirs of a piece of land, situate in some con- venient place in said town (Bedford), in trust and for the use of the inhabitants of the said county, and thereon to erect and build a court-house and prison, sufficient to accommodate the public service of said county, and for the use and con- veniency of the inhabitants."

On November 13, 1771, in accordance with the provisions of the act quoted above, " Arthur St. Clair, Barnard Dougherty, George Woods and William Proctor, esquires, and Thomas Coulter, gentleman, trustees appointed by the general assembly of the said province to erect a gaol and court-house in the county of Bedford aforesaid," purchased of James McCashlin, of

the town and county of Bedford, "all that messuage and tenement and lot or piece of ground, situate ou the main cross street in the town of Bedford aforesaid, known by (No. 6) in the general plan of the said town. Bounded on the west by the said street, on the south partly by the public square and partly by lot No. 7, on the east by a twenty-foot alley, and on the north by lot No. 5. Containing in breadth on the said street sixty feet, and in depth two hundred and forty feet."

For the land, "tenement," etc., MoCashlin was paid £100. But why the public build- ings. were not erected on lot No. 6, and were built on the northwest corner of Juliana and Penn streets, it is now impossible to determine. Early residents have stated, however, that the first court-house- a rude log structure -was erected on the corner of lot No. 6, and near by it a low, one story log jail, and that these primitive buildings served as the public edi- fices of the county while the stone court- house and jail-building, combined, was under- going the slow process of construction.

It appears that the old provincial court-house and prison, which for so many years occupied the corner north and directly opposite the pres- ent court-house, was chiefly built during the years 1774-5. As proof of this assertion we find that at a meeting of the board of county commissioners held May 81, 1788 :

George Woods, Esquire, drew an order for the sum of £43: 10: 0,it being for 116 days service attend- ing at the Building of the Court House & prison at 7 shillings 6 pence per Day as Trustee in the years 1774 & 1775.

It is not shown how much the building re- ferred to cost, but it was an extensive and sub- stantial building for that period ; it walls being constructed of massive blocks of blue limestone obtained in the vicinity. John Mower, Esq., the oldest living member of the Bedford county bar, has drawn, from memory, a pencil sketch of this historic structure, which is pronounced, by those who saw the building years before its demolition, as perfect. The jail with its dark dungeon for convicts, its cell for ordinary crim- inals, and its debtors' prison with the grated window, occupied the lower story to the left of the center door. The balance of the first floor, on the right, was the jailer's residence, in the wings of which, in early days, the elections were held. The courtroom comprised the en-

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tire second story, and was entered by the stair- case from without. In one corner of the court- room a flight of steps led to the third story, or attic, under the high roof, in which were the grand jury and other jury rooms. We will add that within the jail yard, which was enclosed by a high wall, also constructed of limestone, stood the dreaded whipping-post and pillory alluded to in other pages of this work.

Meanwhile, and until about the year 1795, the offices of the county officials were located in various places about the town. Thus, Capt. (afterward Maj .- Gen.) Arthur St. Clair, the first prothonotary, register, recorder, etc., of the county, occupied, during the years 1971 and 1779, the basement of the rear building known as the "Espy house," a building which still survives the ravages of time, and around which additional interest clusters by reason of the fact that within its walls in October, 1794, President George Washington sought rest and retirement for two or three days at the time of his visit to Bedford during the whisky insurrection ; where Gen. St. Clair's immediate successors in office, namely, Col. Thomas Smith, Col. Robert Gal- braith and Col. David Espy, held forth officially.

As for the county commissioners their busi- ness meetings were held in rooms provided by the enterprising innkeepers of that day, notably Frederick Nawgel, George Funk, Henry Wertz and Anthony Nawgel. About 1795, however, a building which is mentioned in the records as the "Public Building," was erected for the purpose of supplying the county officers with permanent official quarters. It was constructed of brick, and fronting on Penn street, stood be- tween the old provincial court-house and the site of the present Lutheran church.

Although the structures heretofore described were neither convenient nor commodious, and notwithstanding the fact that grand juries had frequently declared the jail "insufficient for the confinement of criminals, " they sufficed until the expiration of the first quarter of the present century. It was then considered that for public purposes they had outlived their usefulness, and during the year 1826 county commissioners Richard Silver, Abraham Folck and John Bowser contracted with Solomon Fil- ler for the erection of a new (the present) court- house. Filler agreed to complete the building for seven thousand five hundred dollars, and his sureties for double that amount were J. S. Morri-

son and John Keeffe. The structure was fin- ished and occupied in 1829. In August, 1832, commissioners John Bennett, William Clark, Jr., and George Fore ordered that the court- house " shall not be used in any way but for the purpose of the business of the courts, the public offices of the sheriff, prothonotary and commis- sioners, the remainder only to be used for busi- ness relating to courts and county purposes, and for the meeting of the council of the borough of Bedford, and holding the several elections for the borough and county."

In August, 1888, the grand jury again con- demned the old jail and advised the erection of a new one. On the 8th of April, 1834, Henry Leader agreed to deliver at the court-house two hundred thousand feet of lumber at the rate of four dollars and twenty-five cents per thousand feet, "to be used in the construction of a new jail." The commissioners were authorized to build a new jail at the April sessions .of the court of quarter sessions in 1835, and on the 8th day of March, 1836, commissioners Gibson, Sipe and James concluded a contract with Abraham Kerns, the latter agreeing to construct a new jail for the sum of seven thousand nine hundred and forty dollars. Mr. Kerns com- pleted the work of construction promptly, and the structure, although extensive repairs have since been made, is still used as the county prison.

On April 21, 1842, the old provincial " court- house and jail, standing on the center square of Bedford," also the " public building," were sold by the county commissioners to Alexander Henry and William Fletcher, for the sum of ninety-three dollars. The court-house and jail building erected in 1774-5 was demolished in 1842, but the building which had formerly been occupied by the county officers remained a few years longer and ultimately afforded material for a warmly contested suit in the court of quarter sessions.

The building was used for the occupancy of the various county officers from the time of its erec- tion until the year 1829, when a new building was erected in which the respective public offices above mentioned have been kept since that time. A part of the said building mentioned in the in- dictment was used at the time of the suit as an office by one of the defendants, who was the county treasurer, and the other part was occupied by the other defendant as a printing-office, the

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commissioners having leased it to him, receiving a certain yearly rent to be paid into the county treasury.

" The house is built on the great square of the town of Bedford, as laid out on the plan re- maining in the surveyor-general's office, pro ut certified copy thereof. The town was laid out by the proprietary in 1766. The building afore- said is built at the place on the Great Square marked with red ink on the copy of the plan re- ferred to. The square is three hundred and twenty feet long by three hundred feet wide. The court-house, with offices, etc., which is now used as such, is built on the same great square at the place marked on the plan in dotted lines in red ink. The building used by the county as court-house and jail previous to 1829 was also built on the great square at the place marked on the plan in dotted lines of black ink."

In March, 1857, the county commissioners ap- propriated two hundred and fifty dollars for the town clock, which from the tower of the edifice now marks the passing hours. On the 3d of March, 1876, the court issued an order author- izing the enlargement and repair of the court- house. The contract to perform the work for the sum of twelve thousand dollars was let to William L. Horn, April 5 of that year, and before the beginning of the following October the work (besides various repairs to the jail building) was completed in a very satisfactory manner. Although the exterior of the Bedford county court-house of today does not present a very pleasing appearance, yet its interior ar- rangements are ample and convenient. The courtroom and the public offices are well lighted and ventilated. Spacious fireproof vaults afford protection for records of great value, which have accumulated during a period of more than one hundred and twelve years.

TOWNSHIPS AND BOROUGHS.

Since the organization of Bedford county, by the passage of the act of March 9, 1871, the following townships and boroughs have formed part of it :

Air township (now written Ayr) was created by the Cumberland county court prior to 1761. At the October sessions, 1767, Dublin, Colerain, Cumberland, Bedford and Barree townships were created - Dublin " bounded by Air and Fannet townships on the one side and Colraine and Barre townships on the top of

Sidling Hill on the other side." "Colraine, bounded by Dublin township as above, by the provincial line and top of Dunning's moun- tain (so as to join Cumberland and Bedford townships) to the gap of Morrison's cove ; from thence to the mouth of Yellow creek (joining Barre township) to strike Sidling Hill."*

BEDFORD, still forming part of Bedford county, was organized as a township in Cum- berland county. It is mentioned for the first time in the records of that county, in 1769, but the court minutes fail to show any proceedings giving metes and bounds.

CUMBERLAND (now termed Cumberland Val- ley) was formed as a township in Cumberland county, at the same time, probably, as Bedford township.

BARREE, organized as a township in Cumber- land county prior to 1771, now forms part of Huntingdon county.

DUBLIN, same as Barree.

COLERAIN (originally written Colerane), same 88 Bedford and Cumberland Valley town- ships.

BROTHER'S VALLEY, which originally com- prised all the territory lying between the crest of the Allegheny mountain, the Youghiogheny river and the western foot of Laurel Hill, and from the Maryland line northward to the Cone- maugh river, was formed as a township in Bed- ford county during the first session of the Bed- ford county court, April 16, 1771. It was the first township organized west of the Alleghenies in the province of Pennsylvania.

FAIRFIELD, organized during the April ses- sions in 1771, is now within the limits of West- moreland county:

MOUNT PLEASANT, same as Fairfield.

HEMPFIELD, same as Fairfield and Mount Pleasant.

PITT, which originally embraced large por- tions of the present counties of Allegheny, Beaver and Washington, was organized during April sessions, 1771. The term has become obsolete in the counties mentioned.

TYRONE was formed at April sessions, 1771, and then included portions of the present coun- ties of Westmoreland and Fayette. The name is still perpetuated in the latter county.

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History of Bedford, Somerset, Fulton counties Pennsylvania, Part 40

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

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