History of Bedford, Somerset, Fulton counties Pennsylvania, Part 62

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

USA > Pennsylvania > Bedford County > History of Bedford, Somerset, Fulton counties Pennsylvania > Part 62
USA > Pennsylvania > Fulton County > History of Bedford, Somerset, Fulton counties Pennsylvania > Part 62
USA > Pennsylvania > Somerset County > History of Bedford, Somerset, Fulton counties Pennsylvania > Part 62

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).

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cheapest and simplest character. Dr. Smith mentions two carriages, which, in 1884, were the only ones he remembers as being then in Woodberry township. They were owned by Abraham Longenecker, who lived west of the ridge, and Martin Loy, who lived at Pattons- ville. John Whitehead, manager of King, Swope & Co.'s furnace business, had a good sleigh. Sleds and wagons were the only vehicles other people had.

In 1837 John Potter erected a woolenmill near the present site of Keagy's mill. Potter died soon after the mill was started, and the business was carried on by John Glenn until 1846. John Keagy then purchased the property and ran the old mill until 1869. In 1868 he commenced the erection of the present mill. The building is 35X80 feet, three and one-half stories in hight. It is provided with two hundred and forty spindles and six power looms, and has a capacity for using twenty thousand pounds of wool annually. Employ- ment is given to thirteen hands, and all kinds of woolens and yarns are manufactured. The mill is now run by Samuel and Abraham Keagy, who rented the property from their father, John Keagy, in 1879. The Keagy brothers are doing a flourishing business. They keep two men with wagons upon the road selling goods and pur- chasing supplies of wool for the factory.

Samuel Keagy was born in Woodberry town- ship, and learned his trade in his father's factory, beginning in 1858. He served in the 188d regt. Penn. Vols. ; enlisted in August, 1862, and was discharged in June, 1863.

Jacob Smith, who died in 1852, moved to this county when a young man, and resided on the farm now owned by his sons Jacob and John. He married Elizabeth Rhodes, and had a family of eleven children, of whom eight are now liv- ing. John is a prominent farmer, and his build- ings and improvements are among the best in the township. Mr. Smith has served as school director for three years.

In 1832 John Sell, a native of Blair county, moved to Woodberry township, where he lived and brought up his family. He now resides near New Enterprise. Mr. Sell was born in 1805. He married Susannah Stevens, who is still living. Their children are Mahala, Alex- ander, John S., Barbara, Henry (deceased), David (deceased), Lewis, Daniel, Susannah (deceased), Joseph and Adam. John S. Sell, of

Woodberry township, has a fine set of buildings and a well-improved farm, on which he has lived since 1859. He purchased the place from John M. Holsinger in 1866. Mr. Sell has served as school director about nine years, and has been secretary of the board except during the first year.

Keagy's Bank, south of Woodberry, is a busy little hamlet, containing Keagy's gristmill and Brown's machine shops. The first mill at this point was built by Abraham Keagy about 1831. It burned down, but was at once rebuilt.

Abraham Keagy was a native of Franklin county, who came to this township in 1813 and settled upon a tract of four hundred acres which was then but slightly improved. IIe was a man of good intelligence and possessed extraordinary skill in mechanics. He invented a spark-arrest- ing apparatus, similar to that now in general use on locomotive engines. He might have realized a considerable sum for this invention, but he had a partner who refused to sell for the price offered. Therefore they held to their in- vention until some other enterprising mechanic secured the reward offered by the Pennsylvania Railroad Company for such an apparatus. Abra- ham Keagy died in 1866, at the age of eighty- one. He had eight children, five of whom are now living : Jacob (deceased), John, Abraham, Christian (deceased), Susan, Mary (deceased), Nancy and Elizabeth.

The foundry and machine shop of John I. Brown was started by Abraham Keagy about 1841. The property has passed through numer- ous changes of ownership up to the present proprietor, who has been a partner in the busi- ness since 1874, and sole owner since February, 1883. Mr. Brown manufactures and repairs all kinds of farming machinery, and is conducting a successful and prosperous business. Mr. Brown was born in South Woodberry township, and commenced learning his trade at the age of seventeen. His father, David F. Brown (de- ceased), was born in this county, and was the son of Thomas Brown, an early settler.

Jacob Imler came into East St. Clair town- ship early, and settled on the farm now owned by John Claycomb. Two of his sons, Daniel and David, are now living in Bedford township. George R. Imler, son of Daniel, followed the mercantile business in Altoona two years, and has since engaged in huckstering, and recently in farming. He served about three years in

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the army in Co. E, 138th regt. Penn. Vols., and saw many severe engagements. He was wounded and captured by the rebels on the field, and was eight and one-half months in An- dersonville, Libby and other rebel prisons.

WOODBERRY.

Woodberry borough is a pleasant and attract- ive town, situated in the midst of fertile agri- cultural territory and surrounded by beautiful scenery.

David Holsinger, the founder of the town, settled upon the tract on which the borough is located about 1800, built a small log gristmill on the creek and caused town-lots to be laid off. Peter Stern afterward owned the mill.

The first house in the town was built by Frank Dickes. As he had no barn, he was ac- customed to thresh his wheat on the floor of his house. The building was afterward a tavern.

Andrew McFarland purchased the site of the town from Holsinger. John Breidenthal built a small log house, and was among the first resi- dents of the village. Woodberry grew but little until the furnace was started.

Elizabeth furnace, the site of which was on the creek at the south end of the town, was started in 1827. The builders and owners were John King, Henry Swope and Dr. Peter Shoen- berger, who carried on business under the firm name of King, Swope & Co. Dr. Shoenberger owned one-half of the furnace. The company owned or controlled several thousand acres of ore and timber lands. They did a profitable business, making about forty tons of iron per week on an average. The furnace went out of blast in 1843. Dr. Shoenberger took the prop- erty after appraisement, and from the material of the furnace built the Bloomfield furnace.

When the iron business ceased, Woodberry lost the most of its population. Buildings were torn down and removed, and thenceforth im- provements proceeded slowly.

The first store was started by the furnace company. In 1841 Smith, Baker & Co. were running a store, and James Malone, a hotel.

Dr. Smith, who came to Woodberry in 1834, says there were then but three good buildings in the town. These were the log store and dwelling belonging to the furnace company ; the stone house on the west side of the street just north of Burns' saddlery shop, where Peter Diltz then resided ; and the hotel, kept by David

Puterbaugh, afterward engaged in the iron business at Hopewell. The remaining build- ings of the town were shanties and dilapidated buildings occupied by workmen.

The first brick house in the town was erected by Jacob Brenneman, in 1850.

G. R. Barndollar built a mill in 1850, which afterward burned down.

In 1880 the population of the town was two hundred and ninety-one. There are three gen- eral stores, one drug store, one hardware store, one hotel, besides saddler, wagon, blacksmith and other kinds of shops. For a small place, the town contains more than the average num- ber of good buildings.

Woodberry was incorporated as a borough June 23, 1868.

W. K. Lecrone's gristmill, on the site of Barndollar's, was erected in 1881. It is a three- story building, and is supplied throughout with new machinery. Its capacity is about thirty-five barrels per day. Mr. Lecrone is a native of York county. Since 1859 he has followed his present business in Blair and Bedford counties.

A. S. Longenecker & Co. are among the lead- ing merchants of Woodberry. This firm com- menced business in April, 1869, and built the store which they now occupy. A. S. Longenecker is a native of Woodberry township, and a son of John B. Longenecker, an old resident. J. B. Longenecker was born in Lancaster county and came to Bedford county when a young man, engaging as a clerk for David Puterbaugh. After marrying he engaged in farming, which he has since followed.

William M. Pearson was born in Berks coun- ty, and moved to Morrison's cove when a boy. His father, Edward Pearson, was largely inter- ested in business in this county, being engaged at various periods in farming, milling, manu- facturing iron, shipping grain, etc. He ran the Lemnos forge several years. He was the father of eleven children, of whom four sons and three daughters are yet living. William M. followed farming in early life, and was manager of ore mines for the furnace company three years. In 1857 he removed to Woodberry, where he has since been engaged in hotelkeeping. Mr. Pear- son served one term as county commissioner.

Henry Fluck, Esq., son of Henry Fluck, and grandson of John Fluck, elsewhere men- tioned, followed farming until twenty-three years of age, and was afterward in the mercan-

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tile business, and served as constable for about twenty years. In 1847 he came to the town of Woodberry, where he was engaged in hotel- keeping until 1866. Mr. Fluck was the first democratic justice of the peace elected in Woodberry.

D. F. Keagy is a son of Jacob Keagy (de- ceased), and was brought up at Keagy's foun- dry. In 1856 he engaged in clerking at Wood- berry for a short time, then went west. Return- ing, he clerked for G. R. Barndollar seven years. He was in the one-year service in the late war ; enlisting as a private, he was promoted to second lieutenant and brevet-captain. In 1866 Mr. Keagy began the mercantile business for him- self, and continued it until 1875. He is clerk of the borough school board, and has served as postmaster since 1869.

John Keagy, from Franklin county, settled in South Woodberry, but afterward removed to Fayette county. Of his sons, only Joseph remained in this county. He was a silversmith and followed his trade at Woodberry until his death in 1861. He married Barbara, daughter of Emanuel Bassler. Of their children, Mary, John S., Emanuel and Joseph B. are living. John S. is the leading jeweler of Hollidaysburg, and Emanuel is in the same business at Everett. Joseph B. is a cabinetmaker and undertaker at Woodberry. He is also a teacher of penman- ship, in which art he is highly accomplished. He graduated at the Iron City Commercial Col- lege, Pittsburgh, in 1865 ; taught writing in the west, and took the first premium for fine pen- manship at the Iowa State fair. He has also taken several premiums at county fairs. Mr. Keagy has served as township auditor. He moved to the borough in 1883.

William H. Clouse, Esq., is a native of Bloom- field township. His father, George Clouse, came from Saxony to America in 1840, and followed the trade of blacksmith in this county. He married Christina Friend, who bore six sons and four daughters, W. II. being the oldest of the family. By his own exertions Mr. Clouse obtained a good education, and at the age of seventeen engaged in his present profession, teaching. He now holds a prominent position among the educators of this county. He has held a state certificate since 1875. Ile was principal of Woodberry schools in 1873-4 and 1877-80. He taught in Belleville, Illinois, three years. Mr. Clouse is one of the com-

mittee to revise the text-books of the county. He has been borough assessor nine years. He held the office of justice of the peace one term, and was re-elected without opposition. He has held all the principal offices in the Masonic and Odd-Fellows lodges and the encampment. He has been chief officer of the encampment since 1878. Mr. Clouse has taught seventeen terms of school. He is the local correspondent at Woodberry of the county papers and of the the Altoona Daily Tribune.

F. B. Berkheimer, dentist, was born in South Woodberry township, and is a son of John Berkheimer, a shoemaker, who came to Bedford county about 1846, and lived at New Enter- prise. Dr. Berkheimer learned dentistry in Woodberry under Dr. I. N. Bowser, and began practicing in 1874. He has met with marked success in his profession.

George W. Bulger is a native of Woodberry borough. He has been carrying on carriage manufacturing and blacksmithing since 1872.

T. M. Myers is a native of Blair county, and removed to Bedford county in 1875. In 1876 he engaged in wagonmaking in Woodberry. IIis shop is the only one of the kind in the town, and he does a large business.

SOCIETIES.

Odd- Felloros .- Cove Lodge, No. 368, was char- tered August 20, 1849, with John B. Castner, N.G. ; John F. Mckinney, V.G. ; Francis N. Rosenthal, Secy. ; William S. Fluke, Asst. Secy., and William Crissman, Treas. Up to April, 1883, there had been two hundred and ninety- eight admissions to the lodge. Cove Lodge is the parent of Roaring Spring Lodge, Martinsburg; Model Lodge, Roaring Spring ; Claysburg Lodge, Claysburg, and Amicitia Lodge, Pattonsville. The present membership of Cove Lodge is sixty-seven ; value of lodge property, five thousand four hundred and forty- two dollars.

Encampment .- C. N. Hickok Encampment, No. 200, was chartered September 3, 1870, with officers as follows : Joseph E. Noble, C.P. ; John L. Meloy, H.P. ; Samuel B. Fluck, S.W. ; James A. Shade, J.W. : John I. Noble, Secy. ; Samuel Keagy, Treas. ; Jacob L. Biddle, Sent. ; C. R. Stover, Guard.

Musonic .- Woodberry Lodge, No. 539, A. F. and A. M., was instituted August 1, 1875. Char- ter members and first officers : John S. Noble,

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W.M. ; John Grove, S.W. ; William H. Clouse, J.W. ; Abraham L. Bechhoefer, Treas. ; D. F. Keagy, Secy. ; Jacob Brenneman, John G. Ake, M.D., Joseph E. Noble, George B. Dougherty, C. W. Allen, Rev. J. W. Cleaver, George Steel, Charles Long, M.D., John S. Hetrick. The lodge has prospered well and has now a mem- bership of eighteen.

SCHOOLS.

The first school board in Woodberry borough, organized July 30, 1868, consisted of the follow- ing members : William M. Pearson, Prest. ; William Simpson, Secy. ; D. R. P. Sweeny, Dr. C. S. Oellig, C. W. Allen, Samuel Beamer. The first schoolhouse erected in the town was the present I.O.O.F. building. The school-building now in use was erected in 1862. Eighty-four pupils were enrolled in the winter term of 1883. Prof. W. R. Vaughan has been principal of the schools since the fall of 1881.

CHURCHES.

Methodist .- The Woodberry Methodist Epis- copal church is an old organization. The first church edifice was erected in 1844, and was used until the brick church was completed. The new building, a tasteful and elegant brick structure, was erected in 1882-3, at a cost of about four thousand dollars. The congregation consists of about fifty members and is a part of the Martinsburg charge.

Reformed .- Hickory Bottom Reformed church.

Lutheran .- St. John's Evangelical Lutheran church in Woodberry township was organized in 1813 or 1814. The congregation worshiped in a small log church until 1842, when the pres- ent brick edifice was completed at a cost of fourteen hundred dollars. The dedicatory ser- mon was preached by Rev. William Baker, of Altoona. The membership in 1842 was thirty- five. The church property is now valued at two thousand dollars. The ministers of this congregation have been: Revs. Yeager, R. Wei- ser, W. G. Letzel, E. Schwartz, D. J. Eyler, Joseph Fichtner, J. Richards, John J. Ellin- ger, D. Stock, Stansbury Hooper, Charles L. Streamer, Henry Seifert and Ephraim Dutt. Rev. E. Dutt is the present pastor. The church belongs to Martinsburg charge.

Lutheran. - The Lutherans of Woodberry borough met and appointed a building commit- tee in April, 1882. On May 25, 1882, Rev. E. Dutt organized the congregation with thirty- five members. William Simpson and Lewis Zimmerman were chosen elders, and William H. Clouse, William H. H. Shimer and Solomon Barley, deacons. The corner-stone of the church was laid July 1, 1882. The building was dedi- cated January 28, 1883 ; sermon by Rev. W. W. Criley. The cost of the church, including lot and furnishing, was two thousand six hundred and fifty-seven dollars. Sufficient money has been subscribed to pay off all indebtedness. Rev. E. Dutt is the first and present pastor.

Church of God .- We are unable to ascertain the date of the organization of this church. Rev. John Weinbrenner, the founder of the de- nomination, is said to have preached in Wood- berry early. Jacob Lininger was the first regular preacher here. Mullinecks and Snively were also early ministers. The congregation erected a stone church in Woodberry in 1844, which stood until 1873, when it was replaced by the present church, a frame building. The membership is now forty.

Brethren .- Woodberry Brethren church, in- cluded in Bedford and Blair counties, has existed as a distinct organization since 1876. Morrison's cove originally belonged to the Yel- low creek church (which see). When organ- ized, Woodberry church had two hundred and fifty members. The first meeting-house (in Bloomfield township) was built in 1850. There are now five meeting-houses and two hundred and eighty-eight members belonging to the church. Bishop, Jacob Miller ; ministers, John Replogle, John L. Holsinger, M. M. Claar, J. G. Snider.

The meeting-house in Woodberry township was built in 1877, at a cost of thirty-three hun- dred dollars. The first building, known as the Eshelman church, was built about 1851.

River Brethren .- This denomination have held meetings from a very early date. In the absence of records no definite history of their organization is possible. They have a meeting- house, erected about 1874, and number about twenty members. The River Brethren differ from the Brethren or Dunkards in holding to a belief in experimental religion.

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SOUTH WOODBERRY.

CHAPTER XXXI. SOUTH WOODBERRY.

Township Organization - The Early Settlement - Early Mark- ets and Transportation Facilities - The Early Settlers - Their German Origin - Their Characteristics - Sketches of Numer- ous Families - Later Settlers - Villages - Pattonville - New Enterprise - Churches.

W OODBERRY township was organized about the year 1785. South Woodberry township was organized in 1838. It embraces some of the best agricultural land in the State of Pennsylvania. It is peopled by a thrifty, economical and moral class. The farms and im- provements are unexcelled in Bedford county.

South Woodberry is included in the southern end of the beautiful and fertile valley known as Morrison's cove. It doubtless was settled prior to the revolution, though it is questionable whether any settlers remained here during the most exciting periods of the war. But after the struggle had ended, the excellence of the soil in this valley attracted the attention of land specu- lators, who bought up this territory in large quantities. The land was disposed of to settlers at figures which were then considered high, and by degrees the cove became peopled and improved. Nearly all of the old settlers were of German ancestry, and the majority be- longed to the religious sect known as the Breth- ren or Dunkards. Their descendants form the principal portion of the present inhabitants. They are a quiet, industrious and deeply religious people.

Many of the pioneers came from a German settlement near Hagerstown, Maryland. Others were from Adams and other eastern counties of this state. Like all colonists, they at first labored under many disadvantages, chief of which were the distance from markets and the lack of facilities for the transportation of produce. Wheat was a staple crop, and the soil yielded it abundantly as soon as the proper preparations had been made. In a few years Morrison's cove became noted as a great grain-producing region ; the shipment of grain, by means of flat- bottomed boats, down the Raystown branch of the Juniata and thence to the eastern markets, was undertaken and successfully carried out. Still later, the opening of the Pittsburgh turn- pike through the county created a ready market for many products, and the farmers of the cove gained in wealth and prosperity. Improved

roads and the construction of a railroad through the heart of this fertile region now point to an era of greater prosperity.

John Snyder, an early settler near Pattonville, was born in Germany. He came to this county from Hagerstown, Maryland, about 1775, when settlers were few, and located in the woods, but soon made substantial improvements. He was a large landowner and a prominent man in his day. When he first settled in the county he was obliged to go to Chambersburg to get mill- ing done. The family often made cornmeal by grinding the grain in a coffee-mill. Mr. Snyder built the large stone house at the forks of the road and finished it in 1812. He erected a gristmill prior to 1796. ITis sons, John, Christian and Jacob, lived in the vicinity several years after his death, but went west.

John Snoeberger, one of the early settlers of Woodberry township, was born in Franklin county in 1770, and died in Bedford county in 1841. He married Barbara Boyer, and was the father of Jacob, Daniel, Nancy, Elizabeth, Christina, Barbara and Susan. Jacob and Daniel lived and died on the old homestead. Daniel died in 1841, aged forty-one years. Jacob died in 1868, at the age of seventy-two. Daniel married Christina Hoover, of Blair county. His children were: John, Nancy (Paul), Jacob (deceased), Samuel (deceased), Andrew . and Jonathan. John Snoeberger removed to South Woodberry, where he now lives, in 1854. He married Mary Benner, and is the father of L. B. (now farming on the place formerly owned by David T. Miller), Susan, Barbara (deceased), Catharine, Jacob, Nancy, Andrew (now follow- ing the butchering business in Broad Top town- ship), Samuel, Amanda, Elizabeth (deceased), Anna, Hannah (deceased) and John.

Theodore Snowberger lived on the Bedford road, about a mile and a half from Pattonville. He was an early settler. His son, John E., was a teacher several years.

John Weaver, who ran a distillery, was an early resident on a farm between the Snowber- ger property and Pattonville. William Davis, Esq., one of the most influential meu of his day, lived on a farm adjoining Potter's mill property.

David Long, Sr., was born near Hagerstown, Maryland, in 1774. He removed to Hunting- don county, where he remained a few years, and thence to South Woodberry, where he died in 1848. He married Elizabeth, daughter of Jacob

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Snowberger, and was the father of nine children. His son, Jacob, born in Huntingdon county in 1799, removed to South Woodberry in 1824, and died in 1882. He married Salome Confer, born in 1804, who is yet living. They had nine children : David C., Elizabeth (deceased), John (deceased), Jacob (deceased), Barbara, Joseph C., Charles and Gideon. David C., a preacher in the Brethren church, is farming in this town- ship. Joseph C. served in the late war, enlist- ing in August, 1864, in Co. H, 208th regt. Penn. Vols .; was wounded in the final assault on Petersburg ; discharged in June, 1865. For four years prior to 1876 he was editor and pro- prietor of the County Bedford Press. He is now agent for the sale of school furniture and books. Dr. Charles Long is practicing medicine in New Enterprise.

John Brumbaugh, one of the pioneers of South Woodberry, was a native of Hagerstown, Maryland. He removed to Morrison's cove and took up over eight hundred acres of unimproved land, upon which he resided until his death in 1830. His children were Daniel, Mary, David, Jacob and Eva. Daniel, now nearly ninety years of age, is still living, in the State of Indiana. David passed his days in this town- ship. He died in 1875, at the age of seventy- eight. For several years he was a minister of the Brethren church. He married Mary Snyder and was the father of Catharine (deceased), Jacob, Elizabeth (deceased), Martin (deceased), John, Susan (deceased), David S., Mary and Simon. David S. has been in the mercantile business in New Enterprise since 1878, a mem- ber of the firm of S. L. Buck & Co. The other sons are prominent farmers.

Jacob Hetrick, of German descent, was born in Virginia in 1795. He came to South Wood- berry with his father, one of the early settlers, when young, and resided upon the farm where the family first settled, until his decease in 1858. He married Christina Detwiler. The children of this union were : Elizabeth, Catharine (deceased), Henry (deceased), Jacob (deceased), John T., George and Civilla. Jacob served in the late war a short time. John T. is a shoe- maker by trade. He is also engaged in the business of saddlery and harnessmaking in New Enterprise.

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History of Bedford, Somerset, Fulton counties Pennsylvania, Part 62

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

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