History of Bedford, Somerset, Fulton counties Pennsylvania, Part 67

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

USA > Pennsylvania > Bedford County > History of Bedford, Somerset, Fulton counties Pennsylvania > Part 67
USA > Pennsylvania > Fulton County > History of Bedford, Somerset, Fulton counties Pennsylvania > Part 67
USA > Pennsylvania > Somerset County > History of Bedford, Somerset, Fulton counties Pennsylvania > Part 67

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).

EVERETT CEMETERY.

The Everett Cemetery Association was granted & charter August 27, 1878, in response to a petition signed by twenty-one citizens of the borough. The association organized with John A. Gump, Prest. ; J. M. Barndollar and Freder- ick Felton, Vice-Prests. ; J. W. Hughes, Secy .; and J. Du Bois, Treas.

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Twelve acres of ground were purchased in 1874. Two acres have since been added, and considerable money has been expended in fitting up and beautifying the grounds. The site of the cemetery is a most beautiful one.

The stock of the association now consists of two hundred and eighty shares of five dollars each, held by forty-nine stockholders.

SOCIETIES.

Odd-Fellows .- Everett has one of the most flourishing of Odd-Fellows' lodges in this part of the state. Bloody Run Lodge (now Everett Lodge), No. 600, I.O.O.F., was instituted May 13, 1867, by D.D.G.M. C. N. Hickok, with twenty charter members : Samuel Jaffa, N.G. ; William Masters, V.G .; John C. Hawman, Secy. ; Henry F. Gibson, Asst. Secy .; Adam S. Ritchey, Treas. ; Henry N. Jaffa, J. Du Bois, J. T. Lucas, A. J. Kegg, E. J. Gump, S. P. Lewis, E. S. Bussard, Jere Baughman, W. B. Kennard, Simeon Nycum, William Martin, J. Ramsey, John L. Grove, James H. Stoutnour, S. W. Williams. Since the institution of the lodge two hundred and twenty-seven members have been admitted. The membership, September 25, 1882, was one hundred and fifty. The net assets of the lodge are over seven thousand dollars. Large amounts have been paid in benefits.

Olivia Encampment, No. 206, I.O.O.F., was instituted March 31, 1871, by D.D.G.P. J. R. Dubarrow. Charter members : M. D. Barn- dollar, C.P .; Jeremiah Baughman, S.W .; A. J. Gienger, J.W .; Seth Dunn ; D. S. Elliott, H.P. ; Christopher Snell ; J. Du Bois, Scribe ; William Masters, Treas. The encampment is now prosperous, having fifty members. At one time the membership was over one hundred, but removals and other causes diminished it.

Masonic .- Everett Lodge, No. 524, was char- tered September 3, 1873. The charter members were: M. D. Barndollar, John W. Barndollar, Barton A. Cooper, D. Stewart Elliott, James W. Hughes, H. Howard Hill, Oliver L. Lock wood, Joseph C. Long, Benjamin M. Lodge, William Masters, Andrew J. Nycum, John W. Smith, Jr., James T. Sheeder, Simon States, Samuel D. Williams, Jacob R. Williams, all from Bedford Lodge, No. 320, except Mr. Lock- wood, from Kingston Lodge, No. 10, New York. The lodge was instituted October 22, 1873. The first officers were : J. W. Hughes, W.M .; M. D. Barndollar, S.W .; and B. A.

Cooper, J.W. The lodge is in a flourishing condition, with a membership of about fifty.

Grand Army .- Lieut. Josiah Baughman Post, No. 181, G. A. R., was organized May 22, 1879, with twenty-two charter members. The post was named in honor of Lieut. Josiah Baugh- man, of Everett, who was killed while attempt- ing to arrest a deserter from the army. The first officers were : D. Stewart Elliott, P.C .; A. P. Redinger, S.V.C .; D. M. Cooper, J.V.C .; Michael Ott, Q.M .; N. C. Evans, Chap .; George E. Staily, O. of D .; Jas. H. Stoutenour, O. of G .; M. D. Barndollar, A .; Joseph C. Long, Q.M.S .; R. W. Cook, S.M. This is the pioneer post of the county. It is in good working condition, and has a membership of forty-five.

BIOGRAPHICAL.

JAMES M. BARNDOLLAR.

The name of Barndollar is a prominent one in the annals of Bedford county, so much so that its history, especially that portion devoted to East Providence and Everett, would be radically incomplete without a more extended notice then is there given. The American progenitor of the family was Michael Barndollar, who came from Germany some time previous to the revolu- tionary war and settled in Philadelphia. After a residence there of some years, he removed to Maryland, where he lived until 1787, when he emigrated with his family to Everett, then known as Bloody Run, where he purchased a large tract of land, on a portion of which the borough of Everett is now located. He was a thrifty, energetic man, and he left his impress on the village of which he was the founder. His wife, whom he probably married in the mother country, bore him a family of nine children-four sons and five daughters.

Peter, the oldest, was born in Philadelphia in 1778, and was the father of the gentleman whose name is at the head of this biography. He married Anna, daughter of James Martin. She was born at Juniata crossing, Pennsylvania, November 14, 1776, and became the mother of eight children, five of whom are living : James M., Jacob B., Catherine, Elizabeth, wife of Ben- jamin R. Ashcomb, and William. Peter Barn- dollar was a farmer, and died in Everett in 1858, his wife the following year, in the eighty-

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second year of her age. James M. Barndollar was born in what is now the township of West Providence, August 18, 1806. His boyhood was spent upon his father's farm, receiving such school advantages as were afforded in that early day. At the age of eighteen he entered the employ of his uncle Jacob, who was engaged in general merchandising in Everett ; with him he remained until he disposed of store to D. & J. Mann. With this firm Mr. Barndollar remained one year, when he established himself in business at Mount Pleasant, Westmoreland county. This venture was not a profitable one, and he returned to Everett, again entering the employ of his uncle. In 1840 he purchased his uncle's interest, obligating himself to an amount that would have disheartened most young men, but his business foresight and industry enabled him to overcome all obstacles, and at the end of eighteen years, at which time he quit merchandising, he had accumulated a well-earned competency.

Mr. Barndollar was married in 1832, to Miss Eliza Piper Smith. ,She was born in Millerstown, Pennsylvania, in 1808, and died in 1877. By this union there were born six children, four of whom are living : Jacob J., of Everett; Eliza, now Mrs. James Curry, of Altoona, Pennsyl- vania ; William P., of Baltimore, and Mary C., wife of Capt. Samuel Tate.

In 1880 Mr. Barndollar was again married, to Miss Catherine, daughter of John B. Alexander, Esq., of Fulton county. The life of Mr. Barn- dollar has been comparatively uneventful, and marked only by such incidents as occur in the lives of most business men. His life has been devoted to his business, and the cares of his family, and the building up of that priceless legacy, an honorable reputation.

JOSIAH HARRIS.

The subject of this sketch is of Swedish extraction. His great-grandfather, with two brothers, came to this country upon the solicita- tion of William Penn, whom they had met in London. Penn offered them the privilege of settling on any part of his domain they might desire. They took passage on the same vessel that brought him over on one of his voyages. John, the founder of Harrisburg, was the only one to accept Penn's proposition. The other two brothers, having learned that there were Swedish settlements in New Jersey, preferred, on this account, to settle there. One of them

settled in East Jersey, while Abram, the great- grandfather of Josiah Harris, settled near the line of Salem and Cumberland counties, in West Jersey, and the lands which he occupied are now in the possession of his posterity. He was married after he came to this country and became the father of nine sons, the youngest of whom, Nicholas, the grandfather of the immedi- ate subject of this biography, was a soldier in the war of the revolution. He served with dis- tinction and participated in many of the battles of that sanguinary struggle. After the war he married a Miss Shepard, who was born in Salem county, New Jersey, and the result of this union were eight sons and one daughter : Hannah, Shepard, Bilby, Abram, Permenas, Nicholas, Aaron, Job and Charlton. Permenas, the father of the subject of this sketch, was born near the village of Elsonborough, Salem county, New Jersey, in 1796, and died in 1850. In 1818 he was married to Miss Rebecca, daughter of David Ayers. She was born in Elsonborough, Salem county. She was of Scotch parentage, and shortly after their marriage her parents went west, since which time nothing is known of them. To Permenas Harris and his wife; Rebecca, were born three children - Josiah, Thomas and David. Josiah was born in the town of Salem, Salem county, New Jersey, June 6, 1819. When scarcely four years of age his mother died, and his father, being in limited circumstances, broke up his home and found places for his children, he going to sea. Josiahi was bound out to a gentleman by the name of Benjamin Ireland until he should attain the age of twenty-one years, but in his thirteenth year his benefactor died and he was made an orphan for the second time. His father being at sea, he became a town charge, and he was bound, by the directors of the poor, to a man by the name of Richard Moore until he was seventeen. Moore was & hardhearted, tyrannical master, and the five years Josiah passed in his service were replete with hardships. At the expiration of that time his father abandoned the sea and settled in Philadelphia, and at the request of his brother Job, who was a cooper in New Orleans, Josiah was sent there to acquire that trade. With his uncle young Josiah had a good home and fatherly care, and with him he remained three years, when he was attacked with that dreadful disease yellow fever. When he had sufficiently recovered to travel he went north, by the advice

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of his uncle, to recuperate, intending to return as soon as he had regained his health, and go in business with his uncle, but the associations of home and boyhood proved too strong, and he decided to remain. He engaged in farming until 1844, at which time he was married to Miss Mary, daughter of William and Elizabeth (Fox) Finley. Seven children have been born to them : William F. (deceased); Rebecca (deceased), the first wife of Gen. D. Stewart Elliott; Aaron (deceased), Louisa (deceased); Charlton, residing at home; Mary Blanche, wife of James Harbaugh, of Everett, and James Henry, at home.

Two years subsequent to his marriage he engaged in the livery business, which he con- ducted successfully until 1854, when he closed out his business to engage in the manufacture of "West India cooperage" in Pennsylvania. In 1868 he removed his family to Everett, where they have since resided. In 1861 Mr. Harris associated with himself Mr. J. B. Williams, who proved to be not only a congenial but a profitable partner. This partnership continued for twelve years, when it was dissolved by mutual consent, Mr. Harris continuing the business in Virginia. He is said to be one of the largest manufac- turers in his line in the United States. It is unnecessary to speak of Mr. Harris' standing as a business man and a citizen, for he is known by almost every business man in the county. He is a wide awake, public-spirited gentleman, always active in promoting the best interests of the community in which he resides.

HON. JAMES W. HUGHES.

James W. Hughes was born in Juniata county, Pennsylvania, November 16, 1835. He received his education in the common schools and the Cassville Seminary in Huntingdon county. It was in this institution that he began his career as an instructor. After the completion of his course he became the principal, and conducted the school successfully for two years. At the expiration of that time he removed to Martins- burg, to take charge of the schools of that place. Dissolving his connection with the schools of Martinsburg, he went to Rainsburg, where for eight years he labored assiduously in the Rains- burg Academy. Under his management, the academy flourished and became one of the prominent educational institutions of that sec- tion. In 1871 he came to Everett as superin-

tendent of schools, which position he filled acceptably for four years, at the expiration of which time he was elected to the responsible office of county superintendent. To the schools of Bedford county he gave six years of intelli- gent, well-directed labor, and under his super- vision a marked advancement was made; and to Prof. Hughes, perhaps more than any other one individual, the people of the county are indebted for the prosperous condition of their school system. After the expiration of his term as county superintendent he resumed his position in the schools of Everett. In 1882 he was elected to the representative branch of the legislature, serving on the committees of vice and immorality, education, local judiciary, retrenchment and reform.

In 1860 Mr. . Hughes was married to Miss Sarah A., daughter of Jacob Creswell, of Hunt- ingdon county, Pennsylvania. Seven children have been born to them, two of whom, William and Josephine, are living.

In his political and religious affiliations, he is a democrat and a Methodist.

JOHN DU BOIS.

John Du Bois, a prominent business man of Everett, was born at Sharptown, Salem county, New Jersey, March 8, 1838. His parents were Matthew N. and Rachel Du Bois. The family consisted of three children : John, Thomas and Anna. The father followed carriage painting and trimming at Sharptown. Soon after the subject of this notice was born, the family moved to Penn's grove, Salem county, New Jersey, where Mr. Du Bois was engaged in business, principally house, sign and carriage painting, until about 1847. He then engaged in the mercantile business. Meanwhile his children received a good common school educa- tion under the instruction of their uncle, who was principal of the schools in the town where they resided.

In 1862 the elder Mr. Du Bois removed to Cape May, and John sought business for him- self. Entering the employ of E. B. Humphreys, at Sharptown, he remained one year. He next taught school part of a year near Sharptown, then went to Poughkeepsie, New York, where he pursued a course of study at Eastman's Busi- ness College. Thence he came to Everett, Pennsylvania, and for four years acted as book- keeper for the firm of J. B. Williams & .Co.

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He then became a partner in the firm and con- tinued for two years. At the organization of the Bedford County Bank, in February, 1870, Mr. Du Bois accepted the position of cashier, which he has held up to the present time.

After being a resident of Everett for two years, Mr. Du Bois made a visit to his native place and returned to Bedford county accom- panied by a bride, née Miss Bee, daughter of John Bee, of Sharptown. Finding this estima- ble lady possessed of good business qualifica- tions, Mr. Du Bois placed her in charge of a millinery and notion store with seven hundred dollars capital. Seven years later, her careful management had so increased the stock that its value was four thousand dollars, clear of in- debtedness. Mrs. Du Bois then sold out the store and placed the proceeds in her hus- band's hands. He at once invested in the drug business, placing Dr. P. H. Pensyl, a competent physician and druggist, in charge of the store. About January 1, 1881, Dr. Jenkins, a promi- nent physician of Boston, gave Mr. Du Bois a prescription for the cure of catarrh, which had been tested and approved by high medical authorities. Mr. Du Bois began compounding the medicine and sending samples to the trade. His success was so great that three thousand bottles were sold in Pennsylvania alone during the first year. This result so pleased Dr. Jen- kins that he soon placed other remedies in the hands of Mr. Du Bois, and volunteered both capital and aid to extend the manufacture and sale of the medicines.

CHAPTER XXXIII. EAST PROVIDENCE.

Organization of Township -- The Pack .Horse Trail -The Old State Road - The Old Crossing - The Stockade - The Chain Bridge - The Indians-The Battle in Ray's Cove - The Peck Family Massacred - The Early Settlers - Sketches of Repre- sentative Families- Ray's Hill - Mills -Churches -Socie- tles.

E AST PROVIDENCE, which had been a part of Providence township from about 1780, was constituted a separate township in 1844.

This township was the scene of many thrill- ing events of pioneer life. The early settlers were in constant peril from savage foes, and doubtless the ashes of many a victim of the

tomahawk and scalping-knife are mingled with the soil of East Providence.

The pack-horse trail, one of the earliest routes traveled by white men in this part of the state, led through this township. In 1755 the province agreed to open a wagon-road from Fort Loudon, in Cumberland county, to the forks of the Youghiogheny. The road was completed in 1758, and in that year Gen. Forbes led his army over it in the expedition against Fort DuQuesne. The route is known as the Old State road, and was the principal thoroughfare in this county until the turnpike was built. In this township, a small stockade as a defense against the Indi- ans was erected at the old Juniata crossing in the summer of 1758. Probably settlers began to come in soon after. Records show that the Martins were in this county in 1771 ; and doubt- less they had neighbors.

The first bridge over the Raystown branch was built at the old crossing, some distance be- low the present bridge. It was known as the "chain bridge," and was a novelty, celebrated far and wide. In place of cables, as in modern suspension bridges, huge chains spanned the river, and were fastened, on the one side to the natural rocks, and on the other to a stone pier, a part of which is still standing. We have no means of knowing when the bridge was built, but it must have stood many years. The present bridge was built about 1818-the time the turnpike was completed - and the old chain bridge had been discontinued prior to that time. The old road at the lower crossing can still be distinctly traced, and the marks of wheels deeply graven into the solid rocks are still pointed out, showing that a vast amount of wagoning must have passed that way.

Doubtless there were many murders by the Indians of which the people of today have no knowledge. The lapse of more than a century has served to obliterate many accounts once current. Tradition, however, still preserves the record of one cruel and heartless deed. George Peck and family settled in the cove long before the revolution. It is said that they were Eng- lish people, ignorant, and, of course, supersti- tious. They had been told that if they made a circular line in the earth, completely surround- ing the cabin, the Indians would not molest them. It appears that they believed this, and relied upon such a frail safeguard, knowing that Indians were in the neighborhood, although

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other settlers fled to the forts. After the Indi- ans had left, some of the neighbors went to visit the Pecks and ascertain how they had fared, and were horrified to find only their life- less bodies.

The following is an extract from a letter written by Barnard Dougherty, of Bedford, to President Moore, August 19, 1782 :

On the 8th of this Inst. were found killed and scalped about eighteen Miles on this side of the Town of Bedford, and within half a Mile of the great Road one Peck, his wife and two children, his House burnt, and another who lived there is missing and thought to be taken away ; the enemy penetrating so far into the very Heart of the country has struck a general Panick and the People are mostly fled.

After the commencement of the revolutionary war the attacks of the Indians upon the settlers were frequent and violent. It was probably during this time that the bloody affray took place which gave the name Battleground Hol- low to a ravine in Ray's cove. Pritts' " Border Life" mentions the affair thus :

A party of whites ,under the command of Capt. Dorsey were cut off by a band of savages in the Har- bor in Ray's Cove.

Another version of the affray at Skull Lick, or Battleground Hollow, is thus given by one of the descendants of Henry Hinish, who, it is claimed, was the only white man engaged in the fight who escaped death :

The Indians had been committing depredations for a long time, and the whites resolved to take active measures of retaliation. Hinish and a party of about twenty men were in pursuit of the savages and sur- prised them on the hill above the lick. The Indians fled, leaving their arms on the ground. The pursuing party did not stop to pick up the arms, and the In- dians subsequently returned and secured possession of them. They then attacked the whites, who had entered the ravine, and slaughtered every one of them except Hinish, who escaped by running.

Scalping knives, gun-barrels and other war- like implements have been dug up, from time to time, in the ravine, as well as numerous skulls and parts of skeletons. Several years ago two skulls were found in a hollow tree. There is no doubt that a bloody fight once took place here, but it is to be regretted that the accounts of it are so vague and unsatis- factory.

Henry Hinish, John and Simon Ritchey, and their families, were among the earliest settlers in Ray's cove.

James Martin, a native of Wales, was an

early settler at the old Juniata crossing, where he ran a ferry-boat many years before the chain-bridge was built. He made considerable money by this business, and was an influential citizen. He was one of the first associate judges of the county. One of his daughters married Peter Barndollar, from whom the Barndollars of Everett are descended. Abra- ham Martin, son of James, also became an associate judge and was a most prominent citizen. His death was the result of a shock- ing accident; while at work in his barn, he fell from the beams and broke his neck.

Frederick Clingerman, from Frederick county, Maryland, settled on the farm now owned by Adam Shuss at a very early day, while the In- dians were still numerous. His son Philip lived on the farm after him and died in 1881, in the eighty-first year of his age.

The Dennisons were among the early settlers upon the river. One of them, Hugh, kept tav- ern for some years at the old crossing, and owned considerable property in the neighbor- hood. The building now the McGraw home- stead was commenced by him and completed by his widow. The date of its erection is sup- posed to be 1818. It is a large three-story building, substantially built of stone, and situ- ated upon the river bank in the midst of wild and romantic scenery. It was long one of the most famous hostelries on the pike.

George McGraw kept the above-mentioned tavern from 1842 for many years, and had a reputation unexcelled as a landlord. He was born in Chester county in 1809, and died in Bedford county in 1877. Beside his hotel, he was the owner of a large farm, and was exten- sively engaged in the stock business. He was a man of excellent character and had high social standing. In 1872 he was appointed associate judge to fill a vacancy, and completed the term of office with credit. He could not, however, be induced to accept a renomination. His widow (née E. W. Broomhall) is living at the old homestead. Her children are Thomas B., John C., George, J. Edwin and Sadie R. (Shull). Three of the sons reside in this township and are well-known citizens.

The Foor family is an old one in this county, the fifth generation now living here. John Foor, the progenitor, was a German, who lived some years near Philadelphia, and thence emi- grated to this county and settled while most of

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this part of the state was a wilderness. His children were Jacob, John, Leonard, Richard, Abraham, Mary and Catharine. The property on which Samuel S. and William H. H. Foor now live is the ancestral homestead of the family. Their father, David Foor, left it in early life, but returned when middle-aged and died here. He was the father of five sons and two daughters. Four of the sons enlisted in 1861 for three years, or during the war. Three of them returned, but one, Francis, died in a rebel prison. S. S. Foor was the first three-years man that enlisted from East Providence. He married Margaret Sheely, daughter of Andrew Sheely, of West Provi- dence township. She died in 1882, having borne nine children, four of whom are living. Mrs. Foor was a most exemplary Christian woman, and her loss was deeply felt. The Foor families were among the first supporters of the Chris- tian church in this township.

Christian Felten, a native of Germany, came from Philadelphia about 1807, purchased two tracts of four hundred acres each, and settled where Rev. G. C. Probst now lives. He had one son, Christian, and two daughters, Ephie (Garlick) and Mary, all now dead. Christian, the son, died in 1856, in his sixty-fifth year. He married Catharine Clingerman, daughter of Frederick Clingerman, one of the first settlers, and in 1822 settled where his son Christian now lives. The children of this union were Anthony, Philip, Henry, Jacob, Christian, Frederick, David, Margaret and Catharine; the latter deceased. All live in this county except David, Kansas, and Margaret, Fulton county. During the late war, Christian was in the service eight months. David was also a soldier, from Kansas.

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History of Bedford, Somerset, Fulton counties Pennsylvania, Part 67

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

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