USA > Pennsylvania > Carbon County > History of Carbon County, Pennsylvania; also containing a separate account of the several boroughs and townships in the county, with biographical sketches, 2nd ed > Part 17
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The Mennonite Brethren in Christ, who have gained a footing here came into existence in 1882. Rev. Wil- liam Gehman was the founder of the organization.
Bethany United Evangelical church is the offspring of Ebenezer Church of the Evangelical Association. The society was formally organized on October 5, 1894, and a year later its house of worship was dedicated by Bishop Rudolph Dubs.
Grace Lutheran church was organized on November 29, 1903, Rev. Frank S. Kuntz served as the first pastor. A chapel costing $12,000 was soon erected, being dedi- cated on April 2, 1905.
All Saints' Episcopal church, which is a mission of St. Mark's church, of Mauch Chunk, had its beginnings in 1868, when the first public service of this denomina- tion was held in the Carbon Academy building. The present church edifice, one of the most magnificent in the county, was started in 1906, being the gift of Mary Packer Cummings. The corner stone was laid with im- pressive ceremonies on October the 10th of that year
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by Rt. Rev. Ethelbert Talbot, Bishop of Central Penn- sylvania. The consecration sermon was preached by Rt. Rev. Leighton Coleman, Bishop of Delaware, on September 30th, 1907. It was Bishop Coleman, then stationed at Mauch Chunk, who conducted the first Episcopal service in Lehighton. The church, together with the vicarage, cost $50,000. Both are constructed of graystone, quarried at Bowmanstown, while the trimmings are of Wyoming blue stone. Rev. A. A. Bresee has been the vicar from the beginning.
The principal burying ground in Lehighton, and the oldest in the county, is the Gnadenhütten Cemetery, which has already been mentioned as the resting place of the Moravians who were massacred by the Indians on the evening of November 24, 1755. From the year 1820 the grounds were occasionally used as a place of interment by the people of the surrounding country. Fredericka Misca became the owner of the site about 1830. Since 1870 the Gnadenhütten Cemetery Associa- tion has been the owner.
Lehighton's first newspaper was called the Weekly News, started by O. M. Boyle, in January, 1872. Its publication was suspended in the fall of 1873. The initial issue of the Carbon Advocate bore the date of November 23, 1872. It was established by H. V. Mor- thimer, a veteran journalist. P. M. Graul became the owner of this paper in 1902. It has always been issued weekly, and has supported Democratic prin- ciples.
The Lehighton Press began its career on April 21, 1892, having been started by William C. Watson. On November 16, 1896, it passed to the ownership of David McCormick, under whose guidance it has be- come one of the most influential and prosperous weekly journals in the Lehigh Valley. Originally it contained 17
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HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY.
four pages of seven columns. It has since doubled its size. The Press is staunchly Republican.
The Evening Leader was established by George Morthimer, a son of the founder of the Advocate, on July 19, 1902. It is the only paper in the borough issued daily, and is an exponent of Democratic doc- trines.
Lehighton's earliest fire company was organized on August 24, 1874. It had fifty charter members. H. V. Morthimer was chosen president; C. F. Horn, secre- tary, and P. T. Bradley, chief. Morthimer and Horn were the prime movers in the undertaking. The latter is still a member of the company. The borough build- ing is occupied by this organization.
With the growth of the town, the need of additional protection against fire became apparent, resulting in the formation of Lehighton Engine Company No. 2. This company was permanently organized at Hoch- berg's Hotel on the evening of February 18, 1904. James I. Blakslee was elected president; E. W. Moser, vice president, and A. J. Snyder, secretary.
Soon thereafter an emergency school house on Third street was leased and remodeled to meet the needs of the organization. For years this company gave Christ- mas entertainments to which the public of the region was admitted, and large sums of money were expended in purchasing gifts for the children. From its incep- tion this company has reflected the progressiveness and liberality which characterizes its president, James I. Blakslee. Under his leadership a new fire house, costing $18,000, was erected during 1910-11. It is one of the model buildings of its kind in Pennsylvania. It is of cement block and pressed brick, being two stories high. The structure was appropriately dedicated on February 21, 1911. The municipality, as such, was not
ENGINE COMPANY Nº2
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HOME OF ENGINE COMPANY NO. 2, LEHIGHTON.
C
INTERIOR OF FIRST NATIONAL BANK, LEHIGHTON.
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asked for financial aid in the undertaking. Besides the fire-fighting apparatus, this building contains a li- brary, gymnasium and every facility for social enter- tainment. In 1910 the company organized its own band, and it has succeeded in taking a prize at every gathering of firemen in which it has participated.
Following the establishment of Engine Company No. 2 the Lehighton fire department was organized, giving executive control to a single head in the event of fire. The chief of the department is Harry Trainer.
The first building and loan association in the bor- ough was established about 1875, its offspring being the Lehighton Building and Loan Association and Le- highton Building and Loan Association No. 2. Philip Miller was the first president of these institutions. Both associations failed.
The Lehigh Valley Building and Loan Association was incorporated on March 9, 1896, and has had a suc- cessful career. Several hundred homes have been wholly or partially built through its agency. George W. Diehl is the president of the association, while Ira E. Seidle is its secretary.
The First National Bank of Lehighton was chartered on November 3, 1875, with a capital stock of $50,000. Daniel Olewine was elected president, and W. W. Bow- man, cashier. The institution was located in a portion of the residence of Joseph Obert until 1880, when quar- ters were secured in the old Stoecker building. In 1894 a brick building alongside the present location was oc- cupied. On July 5, 1910, a new structure, costing $40,000, was opened for business. Thomas Kemmerer succeeded Daniel Olewine as president of the bank. He was followed by R. F. Hofford, while John Sea- boldt is now the head of the institution. John T. Sem-
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HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY.
mel followed W. W. Bowman as cashier, and Henry J. Bretney now occupies that position.
The Citizens' National Bank was organized on Oc- tober 29, 1902, with a capital stock of $60,000. It was first located in the Leuckel building, near the post- office. Early in 1910, a new building, valued at $45,000, was completed. The capital stock is now $100,000. Hon. C. H. Seidle, Eugene Baer and Henry B. Kennell have been the bank's presidents, while A. S. Beisel and A. F. Smith have filled the position of cashier.
The Lehighton Water Supply Company was char- tered in 1889, Joseph Obert being chosen as its presi- dent.
An artesian well was drilled at the head of Seventh street, but the supply obtained from this source was inadequate. A reservoir was then constructed at Long Run, Franklin township, about three miles from the town. Another reservoir has since been added at this point, besides one on Pine run. The water flows to Lehighton by gravity. This company also supplies Weissport and Union Hill with water.
Both Lehighton and Weissport are electrically lighted by a plant which is owned by the first-named borough. It was operated but a short time by the mu- nicipality, when it was leased to James I. Blakslee, under whose direction it has been conducted for about a decade.
Lehighton is connected with Mauch Chunk by the line of the Carbon Transit Company.
LOWER TOWAMENSING TOWNSHIP.
Lower Towamensing ranks second in wealth and third in population among the townships of Carbon county. From present indications it seems destined to excel in both respects in the not distant future. It is
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HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY.
bounded on the north by Franklin and Towamensing townships; on the east by Monroe county; on the south by the Blue mountains and Northampton county, and on the west by the Lehigh river and East Penn township.
The Aquashicola creek, which rises in Monroe county, and flows eastwardly along the base of the Blue Ridge, emptying into the Lehigh at the gap of that name, is the principal stream within its bound- aries.
The surface of the township is diversified, contain- ing a considerable portion of arable land, however. Sand, building stone, paint-ore and slate are among its natural products.
Originally it formed a part of Towamensing town- ship, being separately organized in 1841.
The earliest settler within the present limits of Lower Towamensing of whom any record remains was Nicholas Opplinger, who established himself near the mouth of the Aquashicola about the year 1750. The families of Boyer, Bauman, or Bowman, Mehrkem, and Strohl, whose descendants are still in the district, were among the earliest settlers.
Conrad Mehrkem was a resident of the township prior to 1763. He lived in its western portion, near the Lehigh.
Peter Strohl, the first of that family of which any- thing is definitely known, also came here about the same time, taking out a warrant for two hundred and forty-six acres of land, on a portion of which St. John's Lutheran and Reformed church now stands.
John Deter Bowman, the pioneer of the family of that name in America, became possessed of a tract of land in East Penn township in 1760, and he and his descendants prospered in this locality as hunters, trap-
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pers, lumbermen and farmers. Henry, one of the sons of this pioneer, settled near the point where Peter Strohl had earlier established himself. His brother Bernard also lived in the township.
About the close of the Revolution, when the Indians no longer menaced, as formerly, settlers came in greater numbers. At this period Jacob and Nich- olas Snyder came into possession of several hun- dred acres of land on the north side of the Aquashi- cola, embracing a mineral spring indicated on Scull's map of Pennsylvania in 1759. They built a saw-mill on the creek, near Lehigh Gap, which remained in operation until recent times.
The property was surveyed in 1806, when the spring in question was analyzed by Thomas E. James, of the University of Pennsylvania. His report, substantiated by others, who certified to the healing properties of the waters of the spring, led to the erection of bath houses at this point, while for a short time the place was fre- quented as a health resort.
In 1806, George Ziegenfuss, who pursued the voca- tion of a miller, came across the mountains and erected a grist mill where Millport now stands. He spent the remainder of his life at this place, where some of his descendants still remain.
During the year 1808, Joseph Bauman purchased thirty acres of land at Lehigh Gap, erecting a stone building, in which he conducted a tavern until 1814, when he disposed of his property to Thomas Craig, in whose possession and that of his descendants it has been retained to the present.
The first road to be constructed through this section was that running from Bethlehem to Gnadenhütten, or modern Lehighton, where a mission was established by the Moravians.
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HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY.
This route had first been traveled by Count Zinzen- dorf in 1742, in which year he and his party negotiated a treaty with the Indians on the Mahoning.
The road was built in 1747, and was used by the Moravians until the destruction of Gnadenhütten, in the fall of 1755. It was traveled by Benjamin Frank- lin and his little army when they passed through here in January, 1756, on their way to build Fort Allen, and was employed as a military road until 1761. Originally running along the bank of the river, it was in some places changed to higher ground from time to time, in order to secure a better foundation. It became a part of the Lehigh and Susquehanna turnpike in 1806.
Another road, running parallel to the Aquashicola, and extending eastward into Monroe county, was built in 1756. This was a military road, connecting with Fort Norris, one of the defenses erected by the provin- cial government during the first Indian uprising.
The religious history of Lower Towamensing begins at an early date. St. John's congregation, which is a union of the Lutheran and Reformed denominations, was organized on February 12, 1798. At this time the society arranged for the purchase of six acres of land from Michael Strohl, the consideration stipulated being twelve pounds. It was not until a year later that preparations were made for the erection of a church edifice. Nicholas Bachman contracted to do the car- penter work for twenty-five pounds. Hewed logs of pine and oak were used in the construction of the building. The cornerstone was laid on June 12, 1799, Rev. John H. Helfrich representing the Lutheran ele- ment, while Rev. John C. Bill participated on the part of the Reformed people. Ten years later the building was weather-boarded, prior to which time there had been no heating apparatus installed. This was one of
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the first churches built by permanent settlers north of the Blue mountains. The present brick structure was erected in the year 1862.
In the graveyard adjoining the church repose the remains of many of the early settlers of the town- ship. In this church, too, the first schools of the dis- triet were conducted, being supported and controlled by the Lutheran and Reformed denominations. But few other schools were opened until 1838, when the township accepted the free school system. About the year 1852, seven stone schoolhouses were erected at various points in the district.
A postoffice was established at Lehigh Gap in 1825, with Thomas Craig, Jr., in charge. This was the only postoffice in the township until 1850, when another was established at Little Gap, under Samuel Ziegenfuss.
About the year 1819, David Heimbach, an iron- master of Lehigh county, in association with his son David, erected a forge on the Aquashicola, a short distance northeast of Little Gap. Pig iron was brought to this place from Berks county.
In 1827, David, the younger, built a furnace near the forge, which he named "Clarissa," in honor of his wife. Ores were brought over the Lehigh Canal from Whitehall, being transported the remaining six miles from Lehigh Gap to the furnace by teams. Anthracite coal was not then considered available as fuel in the manufacture of iron, charcoal being employed, and the object in locating in this out-of-the-way place was to secure a plentiful supply of timber near at hand.
During the year 1834, the owners of these iron works died, and the property was subsequently acquired by Joseph J. Albright and others. Albright was an ardent admirer of Henry Clay, rechristening the plant as the "Ashland Iron Works," after the place of na-
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HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY.
tivity of the Great Pacificator, in Hanover county, Virginia.
The works were entirely washed away by the flood of 1841. The furnace was never rebuilt; but a new forge of greater capacity than the old was erected. This was partially destroyed by fire soon thereafter. The plant passed into other hands in 1851, and was finally abandoned in 1860.
The village of Millport, which is situated on the Aquashicola, about two miles from its confluence with the Lehigh, grew up about the mill established there in 1806 by George Ziegenfuss. The original mill was destroyed by fire in 1834, being then owned by John Ziegenfuss, a son of the first settler. The property was then sold to his brother, George, who rebuilt the mill, and conducted it until 1845, when Jacob Bowman became the owner. It has passed through many hands, and is now conducted by Charles VanHorn.
Prior to 1830, a tannery was started here by a man named Meckle. After several changes of ownership it came into the possession of Reuben Miller, under whom it was thrice destroyed by fire. The last fire occurred in 1874, after which the enterprise was aban- doned. The tall brick stack is still standing.
The first store in the place was opened by George Ziegenfuss, who discontinued it after a few years. In 1836, a hotel was built by John A. Ziegenfuss, who kept it for many years. Lewis Groff has been the owner of the property since 1872.
The postoffice here, to which the name of Aquashi- cola is applied, was established in 1855, with Thomas Bowman as postmaster. A rural route, running to Kresgeville, Monroe county, by way of Little Gap, and returning by way of Trochsville, was instituted in 1905.
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HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY.
Stephen Lentz, about the year 1864, discovered a slate bed at the eastern extremity of the town. Soon thereafter a quarry was opened by the Millport Slate Company, which was succeeded by the Brilliant Black Slate Company. Since 1896, the quarry has been operated in partnership by William Lewis and Walter Bray. This is the only point where slate is produced in the Lehigh Valley north of the Blue Ridge.
A paint factory was established in the lower end of the village by a man named Lawrence, late in the fif- ties. He disposed of the business to A. C. Prince, under whom the buildings were destroyed by fire in 1881.
The Evangelical church at this place was erected in 1866. Services had been held in the community by this denomination as early as 1842.
A chapel was erected here by the Sunday school of the Evangelical Lutheran church, about 1892.
In 1893, George Strohl opened the Farmers' Hotel in a building formerly occupied as a residence by A. C. Prince.
Lehigh Gap was originally a post village on the line of the Lehigh and Susquehanna turnpike. The place is situated at the northern base of the Blue Ridge, just at the point where the Lehigh river begins to steal its way through this great natural barrier. The gap, prominently walled on both sides, forms a sublime object of admiration, and presents to the observant spectator one of the most beautiful prospects in all Pennsylvania.
A well known landmark on the mountainside west of the river is a lonely pile of rocks, whimsically called "The Devil's Pulpit," which indignantly suffers but a few blasted pines to shade its sullen brow.
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HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY.
The Indians applied the name Buchca-buchka to the gap, which, in the picturesque language of the Dela- wares, signified two mountains butting toward one another, and separated by a stream of water-a water gap.
General Thomas Craig, who settled in this romantic spot in 1814, succeeding Joseph Bauman as the land- lord of the Lehigh Gap Inn, was a hero of the French and Indian War, and was the first officer to protect the Continental Congress in its important deliberations. He also served with distinction in the war of Inde- pendence.
Descendants of General Craig are still living at Le- high Gap, while in each generation one or more mem- bers of the family have taken a prominent part in the civil or military affairs of the state and nation.
About 1830, Thomas Craig, Jr., in partnership with Stephen Hagenbuch, opened a general store here, which supplied the needs of the countryside within a radius of many miles.
Colonel John Craig, a son of the founder, continued this business until his death, which occurred a few years ago, and it is still owned by his estate.
The old hotel is still standing, but has been kept by lessee landlords since 1851.
In 1885, Harry Rutherford and Charles Barkley, under the firm name of Rutherford & Barkley, estab- lished themselves in the manufacture of metallic paint near here. This industry is now conducted by the Prince Metallic Paint Company.
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CHAPTER XVI.
MAHONING TOWNSHIP.
Mahoning township, the richest agricultural district of Carbon county, was organized in 1842, its territory being taken from East Penn.
The name Mahoning is corrupted from Mahonhanne, which in the tongue of the Delaware Indians, meant a stream flowing near a liek.
It is bounded on the north by Mauch Chunk town- ship; on the east by the Lehigh river; on the south by East Penn, and on the west by Schuylkill county.
The Mahoning creek, rising in Schuylkill county, and flowing eastwardly into the Lehigh, is the principal stream. The beautiful valley drained by this stream lies between two gently sloping mountains, the sides of which are often dotted almost to their tops with eul- tivated fields.
Since the first settlement of the valley, the north- ern, or Mahoning mountain, has been referred to lo cally as the Summer mountain, while that to the south- ward has been called the Winter mountain, from the position of the sun at these seasons of the year.
A portion of the present territory of Mahoning town- ship was the first to which any title was obtained by white men in the immediate region north of the Bhie Ridge. In 1682, William Penn deeded a tract of five thousand acres to Adrian Vroesen, of Rotterdam, which after several changes of ownership came into possession of Richard Peters, of Philadelphia. He, in 1745, conveyed one hundred and twenty acres of this land near the mouth of the Mahoning to the Moravians
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of Bethlehem, who established Gnadenhütten mission thereon during the following year.
A number of settlers located on other portions of this tract between 1750 and 1775. Most of these were of English birth or parentage. Among the first was George Custard, who is mentioned as having been here at the time of the Massacre of Gnadenhütten in 1755. He and the few others in the neighborhood are sup- posed to have fled after that event.
Benjamin Gilbert, an aged Quaker, and his family came to the valley of the Mahoning from Byberry, near Philadelphia, in 1775.
They built a saw-mill and a grist-mill on the spot where the mill of David A. Kistler now stands.
The story of the peace and prosperity which re- warded their industry and thrift during a period of five years, followed by their captivity among the Indians and the destruction of the improvements which they had made, constitutes one of the many pathetic inci- dents in the frontier life of eastern Pennsylvania, and has already been related.
Upon the return of the Gilberts from captivity, they took up their abode at Byberry, their former home, disposing of their land here to Captain Joseph Longstreth, who, with Robert McDaniel, replaced the improvements which had been burned by the Indians.
Samuel Dodson and family located on land now owned by Ira Troxel at about the same time that the Gilberts came to the region. One of the family, Abi- gail, a girl of fourteen years, was carried off by the Indians with the Gilberts.
Samuel Dodson died in 1795, and was buried in the Lizard Creek Valley. Soon thereafter most of his family removed to Shamokin, later going to Hunting-
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ton township, Luzerne county, where their descendants are numerous.
Among those who remained was Isaac T. Dodson, who became a well known citizen of Mauch Chunk.
Scarcely any settlements appear to have been made in Mahoning township between the close of the Revo- lution and the beginning of the nineteenth century.
About 1800, however, Andrew Beck, John and Abra- ham Freyman, Peter Musselman and Peter, Henry and John Nothstein joined those who had previously lived here.
John Freyman was the grandfather of William G. Freyman, who has for many years been a prominent member of the Carbon county bar.
The three Nothsteins who have been mentioned were brothers. Their father, Peter Nothstein, who was a soldier in the war of Independence, spent his declining years with them. His remains are interred in a little private cemetery at Center Square. Henry Nothstein built the first store to be opened at Center Square, and in later years his son, Daniel, was a merchant here; he was succeeded by his son-in-law, Hon. C. H. Seidle.
Among those who came to the township prior to 1817 were Abram and Jost Miller and Henry Arner. Most of these settlers came from Lehigh county.
Jacob Fenstermacher located at New Mahoning in 1819. He opened a hotel which stood on the site of that now kept by Thomas Beltz.
Christian Klotz, a native of Lehigh county, in 1823 built a grist-mill which was later owned by Solomon Hoppes, who rebuilt it in 1848. This is now the prop- erty of F. D. Klingaman.
Christian Klotz was the father of Hon. Robert Klotz. who represented this district in the Forty-sixth Con- gress.
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HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY.
Paul Balliet, who was born in Alsace, Germany, in 1717, and who was one of the first settlers of North Whitehall township, Lehigh county, was the pioneer of the family of that name in this township. Joseph, a son of Leonard Balliet, who had located in West Penn township, Schuylkill county, first established him- self on a farm at Center Square. Later, he purchased the farm of Jacob Feller, near St. John's church. Here his son, Nathan, lived and reared a large family. His son, Francis S. Balliet, now occupies the old home- stead.
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