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 > Part 12
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).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42
The Beaver Meadow Railroad and Coal Company, soon after its organization, purchased two hundred acres of land, located where coal had been first dis- covered, and these workings became known as the Beaver Meadow Mines. This property was leased to A. H. VanCleve & Company in 1841, and was operated by that firm until 1846. William Milnes & Company then worked the mines for about a year. The firm of Hamberger & Company then leased them and continued operations until 1850, after which the mines were abandoned until 1881, when they were leased to Coxe Brothers & Company. The property is now controlled by the Lehigh Valley Coal Company.
169
HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY.
Coleraine colliery, now owned and operated by the A. S. Van Wickle Estate, was the second to be opened in the township. Operations were begun soon after the opening of the Beaver Meadow Railroad. The firm of Rich & Cleaver held the first lease.
They were succeeded by Ratcliffe & Johnson, whose rights were purchased in 1862 by William Carter & Son. After some years, the property was sold to Wil- liam T. Carter, his father, the senior member of the firm, declining to join in the purchase because he be- lieved that most of the available coal had been ex- hausted.
William T. Carter died in 1893, and that his faith in Coleraine colliery was not misplaced is attested by the fact that its output during the years of his ownership had made him a multi-millionaire.
Upon his death the property was sold to A. S. Van- Wickle for a much larger sum than the elder Carter had considered excessive twenty-five years before.
Mr. VanWickle was killed by the accidental dis- charge of a gun he was carrying, in 1898, since which time operations have been carried on in the name of the A. S. Van Wickle Estate. Approximately 300,000 tons of coal per year have been produced by this col- liery since 1893. The principal work now, however, consists in "robbing pillars." There are 366 acres in the tract.
It is interesting to observe that the coal miner in Banks township, like the proverbial "Star of the Em- pire," held his way to the westward.
Jeanesville, the next place to be opened after Cole- raine, joins the VanWickle tract on the west, while Tresckow and Yorktown, still farther west in the town- ship, were developed in harmony with the rule that has been noted.
170
HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY.
Coal was discovered in the immediate vicinity of Jeanesville by James D. Gallup, who was associated with the Beaver Meadow Railroad Company. The property was bought from Joseph H. Newbold, by Joseph Jeanes and others, of Philadelphia. The pur- chase price is said to have been $20,000. The original company let the land to William Milnes, in 1847, re- ceiving a royalty of twenty-five cents per ton. The col- liery was soon in operation, and in 1855 the royalty amounted to $40,000. During the time that Mr. Milnes operated the mines about 1,500,000 tons of coal were shipped.
In 1864, Mr. Milnes' lease having expired, the Spring Mountain Coal Company was organized, securing con- trol of the property. Ten years later the Lehigh Val- ley Coal Company bought out the Spring Mountain company, and the mines, during the ensuing twenty years were operated under lease by J. C. Haydon and Francis Robinson, under the firm name of J. C. Hay- don & Company. Since 1894 the mines have been worked directly, though not continuously, by the Le- high Valley Coal Company.
A large and modern breaker, handling the output of several nearby collieries, as well as that of the mines at Jeanesville, was erected in 1909. It is located just across the line in Luzerne county.
It was at the Number 1 slope at Jeanesville, on Feb- ruary 4, 1891, that the memorable mine horror, com- monly known as the "Jeanesville Disaster," occurred. Thirteen men were then drowned, while four others, after having been entombed for twenty days in this prison of rock and water, cut off from all communica- tion with the outside world, were brought out alive, in- voluntary heroes of this industrial tragedy. The stamina, fortitude, and endurance displayed by these
171
HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY.
men under circumstances the most discouraging, we may well believe, have seldom been equalled in human history.
The accident was caused in unexpectedly breaking into an abandoned mine, where a large body of water had accumulated, and it was this merciless element that caused all the havoc and destruction. It was at a little past ten o'clock on the morning of the fatal day that a blast was fired in a "breast" or chamber that was being worked by Charles Boyle and Patrick Coll. Coll is said to have fired the shot, al- though it seems that Boyle was looked upon as being in charge of the work, because in after years he was familiarly known as "Boylie Tap-the-Water."
After the echoes of the shot had ceased to reverber- ate in the gloomy caverns of the fated mine, Coll re- turned to the face of the chamber, and, using a bar, began to pry down some loose pieces of coal that were still hanging to the face. While so engaged he noticed that the face seemed to be bulging toward him, as though there was to be a "squeeze" or settling. Not liking the looks of things, he retreated a few paces, calling to Boyle, as he did so, to make for a place of safety. In another instant, to his horror, he saw the whole face bristling out, and with a roar like that of a tornado the flood was upon him. Rushing down the slope with irresistible force the waters, in their mad career, tore out the timbers of the mine, smashed cars into fragments and rolled up the tracks as one would roll up a long strip of carpet. The rush accompany- ing the flood blew out every light save one, that of Harry Gibbon, a driver-boy of about sixteen. Boy- like, he had just previously pulled out the wick of his lamp to an inordinate length so as to create a glare that would outshine that of any of his fellow-workers.
172
HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY.
The mingled tide of air and water that swept some of the men to their doom in the depths of the mine carried others on its crest up the slope toward the surface. Among the latter was Harry Gibbon, and many of the survivors attributed their deliverance from death to his light, which had enabled them to avoid being dashed to pieces against obstructions on their thrilling journey up the slope.
Some of the men, warned of their danger by the terrible roar of the approaching flood, escaped by quickly jumping into a ventilating shaft, which led perpendicularly to the surface. Through this well-like opening they climbed, hand over hand, and foot over foot to the top, the flesh of their arms and legs being painfully bruised and torn by the sharp edges of the rocks which formed the walls of the shaft.
The news of the accident spread rapidly, carrying grief and consternation to many hearts.
When composure had in a measure been restored, it was found that seventeen men were missing. It was not thought that any of them would be brought to the surface alive. Such a thing seemed impossible. How- ever, those in authority determined to do all in their power to effect the rescue of anyone who in some manner might have escaped immediate destruction. All the available pumps were worked at top speed day and night in the effort to empty the mine of water as quickly as possible.
One by one the bloated bodies of the victims were recovered. At the end of twenty days thirteen had been brought to the surface. The mine was now pumped dry; but four men were still missing. Never dreaming that they might be alive, a rescue party, headed by Superintendent David MacFarlane, was organized on the afternoon of the twenty-third of Feb-
173
HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY.
ruary to search for their bodies. Scenes of wild con- fusion and disorder met their gaze on every hand as they penetrated the dark recesses of the mine. Heaps of wreckage and debris, together with giant boulders, weiging from one to ten tons, obstructed their pro- gress. As they were making their way thus laboriously among the ruins, one of the men thought he heard a voice that seemed to proceed from the mouth of one not a member of his party. Feeling somewhat startled but yet uncertain, he ejaculated : "My God, I believe there is a man alive down here!" All paused now, listening intently, and one of the party half-heartedly called, "hello!" "Hello," came the faint reply, and the men were sure that it was not an echo. "Who are you?" was the somewhat tremulous demand that was framed by the lips of the spokesman of the rescue party. "I am Joe Matuskowitz," was the reply, spoken in broken English. "Wassil Finko, John Tom- askusky, and John Barno are with me. We are not dead, but nearly so." Words of heartfelt encourage- ment were spoken to the four men, and the rescue party was divided, some of the men going to the as- sistance of the helpless and well-nigh famished miners, while others hastened to the surface to secure medical aid and such nourishment and stimulants as were deemed fit to be given to men who had eaten scarcely a bite for nearly twenty days.
The four men were lying at the highest point of the chamber, that had been worked by Joe Matuskowitz. They escaped being drowned by reason of the fact that the flood poured down the slope in such volume as to fill it completely, compressing the air in the breasts and gangways, and sweeping on to the depths below in the line of least resistance. As the mine filled up, the air pressure in these confined places was sufficient to keep out the water.
174
HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY.
When the accident occurred, these four men, who worked communicating breasts, came together here. All they had with them to eat was a few sandwiches, and after this scant supply of rations had become ex- hausted they were face to face with starvation. The mine was filled with sulphur water, but this, of course, was unfit for drinking purposes.
By the rarest chance, however, a blast which had been fired but a few moments before the flood came, opened a fissure in the rocks from which a stream of water, pure, cold and invigorating gushed forth. Of this the men drank during their confinement, and upon this they lived.
Under these desperate conditions they passed the maddening and soul-trying period that intervened be- tween the date of the accident and their rescue. The air at first was good, but later it became very un- wholesome, and before the rescuing party could enter the chamber it was necessary to brush out the "black damp" which, like a sinister presence, brooded there.
When the intelligence began to be noised about the grief-stricken village that the men had been found alive in the mine, few, indeed, were ready to give credence to the report. So certain was everyone that they were dead that their graves had already been dug, while their coffins were waiting to receive their bodies at the entrance to the slope.
As the truth began to dawn upon the people, how- ever, hundreds gathered in awe and reverence at the portals of the mine, and until the last of the survivors was brought to the surface, scenes were there enacted that will live as long as life shall last in the memories of those who witnessed them.
It was long past midnight of the twenty-third of February when the work of rescue had been completed.
C
Front of Residence of J. C. Haydon. RESCUE PARTY, JEANESVILLE MINE DISASTER.
--
-
-
175
HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY.
Then it was that sixty-five miners, most of whom had taken part in the rescue, filed in solemn procession be- fore the residence of J. C. Haydon, being dressed in their work clothes and bearing lighted lamps upon their heads. There they sang a hymn of praise with deep feeling and with wonderful effect.
All of the four men recovered, thanks to their won- derful vitality and to the tender nursing and expert medical aid they received. Mrs. J. C. Haydon, wife of the senior member of the firm that was then operat- ing the mines at Jeanesville, among others, personally ministered to the men. It was ten days before they were allowed to partake of solid food.
Joe Matuskowitz, popularly known as "Big Joe," was the only one of the quartette who declined to re- enter the mines as a means of gaining a livelihood. He has since said that when he descended the mine on the morning of the disaster he weighed two hundred and twenty-five pounds ; but the terrible ordeal through which he passed reduced his weight to seventy-five pounds. He is now a prosperous contractor and builder at Hazleton.
The Jeanesville horror was caused by a faulty sur- vey, made by the mining engineers.
Tresckow was the next place in Banks township where mining was begun after the opening of the mines at Jeanesville. The German Pennsylvania Coal Com- pany began operations here in 1851. They sank a slope, built a breaker, and erected a tavern, store, and several dwelling houses. After a few years the prop- erty came under the control of Samuel Bonnell, Jr., of New York city. He operated the mines for two years, and then sold out to the Honey Brook Coal Company, which was incorporated April 23, 1864. Ten years later, the Central Railroad of New Jersey formed the
176
HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY.
Lehigh and Wilkes-Barre Coal Company, by which the Honey Brook Coal Company was then absorbed. There has been no change in ownership since that time. The coal produced at Tresckow is prepared for shipment at the Audenried breaker of the company. Two slopes are now being worked, and large improvements are promised for the near future.
The Lehigh and Wilkes-Barre Coal Company also has operations at Audenried and at Honey Brook, the breakers being located just across the line in Schuylkill county.
The tract of two hundred and two acres on which the Spring Brook colliery of the Lehigh Valley Coal Company is now located originally belonged to Chris- tian Kunkle. N. P. Hosack bought the property for $30,000. He failed financially after a few years, and the New York and Lehigh Coal Company secured title to the land, being still the owner.
In the summer of 1855 James Taggart secured a lease on the property. He sank the first slope on the Big Vein, and in 1856 shipped the first coal from this point over the Beaver Meadow Railroad. This slope was drowned out in 1860, remaining idle for four years.
A second slope was sunk in 1858, and George K. Smith & Company leased the mines soon thereafter. Mr. Smith was assassinatel in 1863. The lease was continued by Thomas Hull, a member of the firm, until 1868, when, becoming embarrassed, he was succeeded by A. L. Mumper & Company. Under this firm a breaker was erected in 1869, which was destroyed by fire of incendiary origin, late in 1876. The loss amounted to $60,000. The structure was rebuilt the following year. Another breaker was built in 1875.
177
HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY.
In 1878 a lease for fifteen years was made to Thomas John & Company. Thomas John was killed in a run- away accident in 1880, and the firm was reorganized by George H. Myers, George John and Thomas Dough- erty, under the title of George H. Myers & Company. At the expiration of this lease the Lehigh Valley Coal Company began to work the mines. The coal produced here is prepared for shipment at Jeanesville.
The Beaver Meadow colliery of Coxe Brothers & Company was opened by the firm of E. B. Ely & Com- pany during the early seventies. John Martyn, Sr., of Beaver Meadow, and the late Edwin R. Enbody, of Mauch Chunk, were the local men interested in this venture. This company built a large breaker, but was not very successful. After a time they closed out their lease to Coxe Brothers & Company, still operating the mines. The original breaker was torn down and has been replaced by a larger and more modern structure. The land is owned by the Lehigh Valley Coal Com- pany.
Evans' colliery, located a short distance from Beaver Meadow, near the Luzerne county line, was opened by the Evans Coal Company, headed by John D. Evans, of Lansford. The breaker was erected in 1889, while the first coal was shipped in 1890. This company was not successful, and for a time the colliery was at a standstill, the breaker having been burned down, evi- dently by an incendiary.
In June, 1906, the land was leased by A. S. Van- Wickle for ten years, the coal being prepared for ship- ment at the Coleraine breaker. At the expiration of this lease, operations were again suspended.
On October 27, 1906, the Evans Colliery Company, of which W. E. Smith is the general manager, was chartered, and still operates the mines. The tract on
178
HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY.
which the colliery is located contains 228 acres of land, and is owned by the heirs of A. H. Reeder, of Easton.
This completes the list of the coal operations of Banks township. Different parties have expended time and treasure in prospecting for coal on the Pen- rose property, farther east in the township than any of the openings that have been noticed, but so far with- out success.
In speaking of the towns of this division of the county, it has already been said that they owe their existence entirely to the underlying mineral wealth, and they came into being as the collieries on which they depend were developed.
Audenried and Yorktown, adjoining each other, lie in the western portion of the township, and a small section of the former is built across the line into Schuylkill county. Audenried is the namesake of Lewis Audenried, of Philadelphia, while Yorktown is probably so christened in recognition of the company that owns the land on which it is located,-the New York and Lehigh Coal Company.
The postoffice at Audenried was opened on October 15, 1860, Samuel Martyn, a brother of John Martyn, Sr., of Beaver Meadow, being the first postmaster. The office was for many years kept in the store of the Honey Brook Coal Company.
About the year 1870, the Rev. Daniel Durrelle was sent to this section by the Presbyterian Board of Mis- sions. Through his influence a congregation was gath- ered, and a church was erected in 1872, at Audenried. This church has now no regular pastor.
The Methodists of this region were formerly under the charge of ministers from the Conyngham district. The church of this denomination was erected here in 1869.
179
HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY.
St. Patrick's Roman Catholic church was commenced in 1873, the cornerstone being laid in June of that year. It was completed and dedicated two years later, Arch- bishop Wood performing the dedicatory service. The church was torn down about 1898 and removed to McAdoo, Schuylkill county, which is but a short dis- tance from Audenried. The Catholic population of the latter place now worship there.
The Welsh Baptists and the Congregationalists wor- shiped together for a few years in the old armory building, and later in the school house. In 1872, the members of the first named denomination built a church at a cost of $2,500. Extensive improvements have since been made. It is now known as an English Baptist church. The Congregational church has no regular pastor.
Salem Evangelical Lutheran church was organized in 1891, the leading spirits in the movement being Rev. J. O. Schlenker, then pastor of Christ church, Hazle- ton, and Rev. George Kunkle, then of Weatherly. The church was erected in 1893, the cornerstone being laid on the twenty-ninth of October.
On July 10, 1871, the company which erected Hos- ack Hall was formed. A lot was donated by the New York and Lehigh Coal Company. The building erected thereon, which is still standing, cost $7,500.
Tresckow, lying east of Audenried and Yorktown, is the outgrowth of the mining operations commenced there in 1851 by the German Pennsylvania Coal Com- pany. Formerly it was commonly known as Dutch- town. By many it is to-day called Park View. The name of the postoffice, however, is Tresckow. It is a neat village, containing many cozy dwelling houses. The people of the place find employment at the nearby collieries of the various coal companies. The Banks
180
HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY.
township high school is located at this point. St. Michael's Roman Catholic church was here erected in 1909.
Jeanesville, but a short distance from Tresckow, lies mostly in Luzerne county. The place was named for Joseph Jeanes, of Philadelphia. The village dates back to 1847, when the mines at this place were opened. The town has declined since the Jeanesville iron works were removed to Hazleton in 1902.
Coleraine depends wholly on the colliery of that name, owned and operated by the estate of A. S. Van- Wickle. The history of this operation, which has al- ready been given, is the history of the village. The Independent Welsh Congregational church at this place was one of the first in the region. It was erected in 1848, and the people of that denomination from places so far away as Audenried, Buck Mountain and Hazleton formerly worshiped there.
Leviston and Coolstown are hamlets lying close to Coleraine, occupying the site of the old Beaver Meadow mines. The Lehigh Valley Railroad has a station here.
The village known as Coxeville, located on the high- way leading from Beaver Meadow to Hazleton, has grown up since the seventies, when the colliery of Coxe Brothers & Company, upon which it depends, was opened.
Following the practice that prevails in most of the coal-producing townships of the region, Banks does not levy any taxes for road purposes, the highways being maintained by the Taxpayers' Association, which means the coal companies. They have found it more economical to follow this plan than to pay taxes. There are ninteen graded schools and one high school, housed in six buildings, in the district.
181
HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY.
BEAVER MEADOW BOROUGH.
While being next to the youngest borough in Carbon county, Beaver Meadow nevertheless enjoys the dis- tinction of being the oldest town in the upper end of the county. It is located centrally in Banks township, of which it formed a part prior to its organization as a borough in 1897. A number of citizens, headed by J. M. Stauffer, who was then a prominent resident here, made an effort to secure the incorporation of the town in 1896, but the grand jury acted adversely on their petition, and a charter was not granted until the fol- lowing year. Mr. Stauffer became the first chief bur- gess.
Beaver Meadow is maintained by the surrounding coal operations of Coxe Brothers & Company, the mines of the A. S. VanWickle Estate, at Coleraine, a little more than a mile distant, and the workings of the Evans Colliery Company.
The town is situated on the Beaver Meadow division of the Lehigh Valley Railroad, about six miles from Weatherly, and four from Hazleton. It lies approxi- mately fourteen hundred feet above sea level, while Beaver creek flows sluggishly past it, parallel to the railroad tracks. Its name was derived from the cir- cumstance that the smooth and glossy beaver once lived and toiled in the meadows along the creek.
The land on which the town is built was warranted in 1787 to Patrick and Mary Keene, and later it came into the possession of Nathan Beach, who sold five hundred acres to Judge Joseph Barnes, of Philadel- phia, in 1830.
The Lehigh and Susquehanna turnpike ran through the tract, and the principal street of the village, still known as Berwick street, was built on the line of this old highway. The first house was here erected in 1804.
182
HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY.
It was of logs, and was kept as a tavern. There was a tollgate at the foot of the Spring mountain, kept by a man named Green.
On April 10, 1826, William H. Wilson removed, with his family, to the place and became the landlord of the tavern. The next arrival was James Lamison, wlio built a house which he, in 1831, occupied as a tavern. In 1833 came N. R. Penrose, a member of the family to which United States Senator Boies Penrose, of Pennsylvania, belongs. He became the agent of the property of Judge Barnes, and built the large frame building at the eastern end of the town, later known as the "Cornishmen's Home." Upon its completion it was occupied by William H. Wilson as a tavern. Later it became the property of James Gowan, father of Franklin B. Gowan, who became famous as the able and aggressive president of the Philadelphia and Read- ing Railway Company and its subsidiary coal and iron company. This building was also for a time used as a store, being owned by William T. Carter and others. It was for many years one of the landmarks of Beaver Meadow, and was finally torn down in 1910. Much of the timber it contained was used in erecting new dwell- ing houses, while some of it was sawed into proper length for mine ties.
One of the early residents of Beaver Meadow was Henry Brenckman, a native of Germany. He had be- come skilled in the art of brewing beer and had ac- quired the trade of a cooper in the Fatherland. Upon locating in Beaver Meadow he erected a small brewery, probably the first in Carbon county. He personally made the barrels which contained the output of his plant, and kept a tavern. His death occurred in 1860.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.