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 17
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
HOME OF ENGINE COMPANY NO. 2, LEHIGHTON.
-
e e
LENGINE COM
)
٨
.
٨
YORK
-
INTERIOR OF FIRST NATIONAL BANK, LEHIGHTON.
a
-----
243
HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY.
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-
244
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
245
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-
246
HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY.
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.
247
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
248
HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY.
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- trict 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 school houses 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-
249
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.
250
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.
Bowmanstown, which is a neat and prosperous vil- lage, derives its name from John Deter Bowman, who settled here in 1796. He was a grandson of the original settler of that name.
In 1808, he built the old stone hotel, which is still occupied and which was a stopping place on the route of the Lehigh and Susquehanna turnpike.
The place attained but little significance until the building of the Lehigh and Susquehanna Railroad, now known as the Central Railroad of New Jersey, through here.
About the year 1855, Henry Bowman uncovered paint ore in the Stony Ridge, near here, and soon there- after began the manufacture of metallic brown paint
251
HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY.
in its dry state. Later he organized the Poco-Metallic Paint Company, which engaged successfully in the manufacture of this product. This company was suc- ceeded by the Carbon Metallic Paint Company, which is still in existence.
Henry Bowman was the father of this industry, being closely followed by Robert Prince, who in 1858 established the Iron-Ore Metallic Paint Company at Lehigh Gap. In 1879, the plant of the last-named concern was brought to Bowmanstown, where, under the name of the Prince Manufacturing Company, headed by A. C. Prince, the business has since been continued. This company also operates, under lease, the mills of the Carbon Metallic Paint Company.
Sand in large quantities is found in the region about Bowmanstown, and the quarrying and shipping of this natural product has been carried on for perhaps fifty years. The first to engage in this business was Jacob Scherer.
The vein varies in thickness between twenty and thirty feet, running along the north side of the Stony Ridge. Most of the loose sand has been exhausted, while that which is now being quarried is rock-like in texture, and grinding machinery is employed to re- duce it and prepare it for use. About seventy-five men are employed in this industry hereabouts.
Another product of the Stony Ridge, which is the treasure-house of this section, is building stone. The stone is a kind of gray granite, for which there is a good demand.
The Bowmanstown Silk Company, employing about fifty operatives, was established in 1909, with W. F. Hofford as its president. These are the principal local industries upon which the town depends, but many living here find employment at nearby points.
252
HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY.
A postoffice, with John Rush in charge, was opened here in 1883. Two rural routes emanating from this office were established in 1904. One runs through East Penn, while the other passes through portions of Towa- mensing and Lower Towamensing townships.
The first school in the village was opened in 1844. The original stone building was replaced by a frame structure in 1879. The present handsome two-story brick building, housing all the schools of the town, was erected in 1903, at a cost of $5,000.
The Patriotic Order of Sons of America and the Order of Independent Americans both own large and attractive halls which have been recently erected.
The congregation of St. John's Evangelical church dates back more than thirty years, when meetings were held in private houses. The present church build- ing was dedicated in 1892.
Trinity Evangelical Lutheran church was erected in 1895, previous to which time the Lutheran people wor- shiped in the public school house.
Emmanuel's Reformed church was built in 1905, Charles A. Butz being the first pastor. Meetings had previously been held in the Evangelical church.
In 1856 a German Catholic congregation built a church a short distance from Bowmanstown. This building was destroyed by fire some years ago, after which worship was conducted in the old school house. During the summer of 1911 this building was struck by lightning and was partly demolished, being repaired and re-dedicated during the same season.
The only tavern in the place until 1891 was the Bow- manstown Hotel, built in 1808, and kept for many years by John D. Bowman and his descendants. During the latter year, the Center House was opened by Henry
253
HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY.
Ernst, who conducted it as a temperance house for a time. The present landlord is Martin Christman.
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.
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.
254
HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY.
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.
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 lick.
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 cul- 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 Blue 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
255
256
HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY.
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-
257
HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY.
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.
258
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.
Before 1825, Thomas Walton opened a store on the farm now owned by Aaron Zimmerman, a short dis- tance east of New Mahoning. He also established a hotel and a blacksmith shop. The store was subse- quently kept by Abraham Hanline, while the hotel was abandoned.
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.