USA > Pennsylvania > Clearfield County > History of Clearfield County, Pennsylvania : with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 58
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In 1885 Rev. W. F. D. Noble was appointed, under whose pastorate the church was relieved of nearly all outstanding debts. Rev. E. H. Witman is the present pastor, under whose charge the church is going forward and new members are being added day by day.
The Presbyterians had a missionary in this field as early as 1860-61, a Rev. Mr. Wright. On February 6, 1868, the present church was organized by a committee of the Presbytery of Huntingdon, John A. Lawshe and Peter A. Reed being the first ruling elders. This meeting was held in the basement of the church, the building not being completed until the following year. The pulpit was filled by the Rev. Mr. Sunderland and others until November, 1869, when the Rev. Mr. Sargeant ministered for one year, after which the Rev. Mr. Condit had charge until October, 1872. From this date until the spring of 1873, the pulpit was only occasionally supplied. In the spring of 1873 the congregation began the erection of a parsonage, which was completed and oc- cupied May 5, 1874.
On the IIth day of May, 1873, the Rev. N. H. Miller, then a theological student in the seminary at Allegheny, preached two sermons, and again on the 25th of May the reverend gentleman officiated, and all through that sum- mer Mr. Miller supplied the church. Having graduated in the spring, a regu- lar call was given him by this congregation, which he accepted, and on the 9th of June, 1874, he was ordained and installed. He has remained the pastor to this time.
The first record obtained of the Roman Catholic Church holding services around this section was in 1865, when the Rev. Father Fern, the German priest, of Tyrone, celebrated mass in the depot building, on the Centre county side. The Father being in the diocese of Pittsburgh and the town being in the diocese of Erie, mass could not be celebrated in town without the consent of the bishop of Erie. The Rev. Father also celebrated mass in the houses of William Quigley and Jeremiah O'Brien for sometime thereafter. Afterwards a Father Tracy administered to his people (over the creek) until the Very Rev. K. O'Branagan was appointed in 1867 missionary from Clearfield town to Ansonville. This good priest rode over his charge during all winds and weathers until 1871, when he was removed to Sharon, where he remains.
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Father Tracy had established a mission at Osceola Mills, and built the little church which is still standing to the south of the present church. Father Branagan, on his appointment, added a piece to this old building, as it had already become too small, and built the parsonage. Rev. Michael Henry became priest here in 1871, but was removed in 1874, and the Rev. Martin Meagher became priest in charge. He was assisted by the Rev. Father Frank, who was stationed at the Cooper settlement. Father Meagher remained in charge some four years, officiating both here and at Houtzdale, and the adja- cent country. Rev. Father Lynch succeeded Father Meagher, and he was succeeded in 1887 by Rev. Father Brady.
In 1881 the Catholic congregation commenced their present beautiful brick building, and on Sunday, the 15th day of October, 1882, the church was opened for divine service by the Right Rev. Tobias Mullen, bishop of Erie. The church is not yet free from debt, and therefore not consecrated.
There were ministers of other denominations who held occasional services here, but no other church was regularly organized. The Anglican commun- ion had a few adherents scattered here and there, and its ministers would hold service at times in the Presbyterian Church, but there were never enough of its members here to make it a regular parish, and until their church at Houtzdale was opened the rectors of St. Paul's Church, at Philipsburg, kindly supplied all wants.
A banking house was instituted in the town in 1871 by Loyd, Caldwell, Lawshe & Co., and afterwards the firm was changed to Loyd, Caldwell & Co. This firm failed in 1873 and the institution went down. In September, 1875, the Citizens' Banking Company was formed, who successfully managed a bank until the Ist day of January, 1881, when the Houtzdale Bank was started, this latter banking company, comprising all, or nearly all, the members of the Citizens' Banking Company. The affairs of the latter company were wound up, and the bank in Osceola Mills is only a branch of the Houtzdale Bank. Its accounts are kept and its doors are open for the accommodation of the people residing in the place.
On May 20, 1875, the town was almost wholly destroyed by a terrible con- flagration. The fire started from a woods fire, and first caught the Presby- terian Church, and in less than three hours' time, what had been a town in which lived about one thousand five hundred people, and which had prided itself that morning as being the town of towns, was among the places that had been. One and a half millions worth of property had gone up in smoke, and its inhabitants were scattered among the surrounding towns.
The people for a day or two were paralyzed, but they would not be kept down. The Methodist Church, being to one side of the ill fated " burg," was saved, and was speedily converted into a commissary. Provisions, money, clothing, lumber, etc., came pouring in from all quarters, and in a very short
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time numerous shanties again dotted the hill side, and Osceola Mills was again accorded a local habitation, and a name. So completely had the fire done its work that not a fence, shed, board walk, stump or stick of any kind was left in the burnt district.
The new Osceola Mills is more beautiful than the old town. Her streets are shaded by fine trees. Her residences are more modern, and her gardens are more beautiful. G. M. Brisbin, Dr. D. R. Good, W. A. Crist, W. J. Jack- son, T. C. Heims, and George E. Jones, have each a splendid residence and magnificent grounds surrounding their property, while the gardens of Good and Brisbin will compare with any in their arrangement, their taste, and the many specimens of the floral and vegetable kingdom to be found therein. Another fine residence is that of Henry Liveright. The drug store of H. Campbell, the bank building, the store of T. C. Heims, the Presbyterian Church and parsonage, the Methodist and Roman Catholic Churches, the residences of C. C. Dickinson, A. S. R. Richards, R. J. Walker, Giles Walker, Samuel Stein, E. B. Hartman, William Mays, C. W. Heims, and Mathew Mc- Cully, will compare favorably with any in the county.
The foundry and machine shops which Jesse A. Crawford had built on the western skirt of the town, and which were burned with the rest, were rebuilt on the flat just out of the borough limits, on the southeast, and was then sold to ex-Sheriff Pie. These shops were doing a large business when they were again burnt on October 8, 1884, but rebuilt immediately. They are now much larger, and are doing an immense amount of work.
In 1878 Samuel B. Stein started a machine shop and foundry on the east, just over the line, in Centre county. He soon associated with him Dr. D. R. Good, G. M. Brisbin, and others, under the name of the Osceola Manufactur- ing Company. These works are run mostly on coal cutters, Mr. Stein and Mr. Smith being the owners of valuable patents for coal cutters. The proprietors attend to all kind of work given them, but their coal-cutting machinery is made their specialty.
The Walker brothers' planing-mill was also rebuilt after the fire, and to- day is in the hands of R. J. Walker, he having bought out his brother's interest.
Osceola Mills therefore has two foundries and machine shops, a planing- mill, a tannery, a saw-mill, a shingle-mill, a chair manufactory, besides smaller industries. Some fifteen coal mines surround her, and she is situated at the junction of the most important branch of the Pennsylvania Railroad, with prospects for a long and prosperous life. The place is connected with the outer world and surrounding towns by fourteen passenger trains daily, while millions of tons of coal and other freight pass her doors annually.
No town in the State enjoys the reputation for health inspiration more than does Osceola, and more especially so is this the case with children. While diphtheria has prevailed to an alarming extent at times in every com-
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munity around us, only a few sporadic cases have appeared among us, and they of such a type as to be checked and confined to the immediate locality of their origin. The same, too, may be said of scarlet fever. Measles and whooping cough are the only diseases which have ever become epidemic here, and they never to an alarming extent.
In 1882 a handsome iron bridge was erected over the Moshannon Creek, between the borough and Centre county, by the commissioners of Clearfield and Centre counties.
CHAPTER XXXV.
HISTORY OF FERGUSON TOWNSHIP.
F ERGUSON township was laid out on a petition of residents of Pike, Penn, and Jordan townships. The viewers or commissioners were John Irvin, David Ferguson and David Cathcart. Their report was confirmed February 7, 1839, and township named Ferguson, by the court, in honor of John Fer- guson, an early settler and respected citizen.
Probably the first settlement within the present bounds of the township was made by Robert McKee, some time previous to 1819, on the farm now owned by W. H. Smith. Some time between 1806 and 1819, James Rea and James Hagarty (whose names have been mentioned in connection with the history of Knox township), with their families came to McKee's to a wood-chopping. In the evening they all returned home except Hagarty, who lingered behind talk- ing to Robert McCracken. He did not return, and at early dawn Mr. Rea went back to see what had become of his neighbor. He found him a short distance below McKee's shanty in the woods, dead. The surroundings indi- cated that he had been murdered, but by whom was never clearly proven. McKee made but little improvement, and what became of him we cannot learn. John Henry lived on the same place a short time, but in 1836, John Miles, sr., came to the township, and purchased two hundred acres of land (which included the McKee property), from McCalls of Philadelphia, through their agent, Josiah Smith, of Clearfield, Pa. In 1838 he sold one-half of it to John S. Williams, upon which he now lives, and a short time before his death in 1857, he sold the balance to his son-in-law, William H. Smith, who still occupies it. John Ferguson, Thomas McCracken, John Hockenberry, William Wiley and John Campbell all came to the township, as near as we can learn, about the same time in 1823.
John Ferguson, for whom the township was named, was a son of John Fer-
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HISTORY OF CLEARFIELD COUNTY.
guson, sr., who lived at the river where John B. Ferguson now lives, and a brother of David Ferguson mentioned elsewhere. He married Elizabeth Wi- ley, a sister of William Wiley, and located on the land now owned by his son, John C. Ferguson. Besides improving this land he built a saw-mill on the head waters of Little Clearfield Creek. He lived there several years and then moved to Lumber City, where he engaged in the grocery business. From there he moved to Lockport, near Lock Haven, Pa., where he died May I, 1874, at the age of seventy-four, and his body was brought to his old home near Lumber City for burial. Four children survive : Mary Hannah, married Dr. J. M. Ross, and lives in Lumber City ; Debbie, married Archibald G. Jame- son, and moved to Kansas, where they are now living; Elizabeth married Lewis Hoover, son of Peter Hoover, of Pike township, and lives at Lock Ha- ven, Pa .; John C., the only son, is a prominent citizen of his native township. He married Ann, daughter of William Price, of Pike township, and now lives at Kerrmoor, having rented the old farm. John Hockenberry lived on the farm now owned by David Read. Of his children Mrs. William Wise and Mrs. Archey Jordan, lived in Jordan township; Ann, lives near Curwensville ; David and Marion moved to the West. William Wiley made the first improve- ment on lands now owned by John N. and Lewis B. Hill. He moved into Knox township, and made an improvement on land which is known as the John McMurry farm; and from there he moved to the State of Wisconsin, where he died several years ago.
Thomas McCracken married Rebecca Bell, daughter of Arthur Bell, of Pike township, and lived for a few years where William Price now lives in Pike township. He purchased the land embraced in what is now owned by Alfred, Philip and William McCracken. He lived there until his death, in 1847. They were blessed with a family of ten children : Mary married Gainer Pass- more of Pike township ; both are dead. James married Mrs. Christiana Bar- ton, and purchased a house in Knox township, which he occupied until his death ; his widow and four children survive him. Greenwood married Eliza- beth, daughter of John High, sr , and lived on part of the old place, until a short time before his death he moved into Knox township; his widow lives with her son Alfred, who now owns his fathers farm. Arthur died young. W. Grier was never married, but lives alone on his farm, part of which belonged to his father. Nancy was married to Daniel Siford, but is not now living. Sarah died in infancy. David S. married Susanna, daughter of Jacob Shaffer, of Brady township; he is now a widower and lives near the old homestead. Philip married Mary Jane Raney, and lives on his father's farm. Elizabeth married John McDivitt, and lives near Lumber City.
John Campbell came here from Tuscarora Valley, Juniata county, where he was born about 1797, and is the only one of the first settlers now living. He is living now on the mountain road between Janesville and Tyrone. His first
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wife was a Miss Briggs, of Juniata county. Eight children were the result of this union : Sheba, the eldest daughter, married a Mr. Alleman, and moved to Virginia, where she died, leaving a son who is now dead, and one daughter, Kate, who is married to Silas Reese, and lives at Philipsburg. Rachael mar- ried a Mr. Hope, who is dead ; she is now living in Juniata county. Lavina . married Nelson Young, and lives in Greenwood township, not far from her former home. Lemuel was never married ; he lives at Bower, Pa. Elizabeth died young. John married Susanna McCracken, daughter of Greenwood Mc- Cracken, deceased ; he went to the war, became a member of company K, Eighty-fourth Regiment, was taken prisoner at Andersonville in 1864, and died there. Jane, a single daughter, lives with her sister, Mrs. Hope; when she was five years old she wandered away from her father's home in the wil- derness of Ferguson township, and the whole neighborhood turned out and formed lines of search which lasted several days. She was finally found at the house of Mr. Bell, who had rescued her just as she was wading into the river. Malinda, the youngest, lives in California. The children of his second wife are Mrs. John Solly, of Ferguson township, and Elizabeth, wife of Enoch McMas- ters, of Chest township.
David Ferguson, a brother of John, came into the township in 1839. He had previously lived near Lumber City, but a short time after his return from the Legislature of which he was a member for two years, he located on the farm where his son Alexander now lives. He built what was called a sash- frame saw-mill on the site where the Clearfield Lumber Company's large steam saw-mill is located. He was a civil engineer and did most of the surveying in in this neighborhood at that time, and taught school occasionally. He married Miss Rachel McKee, of Cumberland county, Pa., who shared with him the joys and sorrows subject to humanity, and now lies by his side in the old grave-yard, on the banks of the Susquehanna, below Lumber City. Six children are living: Alexander, the oldest son, married M. Amanda, daughter of Joseph Straw, of this township, and lives on the old homestead, which is now one of the most valuable farms in the district; Captain John B. Ferguson married Ada, daughter of Samuel Kirk, and owns and lives on the farm that once belonged to his grandfather ; Mary Jane married Frampton McCracken, and lives at Murray ; David Luther, married his cousin, Eliza, daughter of James Ferguson ; he has been one of the largest dealers in lumber in the county, but is now in California, and I believe is making preparations to move to that State in the near future; James H. married Lucy, daughter of Thomas Owens, and lives in Ferguson township ; Eliza, married a Mr. Mills, who died some time ago, and she is now residing at Murray.
Robert McCracken located a piece of land which he sold some forty or more years ago to George G. Williams, who came here from Centre county. These forty years of toil has transformed that woodland into probably the 67
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finest farm in the township. Grier Bell was among the first settlers of Fergu- son township and said to be the second white child born in the county. He was a son of Arthur Bell, one of the first pioneers of the county, and was born in 1799. He married Miss Hettie Roll, of Armstrong county, Pa. With an eye to the future, he secured a large tract of the best timber land in the county, and was wise enough to keep it until it became very valuable, all the while clearing the land, which is now a beautiful farm. In fact a good portion of this timber is standing yet, and owned by his daughter, Josephine, and son, Warren, it being one of the few lots of valuable timber in the county. He died and was buried by the side of his companion on the old farm where they had spent years of toil, on the 27th of February, 1886. Only three children of a large family are now living : Cortes F., married Matilda Hegarty, and lives in Ferguson township, on the banks of the Susquehanna; Josephine, married Samuel Hegarty, and lives at Hegarty's Cross Roads; Warren W., married Miriam, daughter of Abraham Snyder, of Pike township, and lives on his farm adjoining the old homestead. The Straws, Moores and Tubbses were among the families who came soon after those we have named, and compose a ma- jority of the present population, but space will not allow a more extended notice.
The first school built in the township was built on John Ferguson's farm. The exact date of its erection is not known, but was previous to 1841. Ross Robison was the first teacher, and was succeeded by Joseph Moore, who became a prominent citizen of the township, but is now dead, and David Fer- guson, whose name is mentioned elsewhere. Another house was built near or on the farm now owned by Christ Shoff, but here memory fails and nothing more can be learned. The school facilities of the township are not neglected, but have kept pace with the march of improvement. Six good school-houses adorn her hills and valleys to-day, divided into the following districts : Stony Point, Friendship, Broadway, Sugar Grove, Marron and Woods.
Marron is a post-office village consisting of a few very aged houses, and is on, the road leading from Kerrmoor to Newburg. It is sometimes called Mexico, although whence the names are derived I do not know. No indus- tries have ever been started, and, consequently, the town did not grow, and perhaps not more than three or four families have their permanent residence there. William Barret is the postmaster.
During the summer of 1884 the members of Zion Baptist Church concluded to build a house of worship at Marron, for the convenience of the members living in that section ; consequently John T. Straw, Enoch Straw, Glenn Will- iams, George Michaels and Christian J. Shoff, were appointed as a building committee, and at once commenced the work. It was completed the same year at a cost of twenty-three hundred dollars, and dedicated November 9, 1884, by the pastor, Rev. Samuel Miles, assisted by Rev. Forgeus, of Bellwood,
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Pa. The building is of modern architecture, and is a credit to the denomina- tion.
The Marron Lutheran Church was organized lately, by Rev. George W Crist, of New Millport, with a membership of thirty. This new organization contemplate building a house of worship this year. Ample arrangements have already been made, and the work will be speedily pushed forward. In the autumn of 1861 Nicholas Tubbs and his wife left their four children, the eldest about twelve, at home by themselves to keep house while they went to a meet- ing that was in progress in the old school-house that is still standing in Marron. The house in which Tubbs lived stood near where Mrs. Green now lives. An alarm of fire was heard, when the whole congregation rushed out and went in the direction of the fire, and found it to be Nicholas Tubbs's house. Nothing could be done, however, and the children were roasted to death, in sight of their parents.
GAZZAM.
The village of Gazzam is located on both sides of the East Branch of Little Clearfield Creek, and is the terminus of the Beech Creek Railroad. In Janu- ary, 1884, the Clearfield Bituminous Coal Company, through their superinten- dent, George H. Platt, contracted with F. S. Naugle for building twenty dwelling-houses, a large boarding-house and store-room, and by the next autumn what had been a swampy wilderness was transformed into a very re- spectable little town, and named in honor of Hon. Joseph M. Gazzam, of Phil- adelphia. The mines were opened and operated under the direction of George H. Platt, general superintendent, until his death, January 1, 1887. Since that time Robert A. Shillingsford, assisted by Alexander Dunsmore, has had con- trol. They are shipping at this time from twenty to twenty-four cars of coal per day. The mine is in sight of Ansonville, about one mile distant, and the coal is transported to the main track at Gazzam with a dummy engine on nar- row gauge road.
The Clearfield Bituminous Coal Company have a general store, of which A. Root is manager. Stevens Brothers also have a general store. A post- office was established in the winter of 1885-6, and opened for the delivery of mail matter the 8th day of January, 1886, with R. H. McGarvey as the first postmaster. The first and only hotel in the place is the Gazzam House, built and occupied by Zenas L. Ardray. During the winter of 1886-7 the Metho- dists, with their characteristic enterprise, organized a society under the direc- tion of Rev. J. A. Miller, a local preacher. As yet they have no fhouse of worship, but have preaching every alternate Sabbath by Revs. H. N. Murnigh and Bruce Hughes, of Lumber City circuit. The first school was opened in December, 1886, by Miss Frankie Johnston, of Bower, Pa., with an attendance
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of forty pupils. A Union Sabbath-school was organized January 27, 1887, of which A. Root is the superintendent.
In 1881-2 Martin Watts, a prominent citizen of the township, and owner of several hundred acres of timber land, built a large steam saw-mill where the Lum- ber City pike crosses the West Branch of Little Clearfield Creek. He added to it a shingle-mill, planing-mill, lath-mill, and cider-mill and press. His sons, under the firm name of S. C. & J. P. Watts, attached their machinery for man- ufacturing apiary supplies: They do a large and extensive business, shipping their celebrated chaff hives to nearly all parts of the United States. Quite a respectable little town is now built up, all owned by them except two dwell- ing houses. Through their efforts a post-office was established at that point in 1883, and named Murray in honor of Thomas Murray, esq., of Clearfield, Pa., and Samuel C. Watts appointed postmaster. The change in the National administration caused a change of postmasters, and in the early part of 1886 R. H. Moore was appointed, and the office moved to his store in Kerrmoor, about one-half mile below.
In 1886 the sons succeeded their father in all of the business transacted at that place, and are now in operation under the firm name of Watts Brothers. They also own a general store, and have induced the Beech Creek Railroad Company to build a branch from Kerrmoor to their mill.
KERRMOOR,
Named in honor of its originators, Moore Brothers & Kerr, the metropolis of the township, is located at the forks of Little Clearfield Creek, and like its neighbor, Gazzam, sprang into existence as a consequence of the building of the Beech Creek Railroad, and has had almost a phenomenal growth, not of cheap structures as is usually the rule in such cases, but some very fine resi- dences have been built. The land upon which the town is built was owned by Joseph and William Moore, two of the early settlers and prominent citizens of the township, and occupied by Ross McCracken, who lived here alone for many years in a shanty. In 1884 Robert and Milton (eldest sons of William) Moore, and James Kerr, ex-prothonotary of Clearfield county, under the firm name of Moore Brothers & Co., purchased the land and immediately laid it out in town lots. The first house was built the same year by Daniel Korb, and it was soon followed by the large dwelling house and storeroom built by the firm. The Clearfield Lumber Company secured the site known as "Henry's old saw-mill property," about one-half mile below the village, and proceeded to build the large steam mill from which they are shipping large quantities of manufactured lumber. Moore Brothers & Co. keep a general store. Albert Straw, son of ex-County Commissioner John T. Straw, of this township, is pro- prietor of a clothing and grocery store. The hardware store and tin shop is
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