USA > Pennsylvania > Huntingdon County > History of Huntingdon County, in the state of Pennsylvania : from the earliest times to the centennial anniversary of American independence, July 4, 1876 > Part 11
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On the 4th day of July of the same year, the Monitor re- appeared under the editorial auspices of J. Irvin Steele, pre- viously of the Blairsville Record. He enlarged the paper and improved it in other respects, but could not retrieve its reputation, and labored under great disadvantages on ac- count of the odium attacted to it in the minds of a portion of the community and the soldiers, an odium for which he was not responsible and which it would not have acquired under his management. It was, however, twice attacked within a month after his first issue.
About 4 o'clock on the morning of the 25th of July, a small party of soldiers, not more than four or five in num- ber, from the camp near Huntingdon, forced open the doors of the building in which the Monitor was published, began to "pie " the type, break the cases, &c. Before they had proceeded very far with this destruction, the patrol guard appeared and endeavored to stop it, but being too weak, hastily retreated to their quarters for reinforcement. During their absence, the work progressed rapidly inside the build- ing, and the by time they returned considerable damage had been done, but the perpetrators thereof had fled. Seventy- five pounds of type had been thrown into the street.
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The next and last attack was on the 3rd of August. It was made by upwards of forty men of the company then doing guard duty at Huntingdon. They went on the "double- quick" from their quarters in the court-house to the Monitor office, and rushing into the building, crowded it to such an extent that a number of them could not get inside. The · workmen left the office, and before any damage could be done, the officers of the company appeard upon the scene and marched the men back to their quarters.
Mr. Steele remained editor of the Monitor until the 4th day of October, 1865. He went subsequently to Ashland, Schuylkill county, and became the editor of the Ashland Advocate. Since removing to that place he has served two terms in the Legislature.
After an interval of about two months, during which S. A. Mckenzie had charge of it, the Monitor passed into the hands of J. S. Cornman, a practical printer, who had been publisher of the Carlisle Democrat. The first number of the Monitor issued by him bears the date of December 13th, 1865. He retained the ownership until September, 1874, when he sold to S. E. Fleming and M. M. McNeil. The names of both of these gentlemen are at the head of the paper as editors. Mr. Fleming, however, has charge of the editorial department, and is assisted by O. E. McNeil, esq., in the general management. The members of the firm of Fleming & McNeil are both lawyers, and were admitted to the bar at the same time, August, 1868. The former was born in Barree township, this county, and the latter in Clay township, and are aged respectively thirty-one and thirty years .*
The Journal, Globe and Monitor are printed upon sheets of uniform size, viz: twenty-eight by forty-two inches. Their editions are weekly.
On the 10th day of March, 1874, Hugh Lindsay issued the first number of the Local News, and on the 14th day of September following converted it into a semi-weekly, the
* Mr. McNeil has since retired from this editorial connection with the paper.
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publication days being Mondays and Thursdays. It is neu- tral in politics, its character being indicated by its name. Mr. Frank Willoughby became a partner in the establish- ment, February 10th, 1875. Mr. Lindsay came to Hunting- don November 4th, 1860, from Girard College, Philadelphia. He entered the Globe office as an apprentice with Mr. Lewis, and learned the art of printing. Afterwards he became one . of the editors of the Globe, remaining in that capacity until it was purchased by Prof. Guss.
The newspapers published at other points in the county than Huntingdon, are the Times, by John M. Bowman, at Mount Union; the Leader, at Orbisonia, by R. J. Coons & Co .; the Weekly Herald, at Shirleysburg, by Webster T. Bair, and the Mountain Voice, at Broad Top City, by B. F. Gehrett.
THE PILGRIM prospectus was sent out in December, 1869, and the new enterprise commenced its career with the be- ginning of the year 1870. It was issued from James Creek, Huntingdon county, (Marklesburg,) but the first ten num- bers were printed in Huntingdon, by Theo. H. Cremer, then proprietor of "The Republican." During the first three months it was published semi-monthly, on a sheet 16x22 inches, as an 8-page paper. At No. 32 it was enlarged to a sheet 22x32 inches, and the form changed to 16 pages. At the beginning of the year 1872 it was enlarged to a sheet 23x33 inches, and again changed to 8 pages. At the be- ginning of the year 1874, it was enlarged to a sheet 242x34 inches, and the form again changed to 16 pages, in which size and form it continues to be issued.
On the 1st of April, 1870, the publication office was estab- lished at Marklesburg, and the Pilgrim was then printed on an old Smith Hoe Press, in a small office 12x16 feet; later, as the business increased, a more commodious location was selected, where there were two rooms, one for editorial and business purposes, the other for a composing and press room. Then the old press was set aside and a new Fair- haven Power Press was procured. The business continuing to increase, the location was not suited to conduct it success-
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HISTORY OF HUNTINGDON COUNTY.
fully, on account of the limited railroad and postal facilities; a lot was purchased in West Huntingdon, on the corner of 14th and Washington streets, where a large, commodious brick building, 38x46 feet, three stories high, with press- room in the basement, was erected, specially adapted to the wants of the increasing business; which was occupied at the beginning of 1874, and has since been known as the "Pilgrim Building."
The paper was started as a private enterprise by the two brothers, H. B. and J. B. Brumbaugh, under the firm name of H. B. Brumbaugh & Bro., J. B. Brumbaugh, the younger, being the publisher, and H. B. Brumbaugh, the elder, and also a minister of the Gospel, being the editor, with George Brumbaugh, their elder brother, associate editor, and Elders D. P. Saylor, of Double Pipe Creek, Md., and Leonard Farry, of New Enterprise, Pa., as corresponding editors, and after the year 1872, Dr. A. B. Brumbaugh, of Huntingdon, as Literary Editor. It was established as, and continues to be, a Christian Periodical, devoted to religion and moral reform, and advocating in the spirit of love and liberty the princi- ples of true christianity, as held and practiced by the people or church known as the German Baptist Brethren.
The circulation of the Pilgrim extends over the whole United States and a limited number of foreign countries. It commenced with about 700 subscribers, but the circula- tion has steadily increased at the rate of from 600 to 700 each year, with the very brightest prospects for a greatly increased circulation and extended usefulness in the future. It is now printed by steam power, the office being furnish- ed with a Baxter steam engine. The price was at first $1 a year, but has been increased to $1.60, postage paid.
THE YOUNG DISCIPLE was started with January, 1876, published by H. B. Brumbaugh & Bro., and edited by Miss W. A. Clark. It is a weekly juvenile, or Sunday-school paper, issued in monthly parts, illustrated, and printed on the Pilgrim press. It is so arranged that there is a paper, complete, 122x17 inches, for each week. The circulation at this, the fifth issue, has run up to over 2,000 copies, and it is
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rapidly increasing in favor with the Sunday-schools of the church, and all others desiring a pure paper for the children. The prospects for future usefulness seem to be very fair. No advertisements are admitted. The price has been put at 75 cents a year.
CHAPTER XVIII.
ENTERPRISES OF THE PAST-POST-RIDERS-ARKS-PACK-HORSES-JUNIATA MAIL STAGE-WEEKLY-DAILY-TIME FROM PHILADELPHIA TO HUNTING- DON AND PITTSBURG-MAIL ROUTE TO CHAMBERSBURG-TURNPIKES-IN- CORPORATION OF THE HUNTINGDON, CAMBRIA AND INDIANA-IIUNTINGDON AND LEWISTOWN-PENNSYLVANIA CANAL-LEGISLATION UNDER WHICH IT WAS CONSTRUCTED-PRELIMINARY SURVEYS-OPENED FOR NAVIGATION- PUBLIC ENTHUSIASM-SALE TO TIIE PENNSYLVANIA RAILROAD COMPANY -ABANDONED WEST OF HUNTINGDON.
The subject which, if disconnected from all others, would most fully illustrate the history and growth of our county, or of any locality, large or small, is that relating to the transportation of mails, freight and passengers, upon which we now enter. The progress of a country begets the neces- sity for increased facilities for travel and commerce, and for the transmission of news and intelligence, and these, in their turn, add materially to that progress by inciting to other improvements having no connection with each other, except that they result from the same cause.
In the previous parts of this work we have made some references to these general topics, so that the reader may al- ready have obtained an idea of their " small beginnings." We have passed the periods of the pack-horses of provincial times, of the ark of 1796, and of the establishing of a mail route in 1797, but we have passed them only in point of time and not in the substitution of more useful and efficient means for the same purposes. Let us now go forward under the lead and guidance of the spirit of enterprise and invention.
The mails, when first brought into the county, had stated times for their arrival, once in two weeks. They were carried by post-riders, and came from Harrisburg to Huntingdon in four days. As they were liable to many detentions and delays, irregularity in their delivery at the post offices be- came the rule rather than the exception. Storms and freshets, the freezing of the ice in winter and its melting in the spring, and the "indisposition" of the carrier, were
·
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among the causes of their failure to arrive at the specified times. In addition to the these, there were many others, incident to a new and undeveloped country, without roads and without protection from the danger that lurked at every step. It was a long time until these obstacles were overcome.
The waters were carrying upon their bosoms, in the di- rection in which they flowed, the products of the soil, of the mill, and of the distillery. Those articles which found a market in the east were taken thither without great diffi- culty. The rains and the swelling of the streams but in- creased the power and usefulness of the latter as a means of conveyance.
But nature had furnished no such facilities for trade to the westward. The iron which ran from our first furnaces, and for which there was a demand at the manufactories of Pitts- burg, found its way there in the same manner that Weiser, Croghan and other traders had taken goods to the Indians, on the backs of horses and mules. It was hammered at the forge into bars of about six or eight feet in length, bent into the shape of the letter U, and inverted over the ani- mal. The paths over the Allegheny mountains were not of sufficient width to permit two horses or mules to walk side by side, but they followed each other in tandem style, four or five of them being driven or led by one man.
This slow and laborious method did not, however, long answer the growing requirements of the region west of the Alleghenies. Other commodities than iron were needed, and had to be obtained from the source of supply in the eastern cities. The making of roads became a necessity, and with their construction commenced the era of wagons and stage coaches.
The first effort to run a line of stages into the county was made in 1808. It was announced to the public in the following advertisement :
JUNIATA MAIL STAGE.
The subscribers beg leave to inform the public, that on the 3d day of May next, their Stage will commence running from Harrisburg by the way of Clark's Ferry, Millerstown,
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Thompsontown, Mifflintown, Lewistown, Waynesburg and Huntingdon, to Alexandria, once a week. Leave the House of Mr. Berryhill, Harrisburg, every Tuesday, at 1 o'clock P. M., and arrive at Alexandria on the Friday following ; returning, leave Alexandria every Saturday morning and arrive at Harrisburg on Tuesday morning.
As the company have procured elegant and convenient Carriages, good Horses, and careful drivers, they flatter themselves that the passage of those who may please to favor them with their custom, will be rendered safe, easy and agreeable.
Fare for travelers, 6 cents per mile, each entitled to 14 pounds baggage, gratis. 150 pounds baggage, equal to a passenger.
JOHN WALKER, GEORGE MULHOLLAN,
JOHN M'CONNELL, JOHN M. DAVIDSON,
GEORGE GALBRAITH, THOMAS COCHRAN, ROBERT CLARK.
April 14, 1808.
N. B .- Horses and Chairs will be procured at the differ- ent towns, for those passengers who wish to go off the road or proceed further than Alexandria.
On the evening of the 5th of May, the third day after its departure from Harrisburg, including the one upon which it started, the stage, "Experiment," arrived at Huntingdon. It was the beginning of an enterprise which was to be continued during many years. The route was afterwards extended to Pittsburgh, and connected at Harrisburg with another from Philadelphia. It will be interesting to trace briefly the efforts and success of this company in affording the greatest conveniences for travel and in reducing the trip to the mininum length of time.
In April, 1828, after a lapse of twenty years from the making of the first trip, this line of stages commenced running daily between Harrisburg and Pittsburg. The mails were then carried by it three times a week, passing through Hun- tingdon on Sundays, Wednesdays and Fridays. In 1829, the proprietors made arrangements with the Government to
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carry a daily mail, which went into operation in February of that year. About one year later, the route was divided into two sections, each terminating at Huntingdon, where the mails were exchanged. The eastern section passed into the hands of Calder, Wilson & Co. Passengers were then conveyed from Philadelphia to Huntingdon in two days, and to Pittsburg in three days and a half. But even this rapidity was not sufficient, and the greatest exertions were made to increase it. In March, 1832, the daily line arrived at Huntingdon at 4 o'clock of the second day from Phila- delphia, and at Pittsburg on the evening of the third day. This was the acme of stage-coach perfection, and was at- tained by running as the cars do now, day and night. The latter, however, in the same number of hours would travel about twenty-five hundred miles.
There was also an accommodation line between Harris- burg and Pittsburg, making three trips per week, and going through in three days and a half.
Before 1809, a mail route was established from Cham- bersburg to Huntingdon. In 1832 the mail was carried from the former to the latter place three times a week, once by way of Fort Littleton, Three Springs and Coffee Run, and twice by Shade Gap and Shirleysburg.
The "Juniata Mail Stage," during the whole of its exist- ence, had many of the difficulties to contend with that had met the post-riders who preceded it. The impediments which nature throws in our way were the same in 1832 as in 1800. The elements were not less treacherous nor floods less fre- quent. Against these human strength and energy could not always prevail, and as a consequence the mails were often behind time, sometimes several days. This line was not without competition, and that was no doubt one of the facts that led to the utmost efforts to attain the highest rate of speed. The improvements made in the roads, especially after the beginning of turnpike construction, facilitated the exertions of the proprietors to render their conveyances more desirable as a means of travel.
The turnpike, like every other great enterprise, had its
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era of agitation, before it became a practical reality. We cannot say when a road of that kind was first proposed through Huntingdon county. From the earliest move- ment in the matter of which we have any knowledge, until the completion of a road, there intervened a period of twelve years, a length of time too great to follow through it the various stages of the undertaking.
In November, 1806, petitions were in circulation in the county favoring a turnpike up the Juniata. On the 27th day of that month a notice was published in the Gazette, requesting persons who had possession of such petitions to send them to Andrew Henderson, that they might be forwarded to the Legislature. Similar petitions were probably signed and returned from the other counties in the Juniata valley. The desired legislation was enacted at the following session, March 4th, 1807. The Governor was authorized to in- corporate a company for making an artificial road from Harrisburg, through Lewistown and Huntingdon, to Pitts-
burgh. Other acts of Assembly were passed subsequently relating to the same subject. On the 15th day of February, 1815, a charter of incorporation was granted by Governor Snyder to the Huntingdon, Cambria and Indiana Turnpike Company. An organization was effected on the 8th day of May, 1815, by the election of a President, Managers and Treasurer. Books were at once opened to receive subscrip- tions to the stock, and preparations for the construction of the road were pushed energetically. The progress, how- ever, was slow. In September, 1818, nearly four years after it had been chartered, there remained forty miles uncom- pleted. These were between Huntingdon and the crossing of the Big Conemaugh. The work seems to have been stopped then for want of funds, and the officers of the com. pany appealed to the public for pecuniary aid. They ob- tained it the following year, and soon afterwards the road was opened throughout its entire length. The portion be- tween Huntingdon and Alexandria was the last made.
On the 14th of May, 1821, books were opened for sub- scriptions to the stock of the Huntingdon and Lewistown
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turnpike, and the making of that road completed the line of turnpike through Huntingdon county from east to west.
But when these artificial highways had enabled the stage- coach to achieve its greatest success, a rival to the latter ap- peared, which was destined to divide its usefulness and rob it of a considerable part of the patronage of the traveling com- munity. In 1831, the first canal boat arrived at Hunting- don, and in 1832 the first "packet " floated down Standing Stone creek, upon which it had been built, and took its place upon the then newly constructed canal, for the carriage of passengers.
Although Pennsylvania did not embark upon the con- struction of her public works until 1826, there was some legislation leading to that object at an earlier day. An act was passed on the 27th of March, 1824, "providing for the appointment of a board of commissioners for the purpose of promoting the internal improvement of the State." These commissioners, among other duties were "to view and explore a route for a canal from Harrisburg to Pittsburg, by the waters of the Juniata and Conemaugh rivers." This act was repealed and supplied by that of April 11, 1825, but is nevertheless historically important as being the com- mencement of that great system of improvement inaugura- ted by the Commonwealth. Commissioners were appointed, as provided for, who took the levels and made surveys of the proposed canal, and reported to the Legislatureat its next session.
The act of 1825 also provided for the appointment of a board of canal commissioners who were to examine various routes through the state, one of which was from "Philadelphia, by the Juniata to Pittsburg, and from thence to Lake Erie." On the 25th day of Febru- ary, 1826, an act was passed authorizing and empowering this board "to locate and contract for making a canal and locks, and other works necessary thereto, from the river Swatara, at or near Middletown, to or near a point on the east side of the river Susquehanna, opposite the mouth of the river Juniata, and from Pittsburg to the mouth of the
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Kiskiminetas," etc. This was to be styled the Pennsylvania Canal. A great gap was thus left between the Susquehanna and Allegheny rivers, for which no connecting link was pro- vided, with the design, as it appears, of making the Juniata and Kiskiminetas navigable by slack water. But the latter idea was abandoned within the succeeding two years. The plan of improvement was greatly enlarged and extended, and embraced the making of railroads as well as canals.
The next enactment in this series is that of March 24th, 1828, providing for the location and construction of a canal from Lewistown to the highest point expedient and practicable on the Juniata, and requiring the commissioners to have examinations and surveys made of a route from Huntingdon to Johnstown, "with a view of connecting those streams (the Juniata and Conemaugh) either by a canal or railroad." It was finally determined to make this last con- nection by canal to Hollidaysburg and by railroad over the mountains. Thus was partially supplied by several links the gap that had been left by the act of 1826.
The preliminary surveys for the works authorized by the legislation of which we have given a slight review, were commenced in the spring of 1828. In the month of May, of that year, Col. Clinton was engaged in taking levels and locating the canal near Huntingdon. In July a party of engineers was exploring the Alleghenies for the purpose of ascertaining the most eligible route for the railway. The Canal Commissioners met at Harrisburg in September, and decided, from the reports of the engineers, the location of the different lines, and the portions that were to be placed under contract for construction. Among the latter were the forty-five miles between Lewistown and Huntingdon. They were divided into ninety-five sections, a sale or letting of which took place on the 15th day of October. In two years thereafter, or in October, 1830, all of those sections had been completed. The only part that remained unfinished was two aqueducts, one of which was at Mount Union, twelve miles below Huntingdon.
The water was let into the first level at Huntingdon on
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the 2nd of November, 1830. The Gazette of the 10th of that month says: "On Thursday evening a number of houses were handsomely illuminated, and a large assem- blage of ladies and gentlemen 'trip'd the nimble toe' to their heart's content, at the house of William Jackson, in honor of the occasion."
The canal was opened for navigation in the spring of 1831, the first boat arriving at Huntingdon on the 13th day of May. That event was announced by the Gazette in the following manner:
SOMETHING NEW !!! PORT OF HUNTINGDON!
ARRIVAL OF BOATS !!!
On Thursday evening last a keel boat, the property of Mr. Jonathan Leslie, having on board plaster and fish, arrived at this place. This is the first arrival, by the canal, from Waynesburgh.
Another Arrival .- On Friday evening, the Boat Margaret, Capt. McCoy, of Waynesburgh, arrived; freight, 15 tons, merchandize.
The letting of the sections between Huntingdon and Hol- lidaysburg occurred on the 1st of June, 1831.
The completion of the canal was greeted by the people with the greatest enthusiasm. There had been illuminations at other places besides Huntingdon, at Lewistown and Waynesburg, showing the general appreciation of the im- portance of the work. As we look at it now and reflect upon the decay of its utility, we are apt to get the impres- sion that those who saw it in its infancy were unduly elated ; but we must remember the difference in their position and ours. They compared it with the past, with the pack- horses, which were still within the recollection of many of them, with the arks, which carried their freight to market and brought none in return, with the teams, which made their trips from Baltimore or Philadelphia to Pittsburg in the space of two or three weeks, requiring four or six horses to convey a few tons of merchandise, and with the stage-
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coaches, which, the more rapidly they traveled the more un- comfortable they became. In such a comparison there was reason for exultation and joy. They had made one of the great strides in progress, and their self-congratulation was as well justified as is ours in those that we have since taken. Who knows how soon we may be robbed of our glory, the railroad be converted into a highway where impecunious pedestrians may travel without danger from the locomotive, and the latter be made a subject for ridicule by some un- philosophistical boaster of the future !
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