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 19
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For a poor house. 1299
Against " 952
After it was built, its sale was advocated, and a vote was taken upon that question, under authority of an Act of As- sembly, with the following result :
For the sale 892
Against " 2802
The act of 1850, provided for the election of three Direc- tors of the Poor in that year and of one annually there- after. The following officers have been elected :
1851, James Clarke. James Saxton. George Hudson.
1863, John Logan.
1864, Henry Davis, 3 years. Henry A. Mark, 1 year.
1852, John Brewster.
1865. John Flenner.
1853, Samuel Mattern.
1866, Jackson Harman.
1854, J. A. Shade.
1867, Adam Heeter.
1855, Kenzie L. Green.
1868, John Miller.
1856, Joseph Gibbony.
1869, James Smith.
1857, James Murphy.
1870, Jolin P. Stewart.
1858, David Clarkson.
1871, Harris Richardson.
1859, William Moore.
1872, Michael Kyper.
1860, Samuel Peightal.
1873, Gilbert Horning.
1861, James Henderson.
1874, Aaron W. Evans.
1862, Samuel Heckadorn.
1875, John Griffith.
COUNTY SURVEYORS.
1850, William Christy. 1865, James E. Glasgow.
1853, J. Simpson Africa.
1868, James E. Glasgow.
1859, J. F. Ramey.
1871, Henry Wilson.
1862, John A. Pollock.
1874, Henry Wilson.
In 1856, there was no election to the office of County Sur- veyor, the result that year being a tie vote between J. Simp- son Africa and J. F. Ramey. The latter was appointed by the Court and served during the term.
In 1864 an election was held to fill a vacancy caused by the resignation of John A. Pollock, at which Henry Wilson received a majority of the votes cast, but the election was illegal, as the act of Assembly creating the office provides that vacancies shall be filled by the appointment of the Court of Quarter Sessions. Mr. Wilson was subsequently appointed and served until the qualification of his successor, James E. Glasgow.
237
HISTORY OF HUNTINGDON COUNTY.
JURY COMMISSIONERS.
1867, Geo. W. Shontz, N. K. Covert. 1870, S. B. Chaney, John Vandevander.
1873, John G. Stewart. Samuel Brooks.
John G. Stewart resigned and George W. Johnston was appointed to fill the vacancy, January 22nd, 1874.
CHAPTER XXXIV.
HUNTINGDON-OLD DEED OF CONVEYANCE-INCORPORATION AS A BOROUGH -EXTENSIONS OF BOROUGH LIMITS-ADDITIONS TO THE PLAN OF THE TOWN-J. EDGAR THOMSON'S SURVEY-MILLER, WHARTON AND ANDER- SON'S ADDITION-MANUFACTURING ESTABLISHMENTS-PLANING MILL AND
FURNITURE FACTORY-SHOE FACTORY AND TANNERY-CAR WORKS AND · MACHINE SHOPS-BROOM AND BRUSIL FACTORY-PILGRIM PUBLICATION BUILDING -- NUMBER OF BUILDINGS ERECTED-CENSUS -- OPENING AND EXTENSION OF STREETS-CHANGE IN STREET NOMENCLATURE-NUMBER- ING OF BUILDINGS AND LOTS-DIVISION OF THE BOROUGH INTO WARDS -FIRE DEPARTMENT -- ENGINE HOUSE-GAS -- SCHOOL BUILDINGS AND SCHOOLS-CHURCHES AND PASTORS.
This work has already given much of the history of the town of Huntingdon. One of the points first visited by white men, and the earliest permanent settlement in the county, and located upon the old Indian war path, or a branch of it, and the Juniata river, it possessed at the be- ginning, and has since maintained, a greater importance than any other place within our presents limits. An account of Standing Stone, of the founding of the town by Dr. William Smith, in 1767, and the naming of it after the Countess of Huntingdon, of its condition at the beginning of the Revolu- tionary war, and of many events occurring there during that struggle, of its selection as the seat of justice on the erection of the county in 1787, and of its newspapers and public improvements, was unavoidable in our effort to ob- serve as nearly as possible a chronological arrangement in the statement of facts. But it has much additional history connected with its own development rather than with that of the county at large.
The oldest deed of conveyance, of the existence of which we have been able to learn, made by Dr. Smith to a pur- chaser of a lot in Huntingdon, is dated " the seventh day of September, in the eighth Year of the Reign of our Sovereign Lord George 3d, by the Grace of God King of Great Britain, &c., Annoque Domini One Thousand Seven Hundred and, Sixty-Eight," and is " between William Smith, of the City
239
HISTORY OF HUNTINGDON COUNTY.
of Philadelphia, and Province of Pennsylvania, Clerk, D.D., of the one part, and Samuel Anderson of Cumberland county, of the other part." It recites that " the said William Smith hath laid out a certain Town called -, at Standing Stone, on Juniata, in the County of Cumberland, and divided the same into streets and lots, regularly named and numbered, as by the plan of the said town entered on record, in the Re- corder's Office at Carlisle, in the said county, may appear." The lot conveyed was number 12, situated on Allegheny, between Third and Fourth streets, and extending to Penn. It is now owned by John W. Mattern, Esq.
This deed was a printed form, prepared expressly for Dr. Smith, having no blanks except for names and numbers. It evidently, therefore, embodies the terms upon which he had determined to make sales. As the name of the town does not appear in the deed, and as the space left for it was not filled in writing, we may reasonably suppose that he had not given it a name at that date.
The consideration expressed in the deed was as follows : " Yielding and paying therefor and thereout unto the said William Smith, his Heirs and Assigns, on the first Monday in September, in every year, the yearly Rent of One Spanish Milled Piece of Eight of fine Silver, weighing Seventeen Penny Weight and Six Grains at least, or Value thereof in Coin current ; the first payment to be made on the first Monday of September, which shall be in the Year of our Lord One Thousand Seven Hundred and Sixty-Nine, and so on the first Monday of September yearly, and every year thereafter, forever. And further the said Samuel Anderson doth covenant, promise and agree to and with the said Wil- liam Smith, his Heirs and Assigns, by these Presents, that he the said Samuel Anderson, his Heirs and Assigns, shall and will, at his or their own proper Cost and Charges, make, erect, build and finish on the said Lot of Ground, one sub- stantial Dwelling House of Dimensions of Eighteen Feet by Twenty Feet at least, with a good Stone or Brick Chimney, within the Space of Ten Months from the First Day of' Oc- tober," (year illegible.)
240
HISTORY OF HUNTINGDON COUNTY.
On the failure of Anderson to pay the rental for the space of ninety days after it became due, Dr. Smith was to have the right to recover the arrearages by distress, and if no property could be found upon the premises upon which to distrain, or if the dwelling house was not erected within the time and in the manner agreed upon, he was to have the right to re-enter and to hold and possess the lot, and if the arrearages of rent were not paid within two years after such re-entry, the lot was to revert to him absolutely.
Huntingdon was incorporated as a borough by act of Assembly of March 29th, 1796. The boundaries, as therein specified were as follows: "Beginning at a large stone corner placed on the bank of the river Juniata, at or near the entrance of a fording place, and at the distance of two hundred feet, on a course south sixty-six degrees east, from the east side of St. Clair (now Second) street; thence north twenty-four degrees east, one hundred and nine perches and seven-tenths of a perch, to a stone; thence north sixty-six degrees west, one hundred and fifty-seven perches to a stone ; thence south twenty-four degrees west, including Charles (now Seventh) street, one hundred and ten perches, or thereabouts, to the river Juniata ; thence down the same on the northerly bank or side, to the place of beginning ; being the boundary of the said town of Huntingdon on record in the office for recording of deeds in and for the said county of Huntingdon." The plan referred to was recorded on the 14th day of November, 1795. There is no plan on record at Carlisle, as stated in the deed from Dr. Smith to Samuel Anderson.
By a supplement to the act of incorporation, approved March 27th, 1855, the borough limits were extended so as to include what is now known as West Huntingdon and some territory east of the borough on both sides of Standing Stone creek. The boundaries fixed thereby were as follows : " Beginning at the Juniata river, where the Hickory corner, between George Croghan's and William Logan's survey stood, thence by the line between said surveys to William McMurtrie's corner; thence by this line to Standing
241
HISTORY OF HUNTINGDON COUNTY.
Stone Creek; thence up the eastern side. thereof, at low water mark, to a point opposite the north eastern corner of William Orbison's out-lot ; thence by John Simpson's line across said creek by William Orbison's out-lot, the Standing Stone creek road and Hartley and Kautz's lot, to said Simpson's corner, on the western 'line of the Smith survey ; thence by the line between John McCahan's land and lots of said Hartley and Kautz, George Jackson and Daniel Africa, to Armstrong Willoughby's corner, in Annie Figart's hollow ; thence up said hollow, including said Wil- loughby's land, to the extended eastern line of Bath (now Fifth) street, of said borough ; thence down said line to the old boundary line of said borough and along the same to the centre of the Warm Springs road; thence up the centre of said road to the northern line of the Asher Clayton survey ; thence by the same to where a hickory corner stood; thence by the line between the Renner farm and land of Hon. George Taylor to the Juniata river; thence down the same at low water mark, to the place of begin- ning."
The second extension of the borough limits was made by ordinance of the Burgesses and Town Council, on the 14th of August, 1874. It added a portion of Oneida township lying north and northwest of the borough. The first section of the ordinance is as follows : "That all those parts of the township of Oneida included within the following bounda- ries, to wit : Beginning at the corner between said borough and township, at the northern angle of a lot formerly occu- pied by Hartly and Kautz, now owned by John H. Glazier, thence in a direct line, passing the south eastern corner of a lot on which Robert Drennan resides, to a point on land of William P. Orbison, esq., where the north-western bound- ary line of said borough, if extended, would intersect said line; and thence westwardly along the last mentioned line to the corner between land of Hon. George Taylor, deceased, and James Cozzens; and thence by the line between said Taylor and Cozzens and by an extension thereof to the Juniata river ; thence down the said river to
Q
242
HISTORY OF HUNTINGDON COUNTY.
the present line between said borough and township, and thence along the same to place of beginning."
The growth of the town has kept pace with these addi- tions of territory, and, in fact, rendered them necessary. Previous to 1855 the borough limits extended only to Seventh street; but in 1854, J. Edgar Thomson, then Chief Engineer of the Pennsylvania Railroad, purchased the Cypress Cottage farm, lying west of the borough, for $29,- 000, and in May and June of the latter year, had the part of the farm north of the railroad surveyed by J. Simpson Africa, Esq., county surveyor, and laid off into 352 lots. About the time the plan of West Huntingdon was completed, Mr. Thomson sold the grist and saw mill, with five acres of land, to Messrs. David McMurtrie and Thomas Fisher, for $15,000, thus reducing the amount of his investment to $14,000.
Col. William Dorris, who was the attorney and agent for Mr. Thomson in all his transactions with reference to this real estate, has furnished us the following information :
" From the time of the making of the plan in May, 1854, until 1865-eleven years-the West Huntingdon addition had an existence only on paper. During that time but one house was erected, the one now owned and occupied by Alexander Elliott, and it was built by the proprietor. It was a standing joke, not only to the neighboring towns, but to the ancient borough, and was often pointed to as an evidence of the folly of the owner. On the 27th of May, 1865, the first three lots were sold to Hannah Artley and Mary Long. They were numbered 40, 43 and 51. Dwelling houses were built upon them by D. W. Artley and Christian Long. During the year 1865 the island, the orchard, and 67 town lots were sold, and buildings were erected with great rapidity. Sales of lots continued without interruption until on the 30th of May, 1871, the last lot in West Huntingdon was sold, the purchaser being Curtis Larkins, and the lot being number 143. The aggre- gate amount received up to April 1st, 1876, by Mr. Thomson, in his lifetime, and by his trustees, since his death, from
,
243
HISTORY OF HUNTINGDON COUNTY.
the sale of this farm, was $83,697.09, and there is to be col- lected enough to reach almost $100,000."
The improvements upon the lots sold by Mr. Thomson soon carried the town northwestward to Fifteenth street, and it became evident that it would be extended still fur- ther in that direction, if that portion of the borough were laid off into lots and offered for sale. On the first of May, 1868, Dr. R. Allison Miller, H. S. Wharton and Mrs. M. H. Ander- son bought from Hon. John Scott, executor and trustee under the will of Major J. P. Anderson, deceased, the Renner farm, containing about one hundred and twenty acres, and had about one hundred acres divided into lots, by J. Simp- son Africa, Esq. This part of the town is known as Milller, Wharton and Anderson's addition to West Huntingdon. The proprietors have sold 425 lots, 110 buildings have been erected, and it has now a population of about 500. Its northern limit was Hon. George Taylor's farm, beyond Nineteenth street.
Upon this addition the most important manufacturing establishments in the borough have been erected.
In 1868 the Huntingdon Manufacturing company built a planing mill and furniture factory at the north-west corner of Sixteenth and Penn streets. It is a substantial brick building, two stories high, and is supplied with first-class machinery, which is run by steam. The property has changed hands a number of times since its erection, and is now owned by Stewart, March & Co.
In 1870 H. S. Wharton built a shoe factory at the north- west corner of Sixteenth and Penn streets, and in 1872 added a tannery. This establishment, known as the Keystone Boot, Shoe and Leather Manufacturing Company's works, consists of large and imposing brick buildings, three stories high, heated by steam. The machinery is all of the latest and most approved kind.
The car works and machine shops west of Penn, and between Seventeenth and Eighteenth streets, were built by Messrs. Orbison & Co., in 1872 and '73. The buildings are a wood-work department 160 by 70 feet, an erecting shop
24-1
HISTORY OF HUNTINGDON COUNTY.
165 feet by 60 feet, a machine and blacksmith shop 173 feet by 46 feet, and an engine-house 26 by 32 feet. The stack is 60 feet high, and the machinery is driven by a sixty-five horse power engine. These, with the necessary yard room occupy about five acres of ground.
R. A. Miller & Son built their broom and brush works, a a three story brick building, at the north-east corner of Fourteenth and Washington streets, in 1873, and in the same year the Pilgrim building, on the north-west corner of the same streets, was erected by H. B. Brumbaugh, and is partly occupied for the publication of the "Pilgrim" and " Young Disciple."
Of the 777 lots sold in West Huntingdon since 1865, a large proportion was purchased for actual improvement. Those in the Thomson survey are nearly all built upon, and more than one fourth of those in the Miller, Wharton and Anderson addition.
The old part of Huntingdon improved during the same time almost as rapidly as West Huntingdon, its progress, however,not being quite so conspicuous, as new buildings, in a town already built up, do not make as much display as the same number on ground that previously had none.
This era of improvement continued for more than eight years, or until after the financial crisis of 1873. It gave us a better class of buildings than had before existed, many of them being models of architecture and elegance. The num- ber erected could not now be ascertained without great difficulty, but we have obtained a statement of those built in 1871 and 1872, which will serve as a criterion for other years.
1ST1. 1872.
Dwellings, .
70
44
Business houses, .
10
Manufactories, .
4
Other buildings,
4
4
Remodeled and improved,
9
7
S3
69
Many of those put down as dwellings had business rooms on the first floor.
245
HISTORY OF HUNTINGDON COUNTY.
As might be expected, the tables of populations show that the greatest increase was during the years when lots were selling and buildings were being erected the most rapidly. The increase between 1860 and 1870 took place principally after the war, in the last half of the decade.
I792, Population, 85 families.
1810,
66
676
1820,
.‹
848
Increase, 172
1830,
1,222
66
374
1840,
..
1,145
Decrease,
77
1850,
1,470
Increase,
325
1860,
66
1,890
420
1870,
3,034
1,144
1876,
· 4,054
in 6 years, 1,020
The population in 1876 was ascertained by the canvass- ers for " Africa's Centennial Directory of Huntingdon County," recently published.
Not only was the opening of new streets and the extension of old ones rendered necessary by this growth of the town, but it led to a change in street nomenclature and to the adoption of the decimal system of numbering buildings and lots. By an ordinance of July 3rd, 1863, Washington street, from the western line of Charles street to the Warm . Springs road at the line of the Renner farm, and Mifflin street, from the western line of Charles street to Fulton (now Eighth,) and from Fulton to Locust (now Thirteenth,) were declared public streets or highways. The same streets, by ordinance of June 3rd, 1870, were extended still further northward to Grant (now Sixteenth) street. The former ordinance also declared Chestnut, Walnut, Spruce and Pine, crossing Washington and Mifflin at right angles, public highways. Other streets were extended or opened as cir- cumstances required.
The ordinance changing the names of streets running north and south in the old town and east and west in the new, was passed March 3rd, 1871. By it St. Clair street was changed to Second, Smith to Third, Montgomery to Fourth, Bath to Fifth, Franklin to Sixth, Charles to Seventh, Fulton to Eighth, Chestnut to Ninth, Walnut to Tenth,
246
HISTORY OF HUNTINGDON COUNTY.
Spruce to Eleventh, Pine to Twelfth, Locust to Thirteenth, Cypress to Fourteenth, Anderson to Fifteenth, Grant to Sixteenth, Scott to Seventeenth, Lincoln to Eighteenth, and Jackson to Nineteenth. It also provided that the Standing Stone ridge road should be known as First street, the Standing Stone creek road as Standing Stone avenue, the Warm Springs road as Warm Springs avenue, and the towing-path of the Pennsylvania canal as Canal avenue.
The same ordinance divided each square into spaces of twenty-five feet, each space to constitute a number. On streets running parallel with the river, the odd numbers are on the north side and the even numbers on the south side, each cross street beginning another hundred, corresponding with its number. On streets running from the river at right angles, the odd numbers are on the west side, and even numbers on the east, a new hundred beginning with each square. The owners or occupants of buildings fronting on public streets are required to have erected or painted on some conspicuous parts of the fronts or entrances, the num- ber of the space upon which each building stands. The penalty for neglect of this requirement is a fine of five dollars.
In 1873, the borough, which had previously con- sisted of but two wards, was divided into four, by act of Assembly approved April 10th. The territory embraced in each was designated as follows :
First Ward, all that territory lying northeastward of a line beginning at the Juniata river, and running thence in a direct line along the centre of Fourth street, to the line of Oneida township.
Second Ward, all that territory lying west of the First ward and east of the centre of Seventh street.
Third Ward, all that territory lying north and west of the Second ward, and south of a line beginning at said (Juniata) river, and running thence eastward in a direct line along the centre of Eleventh street, to the line of Oneida township.
Fourth Ward, all the territory lying north of the Third ward.
247
HISTORY OF HUNTINGDON COUNTY.
On the extension of the borough limits in 1874, so as to include a part of Oneida township, the added territory was distributed among the four wards, principally to the second and third.
The fire department of Huntingdon consists of three en- gines and hook and ladder apparatus, each in charge of an organized company. The "Juniata " engine was built in Philadelphia, 1804, and brought there early in 1805. It was committed, by an ordinance of 1806, to the Active Fire Company. The newspapers of that and subsequent years had frequent notices to the people to turn out with their buckets, to exercise the engine. It was worked by hand and the water supplied from the most convenient pump or other source. The "Active" Company went out of existence, and was succeeded by the Juniata Fire Engine Company. The latter was organized in June, 1852, and disbanded just two years later. The present Juniata Fire Company was organized September 1st, 1873.
The " Phoenix " engine, constructed on a somewhat larger scale than its predecessor, was brought to Huntingdon in 1840. A company then organized to manage it, had an ex- istence of but a few years. A reorganization took place in May, 1874, the engine being then removed to West Hunt- ingdon. The members of the company are residents of that part of the borough, and are fully uniformed and equipped.
The steam fire engine "Huntingdon" was purchased from the Silsby Manufacturing Company in 1873, the "Hunting- don Fire Company, No. 1," having been organized October 21st, 1872, in anticipation of its arrival.
The Independent Hook and Ladder Company, No. 1, was organized October 20th, 1873.
On the 4th of December, 1868, an ordinance was passed " authorizing a loan to the borough of Huntingdon for the purpose of purchasing a lot of ground and erecting an engine house thereon." It provided for the borrowing by the bor- ough of the sum of four thousand dollars, for which certifi- cates were to be issued for amounts not less than one hun- dred dollars each, redeemable on the 1st day of January,
248
HISTORY OF HUNTINGDON COUNTY.
1875, bearing six per cent. interest, payable semi annually, on the first days of January and July in each year. A sup- plement to this ordinance was passed February 17th, 1869, increasing the rate of interest to eight per cent.
Part of lot number 97, fronting on Washington street west of Fifth street, was conveyed by Zacharias Yenter and wife, April 21st, 1869. The contract for the erection of the build- ing had been allotted to John Carman on the 2d of that month, and it was put up during the summer. After the organization of the hook and ladder company it was enlarged, and now accommodates not only the apparatus of that com- pany, but the Huntingdon and Juniata engines, and has rooms for the meetings of the companies, and a council chamber.
In the chapter relating to private schools will be found a history of the Huntingdon Academy. The other educational institutions are three public school buildings. The first is situated at the northwest corner of Fifth and Moore streets, on a plot containing two acres of ground donated by the proprietor of the town for a " Grammar and Free School." It was erected in 1843, was subsequently enlarged, and now accommodates eight schools. The second is a small brick building, near Cherry alley and Dorland street, one story in height and containing one room for a school for colored children, and the third is a spacious and convenient house, erected in 1874, at the northwest corner of Fourteenth and Moore streets, accommodating four schools.
The number of public schools in the borough is thirteen, as follows : One high school, four grammar, four intermedi- ate, three primary, and one colored. There are also two schools in the Academy building.
Gas, for purposes of illumination, was introduced into the borough on the 29th day of August, 1857. The company by which it is manufactured was incorporated March 4th of that year, and their works, located east of Second street, be- tween Penn and Allegheny, were built that summer, the con- tract for their erection having been executed on the 13th day of May.
1
249
HISTORY OF HUNTINGDON COUNTY.
The religious denominations worshiping in Huntingdon, their pastors, and the location of their churches, are as fol- lows: African Methodist Episcopal Zion, southeast corner Sixth and Moore streets, Rev. Solomon T. Whiten ; African Methodist Episcopal, 719 Moore street, Rev. William P. Ross; Baptist, northwest corner Seventh and Washington streets, Rev. D. W. Hunter; German Baptist, northwest corner Fourteenth and Washington streets, Rev. H. B. Brumbaugh ; Reformed, northwest corner Sixth and Church streets, Rev. A. Dole; Roman Catholic, (Holy Trinity) north- west corner Sixth and Washington streets, Rev. Martin Mur- phy ; Protestant Episcopal, (St. John's) 212 Penn street, Rev. Charles H. Mead; United Brethren, northwest corner Twelfth and Mifflin streets, Rev. Martin P. Doyle; First Methodist Episcopal, northwest corner Fifth and Church streets, and Second Methodist Episcopal, Fifteenth street, between Mifflin and Moore, Rev. Finley B. Riddle and Rev. Jesse R. Akers; Presbyterian, southwest corner Fifth and Mifflin streets, Rev. A. Nelson Hollifield; and Lutheran, northeast corner Sixth and Mifflin streets, Rev. Joseph R. Focht.
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