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 24
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HISTORY OF HUNTINGDON COUNTY.
eral triangle. The sides are much indented, especially on the northeast, where it follows the course of the Juniata river. Its other boundaries are the Tussey mountains on the northwest, and Blair county and Walker township on the south. Both branches of the Juniata cross the northern part of the township and unite a short distance above Petersburg.
The first travelers through the county, the pioneers of the eighteenth century, passed the present site of Alexandria, as it was upon the old Indian path, and the land upon which that town stands was taken up upon one of the warrants issued in 1755. Another tract, on the river below Alex- andria, was warranted in the same year. In August, 1793, Elizabeth Gemmill had lots laid out upon the former tract, and the town thus founded was given the name we have mentioned. The proprietress acknowledged the plan on the 7th of August, 1798, and had it recorded on the same day. The borough was incorporated April 11th, 1827, and Trimble's addition was recorded July, 1847.
Alexandria has Presbyterian, Reformed and Methodist churches, the buildings being of a superior class and com- paring favorably with those of almost any other town of the same population. It has also a large brick public school building, erected within recent years, accommodating a number of schools and all the children of the borough.
Walker township extends from Piney ridge, which sepa- rates it from Juniata township on the southeast, to Tussey's mountain, dividing it from Blair county on the southwest. Its northern boundary is Porter township, and its southwest- ern Penn. It was named in honor of the Hon. Jonathan Walker, at one time President Judge of the judicial district to which Huntingdon county belonged. The route of travel in 1748, and previously, was through this township. A tract of land within it, lying on the Juniata river, was war- ranted in 1755.
The site upon which McConnellstown now stands is men- tioned in very early records as a "sleeping place." The town was laid out by Alexander McConnell, Esq., of Hun-
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HISTORY OF HUNTINGDON COUNTY.
tingdon, after whom it was named. It is about half a mile from the Huntingdon and Broad Top railroad and contains the only post-office in the township. Additions were laid out by A. B. Sangree and Joseph McCoy.
Smithfield is located upon the Juniata river opposite the borough of Huntingdon.
The township contains considerable deposits of iron ore, some of which have been developed and mined. It is all con- trolled by manufacturers whose works are at a distance from Huntingdon county. They obtained leases of the ore rights some years ago, under the pretext, it is said, that furnaces were to be built in the vicinity. The points to which the ores are principally shipped are Danville and Johnstown.
CHAPTER XLII.
CROMWELL TOWNSHIP-INDIAN REMAINS-GEORGE IRVIN-EARLY SETTLE- MENTS-FURNACES-BEDFORD-ROCKHILL-WINCHESTER -- ROCKHILL IRON AND COAL COMPANY-THEIR IMPROVEMENTS-STARTING OF THE NEW FURNACE-THE CLUGAGE FAMILY-BLACK LOG-ORBISONIA.
Cromwell township, on its erection in 1846, was named in honor of Col. Thomas Cromwell, who was interested in the building of Bedford Furnace in 1795, and who is described by the court as " an early settler and hospi.able citizen." It is bounded on the north by Shirley township, on the west by Cass, on the south by Clay and Springfield, and on the east by Dublin and Tell. Jack's mountain separates it from the adjoining township on the west and Shade mountain from those on the east. The Augwick flows through it from north to south and receives numerous smaller streams falling into it on both sides.
Tradition tells us that the beautiful plat, surrounded on all sides by mountains and ridges, through which runs the Black Log creek, and on which the borough of Orbisonia now stands, was once a famous Indian hunting ground. That it must have been a camping place is evinced, in addi- tion to the traditionary stories, by the fact that some years since a cave was found on Sandy ridge, two miles north from the town, in which there was opened to view a cham- ber which is proved by its contents to have been a burial place of the tribes who inhabited the country. This cham- ber was supported by upright pillars, forming beautiful natural arches, and within were found many bones, pro- nounced to be pieces of skulls and other parts of human skeletons. With these were the remains of animals, a bear's and a wolf's teeth, and the rude instruments of savage life, two hatchets and other articles made of stone, all in a state of great decomposition.
In later days, and indeed but little longer ago than a cen-
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HISTORY OF HUNTINGDON COUNTY.
tury, the Indians used the knoll back of the Joseph Grove barn, now the property of Thomas E. Orbison, as a burial ground. Numerous hatchets, tomahawks, pieces of flint, bows and arrows, and stone implements have been turned up by the plow or otherwise from the earth.
The celebrated Captain Jack is supposed to have on one occasion, when narrowly pursued, secreted a leather bag con- taining silver and gold, on one side of Black Log mountain, near the narrows or gap. It is still unfound.
Within a few years following 1760, George Irvin settled near where now stands Orbisonia. His business was store- keeping, and the old log store-room, a story high, it is said, stood for a number of years on the same ground on which now stands the Methodist Church, southeast corner of Crom- well and Winchester streets.
He traded with the Indians and the early settlers, ex- changing wearing material and groceries, boots, shoes, guns and powder for grain and corn.
The following is a literal transcript of one of his bills, now in possession of one of the citizens of Orbisonia :
PHILADELPHIA, April 16th, 1768.
Mr. George Irwin,
BOUGHT of GEORGE FULLERTON.
3 pcs. ¿ wide Irish Lineu, No. 234, 69 yards @ 16} £4, 14, 103
1 ps. yard wide, do 66 237, 24, yards @ 2-4 2, 16, - 1 ps. do do do 238, 25 yards @ 2-1 2, 12, 1
Advance @ 85 per ct .
£ 10,2,11} 8, 12, 6}
£18, 15, 6 1 ps. yd. wd. do. damag'd No. 239, 22 yds @ 2 3, 13, 4
Payable one Month after Date, £22, 8, 10
1 ps. Irish Sheeting, No. 149, 74 yds. 2 7, 8, -
£29, 16, 10
Also the following bill and letter, both of which are writ- ten with a quill pen on coarse, heavy, unruled paper, and both without letter or bill heads. The writing is very plain and intelligible.
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HISTORY OF HUNTINGDON COUNTY.
BALTIMORE, May 28th, 1773.
" Mr. George Irwin
Bot of DAVID McLURE
1 Hhd Molasses
.102 Galn's @ 23. £9, 15, 6
1 Hld N. E. Rum 121 2-4. 14, 2, 4
Cash paid porterage 2, 6
£24, 0, 4
" Sir, I Rec'd your favor of the 25th inst. with £16, 6, 8 to your Credit, and now send you one Hhd Molasses & one Hhd Continent Rum which I wish safe to hand & to a good market.
" New England Rum is getting very scarce now, but think there will be some here soon-when any Comes I do intend to purchase the Whole that I may serve my friends at a reasonable rate. I have no news ; flour Low and likely to fall.
I am Dear Sir your very Humble Servt., David MeLure.
From the dates in above letter it will be noticed that three days were required to send a letter from Huntingdon county, (or Bedford as it then was,) to Baltimore.
Teaming over the mountains to and from this place afforded quite a lucrative employment to those who were fortunate enough to own a good team and sound wagon. Pack horses were very frequently used. Mules had not then been introduced, and nearly all the hauling of ore, char- coal and limestone from the various openings around was done with oxen. The latter commanded almost as high prices then as at the present day.
In 1784 or 1785, Edward Ridgley, George Ashman and Thomas Cromwell built the first furnace west of the Sus- quehanna. It was constructed mostly of wood, and stood directly in the rear of Wilt's Hotel, on the front side of the "Locust Grove." It may be interesting to iron manufac- turers to know the size; namely bosh 5 feet, with a stack of either 15 or 17 feet.
It was run by either an over-shot or under-shot wheel, or both, for there were two races, one coming from the Black Log, near Mr. Orbison's mill race, which would in any event be under-shot, and the other starting with almost the head of Camp-meeting run, and twisting and winding through twenty little hills, passing in its travels under two
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HISTORY OF HUNTINGDON COUNTY.
bridges, and reaching the furnace grounds at such a point and in such manner as would call forth the admiration of even the engineers of the present day. This was an over- shot wheel. Of the capacity of the furnace nothing authentic is known.
There was a large stove used in the Tannery School House up to 1872, that bore the stamp "Bedford Furnace, 1795." Our older citizens will remember the two immense wood stoves, that would receive a four or five feet stick, used for heating the main room of the old Court House in Hun- tingdon. These were cast at Bedford Furnace and bore the appropriate "imprint." There is now on exhibition at the Centennial Exposition, two large stove-plates, on one of which can be plainly read "Colebrookdale Furnace, 1763, Thomas Rutter, Thue recht und," and on the other "Bedford Furnace, 1792."
It is supposed by some that the inscription on the former is an old form for the German, Thue recht nung, equivalent to recht shoffen, meaning act righteously.
The next furnace in order of date was Rockhill, com- menced in 1830, and finished in the spring of 1831. The land on which this furnace stood was originally owned by Ruhannah Colhoon, who by deed dated May 9, 1821, con- veyed the same to Thomas T. Cromwell. This land was then partly in Shirley Township and partly in Springfield, and was once held in the name of William Chambers.
Thomas T. Cromwell sold a part of this tract-about nineteen acres-to Thomas N. Diven and William Morrison, on the thirteenth day of May, 1831. These gentlemen com- menced the erection of what is now known as the " Old Rockhill Furnace," the size at the base being 28 feet, 29 feet high, bosh about 7 or 72 feet, with a square hearth about 18x20 inches. William Davis was the contractor. The stack was square and built of stone. Thomas Clugage was the first man who ran the furnace. Soon after Mr. Diven died, Mr. Cromwell took his place in the firm and after run- ning successfully for some years, the property was sold to James Ford and Mr. Bell. U
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HISTORY OF HUNTINGDON COUNTY.
In 1841 Bell leased to Andrew J. Wigton and John R. Hunter, who remained there till April, 1847.
About 1833 or '34 the carding and fulling mill was torn down, and the erection of Winchester Furnace, a short dis- tance below Rockhill, commenced by Bracken & Stitt for Mr. Cromwell. The land was owned by the latter gentleman. This furnace was a trifle larger than the other, the bosh being 8 feet. John M. Allen and William Pollock ran the furnace with comparatively little success. In 1845 Eli Beatty and Geo. Davis rented Winchester Furnace and ran it for three years with better pecuniary results.
In 1847 John S. Isett, Samuel Isett, Samuel Wigton, Andrew J. Wigton and R. B. Wigton bought the property. These parties sold to Bernard Lorenz and Levi G. Leamer, in 1864.
In 1868 Dr. Lewis Royer and Percival P. Dewees became owners, who sold one-half their interest in 1871 to the Messrs. Roberts of Philadelphia.
Soon after, the Rockhill Iron and Coal Company, a cor- poration existing under the laws of Pennsylvania, became the sole owners of the entire tract, and commenced very ex- tensive improvements.
The following article, written by B. F. Ripple, esq., for the Orbisonia Leader, affords a very correct idea of the ope- rations of this company :
" The 1872 session of the Pennsylvania Legislature passed the bill incorporating the Rockhill Iron and Coal Company with a capital of two million dollars, allowing the company to hold property and own lands in Huntingdon and four or five of the adjoining counties. The next autumn or winter a topographical survey of the lands immediately adjoining Orbisonia on the south, was made by Mr. Paddock, a Civil Engineer of Philadelphia. On the northeastern part of this survey the town of Rockhill is located, and the iron works of the company. The company are the owners of about eight thousand acres of land at this point, extending along Black Log mountain on both sides, running up Shade mountain to the top and scattered at various points along
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HISTORY OF HUNTINGDON COUNTY.
the Aughwick Valley. On their land and in close proximity to the furnaces, of which hereafter, is found both fossil and hematite ores, limestone and sand. At Rockhill Gap, with- in a half mile of Orbisonia, a vein of fossil ore, averaging twenty-four inches in thickness, and extending from water- level up over four hundred feet is opened. On each side of the gap there are two openings at different elevations, the longest gangway penetrating the mountain for a distance of one-half a mile. The underlying vein is 20 inches, and is separated from a smaller vein of 6 inches, overlaid by a parting of fire clay 6 inches. The rock beneath the vein is hard sand-rock, and the measures above the vein are soft shales. The ores on the south side are compact, coarse fossil ore, reddish brown color, with somewhat laminated structure ; the north side has a hard ore with numerous small crystals of calcite; darker reddish color. They run about forty per cent. iron, with a trace of sulphur and about one-tenth of one per cent. phosphorus. The vein dips at an angle of about 70° toward the north, which is of great ad- vantage over flatter veins, in respect to the convenience and cost of mining. The mining is done without powder, by picking out the soft clay parting, and wedging the benches of ore up and down. Hematites are found within a half mile of the furnaces, and on Sandy Ridge, two miles north, are several openings. From the main mine comes a very hard and compact ochreous iron ore, dark brown color, yielding from 45 to 51 per cent. iron, and containing little sulphur or phosphorus. There is also a hematite vein in crevice of Medina sand stone, on Black Log mountain, which yields largely and seems inexhaustible. They have also opened the Cheet bank, lying directly under the Orisk- aney sand stone, Logan Bank in Hill Valley, and numer- ous other hematite mines.
"The same company are the owners of about eleven thou- sand acres, lying on Broad Top mountain and in Trough Creek valley, of which about ten thousand acres may be classed as coal land, the rest being covered with valuable timber. .
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HISTORY OF HUNTINGDON COUNTY.
" These lands lie on the east side of the Broad Top coal fields, and are reached by the Broad Top Railroad, the ter- minus being Robertsdale. The measures are flat but not quite level; there is a general dip toward the southwest. In addition to this general dip it appears that Trough Creek is a regular basin, having its synclinal axis near the bed of the stream, and its outcrops on the side of Ray's Hill on the east and Broad Top on the west. This formation is the best possible for mining, as it insures drainage toward the open- ings on Trough Creek. At Robertsdale the company have three mines and are now shipping to market over 400 tons coal daily.
" They have a coal washer, crusher, coke pits and store located there, and employ about 300 hands at this time.
" To return to the furnaces. Messrs. Taws and Hartman, Mechanical Engineers, furnished the designs and drawings. On the 17th of April, 1873, the centre line of two furnaces was run, and the first ground broken in the afternoon of the same day. The construction was under the superintendence of Mr. C. Constable, a civil engineer of New York, who, in February last, after the completion of the furnaces, went to Tennessee, where he is now successfully engaged in running the Rockwood Furnaces.
" The furnaces are wrought iron stacks 65 feet high, 17 feet bosh, with a stone stock house 280 feet long, and two large brick casting houses. There are 24 boilers which supply steam to 2 massive engines with 4 fly wheels, 24 feet in diameter, having steam cylinders 48 inches in diameter and 8 feet stroke. The blowing cylinders are 90 inches ; the engines are direct acting, low pressure, and were built at Southwark Foundry, Philadelphia, said to have cost sixty to seventy-five thousand dollars. The gases are brought from the top of the furnace through a large downcomer to the boilers and the hot ovens, and there take the place of fuel in supplying steam for the engines. There are 4 brick hot ovens, each containing 40 U shaped cast-iron pipes, through which the blast from the engines passes into the furnace, entering the furnace at 800 deg. and above (625
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HISTORY OF HUNTINGDON COUNTY.
being the point that lead is melted ;) there are 5 tuyers and numerous water pipe connections. A large reservoir is built on the hill back of the furnaces. A patent air hoist is used in hoisting the stock. There are 48 coke ovens, 24 and 28 inches, on the Belgian plan ; each having its own flues.
"In the present condition of the country and the state of the iron trade, it is somewhat surprising that a company would start furnaces so large as these. But it is neverthe- less so. Mr. H. G. H. Tarr, lately of the Gaylord Iron and Pipe Co., Cincinnati, is the present Superintendent. After filling 7 cords wood, 50 tons coke and other stock, reaching to within 11 feet of the top, the furnace was formally lighted on New Year's day, 1876. There were present a large con- course of people of town and vicinity ; the casting house was brilliantly illuminated. Everything being in readiness, Mrs. Tarr, at 8:23 P. M., after lighting the torch, applied it to the kindling and lighted No. 1 furnace amidst clapping of hands and applauding. She went off nicely from the first. Several persons were called upon for addresses. Messrs. B. F. Ripple, H. G. H. Tarr and W. T. Browning made short speeches in the order named.
"The blast was put on Monday, January 3d, at 1:10 p. m., and the first cast made Tuesday, at 4:15 p. m., producing about 15 tons No. 2 extra iron. Since this time she has been running very satisfactorily.
"The indications are that before long we will be a manu- facturing town second to none in the State. So may it be."
The Clugage family must have moved into this neighbor- hood as early as 1760 or '65.
Colonel Gavin Clugage built the first mill in the lower end of the county. It was erected in 1783, near the junction of Black Log and Shade creeks, very close to the brick house recently built by William B. Gilliland. This mill was pa- tronized by the inhabitants of both Springfield and Tusca- rora valleys.
Here the militia met regularly every month for company drill, and on the first Monday in May of each year a grand battalion drill would come off at the mill. Gavin Clugage
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HISTORY OF HUNTINGDON COUNTY.
was elected Colonel. It is said that it was not an unusual occurrence for the different companies, say from Springfield or Tuscarora, to engage in a general pugilistic encounter, and the hero would be regarded with as much honor as the commander of an army at the present day.
The Colonel was a fine hunter, and in those days of game would invariably "make his mark." On one occasion, so the story goes, he started from home in the morning and re- turned after an absence of only an hour, directing Thomas, his brother, to "hitch up" and bring in the game.
Thomas started with a sled; the snow being of such depth as to greatly impede his traveling, but enabling him to readily follow the track of his brother. He soon began to notice in the snow the trail or mark of what seemed to be an immense saw log. Following this he was no doubt not sur- prised to find his brother's game-a large rattlesnake, fifteen feet long and a foot through. The season of the year, the snow, and the size of the snake, have a tendency to make the story very "snaky." Gavin Clugage, died in 1823.
The inhabitants of the valley say Black Log derived its name from a large log around which packers and traders would congregate to spend the night, and which in course of time became badly burned and black, hence the name. This stopping place was located along the creek about half the distance between Samuel Adams' and David Grove's.
On the farm of the latter there was once a small tannery of some description. Nothing is known of it except that it ran four vats, and had a blacksmith shop in connection. In 1825 the vats were partly open. Up the valley stands a stone house, of convenient dimensions and good repair, built by Esther and Nancy Logan in 1819. It is now inhabited by Edward Cook.
George Werrick owned the land now the property of Michael Stair, and died as late as 1852 or '53.
North of the Black Log, James Clugage built the house in which Frederick Harmon now lives, in 1775. It had plowed and grooved floors, large mantel and chimney corner, and the shingles were all put on and, in fact, all other work done with
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HISTORY OF HUNTINGDON COUNTY.
wrought iron nails, made by the blacksmiths. The Pollards owned the valley for five miles up.
Dr. Blanchard came from Philadelphia and settled in Black Log valley about 1809. In 1826, a Mr. Byrum came from Baltimore with, it is said, five six-horse loads of house- hold goods-a very large supply for that day-and at once commenced the erection of a dwelling house 80x60 feet. After getting about half the rafters up, he abandoned the structure, sold out and returned to Baltimore with his family, three sons and two daughters.
In 1830-1, Thomas E. Orbison, from whom the place takes its name, located in Orbisonia, and started the town. It was not laid out for several years after, and indeed, the plan as it has since been built up was only certified on the 1st of May, 1850, by William Orbison, before Associate Judge James Gwin. The tracing is in the hand-writing of Jacob Miller. In 1833, it was quite a pretentious village.
At that time there were no streets, the houses straggling along either side of the road, which zig zagged at pleasure where Cromwell street now is; crossing the run below the Lutheran Church, and keeping along the side of the ridge in the direction of Shirleysburg. Along the little piece of this road which is still open were two dwellings, one occupied by Mr. Murray, and the other, which is still standing, by Benjamin Gorsuch; also a blacksmith shop and a cooper shop, the latter of which still stands and is occupied as a dwelling.
The log house on the hill overlooking this road was then quite a pretentious residence, with an avenue of pines lead- ing down to the road. Thomas Bingham was living there at that time.
Crossing the run, we find the first building on the westerly side of the road, a stone distillery, near the run, a little back of where now stands the blacksmith shop, used as a dwelling. Next comes the old Mansion House, as it was called, the oldest house in the village, then occupied by Henry Cohi- nour. It was a large log house, partly weatherboarded, with two porches in front, one above the other, and was
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HISTORY OF HUNTINGDON COUNTY.
surrounded by a grassy yard. The house stood directly in the rear of where James Chilcoat's house now stands ; in the lower corner of the yard, next to the road, was a stone spring house, and adjoining the upper end of the yard, stood the " old office," then occupied as a dwelling by two families, George Palmer's and William Bootersbaugh's ; this was where now stands the kitchen of the house in which Mr. Sims lives.
Next a log store room, about where Mr. Orbison's stable- yard is now; there, in April, 1833, that gentleman opened his first stock of general merchandise, in which was included bonnets, ribbons, artificials, etc., for the fair sex ; for, alas, there was not a milliner in all the town. This building was afterwards rolled across the street, and is the house in which Simon McGarvey is now living.
A few yards south of the store room stood an old log stable. These were all the buildings on that side of the road.
On the other side of the road, the first was a log house nearly opposite the store room, in which Joseph Cohinour then lived. It has since been weatherboarded, and is now occupied by William Briggs.
Next was the "new office," the only frame building in the town. This has been moved several rods down the street from its original position, and is now the kitchen end of the house occupied by William R. Baker, directly oppo- site Mr. Orbison's present brick store room and the post office. Next came the log tavern, kept by Andrew Fore- man, promising ' accommodations for man and beast. Weatherboarded, painted, a back building added, it now swings its sign as the "Franklin Hotel, H. Wilt." The ac- commodation for man and beast was to be found in an open shed where M. Starr & Co.'s storeroom now stands.
The next house was of unhewn logs, and stood where is now Mrs. Noble's garden. Here lived "Johnnie Prosser," as he was styled, who sold cakes and beer. It is related of him, that one night a couple of young bloods roused him from his peaceful slumbers, intent on purchasing some of these refreshments. He kindly got up, and cut from
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