USA > Pennsylvania > Jefferson County > History of Jefferson county, Pennsylvania, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 12
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105
SCHOOLS OF JEFFERSON COUNTY.
have received a thorough education at her hands, she has prepared a number of young men for college. Her present young ladies school, which is very prosperous, has been established for about seven years.
Brockville Commercial College was opened by Mr. Keating in 1885. He was followed by Prof. J. H. Roney and Prof. J. G. Anderson, who were suc- ceeded by Prof. W. E. Eshelman.
Punxsutawney had select schools during the summer for a number of years. Prof. Pullen taught four or five years. After him a school was taught by Rev. King, who paid a great deal of attention to the teaching of elocution. Prof. McPherran assisted by Prof. S. H. Barnett, since Dr. Barnett, organized a school there about the summer of 1880. They had a very large attendance. Prof. Allison has been teaching since that time. The school has done good work. Reynoldsville has had one and sometimes two schools for thirteen or fourteen years. Prof. E. D. Bovard and E. C. Shields organized a school and · taught there the summers of 1885 and 1886.
Brockwayville had a school the summers of 1885 and 1886, taught by Professor J. H. Rairigh.
Mayville started what they called a "stockholder's school," the summer of 1886, under Prof. J. J. Wolfe, a graduate of Lockhaven State Normal School. Rev. Samuel Bowman taught a school in Whitesville about the summer of 1853. During the summer of 1860, and the two succeeding summers, Sam- uel Miller Davis taught there. His school was well patronized, and did much towards advancing the cause of education in that part of the county. A school was taught there the summer of 1875 by G. A. Blose, A. M., then county superintendent. Another school was taught there the summer of 1876 by Professor J. T. Kelso.
Troy had a select school during the summer of 1875.
About the summer of 1869 Professor James Richey, A. M., started an acad- emy in Corsica, and taught it for several summers. He was succeeded by Pro- fessor Mckinley, who was followed by Professor Ely. Professor White came next as principal. The school was very numerously attended during its first years, and did a good work. Prof. Aiken succeeded Professor White; then Professor John W. Walker taught, followed by Professors Saxman and P. A. Shanor, A. B.
Perrysville had a select school for several summers. Mr. Innes began one the summer of 1862, and taught another the summer of 1863. Another school was taught there during the summers of 1872 and 1873 by G. A. Blose, A. B.
Bellview had a select school under Rev. McFarland. Since then it has had schools taught by Professors H. W. Millen, J. W. Walker, R. A. George, and his brother. The last two taught the summers of 1885 and 1886.
Professor Whitney taught a regular academic course of three grades- primary, commercial, and classical-at Richardsville about 1878 and 1879.
Frostburg had a select school taught by Rev. McCurdy. Professor J. W.
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HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY.
Bell taught there one term, and Rev. Cooper taught there several terms in re- cent years.
A county normal for the teachers was taught at the Blose school-house in Perry township, by G. A. Blose, then county superintendent, during the early part of the summers of 1876, 1877 and 1878. The school was contin- ued by him the succeeding summers till 1881.
Rockdale had a normal term for teachers the latter part of the summer of 1877 by Blose. Over two hundred and fifty person attended the four county normals held by Blose while he was superintendent.
A school was taught at Big Run the latter part of the summer of 1879 by Blose.
During the year 1876-77 Polk township furnished each of its school-houses with a Webster' Unabridged Dictionary. It was the first township to lead in that direction.
Some years ago a number of the townships in the northern part of the county divided their school term into a summer and a winter term. From the best information obtainable, it appears that nearly all the townships now have a continuous term. Under the ancient régime, a teacher's capacity was meas- ured by his ability to do plenty of hard whipping. A. R. Mitchell, a son of ex-Sheriff Mitchell, used to tell a story illustrative of this. James McCreight taught the Perrysville school at an early day, and he whipped young Mitchell so often and hard during the winter that his mother, before the close of the school term, had to put a large patch over the back of his coat, which was made of heavy home-made wool cloth, to cover the rents made by the rod.
About 1852 a teacher by the name of "Sammy" Abers taught the Blose school. His discipline was a very vigorous use of the rod.
We are now nearing the opposite extreme, where, perhaps, far too much latitude is given. Some of the principal text-books used in the county at dif- ferent times, within the last twenty years, were Osgood's series of readers and spellers, National readers and spellers, the Independent readers, Monroe's read- ers and spellers, and Raub's readers; Stoddard's, Ray's, Book's, Dean's, Goff's, Greenleaf's, Hagar's, and Raub's arithmetics; Mitchell's, Olney's, McNally's, and Monteith's geographies ; Clark's, Bullion's, Burtt's, and Raub's grammars ; Lossing's, Redpath's, Goodrich's, and Barnes's histories of the United States ; and Ray's, Davies's, Brooks's and Loomis's algebras.
While the common schools of this county show tangible evidence of prog- ress, they still fall very much below what the better class of citizens desire them to be. This is shown by the effort of parents in the different localities to furnish better facilities for the education of their children than the common schools of their neighborhoods afford, by sending them to other schools. A school for the proper education of the children is one of the very first requisites of every community that has any regard for the welfare of its inhabitants, and their fitness to become good citizens and perform the varied duties of a useful life.
107
COUNTY SEAT AND COUNTY BUILDINGS.
CHAPTER XIII.
COUNTY SEAT AND COUNTY BUILDINGS.
County Seat Established -- Lots Donated for Public Buildings-First Court-House and Jail Erected-Erection of the Academy-Building of Present Jail -- Erection of New Court- House-Dedication of Court-House-Address of Judge Campbell.
A LTHOUGH the county of Jefferson was established in 1804, there was no county seat located until the year 1830. Previous to that time all busi- ness of a legal or official character had to be transacted at Indiana, where all the county records were kept. The county of Jefferson then comprised nearly all of Forest and a portion of Elk, and persons who were obliged to attend the courts, or go to Indiana on other legal or military business had to travel, in some instances, from fifty to seventy-five miles.
By an act passed April 8, 1829, commissioners were appointed to select a site for the county seat of Jefferson county, and it was located at the mouth of Sandy Lick, and called Brookville.
Then, by an act passed April 2, 1830, the citizens of the county were given " all the rights, powers, jurisdiction, etc.," to which they were entitled, and it was made the duty of the commissioners " to demand and receive from John Pickering, esq., sufficient deed or deeds, in fee simple, for the use of the said county, for all lands, or lots, which the said John Pickering, Esquire, has agreed to give for the purpose of aiding in the erection of public buildings, agreeably to the Act of April, 1829, entitled an act authorizing the appoint- ment of commissioners to fix a proper site for the seat of justice in Jefferson county, and also for one public square in the said town of Brookville, for the purpose of erecting public buildings thereon, and the said commissioners shall procure the said deed or deeds when recorded in the office for recording deeds, in the county of Indiana, to be recorded in the proper books directed to be kept for the county of Jefferson, and the said commissioners and their success- ors in office, or a majority of them, shall, and are hereby authorized to sell and dispose of the said land or lots, aforesaid, and to make and execute deeds to the purchasers, and the moneys arising from such sale, shall by them be ap- plied to the erection of the public buildings for the use of said county of Jeff- erson.
" That the said commissioners shall, as soon as may be, proceed to lay out the said town of Brookville, and file a draft and return of the survey of the said town, together with the proceedings, under and by virtue of this act, in the office for recording of deeds, in and for the county of Jefferson, and in exemplification of the same act of 2d of April, 1830. The 5th section of the same act provides for the transfer of suits and dockets from the county of
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HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY.
Indiana to be delivered to the prothonotary of Jefferson county, the expense of copying said docket to be paid for by the prothonotary of Jefferson county, and reimbursed by the said county, on warrants to be drawn by the commis- sioners of Jefferson county on the treasury thereof."1
In 1830 the commissioners set about the work of erecting public buildings, in accordance with the provisions of the acts cited. They first built the jail, which was a two-story edifice, built of common flag stones. It contained be- sides the prison, the sheriff's house and office. This building occupied the northwestern corner of the public square, fronting on Pickering street. Daniel Elgin was the contractor and builder, and the carpenter work was done by Robert Larrimer. The entire cost of the building was $1,823.24.
Mr. Uriah Matson, one of the oldest and most prominent citizens of the county, says that he worked on this building for twenty-five cents per day, and boarded himself. He would bring with him from his home each morning, a loaf of rye bread, in which he had hollowed out a space large enough to con- tain enough butter to spread the bread, and this, with a jug of buttermilk, con- stituted his fare. Each Saturday night after the week's work was done, he would go out to Port Barnett to draw his pay, and would return with the princely sum of one dollar and fifty cents in his pocket.
The jail was finished in 1831, and court was held in this building until the court-house was built. The old building stood for many years as one of the old landmarks, and before it was torn down in 1866, to make room for the new court-house, was used as a butcher-shop.
The court-house was also contracted for in 1830, as the following from the county records shows : " Article of Agreement made 14th day of December, 1830, between Thomas Lucas and Robert Andrews, Commissioners of Jeffer- son County, of the first part, and John Lucas, of Jefferson county, and Robert Barr, of the county of Indiana, of the second part. The party of the second part agrees to build court-house, two offices-one fire-proof-within two years from the Ist day of January next. The Commissioners, on their part, agree to pay Contractors the sum of three thousand dollars, in manner as follows : $2,000 as the work progresses, and $1,000 in full on the Ist day of January, 1833, to be paid out of the money arising from the sale of lots in the town of Brookville, if there shall be sufficient ; if not, to be made up of the county funds.
" THOMAS LUCAS, " ROBERT ANDREWS,
"(Signed) Commissioners. " JOHN LUCAS, " ROBERT BARR,
"Contractors. " Witnesses, WILLIAM M. KENNEDY, JAMES HALL."
1 Smith's Laws, Act of April 2, 1830, sec. 5-10, page 163.
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COUNTY SEAT AND COUNTY BUILDINGS.
The court-house, a one-story brick building, was finished in 1832. It was built of brick, and occupied part of the ground upon which the present court- house stands. The two offices specified in the above contract were a low, brick structure, on the west of the court-house, and were for the use of the prothonotary and commissioners.
The brick work on this building was done by Thomas M. Barr, and the carpenter work by Robert Larrimer.
The old jail was used until 1855, when, it proving inadequate to the wants of the growing town, the present jail building was erected. The contract was given to Messrs. Byrnes and Dowling, May 23, 1854, and the building was com - pleted in November, 1856.
The building cost, when finished, $14,200. It is a two-story brick and stone building, the first story front being used, until the erection of the new court-house, for the offices of the treasurer, commissioners and sheriff, since which time it has been used for other offices-the post-office having been kept in the building for about fifteen years. The second story front is used for the residence of the sheriff or jailor. The rear part of the building is built of cut stone and divided into cells for prison use.
This building, which was never a safe receptacle for prisoners, as we find that the newspapers of the day chronicled the escape of one of its inmates the first year it was occupied as a prison, is now entirely inadequate to the grow- ing wants of the county, and will soon have to give place to a prison built on a more modern plan, with better sanitary regulations, and constructed in such a manner that it will hold its inmates in duress without the vigilance that has now to be exercised for their safe keeping.
The next public building that claimed the attention of the county officers was the academy, the erection of which was authorized by an act of the Leg- islature, approved April 13, 1838, whereby the treasurer of the Commonwealth was authorized to subscribe two thousand dollars to be applied to the erection of suitable buildings for an academy in Brookville.
The trustees appointed by said act were C. A. Alexander, Thomas Hast- ings, John J. Y. Thompson, Levi G. Clover, John Pierce, and Richard Arthurs.
May 29, 1841, a supplement to the former act authorized the commission- ers of Jefferson county to subscribe five hundred dollars. Five hundred dol- lars additional was raised by private subscription, making the cost of the academy three thousand dollars.
The site selected was the lot yet known as the "Academy lot," on the cor- ner of Jefferson and Barnett streets, donated for the purpose by John Picker- ing, esq. When work was commenced, the lot was covered with pine trees and underbrush, and the commissioners paid ten cents each for having the trees cut down.
The work was done by Robert P. Barr, Thomas M. Barr, and Robert Lar-
11
IIO
HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY.
rimer, the building being completed in 1843. The first school was taught by Cyrus Crouch. From that time until 18-, when the building was leased by the school directors of the borough of Brookville, it was used as an academy. It was then used for common school purposes until it was con- demned as unsafe by the grand jury at the September term of court, 1877, when it was torn down, and part of the stone, etc., used in the construction of the new school building. During all the years that the academy was in exist- ence, trustees were annually elected; but the office was not a very burdensome one, as it scarcely ever occurred to the persons elected that there was such an institution as the Brookville Academy.
The growing importance of the county and the increase of legal business made the old court-house entirely too small and unsuitable for the accommoda- tion of the courts, and in 1866 steps were taken towards the erection of a larger and more modern building.
July 28, 1866, the commissioners contracted with James T. Dickey, of Kit- tanning, Pa., for the erection of the new court-house, James W. Drum being the architect. Mr. Dickey's bid was $57,000 for the work. Mr. Dickey, after finishing the foundations, which he built in a splendid manner, and getting the building ready for roofing, found himself financially unable to finish the work, and a new contract was made with Messrs. Daniel English and R. J. Nicholson to finish the building for an additional cost of $21,742, making the entire cost of the structure $78,742. It was finished in September, 1869. The building . is a very handsome one, and the work was all done in a thorough manner. The court-room, which is in the second story, with commodious jury-rooms in the rear, is a large, handsome room, well lighted through beautiful stained-glass windows, and is well appointed in every respect, the only defect being in the acoustic properties, making public speaking in it rather difficult. The lower floor contains the county offices of the prothonotary, treasurer, sheriff, commis- sioners, and county superintendent of common schools. These offices are all large, well lighted, and nicely fitted up for the use of their incumbents, the two former having fire-proof vaults.
The bell for the court-house cost $688, and the clock $725; this, with the amount paid for fitting up the court-room, offices, and jury-rooms, made the entire cost of the edifice, complete in all its appointments, $86,413.
On Monday evening, September 13, 1869, the court-house was dedicated as the "Temple of Justice " of Jefferson county. The meeting was organized with the following officers : President, Andrew Smith, of Washington town- ship; vice-presidents, Charles Gahagan, Charles R. B. Morris, Robert Hamil- ton, H. A. Smith, Joseph Mckinley, William Mckinstry, G. Montgomery, J. C. McNutt, J. G. Graff, I. M. Temple, A. M. Clarke, Oran Butterfield, J. R. Kahle, D. C. Gillespie; secretaries, F. A. Weaver, G. N. Smith.
Hon. Isaac G. Gordon, W. P. Jenks, and Richard Arthurs, esqs., made ap- propriate addresses.
III
COUNTY SEAT AND COUNTY BUILDINGS.
Mr. Gordon paid a fitting tribute to the county officials who had in charge the erection of the building, to J. W. Drum, the architect, and the contractors, Messrs. Dickey, Means, and Nicholson, for the able and excellent manner in which their work had been performed.
Mr. Arthurs, as the only representative of the bar first instituted in the county, told of his experience, and of his associates at the bar, nearly all of whom had passed away with the course of time. He also told of early life in the forest, giving the names of those families who had hewed out the first homes in the then wilderness.
Hon. James Campbell, of Clarion, the president judge of this judicial dis- trict, was then introduced, and made the following address :
" LADIES AND GENTLEMEN: A court is defined to be a place where justice is judicially administered. So much importance is attached to the idea of a specific and fixed locality, that even a justice of the peace can do no business outside of his office. Hence in all civilized nations and well regulated com- munities temples of justice are found occupying and adorning prominent and commanding postions, and are held second in importance only to temples of religion. By the fundamental law of our State, every county constitutes a separate judicial organization, and is required to have a place for the adminis- tration of justice, at least as soon as organized, for judicial purposes. This place may be wherever the county authorities see proper to make it; but it · is generally found to keep pace with the population, intelligence, and enterprise of the county.
(Then follows the organization, etc., of the county, which has already been given.)
" In 1830 the town of Brookville was laid out, and some time between that and 1840 the old court-house was erected. In 1840 there were a number of resident lawyers. Colonel Hugh Brady, the two Dunhams, C. A. Alexander, Thomas Lucas, and Richard Arthurs were the most prominent. The latter alone remains the connecting link between the past generation and the present. Of those who were present at the opening of the old court-house, but few re- main. Of the voices that then addressed the court and jury, nearly all are silent. In the march of those thirty years nearly all the old settlers have fallen by the way; and with the new court-house have come new men, new ideas, a more advanced intelligence, and a new order of things. The inter- minable forests that retarded the settlement of the county have become the great source of her wealth; the tortuous streams running between precipitous hills have become highways of commerce; floating argosies of wealth to the markets of the South, and soon those hills will echo with the shrill scream of the locomotive. Long before the hills are stripped of their evergreen pine the wealth hidden below the surface will be brought to light, and the coal and the car will give a new direction and a new impetus to the activity and energy
II2
HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY.
of her inhabitants. As her forests fall, fields of grain, flocks and herds, fur- naces and manufactories will take their place, and instead of dying out, her prosperity will be promoted, her wealth increased, and her onward march hastened.
"It is creditable to the authorities of Jefferson county, and to the intelligence of her people that they have enlarged views of the present prosperity and future wants of this county. It evinces a high appreciation of the blessings of liberty, the wholesome restraints of law, and a great appreciation of the cor- rect administration of law and justice, that at a cost of eighty thousand dol- lars the people of the county have erected this goodly structure, at once an honor and an ornament to the town and the county; where the titles of their property may be securely kept; their wrongs redressed and their rights vin- dicated. It belongs to every man, woman and child in the county. They have a right to be proud of it; to guard it from injury, to protect it from harm. Let no vandal hand deface or defile, or write upon its walls. Let none of its halls be a resort of rowdy boys, or drunken men. Let all take a pride in preserving it neat, clean, and orderly.
" There is a moral idea attached to this building. It is now a familiar fact that a picture of vastness enlarges the human mind ; that a picture of correct proportions, symmetry and beauty elevates and refines. Let a man view for the first time a vast building, let him wander through halls of architectural beauty, and although not a soul is in sight, he will unconsciously be on his good be- havior, and try to act like a gentleman. The faculties and susceptibilities of the mind are greatly enlarged and influenced by the surroundings, and may we not anticipate that this stately building and this beautiful hall will exercise an elevating influence on the court, the bar, the officers and the people; that these doors will never be closed to the cry of the oppressed; that this forum will never be desecrated by the sacrifice of justice, but that with an even hand wrongs may be redressed, rights vindicated, crime suppressed, or sternly pun- ished. To this end we solemnly set apart and dedicate this temple of justice. May it stand a monument of the enterprise and liberality of this county long after the present generation is sleeping with their fathers; and when its walls are grown mossy and gray with age, and its builders are forgotten, may it still stand a temple of justice, and fragrant in the hearts of those who shall attend in it ; and may its halls still resound to the tread of a free, prosperous, and happy people."
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JEFFERSON COUNTY IN THE REBELLION.
CHAPTER XIV.
JEFFERSON COUNTY IN THE REBELLION.
The Call to Arms -Prompt Response from Jefferson County -The First Companies - Three Months Campaign -The Brady Gnards - Company K, Eleventh Pennsylvania Reserve Corps -Death of Captain Brady - Company I, Sixty-second Regiment -Death of Captain Little -Muster Rolls.
W THEN the War of the Rebellion was precipitated upon the United States by the rebels firing upon Fort Sumter, on the memorable 12th of April, 1861, the news was telegraphed to the executive of Pennsylvania in the fol- lowing words : " The war is commenced. The batteries began firing at four this morning. Major Anderson replied, and a brisk cannonading commenced. This is reliable, and has just come to the associated press. The vessels were not in sight."1
This startling intelligence was flashed along the lines of telegraph all over the State, and was soon heard in the remotest bounds of the Commonwealth. When it reached " Little Jefferson " it did not find the people unprepared. They had noted the attitude of the South and the mutterings of war, and when the news that the starry banner, so dear to every patriotic heart, had been fired upon by rebel hands, the patriotism of the entire people was aroused.
Amor A. McKnight, an attorney at the Brookville bar, was captain of the Brookville Rifles, a militia company, which under the different names of " Brook- ville Guards " and " Rifles " had represented the militia of Brookville and the northern part of the county from the beginning of the county's history, had immediately after the presidential election in November, 1860, with premoni- tions of the gathering storm, began to put his company on a war footing. Captain McKnight and his cousin, Albert C. Thompson, were in reality two of the first recruiting officers of the war, having during that winter made a trip to the southern part of the county, and in Punxsutawney recruited Cor- porals Williams, Depp, Blair, and others. But the dangers of the war seeming to lessen, nothing more was done until the echoes of the firing upon Sumter reached us, when Captain McKnight at once offered the services of his com- pany to Governor Curtin, and was accepted. On the 19th of April he issued the following order :
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