History of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 6

Author: Ellis, Franklin, 1828-1885; Evans, Samuel, 1823-1908, joint author
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Philadelphia, Pa. : Everts & Peck
Number of Pages: 1320

USA > Pennsylvania > Lancaster County > History of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men > Part 6

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Banking .- The Philadelphia Branch Bank was opened on the 22d day of May, 1809. John MeKis- sick was the first cashier, and was followed by Dr. Beaton Smith. This bank did business in the brick honse at the corner of Locust and Front Streets, now owned by Jacob Snyder. The Philadelphia Bank had its branch in Columbia for about fifteen years.

The great increase in the population of the State, and the travel incident thereto between sections di- vided by our great river, the Susquehanna, rendered it necessary to adopt other means than a ferry to ac- commodate the traveling publie who desired to go to either side of this stream ; we find, therefore, that iu the onward progress of the internal improvements of

the State that the construction of bridges, although a novel and untried enterprise, found its advocates, and was undertaken with hopeful confidence of good results ; therefore, " An act authorizing the Goveruor of Pennsylvania to incorporate a company for the purpose of making and erecting a bridge over the river Susquehanna, in the county of Lancaster, at or near the town of Columbia," was passed by the Leg- islature and approved the 28th of March, 1809, the State being pledged therein to take $90,000 of the stock.

A charter was accordingly granted by Governor Snyder on the 19th of October, 1811, and on the 23d of December following the stockholders organized by eleeting as managers, viz .: William Wright, presi- cent ; Thomas Boude, Samuel Bethel, James Wright, Samuel Miller, John Evans, Christian Breneman, John Forrey, Jr., Abraham Witmer, Henry Slay- maker, William Barber, Jacob Eichelberger, John Tomlinson, and William P. Beatty as treasurer, and John Barber secretary.

On the 8th of July, 1812, articles of agreement were entered into with Henry Staymaker and Samnel Slaymaker, of Lancaster County, and Jonathan Wal- cott, of Connecticut, for the erection of a bridge for the sum of $150,000, but which before its completion cost $233,000. The piers were fifty feet long, and ten feet wide at top. The spans each one hundred feet in length.

Stock to the amount of $400,000 was subscribed for, and after paying for the cost of the bridge the remaining balance was appropriated to banking pur- poses, and au office of discount and deposit was opened on 5th July, 1813, and notes were printed and issued as bank notes. This proceeding being declared illegal, a charter was afterwar 's obtained on the 27th March, 1824, for the establishment of a bank under the title of " The Columbia Bridge Company," Christian Breneman being elected president, and John MeKissick, cashier. Since then this title has been changed to " The Columbia Bank and Bridge Com- pany," " The Columbia Bank," and lastly, the " Co- lumbia National Bank," which it still retains, with a capital of $500,000, having been increased from time to time from its original charter amount of $150,000, to 8250,000, $322,500, and in 1864 to its present amount.

Since 1824, Christian Breneman, Christian Halde- man, Jolin Forrey, Jr., John N. Lane, David Rine- hart, John Cooper, Col. James Meyers, Dr. Bar- ton Evans, John Cooper, George Bogle, and lastly, the present incumbent, Col. Samuel Shoch, have sev- erally acted as presidents, and during their several periods of service John McKissick acted as cashier until 1832, Preston B. Eller, his successor, until 1839, and Col. Samuel Shoch until 1878, a period of thirty- nine years, when he was elected president, in which capacity he still officiates, although in the eighty- seventh year of his age.

Henry E. Wolfe.

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BOROUGH OF COLUMBIA.

In 1832 the bridge was carried away by an ice twenty-four hours after the British had burned the capitol at Washington, and was the youngest man in the four companies that volunteered from Harrisburg on that pecasion. The company marched to York and thence to Baltimore, and remained on duty there until the British withdrew and abandoned their con- templated attack on that city. freshet, and rebuilt at an expenditure of $157,300 , and the debris of the old bridge. In June, 1863, the bridge, as rebuilt, was burned as a military necessity under an order from Gen. Couch, commandant of the Susquehanna divi-ion of the Federal army, to pre- vent the rebels from erowing, as the best protection for Eastern Pennsylvania. The bank, owning the In May, 1817, he began the study of law under bridge, sold the piers and the abutments, with the , Hon. Amos Ellmaker, attorney-general, and was ad- franchises as a bridge company, to the Pennsylvania Railroad Company for 857,000, and has therefore sus- tained a loss of $100,000, for which a claim has been preferred against the United States government with bopes of its being allowed.

The First National Bank was organized in May, 1863, with a capital of 8100,000. President, Ephraim Hershey ; Cashier, S. S. Detweiler. This bank in- creased its capital to $200,000, and its surplus amounts to $10,000. The present officers are Hugh M. North, Esq., president ; S. S. Detweiler, cashier. The bank building is located at the southeast corner of Locust and Second Streets. The amount of deposits is very large, and the bank is in a prosperous condition.

E. K. Smith & Co.'s banking house is located at the northwest corner of Locust and Second Streets. Its capital unlimited. The members of the firm are E. K. Smith and Christian E. Graybill.

The Columbia Deposit Bank was organized' in March, 1870, with E. K. Smith, president, and C. E. Graybill, cashier. This bank closed in 1880.

. The Dime Savings Bank was organized in 1869. The treasurers were Samuel Allison and Ephraim Hershey. The bank suspended business in 1880.

1. COL. SAMUEL SHOCH .- Michael Shoch, the grand- father of Col. Samuel, was a native of Germany, and on his emigration to America settled near Philadel- phia. He had several children, among whom was John, whose birth occurred at the paternal home near Philadelphia. He in 1792 removed to Harrisburg, Dauphin Co., and there remained until his death in 1842. He married Miss Salome Gilbert, of Philadel- phia, and had children, -Mary, Sarah, Rebecca, Eliza, Cassandra, Samuel, John, Jacob, and one who died in childhood. Samuel, whose life is here briefly sketched, was born in Harrisburg, May 28, 1797. 11is career covers some of the most eventful periods in our national history, and has been so closely identified with local events that it forms an inseparable part of them. Ilis early education was commeneed at pre- paratory schools before the establishment of the pres- ent school system, and continued at the Nottingham Academy, Cecil Co., Md. ITis further education and preparation for professional life were the result of . personal application directed only by himself.

mitted to the Dauphin County bar in 1820. He was always aggressive, and as a young lawyer displayed great energy and fearlessness in prosecuting what he believed to be wrong .. Ile took an active part in an unsnecessful attempt to impeach Judge Franks, of the Lebanon and Dauphin district, for alleged offenses.

In 1835 he was elected clerk of the House of Rep- resentatives by a union of the Whig and Anti-Masonic members, defeating Francis R. Shunk, the Democratic candidate. In 1837 he was secretary to the conven- tion which gave us the Constitution under which Pennsylvania lived from 1838 to 1873, and at the adjournment of that body was unanimously thanked. The colonel finds special pleasure in recounting his services with that body.

In 1839 he east his fortunes with Columbia, and went there to live, having been elected cashier of the Columbia Bank and Bridge Company. The company had a nominal capital of $150,000, but actually not more than $80,000 to $100,000, as a bridge costing more than $175,000 had been swept away by an ice freshet in 1832, and the loss had not been wholly made up. The capital was afterwards increased, first to 8250,000, and in 1837 to $322,500, with a change of title to Columbia Bank. In 1865 the bank ac- eepted the national bank law and became the Colum- bia National Bank, with a capital of $500,000, at which it still remains, with a surplus fund of $150,- 000. Ile has thus maintained official relations with the corporation as its cashier and president for forty- four years, during a period the events of which are matters of local history.

Col. Shoch was, in 1842, married to Mrs. Hannah Evans, daughter of Amos Slaymaker, of Lancaster County, who was the leading manager of the line of stages between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. Her death having occurred in March, 1860, he contracted a second alliance in August, 1865, with Miss Anna E., daughter of Robert Barber, of Columbia, Pa.

In 1848, Col. Shoch was appointed aid to Governor William Johnson, which by courtesy conferred upon him the title of colonel, a title by which he is better known than by his Christian name.

In 1860 the colonel was a member of the State committee of the Republican party, and a delegate to the National Convention at Chicago which nomi- nated Abraham Lincoln, the martyr President.

As early as 1812 he was recorder of patents under John Cochran, secretary of the land-office, and re- corder of surveys in the office of Andrew Porter, During the war he was foremost in deeds of charity and patriotism, and presented to the first company then surveyor-general. In September, 1814, he joined the Harrisburg Artillerists, a company formed within | formed in Columbia a beautiful and costly silk flag.

570

HISTORY OF LANCASTER COUNTY.

He always took a warm interest in our public schools, and through his active exertions and liberal dona- tions the "Shoch Library," in bonor of its patron, was established.

Col. Shoch also took an active interest in local en- terprises, and was at one and the same time president of the Columbia Gas and Water Companies, the Old Public Ground Company, and the Marietta, Chestnut Hill and Washington Turnpike-Road Companies. He was also treasurer of the Reading and Columbia Railroad Company, but resigned in 1862, before going abroad on a continental tour. He was for ten years president of the school board of the borough of Columbia, during which period a spacious edifice, devoted to the use of the public schools, was erected. He served a term as director of the poor of Lancaster County, two terms as county auditor, was a trustee of the Millersville Normal School, and director of the Wrightsville, York and Gettysburg Railroad. If responsible official positions are a measure of public confidence, then Col. Shoch was favored above all his fellow-citizens.

The colonel was always an active worker in the Sunday-school cause. In the early part of his profes- sional career he was both a teacher and superin- tendent of the Sunday-school of the Lutheran Church in Harrisburg. Within the last ten years his youthful enthusiasm for the cause has been specially reawak- ened, and his active services as teacher of a Bible class in the Columbia Fifth Street Presbyterian Sunday- school, together with the erection, furnishing, and en- dowment of their beautiful chapel (named " Salome" in honor of his mother), attests the sincerity of his motives. In 1854, and for several years thereafter, he maintained at his own expense a public night- school, employed teachers, and furnished books, etc., for the benefit of apprentices and other young persons who could not attend school during the day, and was happily rewarded by finding the school well attended. Many of the pupils since grown up have become prominent and well-to-do citizens, who gratefully ac- knowledge the advantages they derived from the enterprise.

Iu polities he has been uniformly and radically anti-Democratic, a great admirer of Thaddeus Ste- vens, and is in full accord with Republican adminis- tration.

The colonel's has been an eventful and busy life, and even now, when he has just crossed the threshold of his eighty-sixth year, not a single duty is neg- Jected, not a responsibility evaded, and not au energy relaxed.

Having faithfully performed the duties of cashier of the Columbia National Bank for a period of thirty- nine years, he was, in December, 1878, elected its president, and notwithstanding his age, continues his routine of duties, beginning at eight o'clock in the morning and remaining to witness the settlement of all accounts after the bank closes. Ilis principal di-

version is his violin, an instrument of unusual excel- lence, which affords him many happy hours.

With a mind fresh and vigorous, and with a. re- markable activity of body and buoyancy of step, he has reasonable expectations of passing many more years of usefulness.

Newspapers .- The Susquehanna Waterman was started in the year 1811 by Thomas A. Wilson, & practical printer, who learned his trade in the bor- ough of York. He established a printing office in a one-story frame building which stood on the north side of Locust Street below Second Street. In the following year he purchased a half lot of ground on the south side of Locust Street, nearly opposite his frame shop. Upon this lot he erected a three-story brick house, to which he moved his printing-press, etc. He probably used the third story of this build- ing for an office, for he did not plaster the walls. The reaction in business and values of all kind after the war of 1812-15 left him stranded, and his prop- erty was sold to James Cyde, Esq., in the year 1818. Mr. Wilson returned to York, thence to one of the Southern States, where he remained for many years, Some of his descendants reside in Wrightsville, York Co.

William Greear published a small newspaper in Lancaster called the Hice in 1804. He removed his job-printing press, etc., to Columbia in the year 1812. In the winter of 1814-15 he was elected printer of the " Rolls" by the Legislature, and he removed his printing-press to Harrisburg. He returned to Co- lumbia and commenced the publication of a newspa- per called The Columbian on the 24th day of July, 1819, in a two-story brick building he purchased from Dr. Eberle. After publishing eighteen numbers it was suspended for want of support. After six or eight months it was revived. It was not self-sustain- ing, and its publication ceased altogether in a few months. He removed his printing-press to Washing- ton, D. C. He was a Quaker and a person of strict integrity. The Columbian was published in 1840 by Thomas Taylor, and edited by N. B. Wolfe. The editor wrote a romance called the " Bandit," which ran through several numbers of the paper, which seems to have knocked the life out of the paper. Be- fore the story was completed the paper ceased to exist.

The Monitor was established by Dr. William F. Houston on the 24th day of April, 1823. It was printed in Dr. Houston's dwelling, now owned by Theodore Urban, on Locust Street below Second, Like the Columbian, it was neutral in politics. It was strongly religious in tone. It was published several years.

The Columbian Courant was established by Scheaff & Heinitsh, who purchased the press and type be- longing to the Pioneer in Marietta and brought it to Columbia. They sold out to John L. Boswell, & young printer who came from the State of Connecti-

571

BOROUGH OF COLUMBIA.

cut, who, on the 3d day of June, 1830, commenced the publication of the Columbia Spy and Literary Register, which was neutral until June 23, 1831, when its title was changed to Columbia Spy and Lan- caster and York County Record, and the "Henry Clay" banner was nailed to its head, with the " American System" inscribed upon it. For that period in the history of journalism it was ably con- ducted, and was devoted to the interests of Henry Clay, whom the editor desired to be President of the United States. On the 6th day of July, 1833, the paper was enlarged to twenty by thirty inches. In 1834, Mr. Boswell and Carpenter McCleery, of Lan- caster, established the Lancaster Union, published in that city. The editor of the Spy gave a portion of his time to that paper. On the 24th day of May, 1834, Thomas E. Cochran took formal charge of the editorial department of the Spy. In the spring of 1836, Mr. Boswell sold the Spy to Preston B. Elder, .cashier of the Columbia Bank and Bridge Company, and purchased the Hartford Courant, and removed to Hartford, Conn. Ercurins Beatty published the Spy for the proprietor from that time to September, 1837, when it was published by E. Beatty & Co. Under the editorial management of Mr. Elder the paper obtained a high rank among the literary papers in the . country. He was an accomplished writer and poet.

After Mr. Elder's death in 1839, Theodore D. Cochran, who was then an apprentice in the office, took editorial management of the paper. He devel- oped great talent as a political writer, and had few equals among his editorial brethren. While yet in his minority he took charge of the Old Guard in 1840, an Anti-Masonic paper, established in Lan- caster in 1839. Evan Green, the administrator of Mr. Elder (who died in 1839), sold the paper to James Patton, collector of tolls at the canal basin, who changed its name to the Columbia Spy and Lan- caster and York County Democrat. It advocated the election of Martin Van Buren for President. In 1842, Mr. E. Maxson was taken into partnership, and in the spring of 1843, Eli Bowen and Jacob L. Gossler purchased the paper. They were both minors, but young men of ability. In the fall of 1844, Mr. Bowen started the Protector, a tariff paper, and sold his interest in the Spy to Charles J. Barnitz, of York, who also purchased Mr. Gossler's interest in 1845. In June, 1847, Charrick Westbrook purchased the Spy, and Dec. 11, 1847, William II. Spangler por- chased an interest in the paper. In the summer of 1848 they sold to George W. Schroyer, who sold to Eshleman, Kammerer & Gochenauer in 1849, who sold to J. G. L. Brown in 1850. In 1853 it was pub- lished by Brown & Greene, who sold to Coleman J. Bull in 1855. In 1856 it was purchased by Stephen `Greene (Mr. Brown taking a position in Forney's Press office), who sold to Sammuel Wright in 1857, was appointed to a position on Gen. Thomas Welsh's staff, and went into the army. Ile sold to Andrew

M. Rambo in 1863, who on Sept. 4, 1869, sold to Maj. James W. Yocum, the present proprietor. It is a conservative Republican paper and conducted with ability.

The Columbia Daily Spy was started by A. M. Rambo & Son in 1868, and was published for a period of eighteen months. It was Republican in polities.

The Pennsylvania Courant was started in 1837 by Henry Montgomery. Ercurins Beatty subsequently became the publisher and proprietor. It lived until 1843. During the gubernatorial canvass of 1838 this paper was particularly strong iu its political depart- ment.

The Protector was started by Eli Bowen and Jacob L. Gossler in March, 1843. As its name implies, it was a devoted advocate of the cause of protection and the election of Henry Clay to the Presidency. After a few numbers were published Mr. Gossler retired, and sold his interest to Mr. Bowen, who became edi- tor, publisher, and carrier. Ile had but little money, and often not the means to procure a meal. Ile would go barefooted, and often sleep in an onthouse when out of money. He walked to Lancaster, and purchased an old Ramage press from Hugh Maxwell, and two hundred pounds of type, on trust. Hestruck off an edition of one thousand copies, and carried his papers to Lancaster and neighboring towns, and sold the entire number, which put him upon "his feet." lle bid fair to be one of the best newspaper men in the country, but he was erratic, and did not tread the paths of journalism for a period longer than four or five years. The Protector lived but six months.

The Water-Spout was started during the height of the Washingtonian temperance movement, and was devoted to that cause. James Klinedriest was pub- lisher and Theodore D. Cochran editor. It lived but six months.

The Columbian was started by Charrick Westbrook in 1846, and published by him until he purchased the Spy in 1847, when it was merged in the latter.

The Columbia Herald was established in December, 1867. Several leading men in the Democratic party subscribed a sum sufficient to start a paper, and George Young, Jr., who was then an officer in the Columbia Fire Insurance Company, was chosen as editor. He became sole owner. Mr. Young, Jr., sold an interest in the paper to W. Ilayes Grier in 1873, and subse- quently to that time it was published by Grier & Moderwell. Several years ago Mr. Grier purchased Moderwell's interest, and is now sole proprietor and editor. Mr. Grier has been recently appointed su- perintendent of the State printing-office at Harrisburg. Ile was a private in the late war (see military chapter). Ile is also justice of the peace for the Second Ward, Columbia.

The Daily Telegram was started by Frank S. Taft in 1869. It lived about two months.

The Democrat was started in the summer of 1872 by W. Hayes Grier. It advocated the election of

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HISTORY OF LANCASTER COUNTY.

Horace Greeley for President, and was discontinued in November, 1872.

The Weekly Courant was started by Andrew M. Rambo & Son in 1870, and is now published by the former. It is an ably-conducted paper, and is radical Republican in politics.

Foundries and Machine-Shops .- The expansion of the iron interest in this place and vicinity since the first machine-shop was erected, forty-seven years ago, is truly wonderful. In the year 1836, Jeffrey Smedley and Thomas Hood, of Chester County, started a small machine-shop at the canal basin. The first steam-engine built in the county was the one they built to drive their machinery. The firm was dissolved in September, 1837, and the business was then carried on by Mr. Smedley. Hle manufactured stationary engines and machine work generally, and in this was greatly aided by the establishment of a foundry near his shop. Ile carried on business at that place until 1850, when he purchased the old Shultz Brewery, a large four-story stone building, situated on Second Street below Union, and converted it into a machine-shop. A short time after this pur- chase he took his son-in-law, Henry Brandt, into partnership. In September, 1854, Mr. Smedley died of cholera, then raging in Columbia. Mr. Brandt continued the business until October, 1857, when a stock company, entitled the Columbia Manufactur- ing Company, took possession of the property, and added a foundry thereto. The members of this com- pany were Henry Brandt, Thomas R. and Zimmerman Supplee, brothers, who came from Bridgeport, Mont- gomery Co., Pa., where they had been carrying on the business for several years. They removed all of their machinery from there to the works in Columbia, which greatly increased the facilities of this estab- lishment. The company arrangement was not suc- cessful, having carried on the works at a period of great depression in business. The Supplee Brothers leased the works and built up a large trade. Finding their buildings and ground limited in extent, they sold this property and purchased a large tract near the Columbia and Reading Railroad, at Fourth Street, where they erected larger and more extensive works in 1870. A few years ago a stock company was formed, called the Supplee Iron Company, under which name it is now conducted.

In the year 1837 Frederick Baugher and George Wolf, residents of York, Pa., formed a copartnership, and erected a foundry at the canal basin. When rail- roads were first built, in order to get around the curves without slipping it was necessary to have one loose wheel upon every axle. James Wright, Jr., of Columbia, conceived the idea of making a wheel with a beveled tread. lle erected a circular railroad upon John L. Wright's lot, upon which he experimented. When Baugher and Wolf started their foundry they were the first in the country to manufacture car- wheels under Mr. Wright's patent. This firm also

invented a wheel with solid hubs and coneave and convex plates in 1837. Previous to that time all ear- wheels were made with split hubs with spokes. Mr. Baugher, being an Anti-Mason, obtained a good deal : of State work under Governor Ritner's administra- tion, and when David R. Porter was elected Governor, in 1838, George Wolf, who was a Democrat, obtained a share of the State work. Mr. Baugher retired from the firm in 1839.

Samuel Truscott, who was their principal pattern- maker, and to whom this firm was indebted for some of their inventions and the excellent work they turned out, came from Baltimore, Md., to work for them ia 1837, and was taken into partnership by Mr. Wolf on the 1st day of May, 1846. Mr. Wolf died in 1859, when the firm was dissolved and Mr. Truscott retired, and in a few years embarked in the coal-oil refining business where the Columbia Stove- Works now stand. After the removal of Mr. Smedley's machine-shop to Second Street, Wolf and Truscott erected a large ma- chine-shop adjoining their foundry. These works were carried on by the heirs of George Wolf until Feb. 1, 1871, when they were sold to the Messrs. Per- rottet and Hoyt. In the year 1872 they sold their property to the Pennsylvania Railroad Company to make room for their new round-house. The firm purchased property in the rear of the round-house fronting on Bridge Street, where they erected larger and more extensive works.

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History of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 6

Author: Ellis, Franklin, 1828-1885; Evans, Samuel, 1823-1908, joint author Publication date: 1883 Publisher: Philadelphia, Pa. : Everts & Peck Number of Pages: 1320

Author: Ellis, Franklin, 1828-1885; Evans, Samuel, 1823-1908, joint author
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Philadelphia, Pa. : Everts & Peck
Number of Pages: 1320