History of Lycoming County, Pennsylvania, Part 76

Author: edited by John F. Meginness
Publication date: 1892
Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : Brown, Runk
Number of Pages: 1650

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erected on the same site by Father Dunn. It is 40x80 feet in dimensions. Edward F. Noon was the builder. St. Mary's is a mission, and has always been in charge of the pastor of an adjoining parish. It embraces seventy-five families, and is the only congregation and house of worship in the township.

Schools .- Cascade has four school houses, named as follows: Kelly, MeLaugh- lin, Slack Run, and Wallis Run.

GAMBLE TOWNSHIP.

A petition signed by Seth Winner and many other taxpayers, praying for the erection of a new township out of parts of Lewis and Cascade, was laid before the court at April sessions, 1574, whereupon Robert H. Faries, Abraham Swartz, and J. C. Green were appointed viewers. Mr. Faries not being able to serve on account of absence, Ira J. Parker was substituted. They reported favorably, August 27. 1574, when the report was read and referred back for the correction of errors. It was again submitted, January 11, 1875, when a remonstrance was filed. After a hearing the objections were overruled and the report approved by Judge Gamble. and an election was ordered to be held Jannary 29, 1875. It resulted in 152 votes for division without a single one in opposition. and on the following day (January 30, 1875) a decree signed by Huston Hepburn. associate judge, was made erecting the township and naming it Gamble, in honor of James Gamble, president judge. The cost of securing the new township, according to the record. was $96.40.

Gamble is the twelfth in size in the county and has an area of 22, 760 acres, with a population of 754 by the census of 1890. It is bounded on the east by Plunkett's Creek. on the north by Cascade and Lewis, on the west by Lewis, and on the south by Hepburn, Eldred, and Plunkett's Creek townships. Geologically it con- sists, in greater part, of Red Catskill (No. IX) in the western and northern part, being mountain plateau lands. Rose valley, lying in the southern part. contains much fine farm land, and is thickly settled. This is a peculiar and beautiful valley, shut in by the surrounding mountains, and it is greatly admired by those who visit it. In the lower part of the valley are the remains of a glacial lake. It seems that its waters once flowed eastward into Murray's run, but when the moraine was heaped up at its outlet a lake was formed whose waters then forced a channel for exit at its western end through the soft red shale. A large boulder of Pottsville conglomerate, measuring 15x20 feet, lies as an "outlier" nearly half a mile in advance of the moraine hills, partially imbedded in the red Catskill soil of a field on the farm of Matthew M. Hall. The bed of the lake has long been a large cran- berry swamp, and the owner gathers and markets the berries every year. They are of a good quality, finely flavored, and some years the yield has reached fifty bushels. This is the largest cranberry swamp in the county.

In the south and southeastern part of the township is a small area of Pocono (No. X) which is mountainous. No mineral developments have been made in Gamble. There is much glacial drift in the northern part, and it forms part of the south escarpment of the main Allegheny range.

Exploration and Settlement .- David McMicken. who first settled on the Loyal- sock with his parents in 1784, is credited with being one of the first discoverers of the beautiful valley of Rose. He visited the place with a party of hunters near the

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HISTORY OF LYCOMING COUNTY.

close of the last century, and was so struck with its appearance that he took up a large body of land which he afterwards sold.

One of the first if not the first settler in this valley was John Rose, a Scotch - man by birth. He was born in 1772, came to America in 1794, and died Septem- ber 1, 1812, at Williamsport. His first wife was a Patton, of Centre county. Soon after marriage he settled in what is now Gamble township and named his place " Scotland," and from him the valley takes its name, only that it was at first called "Rose's valley." The place where Rose settled is in the northwestern corner of the valley, and the farm is now divided and owned by George Beidlespacher, John Stroble, and George Stiger. From these farms a road descends a very long and steep hill to Trout run, which is known as the " Scotland Hill road " to this day.

John Rose was accompanied by an educated gentleman named Andrew Tulloh, as a companion, who was familiarly called "Tallow." He was a lawyer by pro- fession. He afterwards moved to Williamsport and built the first brick edifice for an office. It is still standing and is known as No. 31 East Front street. A second story was afterwards added.

Rose's second wife was Sarah, daughter of Abraham Scott, who purchased the island in the river opposite Northumberland from Mnngo Reed in 1786. He died in 1798, having failed to pay all the purchase money, and proceedings in partition were commenced in 1802 by the heirs. Sarah appears as one of the heirs and she conveyed her share to Edward Lyon. After marrying the second time John Rose settled at Williamsport. The old mansion where he lived stood on the brow of the terrace on the northeast corner of High and Cemetery streets, Williamsport. Miss Scott had several negro slaves which she obtained as part of her share out of her father's estate. . She was born in 1780 in Lancaster county, and died at Williams- port, November 4, 1823. Both are buried in Wildwood. She left a daughter named Isabella, who married Robert C. Grier, afterwards a justice of the United States Supreme conrt, from whom we have the "Grier farm" and "Grier street," Williamsport.

After Rose left the valley it filled up slowly with rugged German settlers, who by dint of hard work reclaimed it from its pristine condition and made it in reality bloom like a rose. An old time journalist, who has been dead for many years, visited the valley in April, 1870, and thus wrote of its early settlers:

A stroll through this valley has given the writer some idea of its resources, and its inhabit- ants. and its old settlers. In 1820 James Mc Williams, Sr., settled upon the property that Mr. Stroble now owns and occupies. In the early days of McWilliams he endured great hardships, settling in the woods, and worked unceasingly, lone handed, to clear out the forests into farming lands. The forests were very heavy and thick, and as his sons grew up he was enabled, after several years of hard toil, to raise sufficient grain and vegetables for all the necessaries of life. John D. Griggs was one of the next settlers. He was an indomitable, energetic, and industrious man. He was greatly instrumental in having Rose valley improved at an early day. The next person we speak of is Jacob Ulmer. He was also among the first settlers. He cleared out a fine farm, and planted it with the choicest fruit trees. Mr. Ulmer was one of the most indus- trious men of this valley. We speak of David Stroble next. He planted himself down in this " vineyard of harmonies:" industrious as he was for years, he finally met with a disastrous misfortune in the entire destruction of his dwelling house by fire, which caused him to renew his efforts to regain his losses-the neighbors of the adjoining townships greatly assisting him. At that day the neighbors were kind to each other, and sympathized with their fellow-neighbors

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GAMBLE TOWNSHIP.

in any losses they sustained. John and Michael Stiger were also early settlers. They removed there from the swamps of the Lehigh, where they were engaged in the manufacture of shingles. Having exhausted all their supplies of timber, they were obliged to meet some other expedient of making a living, and they pitched their tents in Rose valley. A Mr. Beidles- pacher was the next settler in the valley. He raised a large family of children, and cleared a large tract of land.

Now let ns speak of the improvements of Rose valley, its farms and its saw mills, and some of the men connected with them. Isaac Lippincott was possessed of a large amount of lands. He erected a water-power mill, and during his lifetime he manufactured a large quantity of lumber. He died in 1864, intestate. After a length of time his sons, Edward, Caleb, and Joshua, made an agreement in relation to the division of the property-Edward taking that portion situated in Rose valley, after which he built a large and magnificent steam saw mill, and carried on the business of manufacturing lumber for three years; he also in that time built another mill in Cascade township, in company with J. S. Lowe. Joseph Hall purchased the farm property formerly belonging to Lippincott. It is a large fine property with splendid buildings.

All the foregoing original settlers are deceased but Jacob Ulmer, who, in April, 1892, was still living in his ninety-second year.

Manufactures .- At a very early day, soon after the beginning of the century- salt works were established about a mile above the mouth of Salt run. Remains of the stone furnaces, three or four in number, can still be seen. Two wells were sunk to a considerable depth and walled up, into which the salt water collected, and was then pumped out for use in the vats. These wells can still be seen. They are a source of some danger to cattle. Only a year ago a cow fell in and was rescued with difficulty. The water is strongly impregnated with salt. The name of the party carrying on these works has been lost, but Mr. Henry Southard, who lives near the wells and has often seen the ruins of the works, thinks his name was Pott, or Potts. At the time salt was made here it was extremely scarce and high in price.

A short distance above the salt wells a potash manufactory was started, probably by the same man, and about the same time. Old settlers speak of the place where considerable timbered ground was cut over to obtain material.

When Edward Lippincott took the saw mill at the glacial lake he launched forth into an extensive business. He was a social, pleasant man and soon succeeded in gaining the confidence of the people to such an extent that they not only willingly loaned him their money, but allowed their bills for labor and produce to stand, in order to aid him in getting his business operations fairly under way. This was between 1847 and 1865. He drove business on a large scale, and prospered. Every- body lent him a helping hand. His credit seemed to be unlimited among his Rose valley neighbors. The bed of the lake was turned into a mill pond which covered 200 acres. He started with a water-power mill, but not deeming it of sufficient capacity, built a first-class steam mill which cost $40,000. He was then doing well, but being anxious to enlarge his business, erected works for making hemlock bark extract at a cost of $60,000. In the manufacture of this article he was in advance of the times, and his works proved a failure. He built another saw mill on a branch of Murray's run which cost $16,000. These improvements put him heavily in debt and being no longer able to meet his obligations, he failed in 1867. The first judg- ment entered against him was by Patterson & Lippincott, of Philadelphia, Novem- ber 25, 1867, for $49,421.45. Then came Snyder Brothers, machinists, of Williams-

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HISTORY OF LYCOMING COUNTY.

port, with a judgment for $4,473.10, December 2, 1867. These judgments were followed by a multitude of smaller ones. The estate failed to pay the debts and the creditors lost heavily.

While Lippincott did business in Rose valley he benefited the people by causing their property to appreciate in value, and if they lost money by loaning it to him, they are nearly all rich to-day, while he is a hopeless bankrupt. His fine dwelling houses, store house, barns, and other buildings which he erected in the days of his prosperity are still there, but his mills have crumbled into ruins. His manufactured lumber was largely hauled to Montoursville and sent to market by canal. His failure, on account of the large number of people he owed, caused the wildest excitement not only in the valley but throughout the country, and it is talked about even to this day.

The farm where Lippincott lived is now owned by Matthew M. Hall. It contains 300 acres, and the house and barn are the largest and finest in the valley. The old store house still stands.

The only streams of water in the valley are the heads of Mill creek, and Wallis and Murray runs. John D. Griggs, who settled in the valley as early as 1830, built a saw mill about 1845. He worked on it a long time, doing nearly all the work him- self. William Ball, however, had built a mill before him. Thomas Hays also erected a mill before Lippincott. It was below the Griggs mill, on Mill creek. The Griggs homestead is now owned by Daniel Griggs. John D. Griggs, the father and pioneer, died at Antes Fort (Jersey Shore Station) May 16, 1876, in his eighty- eighth year. He came from New Jersey in 1819 and first settled near Warrensville.

Among the present industries is a saw. and shingle mill on the head of Mill creek, owned by Jacob Stroble. It is driven by steam. Henry Southard has a water mill on Murray run, and Peter Lush operates a steam mill in Beech valley, at the head of the same stream. David Kiess also operates a water mill on Mill creek.

Postoffices .- There are two postoffices in Gamble township. Rose Valley was established July 25, 1866, and Edward Lippincott was appointed postmaster. His successors have been Joseph Hall, appointed February 8, 1870; Miss Lora A. Hall, July 9, 1883; Hannah M. Hall, September 16, 1884, and David L. Stiger, August 4, 1886, the present incumbent.

The second, named Wallis Run, is located in the eastern end of the township. It was established July 25, 1866, and George Brouse was appointed postmaster. He has had four successors, viz: Mary B. Zeigler, appointed January 20, 1880; Sarah A. Hoffman, February 4, 1881; William Frymire, May 10, 1887; Isaac H. Southard, October 1, 1887. He still holds the office. Although Mr. Frymire is reported as serving as postmaster, he did not qualify, and the office passed into the hands of Mr. Southard.

Churches .- There are two churches in Gamble-one, a Union church, in Rose valley, is used by the Baptists and Evangelicals; the other, a Methodist Episcopal, also used by the Christians, is located on Wallis run.

Schools .- The first school house was built in Rose valley by John Griggs in 1839. It was a log building. The first teacher was J. W. Milnor, and the first scholars to arrive the morning the school opened were John and Peter Griggs. This was

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M'INTYRE TOWNSHIP.

, about the holidays, and three months of school followed. The township now has five school houses, viz: Rose Valley, Wallis Run, Loder, Ely, and Beech Valley. The report for 1891 shows six months taught by one male and four female teachers at an average salary of $33 per month.

CHAPTER XLIII.

MCINTYRE AND McNETT.

MCINTYRE .- ERECTION-GEOLOGY-SETTLEMENT -ASTONVILLE - CARTERVILLE-THE McIN- TYRE MINES-RALSTON-PRESENT SAW MILLS-RED RUN COAL COMPANY-POSTOFFICES- SCHOOLS.

McNETT .- ORGANIZATION-MINERAL RESOURCES-ROARING BRANCH-PENBRYN-ELLENTON- CHEMUNG-SAW MILLS-SCHOOLS.

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M'INTYRE TOWNSHIP.

r THIS township was formed out of territory taken from Lewis in 1848, and named after Archibald McIntyre, of Philadelphia, who was one of the corporators of the Williamsport and Elmira railroad. It is the second township in size in the county, and has an area of 46, 260 acres. By the census of 1890 the population was 845. It is bounded on the east by McNett, on the north by Tioga county, on the west by Jackson, and on the south by Lewis township.

Geologically McIntyre consists chiefly of formations (Nos. X, XI, XII, and XIII), which constitute the McIntyre coal basin, (See chapter on Geology) lying at an ele- vation of about 2,000 feet above tide. There are some agricultural lands on the mountain plateau, but the soil is thin. A small area of Red Catskill (No. IX) is found along the valley of Pleasant stream and in the southeastern part of the town- ship, while along the northern edge there occurs a narrow belt of Chemung meas- ures (No. VIII) which carry the fossil ore belt (VIII f) inclined at a high angle. There are some fine bottom lands along Lycoming creek.

There was a good outcrop of bog manganese observed in this township. Iron ore (No. VIII f) of the coal basin exists, with a number of beds of fire clay, while much building stone has been quarried and shipped. The surface of the township is gen- erally mountainous, except along the valleys of the streams. The glacial moraine left many marks of its passage on the hill tops.

The early history of that portion of the township lying along Lycoming creek would be but a repetition of the history of Lewis township. The only difference would be that its mountains are higher, its rocky declivities more precipitous, its gorges deeper, and its scenery wilder and more attractive. The great Indian trail crossed and recrossed the creek, and in some places, on account of the dense thickets in the valley, crept along the face of the mountains. In the rear of the village of Ralston is a perpendicular ledge of rocks. On the summit, for a mile or more, is a level notch in the face of the mountain. Over this notch the Indian trail passed in

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HISTORY OF LYCOMING COUNTY.

order to avoid the impenetrable thickets in the valley below; and along this trail, in . later years, a tramway was laid to convey ores from Red run to the furnace at Aston- ville. And over these rocks Conrad Weiser's Indian guide came near falling when they were passing up the creek, March 25, 1737, on their way to Onondaga.

Lycoming creek runs through McIntyre township from the north to the south. Its principal tributaries are Pleasant stream, which forms the dividing line on the east between McIntyre and Cascade townships, Rock run, which emerges from a wild, rocky glen on the east at Ralston, Dutchman's run, and Ibbot's run. On the west side of the creek are Roaring branch, Red run, and Frozen run. Gray's run also passes across the southwestern corner of the township.

Settlement progressed slowly, on account of the density of the wilderness, in penetrating what is now McIntyre township. The first survey was made on what is now the site of Ralston, September 11, 1794, by Aaron Levy, and Michael and Hyman Gratz located lands north and south of Ralston. It is claimed that John Smithkontz was the first man to settle at the mouth of Pleasant stream; about 1805 he cleared a patch of land and made an improvement. He died there in 1818. John Blackwell settled at Roaring branch about the same time, lived there for thirty years, and then moved into what is now Bradford county. A man named . Abbott settled south of Roaring branch about the time Smithkontz located at Pleasant stream and lived there nearly half a century. In 1821 a party named Loper located on the site of Ralston and built a log cabin, which was the first dwell- ing erected at that place. The first improvement in the township was made by the New York Iron and Coal Company, which erected a saw mill a little south of Aston- ville in 1831. At one time there were several important and active industries in this township.

Astonville .- Mr. Aston, manager for the New York Company, established a furnace at the mouth of Frozen run about 1831, although attempts had been made here, in a crude way, to manufacture iron many years before, but by whom is not now remembered. When Aston took charge of the works he erected a number of buildings and the place was named Astonville. It no longer exists, having suc- cumbed to the ravages of time.

About 1837 a charcoal furnace was started at Astonville. The "white ore" was hauled over a tramway from the mines on Red run, which ran along the face of the mountain, and charcoal burned in the neighboring mountains was used to reduce it. The ore was tough and intractable, being filled with fire clay which could only be gotten out by letting it freeze, the action of the frost disintegrating the matrix and making it workable. As the ore was brought here and piled up in heaps to lie over winter and freeze, probably gave the name of Frozen run to the little stream which empties into Lycoming creek, where Astonville stood. The iron made there was what is known as "hot short;" that is, when it was heated very hot it became too brittle to work, and would fly into pieces, but when cold was quite tough and of fine quality. For several years the furnace made a quality of iron that satisfied J. & J. Essington, who had a rolling mill at Crescent, a few miles below. The furnace was continued in active operation for ten years and did a fairly prosperous business, when it was burned in 1847.

The New York owners in the course of a few years built a larger furnace and

ImSander

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M'INTIRE TOWNSHIP.

made preparations to resume business on a large scale. They put up a number of houses, erected a small church, and soon the place became a lively little village. But it required so much time to wait on the disintegration of the ore by frost, that the work moved slowly.

In the meantime Lieb, Martin & Company, the owners of the old furnace property, sold out, and a new firm called the Lycoming Iron Company was organized. This company invested about $300,000 in improvements and new buildings. A large furnance, supplied with modern apparatus for working ores, was built and started in 1553. The latest devices in iron making were resorted to, charcoal was thrown aside and anthracite, mixed with bituminous, found near by. was tried, but it proved a failure, and the furnace chilled. This was just before the Northern Central rail- road was built.

But the failure of the Lycoming Iron Company did not deter others from taking hold of the plant. In 1855 William Thompson, of New York, attracted by the opening of the railroad through to Elmira, and the former success of the old char- coal furnace, got control of the property and put up a new furnace. It proved a failure, after being operated about a year and a half, and was suffered to fall into decay. Soon after the railroad company dismantled it by taking the large blocks of stone to be used in bridge construction.

In 1864 Jervis Langdon of Elmira and Mr. Albright re-opened the abandoned furnace and tried, by mixing ores brought from a distance with the native ores. to manufacture iron profitably. The experiment was not successful. and when the great flood of 1865 came, the waters of Frozen run invaded the premises and chilled the furnace. There was talk of reviving it again in later years. but it was not done, and Astonville went into decline and to-day scarcely a trace of the place is visible.

Carterville. - Less than two miles above Ralston the ruins of another old furnace stack are still visible, with a few tumble-down buildings in the neigborhood. This is all that remains of Carterville, once a place of some pretensions. The Red Run . Coal Company opened a mine near this place in 1854, built a plane, and operated the mines for three years, taking out about 20,000 tons annually of coal, when they abandoned the mine. A Mr. Carter, of Tamaqua, built an iron furnace of Mauch Chunk sandstone and called the place Carterville. The furnace was ready for blast in 1854, but was not started in consequence of a tragedy in Philadelphia, resulting in the death of Carter by a pistol shot.

This put a stop to the enterprise. The iron ore mine, which had been opened near by, soon caved in and twenty years passed away without anything being done, when a Mr. Williams from Minersville got hold of the property, put the furnace in repair, and blew in the first blast, May 20, 1874. For two months the furnace ran with anthracite for fuel, operating on the " white ore," the red ore not being found good enough, or too full of slate and clay. Abont 500 tons of the " white ore " were used, and then the furnace closed, probably never to. open again. Thus ended the experiments of making iron on Lycoming creek, stimulated as it was in an early day by seeing hundreds of tons of crude and bar iron hauled past these ore beds from Bellefonte to points north.

The MeIntyre Mines .- The next great enterprise in this township was the work- ing of the McIntyre Coal Mines on the summit of the mountain, a short distance

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HISTORY OF LYCOMING COUNTY.

northeast of Ralston. The McIntyre Coal Company was founded by Jervis . Langdon and operations were commenced in 1870. Several years previous to this, however, coal had been mined on a small scale, and it was brought to Ralston ou a tramway which wound around the mountain in a zizzag fashion. Scarcely a trace of this road is now to be seen. The officers of the McIntyre Coal Com, pany were: President, Charles J. Langdon; vice-president, J. D. F. Slee; treas- urer. W. L. Kingman: secretary, W. D. Kelly; engineer and superintendent, G. H. Platt. The main office was located at Elmira, where nearly all the offi- cers resided.

The McIntyre Coal Company invested a large sum of money and operated on a big scale. They constructed a plane 2.300 feet in length, down which the coal was lowered in cars to the valley below. This plane was very steep, the angle being nearly 45°, and it was an interesting object as viewed from the car windows of passing railroad trains. The loaded cars from the summit were let down by a powerful cable running over an immense drum, and empty cars ascended at the same time. The momentum of the cars was controlled by a sys- tem of levers and a steam engine of fifteen horse-power located on the summit. The wire cable was two inches thick and weighed ten tons. The drum house was about 800 feet above tide. Beyond this was another railroad 1,500 feet in length. which reached the shutes. From this point the mines were reached by another inclined plane 560 feet in length, and rising to an elevation of 170 feet.

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History of Lycoming County, Pennsylvania, Part 76

Author: edited by John F. Meginness Publication date: 1892 Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : Brown, Runk Number of Pages: 1650

Author: edited by John F. Meginness
Publication date: 1892
Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : Brown, Runk
Number of Pages: 1650