History of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, Part 172

Author: Bean, Theodore Weber, 1833-1891, [from old catalog] ed; Buck, William J. (William Joseph), 1825-1901
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Philadelphia, Everts & Peck
Number of Pages: 1534

USA > Pennsylvania > Montgomery County > History of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania > Part 172

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

Pottstown, in late years, has grown rapidly. Accord- ing to the census of 1830, it contained 676 inhabit- ants; in 1840, 721; in 1850, 1664; in 1860, 2380; in

1870, 4125 and in 1880, 5305. At the latter date the East Ward contained 1856 inhabitants; Middle Ward, 2270; and Western Ward, 1179. The assessment for 1882 returned 1845 taxables, holding $2,744,741 of tax- able property, averaging per capita $1487. In May, 1883, licenses were issued to ten hotels, four restau- rants, one brewer, two auctioneers, four real estate brokers, one banker and one hundred and twenty- six stores of various kinds. The latter is the exact number of stores licensed for the entire county in 1827. Before the Revolution the place contained two grist-mills and fifteen or twenty houses. In 1880, three taverns, a weaving establishment, a wool-hat manufactory, several mechanic shops and forty houses. In 1832, four taverns, four stores and nearly one hundred dwellings. In 1850, three hundred and twenty-eight houses, three hundred and eighty-eight families and three farms. In 1858, thirty-seven stores, seven churches, five hotels, two rolling-mills and the gas-works. The stores in 1876 had increased to ninety-fonr, besides three coal and two lumber- yards. In consequence of the increase of population, the borough, in 1842, was divided into East and West Wards, By an act of Assembly passed May 12, 1871, it was further divided into West, Middle and East Wards. Near the close of 1883 Middle Ward had been subdivided into Second and Third Wards, mak- ing now four wards or election districts within the incorporated limits.

The earliest material public improvement built here was the stone bridge over the Manatawny Creek, at the western end of the borough, over which the Perkiomen and Reading turnpike passes, com- menced in the spring of 1804 and completed in 1806. It was built by the county while Philip Boyer, Chris- tian Weber, Richard T. Leech, Philip Hahn, Jr., Thomas Humphrey and John Markley were commis- sioners. John Lewis was engineer and John Pugh and Samuel Baird did the mason-work. It has four arches, which measure one hundred and seventy-two feet. An act of Assembly permitted the county commissioners to collect toll to help defray the ex- pense. The amount thus received in 1807 amounted to $550.51 and the following year to $1411.05. The lime used in this bridge was hauled, by contract, from Plymouth, twenty-two miles distant. The bridge over the Schuylkill at Hanover Street was built by a company incorporated March 5, 1819. It was com- menced in 1820, and was made passable in 1821. It measures between the abutments three hundred and forty feet, is twenty-cight feet wide and eighteen feet above ordinary water-level. The total cost was nearly fourteen thousand dollars, of which sum the State subscribed three thousand dollars. It was swept away by the great freshet of September 2, 1850, and rebuilt five feet higher in 1852, at a cost of twelve thousand dollars. The Reading Railroad crosses the Manatawny a short distance below the turnpike by a substantial stone bridge of five arches, ten hundred

1 By Wm. J. Buck.

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BOROUGH OF POTTSTOWN.

and seventy-one feet in length. The Madison bridge over the Schuylkill, in the lower part of Pottstown, was built by a company chartered April 5, 1867, and completed the following year. Its cost was about thirty-two thousand dollars.

The Perkiomen and Reading Turnpike Company was chartered under the acts of March 20, 1810, and Feb- uary 13, 1811. The turnpike was commenced in 1811 and finished in 1815, and extends from Perkiomen bridge (now Collegeville) to Reading, a distance of twenty-nine miles. Its cost was seven thousand dol- lars per mile, the State subscribing to the stock fifty- three thousand dollars. The canal of the Schuylkill Navigation Company, completed in 1824, is located on the opposite side of the river.

Of the various improvements at Pottstown, none singly, has contributed so much to the prosperity of the town as the Philadelphia and Reading Rail- road. The company by whom this grand work was constructed was chartered April 4, 1838. Surveys were shortly after made, and before the lapse of anothe" year it was placed under contract as far as this borough On December 9, 1839, the road was opened between Philadelphia and Reading, a distance of fifty-nine miles. On this occasion the train consisted of eighty cars. It was not completed to P'ottsville till Jan- uary, 1842. The company have erected here several extensive machine-shops, chiefly for repairs to loco- motives, cars, bridges and tracks, giving employ- ment to some four hundred hands. On this road, from its down grade, it is no unusual thing for one locomo- tive to draw from one hundred to one hundred and forty cars, each containing five tons of coal. Ac- cording to the engineer's report, the track here is elevated one hundred and forty-seven feet above tide- water at Philadelphia. The first ticket agent for Pottstown was James Jack, who had previously been the first toll-collector at the Manatawny bridge. The Colebrookdale Railroad is a branch of the Read- ing road, and extends from Pottstown, through Boyers- town, to Barto, formerly called Mount Pleasant, a distance of thirteen miles, opened to travel in the fall of 1869. The Schuylkill Valley Railroad was commenced in 1883 and was completed to Pottstown in September, 1884. It extends from Philadel- phia, through Pottstown, into the coal regions, and will, no doubt, also materially contribute to the pros- perity of the place in affording additional facilities for transportation.

Pottstown has become an important manufactur- ing place. The Pottsgrove Iron-Works belong to Potts Brothers, and went into operation in December, 1846. The rolling-mill is located on Water Street, between Penn and Charlotte; its founders were Henry and David Potts, Jr. In April, 1857, the works changed owners, and the business continued under the firm of Potts & Bailey. In October, 1862, Edward Bailey sold his interest ; and the works have been operated since by the present firm. The production is plate,

boiler, tank and flue-iron. The annual capacity is sixteen thousand net tons, and they employ about one hundred and eighty hands.

The Pottstown Iron Company was incorporated March 27, 1866, and the following year permitted to increase their capital to five hundred thousand dol- lars. The plate-mill had originally been erected in 1863 by William Mintzer and J. E. Wooten. A nail- mill was built and put in operation in October, 1866. The Anvil Furnace was built in 1867, and in December of said year was blown in. It has a capacity to pro- duce twenty thousand tons of mill pig-iron. The establishment has a capacity to produce twenty-four thousand tons of plate-iron and sixteen thousand tons of nails. Employment is given to from twelve hundred to thirteen hundred hands. The inclosed grounds cover twenty-five acres and are situated outside the borough limits. Theodore Il. Morris, of Philadelphia, is president ; Andrew Wheeler, vice- president ; Joseph K. Wheeler, secretary ; and Wil- liam N. Morris, treasurer and general manager. Its office is in Philadelphia, 1608 Market Street.

The Warwick Iron Company, with a capital of two hundred and twenty thousand dollars, com- menced their furnace in 1875, and on April 20th of the following year it was blown in. They employ sixty hands at the furnace and eighty at the mines at Boy- erstown and Siesholtzville. The annual capacity is twenty-one thousand tons, having turned out as high as four hundred and sixteen tons of mill pig-iron in one week. The officers are Isaac Fegely, president ; V. P. McUnlly, secretary; Jacob Fegely, Jr., treas- urer; Edgar S. Cook, manager. This furnace is out- side the borough limits, near the Manatawny bridge. The Philadelphia Bridge-Works, Joseph H. Cofrode and Francis H. Taylor, proprietors, were started in 1877, and employ about four hundred hands, and are located on South Street, outside the borough. They manufacture about seven thousand tons of bridge-iron annually. They have shipped materials to South America, Mexico, Canada and California.

Sotter & Brothers, in the northern part of the borough, carry on the manufacture of steam-boilers, stacks, tanks, etc., and do a business amounting to one hundred thousand dollars; established in 1878, and employ thirty-five men. The Keystone Agricul- tural Works, situated to the east of the borough, Ellis, Ilotfinan & Co., proprietors, manufacture agricul- tural implements, especially threshers and horse- powers, and employ twenty-five men. The large merchant mill of Gabel, Bartolet & Co. has a ca- pacity to manufacture above one hundred barrels of flour per day, propelled by the Manatawny and sup- posed originally erected before 1730. There are, be- sides, three steam planing-mills in the place and several other mechanical establishments.

The Gas Company was incorporated March 7, 1856; the cost of the works up to 1858 was twenty-one thou- sand dollars. In 1869 the works were found to be

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HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY.

inadequate, and were rebuilt with four times their former capacity. They are situated in the western part of the borough, near the Schuylkill. The Market Company was incorporated April 11, 1866, and in April, 1868, their capital was increased to twenty thousand dollars. The market-house was com- menced in 1867, and completed the following year at a cost of about twenty-six thousand dollars. It con- tains an office, upwards of fifty stalls, a large public hall and two lodge-rooms. The Water Company was chartered April 2, 1869, with an authorized capital of seventy-five thousand dollars. The works were commenced in that year and went into operation in 1870. The quantity of water consumed in 1875 was fifty-three million, nine hundred and thirty-five thou- sand gallons; of course, since greatly increased with the growth of the town.

The borough contains twenty-two public schools, held in nine two-story school-houses, two of which are sufficiently large for each to hold four schools. William W. Ruport and Mary Sampson are the principals of the High School. To this department is attached a fine and well-selected collection of minerals and a valua- ble collection of philosophical, physiological and geo- graphical apparatus, to which additions are constant- ly being made. The library was established by the school board in 1875, and now contains upwards of eleven hundred volumes necessary for reference. For the school year ending with June 1, 1882, twenty-one schools were opened ten months, with an average attendance of six hundred and fifty-three pupils. For the year ending June I, 1857, eight public schools were open only six months, and attended by three hundred and ninety-two scholars. In 1875 the num- ber had increased to sixteen schools, with nine hun- dred and seventy-five scholars.

The first school-house, probably, in the place was erected by the Lutheran congregation, and continued as a subscription school until about 1841. The ground on which it stands was conveyed by a deed dated August 24, 1784, to the trustees of the church by George Gilbert and Salome, his wife. This building is still standing and used as a dwelling. An old log school-house stood on Chestnut Street, west of Han- over, and was torn down about 1856. Schools were also held at various times in private residences. In 1Ianover Street, near Queen, a school, designated the academy, was conducted for several years in which the higher branches were taught. In the spring of 1802, S. Chandler, A.M., was the principal, and taught English grammar, geography, elocution, Latin and French. The Rev. William Christie, of North- umberland, had charge in the spring of 1806, and, in addition to the aforesaid branches, advertised to teach Greek, Hebrew, Spanish, Italian and German, besides, history, moral philosophy and mathematics.

What was termed the Pottstown Academy stood on Chestnut Street, between Hanover and Penn, the site of which is now occupied by the Jefferson Public

School. It was built in 1834, of stone, one story high, and was a remarkably quaint-looking edifice. Public meetings, lectures, etc., were frequently held in it. It was torn down by the school board, in 1873, to make room for the present commodious structure. In con- sequence of the public-school system having been adopted in 1838 (by a small majority), two additional brick school-houses were built and used for this pur- pose, besides the academy. In 1854 the large two- story brick Streeper building was erected. Two pri- vate seminaries, in 1858, were successfully conducted here. One, the Cottage Female Seminary, commenced in 1850, of which the Rev. Robert Cruikshank was principal, and a boarding-school for boys, established in 1852 by Professor M. Meigs. The latter is now conducted by John Meigs, son of the former principal. The Pottstown Library Company, incor- porated August 29, 1810, formed a library which was continued until about 1850, when it died out. The charter members of the Library Company were Samuel Baird, George Leaf, Thomas R. Brooke, Francis R. Potts, William Mintzer, John Boyer, Jesse Ives, Daniel Price, William Thompson, Thomas Baird, James Rees, Daniel Reinhart, Joseph Potts, Matthew Pearce, Israel Ortlip, James B. Ilarris, William Ives, Jr., and Robert MeClintock. The directors for 1824 were Joseph Potts, Jesse Ives, Christian Beary, Thomas R. Brooke, Thomas Baird, John Rees and William Mintzer. Secretary, treasurer and librarian, William Baird. About 1845 another was started of which, in 1858, D. H. Keim was librarian; it then contained ten hundred and fifty volumes. This also went down about 1860. The books of the original association now form a part of the public school library.

Several secret and beneficial societies are in the borough, but none as yet occupy their own buildings. There are two lodges of Odd-Fellows, one lodge of Ancient York Masons, two tribes of the Improved Order of Red Men, two councils of United American Mechanics, one lodge of Good Templars, one camp of the Patriotic Order of Sons of America, one lodge of the Knights of Pythias, one post of the Grand Army of the Republic, one castle of the Knights of the Mystic Chain and one branch of the Irish Catholic Benevolent Union. A cornet band was formed about 1854 and continues to flourish. The opera-house, in King Street, is the only hall in which concerts, etc., are given. The building was ereeted in 1869, seventy-five by fifty-seven feet in dimensions, and possesses stage scenery. A Young Men's Christian Association has also been re- cently organized.

The first house of worship supposed to have been built in Pottstown was the Friends' Meeting-house. Soon after the laying out of the place, in 1753, John Potts donated a lot of ground for this purpose, on which, no doubt, it was shortly thereafter erected. Jesse Ives. long a member, and owner of the extensive grist-mill on the Manatawny, stated in 1850 that when Washing- I ton's army was here in September 1777, the meeting-

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BOROUGH OF POTTSTOWN.

house was used by some of the soldiers as quarters. When first seen by the writer, in 1858, it was a small one-story brick building that had been recently re- paired. It was torn down in 1875 and replaced by the present building. It is in charge of the Orthodox branch of Friends, and is located on King Street, between Hanover and Penn.

We shall here pass over the Reformed aud Lutheran Churches, for which there is sufficient material to form articles by themselves, which will subsequently appear. The next in order of time is Christ Episco- pal Church, the congregation of which was formed in 1828 or the following year, services being con- ducted by the Rev. Levi Bull, Rev. George Mintzer and occasionally by others. A brick church was built on Hanover Street and dedicated January 18, 1833. In 1845 another church was erected, besides a chapel in 1867. The present beautiful red sandstone Gothic edifice was built in 1872, at a cost of fifteen thousand dollars. The Rev. Edmund Leaf was rector for some time, succeeded by the Rev. Aaron Christman, Rev. Samuel Edwards and Rev. B. McGann. Rev. Samuel F. Warren is now in charge.

The Methodist Episcopal congregation was formed in 1838, and a church erected on Main Street the ; houses of worship; in 1860, eight; and in 1876 had in- following year. This was torn down, and the corner- i creased to twelve, two of which belong to the Reformed

stone of the new edifice laid in June, 1869, but was not fully finished until the close of 1871. It is a fine Gothic structure of red sandstone, two stories high, and cost twenty thousand dollars. A house and lot adjoining has been recently purchased for a parsonage. The membership is stated to be upwards of four hun- dred. The Rev. J. S. Hughes was appointed to this charge in the spring of 1883.

The congregation of the First Presbyterian Church was organized in May, 1848. The church was com- menced in 1851 and completed in May, 1853. It is situated on the north corner of Main and Evans Streets. The first pastor was Rev. William R. Work, succeeded by Rev. Robert Cruikshank, Rev. J. C. Thompson and Rev. Henry F. Lee. The Rev. H. B. Stevenson is the present pastor. The congregation owns a parsonage in the eastern part of the town, a short distance from the borough line.

St. Aloysius' Catholic Church is situated at the northeast corner of Hanover and Beech Streets, and was built in 1856. The congregation was formed and A. Balley, of Churchville, Berks Co. The Rev. Philip O. Farrell, of Phoenixville, was chiefly instru- mental in securing the erection of the church. On the laying of the corner-stone the Rev. Edward Sourin preached, and at the dedication the Rev. Daniel Sheri- dan officiated. The Rev. John Davis succeeded as priest until September, 1858, followed by Rev. W. F. Cooke and Rev. William A. MeLaughlin. The Rev. John A. Wagner has now the charge. The church lot contains an acre of ground, a part of which is appropriated to the purposes of a cemetery.

Near the beginning of 1858 a series of protracted meetings were held in Keystone Hall, under charge of the Rev. David Jeffries, of the Lower Providence Baptist Church, assisted by Rev. Hugh Barclay, of Vincent, Chester Co. The result was that fifteen males and thirty-five females were baptized in the Schuylkill in the following spring. Of that num- ber, nineteen were heads of families, which led to an organization May 26th of that year. The church was ereeted in the following summer and fall, and completed in 1859. It is a handsome two-story build- ing, forty-four by sixty feet in dimensions, and cost about four thousand dollars. Mr. Jeffries continued its pastor until his death, November 30, 1860. The Rev. N. C. Naylor has had the charge now for some time.

The Salem Evangelical Church, situated at the northwest corner of Franklin and Beech Streets, was built in 1870, the congregation having been formed the previous year. The Rev. Thomas Harper was lately pastor. The African Methodist Episcopal Church of which Rev. C. W. Boardly has charge, is located op- posite the Salem Church, and was also erected in 1870. They possess a burial-ground on Beech Street, near Hanover. Pottstown in 1832, contained only two

and two to the Lutherans.

Several cemeteries are located in or near the bor- ough. The most ancient is the Sprogell burial-ground, where several members of that family have been in- terred. It is east of the borough line and on the west side of the Reading Railroad. One stone bears the date of 1716 and another of 1718, showing that John Henry Sprogell and his family were settled here quite early. The burial-ground of the Potts family is to the rear of the Friends' Meeting-house, fronting on Chestnut Street. John Potts, the donor of the ground, was buried here, having died June 6, 1768. Some of the early residents of the place are interred here, among whom can be mentioned members of the Potts, Rutter and Hobart families. The graveyard attached to Zion's Reformed and Emanuel Lutheran Churches is next in the order of time. The earliest date here legible on a tombstone is 1770. Many of the early settlers were also interred here. The Pottstown Cemetery, to the north of the borough limits, fronts both on Hanover and Charlotte Streets, and was incorporated November 13, 1822, the ground has been increased to twenty-six acies, and is jointly owned by the members of the Reformed and Lutheran Churches. The grounds are beautifully laid out and upwards of two thousand have already been buried here. The Edgewood Cemetery is situated to the east of the borough, and contains five acres. The company was incor- porated August 21, 1866. Mount Zion Cemetery incorporated November 10, 1873, is located on the op- posite side of the river, and comprises a tract of forty aeres.

monthly services held some time previously by Rev. 1854. Through five purchases, down to the spring of

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HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY.

The post-office at Pottstown was the first established in the county, aud was named Pottsgrove, which name it held until January 29, 1829, when it was changed to Pottstown. It became a Presidential office March 11, 1865. The following is a list of postmasters, as far as ascertainable, from its establishment, in 1793: Jacob Barr, December, 1793; Edward Godwin, July 1, 1795; George Pfeyer, January 1, 1808; Jacob Drinkhouse, July 1, 1808; Thomas Child, April 1, 1818; William Boyer, February 13, 1838; William Von Gezer, Decem- ber 25, 1843; Tobias Sellers, January 9, 1844; Aaron L. Curtis, April 7, 1849; Thomas I. Rutter, April 22, 1853; John S. Weiler, October 1, 1860; Henry Mint- zer, March 16, 1861 ; Davis H. Missimer, September 21, 1866; William Savage, July 1, 1868; William M. Mint- zer, May 14, 1869; Alexander Malsberger, July 1, 1877. The post-office was established here near the close of 1793, and Jacob Barr appointed first postmaster, which position we know, from an advertisement of uncalled letters, he still held in the beginning of 1803. Jacob Drinkhouse was postmaster in 1816. The Bank of Pottstown was incorporated May 15, 1857, and went into operation September 14th of that year, with a capital of $100,000. Henry Potts was elected presi- dent, William Mintzer cashier and Daniel Price teller. It was approved by the comptroller of currency as a national bank December 6, 1864. The capital was increased to $200,000, and so remained until January 14, 1868, when it was made $300,000. The present officers are D. R. Price, president, and Horace Evans, cashier.

The Fire Department of Pottstown comprises two steam fire-engine companies. The Good-Will No. 1, was instituted January 3, 1871, and chartered the 29th of May following. They possess a steamer, hose- carriage and all the necessary apparatus. The Phila- delphia Fire-Engine Company was incorporated August 21, 1871. They have a Silsby rotary steam fire-engine, which cost four thousand five hundred dollars, a hose- carriage, etc. In addition there is also the Empire Hook-and-Ladder Company, No. 1, of which Henry Whartenby is president.

Two daily and two weekly newspapers are published in the place. The Pottstown Ledger is published daily and weekly by L. H. Davis and W. J. Binder. Its daily publication was commenced October 1, 1873. The Morning Chronicle is also published daily and weekly by A. R. Saylor & Brother. It commeneed its career as a daily in the fall of 1879. These are well- conducted papers and a credit to the place. To L. H. Davis we are partly indebted for an account of the papers published here in the past. The first, it appears, was the Pottstown Times, issued July 1, 1819, by John Royer. Its size may be judged, as it had but four columns to a page. The Lafayette Aurora, with five columns to a page, was published by Daniel Glackens and Joshua Keely in the spring of 1824. In 1828 Mr. Royer started a German paper called Der Advocat. Mention is made in "Gordon's Gazetteer " of the Amer-

ican Star being published here about 1831. After being issued several years, the Times was changed to the Pottstown Journal, of which J. C. Slemmer became proprietor; it was merged into the Montgomery Ledger in 1843. Mr. Davis became one of the proprietors in 1855, associating with him as partner, in 1866, Mr. Binder. Within the last half-century several other papers have been published here Robert D. Powell started the Anti-Abolitionist ; S. D. Patterson, the Rural Visitor ; J. S. Wheeler and P. Keen, the Pottstown Democrat, in 1855; G. W. Vernon and Hiram Brower, the Pottstown Tariffite, from 1842 to 1845. In October, 1874, the Pottstown Advertiser was started by D. Q. Geiger.

No doubt public-houses existed here some time be- fore the Revolution. The "Rising Sun " tavern, whose history goes back at least to 1776, stood at the south- east corner of Main and York Streets. Jacob Witz was licensed to keep it as a public-house in 1779. Jacob Barr, the first postmaster of Pottstown, kept it for a number of years. In the fall of 1806 he adver- tised the property at private sale, and then stated that it had been kept for thirty years as a tavern, and that the Reading mail-stage for Philadelphia stopped there four times every week. This subsequently be- came one of the most noted stage-stands in the upper part of the county. Respecting Jacob Barr in this connection, we may state that he was appointed the first steward of the Montgomery County poor-house, and is known to have held this position until 1816, and one account states until his death, in 1819. The Rising Sun was owned and kept by John Boyer until 1844 or the following year, when he was sue- ceeded by Barnet Weand. It was a frame building and was torn down 1865. There is a tradition that Washington stopped at this house in September, 1777, and in 1794, while on his way to suppress the Whiskey Insurrection. Opposite this stand, near the beginning of this century, was also a public-house, whose sign was the "Swan," afterwards changed to "Washing- ton," and later the "Farmers' Hotel."

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History of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, Part 172

Author: Bean, Theodore Weber, 1833-1891, [from old catalog] ed; Buck, William J. (William Joseph), 1825-1901 Publication date: 1884 Publisher: Philadelphia, Everts & Peck Number of Pages: 1534

Author: Bean, Theodore Weber, 1833-1891, [from old catalog] ed; Buck, William J. (William Joseph), 1825-1901
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Philadelphia, Everts & Peck
Number of Pages: 1534