USA > Pennsylvania > Northumberland County > History of Northumberland County, Pennsylvania > Part 33
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through lauds of the said Widow Watts to her house; thence due south one hundred perches to the line of Widow Harrison's land through the lands of Widow Watts; from theoce the old road to Chil- lisquaque creek." The court approved the report, and on the 28th of January, 1813, issued an order to open the road. This road throughout a large part of its course became the easteru boundary of the county by the act of January 22, 1816, the particulars of which are given in the chapter on Organi- zation and Administration in this work.
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Harrisburg. The name of the old Tulpehocken road was gradually transferred to it, and at the present day it almost monopolizes that designation.
The road originally laid out from Sunbury to the mouth of Mahantango was merely a bridle road, and little more than a legalized path. At Feb- ruary sessions, 1782, the court was petitioned to open a public highway of the regular width, and viewers were accordingly appointed. Nothing what- ever was done under this order, and at February term, 1785, John White, Casper Snider, Adam Miller, Sebastian Brosius, Samuel Moodie, and Samuel Weiser were substituted for the persons originally selected, and Samuel Auchmuty seems to have officiated in place of Moodie. Their report was confirmed at May sessions, 1785, and the road ordered opened thirty-three feet wide. At a later date this road was widened at various places at con- siderable expense, and was a much traveled route until the construction of the railroad.
The road opened in 1786-88 from Northumberland to Wolf's run was too far distant from the river to confer much substantial benefit upon the inhab- itants in the immediate vicinity of the West Branch. This was early antici- pated, and at February sessions, 1786, three petitions were presented for a road from Sunbury to Lycoming, in which the citizens of Turbut, Mahoning, and Muncy appear to have given a general concurrence. A view was ordered, but no proceedings under it are known to have occurred. A year later the case was reopened; John Boyd, Abraham Scott, Thomas Palmer, Samuel Harris, Henry Shoemaker, and William Hepburn, viewers appointed, made return at May term, 1787, which was confirmed and the road ordered to be " maintained, deemed, and taken thenceforth for an open highway of the breadth of fifty feet forever." As thus described the road began "at a post on the westerly side of the East Branch of Susquehanna river in the middle of Market street in the town of Northumberland " continuing at no great dis- tance from the channel of the West Branch to " a post in the end of Amariah Sutton's lane and on the easterly bank of Lycoming creek."
A road crossing diagonally from Muncy creek to the mouth of Mahoning creek and thence in a southeasterly direction to the Reading and Sunbury road was projected at an early period in the history of the county, and prob- ably originated with the Montgomerys, the enterprising founders of Danville. That part from the West Branch of Susquehanna to the North Branch was confirmed at August term, 1785. At February sessions, 1786, the court was petitioned to continue it to the Reading road, but the persons appointed to that service "through hurry of business" neglected to attend to it, and the petition was again presented at May term. John Irwin, William McLees, John Teitsworth, Michael Weaver, Alexander Ewing, and Richard Robinson were appointed as viewers; they reported at August term following the courses and distances from the Reading road to the top of Shamokin Hill near Robert Randolph's plantation, a distance of five miles, which was con-
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firmed; regarding the remaining distance they were not fully agreed, and evidently failed to agree, for at the same term of court a different set of viewers was constituted. In August, 1790, another effort was made to have this road opened, from the top of Shamokin Hill to the North Branch, but, owing to irregularities in the proceedings of the viewers, their report was set aside. The object desired was finally attained at November sessions, 1791, when the report of James Finney, John Bogart, Isaac Coldron, Thomas Wil- lits, Nehemiah Hutton, and Jacob Faust, Jr., providing for a road from Gen- eral Montgomery's house at the site of Danville to "a pine tree in the end of the old road on the top of Shamokin Hill" received confirmation at the hands of the court. This was the most important road opened in the eastern part of the county at an early date.
The first public road in the valley of Little Shamokin creek was petitioned for at August term, 1787. The projectors represented "that a number of people who have settled, and others who are wanting to settle, in Little Shamokin creek valley labor under many inconveniences for want of a road to begin at the Reading road at Lewis's run and to extend up said run through Lightfoot's and Starr's land, [in] the said valley, Jacob Miller's land, and to meet the Reading road at John Miller's tavern," and, with com- mendable public spirit, expressed their willingness to "open and maintain such a road at their own expense, providing the court will empower them to do so." As viewers the court appointed Jacob Conrad, Adam Miller, William Gray, Thomas Reece, John Weitzel, and John Miller, who made report at the following term.
A legally authorized highway was first opened through the valley of Greenbrier or Schwaben creek in 1788. It was laid out by Andrew Reitz, John Nicholas Hettrick, John Nicholas Snyder, George Pfeiffer, Michael Roth, and Frederick Kobel, and extended from the Sunbury and Paxtang (Tulpehocken) road ten miles in a general easterly direction. The viewers were appointed at November sessions, 1787, and their report was confirmed at May term, 1788.
TURNPIKES.
In 1799 Jacob D. Breyvogel collected certain sums of money aggregat- ing two hundred sixty-seven dollars, forty-nine cents, for the improve- ment of the Reading road between John Teitsworth's and Jeremiah Reed's. Thomas Grant was treasurer of the fund, and Colonel John Bull superin- tended its expenditure. The labor bestowed upon the road was entirely in- adequate, however, and it presented a favorable opportunity for improvement under corporate auspices.
The Centre Turnpike Company was incorporated by act of the legis- lature, March 25, 1805, the corporators being Joseph Priestley and John Cowden, of Northumberland; Charles Hall, of Sunbury; Dr. James Dougal,
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of Milton; Daniel Montgomery, of Danville; Jacob Toppel, of Hamburg; Joseph Heister and James May, of Reading; Samuel Morris, Thomas Leiper, William Tilghman, and James Gibson, of Philadelphia, and William Hep- burn, of Lycoming county, who were authorized to construct a road by the nearest and best way from Sunbury to Reading, the road to be opened sixty feet wide and the width of the part artificially constructed to be eighteen feet. Milestones were to be erected, and bridges were authorized wherever the company should deem neccessary or expedient.
As with the majority of internal improvements in progress at that date, the work of construction did not advance rapidly. A supplement to the act of incorporation was secured on the 17th of March, 1806, by which John Dorsey, Samuel Meeker, Thomas Fitzsimmons, and Peter Robison were added to the corporators, and the company was granted the privilege of con- structing a section thirty miles in length beginning at Teitsworth's tavern, thirteen miles east of Sunbury. By the act of March 21, 1808, the Governor was authorized to subscribe for six hundred shares of stock in the company, which amount was increased to nine hundred in 1812. Under this appropri- ation the road was at length completed; but the company had secured advances from the Bank of Pennsylvania, the adjudication of which involved protracted and expensive litigation, and in 1821 an appropriation of thirty thousand dollars was made by the legislature to be applied by the managers towards paying the judgment obtained at the suit of the bank against the former managers, Daniel De B. Keim, John Adams, and others. The aggre- gate capitalization was one hundred forty thousand dollars; the road was seventy-six miles in length, extending from Sunbury in a general easterly direction to Bear Gap, on the extreme eastern limit of the county, and thence southeast across the mountains to Reading. It was never a paying property; on the other hand, it proved to be a drain upon the treasury of the State, which ultimately sold its interest at much less than the par value. It was purchased principally by the Messrs. Taggart and Priestley, of Northumber- land, and their families had a controlling interest in the property for many years. That part of the road between Sunbury and Pottsville was very unprofitable to the stockholders; consequently it received but little improve- ment, and public sentiment. at length compelled its abandonment. The section between Pottsville and Reading was operated until a few years since; when the Pennsylvania Schuylkill Valley railroad was constructed it became necessary to use the road bed of the pike as the line of that railroad, and a controlling interest was accordingly purchased by J. C. Bright, of Pottsville, for the Pennsylvania Railroad Company. The turnpike thus ceased to be a Northumberland county institution in proprietary control, as it had ceased to be in fact some years previously. Originally projected by resi- dents of this county principally, the turnpike was an enterprise in every way creditable to local financiering. Aside from business considerations, its man-
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agement was distinguished by certain social features well worthy of mention. Semi-annual banquets were regularly held, usually at Pottsville or Reading, but sometimes in Philadelphia or elsewhere. These were attended by the officers and managers, many of the stockholders, and invited guests, among whom were ex-Governors Curtin and Pollock on one occasion, with other prominent public men. These will be remembered when the turnpike itself the difficulties of its early history, the perplexities of its management, and the circumstances of its final abandonment-have passed out of the tradi- tions of the community.
The Danville Turnpike Road Company was incorporated by act of the legislature, January 21, 1813, with the following corporators: Lewis Reese and James May, of Reading; Daniel Montgomery, Jr., and William Mont- gomery, Jr., of Danville; Jacob Gearhart and John Jones, of Shamokin township; Bethuel Vincent and Seth Iredell, of Milton, John Funston and John Fruit, of Derry; Jacob Shoemaker and George Webb, of Pennsborough; and Joseph Eves and Richard Demott, of Fishing Creek. The course of the road Jed from Danville to Bear Gap by way of Elysburg. It was in- tended by tl is to render the trade of Danville tributary to the Centre turn- pike, as well as to deflect a share of the travel over that thoroughfare to Danville, and both objects were subserved to an equal extent. But it does not appear that a great amount of money was ever expended on the improve- ment of the road, while the tolls, which were the same as those charged on the Centre turnpike, were deemed excessive and exorbitant in proportion to the benefits conferred. This at length resulted in the forfeiture of the char- ter, which was repealed by act of the legislature, April 8, 1848. The road thus reverted to the townships through which it passes, and has since received only the amount of attention usually bestowed upon public roads.
RIVER NAVIGATION-CANALS.
The Susquehanna river was declared a public highway by act of Assem- bly, March 9, 1771, and James Wright, George Ross, Thomas Minshall, John Lowdon, Alexander Lowry, William Maclay, Samuel Hunter, Jr., Will- iam Patterson, Robert Callender, Charles Steward, Reuben Haines, Thomas Holt, and William Richardson were appointed commissioners to expend any moneys that might be subscribed or appropriated for the improvement of that river or of the Juniata, Conestoga, Bald Eagle, Mahanoy, Penn's creek, the Swatara, Conodoguinet, and Kiskiminetas. It is not probable that the duties of the commission were onerous, although their labors were doubtless attended with beneficial results.
While the varieties of river craft used in the transportation of the products of the upper Susquehanna valley included rafts, arks, flat-boats, etc., the Durham boat was most widely and generally known. This craft derived its name from Durham, in Bucks county, Pennsylvania, not far below
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HISTORY OF NORTHUMBERLAND COUNTY.
Easton, where it was first made, and used by the proprietors of the furnace at that place in shipping their product to Philadelphia. Sixty feet in length, eight feet wide, and two feet deep, a Durham boat drew twenty inches of water under fifteen tons burthen, and was therefore peculiarly adapted to the navigation of shallow streams. It floated with the current on the down- ward voyage; when a swift riffle was reached, a light cable attached to a windlass in the stern or prow was made fast to a tree or rock on shore, thus assisting in steadying the boat and restraining its progress. When manned by four men with "setting " poles, the boat progressed at the rate of two miles an hour against the current; this method of locomotion was called "poling " or "cordelling, " and was extremely laborious. It frequently occurred, however, that the boat was sold with its cargo when the destina- tion was reached, in which case the boatmen returned on foot.
The introduction of sails occurred in 1805-06, when the first experiments in utilizing the force of the winds in river navigation were made by Captains Jordan and Blair; the innovation was at once received with favor, and gener- ally adopted. A further improvement was the introduction of horse-power in ascending the stream in a calm. The horse was hitched to the boat by a light tow line, and was usually driven near the bank by a boy; when not needed the animal was taken on board.
Steamboat navigation on the Susquehanna was first attempted in 1826. Largely through the instrumentality of Peter A. Karthaus, who owned a large body of land on the headwaters of the West Branch, and Tunison Coryell, of Williamsport, two steamboats, the Codorus and Susquehanna, were built, the former under Baltimore and the latter under Philadelphia auspices. The Codorus was commanded by Captain Elger, who experienced great diffi- culty in ascending the river, but Williamsport and Farrandsville were at length reached, after which the boat returned to Northumberland and as- cended the North Branch as far as Wilkesbarre and Binghampton. The Susquehanna was a boat of larger dimensions than the Codorus, and in at- tempting to pass the Nescopec rapids in the North Branch on the 3d of May, 1826, the boiler exploded, resulting in the complete wreck of the boat and injury or death to many of the passengers and crew. This disaster conclu- sively demonstrated the impracticability of navigating the river by steam. After the construction of the Shamokin dam at Sunbury a sufficient depth of water was created to permit the use of small steamers between Shamokin Dam, Sunbury, Northumberland, and adjacent points.
The construction of canals was at once agitated as the only feasible means of transporting the increasing products of the interior of the State to the seaboard. On the 24th of March, 1828, an act was passed by the legislature by which the board of canal commissioners was "authorized and required, on behalf of this Commonwealth, as speedily as may be, to locate and contract for making canals, locks, and other works necessary thereto," from North-
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umberland to Bald Eagle on the West Branch, and from Northumberland to the State line on the North Branch. A survey and exploration by an engi- neer was directed to be made on the west side of the West Branch, and, after taking into consideration "the relative advantages, facility, cost of construc- tion, and interests of the Commonwealth," the board was to decide which side of the river was the more eligible. Contracts were to be let in that year for the construction of not more than twenty-five nor less than twenty miles on the West Branch, and of not more than forty-five nor less than fifteen on the North Branch. It is needless to state that the eastern side of the West Branch was selected by the commissioners; and, if the injunction of the legislature was fully carried out, nearly the entire length of both canals in this county was placed under construction in 1828. Delays occurred to interfere with the progress of the work, however, and it was not until 1830 that the North and West Branch canals were opened a sufficient distance to secure an ap- preciable amount of traffic. The construction of the Lewisburg cross-cut was authorized by act of May 27, 1830.
Two packet boats, the George Denison and Gertrude, were launched by Miller Horton and A. O. Cahoon, respectively, in 1835, for the transportation of passengers between Northumberland and Wilkesbarre. Similar facilities were provided on the West Branch, and also on the division between North- umberland and Harrisburg, and during the season of navigation they were a great public convenience, partially taking the place of the stage coach. Dur- ing the prosperous days of the canal, Northumberland was an important point upon this system of internal communication. Here the outlet lock of both the North and West Branch divisions was located; several hundred thousand dollars were collected annually from tolls, and the amount of traffic was considerable. But the public works of the State were never remunera- tive; a heavy indebtedness was incurred in their construction, and when a comparison of receipts with operating expenses revealed an annual deficit to increase the original indebtedness, with the prospect of decreasing revenue as the result of railway competition, popular sentiment and public policy alike demanded such a disposition of the property as would relieve the State from further expense in connection with it. The "main line," between Philadel- phia and Pittsburgh, was sold to the Pennsylvania Railroad Company in 1857; the West Branch division is now the property of the Philadelphia and Erie Railroad Company, but has been abandoned above Muncy dam and is used to a very limited extent between that point and Northumberland; the North Branch division is owned by the Pennsylvania Canal Company, and is principally used in the transportation of coal from the Wyoming basin.
RAILROADS.
While canals or slackwater navigation entered almost exclusively into the system of internal improvements designed by the State, and the discussion
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of projects for the construction of artificial waterways received a large share of public attention, there were also those who regarded railroads as most likely to confer permanent advantages and result in benefits commensurate with their cost. This was attributable in some measure to the natural feat- ures of the State. It had not yet been demonstrated that canal construction was feasible except in immediate proximity to a river or other source of water supply, and hence railroads received consideration as a means of communi- cation between the valleys of the Schuylkill and Susquehanna. Legislative provision was made for the incorporation of three companies in 1826, one of which was the Danville and Pottsville Railroad Company. As ultimately constructed, the line of this road is located entirely in Northumberland county, of which it was for some years the only railroad. It is now a part of the Pennsylvania railroad system, a brief history of which may properly precede that of its lines in this county.
The Pennsylvania Railroad Company was chartered, April 13, 1846; the original line of its road extended from Harrisburg to Pittsburgh, a dis- tance of two hundred forty-eight miles, and was opened throughout its en- tire length on the 15th of February, 1854. The line from Harrisburg to Philadelphia is made up of the old Philadelphia and Columbia railroad, originally a State work, and the Harrisburg, Portsmouth, Mt. Joy and Lancaster railroad, chartered in 1832, opened in 1838, and leased in 1849. The Pennsylvania Railroad Company has a large if not a controlling inter- est in the Northern Central railway, and is the lessee of the Philadelphia and Erie, the Sunbury, Hazelton and Wilkesbarre, the Sunbury and Lewis- town, and the Lewisburg and Tyrone railroads, all of which are partly sit- uated in Northumberland county.
The Danville and Pottsville Railroad Company was authorized by act of the legislature approved on the 8th of April, 1826, by which the follow- ing persons were appointed as commissioners for its organization: Daniel Montgomery and George A. Frick, of Danville; Andrew McReynolds, of Columbia county; John C. Boyd, of Northumberland county; Benjamin Potts, Francis B. Nichols, George Taylor, and John C. Offerman, of Schuyl- kill county; Daniel Graeff and Edward B. Hubley, of Berks county, and George W. Smith and Mark Richards, of Philadelphia. A capital of one hundred thousand dollars was authorized, in shares of fifty dollars each. The route of the proposed road was described as follows: "Beginning at or near the ferry house on the south side of the Susquehanna, opposite the town of Danville, in the township of Rush in Northumberland county, and extending to the Schuylkill canal at Pottsville."
Over this line a railroad was to be constructed, with a grade not to exceed an inch to the foot. Causeways were to be erected over the railway where- ever it was intersected by a public road or turnpike, and also for the con- venience of private owners through whose lands it passed. It was declared
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to be a public highway upon completion of any section five miles in length; persons using it were required to provide such vehicles as should be pre- scribed by the company, and in the transportation of commodities the fol- lowing rates of toll were established: coal, salt, gypsum, and lime, one and one half cents per ton per mile; lumber, squared or round, two cents per mile per hundred feet solid; boards, plank, scantling, or other sawed stuff reduced to inch stuff, two cents per mile per thousand feet; staves and head- ings for pipes and hogsheads, two cents per thousand per mile; all other articles not enumerated, four cents per ton per mile; and twenty per cent. additional for single and detached articles weighing less than a ton. The character of these provisions is sufficient evidence that the railroad industry was in its incipiency. The erection of causeways at every intersection with a public road indicates an exaggerated idea of the danger of a railroad crossing to public travel; the articles enumerated-coal and lumber-show from what sources the revenue was expected to be derived; and the railroad was popularly regarded as differing from the turnpike principally in construction and motive power, individuals furnishing their own vehicles for transportation on one as well as the other. It was not until 1831 that the company was authorized "to purchase, with the funds of the said com- pany, and place on the railroad constructed by them under this act, all ma- chines, wagons, vehicles, carriages, and teams, of any kind whatsoever that they may deem necessary or proper for the purposes of transportation," the rates charged to be twice as great as those originally provided for, and the goods to be transported in the order of receipt at the depot. This marks an important advance in the ideas of railroad management at that period.
It does not appear that any definite progress was made under the original act of incorporation. A supplement, which received executive sanction on the 14th of April, 1828, authorized an increase of the capital stock to one million dollars and the construction of branches to Catawissa and Sunbury; the number of commissioners was increased, among the additional names being those of Joseph R. Priestley, William A. Lloyd, and John Taggart, of North- umberland, and Hugh Bellas, Ebenezer Greenough, Martin Weaver, and Alexander Jordan, of Sunbury, with others from Catawissa, Philadelphia, and Pottsville. New vitality was infused into the enterprise; it obtained the active support of Stephen Girard, of Philadelphia, and Burd Patterson, of Pottsville, while General Daniel Montgomery, of Danville, had been an active promoter from its first inception. A survey was made, the route was deter- mined upon, and twelve miles of the eastern division had been completed, when the death of Girard deprived the project of its principal financial sup- porter. In this emergency recourse was had to the State legislature, and on the 8th of April, 1834, an act, pledging the faith of the State to the payment annually of five per cent. interest for twenty-seven years upon the bonds of
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