History of Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, Part 54

Author: Bell, Herbert C. (Herbert Charles), 1868- ed; John, J. J., 1829-
Publication date: 1891
Publisher: Chicago, Brown, Runk
Number of Pages: 1424

USA > Pennsylvania > Northumberland County > History of Northumberland County, Pennsylvania > Part 54

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).

The Shamokin circuit, extending from the Susquehanna river to Broad mountain between Mahantango and Nescopec creeks, was formed in 1812, and it is quite probable that the preachers appointed to it included Sunbury in their field of labor. From 1812 to 1830 the following clergymen succes- sively officiated on this circuit: 1812, James H. Baker, James Hickcox; 1813, Abraham Dawson, Nathaniel Reeder; 1814, Marmaduke Pearce; 1815-16, Benjamin Bidlack; 1817, Abraham Dawson; 1818, Isreal Cook; 1819, Elisha Bibins; 1820, Marmaduke Pearce; 1821-22, John Rhodes; 1823, David Steel; 1824, Jacob R. Shepherd; 1825, John Thomas; 1826, John Taney- hill; 1827, Jonathan Munroe; 1828, Henry Tarring; 1829, Edward E. Allen. In 1830 the name was changed to Sunbury circuit, which was served by the following ministers until 1868: 1830, Josiah Forest; 1831, Oliver Ege, James H. Brown; 1832, Wesley Howe, J. Clark; 1833, Thomas Taneyhill, John R. Tallentyre; 1834, Thomas Taneyhill, John Guyer; 1835, Oliver Ege, J. Anderson; 1836, Oliver Ege, G. C. Gibbons; 1837, Henry G. Dill, Charles E. Brown; 1838, Henry G. Dill, John W. Haughawaut; 1839, John Rhodes, William Hurst; 1840, John Rhodes, John Ball; 1841, John Ball, Gideon H. Day; 1842, George Bergstresser, William S. Baird; 1843, Alem Brittain, Jacob Montgomery; 1844, Alem Brittain, John W. Tongue; 1845, John W. Haughawaut, Jacob S. McMurray; 1846, John W. Haughawaut, Thomas Bernhart; 1847, Peter McEnally, H. Huffman; 1848, James Ewing, J. P. Simpson; 1849, James Ewing, William Gwynn; 1850, John Stine, William Gwynn; 1851, John Stine, Albert Hartman; 1852, Joseph A. Ross, T. M. Goodfeller; 1853, Joseph A. Ross; 1854, J. G. McKeehan, James Curns; 1855, J. G. McKeehan, B. P. King; 1856, Thomas Taneyhill, N. W. Colburn; 1857, Thomas Taneyhill, M. L. Drum; 1858-59, George Warren, F. B. Riddle; 1860, E. Butler, J. P. Swanger; 1861, E. Butler, J. A. Dixon; 1862, A. M. Creighton, B. F. Stevens; 1863, A. M. Creighton, E. T. Swartz; 1864, B. P. King, J. M. Akers; 1865, B. P. King, W. H. Norcross; 1866, J. Anderson, E. Shoemaker; 1867, J. Anderson, W. Fritz. Since 1868 Sunbury has been a station with the following pastors: 1868-70, W. W. Evans; 1871, J. C. Clark; 1872-73, G. D. Pennepacker; 1874-76, J. A. DeMoyer; 1877-78, S. W. Sears; 1879-81, Hiles A. Pardoe; 1882, G. T. Gray; 1883-84, William G. Ferguson; 1885-87, Reuben E. Wilson; 1888, William V. Ganoe, present incumbent.

The Sunday school was organized in 1841 with James Huston as super- intendent and Solomon Shaffer as secretary.

509

SUNBURY.

St. Matthew's Protestant Episcopal Church .- Rev. Caleb Hopkins, who had organized parishes at Bloomsburg, Milton, and Jerseytown, came to Sunbury occasionally as early as 1812 and conducted Episcopal services in the Lutheran church. It is entered of record that Reverend Bacon, after- ward a missionary to Africa, held one service in 1817; that Rev. Elijah Plumb, who had charge of a classical school at Northumberland, held regular services, 1819-22, at the public buildings or the Lutheran church; that Rev. William Eldred, of Muncy, held occasional services in 1825, and that Rev. James Depui, of Bloomsburg, administered the sacraments and conducted public worship in 1826. In that year, and doubtless through Mr. Dupui's instrumentality, the parish was organized, in the parlor of Mrs. Charles Hegins, now the residence of Mrs. Charles G. Donnel, on the north side of the public square in Sunbury; the following persons were among those pres- ent: Mrs. Charles Dering and her sister, Miss Giberson, Mrs. Charles G. Donnel (nee Hegins), John D. Hegins, and William Dewart.

The first steps toward the erection of a church building were taken on the 10th of January, 1829, when the vestry authorized Mrs. Catharine Ogle, of Philadelphia, and William Dewart, of Sunbury, to receive subscriptions for that purpose. On the 8th of August, 1827, the vestry, composed of Charles Dering, Ebenezer Greenough, Charles G. Donnel, William Dewart, Jeremiah Shindel, John D. Hegins, and Jacob Painter, appointed Mrs. A. Greenough, Mrs. M. Dering, and Miss Amelia Hegins (Mrs. Charles G. Don- nel), to solicit and receive subscriptions. Their efforts were not rewarded with a large measure of success, however, and, although it is known that some materials were purchased in 1828, it was not until 1834 that a contract was entered into with Edward Gobin for the erection of a church building. The corner-stone was laid on the 2d of September, 1834, and the dedication occur- red on the 7th of December, 1836, Bishop Onderdonk officiating. This was originally a one-story brick structure fifty feet long and thirty-two feet wide; it is situated on Front street between Market and Arch and constitutes the front part of the present church edifice. A brick building twenty by thirty- four feet in dimensions was erected on the same lot in 1854 as a Sunday school room, which was further enlarged in 1885 at a cost of fifteen hundred dollars. An extension fifty by fifty-three feet to the rear of the original church edifice and connecting that building with the Sunday school room was erected in 1886-87 at an expenditure of four thousand six hundred dol- lars; the audience room and Sunday school apartment thus constitute a single building one hundred fifty feet in length, which was formally opened on the 10th of April, 1887.

The Sunday school was organized on the 1st of January, 1825, by Mrs. Catharine Ogle and Miss Amelia Hegins at a house on Third street near Chestnut. This was the first denominational Sunday school at Sunbury.

The parish was admitted to the diocesan convention in 1827. The rector

510

HISTORY OF NORTHUMBERLAND COUNTY.

at that time and in the following year was Rev. Lucius Carter, who also taught a classical school at Sunbury. The first resident rector to devote his entire time to the parish was Rev. Christian Wiltberger, who was followed by Reverends Isaac Smith, of Muncy, and Hopkins (not the Rev. Caleb Hop- kins) in the period from 1830 to 1836. The succession of rectors since 1837 has been as follows: Alfred Lauderbach, July 25, 1837, to June 21, 1841; William S. Walker, October 11, 1841, to October 24, 1842; Joshua Weaver, January 20, 1843, to September 1, 1845; B. Wistar Morris, August 23, 1846, to September 9, 1850; William B. Musgrave, November, 1850, to December 23, 1851; William Montgomery, October, 1852, to 1855; J. W. Gougler, 1856 to April 1, 1859; Theo. M. Riley, July to October, 1859; Lewis W. Gibson, October, 1860, to December 31, 1866; Charles H. Vandyne, August 26, 1867, to March 23, 1869; Gideon J. Burton, June 26, 1869, to May 21, 1872; Charles H. Vandyne, May 30, 1872, to June 3, 1873; H. Hewitt, July 25, 1873, to July 1, 1879; Henry A. Skinner, January 7, 1880, to April 16, 1882; and Charles Morison, the present incumbent, who took charge on the 2d of April, 1883.

The First Baptist Church of Sunbury was organized by Reverends John H. Worrell and J. B. Cressinger on the 15th of December, 1842, with eighty- one constituent members, among whom were John Budd, William Reed, Dennis Wolverton, Washington Newberry, Mary H. Budd, Sarah H. Garri- son, Anna Wolverton, Malinda Wolverton, Rachel Reed, and Susanna New- berry. The organization increased in numbers until 1850, when its prosper- ity began to decline, and from 1860 to 1867 no evidences of active existence were manifested. In September, 1867, Rev. A. B. Still, of Danville, Penn- sylvania, reorganized the society with fifteen or twenty members; this num- ber increased to one hundred seventy in 1886 and to two hundred fifty-four in 1890. Reverends John H. Worrell, L. W. Chapman, A. J. Collins, A. J. Hay, J. Green Miles, George J. Brensinger, A. C. Wheat, B. B. Henshey, W. J. Hunter, S. R. Reading, D. W. Shepherd, and F. H. Shermer, present incumbent, have successively served as pastors.

The court house of Northumberland county was the place of worship until January 1, 1843, when services were first held in a church building forty feet long and twenty feet wide erected on a lot on Fourth street below Penn, pre- sented by Aaron Robins and now the site of the public school building. The present brick chapel was erected in 1874, largely through the instrumentality of Truman H. Purdy and David Clement, on a lot at the corner of Fourth and Chestnut. The church also owns a parsonage, and a movement has been , inaugurated for the erection of a church edifice. The present (1891) deacons are Truman H. Purdy, Ira Hile, J. R. Cressinger, and Erastus Hoffman.

St. Michael's Catholic Church was organized in the autumn of 1863 by Rev. J. J. Koch, of Milton. Several years before that date, however, services were held for the few resident Catholic families by visiting missionaries and

511

SUNBURY.

the priests of neighboring towns. Father Koch celebrated Mass a few times in the house of a Mr. McNamara, which stood at the site of the Pennsylvania railroad depot, and subsequently at John Leary's residence on Fourth street once a month. This continued until the autumn of 1866, when he became pastor at Shamokin. During this time he had collected three hundred dol- lars toward the erection of a church, and it was the nucleus of the fund used in purchasing the present property. Rev. Arthur McGinnis, of Danville, ministered to the mission during the next two years, and was succeeded by Rev. Mark A. O'Neill, of Milton, now of Mt. Carmel. Since that time the pastors of Milton have had charge of St. Michael's, viz .: Reverends Louis Grotemeyer, Thomas J. Fleming, W. F. McIlhenny, and H. G. Ganns, who assumed charge on the 14th of November, 1881, and is the present incum- bent.

In the meantime, Major James Malone was prominent in an effort to ob- tain a permanent place of worship. Accompanied by Rev. Michael McBride, of Harrisburg, he travelled along the line of the railroads and collected suf- ficient money to enable the congregation to purchase the old Methodist church on Arch street in 1872 for the sum of thirty-five hundred dollars. It was at once fitted up for Catholic worship and dedicated by Bishop Shana- han; it has since been used for that purpose, and services are held twice a month. Father Ganss has collected about two thousand dollars and has now in contemplation the erection of a new church edifice, more in harmony with the growth and spirit of the congregation, which numbers about thirty-five families.

The cemetery of St. Michael's church is located at Northumberland, and was reserved for that purpose when the town was laid out. It was inclosed in 1864, during the pastorate of Rev. J. J. Koch.

The Evangelical Church of Sunbury was organized in March, 1887, by Rev. G. A. Knerr, under direction of the East Pennsylvania Conference. The first minister of this denomination to hold regular services at Sunbury was a Mr. Maxwell, who preached in the Spruce Street school house in 1873 and organized a class; he was succeeded by Mr. Moore, who conducted services in the Caketown school house, and thus the work was continued until 1878, when, owing to a lack of missionary funds, it was abandoned and not resumed until 1887. The class of twenty members organized in that year increased to forty-five in 1889, when a subscription was started for the erection of a church building. This is a substantial and attractive frame structure, situated at the corner of Fourth and Vine streets; the corner-stone was laid on the 17th of August, 1890, and the dedication oc- curred December 21st in the same year. Rev. G. A. Knerr was succeeded as pastor by Rev. W. S. Harris, the present incumbent, in 1890.

The First Church of Christ of Sunbury had its origin in a meeting held on the first Lord's day in October, 1885, at the hall of the hook and ladder

512

HISTORY OF NORTHUMBERLAND COUNTY.

company on Fourth street, at which Francis M. Farra, John H. Shipman, Isaiah W. Hile, Mrs. Alcesta J. Hile, William Leeser, Mrs. Kate Leeser, and Charles M. Park were present. Regular meetings for worship were con- tinued at that place, and in March, 1890, the following officers were appointed: Isaiah W. Hile, Francis M. Farra, and William Leeser, elders; John H. Shipman, Horace Tweed, and George Rundio, deacons. At that time the church numbered thirty-three members. On the 29th of September, 1890, it was incorporated with thirty-eight members, of whom the following were the first trustees: Isaiah W. Hile, Francis M. Farra, John H. Shipman, Horace Tweed, Alonzo L. Hile, James Hileman, John Masters, and William Leeser. A brick church building is in course of erection at the corner of Fourth and Arch streets, upon which the work of construction was begun, September 17, 1890.

The First Sunday School at Sunbury was organized in 1815 by Mrs. Daniel Hurley and Miss Blake in the lower story of a building on Third street near the old Lutheran church. The Presbyterian catechism was taught and seems to have constituted the only text-book except the Bible. All the various religious denominations then represented at Sunbury sup ported the school, however, and within a few years it secured permanent quarters in the "state house," as evidenced by the following entry in the Appearance docket of Northumberland county (No. 92, January term, 1820) :-

The court, at the request of the male teachers of the Sunday [Sunbury?] Sabbath school, give their consent that the said teachers hold the Sabbath school in the grand jury room over the county offices.

This was continued as a union organization until the formation of denomi- national Sunday schools deprived it of supporters and terminated its useful- ness.

The Caketown Union Sunday School Chapel, a brick building twenty-five by fifty feet with an L sixteen feet square, was erected in 1887 on Susque- hanna avenue in the Fifth ward upon a lot donated by J. A. Cake and wife. The title to the property is vested in a board of trustees composed of S. M. Elliott, J. A. Cake, A. Goughnour, W. J. Cornwell, A. Traub, Moses Culp, and A. L. Bastress. The Sunday school was organized at the Fifth Ward school house in 1886 and numbers one hundred fifty members. A. L. Bas- tress has been superintendent since its organization.

CEMETERIES.

The old Sunbury cemetery comprises a tract of land situated east of Third street and south of Spruce, adjacent to the original town plot and probably reserved for burial purposes at the time the latter was surveyed (1772). The earliest legible inscription is that upon the tombstone of Sarah McKinney, daughter of David and Rebecca Mckinney, who was born on the 24th of

1 1

513

SUNBURY.

August, 1769, and died, September 22, 1774. Many of the most prominent citizens of the county throughout its history are interred here.

There is also an old cemetery in the Fifth ward; it comprises two con- tiguous inclosures, separated by a stone wall and surrounded by a fence of similar construction. One part was reserved for burial purposes by the Hunter family and the other by the Grant family, the representatives of which in several generations are interred here.

The Pomfret Manor Cemetery Company was originally incorporated as the Mt. Pleasant Cemetery Company, August 4, 1870; the name was changed to its present style, June 9, 1873. The company was organized, August 22, 1870, with Alexander Jordan, president; Lloyd T. Rohrbach, secretary; J. A. Cake, treasurer, and a board of directors composed of Alexander Jordan, J. W. Cake, Sr., Rev. W. W. Evans, Rev. George W. Hemperley, Rev. Sam- uel K. Milliken, Rev. George J. Brensinger, Rev. Gideon J. Burton, William M. Rockefeller, and Lloyd T. Rohrbach. The grounds comprise twenty acres, situated within the borough limits of East Sunbury at a considerable elevation above the river. Five acres were improved and adapted to ceme- tery purposes, and, although some interments were made, the project was for some years practically abandoned. A reorganization of the company was effected, August 1, 1890, with the following officers: president, George B. Reimensnyder; secretary and treasurer, W. H. Druckemiller; directors: Rev. George Parson, George B. Reimensnyder, J. H. Alleman, Rev. W. E. Par- son, and Ira Shipman. Under the new management the cemetery promises to become one of the most attractive places of interment in the county.

BOROUGH OF EAST SUNBURY.

That part of the manor of Pomfret bounded by Shamokin creek, Spring run, and the Reading road (embracing the borough of East Sunbury within the same limits and containing three hundred twelve acres) was surveyed for William Maclay on the 17th of January, 1775, in pursuance of warrant dated March 10, 1774. The remaining portion of the borough was also embraced in the manor of Pomfret. For many years this land was used for agricult- ural purposes, and in 1865 there were but three improvements within the borough limits of East Sunbury, viz .: the mill and residence of John Haas; a frame house on the west side of the Catawissa road, then occupied by Samuel Bloom and now owned by Benjamin Zettlemoyer, and a frame house at the northwest corner of Catawissa and Market streets, then occupied by Charles Wilder and now owned by Daniel Zartman.

In 1865 Truman H. Purdy purchased one and three fourths acres of land west of the Catawissa road and laid it out in lots, thus inaugurating the growth of the village, which was known as Purdytown until its incorporation as a borough. The principal subdivisions since that date have been made by Truman H. Purdy, Purdy & Wolverton, John B. Lenker, George Conrad,

514

HISTORY OF NORTHUMBERLAND COUNTY.

John Haas, Lloyd T. Rohrbach, Purdy & Rockefeller, Reagan & Cake, Ira T. Clement, P. M. Eckman, and Henry Conrad. The plat is irregular. Market street extends east and west, with Chestnut street parallel to the south and Arch, Race, Line, Reagan, Masser, Greenough, and Packer streets parallel to the north. The Catawissa and Creek roads diverge from Market street in a northeast direction, and are largely responsible for the irregularity of the plat. The streets extending north and south are Rockefeller, Conrad, Dewart, Clement, Augusta, High, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, Eighth, Ninth, and Augusta avenue, while Wolverton street coincides with the railroad south of Market.

The local industrial establishments are the Keystone Machine Works, Haas's mill, Cold Spring brewery, and the carriage works of J. S. Seasholtz, H. L. Hauck, and J. S. Stroh & Brother, to which more extended mention is made in this chapter under the head of "Industrial Activity."

The borough was incorporated by decree of court, December 5, 1890; previous to that date it formed part of Upper Augusta township. It is bounded on the east and southeast by Shamokin creek, on the west by Spring run, on the north by a line which coincides with the northern boundary of Pomfret Manor cemetery, and on the northeast by a line extending diagonally from the Catawissa road to Shamokin creek. The first election was held on the 17th of February, 1891, and resulted as follows: chief burgess, George W. Keefer; assistant burgess, Julius Moeschlin; council: Peter Eckman, John H. Shipman, Hiram M. Haas, Lot Bartholomew, Samuel Fasold, S. P. Malick; school directors: Sebastian Zimmerman, Jacob Allison, Charles Fas- old, Urias Bloom, John L. Miller, P. M. Eckman; auditors: Carl Litz, J. A. Miller, J. W. Morgan; justices of the peace: Ira Shipman, D. M. Schwartz; assessor, Jacob Bartholomew; assistant assessors, S. P. Savidge, Charles Zerfing; overseers of the poor: Isaac Bloom, S. L. Keefer; high constable, Daniel Knouse; constable, C. H. Swank; judge of election, J. H. Slear; inspectors of election: David Straub, J. W. Campbell; tax collector, John Eckman.

515

NORTHUMBERLAND.

CHAPTER XV.

NORTHUMBERLAND.

THE TOWN PLAT-EARLY HISTORY-PROMINENT EARLY RESIDENTS-EARLY MER- CHANTS AND HOTELS- THE POSTOFFICE-BRIDGES, CANALS, AND RAILWAYS- BOROUGH ORGANIZATION AND GOVERNMENT-INDUSTRIAL ACTIVITY-SCHOOLS- LOCAL JOURNALISM-SECRET AND OTHER SOCIETIES- CHURCHES-CEMETERIES.

THE borough of Northumberland occupies an elevated terrace immedi- ately within the forks of the Susquehanna river. During the first settlement of the surrounding region, this locality was widely known as " the Point; " its advantages as a town site were early apparent, and before the close of the colonial period it had become a place of considerable local importance. From the termination of the Revolutionary war until the close of the century its growth was more rapid than that of any other town in the upper Susquehanna valley, and for many years thereafter it occupied a lead- ing position, financially and socially, among the towns of Northumberland county. Although its former prestige in these respects is now only a matter of history, the borough continues to possess many of the elements of pros- perity and progress; several important industrial establishments are in operation, and a fair amount of business is transacted through local chan- nels, while the religious and educational interests of the community are well sustained. By the census of 1890 the population was two thousand seven hundred forty-four.

THE TOWN PLAT.

The town plat comprises four tracts of land, of which the respective original titles were completed in the following order: "Sarah's Delight " (two hundred acres), was patented to Sarah Lowdon, July 7, 1770; "Not- tingham" (five hundred acres), to Richard Peters, September 14, 1772; " Townside " (five hundred acres), to Richard Peters, September 16, 1772; and "Essex " (two hundred acres), to Esther Patterson, January 7, 1775. The town was originally laid out in 1772 by John Lowdon and William Patterson. Within the next three years, however, the title to the four tracts in question became vested in Reuben Haines, a wealthy brewer of Philadel- phia and the owner of large landed interests in this part of the State. He enlarged the plat, and recorded a general plan of Lowdon and Patterson's town, with his own addition, in Deed Book B, p. 273, April 24, 1781. It was again recorded, May 10, 1808, by John Boyd in Book C, p. 368.

516

HISTORY OF NORTHUMBERLAND COUNTY.

Regularity is a distinguishing feature of the plat. The streets running east and west are North Way, Water, Front, Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh and Eighth, intersected at right angles by West Way, Duke, Queen, King, Orange, and Hanover, with alleys at regular intervals. The streets are of uniform width, except that King is somewhat broader than the others; in it there is a wide open space between Front and Second, intended for a market place. The plan is accompanied by a declaration, acknowledged before Chief Justice Mckean, in which Haines states that he had come into possession of certain tracts of land " in the forks of Susquehanna," part of which had been " laid out in small lots for a town by William Patterson, John Lowdon, and myself," following which is an enumeration of the streets and alleys, with the statement that they should thereafter be "open public roads or highways," "for the benefit and advantage of the inhabitants of the said town and all other persons making use of the same."

Upon the death of Reuben Haines his estate was inherited by his four children: Casper Wistar; Josiah; Reuben, and Catherine. Reuben, Jr. died a few years later, bequeathing his interest in the town to his brothers and sister, who executed deeds of partition among themselves.

Notwithstanding the unequivocal character of Haines's declaration, it appears that some of the streets were not opened for public use at that time nor for some years afterward. At August sessions, 1807, of the county court of quarter sessions, upon the report of Joseph Priestley, John Cow- den, John Bull, John Frick, and Thomas Grant, who had been appointed in the previous year to take the question into consideration, North Way, Water, Front, Second, Third, Duke, Queen, Orange, and Hanover streets were declared public highways and ordered opened for public use.

EARLY HISTORY.

Robert Martin was the first permanent settler at the site of Northumber- land. He was originally from New Jersey, and had attempted to make a settlement at Wyoming under Pennsylvania title, but this design was frus- trated by the opposition of the Connecticut colonists of that locality. Thence he came to "the Point;" after the purchase of 1768 was consummated his house forthwith became the rendezvous of surveyors, speculators, and adven- turers to the newly opened region of the West Branch, and by virtue of previous acquaintance with the country he at once became a prominent character. He was a member of the Provincial Conference of 1776, of the Constitutional Convention of that year, and of the Assembly several years subsequently. The exact location of his first residence is not known, but it was the first evidence of civilization within the forks of the Susquehanna in Northumberland county, and for several years the only house at the site of Northumberland.

William Hoffman and Philip Frick arrived at Northumberland on the

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, Part 54

Author: Bell, Herbert C. (Herbert Charles), 1868- ed; John, J. J., 1829- Publication date: 1891 Publisher: Chicago, Brown, Runk Number of Pages: 1424

Author: Bell, Herbert C. (Herbert Charles), 1868- ed; John, J. J., 1829-
Publication date: 1891
Publisher: Chicago, Brown, Runk
Number of Pages: 1424