USA > Pennsylvania > Northumberland County > History of Northumberland County, Pennsylvania > Part 56
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John Hannah, an Irishman, a bachelor, and a man of comparative wealth, had a store on Front street near the corner of Market, and owned a series of buildings extending from the site of the Methodist Episcopal church to Wheatley's alley. He died on the 20th of August, 1832, at the age of eighty- three.
The First Hotel was that of Robert Martin, previously mentioned, which was probably conducted until or during the Revolution. At the beginning of this century the leading hotel was that of Peter Jones, a building at the corner of Wheatley's alley on North Way now used as the borough poor house. Jones was born, May 30, 1747, and died, March 5, 1826; prior to the latter event, however, he was succeeded by William Forsyth, who was proprietor in 1822. David Taggart conducted a hotel in a two-story brick building at the site of Morgan's shoe store on Queen street, where he died, May 17, 1812, after which it was continued by his widow many years. The Washington House, on the corner of Market and Water streets, has borne its present designation longer than any other of the present hotels. John Shreiner built the brick part of the building in 1812, and James Lee, a well known character, was proprietor many years. Henry Wolfinger, John Cake, and Mrs. Burr are remembered as proprietors of the Cross Keys, at the corner of Market and Front, and John Cake and John G. Wells at the Black Horse, which occupied the site of the Methodist church. The Van Kirk House re- ceived its name from Joseph Van Kirk, the first proprietor, and the Whitmer House was established by George Eckert.
THE POSTOFFICE.
The first postoffice in Northumberland county was established at North- umberland in 1795; postmasters have been commissioned in the following order: John Cowden, November 13, 1795; William Forsyth, January 26, 1837; Daniel Weimer, August 16, 1841; John W. Miles, November 24, 1844; Catharine G. Boyd, May 8, 1849; Margaret Weimer, November 11, 1850; Charles F. Little, May 5, 1853; Jacob Ulp, July 26, 1853; Jacob Leisenring, January 14, 1858; Jacob Paul, February 5, 1858; William Weimer, April 4, 1861; Josephine R. Weimer, January 30, 1877; John C. Forsyth, September 8, 1885; Luther L. Haas, January 27, 1890.
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HISTORY OF NORTHUMBERLAND COUNTY.
BRIDGES, CANALS, AND RAILWAYS.
The Northumberland Bridge Company was the first incorporated in Penn- sylvania for the erection of a bridge across the Susquehanna. The necessary preliminary legislation was secured, March 25, 1809, authorizing the Gov- ernor "to incorporate a company for the purpose of making and erecting a bridge and road over the Northeast Branch of the river Susquehanna in the county of Northumberland, from the public highway opposite the plantation of Thomas Grant to Shamokin island, through the public highway of Shamo- kin island to the shore opposite Northumberland, and from thence to the town of Northumberland." The responsibilities of the enterprise were intrusted to a number of commissioners, of whom Jacob Dentler, Joseph Priestley, John Boyd, James Hepburn, John P. De Gruchy, and George Kremer assumed the active work of soliciting financial support, and sub- scription books were opened at Philadelphia and Northumberland. On the 30th of March, 1811, a supplement to the act of 1809 was so amended as to empower the Governor to incorporate the company as soon as public subscriptions to the amount of sixteen hundred shares had been subscribed, and Messrs. Dentler, Priestley, Boyd, Hepburn, De Gruchy, and Kremer, with Simon Gratz, John Vaughan, and Henry Toland, their colleagues, hav- ing certified this result to the Governor, the company was formally incorpor- ated, October 19, 1811, and a subscription of fifty thousand dollars was forthwith received from the State. The first election for officers occurred at the house of David Taggart in Northumberland on the 23d of November, 1811, between the hours of eleven A. M. and five P. M., at which the following officers were elected: president, John P. De Gruchy, six hundred twenty- three votes; managers: Charles Hall, six hundred twenty-three votes; David Taggart, six hundred eighteen votes: John Cowden, six hundred eleven votes; Jacob Dentler, six hundred ten votes; James Hepburn, five hundred twenty- eight votes; George Kremer, four hundred thirty eight votes; treasurer, John Boyd, six hundred twenty votes; clerk, John Cooper, five hundred sixty-six votes.
President De Gruchy had already had some correspondence with the offi- cers of the Mohawk, Schenectady, and Schoharie bridge companies, in New York State, and the Trenton Bridge Company, of New Jersey, regarding bridge construction; this correspondence was submitted to the managers at a meeting held in Sunbury, November 27, 1811, at which the contract was awarded Theodore Burr for the sum of eighty thousand dollars. His only competitor was Robert Mills, of Philadelphia, who submitted a plan and proposals, while Mr. Burr was present in person to explain the method of construction of which he was the originator. The agreement was concluded, November 29, 1811. The articles specify three piers between Northumber- land and Shamokin island and four between that island and the Sunbury side, each to be twenty feet above low water mark to the foot of the arches,
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twenty feet wide at the bottom and eighteen at the foot of the arches, and carried up eight feet between the arches; four abutments, thirty-two feet wide and ten feet thick, supported by wing walls five feet thick at the bottom and half that thick at the top; a superstructure, consisting of arches, chords, truss-braces, braces, king-posts, etc., thirty feet wide from "out to out " of the arches and thirty-one feet ten inches by similar measurement from the king-posts, with two carriage-ways eleven feet six inches wide and a footway four feet ten inches wide between them; and two toll houses eighteen by twenty-four feet. The work was to be commenced in March, 1812, and com- pleted on the 31st of December, 1813; but if the company should not suc- ceed in securing the State appropriation agreeably to its wishes, the con- tractor was to have an extension of one year. The act of April 2, 1811 authorized the Governor to subscribe fifty thousand dollars, one half payable when the piers and abutments were completed, the other half when the super- structure was raised; but the management desired to complete that part of the bridge between Northumberland and the island before undertaking the remainder, and memorialized the legislature to make a corresponding change in the manner of bestowing the appropriation. A further supplement, grant- ing the change proposed, was accordingly passed, February 3, 1812. This provided that twelve thousand five hundred dollars should be payable when the piers and abutments between Northumberland and the island had been constructed, a like sum when the superstructure between these points was raised, and the same amounts as the remainder of the work progressed. The effect of this was to confirm that part of the agreement with Mr. Burr which stipulated that the bridge should be completed on the 31st of Decem- ber, 1813.
The work of construction was begun on the 4th of June, 1812, when the foundation of the abutment at Northumberland was laid; that of the abut- ment at the island on the Northumberland side was laid the same month; of the central pier, July 8th; of the pier next the island, August 18th; and of the pier next the Northumberland side, September 14th. On the 7th of October, 1812, Mr. De Gruchy informed the Governor that these two abutments and three piers were nearly completed, and requested the appointment of a commission, agreeably to the law, to examine them and report whether they were so constructed as to entitle the company to call upon the State for a pro- portional amount of its subscription. Bethuel Vincent, Thomas Pollock, and Jacob Lechner were accordingly appointed; they made an examination on the 3d of November following, and submitted a report highly complimentary to the company and the contractor. All the arches on the Northumberland side were up, on Tuesday afternoon, August 31, 1813, and on the 8th of Decem- ber Mr. De Gruchy requested the appointment of viewers for this part of the superstructure. Bethuel Vincent, Thomas Pollock, and James Geddis were appointed, and on Saturday, December 25, 1813, they met with the officers of
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HISTORY OF NORTHUMBERLAND COUNTY.
the company, Messrs. De Gruchy, Kremer, Albright, Dentler, Cowden, Hep- burn, and Boyd, and crossed the bridge from Northumberland to the island, preceded by the five-horse team of Jacob Dentler, one of the managers, driven by Solomon Dentler, his son, and containing as many persons as could find room in it. After crossing the bridge it returned to the North- umberland side, amid the acclamations of a number of spectators. The com- missioners reported to the Governor that the work had been done "in a masterly and workmanlike manner." The foundation of the abutment on the Sunbury side was laid, October 29, 1812, and the pier nearest that side was partially constructed in the same year. The foundation of the central pier was laid on the 10th of August, 1813, and with its completion on the 29th of September the stone work of the bridge was finished. Mr. De Gruchy had filed an application for viewers on the 4th of September; Messrs. Vin- cent, Pollock, and Lechner were appointed, and returned a favorable report. Under date of September 9, 1814, the Governor was informed that this part of the superstructure had been raised, and on the 2d of December it was exam- ined by Messrs. Vincent, Pollock, and Geddis, who reported favorably. As thus completed the western part of the bridge was eight hundred forty-eight feet, six inches in length; the eastern part, nine hundred seventy-six feet, six inches; the abutments, five hundred feet; the roadway across Shamokin island, seventeen hundred forty-nine feet- a total length, including frame- work, roadway, and approaches, of forty-three hundred seventy-four feet. The plan originally decided upon had been variously modified; the principal change was that made on the 7th of October, 1812, when it was decided to erect three piers instead of four on the eastern side. The floor, or " deck," was elevated forty-one feet above low water mark, and the footway was raised four feet above the carriage way. The exterior was painted.
The following schedule of tolls was adopted at a meeting of the managers, September 10, 1814: for every carriage of whatever description, used for the purposes of trade and agriculture, with four wheels and drawn by six horses, one dollar twenty-five cents, with a scale varying with the number of horses to the minimum of thirty-one and one fourth cents for one horse; four- wheeled vehicles of pleasure, drawn by four horses, one dollar twenty-five cents, with a reduction of twenty-five cents for each horse; two-wheeled wagons, drawn by two horses, fifty cents-by one horse, twenty-five cents; a chair or other two-wheeled vehicle of pleasure, twenty-five cents for each horse; a four-horse sleigh, fifty cents; a one-horse sleigh, or horse and rider, eighteen and three fourths cents; a horse without a rider, twelve and one half cents; foot passengers and horned cattle were charged six and one fourth cents for each individual; sheep or swine, two cents; two oxen, to be estimated equal to one horse; with a proportionately greater charge for carriages of burthen laden with more than two tons' weight. The first toll collector was John Shreiner, appointed by the president in pursuance of a resolution passed
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by the directors, November 17, 1814; toll was first collected on the 21st of November, 1814, but only at the Northumberland side for some time. Owing to inconvenience caused by a scarcity of small change, it was resolved, at a meeting of the board on the 2d of December, to issue printed notes of the denominations of fifty, twenty-five, twelve and one half, and six and one fourth cents, and of one dollar, in the name of the company signed by the president and countersigned by the treasurer. Shreiner was only appointed temporarily; the first persons regularly appointed as toll collectors were John Kendig, for the Sunbury side, and John Gordon, for the Northumber- land side, selected on the 16th of December, 1814.
Although thus opened for travel in 1814, the bridge was not actually completed until 1818. After making the contract with the managers, Burr entered into similar agreements with bridge companies at Harrisburg and McCall's Ferry, "and, as if these had not been more than sufficient to give employment to an active and ambitious mind," in the language of a report of the president and managers to the legislature in 1822, " he made a fourth contract, for building the bridge thirty miles above us at Berwick." The report then states how Burr became involved, and being unable to pay for materials or labor, the company assumed his obligations, receiving as collat- eral security ten thousand dollars' worth of stock which had been issued to him in part payment on his contract. Gurdon Hewitt, Jr., was clerk, and Thomas Brown, foreman, in charge of the work, during Burr's frequent and protracted absences at other points, and it was through the former that the disbursements of the board were principally made. The amounts advanced Mr. Burr over and above the eighty thousand dollars specified in his contract ultimately aggregated six thousand dollars. Ineffectual efforts were made to settle this account at various times; this was finally consummated in 1824, with Silas Marsh, administrator of Burr's estate, who transferred the four hundred shares of stock held by Burr to the company, and was released from all obligations incurred by him. The net receipts from tolls had been devoted for some time to the extinguishment of this debt, and when the stock had been transferred to the company it was immediately cancelled, thus reducing the capitalization from ninety to eighty thousand dollars.
The receipts during the first year amounted to three thousand one hun- dred eighty dollars, thirty-two cents; a dividend of three per cent. was ac- cordingly declared. For some years the company was not prosperous finan- cially, owing to a variety of disadvantages attending the collection of tolls and damage sustained by its property. In 1839-40 that part of the superstruct- ure between Northumberland and the island was rebuilt, having been de- stroyed by a flood. In 1846 several spans east of the island were blown down by a hurricane, two of which landed in the river without sustaining serious injury and were rebuilt with the original materials. On the 17th of March, 1875, the entire eastern end and one span of the western end were carried
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HISTORY OF NORTHUMBERLAND COUNTY.
away by an ice flood. The span at the western end was immediately rebuilt, and a ferry temporarily established on the other side of the island, where the present bridge was erected in 1876.
The following is a list of presidents of the company since its organization: John P. De Gruchy, 1811-29; James Hepburn, 1830-38; John B. Boyd, 1839-44; Daniel Brautigam, 1845-58; John Taggart, 1858-77; David Tag- gart, 1877-87; James Taggart, elected December 4, 1888, present incumbent.
The West Branch Bridge was erected in pursuance of a joint resolution of the Senate and House of Representatives, approved by the Governor on the 31st of March, 1828, authorizing the board of canal commissioners, if it should be deemed expedient, to construct a turnpike bridge and towing path at the mouth of the West Branch near Northumberland. The principal con- tractors for its construction were Reuben Fields, Randall Wilcox, and Lemuel B. Stoughton, and the work was completed about the year 1831. This struct- ure has also suffered from floods at various times. In June, 1890, four spans were carried away, leaving but one at each end, so that the present bridge is practically new. It has two carriage ways, and a "towing path " used in transporting canal boats across the river.
The North and West Branch Canals conferred a degree of importance upon Northumberland of which their present condition scarcely affords a suggestion. These formed part of the great system of internal improve- ments projected and executed by the State; during the progress of their con- struction they gave employment to large numbers of men and placed con- siderable money in circulation, and after their completion local business received a quickened impetus. The packet boat appeared as the competitor of the stage coach, and the canal boat superseded the river craft of former days; and, as the terminus of three divisions of the canal, Northumberland was in a position to derive a large share of the advantages it gave to com- mercial intercourse in this part of the State. To what extent this was the case is shown by the fact that for many years the only bank in the county was conducted here. But with the advent of railroads the canals gradually lost their former importance, and have ceased to be a factor of any consequence in sustaining local interests.
Railways .-- The Philadelphia and Erie railroad was opened to Northum- berland on Monday, September 24, 1855, when passenger travel was estab- lished between this place and Williamsport. The Susquehanna river bridge was erected in the following autumn, and the first train to Sunbury passed over it, January 7, 1856.
The Lackawanna and Bloomsburg railroad was opened to passenger travel, May 31, 1860, and the first train arrived at Northumberland at forty minutes past nine o'clock on the morning of that day.
The Shamokin, Sunbury and Lewisburg railroad (Philadelphia and Read- ing) was opened in 1883.
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The Sunbury and Northumberland street railway was opened to travel in 1890.
BOROUGH ORGANIZATION AND GOVERNMENT.
The borough of Northumberland was incorporated on the 16th of Jan- uary, 1828, by act of the legislature, from territory formerly comprised in Point township.
By the terms of this act, Ephraim P. Shannon, John Taggart, and Will- iam Forsyth were appointed to superintend the first election of borough officers, which was held at the house of John Leisenring on Monday, April 6, 1829, resulting in the choice of the following persons: burgess, Lawrence Campbell; council: John Porter, William Forsyth, John G. Wells, John Taggart, James Gaston, Joseph R. Priestley, James Hepburn; high consta- ble, Thomas Waples; constable, William H. Ross; overseers of the poor: John B. Boyd, John Leisenring; supervisors: Samuel Cox, John Shreiner, Jr.
The following is a list of burgesses since the incorporation of the borough: 1829-34, Lawrence Campbell; 1835-37, Henry Gossler; 1838, William B. Mendenhall; 1839-41, A. L. Dieffenbacher; 1842, William B. Mendenhall; 1843, Conrad Wenck; 1844, William B. Mendenhall; 1845-49, George Ev- erard; 1850, Barney Christy; 1851-56, George Everard; 1857, William H. Waples; 1858-61, Cornelius B. Smith; 1862-65, Francis Renner; 1866-67, John Wheatley; 1868, William H. Morgan; 1869-70, Cornelius B. Smith; 1871-72, A. H. Voris; 1873, Thaddeus G. Morgan; 1874-76, John C. For- syth; 1877, David M. Evans; 1878, William B. Stoner; 1879-80, Joseph H. Everard; 1881, Alfred Hawley; 1882, Harris W. Burg; 1883, John E. Colt; 1884, William A. Starick; 1885, John P. Dauberman; 1886, Cyrus Brouse; 1887, John P. Dauberman; 1888-89, Cyrus Brouse; 1890-91, W. Oscar Landback.
INDUSTRIAL ACTIVITY.
John P. De Gruchy established a distillery at Northumberland about the close of the last century, which, during the period of its operation, was one of the most important and extensive industries of the place. It was a brick and frame building, situated about half a square above the river bridge on the south side of North Way. There were also large frame sheds for the hogs and cattle that were fed on the refuse, damaged stocks, etc., a cooper shop, and a boat yard. At the latter arks and other varieties of river craft were made, in which the product was shipped to Columbia, Baltimore, and other points. The proprietor resided in a large brick and frame house on North Way opposite the distillery. He was also actively associated with various other business enterprises. Mr. De Gruchy was from England, where he had been engaged in business and failed; he was more successful in this country, however, and after a time was enabled to liquidate all the claims of
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HISTORY OF NORTHUMBERLAND COUNTY.
his former creditors. He died at Northumberland, February 1, 1830, in the sixty-sixth year of his age.
A brewery, doubtless the first of any importance at Northumberland, was operated as early as 1800 by Bernard Hubley. It was situated on Market street, and comprised malt, brew, still, and mill houses, a malt kiln with a capacity of forty bushels, and brew "coppers" large enough to hold twenty barrels. The establishments of this nature also included that of John Tag- gart, a red frame building at the Queen street crossing of the canal, which originally occupied ground through which the canal passes; William T. Boyd's, a brick building ninety by twenty-two feet, at the corner of Queen street and North Way; Levi Hibbert's, on West Way between Water and Front streets, and Edward Lyon's, at the corner of Market and Front.
At a later date William McCay erected a stone distillery on Queen street, an exceptional feature of which was a wind-mill of the style then in vogue, by which water was pumped from a deep well on the premises.
Four tanneries constituted the manufacturing facilities in that respect. That of Thomas Bonham was on Queen street at the corner of Fourth; the other three, owned, respectively, by John Hepburn, Jacob Urban, and John Shreiner, were removed and the North Branch canal was opened through the ground they formerly occupied.
If the opening of the canal caused the suspension of the tanning industry, it gave rise to another of equal or greater importance-that of boat-building. The first boatyard was established by Charles Storer, on ground formerly occupied by De Gruchy's distillery. He was succeeded by John Dunham and William T. Boyd. Robert Lesher and John Hummel were engaged in boat-building on the West Branch canal between Front and Second streets, John Lloyd on the North Branch at the Pennsylvania railroad bridge, and Joseph Johnson and Samuel Elliott above the canal terminus of Orange street.
Miscellaneous industries included the pottery of John Leisenring, on Queen street opposite the Lutheran church; Robert McCay's, William Leisen- ring's, and Joseph Hair's hat factories, among the most important in this section of the State at the time; John S. Carter's, William and Thomas Clyde's, and John Frick's chair-making shops; Frederick Burkenbine's brick yard, on Duke street between Fourth and Fifth; and the shops of Alexander Colt, blacksmith, William R. Clelland, cabinet maker, Hunter Pardoe and James Gaston, wagon makers.
In 1828 David Rogers, inventor of a patent scale beam, came to North- umberland from the State of New York. Ephraim P. Shannon became inter- ested in the invention, and advanced capital for the erection and equipment of a small foundry. The business was inaugurated with fair prospects of success, but personal misfortune overtook Mr. Rogers and obliged him to relinquish the enterprise, which was soon afterward discontinued by Mr. Shannon.
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The Northumberland Agricultural Works were established in 1853 by A. H. Stone, the present proprietor, and comprise a one-story brick building at the corner of Water and Duke streets. Tread-power threshing machines are manufactured.
The Lumber Mill between West Way and the canal in the northern part of the borough, although no longer operated, was at one time an important local manufacturing establishment. It was erected in 1867 by Chamberlain, Frick & Company; this firm became insolvent in 1884, and the mill was operated by Edgar Holt as assignee until the following year, when he became pro- prietor. A larger amount of work was done in the season of 1889 than at any time in the previous history of the mill, owing to the fact that the lumber industry on the upper waters of the Susquehanna was temporarily suspended on account of damage sustained by the flood of that year. Forty operatives were employed, and bill lumber for railroad, ship building, and other special purposes was manufactured to the amount of forty thousand feet per day.
The Iron Industry .- The Northumberland Iron and Nail Works, Van Alen & Company, proprietors, were established in 1866 by T. O. Van Alen, A. H. Voris, and George M. Leslie. In 1872 Mr. Van Alen purchased the interest of A. H. Voris, and in 1886 that of George M. Leslie. The mill at first contained but five puddling furnaces, one coal heating furnace, and fifteen nail machines; it now comprises ten puddling furnaces, one thirty-ton Smith's gas heating furnace, and fifty-three nail machines, and has a capacity to make one hundred fifty thousand kegs of cut iron and steel nails per year. The buildings consist of a mill about sixty-five by three hundred fifty feet, and a foundry, machine, and cooper shop thirty by seventy feet. One hun- dred sixty operatives are employed.
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