USA > Pennsylvania > Northumberland County > History of Northumberland County, Pennsylvania > Part 69
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The Penrose building is a brick structure on the east side of Franklin street south of Chestnut. One grammar school, two intermediate, and four primary schools are conducted here. The ground was purchased in 1857, when Pemberton Bird, William H. Cherington, Dr. J. J. John, W. P. With- ington, F. A. Clark, and John Shipp composed the board. An addition twenty-five by forty feet in dimensions was authorized by the board, June 12, 1874, and the contract ,was awarded, August 4, 1874, to Daniel Yost at twenty-three hundred ninety dollars. Messrs. Aucker, John, and Schwartz constituted the building committee. A further addition was made in 1887.
The Stevens building received its present name, January 10, 1876, by
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resolution of the board, "in honor of the great defender of the common school system," Thaddeus Stevens. Prior to that date it was known as the Newtown school. On the 5th of May, 1857, the township school board decided to purchase lots No. 3 and 4 in block No. 61 from C. P. and R. C. Helfen- stein, and on the 19th of June it was resolved to build. A building tax of sixteen hundred dollars was levied, June 26th; the contract was awarded, July 13, 1857, to Benjamin McClow at his bid of eighteen hundred twenty- five dollars, and the work was prosecuted under the direction of Messrs. John and Shipp, building committee. For various reasons this location was not found to be entirely suitable, and on the 5th of June, 1869, the building and grounds were sold to Henry Morgan for five hundred dollars. Frederick S. Haas, Withington Lake, and M. Emes, a committee of the board, reported in favor of a new location, June 4th; on the 1st of July, 1869, the contract was awarded Joseph E. Thompson at his bid of twenty-two hundred seventy-five dollars, and the building was erected agreeably to plans prepared by Daniel Yost. It was completed in August, 1870, and with extra work the entire cost was twenty-three hundred fifty-six dollars, ninety-five cents. An addition to this building, similar to that erected at the Penrose building in the previous year, was authorized by the board, July 12, 1875, and a week later Messrs. Schwartz, John, and Robins were appointed a building committee. The work was done by R. S. Aucker under contract for the sum of twenty-seven hundred ninety-five dollars. As again enlarged in 1887 this building com- prises eight rooms, in which four intermediate and four primary schools are taught. It is located on Third street at the corner of Spruce.
The site of the Garfield building-four lots extending from Sunbury to Dewart street east of Franklin-was purchased by action of the board, June 25, 1881, for the sum of thirty-six hundred dollars. A frame building, for- merly used by a hose company, occupied this ground; it was enlarged and adapted for school purposes, and received the name of the Garfield school building by resolution of the board, October 12, 1881. In April, 1885, plans for a new building were prepared and considered by the board, but not adopted, owing to lack of funds. At length, however, the growth of the town and the dilapidated condition of the old building rendered improvement a matter of necessity, and in compliance with a strong public sentiment favorable to such action, the erection of a new building was unanimously decided upon, February 13, 1888. The contract was awarded, May 4, 1888, to Aucker, Slayman & Company, at their bid of fourteen thousand eight hundred seventeen dollars. They also supplied the steam heating and ven- tilating apparatus for nineteen hundred fifty dollars, and the aggregate cost approximated twenty-seven thousand dollars. The building is constructed of brick, with slate roof, tower, and bell, and is supplied throughout with every appliance for health, comfort, and convenience. It was publicly opened,
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HISTORY OF NORTHUMBERLAND COUNTY.
January 31, 1889, and during the winter of 1889-90 two grammar schools, three intermediate, and three primary schools were taught here.
The policy of the board inaugurated in the erection of the Garfield build- ing received an overwhelming popular indorsement at a special election on the 18th of June, 1890, when, by a majority of five hundred eleven votes, the board was authorized to increase the indebtedness of the district to seven per cent. of the valuation of assessed property. June 24, 1890, the board resolved to erect two new buildings-one at the site of the Central building on Sun- bury street, the other on the west side of Market south of Pine-uniform with the Garfield building in general arrangements and appointments. The com- pletion of these buildings has given Shamokin borough school facilities superior to those of any other district in the county.
The office of borough superintendent was created in 1878, with Francis M. Bates as its first incumbent. He was succeeded in 1880 by William F. Harpel, who has held the position since that date. Dr. J. J. John, secretary of the board from 1865 to 1876, exercised the functions of a district super- intendent during that period, and much of the efficiency of the system is due to methods and improvements introduced by him.
The high school was established in 1869. A school had been conducted by this name under the township dispensation, but it possessed few of the attributes of a high school, the curriculum fluctuating with the qualifications of the teacher in charge and the degree of advancement made by the pupils in the lower grades. In 1869 a definite course of study was arranged, from which that pursued at present has developed. Three years are required for its completion; Latin to Virgil, higher mathematics to trigonometry, physics, natural philosophy, chemistry, geology, general history, book-keeping, rhetoric, drawing, and physical geography are among the principal features of the course. The following is a list of principals in the order in which they served: S. J. Barnett, A. B. Orr, S. P. Fink, George W. Campbell, F. S. Glass, George W. Campbell, Francis M. Bates, John B. Savidge, Reuben A. Zimmerman, and George A. Farrow, present incumbent. The library was established by resolution of the board, April 22, 1875, and now numbers two hundred twenty-five volumes.
St. Edward's Parochial School was established by Father Koch in Sep- tember, 1874, and was opened in the old Catholic church under lay teachers. In September, 1875, five Sisters of Charity from Mount St. Vincent, New York, took charge of the school, and their number has since been increased to nine. As the growth of the school necessitated more room, three lots on Shamokin street opposite St. Edward's church were purchased, upon which Father Koch erected a substantial three-story brick building forty by seventy feet in dimensions in 1883, and occupied it in the autumn of that year. The site, building, and furniture cost eighteen thousand dollars.
Connected with the parochial school is a high school in the convent build-
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ing, also under the charge of the Sisters of Charity. In 1871 Father Koch purchased over an acre of ground on what is now known as "Convent Hill." In 1876 he erected thereon a large three-story brick convent building for the Sisters employed in the schools. It overlooks the valley of Shamokin creek, and from its site a fine view of the town may be obtained. The ground and convent are valued at over ten thousand dollars. Only young ladies who have passed a satisfactory examination in the parochial school are admitted to the convent or high school, the number being always limited to twenty- four.
Both the parochial and high school are free, and are open to rich and poor alike. They are graded, and the same branches are taught as in the public schools, while the curriculum of the high school is equal to that of any first-class academy. The average attendance is between four and five hundred. The boys and girls occupy and receive instruction in separate rooms. Besides a good secular education, the children receive daily instruction in Christian morals and Catholic doctrine.
St. Stanislaus Kostka Parochial School was opened in the basement of the present church soon after its dedication, in December, 1881, under the charge of Sisters of the Order of St. Francis. In 1889 a large brick school building was completed, wherein five Sisters are engaged in teaching. About three hundred children receive instruction in this school, which is doing a good work for the parish.
The Shamokin Business College was established on the 1st of Novem- ber, 1888, by the Wilkesbarre Business College under the local management of W. L. Mccullough. A change of proprietorship occurred on the 1st of February, 1890, when this school passed to Mccullough & Ernest. The course embraces shorthand and typewriting in addition to the branches usu- ally taught in a regular business college.
CEMETERIES.
Irich's Graveyard, a mile east of Shamokin on the public road leading to Mt. Carmel, was the first place of interment in this part of the county. Rude headstones without mark or inscription of any kind indicate the loca- tion of some of the early graves, while there are doubtless others of which no visible indication exists. This was the place of burial for the Cherry family and other early settlers; at a later date it was also used by the early population to a limited extent, and the present tombstones are principally of the decade beginning with 1850. No interments have been made here for some years, and the ground is sadly desecrated.
The Shamokin Cemetery Company was incorporated by the court of com- mon pleas of Northumberland county, August 13, 1859. The managers elected for the first year were William H. Marshall, William M. Weaver, C. A. Rittenhouse, Charles P. Helfenstein, Joseph Bird, Solomon Weaver, and
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HISTORY OF NORTHUMBERLAND COUNTY.
Pemberton Bird. Their first meeting was held, April 28, 1860, when Charles P. Helfenstein was elected president, Joseph Bird, vice-president, Pemberton Bird, secretary, and William H. Marshall, treasurer. Ground was selected in the southern part of the borough, an elevated location, con- veniently accessible from all parts of the town, and possessing great natural beauty. It was secured upon favorable terms, from William H. Marshall, William M. Weaver, and Charles P. Helfenstein, who retained an interest as mortgagees, this lien being gradually extinguished by the payment annually of half the receipts from the sale of lots. Subsequently Mr. Marshall ac- quired the interests of Messrs. Weaver and Helfenstein, and on the 16th of June, 1874, an adjoining tract of seven and one half acres was secured upon the same terms. The grounds were laid out by Kimber Cleaver, and the symmetry of the design, as well as its adaptiveness to the natural features of the inclosure, are a high tribute to his engineering abilities. A noticeable feature is the soldiers' monument, erected under the auspices of Lincoln Post, No. 140, G. A. R., in 1871. The first superintendent was Amos Y. Thomas, who has been succeeded by John Geywitz and Solomon Long. The im- provement of the property may be properly said to have begun in 1867, under a board of managers composed of C. A. Hanly, president; Dr. J. J. John, secretary; William H. Marshall, treasurer, Frederick S. Haas, John Smink, John B. Douty, and John Dunkelberger. Mr. Hanly was succeeded by John Smink in 1871, and he by Alexander Fulton, the present president, in 1878. Dr. J. J. John has served as secretary continuously since 1867. Mr. Marshall was treasurer until his death in 1878, when he was succeeded by George Marshall. The present directory is composed as follows: presi- dent, Alexander Fulton; vice-president, Isaac May, Sr .; secretary, Dr. J. J. John; treasurer, George Marshall; H. A. Shissler, R. S. Aucker, and W. H. M. Oram.
St. Edward's Cemetery .- For more than forty years the Catholics of Shamokin and vicinity interred their dead in the old graveyard near the west end of the town. It was low and wet and poorly adapted for a cemetery, but it was the only place used until 1872, when Father Koch purchased four acres of elevated land about one mile east of Shamokin and adjoining the village of Springfield at a cost of one thousand dollars. He inclosed and laid it out, and Bishop Shanahan consecrated it in November, 1872. He commenced at once the work of beautifying and this good work has been con- tinued, so that the ground is now in a very satisfactory condition and in harmony with the church and school properties. The old cemetery was abandoned, and the bodies gradually removed to the new one, and in 1886 the last remains were reinterred. In 1888 the ground was sold, and nothing now remains to attest that it was once a sacred resting place of the dead.
St. Stanislaus Kostka Cemetery .- In 1880 Father Klonowski purchased one acre of land adjoining St. Edward's cemetery for a burying ground. He
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laid it out for that purpose, and it has since been used by St. Stanislaus's congregation.
The Greek Cemetery adjoins that of St. Stanislaus on the east. It com- prises one acre of ground, which was purchased and laid out in 1890.
CHAPTER XVIII.
MT. CARMEL.
OLD HOTELS-THE TOWN PLAT-FIRST IMPROVEMENTS AND SUBSEQUENT GROWTH -- THE FIRST MERCHANTS, PHYSICIANS, AND LAWYERS-THE POSTOFFICE -- RAIL- ROADS-MUNICIPAL ORGANIZATION AND GOVERNMENT- THE MT. CARMEL COAL TRADE-GENERAL INDUSTRIAL INTERESTS -- FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS-WATER AND ELECTRIC LIGHT COMPANIES - SECRET AND OTHER SOCIETIES -- THE PRESS- SCHOOLS, CHURCHES . CEMETERIES.
T HE borough of Mt. Carmel is situated in the extreme southeastern part of Northumberland county. The site is an elevated plain, extending from the Shamokin creek on the west to Locust mountain on the east, and sur- rounded by a mountainous region of vast mineral wealth and natural scenery of the most picturesque character.
OLD HOTELS.
The old Reading road, which leads from Sunbury to Reading, was opened in 1770 and passes through the present site of Mt. Carmel. Although thus situated upon the line of an important public highway, this locality presented few inducements to invite settlement, as it possessed but meager agricultural advantages and its mineral resources were unknown. The first permanent improvements within the borough limits were made by Lawrence Lamerson, whose daughter, Mrs. Rebecca Reeder, died at an advanced age. Several years previous to her death she was interviewed by Dr. J. J. John, of Shamo- kin, to whom she gave the following interesting particulars :- 1
A man by the name of Cartwright was the first settler at Mt. Carmel. He lived in a small house on the Yarnall tract. I knew but little about him. My father was the second settler.
My father, Lawrence Lamerson, emigrated from Holland some years previous to the Revolutionary war. He first settled in Virginia, but soon after moved to New Jersey. About 1776 he joined the American army and served through the war. William Tiets- worth, of Shamokin township, was his comrade in these campaigns. Upon the close of the war he married in New Jersey, and, with many others from that State, immi- grated to Northumberland county. He first settled at Sunbury, but soon. afterward purchased a tract of two hundred acres of land in what was then Shamokin township,
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but now the southern part of the town plat of Mt. Carmel. He built a log house near where the old Reading depot stood. The orchard may still be seen near the present park.
I was born in 1803 at the old house in "the Orchard." We had no schools in those days. Our nearest neighbors for some years were Isaac Tomlinson and John Thomp- son, who had settled down the valley some miles towards Shamokin. We visited each other occasionally, and were always glad to meet each other. We felt like neighbors toward each other. Game was very plentiful at that time. My father in one year shot forty deer, six bears, and three panthers, besides smaller game. At nights we would hear these wild animals scream. Their noise was frightful to hear. Wolves were very troublesome to us. One night they dug under the stable, dragged out a sheep, and took it away. It was not safe to he out after night without fire-arms. Shamokin creek abounded with fish, and in a very short time we could catch a nice string. We fol- lowed the Indian paths in traveling to Catawissa and other points.
My father kept a number of cattle for the farmers of Maiden creek, Berks county, during the summer seasons. The pasture in the mountains was good, and the animals fattened on it. He charged fifty cents per head to take care of them. They were under complete control, and would come home when he would call them. It was the custom for each farmer to bring a fresh cow and some salt with his herd. We had plenty of milk in those times.
Shortly after we started the hotel a quack doctor from Philadelphia with two or three Indians spent some time at our place in searching and collecting medical plants. Indians stopped with us several times when we first settled here. They ate at our house and spoke in broken English. They traveled over Indian paths that passed through Mt. Carmel. Lawyer Bradford, of Sunbury, who was a noted attorney of those times, frequently stopped at our hotel. When the turnpike was opened large numbers of Conestoga teams stopped with us over night. Bradford once watched one of those teamsters eating his supper; he said that he drank fourteen cups of coffee and ate in proportion.
Richard Yarnall was the next settler. His father, Jesse Yarnall, kept a hotel on the old Minersville road at the crossing of Mahanoy creek, near Otto's forge, Schuylkill county, about four miles south of Mt. Carmel. He married Hannah Penrose, of Roaring Creek township, Columbia county; an Indian path led from that locality to his hotel, and in the early official rec- ords of Northumberland county it is referred to as " Yarnall's path." Rich- ard Yarnall, son of Jesse and Hannah (Penrose) Yarnall, was born on the 10th of April, 1791. He learned the trade of carpenter, and married Mary, daughter of John King, of Ralpho township. About the time he reached manhood the Centre turnpike was constructed, resulting in a large increase in the travel between Danville and Sunbury on the north and Reading and Pottsville on the south. A favorable opportunity was presented for the erec- tion of a hotel on this important thoroughfare at the present site of Mt. Car- mel, which is about equidistant from Danville and Pottsville, and, prompted by these considerations, Mr. Yarnall erected the Mt. Carmel Inn, a two-story log structure situated on the southeast side of the turnpike immediately northeast of the Commercial Hotel. He opened a hotel therein and con- ducted the business with fair success for several years, when, having become
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surety for a friend who failed to meet his obligations, the property was sold and he removed to the vicinity of Bear Gap, where he was variously em- ployed for several years. He then located on a small cleared tract on the old Minersville road, and also resided at the Tomlinson farm, after which he engaged in hotel keeping at the Riffert tavern, where he died on the 14th of October, 1847. Jesse and John Yarnall, two of his sons, reside at Mt. Car- mel and are among the oldest citizens of the place. The former was born near Bear Gap, July 7, 1815, and the latter at the Tomlinson farm, February 15, 1828.
Who erected the Riffert tavern can not be definitely stated. It was a log structure, situated on the east side of the turnpike and north of the Lehigh Valley depot. John Riffert and a Mr. Kunkle were among the first who conducted this hotel, which bore a bad reputation throughout the surround- ing country. It was not until Mr. Yarnall became proprietor that it received the confidence and patronage of the traveling public.
The Mt. Carmel Inn, which had become the property of E. G. Bradford, a well known attorney of Sunbury and subsequently judge in York county, was conducted by various parties after Mr. Yarnall left it. Oscar and Albert Bradford, sons of the proprietor, had the management of the property after their father removed from Sunbury. Oscar Bradford inserted the following advertisement in the Sunbury Gazetteer of February 25, 1832 :-
FOR RENT .- A valuable tavern stand, situate on the Centre turnpike, now in the occupancy of Thomas Osborne, known by the name of the Mt. Carmel Inn, containing two hundred acres, about thirty of which are cleared and in good farming order. For terms apply to the subscriber, near the premises, or E. G. Bradford, Columbia, Lancas- ter county, Pennsylvania.
OSCAR BRADFORD.
This advertisement was responded to by Felix Lerch, a native of Lower Sau- con township, Northampton county, Pennsylvania, where he was born in 1794. He was employed as a blacksmith and farmer in his native county until 1826, when he located at Bloomsburg, Columbia county, and engaged in farming and teaming. Thence he removed to Elysburg, Northumberland county, in 1830, and opened a hotel, and in the spring of 1832 he leased the Mt. Carmel Inn at an annual rental of two hundred dollars. At that date the hotel sign bore the legend, "Mt. Carmel Inn, 1824." Water was conducted to the buildings by underground wooden pipes from springs on Locust mountain, to which Bradford is said to have claimed a right "as long as the sun shines and water runs." The patronage was considerable. This was the regular stopping place at dinner for persons traveling between Danville and Potts- ville; the stages between Sunbury and Reading also stopped here, and, although surrounded by a comparatively uninhabited mountain region, the old hotel was often a scene of great bustle and activity. In 1839 Mr. Lerch removed to Paxinos, where he kept hotel ten years; he was then proprietor of
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HISTORY OF NORTHUMBERLAND COUNTY.
the Douty House at Shamokin one year, and in 1850 again took charge of the Mt. Carmel Inn, which he conducted until his election as justice of the peace in 1855. He performed the duties of this office until his death, August 6, 1857. Abraham and William H. Lerch, two of his sons, reside at Mt. Carmel.
When Felix Lerch left the Mt. Carmel Inn in 1839 he was succeeded as proprietor by his brother-in-law, Solomon Fagely, formerly a farmer in Sha- mokin township and a brother of William and Reuben Fagely, the well known coal operators of Shamokin. He was followed by Paul Rhoads, from Nu- midia, Columbia county, J. C. Perkins, Joseph Keeler, Felix Lerch, William H. Lerch, Abraham Lerch, Joseph Keeler, Charles Culp, etc., which brings the history of this old hostelry down to about the year 1865. After its removal the Commercial Hotel was erected, which, although it does not occupy the same site, is virtually the successor to the old Mt. Carmel Inn.
The Mt. Carmel House is the oldest of the present hotel buildings of the borough. Its erection was begun in 1853, but the framework was com- pletely demolished by a wind storm on the 14th of March, 1854. The work of rebuilding was at once begun, and in the following August the hotel was occupied by its first landlord, Joseph Feger, now proprietor of the St. Elmo Hotel, Philadelphia. This building was erected by the Mt. Carmel Plot Company under the superintendence of John H. James.
THE TOWN PLAT.
Tradition asserts that the idea of laying out the town of Mt. Carmel originated with the Bradfords. The earliest town plat that has come to the knowledge of the writer is a large and handsomely printed map now in the possession of Professor E. E. White. It bears the following indorsements :-
Plan of the town of Mt. Carmel, in the Middle coal region, Northumberland county, Pennsylvania, 1848. Application for lots to be made to C. W. Hegins, Esquire, Pottsville, Pennsylvania.
The town [of] Mt. Carmel is situated on tableland on the north side of Locust mountain in the center of the Middle coal region and midway between the towns of Pottsville and Danville, eighteen miles from each place. The Centre turnpike passes through the town. Mt, Carmel is supplied with an abundance of pure water from a never-failing spring on Locust mountain. The situation of the town is most healthy, the land is good for cultivation, for gardens, etc., and good clay for making bricks exists on the premises.
This plat shows Creek, Mill, North, Taylor, Market, Webster, South, Oak, and Locust streets extending east and west in order from the north, intersected at right angles by Clay, West, Columbia, Main, Washington, East, and Penn, in order from the west. A map on a smaller scale shows the location of the town with reference to the Schuylkill and Susquehanna valleys, and the railroads "made or contemplated to be made in its vicinity." It is needless to remark that the word "contemplated" was a very necessary modifier.
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In 1853 the plat of the town was relocated by P. W. Sheafer, of Potts- ville, and the plan is recorded in Northumberland county Deed Book S. S, p. 584. Mt. Carmel avenue, Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth streets extend east and west in order from the north; Vine, Maple, Oak, Hickory, Market, Chestnut, Walnut; Locust, Spruce, and Pine streets extend north and south in order from the west. All the streets are seventy-five feet wide, except Market, of which the width is one hundred feet. The sur- vey of 1853 was made under the auspices of a company, composed, as accu- rately as can be ascertained, of Charles W. Hegins, William L. Dewart, Alex- ander Jordan, Francis W. Hughes, William L. Helfenstein, Thomas Baum- gardner, David Longenecker, John Anspach, and John M. Bickel.
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