History of Perry County, Pennsylvania, including descriptions of Indians and pioneer life from the time of earliest settlement, sketches of its noted men and women and many professional men, Part 100

Author: Hain, Harry Harrison, 1873- [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1922
Publisher: Harrisburg, Pa., Hain-Moore company
Number of Pages: 1102

USA > Pennsylvania > Perry County > History of Perry County, Pennsylvania, including descriptions of Indians and pioneer life from the time of earliest settlement, sketches of its noted men and women and many professional men > Part 100

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).

919

BOROUGHS, TOWNSHIPS AND VILLAGES

on the west and which was warranted by James Cowan, February 4, 1755, -the very first day of the opening of the land office for these lands. This latter tract is named in the patent as "Rye." The sites of the Lutheran and Reformed churches and the old graveyard were a part of this 294-acre tract. In the latter burial grounds rest five generations of Lupfers.

The big spring at New Bloomfield was excepted for general use of sur- rounding property owners, and the old deeds contain a clause which gives the purchasers the right to secure water at this spring. The town citizens some years ago had it improved with cement surroundings, but of recent years the water has been condemned, having been contaminated.

Prior to 1833 two additional plots were laid out in town lots, one by George Barnett, on the north side of High Street, and one by Matthew Shuman, bordering the western line.

The village, for it then was a mere handful of houses, was granted a post office under the John Quincy Adams administration, in May, 1825, with Dr. Jonas lekes as postmaster. A list of the men who have held that position, with the dates of their assuming it :

Dr. Jonas Ickes, 1825.

Joseph Duncan, 1830.

t Dr. Isaac Lefevre. Joseph Miller, 1861.

Alexander Magee, 1835.

Mrs. Elizabeth Dickson, 1865.

Robert R. Guthrie, 1841.

Samuel Roath, 1869.

Samuel G. Morrison, 1845.

James B. Clark, 1885.

*Frances M. Watts.

H. C. Shearer, 1889.

Joseph M. Shatto.

Win. Grier, 1897.

Robert R. Guthrie, 1849. Isaac N. Shatto, 1853.

A. B. Grosh, 1901. William Clegg, 1913.

tJacob Fenstemacher.

The barn on the Barnett farm, now owned by George R. Barnett, at- torney, was erected in the very year in which the county was formed, and still stands. The late Frederick and Sarah Barnett, then children of five and nine, remembered the day of its raising and told of the occurrence and the large number of men there, as was the custom.

Like its sister town, Landisburg, the new county seat celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of American Independence, in 1826. Ralph Smiley presided and the Declaration of Independence was read by John Harper. Charles B. Power was the orator for the occasion. A dinner was served at the big spring by Dr. Jonas Ickes, then proprietor of the "Rising Sun Inn."

The New Bloomfield cemetery land was bought by Alex. C. Klink, John Campbell, Daniel Gantt (later Chief Justice of Colorado), and B. McIntire, and plotted in 1854, the lots being 14x16. It is well kept. In 1871 the southwest corner of the square was burned out, the principal building being that of Samuel Wiggins, occupied by him as a residence and by the Peo- ples' Advocate and Press. The fourth floor was finished for lodge pur- poses and all the town orders then met there, including the Masons, Odd Fellows, American Mechanics, Red Med and Good Templars. The Demo- crat was published for years from a building on the western end of the Wiggins plot, which was a present to Mrs. Wiggins from a relative, Gen- eral Dowdell, of York. Other buildings burned in this fire were a hotel on Carlisle Street, a residence on the corner of Carlisle and Main, and a building in which there was a marble cutting establishment. In 1888 there was a fire which burned several residences on the west side of Carlisle Street, one of them being the home of the late Judge Junkin. It joined the section burned in the earlier fire.

*Filled unexpired term of Morrison, who resigned.

+Succeeded Shatto during Buchanan administration.

920

HISTORY OF PERRY COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

In 1893 the New Bloomfield Water Company was organized, with Dr. A. R. Johnston as president and principal in the movement, and the fol- lowing year water was piped from the Garland springs, a point somewhat over a mile from town. The company supplies water for public and pri- vate purposes to the inhabitants. Its capital is $15,000. During 1898 the Newport Electric Company, of which Joshua S. Leiby was president, se- cured the franchise for lighting the streets and introducing electric lights into private residences and business places, the current being carried over- land from the plant at Newport. Since then that company and its suc- cessors have furnished the borough's electric current.

Prior to the laying out of the county seat the physicians of Millerstown and Milford served the needs of this community. The first physician to locate in New Bloomfield, Dr. Jonas Ickes, moved there in 1825, the year before it became the county seat. He was born in Montgomery County, but his parents removed to Perry County when he was three years old. He began practice in Ickesburg in 1820, located in Duncannon in 1823. One of his daughters, Susan, was married to General Harding, an Illinois con- gressman. He practiced in New Bloomfield for thirty-one years. Dr. Vanderslice practiced here from 1827 to 1832, when he died of smallpox. Others for short periods were Dr. John H. Doling, 1830; Dr. T. L. Cath- cart, 1830, and Dr. Joseph Speck, about 1836, he having previously been at Duncannon and returned. From 1840 until his death, in 1849, Dr. John M. Laird practiced in New Bloomfield, having been in Millerstown from the time of his graduation in 1824 until then. In 1845 or '46 Dr. Miller was located here. Prior to 1853 Dr. J. P. Kimball practiced here for a half- dozen years. Dr. Joseph Ickes was a son of Dr. Jonas Ickes. He prac- ticed with his father here for a short time after his graduation in 1849, then located at Manheim, but moved to Duncan's Island, where he died in 1851. Dr. David F. Fetter located there in 1852, practiced for several years, and then located in New York. Dr. Isaac Lefevre succeeded him, removing from Loysville in 1855. Dr. Burkley practiced several years prior to 1862, when he located in Harrisburg. Dr. E. W. Baily located here in 1860, but did not remain long.

Dr. M. B. Strickler, who was a native of Cumberland County, gradu- ated at the University of Pennsylvania in 1861. A year later he located at New Bloomfield. Dr. Thomas G. Morris, of Liverpool, practiced here during the period from 1865-67. After the War between the States Dr. David H. Sweeney was located here for a few years, removing to Clear- field. Dr. W. D. Ard, a native of Juniata County, graduated at the Uni- versity of the City of New York in 1869, and the next year located in New Bloomfield, where he practiced until 1881, when he died, aged only thirty- five years. He was succeeded by Dr. O. P. Bollinger, who had previously practiced at Newport and Milford and who removed to the West in 1885. Dr. A. R. Johnston, a native son of Perry County, graduated from the Jef- ferson Medical College in 1881 and located in New Bloomfield in 1884. He also conducted a drug store here for a long period. He is still in active practice. Dr. E. E. Moore graduated from Jefferson Medical Col- lege in 1887 and located at his home town, where he still conducts probably as wide a practice as any physician in Perry County. Dr. M. I. Stein, Uni- versity of Maryland, 1909, located here in 1915.

A few years after the founding of the town there was a schoolhouse on the Barnett farm, south of the mill race, on the road leading to Duncannon, which sufficed for a time. It was the first school west of the Susquehanna River. (See School chapter.) Later George Barnett donated a lot on High Street, east of the present Lutheran Church, which is in use to this day for school purposes. Upon this land a small brick schoolhouse was

921

BOROUGHS, TOWNSHIPS AND VILLAGES

built, but the exact date is a matter of conjecture, yet there is documentary evidence that it was probably about 1829, as "the stockholders of the schoolhouse" met December 26th of that year, at the tavern house of David Deardorff, at "early candlelight to attend to important business." On March 7, 1831, Alexander Magee, James Hill and Joseph Marshall were elected to sit with John Rice and Isaac Keiser as trustees of the school. John Heineman taught one term in the tavern house of John Rice in the year 1830-31. He also taught in the new school building when completed. Teachers following were a man named Lowell, Samuel Black, Samuel Ramsey and John L. Amoreanx. As conditions required more room an addition was built to the north end, and later a building was erected on the south side of McClure Street. The two buildings were in use until 1870, when the present building was erected on the old site at a cost of nine thousand dollars.

The establishing of the New Bloomfield Academy, with its interesting history, and that of the Carson Long Institute, are a part of the annals of New Bloomfield Borough, but in this book belong more properly under the chapter devoted to Public Institutions and Academies, where it will be found. In 1837 this school was first opened in the corner room of the second story of the old Mansion House. In 1919 Theodore K. Long leased this building, which had been in use as a hostelry since 1831, and adapted it to office and dormitory uses for the Carson Long Institute, as the old academy is now known.

The organization of Adams Lodge, No. 319, Free and Accepted Masons, took place at New Bloomfield, under a warrant dated March 1, 1858. It was the successor of Golden Rule Lodge, No. 76, organized at Landisburg, on June 26, 1825, but which ceased holding meetings about 1833, it having been the oldest Masonic Lodge in the Juniata Valley. The first officers of the New Bloomfield Lodge were Irvine J. Crane, master; Charles J. T. McIntire, senior warden, and Alexander C. Kling, junior warden.

Probably the women's club longest in existence in Perry County is the Women's Club of New Bloomfield, affiliated with the State Federation of Pennsylvania Women, and classed as a literary club with departments. It was organized in the fall of 1890, under the title, "Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle," which name was only changed when joining the State Federation, in 1908, for uniformity's sake. It organized with eleven mem- bers. Early officers were Mrs. A. R. Johnston, president, and Miss Char- lotte Barnett, secretary. As its name at first implied, it is devoted to liter- ary work. One of the first acts of this club was the purchase of a piano for use in the courthouse, where practically all entertainments of a public nature-save religious-take place. Churches are allowed its use free for all charitable objects, but others are charged a small fee. The Women's Community Club was organized December 6, 1920, with Mrs. J. T. Alter, president ; Mrs. A. R. Johnston, vice-president ; Miss Elizabeth H. Roth, secretary, and Miss M. Zulu Swartz, treasurer. Its object is "to create good fellowship, and cultivate social, intellectual and civic interest. The Community Club meets every two weeks in the chapel of the Carson Long Institute and has held several public meetings in the courthouse, its finances being so far principally devoted to those charities which are world-wide and which since the great war have been so pressing.

The first Woman's Christian Temperance Union in New Bloomfield was organized in December, 1884. The first officers were : Mrs. Elizabeth W. Orr, president ; Mrs. A. H. F. Fischer, vice-president ; Mrs. Amanda Abrams, treasurer ; Miss Charlotte Barnett, secretary. A bill requiring the teach- ing of physiology, with special reference to the effects of narcotics on the human body was at that time before the legislature, and the first work of

922

HISTORY OF PERRY COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

the newly organized union was the securing of signers to petitions favoring the passage of the bill. The union continued its work, holding meetings at the homes of the members, and doing various kinds of work, among which was the presentation of remonstrances to the license court. The first re- monstrance was presented in 1888. After some years of work, the union lapsed, but was reorganized during the winter of 1910-II.

New Bloomfield is not a manufacturing town, but has a planing mill and a hosiery mill. The hosiery mill was established in 1903, by W. H. Dar- lington and H. E. Clouser, trading as Darlington & Clouser. In 1917 Mr. Darlington purchased the other interest and now operates the plant.

With the stopping of the sale of intoxicants most of the hotels in the county went out of business, but this was not the case with Hotel Rhine- smith, in New Bloomfield. This was long known as the Perry House, but was purchased by the late D. M. Rhinesmith in 1889, and conducted by him from 1890 to 1895, when it was rebuilt by the present proprietor, H. B. Rhinesmith.

According to the report of the mercantile appraiser the following per- sons are engaged in business in Bloomfield Borough, the date following their names being the date when they began business :

General Stores, G. W. Garber, G. W. Keller.

Groceries. C. O. Davis (1918), Amos Sheaffer.

Notions, Clarence Askins (1911).

Lumber, Chas. L. Darlington (1912), Hoffman & Tressler.

Auto Supplies, D. Boyd Alter (1914).

Stoves and tinware, J. A. Spahr (1883), established by George Spahr in 1848. This is the oldest established business in Bloomfield.

Implements, B. F. Keller (1919).

Perry Mercantile Co. (James L. Butz), clothing; Thomas Bender, cigars ; H. B. Rhinesmith, hotel; H. Earl Book, drugs; Frank Eckerd, meat market ; W. J. Grenoble, jewelry (1917) ; Robert A. McClure, grain and feed (1920) ; Hoffman & McClure (1918), established by W. H. F. Garber in Nepwort in 1878, and in 1889 at Bloomfield; J. C. Motter, lumber ; Nickel Furniture Co. (1920), established by Jacob Fenstemacher, whose successor was A. P. Nickel (1870) ; Harry Shellehamer, meat market ; Charles Rouse, furniture, estab- lished by George A. Rouse & Bro. (1873) ; Harriet Nickel, millinery ; W. H. Cupp & Son, vehicles; Bretz & Tressler, Sheller Bretz, Gutshall's Garage & Machine Co., garages.

The Old Union Church. On Saturday, June 19, 1798, the first church in New Bloomfield, the Old Union log church, was raised. It was erected jointly by the Lutheran and German Reformned congregations, and was 36x30 feet in size. Each parishioner who was able to do so brought one or more logs of white pine, oak or poplar, as his contribution towards its erection. Heavy crossbeams were inserted for the support of a gallery, but that was not added until twenty-two years later. Soon after its erec- tion Andrew Shuman covered it with a substantial roof and thus it stood, it is said, doorless, windowless and without a floor, until 1802. It con- tained no stove and was used only in summer. The seats were of slabs and the preacher stook back of a rough wooden table. During the winter the meetings were held in private dwellings, when held at all, they being few and far between. The minister resided at Carlisle and the roads were only roads in name at that time.

The church was built on an acre and a half of land which Jacob Lupfer sold to them for twelve dollars. He had located it in 1787, according to the land office. It was surveyed for church purposes in 1802 and deeded to the two congregations, May 14, 1804. The graveyard was laid out soon thereafter and the first interment was that of Peter Moses. The site is the old High Street site in the borough, and at that time was surrounded by woods, the nearest homes being those of Thomas Barnett and David

923

BOROUGHS, TOWNSHIPS AND VILLAGES

Lupfer. Where the schoolhouse now stands was a frog pond, and between it and the big spring was a lowland covered with green briar and other underbrush.

In 1820 it was completed, seats being constructed on the board floor and a high pulpit similar in design to a wine glass was erected. The ceiling was arched, the gallery built and windows put in. It was plastered and the woodwork painted white, and was then called Christ's Church.

On October 4, 1857, Rev. D. H. Focht preached at the last service held in the old log church, and from his discourse are gathered many facts in- cluded in this article. As it had long been uncomfortable an effort had been begun in 1855 looking to the erection of a new church. The German Reformed and Lutheran churches then divided equally the ground and on it to-day are located well-kept brick churches in which each have their exclusive title. Even the timbers of the old edifice were equally and amicably divided. The new Lutheran Church was erected under the super- vision of a building committee composed of Samuel Comp, Dr. Jonas Ickes, Henry Rice, John Beaver, Sr., and Jacob Stouffer. It was dedicated October 22, 1857, and cost three thousand dollars, a mere fraction of what the cost would be now. It was remodeled in 1885.

Christ's Lutheran Church. The Lutheran congregation had its begin- ning in the old log church as stated above, which came to known as Christ's Church in 1820, the year of the county's formation. Of some of the orig- inal Lutheran families to worship at the log church were the Comp and Shover families, who settled there about 1780; the Cless family, in 1785; the Clark, Fritz and Myers families, about 1790; the Westfall, Slough, Smith, Crist and Sweger families, between then and 1800, and the Roth family, in 1803. These were among those who formed the nucleus of this congregation. When a minister came they gathered from distances as far apart as twelve miles to hear the gospel. Private dwellings, barns, school- houses and the forests themselves were the scenes of their devotions. Tradition says (probably) Rev. John G. Butler, of Carlisle, came over occasionally to preach between 1780 and 1788.

About that time Rev. John T. Kuhl commenced visiting and preaching throughout the Sherman's Valley. In 1790 he located near Loysville, and between 1788 and 1795 he preached also to the scattered members of the little congregation at what is now New Bloomfield. Rev. John Herbst, of Carlisle, in 1796 began serving the congregations of Sherman's Valley, and to him is likely due the credit for organizing the congregation here. In 1801 Rev. Herbst resigned the Carlisle charge and then there was no regu- lar pastor until 1809, when Rev. John Frederick Osterloh assumed charge of the congregations of Sherman's Valley, serving until 1816. In June, 1816, Rev. John William Heim, that famous old circuit rider, became the leader of the Lutherans of the valley and served New Bloomfield until his death in December, 1849. He preached once every four weeks, and only in the German language.

In September, 1842, the West Pennsylvania Synod of the Lutheran Church was held at New Bloomfield, and some of the ministers preached in the English language, with the result that some of the membership de- sired Mr. Heim to associate with himself a pastor who could use the Eng- lish language, which he either would not or did not do. Rev. A. H. Loch- man, then president of the Western Pennsylvania Synod, sent Rev. Levi T. Williams, who was stationed at Petersburg (Duncannon), to preach a trial sermon. He was also to preach in German, but finding friction with the German-speaking membership, induced Rev. Jacob Scholl, a German Re- formed minister, to fill those appointments for him. Finding all efforts in vain to reconcile them it was decided to organize an entirely separate con-

924

HISTORY OF PERRY COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

gregation of English Lutherans. It was effected Friday, June 14, 1844, the officers being Jacob Crist, Sr., and David Deardorff, elders, and H. C. Hickok, and George Attick, deacons. Their first services were held in the schoolhouse, but the Presbyterians then invited them to use their church edifice. Rev. Williams resigned in 1845. In 1848 the German Lu- therans had again invited the English membership to use its building as a place of worship. Rev. Lloyd Knight, a resident, then became pastor until 1849. He was succeeded by Rev. Jacob Martin, under whose pastorate the two congregations became one.

In July, 1849, when he became pastor, the charge comprised New Bloom- field, Petersburg, Billow's (St. David's), Mt. Pisgah, Newport, Buffalo (near Ickesburg), and New Buffalo. With the close of 1849 Father Heim passed away and a convention of the Lutheran churches of Perry County met in New Bloomfield during February, 1850, and divided the field into three pastorates, called the Loysville, the New Bloomfield and the Petersburg charges. Rev. Martin was assigned to the New Bloomfield pastorate, which included the churches at Newport, Shuman's or St. An- drew's, St. John's, near Markelville, and Buffalo, near Ickesburg. As Rev. Martin could preach in both languages he was logically made the pastor of the New Bloomfield charge and thus also became the regular successor of Father Heim as the pastor of the German-speaking branch. He preached once every three weeks there, alternately in English and German. He resigned in June, 1853. Since that time the pastors of this congrega- tion have been :

1854 -Rev. Adam T. Height. 1889-95-Rev. Chas. Fickinger.

1855-63-Rev. D. H. Focht. 1895-00-Rev. A. J. Rudisill.

1863-65-Rev. P. P. Lane. 1900-01-Rev. Geo. A. Greiss.

1866-68-Rev. G. F. Schaffer. 1901-05-Rev. Chas. M. Nicholas.

1869-72-Rev. S. A. Hedges.

1906-13-Rev. W. J. Wagner.

1873-78-Rev. R. Sheeder. 1913 -Rev. A. R. Longenecker.

1879-82-Rev. A. H. Spangler. 1914-20-Rev. Jno. W. Weeter.

1883-89-Rev. A. H. F. Fisher. 1921- - Rev. S. M. Kornman.

Trinity Reformed Church. Uniting with the Lutherans of the vicinity, as recorded on the foregoing page, the members of the Reformed faith in the vicinity helped build the Old Union church, a log structure, in 1798. All the Reformed people of Sherman's Valley then comprised one charge. Just who the first pastor of that faith at New Bloomfield was will for- ever be a mystery, but it is believed to have been Rev. Ulrich Heininger, an itinerant preacher of the word, who preached throughout the territory from 1780 to 1802. Succeeding ministers in the territory were: Rev. Samuel Dubbendorf, 1790-95; Rev. Anthony Hautz, 1798-1804; Rev. Jona- than Helfenstein, 1805-11 ; Rev. Albert Helfenstein, 1811-19. In 1819 Rev. Jacob Scholl was made pastor of the entire charge, which of course, in- cluded Trinity church. He continued in charge until his death, September 4, 1847.

In 1855, coincident with the similar effort of the Lutheran Church, a movement was started for the erection of a new church, not however until overtures had been made to the Lutheran congregation, with a view of building a new Union church. The Lutheran Synod, however, had frowned upon further building of union churches generally and so the ef- fort failed. David Lupfer, John McKeehan, George W. Meck, Charles Boyles and Jacob Mogel were appointed a building committee. On Sep- tember 20, 1857, the new church was dedicated.

As early as 1838 an effort was made to divide the Sherman's Valley charge into two, and a year later it was consummated. The matter of language was also producing friction in this denomination, similar to that of the Lutherans. After this division the New Bloomfield charge consisted

925

BOROUGHS, TOWNSHIPS AND VILLAGES

of six congregations: Trinity, New Bloomfield; Christ's, Newport; St. John's, Markelville; St. Andrew's, Shuman's (now Eshcol) ; St. David's, Fio Forge; and Zion's, Fishing Creek. After Rev. Scholl's death, in 1847, Rev. Daniel Ganz was pastor until 1851, when Rev. Samuel Kuhn suc- ceeded him, serving eleven and a half years. It was then decided to reduce the number of churches to four by uniting Zion's with St. David's, and St. Andrew's to the Blain charge. Succeeding pastors were :

1863-67-Rev. David W. Kelly. 1876-81-Rev. John Kretzing.

1867-70-Rev. Wm. F. Colliflower. 1881-00-Rev. W. R. H. Deatrich.

1871-75-Rev. James Crawford. 1901-21-Rev. J. T. Fox (still there).

During 1911 the church was remodeled, the repairs including memorial windows, etc.

Bloomfield Presbyterian Church. When the new town of Bloomfield was laid out the members of the Presbyterian faith residing in the vicinity had been attendants at either the Middle Ridge or Limestone Ridge, some- times known as "Sam Fisher's Church," both of which were distant points. Among these were the Maddens, the Barnetts, the Mckees, the Neilsons, and others. Just as Limestone Ridge had been abandoned, ten years be- fore, being weakened by the organization of Landisburg and Buffalo, so did the organization of the New Bloomfield church and the subsequent withdrawal of many of the communicants to unite with it and the church at Millerstown, weaken and forecast the end of the old Middle Ridge Church. Rev. John Niblock, who was the pastor of the churches at the mouth of the Juniata, Sherman's Creek and Middle Ridge from 1826 to 1830, lived for a short time in Juniata Township, but chose to reside at the new county seat. Occasionally he conducted services in the courthouse, with the result that early in 1831, other data makes certain, a congregation was organized. While no such record is available, yet an advertisement of Benjamin McIntire, secretary of the trustees, dated April 21, 1831, invited proposals for building a brick church, 43×45, with a height of twenty-two feet, and including a gallery, at Carlisle and High Streets. Rev. Niblock died in August, 1831, at New Bloomfield, and the erection of the church lagged. The three churches over which Rev. Niblock presided were then without a pastor until 1833, when Rev. Matthew B. Patterson was sent by the Presbytery as a supply. David Lupfer had the contract, and early in the summer had completed the excavation and had the walls almost up when a continuous soaking rain, followed by a high wind, toppled them. The resultant delay retarded completion until 1835. It was in use until 1870, when it was succeeded by the present brick church, which was built at a cost of seven thousand dollars.

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 Perry County, Pennsylvania, including descriptions of Indians and pioneer life from the time of earliest settlement, sketches of its noted men and women and many professional men, Part 100

Author: Hain, Harry Harrison, 1873- [from old catalog] Publication date: 1922 Publisher: Harrisburg, Pa., Hain-Moore company Number of Pages: 1102

Author: Hain, Harry Harrison, 1873- [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1922
Publisher: Harrisburg, Pa., Hain-Moore company
Number of Pages: 1102