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 113
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The earliest building in which school was conducted was, according to Prof. Silas Wright, the old Dick's Gap church, which was located near Pine Grove.
When traffic over the canal was the vogue the packet boats made a stop at Bailey's. The first settlements made there are credited to the Van- Camps, who came originally from Holland and settled at Kingston, New York, from whence they fled on horseback with all their effects in fear of an Indian uprising. The third railway station in the township, of the Penn- sylvania Railroad, is named Iroquois, formerly known as Poor Man's Spring. There are no business places in the township. Farming and lum- bering are the industries. An account of old Caroline furnace will be found in the chapter relating to Old Landmarks, Mills, etc. Sketches relating to Poor Man's Spring, the old canal, the physical features, etc., appear in appropriate chapters.
According to T. W. Campbell, there is a cave, supposed to have been used by the Indians, first as a place of concealment, and later as a burial place, located at the base of Mahanoy Ridge, about a half mile from the Pine Grove cemetery. It is closed by hortizontal stones of considerable length, and so far as known has never been opened.
There are no business places within this township. Dr. George I. Crouse located at Losh's Run (Logania post office) in 1886, and practiced his pro- fession, having been previously located at Richfield, Juniata County. He was a graduate of Jefferson Medical College, '84.
Pine Grove Church of God. The church records of the Pine Grove Church of God do not tell the time of its building, according to Mr. T. W. Campbell, who made a search of them, but from older residents the date is placed as in "the early sixties." It is a frame building, located upon lands once owned by William Holmes, and practically at the site of the early and rude enclosure, known as the Dick's Gap church, an account of which appears in the chapter devoted to "The Earliest Churches." It has been a part of the Lower Perry Circuit of the denomination. Rev. Samuel P. Campbell, long a near-by resident, was for many years a local preacher of this denomination, and to him belongs much of the credit for the con- tinuation of this church in the neighborhood. During the pastorate of W. S. Smith, in 1891, the church was remodeled and rededicated. The fol- lowing have been the ministers of this church and the Red Hill church in Howe Township :
1861-64-Rev. W. L. Jones. 1883-87-Rev. J. W. Miller.
1864-69-Rev. F. Still. 1887-89-Rev. O. E. Houston.
1869-71-Rev. Messinger. 1889-90-Rev. J. T. Fleegal.
1871-74-Rev. G. W. Seilhammer.
1890-92-Rev. W. S. Smith.
1874-76-Rev. J. W. Miller.
1892-96-Rev. Samuel Spurrier.
1876-78 -- Rev. W. J. Grissinger.
1896-97-Rev. J. A. Snyder.
1878-81-Rev. C. J. Behney. 1897-05-Rev. S. E. Kline.
1881-83-Rev. T. Still. 1905-08-Rev. G. H. Bowersox.
Beginning with 1906 the East Newport church was dedicated, and the persons named as pastors there also served Pine Grove and Red Hill, in Howe Township. See Oliver Township chapter.
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HISTORY OF PERRY COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
Logania Church of God. The members of the Church of God residing in the vicinity of Logania first held meetings in their homes and in the schoolhouse. During 1889-90 a church building was erected. H. B. Cumb- ler, Andrew Watts and J. M. Peterman were the building committee. The first pastor of the new church was Rev. J. T. Flegal. It is connected with the Duncannon charge, where the names of the ministers will be found.
Mahanoy Union Church. Members of different denominations residing in the Mahanoy Valley erected a church in 1900. the building committee being John M. Smith, A. J. Burd, H. H. Yocum, J. R. Stewart and M. R. Clouser, who were also the board of trustees. The first officers of the board of trustees were H. H. Yocum, president; J. R. Stewart, secretary, and J. M. Smith, treasurer. The United Evangelicals of the Newport charge have been holding services in this church.
MILLERSTOWN BOROUGH.
*Millerstown Borough, the oldest town in Perry County, is located on the eastern bank of the Juniata River, thirty-three miles west of the capi- tal of the state, the Pennsylvania Railroad station being located on the western side of the river. Millerstown was the first town in the territory now comprising Perry County to be plotted for the sale of lots, which was done in 1790. It is located on a tract of ground originally warranted to James Gallagher on September 23, 1766, although he had located there before that and had made improvements thereon. The old English custom of naming estates being still in vogue, it is named in the patent as "Smith- field." It is described as being a tract of two hundred acres on the north (east) side of the Juniata River, adjoining lands of John McBride. Wil- liam Maclay, deputy surveyor, surveyed the tract.
While Greenwood Township was formed in 1767, and is generally sup- posed to have comprised all that part of Perry County lying east of the Juniata, yet such is not the case, as will be seen by referring to the chap- ter devoted to Greenwood Township, where the matter is fully described. That part of Greenwood Township lying north of Cocolamus Creek, which of course included the present location of Millerstown, was in Fermanagh Township, Cumberland County, and it so remained until the organization of Mifflin County on September 19, 1789. According to public records James Gallagher, of Fermanagh Township, sold to David Miller, an inn- keeper, of Rye Township, on September 1, 1780, for twelve hundred pounds, "all that tract of land lying on the north (east) side of the river Juniata, in the Township of Fermanagh, containing 222 acres and 125 perches, and having a river front of one and one-half miles. Subsequently David Miller laid out the town. The original plot covered forty-two acres, but the entire acreage within the borough limits is four hundred and eighty-two.
The laying out of the town was after 1790, as the patent was not granted until March 25, 1790, and until then he could not have given legal title to the lots sold. Through older residents the time of settlement was fixed as
*The author is indebted to the historical articles of Rev. W. H. Logan, a former pastor of the Millerstown Presbyterian church, and H. G. Martin, James Rounsley and William T. Rounsley for data in reference to this chapter.
William Thompson Rounsley was born in 1876 and was a son of James and Ella (Thompson) Rounsley. He graduated from the Millerstown High School in 1893 and from the Millersville State Normal School in 1895. He taught the Grammar school in Millerstown the following term and the High school the succeeding year. He had been reelected, but on August 26, 1897, he visited an uncle on the west side of the Juniata and on returning over the old grade-crossing he was run down by a train. During his short life he had amassed many historical facts relating to Millerstown and vicinity, which were kindly loaned to the writer, among which was a part of the original manuscript of Wright's History of Perry County. Mr. Rounsley was aged 21 years and 28 days.
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BOROUGHS, TOWNSHIPS AND VILLAGES
being in 1780, and the centennial of the town was observed in 1880, but legal documents do not bear out that contention. In the possession of James Rounsley is a lottery ticket, No. 42, for a plot of one-fourth acre, being plot No. 2, on the Millerstown town plot. It is from David and Mary Miller to Robert Beatty, and is dated 1790, which fixes conclusively the date of the laying out of the town. The canal site was then the main street.
Upon the erection of Mifflin County, one year previous, these lands passed from Fermanagh Township to Greenwood Township. In 1811 David Miller sold the tract to Jacob Miller and Abraham Addams, of Reading, but there is no record of Jacob Miller ever living upon it. Neither is there record to show whether any relationship existed between David Miller and Jacob Miller, or of the further whereabouts of David Miller. Abraham Addams then married the daughter of Jacob Miller, his partner in the purchase of the farm, and not David Miller's daughter, as so frequently stated. Their daughter, Ann Eliza Addams, born in the stone house erected by Abraham Addams in 1817, was married to Jacob
MILLERSTOWN, THE OLDEST TOWN IN THE COUNTY.
Beaver, and became the mother of Governor James A. Beaver, of Penn- sylvania, whose biography is fully covered by a chapter in this book. Addams is described in the deed as a storekeeper from Reading. He se- cured entire ownership of the farm after the death of Miller's daughter Lydia, in 1819, by purchase from his father-in-law.
Probably the first house erected in what is now the borough was the "Ferry Hotel," at the landing of the ferry, a stone in the chimney being marked 1778. It was long occupied by Fremont Taylor. This build- ing was the election place of the voters during pioneer days, afterwards being succeeded by the schoolhouse located in the old graveyard. In 1805 William Woods was assessed with the inn or tavern located at the ferry. In 1814 Abraham Addams was assessed with 320 acres of land and the Millerstown ferry.
The ferry at Millerstown was in operation as early as 1788, being men- tioned in an article in the Columbian Magasine of that year as "Miller's Ferry."
The assessment rolls of 1805 name the following as residents :
Dr. Henry Buck, Daniel Brandt, Anthony Brandt, James Bell, tailors ; Isaac Craver, Thomas Cochran, James Craver, storekeepers; Frederick Harter, resident with sawmill in township; Jeremiah Jordan, chairmaker ; William
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HISTORY OF PERRY COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
McClung, joiner ; Michael McGarra, butcher : Machlin & Ross, Joshua North, tanner : John Neeman, innkeeper; David Pfoutz, innkeeper of the stone house ; Captain Ephraim Williams.
In the Greenwood Township assessment of 1814, among others were:
Abraham Addams, 320 acres of land and ferry at or near Millerstown ; Thomas Cochran, 500 acres of land, store and distillery; Benjamin Lees, store; Edward Purcell, store; Henry Walters, store.
The stone hotel building, on the west side of the Square, was built by John Wood in 1800. In 1805 David Pfoutz was the innkeeper. In later years it was long the property of Henry Martin. Dr. S. T. Lineaweaver began the erection of a building for a home in 1869, but before its final completion in 1876, he changed the plans and made of it a hotel building. It was named the Juniata Valley Hotel, but financial misfortune soon closed its doors. It was a large brick building, three stories, with mansard roof, and was burned to the ground in February, 1877. Shuman Miller bought the lot and erected the present building on the same foundation, in 1881. In more recent years this hotel was kept by Huff Ward, and was known as the "Ward House."
About 1820 David Pfoutz built the Union tavern. It passed through many hands, the last being Shuman Miller, who kept it from 1875 to 1881, when it was closed as a public house. It is now owned by William Walker and Harry Beacham. When the old pike was in use David Rickabaugh kept a road house and the stage line office. Rev. Logan, a Presbyterian pastor at Millerstown, did a lot of historical research work in 1881 and 1882, and makes the statement that "when the canal was dug nearly all the houses in town were hotels." While this statement was overdrawn, yet there were actually seventeen hotels during that time. Among them was the residence of Mrs. S. C. Alexander. Millerstown had sixty houses in 1825, and eighty in 1832.
The first storekeepers were Thomas Cochran and Edward Purcell, the latter from 1800 to 1834. Cochran came to the territory from Ireland, in 1798, and became the first postmaster. He built the Alexander Goodman house in 1803, and the Stites house in 1813. This is now the John Ward house. Purcell also came from Ireland, and built the house which stood where the D. M. Rickabaugh house now stands. One of the earliest resi- dents was Anthony Brandt, a blacksmith and an innkeeper, the ancestor of the numerous Brandt families in this part of Perry County.
In 1830 Samuel and Jacob Beaver built a warehouse and engaged in the purchasing and shipping of produce. A. H. UIsh's sons are conducting the business now. Kirk Haines, T. P. Cochran and William Everhart were owners at different times during the interim. A. H. UIsh assumed charge in 1883. E. P. Titzell was one of the town's former business men from 1870 to 1906.
The turnpike was built in 1822, the canal in 1827-28, and the first track of the Pennsylvania Railroad in 18448-49, each a great improvement in turn. Millerstown has more old substantial stone houses, many of them a cen- tury old, than any other town in the county. Such houses are numerous in the farming country of the extreme western end of the county. They are a monument to our ancestry, and their substantial construction shows the thoroughness which was common in those days-a quality, which I fear many of our present generation are losing.
In 1848 John H. Earnest built a foundry and carried on business until 1852. B. W. Page opened a shirt factory on High Street, in Millerstown, . in 1904, with forty hands on the pay roll. It was located in a building which has since been turned into a double dwelling. In 1910 he took in his son as a partner, and in 1912 the firm erected a fine three-story brick .
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BOROUGHS, TOWNSHIPS AND VILLAGES
shirt factory on Main Street, its size being 40x120 feet. In 1916 B. W. Page retired from the firm, and C. C. Page became the owner, later, in July, 1919, selling to the Phillips-Jones Corporation of New York City, and remaining as manager of their plants here and at Thompsontown and Mifflin.
In the early days there was a market house on the north side of the square, but when the canal was under construction it was removed. It was 25x60 feet in size, and had a comb roof, supported at a height of twenty feet by posts which rested upon stone pillars. It was purchased by Abram Addams and removed to his farm, where it was used for a wagon shed.
On April 4, 1838, the Millerstown Bridge Company was organized with six hundred shares of stock, the par value of which was twenty dollars per share. The commission to build it was composed of Thomas Cochran, John Fertig, Frederick Rinehart, David Kepner, John Rice and Jonas Ickes. It was built from the end of Sunbury Street, in 1839, by John Fer- tig and Henry Doughty. It has been swept away at various times, includ- ing its destruction by fire in 1902, an account of which appears in the chapters devoted to "Rivers and Streams." On March 28, 1814, an act passed the Pennsylvania Legislature authorizing the building of a bridge there by the Millerstown Bridge Company, but it was not then built.
John Fertig, who helped build the Millerstown bridge, was also one of the contractors who helped build the Pennsylvania Railroad. He settled here in 1829, and died in 1849, of Asiatic cholera. He was an early advo- cate of temperance. Another railroad contractor was William Goodman, who also built railroads in West Virginia and Tennessee, until the out- break of the war between the North and the South.
Millerstown has been unfortunate a number of times through serious fires. The one in February, 1877, wiped out the Juniata Valley Hotel. Another on April 17, 1878, burned the Cluck corner and an adjoining build- ing in which the post office was located. Four families were rendered homeless. The loss was $25,000, mostly covered by insurance. Mr. Cluck rebuilt, and Cathcarts succeeded him in business in 1883. Then on April 19, 1894, at 4 a. m., fire was discovered in the store of D. M. Rickabaugh, and before subdued had burned not only his store building but the shoe shop of J. B. Lahr, the drug store of C. W. Lahr, and the dwelling of U. H. Ward. The instruments of the Millerstown Band and the surgical instruments of Dr. W. H. Jones, who had their headquarters and offices in the burned buildings, were also destroyed. A drilled hole in the Ricka- baugh safe, found in the ruins, showed that the fire was the result of burglary. A third, in June, 1902, burned the river bridge over the Juniata. The state erected a new bridge which was opened for traffic on January I, 1906.
There was an early settlement of negroes located near Millerstown, which was known as "Washington City." About 1850 smallpox broke out in the settlement, and every one, save a man who had it before, got the disease. The place became practically quarantined, its people largely help- less and destitute. Dr. A. C. Stees, a local physician, aided by a number of men and women whose identity has never been disclosed, formed a relief party and ministered to the stricken people, carrying baskets of pro- visions to a point where the lone unstricken man in the settlement came to receive them. Dr. Stees changed his clothing in his barn before and after each visit to the settlement, which he brought through the scourge. Owing to the loathsomeness of the disease it was necessary to keep secret the names of these brave men and women, as they were meeting the public
1014
HISTORY OF PERRY COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
during the same time in a business and social way, and were thereby saved from being shunned.
Millerstown Borough was incorporated February 12, 1849, and the first meeting of the town council was held April 14, 1849. Abram Addams was the first chief burgess, and John M. Caufman, Christian Beck, James R. Gilmer and Jacob Emerick, members of the first borough council. Thomas P. Cochran was the first clerk to council, his salary being $2.50 a year. Abram Addams and John Fertig were named in the act as super- visors of the first election.
The first schoolhouse was also the first "meeting house," where religious services were held. It was built of logs in 1808, at the edge of the ceme- tery, on the Grave Street side. School was held there until 1856, when the new school building was erected on High Street, on grounds purchased of Joseph B. Carr. There was great opposition to the change of location at the time, but the more progressive element won. When the free school law went into effect Millerstown adopted the local option plan and held an election every third year to see whether schools would be held or not. The friends of education always won. The directors in office when the first public school building was built in 1856 were: William Kipp, president ; Hiram Fertig, secretary ; Henry Hopple, treasurer; Dr. D. M. Crawford, Samuel Gabel and George Keely. It was enlarged in 1869 by building an addition to the eastern end containing two rooms, the cost of which was $1,662. The first school building stood, but unused, until 1875.
Some of the earlier teachers whose names have been handed down are Messrs. McLaughlin, Belford, McDowell, John B. Porter, Cummins, Kins- low, Kintch, Joseph Jones, William J. Jones and Noble Meredith, all of whom taught in the old building in the cemetery. Prof. Silas Wright con- ducted a summer normal school here from 1868 to 1878, known as the Juniata Valley Normal School, an account of which appears in the chapter devoted to Academies, Institutions, etc.
One of the earliest teachers in what is now Perry County was Thomas Cochran, at Millerstown. He and three brothers came from Ireland to Chester County, where they laid out a town, calling it Cochransville, which name it has retained. The three brothers remained, but Thomas located in Millerstown in 1801. After teaching for some time he engaged in the mercantile business and also kept one of the first hotels. He was post- master there during the War of 1812-14. A year later he sold out his hotel and was in other business until 1835, when he was succeeded by his son, Thomas P. Cochran. He and his wife were among the principal sup- porters of the Presbyterian Church there.
The first teachers in the present school building were D. A. Beckley, Jacob Gantt, W. W. Fuller and W. E. Baker. In 1869 there were three schools with Prof. Silas Wright as principal. Twenty-five years later ( 1894-95. 1895-96) he was again principal for two terms. J. S. Arnold served as principal six successive terms, from 1885-86 to 1890-91. In 1879 the prin- cipal's salary was was $35 per month, in 1880 it was $50. Three principals, Silas Wright, S. B. Fahnestock and E. U. Aumiller, became county super- intendents of schools. The first graduating class was that of 1887, J. S. Arnold, principal. Its members were W. S, Snyder, S. Banks Taylor, Carrie McDuffie, Alton P. Diffenderfer and Clara Rippman. Of the male members of the class the first became an attorney, the second a physician, and the third an educator, all noted men in their line. This was the second town to graduate pupils from its high school. The largest graduating class was that of 1896, with fourteen members.
Millerstown postmasters, since the establishment of the office, have been Thomas Cochran, Edward Purcell, Beaver Brothers, Miss Margaret Clark,
BOROUGHS, TOWNSHIPS AND VILLAGES
1015
William Robinson, John M. Cauffman, Samuel Jennings, 1850-52; Mrs. Samuel Jennings, 1852-85; E. P. Titzell, 1885-89; William Goodman, 1889- 90; Charles W. Lahr, 1890-94; H. W. Rinehart, 1894-98; J. B. Lahr, 1898-1913; H. W. Rinchart, 1913-20.
The marker in the Millerstown public square, erected to those who went forth in the great war is largely there owing to the enterprise of Harry G. Martin, who was interested in every phase of war work from the first.
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MILLERSTOWN'S TRIBUTE TO ITS SOLDIERS.
Having seen a press notice that guns of an obsolete pattern were available for distribution to boroughs and cities, Mr. Martin, on his own initiative, got in touch with the proper authorities. Finding that official action was necessary by the borough council he secured their cooperation, and in sub- mitting their endorsement, he called attention to the fact that Perry County, and Millerstown, in particular, had given a larger percentage of soldiers to the Sectional War than any community in the country; that Millerstown was the native town of Ex-Governor James A. Beaver, and that the com-
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HISTORY OF PERRY COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
munity had "gone over the top" in all the "drives" during the World War. The gun came from Fort Dupont, Delaware.
The tablet was dedicated at the time of the welcome home celebration, November 22, 1919, and the marker was erected late in 1920. It is the first marker in the county, save that to those who went forth in the long and harrowing Sectional War. The names upon the tablet are not only those of Millerstown's contingent, but of all those adjacent and along the rural routes which radiate therefrom. The first four named lost their lives in the service. Following is the inscription upon the marker :
"This Tablet is Dedicated in Honor of those of Millerstown and Vicinity who Answered the Call 1917-of Our Country and Enrolled for Service-1919."
*Wilbur G. Anderson. Sherman L. Fosselman. George D. Newman.
*Robert H. Garman.
Emery R. Fry.
Warren V. Newman.
*Edward S. Knight.
Montgomery Gearhart.
Clarence E. Paden.
*Walter A. Smith.
Roscoe W. Hall.
Harry C. Pontius.
Ralph E. Acker.
Norman M. Grubb.
Clarence R. Powell.
Lee T. Allen.
J. L. Hogentogler
D. S. Powell.
Raymond S. Anderson. V. L. Anghe.
Edward L. Holman.
Simon L. Rhoads.
George A. Barner.
James R. Jones.
S. Nelson Rounsley.
John A. Barnes.
Henry M Keisling.
John W. Roush.
Ralph B. Beaver.
Lawrence L. Knight.
Raymond A. Rowe.
Frank R. Bixler.
James L. Kramer.
Warren R. Sarver.
Andrew S. Black.
Jacob A. Kretzing.
Roscoe L. Satzler.
Jonathan R. Black.
J. Banks Lahr.
Robert F. Shenk.
Frank A. Bostwick.
Carl Lauver.
Paul R. Smith.
Israel Brown.
Thomas P. Leonard.
Ernest B. Snook.
Emery A. Bucher.
C. WV. Liddick.
Percy E. Stewart.
Harry R. Burkepile.
H. J. Liddick.
Casper W. Swartz.
George J. Cameron.
Win. T. McConnell.
John H. Swartz.
Joseph C. Campbell.
M. Luther McDonald.
W. Rodney Taylor.
Emery J. Cauffman.
Robert C. McDonald.
Horace J. Troutman.
Wesley M. Cauffman.
Ralph N. McNaughton.
C. Kenneth Ulsh.
George Coffman.
Ross Mangle.
Edgar A. Ulsh.
Guy Diffenderfer.
Norman S. Markley.
James E. Ulsh.
Earl Dillman.
Leroy Marks.
Harry Wagner.
William R. Dimm.
Earl H. Miller.
D. Earl Ward.
John J. Doughten.
Ezra H. Minium.
Harry J. Yeigh.
WVm. H. Fahnestock.
Lewis M. Mitchell.
George G. Yohn. Annabelle D. Frey.
J. Herbert Ferguson.
"With no selfish ends these served that the principles of right might be established throughont the world."
Millerstown Borough owns its own water plant, bringing the water by gravity for a distance of over four miles from the Tuscarora Mountain. The plant was erected in 1897, at a cost of $7,000; later the cost totaled $9,000. The reservoir back of town has a capacity of two hundred thou- sand gallons, and the water pressure is one hundred and ten pounds. The borough was bonded for the purpose of building the plant and the proceeds are ample to pay off a bond of $1,000 each year.
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