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 45

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 45

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For a number of years packet boats plied the waters of both the Juniata and Susquehanna Canals. Near their junction stood the historic Amity Hall tavern, a road house of the early days, which was an important stopping place and where many persons of im- portance tarried. The packet boat leaving Williamsport in the evening would arrive at "the Junction" and Amity Hall at noon the following day, having traveled eighty-seven miles. These boats were of light construction and the teams used in hauling them were relayed. The boatmen have an association which meets annually, usually at Rolling Green Park, near Selinsgrove, and at their meeting in 1920 Mrs. H. G. Houseworth, whose maiden name was Bingaman, of Trevorton,-a one-time cook on these packet boats-was in attendance. She is now eighty-seven years of age. She recalls that the through fare was $2, including a bunk 'and breakfast, and that the fare was $1 either way to Milton, the

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HISTORY OF PERRY COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

half-way point. Being eighteen years of age at the time would place the period as 1851.

According to Mr. Lewis Messersmith, of Howe Township, whose age is eighty-four years (1921), the first packet boat was owned by William Calder, of Harrisburg, and the captain was A. C. Clemson, of Newport. Captain Clemson was the father of C. L. Clemson, for years road foreman of engines on the Middle Division of the Pennsylvania Railroad, now retired. Just as in railroading to-day, many of the old boatmen were Perry Coun- tians. There were at one time three merchant lines, says Mr. Messersmith, the Ohio Line, the Union Line, and the Kiess Line. The other boats were owned by individuals. A grocery boat from Philadelphia, owned by Captain Barnes, delivered groceries along the canal. Two section boats from Pittsburgh delivered wines and liquors as far east as Columbia. Capt. John Weaver, of Saltsburg. was the owner of two boats, the "Effort" and the "Lucinda," which were run day and night, Mr. Messersmith having been one of the drivers.

Captain Clemson died in Newport in 1888. He was a noted old-time captain of the packet boat lines and left a record which follows: In 1845 he became captain of the "Northumberland." running from Harrisburg to Williamsport. The line had three boats. The other two were the "Williamsport," captain, D. Blair, and the "Harrisburg," captain, I. D. Murphy. He ran the "Nor- thumberland" two years and then began running the "Kishoquil- las," on the Juniata Line, running from Harrisburg to Hollidays- burg. This line had three other boats, as follows: the "Dela- ware," captain, R. H. Morton ; the "Philadelphia," captain, I. L. Elliott, and the "Monongahela," captain, S. D. Carnes. Mr. Mor- ton was soon succeeded by Captain G. W. Hooper. Captain S. H. Walters succeeded Hooper, who died of cholera. The completion of the Pennsylvania Railroad to Lewistown shortened the route, as exchange of passengers was then made there. This withdrew one boat from the service. When the railroad was completed to Mount Union, the exchange of passengers was made there, and another boat was withdrawn. Later the exchange was made at Huntingdon, the railroad having been built to that place. The boats were taken to Virginia, on the completion of the railroad to Hollidaysburg, and sold to a packet line plying from Richmond to Lynchburg. The first fast packet boat was run on the Penn- sylvania Canal in 1835. It was exclusively for passengers and was towed by three horses. All the boats before that time were slow packets, with amidship for freight, and the bow and stern cabins for passengers, the boats being towed by two horses. These Juniata boats were the Calder boats and were known as the "Pio- neer Line." In 1837 an opposition line known as "The Express,"

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was started. It ran only one season, Mr. Calder buying it, but during that season there was great rivalry, the blocking of locks and the cutting of tow lines being but parts of the deviltry to delay the opposition. The names of other boats were the "South America" and the "Comet."

Other captains were Drum, Collins, Hicks, Hall, and Daniels, from New York State; Vogelsong and Libhart, from Marietta; Green, Donelson and Williams, from Mifflintown; Wilt, William Sayford, Charles Keller and James Murphy, of Harrisburg. On the Susquehanna Line were Captains John Huff, of Milton; John and Samuel Huggins and George Walker, of Liverpool. The Harrisburg office stood on the site of the old Pennsylvania Rail- road depot. At that time it took four days to put passengers through to Pittsburgh, according to Captain Clemson. The con- necting train left Philadelphia at 8 a. m. and arrived at Harrisburg at 3 p. m.

The first canal boat to cross the Allegheny Mountains was a section boat of three parts. The cars were dropped into the basin at Hollidaysburg and the pieces floated upon them. They were then pulled to the first plane, by an engine; from there they were pulled up the mountain with a stationary engine and a large wire cable. They were then let down the western side in the same man- ner until they reached Johnstown, where they were dropped into the canal, united and sent on their way to Pittsburgh. This boat was called the "Hit or Miss."

During the boating period Liverpool and New Buffalo lived and thrived, largely through this industry, and the product of their shops and boatyards sailed the internal waterways well in many states. There were two boatyards at Liverpool, the upper owned by Joseph Shuler, and later by John W. Murray, and the lower one by George Walker, John Sheats, and Henry Hoffman at dif- ferent times .* At one time over fifty boat owners resided in Liver- pool and engaged in the occupation of boating. New Buffalo also had two boatyards.

The routes pursued by the boatmen, when the canal traffic was at its height, were from Lock Haven, on the west branch, and Pittston, on the east branch of the Susquehanna, and from Holli- daysburg, on the Juniata, to Philadelphia and New York, via Havre de Grace, Maryland, over Chesapeake Bay to Chesapeake City, Maryland; then over the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal ( fourteen miles) to Delaware City, Delaware ; then by tug up the

*Among boatmen interviewed for information (1919-20) were Ambrose L. Sterick, who boated from 1859 until 1900; S. E. Klinger, who began boating in 1865 and whose pair of boats was among the very last to trans- port ties, grain, etc., from Liverpool to Sunbury, and John Trimmer, for · three decades a boatman.

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HISTORY OF PERRY COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

Delaware Bay and River to Philadelphia and Bordentown, New Jersey ; then over the Raritan Canal (forty-five miles) to New Brunswick, New Jersey, and from there to New York by tug over the Newark and New York Bays.

Another route was from Havre de Grace, Maryland, (sixty-four miles) by tug down the Chesapeake Bay to Baltimore.

Another route left the Pennsylvania Canal at Middletown, Dauphin County, over the Union Canal to Lebanon and Reading, then over the Schuylkill Canal to Philadelphia, a distance of sev- enty-seven miles.

The principal traffic over the Pennsylvania Canal was the coal from the mines to the large cities, farm produce and lumber be- ing next in order; but in its entirety it was as varied as freight traffic is to-day. On the return trips merchandise, fish, plaster, etc., usually filled the boats.

The Legislature of February, 1899, voted to abandon the Penn- sylvania Canal, the vote being 176 to 4, in favor of abandonment. The Juniata Canal was abandoned in 1898, the large aqueduct was removed from across the Juniata above Duncannon, in 1899, and the Susquehanna Canal abandoned on May 1, 1901.

The packet boats seem to have still been in existence in 1876, when the Centennial was held at Philadelphia, as the following advertisement of that period will show :

"Persons wishing to visit the Centennial can go in no cheaper and pleas- anter manner than by canal packet, run by Captain Koontz, of Port Royal. Fare $7. The boat will anchor close to the Exhibition Grounds and will remain from 8 to 10 days, where you can have lodging free, and meals 20c each, or if you prefer can board yourself. This is a pleasant way for families and parties to visit the city. Persons can get in the boat at Newport. The next trip made by the boat will be about the last of Sep- tember. For further particulars address John Dunbar, Port Royal, Pa."

Among the canal and rivermen inseparably connected with the old canal days was Thomas B. Carpenter, born in Newport in 1838, and who moved to Duncan's Island as a boy with his father's family. He followed the canal as boy and man, first as driver, then bowsman, then captain, with the missing period of the days when the States warred, when he served three different enlistments in the Union army. He then returned to the canal and became a pilot over the Clark's Ferry dam, being the last man to remain in that employment with the canal's closing days. Another of that Carpenter family, his brother James, and Jacob Johnston were famous pilots at the same point, but with decreasing business over the waterway took positions elsewhere.

Daniel N. L. Reutter was one of the contractors who helped build the canal, being at that time extensively engaged in contract- ing. Later he kept a drug store in Harrisburg, but in 1843 he set- tled on the farm in Watts Township, at the junction of the Juni-

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ata and Susquehanna, where he lived the balance of his life. He brought with him his little son, George N. Reutter, then eight years of age, who later studied medicine and practiced from that point during the balance of his lifetime, also becoming a member of the General Assembly. He became the father of seven children, two dying in infancy, and one becoming a physician, the late Dr. H. D. Reutter, of Duncannon. Both D. N. L. Reutter and Dr. George N. Reutter lie buried in the Reutter private cemetery, located upon a bluff near the stone farmhouse.

The second boat built north of Harrisburg was built in Perry County, at Liverpool, in 1829, and curiously enough by a man who had located in Perry County during the very year of its formation, Michael Shank. Ile was the father of the late Mrs. E. D. Owens and had been a German ship carpenter. He named the boat "Lorenzy Dow."

A rather unusual occurrence happened during the great War Between the States. It was in 1861. Fred Sterick's boat was assigned the task of transporting one hundred soldiers-Company B, Sixth Pennsylvania Reserves-from Selinsgrove to Harris- burg. The men were under command of Captain Roush and Lieu- tenants Epler and Hardin.

In the days before the railroad was built along the Juniata, among the travelers over the canal and the Portage Railroad were many men of note. An unusual occurrence is cited. Towards the close of 1835, on the passenger list of a packet boat, was Joseph Ritner, governor-elect on an Anti-Masonic platform, on his way to Harrisburg, and Henry Clay, on his way to the opening of Congress, as loyal a Mason as existed. They dined at the same table and were agreeable companions.

The payment of a bill rendered April 1, 1837, to the Common- wealth of Pennsylvania, by Alex. Glazer, a canal boat captain, for service recalls the days when local military operations occu- pied quite a conspicuous place in life, and also shows that such features were a part of the life of Liverpool. The copy :

To cash for storage at Harrisburg, .371/2

To freight in 1,025 lbs. arms and accoutrements from Harrisburg to Liverpool, 5.00

While excavating for the construction of the canal near New- port a stone, shaped like a Greek cross, was unearthed. It was unmistakably not the work of nature, and upon being thoroughly cleansed it was found to contain hierglyphics, plainly marked by the use of a sharp-pointed instrument. Those who saw it thought it might have been possessed by the Indians, possibly a gift of the French in Canada. The hierglyphics bore no resemblance to any Indian characters or marks known, so it was thought evidently the

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HISTORY OF PERRY COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

property of some earlier race who probably once inhabited the territory. It was shipped to the Historical Society at Philadelphia, but never arrived at its destination. Zenas J. Gray, in "Prose and Poetry," says "Careful research has revealed the story. About 1771 two Jesuit priests came from Canada with the design of founding a mission among the Juniata Indians, reaching the val- ley near the site of Newport. The priests cut the cross out of native sandstone and it formed part of their rude altar. Failing in their object to build a church the cross was buried and the Jesuits, with the Indians, went towards the setting sun."

The historic old aqueduct which carried the canal across the Juniata River at the head of Duncan's Island, is but a memory, yet in its day was considered quite an engineering feat. Several of the piers still stand and the small flag station of the Pennsyl- vania and a summer cottage colony, both somewhat above, are alone reminders of the name.

Old taverns lined the banks of the canals. In 1846 John Bair. then a young man, later president of the Newport Deposit Bank, built a hotel at Girty's Notch which he conducted for six years. Besides that one, there were others at "the Junction," New Buf- falo, Montgomery's Ferry, Mount Patrick, and Liverpool. John Huggins, of Liverpool, was collector of canal tolls there until his death in 1859. Henry Wilt Shuman, once a leading lumber mer- chant of Liverpool, had as many as six boats in the business, and John D. Snyder, engaged in the tie business at a later day, had a contract to furnish 50,000 ties annually to the Central Railroad of New Jersey.

The naming of boats oft betokened the love of a member of the family, the patronage of a business man, or the political preference of the owner. A few chosen at random, follow: Lewis Beasom's line of boats were the "William Bosserman," the "John W. Geary," the "Fickes & Brother," and the "Kough Bros." William Wertz, of Newport, called one "Abraham Collins," and another "Parish No. 35." Mr. Wertz made two trips as far as Lake Champlain and Fort Henry with his boats, the time consumed being a month and five days. He discontinued boating in 1892. Jacob and Daniel Bowers, of East Newport, owned the "Frank E. Billings," the "T. H. Milligan," the "Mina," the "John Hoffer," and the "Mol- lie," but quit boating in 1889.

Prominently connected with the canal for twenty-three years was George Boyer, now an associate judge of Perry County, the last fifteen of which he was supervisor. John A. Lineaweaver, who was county commissioner in 1870, was for thirty-three years located at the inlet lock at the Millerstown dam.

Among the boatmen who resided in Liverpool were: S. E. Klinger, Edward Stailey, John N. Ritter, Charles Fritz, G. W.

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Wilt, Jacob Murray, William Ritter, James J. Stailey, Sr., David Shumaker. J. D. Shure, Ambrose Sterrick, William Cook, John Thompson, John Wentzel, W. C. Fortney, I. B. Free, Martin Horting, Isaac Sturtevant, S. N. Snyder, Jacob Gilbert, David Ritter, Albert Shuler, Jere Lowe, Daniel Funk, Samuel Derr, Peter Derr, John Trimmer, David Lenhart, Michael Deckard, John Beigh, Allen Klinger, Jerome Beigh, Frank Beigh, Oscar Beigh, Newton Funk, Peter, Jacob and Harry Shumaker, William Mur- ray, William Portzline, George W. Snyder, Silas Snyder, C. Murray, John Kongh, and Daniel Roush.

From Montgomery's Ferry came the three Fortney brothers, Charles, William, and Jacob : Valentine Arndt and Farmer Bair. The island ( Duncan's) contributed Henry Heikel, David Miller, John Briner, John Lukens, and others. New Buffalo's contingent included Joseph Steele, J. P. Motter, T. J. Free, Brandt Free, George Rider, Nathaniel Noblet, William and Samuel Hammaker, John Shumaker, and Calvin Liddick.

A BOATING SONG.

BY "MYRRHA" ( MRS. EMMA F. CARPENTER).

The boatman's horn! The boatman's horn!

We hear it in the early morn, When blushing day is newly born ; It sounds across the waters fair,

And quivers in the morning air,

In notes that shadow forth no care.

The boatman's call! The boatman's call ! We hear it 'mid the water's fall. Uprising, clear above it all ;

"Prepare the lock! Our barge is here : Our steady team has borne us near ; Open the gates, the way make clear."

To work, to work! The boatman springs, The heavy line he forward brings,

And round the post he deftly flings ; His good, strong arm holds hard the rope, Which creaks and groans, as one 'thout hope,

Then soft-the strain is loosened up.

The barge sinks down along the wall Of darksome lock, where shadows fall, Around, about and over all ; Then slow, the ponderous gates swing round, And "go ahead." the magic sound- A joyful "open road" is found.

"Take up the line," the boatman cries, To do his bid the driver flies, And to his team he shrilly cries,

"Get up, get up; now Kate, go on, And Doll, and Jane, you're good and strong, The day ahead is very long.

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HISTORY OF PERRY COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

The turbid waves with gentle splash, Around our barge doth play and dash ; The sunlight over all doth flash ; But come there wind, or sleet, or snow- In sunshine bright, when rude winds blow, We steady work and onward go.

THE BOATMAN'S CALL. BY ZENAS J. GRAY, A PERRY COUNTIAN.

Awake, awake, lockkeeper ! Let the boat drop through, We're drivin' hard to reach the lower bay; Autumn's fadin' mighty rapid, winter's comin', too, Then the horn will cease its callin' night and day. Open wide the drippin' gates, fill up the slimy lock, The water is impatient to rush on;

Hear the bugle notes a tootin' far away, then wander back, Like the memory of friendships lost and gone?

By fair romantic valleys, where Juniata's tide And Susquehanna's waters float along, Through echoin' mountain passes-Old Kittatinny's pride- I've sat on deck and sang the joyous song. The boatman's life has charms, the recollection's plain, I like to go a dreamin' of the past ; Though my forehead is wrinkled, my heart is young again, And I know the sentiment will always last.

I've been snubbin' 'long the towpath nearly fifty years, I've seen my share, had tears and frolics, too; The steam cars have outdone us, we're crowded to the rear, The boatmen's shadows grow more dim and few ; The packet is no longer seen-it's rate of speed too slow To suit this age of rush and enterprise. Soon the locks will be deserted, the grizzled captains go On the final trip beyond the nightless skies.

CHAPTER XXII.

BUILDING OF THE PENNSYLVANIA RAILROAD.

T HE main line of the four-track system of the Pennsylvania Railroad, the standard railroad of America, passes through Perry County, being located along the western banks of the Susquehanna and Juniata Rivers. It is America's model railroad as well as its historic railroad. When the great effort was made to rend in twain the Union it was to the Pennsylvania Railroad and to its vice-president, Thomas A. Scott-later its president- that Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, turned, and the large part played by both Scott and the Pennsylvania Railroad in that immortal struggle is a matter of history. While the early history of the railroad in a general sense is not a part of the his- tory of Perry County, yet, in a greater sense, it is, as its tracks cross the county, its lines transport practically all the traffic to and from the county, and hundreds of Perry Countians from the time of its building to now, have been at all times in its employ. For these reasons and others it is deemed proper to record some- thing of its building and history, as well as a word of early railway history in general. So closely were the early days of railroads and canals in Pennsylvania related that it is difficult to write of one without including much of the other. For that reason the reader is referred to the chapter on The Coming of the Canals, elsewhere in this book.

Strangely enough, of the first twenty miles of the original Penn- sylvania Railroad to be let and graded, thirteen were within the limits of Perry County, as the part east of Harrisburg was a state improvement yet at that time. Few people, probably have been aware of this.

AAs early as 1800, in England, a work entitled "Recreations in Agriculture," by Dr. James Anderson, suggested the construction of railroads at the sides of turnpikes. His descriptions were so graphic that they might have almost passed for a description of the carly railroads. Up to 1825 the only railroads constructed were used for the transportation of coal and other heavy tonnage. The completion of the Liverpool and Manchester Railroad, in England, in 1829, was virtually the beginning of passenger traffic and gen- eral freight shipments over a system of rails.

In the United States, upon the termination of the Revolutionary War, the people began giving their attention to the matter of transportation. Gradually but steadily the tide of emigration had

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HISTORY OF PERRY COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

extended westward from the Atlantic seaboard, leaped the Alle- ghenies and pushed on to the valley of the Ohio. An immense population was foretold and it was essential to have outlets for the products of their toil." That great channel of trade in subse- qnent years-the Mississippi River-was virtually closed to Ameri- cans, as a large part of its territory was held by a different nation, which at that time was not on very amicable terms with the new United States. Under the authority of the State Legislature sur- veys were made for canals or waterways to connect the Delaware with the Ohio. Over the Alleghenies these waterways were to be connected by roadways. As steam power had not yet been applied to locomotives these connecting roads were to be merely turnpikes. Pennsylvania was the first state to begin these improvements. The Lancaster turnpike, extending from Philadelphia to Lancaster, was the first extensive turnpike to be completed in the United States. The United States government never embarked in public improve- ments to any great extent, and what was done had to be done by individual and state enterprise. New York State led the way by constructing the Erie Canal, and Pennsylvania followed closely with her more extensive system of general improvements.

The first railroads to be built here were modeled after those of the English, the locomotives being of English manufacture. In that way the guage of four feet, eight and one-half inches was introduced. Different roads built different guages, and the present system of universal shipments was found impossible under such a system, so that standardization followed. One of the first railroad projects inaugurated in America was in Pennsylvania, when the State Legislature, on March 31, 1823, passed an act incorporating a company to construct a railroad from Philadelphia to Columbia. a town on the Susquehanna River in Lancaster County, a distance of eighty miles. The concession was granted to John Stevens, among whose fellow incorporators were Horace Binney and Stephen Girard. They failed to build. The railroads of England were too new and the people had too little faith in them to turn from their favorite canal projects.

Pennsylvania having inaugurated a system of public improve- ments, it must be said to her everlasting credit that she persevered and consummated their construction- a vast work in that early day. A canal from Columbia to Philadelphia was considered im- practical, and the legislatures of 1827 and 1828, believing private enterprise incapable of the undertaking, authorized the canal com- missioners to locate a route for a railroad between those points. to be completed within two years. By the same acts they were commanded to locate a road from Huntingdon to Johnstown, and two million dollars were appropriated to carry on the work. This was the actual beginning of the Columbia and the Portage Railroads,

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works of great magnitude in their day and generation, one of which-the Portage road-by reason of the peculiarity of its con- struction and the great barrier to be overcome, will ever stand as a monument to those early pioneers who were not only building a railroad but were making a state and creating a nation. The fact that New York State, in 1826, had completed the Erie Canal, and that it was carrying a product of almost seventy millions annually to the seaboard, spurred them on. That canal had taken from Philadelphia her commercial supremacy and considerably stimu- lated the growth of her rival. New York City. Self-preservation made action necessary, and two million dollars annually were ap- propriated for years to complete the public works. This great expenditure taxed the resources of the young state to the utmost, and among the means of raising revenue was the extension of the charter of the Bank of Pennsylvania in 1830, for eighteen years. on condition that it loan the state four millions at five and one- half per cent, towards the completion of the canals and the rail- roads.

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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 45

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