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 55

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 55

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HISTORY OF PERRY COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

manufactured goods was $14,910, and the capital invested $5,905. The total capital invested in manufacturing was $264,024. Eight houses of brick and stone and seventy-seven of lumber were erected. The cost of constructing or building was $38,842.

According to a record of 1840 the lands of Perry County were classified at that time as follows :

Limestone land, cleared,

13,410 acres

Limestone land, uncleared,

6,050

Slate land, cleared,

46,660

Slate land, uncleared,

58,120

Gravel land, cleared,

53,100

Gravel land, uncleared,

21,610

Sand land, uncleared,

5,040

Mountain or rock,

68,240

Known to contain iron ore,

Cleared land of all kinds,

139,000

Uncleared land fit for cultivation,

54,000

Unfit for cultivation,

74,100

The average value of cleared land at that time is stated as $25 per acre, and of woodland, $5 per acre. The whole value of the cleared land was estimated as $1,527,000, and of all the uncleared land, $787,000.

The census of 1840 contained the following in reference to the young county :

Number of horses and mules,

4.383

Number of cattle,

15,043

Number of swine,

21,485

Value of poultry,

$6,403

Wheat raised,

200,638 bushels

Barley raised,

4II

Oats raised,

192,258

Rye raised,

143.519

Buckwheat raised,

37.052

Indian corn raised,

150,095

In an old "State Book of Pennsylvania," printed in 1846, de- voted to the geography, history, government, resources, etc., of the state, is a map of the state in which Perry County is included in a belt known as the "Iron Mountain Counties," which runs from the Maryland line north to include Lycoming and Northumberland Counties. The Cumberland and Lebanon Valleys-really one val- ley-is known as the Kittatinny Valley on the same map. The area of Perry County is given as 540 square miles, and the popu- lation as 17,096. The property value is quoted as $2,895.758, and the population of the county seat as 412. The minerals are enti- merated as iron ore "in great quantities" and limestone. It then had fifteen townships and six boroughs. It says "the boroughs are Bloomfield, Liverpool, Newport, Petersburg (now Duncannon),

515

COUNTY'S EARLY YEARS

Landisburg, and New Germantown, and the villages are Ickesburg, Duncannon, Millerstown, and Buffalo." The public improvements are noted as the Susquehanna Canal, from the mouth of the Juni- ata at Duncan's Island, up the eastern line of the county, and the Juniata Canal, from the same point, up the Juniata; the northern turnpike from Duncan's Island along the Juniata and several large bridges. Educationally the county was credited with one academy, one hundred common and some private schools and about thirty churches. Politically at that time Perry had one member of as- sembly and was joined with Cumberland in the election of a sena- tor and with Cumberland and Franklin in the election of a con- gressman. The townships at that time were Buffalo, Carroll, Centre, Jackson, Greenwood, Juniata, Liverpool, Madison, Oliver, Penn, Rye, Saville, Toboyne, Tyrone, and Wheatfield. Liverpool was then the largest town in the county, with 454 inhabitants. Newport, Millerstown, and Bloomfield all followed closely, with over 400 each.

One of the county's early contractors was Peter Bernheisel, a son of John B. and Catharine (Loy) Bernheisel, born August 18, 1806, in Sherman's Valley. Recognizing a larger field for his in- dustry, he located at Harrisburg, where he was a contractor from 1832 to 1859. Among his contracts in Dauphin County was the erection of the county jail and the Market Square Presbyterian Church, built in 1841, and burned March 31, 1858.

A surveyor who did work over the county during the middle of the last century was James H. Devor, who came to the county from Shippensburg in 1845. He was known as "the blacksmith lawyer" and practiced that profession also for almost twenty years.

Most salaries were not princely in those days, even for office of great import. In 1833 the annual salaries of a number of gover- nors of states was as follows: Rhode Island, $400 ; Vermont, $750 ; New Hampshire, Indiana, and Illinois, $1,000.

During the earlier years of the county's existence a popular method of worship was in the groves and woods ; and the camp meetings of that period were largely attended by those who went there to worship instead of as a pleasure trip, which is so largely the case in this modern day. Among these old camp meeting grounds, the Bruner grove, in Centre Township, was used as early as 1830, and sometimes in recent years also, but for the first fifty years camp meeting was almost an annual event. Both the Meth- odist and United Brethren denominations have occupied it. In 1834 Rev. S. T. Harding had the meetings in charge. Rev. S. W. Seibert, an Evangelical minister, and the father of the late Presi- dent Judge William N. Seibert, held many camp meetings, one of which was at the Ricedorf place in Juniata Township, in 1849. He also had charge of the camp meetings in Buffalo Township.

516

HISTORY OF PERRY COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

A typical camp meeting was long held by the United Brethren and other denominations in Wm. Stouffer's woods, near Sher- mansdale. The tents (mostly rude wooden structures) were erected in an oblong block. In the middle of one end was the speakers' stand, with a sounding board. Board seats, nailed to logs, occupied the enclosed space, save the aisles. Here were held, as at various other places, great harvest home camp meetings, with their renewals of faith and repledging of vows. The impression made by these old camp meetings, canopied by huge forest trees, while the glaring light gave a colorful effect, with their songs of Zion, are vivid in the minds of many living to-day. As a general thing these camp meetings have passed away, but an occasional one is still held, but not like those of old.

Those of the present generation remember the frequent articles of the late John Rice, of Little Germany, a settlement in Spring Township, relating to Andrew J. Smolnicker and the Peace Union. Smolnicker was an eccentric character who came to the county and purchased a tract of land at sheriff's sale for the erection of a new church. The land had belonged to a man by the name of Eld- ridge, who resided in Baltimore, and was located near the top of Tuscarora Mountain, in Tuscarora Township. Here in 1853-54 Smolnicker erected a church, 20x40 feet in size. It was also used as a residence by him. He published a book about that time, which contained the dogma which he preached. It was proposed to build steps up the mountain, but it never was done. Smolnicker was nominated by the National Peace Union Convention, at Baltimore, for the Presidency of the United States.

John Hartman, an early settler, built a tavern on top of Tusca- rora Mountain, at the gap over the mountain and at the county line between Perry and Juniata Counties. As the modern prize fight is to the generations of this period so were the bare fist fights of early days, and it was here that the "bullies" of Perry and Juni- ata used to show their prowess. Almost a century later two de- scendants, unknown to each other, met there in the wilds and the following conversation took place: "Good morning, sir!" reply, "Good morning!" "What are you looking for?" "Hunting for the ruins of the old Hartman tavern!" "I am too, but here is all that is left of it!" "Who are you?" "Wesley Fuller !" "Who are you?" "John M. Hartman !"

During the early period of the county's history the law of the state required the enrollment of all able-bodied men between the ages of eighteen and forty-five, who were assigned to companies, battalions, etc., the officers being elected at a special election held for that purpose. There were two training days during May and June. The first was known as muster day and a penalty of one dollar was imposed for failure to report. As all did not have guns,

517

COUNTY'S EARLY YEARS

canes helped to augment the supply of "arms." The second day was parade day and the battalions were reviewed, being com- manded by mounted regimental officers in uniform. The parade grounds were usually near a road house or tavern. The ladies, accounts tell us, attended the festivities, which were not unlike the modern carnival. This system became unpopular and with the advent of the Mexican War it began to decline. Landisburg was the headquarters of the Landisburg Guards, the Landisburg Artil- lery, and the Perry Rangers. The location of one of these old mustering grounds was at the "Rope Ferry," below Millerstown, the near-by hotel being kept by the captain, George Kelly. About 1830 it was changed to Millerstown. Liquor was then more or less in general use. Two old orders echo down to posterity from this old "Rope Ferry" mustering ground : "Move up into solemn column !" and "'Rest any one coming back from dinner 'toxicated." Among the officers of the State Militia was Andrew Loy, who resided on the Fort Robinson farm, having been appointed by Governor Wolfe, in 1835; Robert Fulton Thompson, of Watts Township, who was a colonel prior to the Mexican War; George Shuman, of near Millerstown, a captain, of whom Priscilla, his daughter (wife of Dr. Mahlon J. Davis), said, "I thought my father was a second George Washington, when he was captain of the militia. and had stripes on his trousers and a red plume on his hat"; Wil- liam Kough, father of Amos W., John, and William Kough, now or late of Newport; Lieut. Colonel John Tressler, of Loysville, commissioned by Governor Wolf ; Capt. Zephaniah Willhide, of the Montgomery Cadets, commissioned April 26, 1851, by Gover- nor Johnson and renewed by Governor Bigler; Colonel Robert McCoy, of Duncannon, whose daughter, Mrs. Adaline Brown, still lives and tells of the big review when the militia paraded in all their gay trappings in the fields where Baskinsville is now located, and John Kibler, colonel of the Thirty-Ninth Regiment.

During this militia period Perry County citizens sometimes be- came attached to important titles. In 1843, on the list is Brigadier General Henry Fetter. During that year Camp Perry was the scene of the military festivities, being located on the George Bar- nett farm at a point three hundred yards east of Bloomfield. Not only did all the local units encamp there, but the United States mounted artillery from Carlisle Barracks were their guests. The units at Camp Perry were :

Landisburg Artillery, Capt. Fenstermacher. Landisburg Guards, Captain Wilson. Newport Guards, Captain Cochran. Bloomfield Light Infantry, Capt. Casey. Juniata Hornets, Capt. Moyer. Perry Hornet Riflemen, Capt. Diven. Green Mountain Riflemen, Capt. Hall.

518

HISTORY OF PERRY COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

Several of these companies had been but recently organized, yet all were well uniformed according to the county press. The Green Mountain Riflemen from Ickesburg was a crack company during the period from 1830 to 1840. Daniel W. Flickinger was once its captain, but was promoted to major. In 1840 he moved to Juniata County. His son, Rev. Robert E. Flickinger, is an able Presbyterian minister located at Rockwell City, Iowa, as well as the author of four or five noted historical volumes. Three brothers of Major Flickinger were also members of the Green Mountain Riflemen. At an earlier period Brigadier General David Mitchell was in charge of the militia of Perry and Franklin Counties.

That rumblings of the coming storm of secession were apparent is shown by the numerous cases in which the matter of disunion was spoken of. In the drinking of toasts at the military meetings, then so common, or at public celebrations, the matter of the Union was ever to the fore. When the Union troops of the county met at the house of John Patterson, at Juniata Falls (now the Steckley place, in Howe Township), on January 8, 1834, Dr. W.B. Mealey. a prominent physician, proposed the toast, "The union of the States -may it be perpetual and enduring to the end of time; it must and shall be preserved." This is merely cited here as an example of those at all other celebrations, as various public meetings were then termed. In fact disunion had shown itself in 1828 and again in 1832, when President Andrew Jackson quickly crushed it.

Public sales were long known as public "vendues," which title often appeared in sale bills as late as 1880. It appears that public "vendues" were sometimes held for the renting or leasing of lands. according to data taken from an advertisement dated October 22, 1819.' On Monday, November 29, at the home of Major Leyman, at Clark's Ferry (now Clark's Run, Duncannon), Robert Clark held a public vendue to rent the following :

1. Elegant merchant mill and farm adjoining Petersburg, with a good dwelling house and barn.

2. Complete sawmill at the mouth of Little Juniata Creek, near the other mill, with a lot of ground of about two acres.

3. The Petersburg farm, containing 216 acres, with good dwelling house and barn, and about one-half of the farm clear land under good fence.

4. Farm and ferry at the mouth of Sherman's Creek, with good dwell- ing house, barn and orchard.

5. Farm adjoining Clark's Ferry, Major Jones and others, containing 120 acres, half clear land, house, barn, etc.

6. Noted tavern stand, opposite mouth of Juniata, Dauphin County, with large dwelling house, still house and fifty acres of land.

In the earlier days, when hunting and fishing helped provide a part of the livelihood of many families, most men were good marksmen, and shooting matches were of frequent occurrence and

519

COUNTY'S EARLY YEARS

largely attended. There was a great rivalry between the sections on opposite sides of the Kittatinny Mountain, and with the form- ing of the new county, the rivalry became more marked, but the Perry County lads were usually the winners, according to news- paper records.

Before the advent of railroads and long afterwards cattle for markets elsewhere were driven overland in large droves and many, even in middle life, well remember of it. Among Perry Coun- tians long engaged in that business was George Johnston, of To- boyne Township, who bought his stock in western Pennsylvania and eastern Ohio and drove the herds eastward over the Alle- gheny Mountains. Mr. Johnston met Margaret Russell, of Miami County, Ohio, and they were wed in May, 1835, making the jour- ney eastward via Cincinnati. From there they took a boat up the Ohio River to Pittsburgh, and from that point came via the Pennsylvania Canal and inclined planes over the Allegheny Moun- tains to their home here. Contrast the methods of travel and transportation then and now. Oxen were used as beasts of bur- den by the earlier residents, and, while the writer is no patriarch by any means, he still remembers seeing at least one ox team on the streets of each of the two principal business town of the county. The many four and six-horse teams from western Perry, as they brought their heavy loads of bark, potatoes, wheat, corn and other produce to the shipping point at Newport are remen- bered by those of middle life.

EARLY TRADE WITH BALTIMORE.

Before the Pennsylvania Canal and the Pennsylvania Railroad were built, and even after the construction of the canal, much of the marketing of Perry County products was done at Baltimore, Maryland, the goods being conveyed in old English wagons which got their motive power from four- and six-horse teams. 1At least one of these wagons is yet in use in the county, the writer having passed it near Centre Presbyterian Church on the way to Loys- ville with a load of grain, in July, 1919, while engaged in seeking material for the publication of this book. It is now in the posses- sion of Mr. Walter Moose, who got it from an uncle, John Moose, it originally having been the property of his grandfather, Samuel Moose. The tires were originally of one-inch iron, but now it is

1. While passing this historic wagon the writer accompanied Mr. John Waggoner, postmaster at Centre, in his automobile, he being a descendant of the famous family of millers of that name. At the time, we were in sight of the home where Col. A. K. McClure spent his boyhood days, the site of old Fort Robinson and of Centre Presbyterian Church. Within a mile either way were the old Bixler flour and fulling mills and the Wag- goner gristmill, whose history goes back over a hundred years, and the birthplace of the late Prof. Junius R. Flickinger, principal of the Lock Haven State Normal School.

520

HISTORY OF PERRY COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

tired with one-half inch iron, which reduces the height of the rear wheels from six feet to seventy-one inches. The tires are four inches wide, and at the present price of iron would cost about fifty dollars for the four wheels.

The wagons on the downward trip were laden with the products of the county flour mills, tanneries, distilleries, and farm, including pork, beef, clover-seed, grain, etc. On the homeward trip the load was principally fish, merchandise, etc. It took about two weeks to make the round-trip in these (English-bed) wagons, which were the prototype of the "prairie schooner," which later played so great a part in the colonization of the western frontiers of the United States. They were covered with canvass and the feed boxes and blankets were attached to the rear by chains when not in use. The sleeping was often done in fair weather beneath the wagons, and when inclement often on cots or benches in bar rooms.

'These wagons were equipped with chains to keep the wagon bed from spreading, and on one of the last trips to Baltimore before the advent of the railroad Daniel Minich's team lost this chain. He missed it shortly afterwards near the Waggoner mill, in Madi- son Township, and went back a distance to search for it, being assisted by W. H. Waggoner, then a boy, but late the proprietor of this mill, but the search was unsuccessful. About 1913, when the state took over the highway passing the mill and its improve- ment was under progress Mr. Waggoner had charge of the men and the chain was dug up in the vicinity of where the original search was made, a mite reminder of that early method of trans- portation. It was over a foot under ground and had lain there for over a half century.

Of the pioneers engaged in this business were Samuel Moose, mentioned above; Daniel Gutshall, father of Mrs. Wilson Mor- rison, New Germantown; Henry Hench, of near Ickesburg ; Jonathan Swartz, Ickesburg; Thomas Adams, Toboyne; Harry C. Boden, Duncannon, and David Stambaugh, of Elliottsburg. There were many others, but of them the records are vague. Henry Hench made teaming between the two points a regular business, and on account of his proficiency with large teams was known as "Whip-cracker Harry." The commerce in part con- sisted of distilled liquors in barrels, and the strength of David Stambaugh is a matter of record, he being able to load a barrel of whiskey unaided, a herculean task. In an old ledger which be- longed to Harry C. Boden, who also carried on a regular traffic between the two points, the accounts bear date of 1799 and 1800. Many of its pages are pasted together, it having been utilized for a scrapbook. Among the articles brought back by him as entered in the ledger are sugar in barrels, coffee in bags, salt purchased by the bushel, shot in bags, pepper and tea in kegs, etc.

521

COUNTY'S EARLY YEARS

Others engaged in trafficking to Baltimore were James McNeal, who came from Virginia and settled in what is now Jackson Town- ship, in 1795, he being the maternal grandfather of William S. Endslow; Robert Mitchell, who was a member of the first board of county commissioners ; Abraham Bower, grandfather of Abra- ham Bower, of Falling Springs, a farmer who also operated a still ; Major John Zimmerman, who was robbed of a bale of goods worth $50 on September 2, 1826, at Reistertown, where he had put up for the night ; Henry Rice, born April 1, 1812, and the father of Henry Rice, later county treasurer ; William Woods ;. Samuel Endslow, and Wayne Woods, of Blain.

When the canal and railroad, with its old single-track system .. came through the county, this traffic from western Perry was di- verted to Newport, and Thomas Adams then kept two six-horse teams busy, and many of the older residents yet remember them, as there was a bell attached to the hames of each horses' harness, and the tinkling of these bells could be heard long before the teams came into view.

When these early wagoners sold goods of great value at Bal- timore they run many chances of being robbed between there and their homes by crooks who kept track of them. When Philip Boyer left Baltimore, having closed a business deal, he was shad- owed by one of these crooks, and on December 18, 1823, when he arrived at Peters' Mountain (opposite Duncannon), he was at- tacked and, after pulling him from his horse, his portmanteau was seized, he was stripped of his great coat, his undercoat, his pan- taloons, his cravat, and with a dirk knife his belt was cut and his money taken. It consisted of twelve fifty-dollar bills on the Bank of Baltimore, ten fifty-dollar bills on the Mechanics' Bank of Bal- timore, eight fifty-dollar bills on the Union Bank of Baltimore, and $80 in five- and ten-dollar bills.

David Gutshall, born in 1835, residing at Blain, was along with his father, Daniel Gutshall, when a lad. He tells of the wagoners carrying their folding cots along in the wagons and of placing them in bar rooms and hallways to sleep. Daniel Gutshall was a farmer, yet in a single year he managed to make thirteen trips to and from Baltimore for the A. R. Foss tannery, hauling leather on the down- ward trip and bringing back raw hides. Among the things recol- lected by the present Mr. Gutshall was that whiskey was in gen- eral use and sold for three cents a glass. York Springs tavern or inn was one of the stopping places for farmers on their way to and from Baltimore. It was not far from the present town of York Springs, in Adams County.

From that section of Perry County lying east of the Juniata the traffic was principally to Pottsville, Lancaster, and Philadel- phia, which were nearer than Baltimore. The wagons used were

522

HISTORY OF PERRY COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

of the same type and the traffic of the same nature. Newton Wil- liamson, a resident of Liverpool, now in his eighty-first year (1920), distinctly recollects when this traffic was in existence, he being then a young lad.

THE POLITICAL TREND.

The germ of party differences began almost with the birth of the nation. "Twas during the term of the immortal Washington that Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton, representing dif- ferent ideas relative to government and having antagonistic con- ceptions of power and its use, began thinking along party lines. During the first half-century of the county's existence political matters occupied a very conspicuous part of the young nation's affairs and in no other section did the political tides ebb and flow with greater violence than in Perry. The surge of the tide bore to the shores the wreckage of the Anti-Masonic party, the Whig party and the American party, all great political factors in this great commonwealth and in the nation, and it is from their wreck- age that originated and developed the great Republican party. the party of Lincoln, Grant, Garfield, Blaine, Roosevelt, and Harding, which was to succeed the historic Democratic party in continuous rule of the nation for a quarter of a century.

The Perry Forester, Perry County's first newspaper, of Novem- ber 15, 1827, contains an account of an early political meeting held in the courthouse on November 7th. The officers elected were : President, Judge Madden ; vice-presidents, George Barnett, Dr. Joseph Foster. C. B. Power, Esq., John Chisholm, and George Monroe, Esq., were named a committee "to draft an address to the citizens of the county." A committee on correspondence con- sisted of Peter Ritner, Esq., Samuel Linn, Esq., and George Mon- roe, Esq. Peter Ritner was a brother of Governor Ritner and owned the farm at Mt. Patrick long known as the Blattenberger farm. He was chosen a delegate to the convention to be held in Harrisburg the succeeding January. The secretaries were G. Monroe and Jacob Gantt. The meeting passed resolutions favor- able to Jolin Quincy Adams and Henry Clay. The above from a report of the secretaries.

In the same issue is an account of the Jackson meeting held the night previous, from the pen of the Forester's editor. It follows:

"The Jackson meeting at Bloomfield, on Tuesday evening, the 6th in- stant, notwithstanding the inclemency of the weather, was most numerous and respectable. The court room was filled to overflowing. Nothing can exceed the zeal with which any measures connected with the elevation of the Hero of Orleans is hailed among nine-tenths of the people of the county, of which this meeting gave ample testimony. We are confident the administration men cannot poll 200 votes out of 2,000 in the county."

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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 55

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