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 98

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 98

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).

Perry County has also been the birthplace of some inventors, among the more noted being W. A. Dromgold, whose agricultural implements cover the land, and J. L. McCaskey, whose electric program clock system is installed in many of the schools and col- leges of the country, and who invented a torpedo deflector during the World War. No list of these men and inventions are available, but that of George H. Leonard, of Landisburg, who died as re- cently as 1915, deserves to be recorded. Years ago he invented a "flying machine," not unlike the earlier models of the recent pio- neer product of that line, but his expectation that it could be pro- pelled by human power was wrong. He also invented and had patented a hat with ventilators and a process for tanning leather. He made little out of either, yet both are in use to-day under oth- ers' patents, but the hat patent has never made any person wealthy. The other is what is known to us as "patent leather." John H. Noviock, of Buffalo Township, invented the first potato separa- tor, now in general use, and exhibited it at the Grangers' Picnic, a state-wide affair of two decades ago, with the result that some one took his idea, improved it, and made a snug fortune. Samuel Endslow. of Blain, years ago invented a fly trap which was among the very first of those machines, and which was built along the lines of those used by civic bodies and others in their campaign against the fly.

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The lines of two long distance telephone companies cross the county from East to West, entering over the Kittatinny Moun- tain at Sterrett's Gap, and disappearing through the Tuscarora Forest and over the Tuscarora Mountain. From Dauphin County to Perry County, spanning the Susquehanna River, stretch four great cables of the American Union Telegraph Company, the length of the span being 5,000 feet, with a 460-foot dip. from the jutting ends of Berry's Mountain, through which the river breaks. This is the second longest cable span in the world, it is said, and the longest in the United States. Pipe lines carrying oil cross the county from the oil fields to the seaboard.

There is not within the county a public library, save in the schools, though in 1842 New Bloomfield opened a free library, known as the Young Men's Library, of which George A. Shu- man was secretary and librarian in 1844. Some day some native Perry Countian who has become well-to-do will donate or will to one of the important centers of the county a public library and become the benefactor of unborn generations. There are many school libraries of no mean proportions, however. This early library at the county seat was refused further use of the public school building in 1854, after which time there appears to be no records of it.

The preserving of genealogical records and their compilation and publication in so far as Perry County is concerned, has been sadly neglected. Among the most extensive records are those of Mrs. Leila Dromgold Emig, now of Washington, D. C., and Dr. A. R. Johnston, of New Bloomfield. Mrs. Emig's volume, "Rec- ords of the Hench and Dromgold Reunion," first published in 1913, would better be "Records of the Hench and Dromgold Fami- lies," as it is a very complete and comprehensive book of almost two hundred pages. It was a painstaking task, but one which any one would be proud to have consummated. Dr. Johnston's volume of almost a hundred pages shows a like degree of patience and leaves to posterity a record of the Johnston clan, which is invalu- able. In the beginning a number of pages are devoted to the early history of Sherman's Valley. A volume covering the Mahaffeys and allied families, very comprehensive also, was issued at the hands of Estelle Kinsport Davis and Mrs. Mary E. (Mahaffey) Carst, of Harrisburg, in 1914. In 1892 the "Family Record of the Ickes Family," from the pen of the late Susan A. ( Ickes) Harding, of Monmouth, Illinois, wife of General Harding, left for future generations the record of that noted family. Mrs. Harding was a daughter of Dr. Jonas Ickes, who was an early practitioner at the new county seat, after the county's establishment.

Others are on the way. Mrs. Laura T. (Willhide) Johnston, of New Bloomfield, assisted by her son, Frank Johnston, is com-

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piling the genealogy of the Sheibleys, her maternal ancestry which will put on record the line of that noted pioneer family. Harry G. Martin, of Millerstown, has the nucleus of the Wrights, a noted east-of-the-Juniata family, in good shape. Edward P. Lupfer, of Buffalo, New York, has valuable data pertaining to the Lupfer. McClure and Marshall families, from whom he is descended. Rev. R. E. Flickinger, a retired Presbyterian minister of Rockwell City, Iowa, has ready for the press "The Flickinger Ancestry," having devoted several years to pursuing the work. Mr. Flickinger is the author of many noted books. Mr. W. H. Graham, of Wash- ington, D. C., is preparing a work on the Graham and Rhinesmith and related families. Mr. Graham is a former Perry County teacher and also taught in Washington and Idaho. George W. Ebert, of Indianapolis, Indiana, has gathered much data pertain- ing to the Dunkelberger, Adam Smith and Heim families. Win. 'T. Albert, of Pueblo, has gathered much data of the Albert, Smith, Thatcher and allied families, to which the writer has had access in the preparation of this book. Dr. Percy Edward Deckard, of Wil- liamsport, Pennsylvania, a son of Dr. J. W. Deckard, of Richfield, Juniata County, has almost completed a genealogy of the Deckard family, which will soon be published in book form. The little vol- ume, "A Long Road Home," by Miss Anna Froelich, is also a good one, briefly covering various families connected with the Duncannon Reformed Church. Mrs. Rachel Jones, of a Southern branch, and P. F. Barner, of Altoona, are compiling the Barner genealogy, and W. A. Brunner, of Harrisburg, is busy along the same line with the Brunner family. J. A. Leonard, now of Cleve- land, is at work on the Leonard records, and the late Prof. W. C. Shuman issued a fine genealogy of the Shuman family. These and many others, which it is hoped this book will inspire, will add much to the county's historical records, for all history is but a record of the doings of those who inhabit the territory.

A COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY.

While Perry County has never had a historical society, yet there existed, during the winter of 1880-81, at the New Bloomfield Academy, a society known as the Philomathear Society of that institution, which did more during that year to preserve historical traditions than many historical societies have done in a decade. The Philomathcan Literary Society of that institution was organ- ized in the early days of the academy's existence. At a meeting on November 15, 1880, the society decided to add to its exercises the preparation and presentation of articles along local historical lines. To John A. Baker, then editor of the Perry County Freeman, who offered the use of his columns for articles which had the approval of the society, posterity is indebted for much of real historical

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HISTORY OF PERRY COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

value. On June 17, 1881, the society held its last meeting and thus passed an organization which during its short life did more to preserve much that is of historical value than any organization since the foundation of the county.

The presidents during its existence were: Prof. J. R. Flick- inger, James W. McKee, W. H. Sponsler, Clarence W. Baker, A. B. Grosh, and C. W. Rhinesmith.

The historical committee was composed of W. H. Sponsler, Prof. J. R. Flickinger, Clarence W. Baker, J. C. Wallis, Rev. A. H. Spangler, and Rev. John Edgar. The duties of this committee grew to such proportions that they asked that it be increased, which was done by adding the names of Wilson Lupfer, J. W. Beers. A. B. Grosh, J. W. McKee, George Rouse, C. W. Rhine- smith, William Orr, and R. H. Stewart.

The members who were active in the gathering of data in this old society were: W. H. Sponsler, Clarence W. Baker, Prof. J. R. Flickinger, who, according to a statement of R. H. Stewart, now an attorney in New York City, were indefatigable and ardent in the work ; Rev. John Edgar, Rev. A. H. Spangler, Wilson Lupfer, A. B. Grosh, J. W. Beers, Lewis Potter, J. C. Wallis, William Orr. C. W. Rhinesmith, George R. Barnett, Cloyd N. Rice, James W. Shull, Fillmore Maust, James W. McKee, William Mitchell, George A. Rouse, Joseph Arnold, William R. Pomeroy. L. E. Donnally, William R. Magee, J. L. Markel, and R. H. Stewart. There are many names on that list whose owners have appeared in legislative halls and who have been elevated to the bench.

The honorary membership, too, is here reproduced: Dr. Wil- liam H. Egle, Harrisburg; Ed. C. Johnston, New Germantown ; James Woods, Blain ; William E. Baker, Eshcol; Frederick Watts, Carlisle: F. W. Gibson, Falling Springs; James L. Diven, Lan- disburg ; W. A. Meminger, Donnally's Mills; A. L. Hench and Rev. J. J. Hamilton, Roseburg; William W. McClure, Green Park; John A. Wilson, Landisburg; A. K. McClure, Philadel- phia: Dr. Alfred Creigh, Washington, Pa .; James B. Hackett, George S. Briner, John A. Baker, and William A. Sponsler, New Bloomfield.

It is to be hoped that a historical society may soon be organized ; and that this book may, in a way, become of some little value as a basis for a systematic and thorough compilation of the county's his- torical, biographical, and genealogical records. However, if such a society is to be organized only to be a weak, inanimated one, merely holding an occasional session, the principal function being the elec- tion of officers, its organization would be futile. At this time (1921) there are thirty-five of the sixty-seven counties which do not have historical societies, and an effort will be made to put one in every county.

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PERRY COUNTY SOCIETIES ABROAD.

It is not an unusual thing for the native sons of a state to or- ganize a state society in their adopted state, such as the Pennsyl- vania Society of New York, but it is rather unusual for the native sons and daughters in other counties and states to organize a county society of their native county. What is being developed in many places and is known as a community spirit has always existed in Perry County and is so strongly inbred that Perry Coun- tians at various places have organized Perry County societies, some of which hold an annual banquet, others an annual outing or picnic, and some both.

The Perry County Society of Chicago was organized September 6, 1913, in Lincoln Park. The following officers were elected and have been reelected each succeeding year: President, Grant Womer; vice-president, Charles W. Singer; secretary, Mrs. H. B. Raffensperger ; treasurer, Judge Sheridan E. Fry.

The Pennsylvania Society of Chicago, to which some of the Perry County people belong, is an older organization than the Perry County Society, but probably not much better supported, as the members of the Perry County organization are in closer sympathy with each other, being from the same county. It has two meetings a year, one in June and the other in February, be- sides having frequent surprise parties during the winter months in the homes of the different members. The latter feature has made the society very popular and contributes much to the happiness of the members in their adopted homes, in the largest metropolis of the Middle West. As an example of the community spirit con- nected with this society, when Mrs. Mary Schiller Miller, a tal- ented and educated woman, died there during 1921, the society "said with flowers" what was in the hearts of the members. On other occasions it is the same.

The Perry County Society of Allegheny County was organized during the last decade, its principal feature being an annual picnic.

For many years there has been a Perry County Society of Blair County, which has held its outings at the parks there.

A movement is now on foot to organize a Perry County So- ciety in Philadelphia, Dr. O. L. Latchford, a native Perry Coun- tian, having the matter in charge.

On June 19, 1920, the Perry Countians residing in Lancaster County met and organized a Perry County Society, with the fol- lowing officers: A. D. Garber, president; George S. Endslow, secretary, and S. H. Tressler, treasurer. At the same time they held a picnic.

The residents about Buda, Illinois, who are native Pennsylva- nians, have an association and hold an annual picnic, but the larger

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part of the membership are native Perry Countians. At the elec- tion of 1920, both the president. W. H. Stutzman, and the vice- president, Chas. Moretz, were native Perry Countians, as were two of the speakers, Rev. J. D. Calhoun, and H. B. Raffensperger.

PICTURESQUE PERRY.

"Beyond the city's edge, where meadows lie And crooked fences are, and winding streams, Where remnants of old orchards linger, I Have found the gateway to the land of dreams. The sun, I think, shines with a friendlier glow Out there, where Nature still may have her way,

Than in the city streets, with all their show And artificial glitter and display."-Selected.

States and countries boast of their scenery, and why not a county ? Especially Perry County, which, from a scenic stand- point, stands second to none in this grand old commonwealth ! The scenery of many parts of the mountainous section of the state, particularly where the mountain ranges are either cut through or skirted by large streams, is noted abroad for its grandeur, wildness and beauty, and about Perry County it is at its best. The charm of Perry County lies in the beauty and variety of its scenery.

Especial mention should be given to the marvelous breaks through the mountains by the Susquehanna River at Liverpool, Mt. Patrick, Duncannon and Marysville, to that of the Juniata through the Tuscarora Mountains at Millerstown, to the Conoco- cheagne Mountain in western Perry, to the wonderful mountain scenery west of New Germantown, where the great Creator laid down a series of mountains in mighty folds as a dry goods clerk would lay ribbon upon a counter, to the beautiful view of Mt. Dempsey and its sister mountains at Landisburg, and to the meet- ing place of the two rivers-Juniata and Susquehanna-where they merge to go forward to the sea. Further descriptions of these mountains and rivers will be found in the chapters covering Moun- tain, River and State Forest.

Of "the land between the rivers" I would write, not as a stranger, for there I first beheld the light of day; just where the watershed breaks the drainage, some flowing past Buck's Church -that old landmark of Christian influence in the community-to join the Susquehanna at Montgomery's Ferry ; others crossing the farm, passing by "Finton's corner," Finton's woods, pretty glen and deep ravine-on past the old James Barkey gristmill, now Seiders'-to become a part of the Juniata at the old historic Pat- terson place, a relay point of stagecoach days on the Allegheny turnpike. That boyhood farm, remote and uninviting as it might appear to others, is to me by associations tender as heartstrings

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the one spot hallowed by treasured recollections of father, mother, home and childhood-a quartette of words which contain almost all that is near and dear to the human heart. Of the five town- ships forming that part of Perry County lying at the junction of the two rivers this was the heart. To the north lay Berry's Moun- tain, steep, beautiful with foliage and in respective seasons either green, golden or a crystal white hulk, glistening in the winter sun. To the south lay the broad and not so steep Half-Falls Mountain, which, like the Berry Mountain, ends abruptly at both rivers.

THE LAND BETWEEN THE RIVERS.

BY G. CARY THARPE.

Let those who will as pilgrims go To climes across the ocean,- I love the scenes which long ago Awaked my young emotion ; That bade my youthful thoughts arise, And manhood's high endeavors,- My native home, that smiling lies,- The land between the rivers.

Though there no lordly castle throws, O'er moor, or plain its shadow ; From where the Susquehanna flows Through mountain gap and meadow. To where the Juniata's tide Its tribute wave delivers ;- The streams that bound on either side,- The land between the rivers.

And spreads our river broad, a lake, With ceaseless currents fretting, A thousand islands green that break The crystal of their setting ; And there the wild fowl gayly swim, And there the sunlight quivers, Till evening veils, with mantle dim The land between the rivers.

The purple mists of early morn, With diadems of glory Our rugged mountain crests adorn, Unknown to song and story; And monarch-rob'd in golden light, They look, where sways and quivers, The water lily's spotless white That grows beside the rivers.

And soft in beauty sweetly lie Our fertile vales extended, Afar, where. golden clouds on high, And gold-green earth is blended;

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No eye can trace the faint drawn line Which hill and sky dissevers ; So close the heavens bend down to join The land between the rivers.

And there, in sunset's dying day, Through evening sapphire portals, Bright forms angelic countless stray Unseen by eye of mortals ; Charmed from their fair celestial home, Where death ne'er comes nor severs, To bless a second Eden's bloom In land between the rivers.

The Susquehanna River, described elsewhere in this book, and famous its entire length for its scenic beauty and picturesqueness, is at the same time one of the most legendary and historic streams of the Atlantic slope. Entering Perry County from the North, over the famous Susquehanna Trail, that great highway which re- places the first trail of the red men as they followed its shores, the tourist is impressed by the vista of gently sloping farm lands to the right, while on the opposite shore from Liverpool, ending ab- ruptly at the river, is a huge mountain of great and mighty rocks heaved from the interior of the earth long geologic ages ago. A little farther down, at Mount Patrick, comes the first of the four celebrated Susquehanna water gaps of Perry County, through which ages ago the waters forced a passage, the others being at Duncannon, above Marysville, and at the Kittatinny Mountain, below Marysville. Almost from the waters' edge rise these rocky, wooded cliffs that stand like giant sentinels against the azure sky, seemingly guarding the winding river on its way toward the sea. These cliffs tower to great heights and their rugged ledges are gor- geous with the hues that shine through the trees which grow even between the crags and shelving rocks. Mount Patrick, several miles below Liverpool, is the local name of the jutting end of Berry's Mountain, which with Buffalo Mountain forms a cove (Hunter's Valley) which is the west end of the Wiconisco anthra- cite coal basin. (Claypole's Geology, pp. 10-1I.) Crossing the Susquehanna at Mount Patrick, it runs eastward, turns, and returns as the Peters (or Cove) Mountain, at Duncannon. There again a cove is formed which is the pointed ellipse of the Dauphin County anthracite coal basin, the east end of which is in Carbon County, beyond the Lehigh River.

As early as 1806, Thomas Ashe, a traveler, thus records his im- pressions of the beautiful Susquehanna: "The breadth and beauty of the river, the heights and grandeur of its banks, the variety of scenery, the verdure of the forests, and the melody of the birds, all combined to fill my mind with vast and elevated thoughts."

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From the "State Book of Pennsylvania," published by Thomas 11. Burrowes, in 1851, we cull the following, which shows the im- portance of the junction of the Juniata and Susquehanna Rivers at that period :

"The point on the Susquehanna, called Duncan's Island, or Clark's Ferry, is remarkable in many respects. The mountain and river scenery of the vicinity is wild and beautiful. The Juniata and Susquehanna here meet, presenting in the boating season, even before the public works were constructed, a busy and interesting scene. But now that the state canals along the Susquehanna and the Juniata are in operation, and the Wiconisco Canal certain of being completed, there are few points at which so many of the elements of the prosperity of the state are presented at a single glance. Down the Susquehanna are seen gliding, either on her broad bosom or on the canal along her margin, the lumber, the anthracite coal, and the other valuable articles found on her headwaters. Along with these are the grain, the bituminous coal, and the lumber of the West Branch. The Juni- ata, with the celebrated iron that bears her name, the bituminous coal of the great Allegheny, and the agricultural produce of her own banks, pours out the rich produce of the western counties and states; while the Wiconisco Canal will add the available coal of the Lykens Valley.

"On the other hand, hundreds of boats freighted with merchandise for the North and the West may be seen ascending the canals to supply the farmers, the lumbermen, the miners, and the ironmen along their banks. It is while contemplating a scene like this that the Pennsylvanian learns to confide in the internal resources of his native state, and to disregard what is called the diversion of her business into other routes."

"The scenery along the Perry County bank of the Susquehanna and on the Juniata is grand and beautiful. At Duncan's Island and Liverpool, especially, the mountains and the river present views scarcely surpassed even by the storied localities of the Old World. The heights, it is true, are not crowned by ancient and picturesque ruins; neither are the streams the dividing lines between princes whose past struggles for power have associated with them the legends of chivalry. But they remain in all their native beauty and grandeur, unchanged, except so far as human in- genuity has applied their resources to the promotion of human happiness. They remain a type of what our country's history should be, with no change recorded, except for the common good; no monument erected ex- cept to virtue."

Even the vistas surrounding the towns and villages, and the very places themselves, present a panoramic scene of varied beauty. Of Liverpool, Charles W. Huggins, a Chicago business man, writes : "The most beautiful place in Pennsylvania!" Of Ickesburg, Prof. William C. Shuman, long a resident of the vicinity, wrote: "A bright little Heaven within my early memory!" Another spoke of "where the Cocolamus joins the Juniata (below Millerstown), the most beautiful country in the United States." The view from the top of the Tuscarora, at a point above Ickesburg, is beyond description. To the north lies Mifflintown, the beautiful county seat of Juniata County ; through the valley winds the picturesque Juniata River; in the distance are the Black-log Mountains, while afar can be seen the ranges of the Shade Mountains. Looking

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southward the western part of Perry County nestles between ridges, while in the distance looms the long, straight Kittatinny Mountain of the Blue Ridge system.

One of the features of the beautiful scenery throughout Perry County is the wooded lands-the trees. Everywhere we have trees, trees, trees! True, the woodman has, here and there, for financial gain, destroyed the forests, but as a whole, the effect is slight, and Perry County is still a land of trees, even including the greater portion of a state forest. And what is more beautiful or has taken a longer time to form than a full-grown tree? Can man fashion a tree, or can one be bought in the market place? Is a tree naught but firewood, or telegraph poles, or ties? It is a fine thing that many think otherwise, and that not only in the wooded sections, but by the roadside, there stand large and beautiful speci- mens. On a Perry Couny farm, by the roadside, once stood a great oak, from which a large number of ties could have been made and a considerable return have been received, but the man who owned and tilled that farm never even considered it, although probably the funds so secured may oft have been needed. To him that tree was a landmark, one of those left when the land was claimed from the forest for cultivation, and no money value would he have thought of placing upon it. That man was the father of the au- thor of this book, and when he passed away, that old oak still stood-a sentinel by the roadside.

From the birth of the new county of Perry its scenery must have been a marked feature, for the newly established weekly paper, the Perry Forester, placed at its head and long carried the following lines :

"-Ye who love through woods and wilds to range, Who see new charms in each successive change ;

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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 98

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