History of Schuylkill County, Pa. with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 44

Author:
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: New York, W. W. Munsell
Number of Pages: 604

USA > Pennsylvania > Schuylkill County > History of Schuylkill County, Pa. with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 44

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The first buildings erected in the village were the real estate office and hotel building, in 1832, the first of which now constitutes a stable building, and the latter a part of the Girard House.

The Presbyterians and Methodists in that part of But- ler township occasionally held meetings as early as 1841 in the old office, and in private dwellings; and an occa- sional term of school was held in the same way, there being at that time not more than ten or twelve children of school age living near enough to attend.

The successful opening of not less than ten collieries within a few miles of the place made a market that quick-witted business men were not slow in grasping; and, although fifteen years ago Parker street was a wild country road, cut through the underbrush, it boasted in 1880 as fine a grade and as handsome rows of business blocks as can be found in many an older town.

To this prosperity John Hower, E. C. Wagner, William Gwyther, Dr. A. B. Sherman, Louis Blass and E. J. Becker contributed largely. Mr. Wagner, as the agent of the estate, by his liberal and prudent management made his trust a valuable one to his principals, and, incidentally, to the people of the place. In 1872 the inhabitants pe- titioned for a borough government.

MOLLIE MAGUIRE LAWLESSNESS.

Like many of its sister boroughs, Girardville was the scene of misrule and outrage during the year 1875, when the Mollie Maguires, under the leadership of the notori- ous Jack Kehoe, had a "division " in the place, which formed a center of attraction for lawless men, and actu- ally became strong enough to secure the election of Kehoe to the position of high constable of the borough. The influence of this man, who kept a drinking saloon dignified by the name of the Hibernian House, was dan- gerous in the extreme; and in the mad warfare of these miscreants on the mine foremen and their friends they stopped short of nothing, and in one instance imbrued their hands in the blood of a civil magistrate. On the 18th of June, in the year mentioned, the first pay day after a long suspension brought a large number of miners and laborers, many of whom where under the influence of liquor. A party, headed by a man named Hoary, who brandished a pistol and called loudly for some one to shoot, entered Jacob Wendel's hotel, and struck and molested a number of inoffensive persons. Thomas Gwyther, a justice of the peace and an esteemed citizen, was sitting in the room, and was applied to by one of the victims of the gang for a warrant; for issuing which he was fired on and killed while standing on the street near his residence. The assassin, whose name was Wil- liam Love, escaped; and through the ingenuity of the high constable Kehoe, who arrested a brother of the murderer, who he knew could prove an alibi, search for the real criminal was delayed until he could leave the country, and he has never been apprehended. The friends of law and order were greatly aided by the influ- ence of Father Bridgeman, who sternly cursed the mem- bers of the order and brought all the influence of the

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INSTITUTIONS OF GIRARDVILLE.

Catholic church-no feeble weapon-to bear to destroy the organization in Girardville.

THE PRESS.

The Girardville Gazette was founded in 1878, and its first number was issued March 17th of that year, by T. F. Hoffman, who continued it until August ist, 1879, when John A. Gilger took charge of it. In February, 1879, he discontinued the subscription price, which had been one dollar a year, and issued it as an advertising sheet distributed gratuitously. In August, 1880, Mr. Gilger disposed of his interest to the firm of Smith & Arnold, who have renewed the practice of charging a regular subscription price of one dollar per annum. It is a six-column folio, issued weekly and well filled with local news.

The only other journalistic venture in the place was undertaken by Smith & Stephens, who issued twenty-five numbers of a paper called the Girardville Herald, a four- column folio, in 1873.

THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS.

The Girardville school board was organized May 17th, 1872, by the election of Thomas Connor president, Henry Schafsted secretary, and E. C. Wagner treasurer. The first directors were Thomas Connor, E. C. Wagner, Henry Schafsted, George Rogers, Patrick Follard, and Ephraim Goldin.

At that time there were two school buildings in the borough, one of wood, accommodating three schools, the other of brick, with two schools. In 1876 the board erected the elegant and capacious high school build- ing, a fine brick structure, on a lot adjoining the old brick house. It cost $12,000. The expense of erection was defrayed by the issue of bonds. The total value of school property is $16,000. Nine schools are sustained, with the same number of teachers, and an aggregate at- tendance of five hundred and forty-six scholars.

The directors for 1880 were: President, John Johnson; secretary, F. D. Butler; treasurer, George Strong; and William Higgins, Joseph Fetzer and John G. Scott.

CIVIL GOVERNMENT.

The borough of Girardville was incorporated June 4th, 1872, being taken from Butler township. The first elec- tion was held at the house of Mr. Blass, and resulted in the choice of the following officers: Joseph Swansbor- ough, chief burgess; James Brennan, William Daly, Louis Wehl, Thomas Rodgers and John Griffith, councilmen; Thomas J. Lewis, clerk. The chief burgesses since have been: Joseph Swansborough, 1873, 1874; Daniel Eister, 1875, 1876; Jonathan Davis, 1877, 1878; Joseph D. Da- vis, 1879. The officers for 1880 were: Chief burgess, Joseph D. Davis; councilmen-Thomas Bracey, Thomas D. Davis, Michael Cook, Louis Blass and Robert Green; town clerk, J. H. Prichard.

A lock-up and council room was built in 1872, at a cost of about $1,600. At a special election held at the house of Louis Blass, August 9th, 1879, the question of

raising a loan and erecting water works was submitted to the popular vote, and decided in the affrmative; and the council took steps toward securing a suitable water supply.

MILITARY.

Girardville Light Infantry, Company I 7th Regiment N. G. Pa., was organized July 24th, 1872, and mustered in for five years' service. Its officers were: Captain, P. H. Monaghan; first lieutenant, P. H. Dolan; second lieu- tenant, W. P. King. There were fifty-seven men.

The company was called out during the labor riots of 1875, June 3d, and at Shenandoah relieved Captain Lin- den's police force, who had been on duty sixty consecu- tive hours. The company was stationed at that point until itself relieved, fifteen days later, by the 8th regiment, under Colonel Gobin.

During the Centennial exhibition, in 1876, the com- pany was quartered at the Atlas House in Philadelphia for ten days; and on the 22nd day of July, 1877, when within two days of the expiration of their term of enlist- ment, they were called to Harrisburg to assist in quelling the railroad riots. They responded promptly with full ranks, and were highly complimented by General Latta, the commander in chief. While there they re-enlisted in a body, and were sent to Pittsburgh, and relieved on the 4th of August. The company also attended General George G. Meade Encampment at Fairmount Park in August, 1880.

The officers for 1880 were: Captain, P. H. Dolan, who was promoted to fill the vacancy caused by the promo- tion of Captain Monaghan to be major of the 7th regi- ment; first lieutenant, James Bones; second lieutenant, John Fell. The company meets for drill at the armory, on Richard and Railroad streets, every Tuesday even- ing; and for business the fourth Tuesday of each month.

The Girardville Greys were organized July 21st, 1876. The first officers were: Captain, T. F. Hoffman; first lieutenant, George Nattrass; second lieutenant, Henry Davis, who still retained that rank in 1880. The com- pany musters sixty rank and file. During the riots of 1877 they were stationed at Pittsburgh and Rocktown until the end of the riots. They attended Meade En- campment in 1880.

GIRARDVILLE MAMMOTH SAVING FUND ASSOCIATION.

This institution was chartered in May, 1873. Among its founders were Louis Blass, Joseph M. Glick, Henry Haas, Dennis Kirke, and many others. Its first execu- tive officers were : President, Dennis Kirke; secretary, P. J. Birmingham; treasurer, Henry Haas.

At the close of the fiscal year ending April, 1880, the net assets were $61,047.94. The officers for 1880 were: President, C. Eberley; secretary, P. J. Birmingham; treasurer, Joseph M. Glick.

SECRET SOCIETIES OF GIRARDVILLE.

Washington Camp Patriotic Order of Sons of America was instituted December 27th, 1869. The charter officers

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HISTORY OF SCHUYLKILL COUNTY.

were: J. M. Glick, P. P .: A. B. Sherman, P .; T. F. Hoff- man, V. P .; G. W. Barnhard, Con; B. E. Troutman, R. S .; B. J. Smith, treasurer; C. S. Phillips, M. of F. & C .; J. C. Wolff, A. R. S .; S. K. Cleaver, F. S .; J. J. Weight- man, chaplain; C. G. Hower, I. G .; J. Brophy, O. G.

The officers for 1880 were: P. P., James A. Morrell; P., J. H. Babb; V. P., E. C. Becker; M. of F. & C., C. J. Seaman; R. S., T. L. Evans; A. R. S., G. H. Becker; F. S., J. Wesley Mertz; treasurer, C. J. Hower; Con., John Crosby: I. G., L. Lichenstein; O. G., O. G. John- son; C., E. D. Gregory; R. Sent., J. C. Evans; L. Sent., W. Waters.

Aqua Lodge, No. 736, I. O. of O. F. was instituted on the 7th of November, 1870. The following persons were installed as the first officers of the lodge: Thomas San- ger, N. G .; John Wademare, V. G .; H. B. Johnson, R. S .; Daniel Billman, assistant recording-secretary; J. F. Price, treasurer; trustees, George Tiverton, Louis Blass, and J. M. Glick.

The officers in the last term of 1880 were: Adam Sala, N. G .; William J. Yeo, V. G .; H. B. Johnson, R. S .; Nicholas Blass, assistant secretary; Christopher Eberley, treasurer; E. C. Wagner, Louis Blass and William Clark, trustees.

The lodge owns a cemetery lot of several acres just outside of the borough limits, where its members and their families are entitled to interment. Upon the death of a member $60 is allowed for burial expenses, and half that amount on the decease of a member's wife. The assets of the lodge amount to $2,400.

Primitive Methodist Church .- The preliminary meeting Jennings Post, 121, G. A. R. was instituted in 1879, with John M. Jenkins as post commander, Louis Biltz adjutant, and J. M. Glick quartermaster. The last two still serve. It meets on Thursday evening of each week at Haas Hall, and it was composed in 1880 of thirty-eight members, with William G. Gwyther as post commander. for the purpose of organizing this church was held at the residence of Edward T. Davis, on the 3d of May, 1864. There were present Joseph Wells, James Stonier, Thomas B. Marsh, Josiah Boughey, George Strong, William G. Gwyther, Edward T. Davis and D. Wastenholm. A board of trustees was elected, and steps were immedi- Girardville Division, No. 35, Sons of Temperance was instituted April 12th, 1879. Its first officers were: W. P., W. P. Daniel; W. A., Miss M. M. Kluse; R. S., T. L. Evans; A. R. S., Dr. A. Burt; F. S., E. D. Gregory; treasurer, William Stein. The following persons have filled the office of W. P .: W. P. Daniel, two terms; B. S. Evans, John Kerby and O. G. Johnson. ately taken toward the erection of a new building, the corner stone of which was laid with the usual ceremonies August 7th, 1864. Revs. Charles Spurr, George Parker and George Bell officiating. This building, a framed structure, 35 by 45 feet, situated on the northeast corner of Parker and Richard streets, was dedicated November 19th, 1865; Rev. J. K. Helmbold and Dr. F. Cowen taking The officers for the last term of 1880 were: W. P., O. charge of the exercises. The cost of the new church G. Johnson; W. A., Miss E. Smith; R. S., T. L. Evans; A. R. S., W. P. Daniel; treasurer, L. Stephens; F. S., B. S. Evans.

CHURCHES OF GIRARDVILLE.

in what was known as " the White school-house." The people who gathered there were occasionally addressed by clergymen of the Primitive and Episcopal Methodist denominations, until the year 1864; at which date the members of the congregation most favorable to the Prim- itive creed organized and built a church for themselves. Rev. Robert Weightman, a local preacher of great zeal, was perhaps the most prominent of the missionary preachers to this flock. The preachers of the Baltimore Conference continued to labor here until 1867, when Hon. Jay Cooke, then a member of the Preston Coal Company, built a church edifice for the use of the em- ployes of that company, and succeeded in securing the services of Rev. D. D. Hudson as a missionary.

During the following year a change in conference boundaries placed the church in the territory of the Philadelphia Conference. Mr. Hudson remained pastor until 1870, when he was succeeded by Rev. Andrew Cather, who was followed during the ensuing year by The lodge is in a flourishing condition, and numbers one hundred and three members. Two members of this lodge, Thomas Sanger and Thomas Gwyther, were Rev. J. Brickerton. Under the pastorate of the last named gentleman the trustees obtained a charter from the county court and Mr. Cooke completed his favors murdered by Mollie Maguires. Its meetings are held at to the church by donating to it the building which he the lodge rooms in Haas Hall, Parker street, on Tuesday evening of each week.

had erected, deeding it to the "M. E. Church of the United States of America."

1872 David McKee was appointed to the charge; in 1873, Eli Pickersgill; 1874 and 1875, D. M. Gordon; 1876, D. H. Shields; 1877, A. L. Urban; 1878 and 1879, Josiah Bawden; and in 1880 George A. Wolfe, the present pastor.

In 1874 a new building, farther up town, was com- menced, which was completed and dedicated in 1877.

The society now numbers about one hundred mem- bers, with a Sunday-school of two hundred scholars. Elijah Gregory is the superintendent.

was $3,000. Here the congregation worshiped until Feb- ruary 2nd, 1872, when the house was destroyed by an ac- cidental fire. A new building, of brick, 40 by 60 feet, was immediately commenced on the old site, and finished during the following year, at a cost of $8,000. It was dedicated October 19th, 1873, by Rev. T. Penrose, of England, and W. D. Thomas, of Mahanoy City. During

M. E. Church .- As is not unfrequently the case, a Sunday-school was the nursery of the Protestant churches of this borough. One was organized in 1862, with D. T. its first years the church was served by the pastors of Hendricks as its superintendent. Its meetings were held | other stations; the first resident minister, Rev. Richard

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CHURCHES OF GIRARDVILLE.

Povey, entering on his duties July 3d, 1866. The follow- ing list comprises the pastors since Mr. Povey's removal, with the date at which each assumed the pastorate: Richard Turner, July, 1869; Joseph Bickerton, July,

A convenient parsonage was built in 1875, at a cost of $1,500.

The Sunday-school was organized May 14th, 1865, with Edward T. Davis as its superintendent. A juvenile department has since been added. The total attendance in 1880 was 180, besides teachers and officers.

St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Church was organized on the 10th of August, 1870. Its first pastor was Rev. Jo- seph Bridgman. For two years the congregation wor- Baptist .- This organization was the outgrowth of a Sunday-school, which held its first meeting in the primary school building, July 12th, 1875. It numbered eleven teachers and thirty-six scholars, and consisted of mem- bers of Baptist families. The principal workers of the shiped in a temporary chapel, erected on a lot in the rear of the present building. The corner stone of the new church was laid October 21st, 1872. The building was completed in 1876, and, on account of failure to pay the contractor, was advertised for sale by the sheriff on a school were William Waters and George Howells, of the mechanic's lien, and was bid in by the contractor for $12,000. Meantime Rev. Daniel O'Connor was appointed pastor in January, 1877, and, finding the church in a dan-

Philadelphia and Reading Coal and Iron Company, and Jonathan Harvey. Rev. William Warlow, then pastor of the church at St. Clair, made this field a mission branch gerous state, refused to pay the amount claimed as due of his church during that year. On the 9th of March, on it. Thus the building passed out of the hands of the 1876, a council met, composed of members of adjacent church, and it is believed this is the only instance in this churches; and William Waters and wife, Mary Blass, Liz- country of a Catholic church building having been alien- zie Lewis, George Howells, Jonathan Harvey and wife, ated from the congregation by sheriff's sale. The build- Daniel Morris and Thomas Richards, presenting letters ing remained in the hands of the contractor until May, from neighboring churches, together with David Evans | 1879, when it was purchased by the congregation for and wife, of Ashland; Rev. W. Warlow, of the English church at St. Clair; Eliza Phillips, of the Welsh church at

$6,700. Father O'Connor commenced at once to make the building safe, and it was consecrated by Archbishop the same place, and Jane Frick and Elizabeth Purcell, who Wood on the 19th of October, 1879, in the presence of a were received by baptism, were recognized as the Baptist crowd of fully 15,000 people-one of the largest gather- ings ever held in the county-Catholic societies being present from nearly every town in the county, and mak- ing it an event long to be remembered by the friends of St. Joseph's parish. church of Girardville. At the request of the new church the council recognized Rev. W. Warlow as its pastor. He was succeeded by Rev. M. Brown, at the expiration of whose term of service the General Association of Pennsylvania sent Rev. Samuel Goodshall to preach for

this church, and also to supply mission stations at Shen- is located on the northwest corner of Richard and Parker andoah and Frackville.

The present pastor is Rev. D. T. Davis, who accepted handsome French-roofed structure.

the charge in December, 1878. He is a native of Eng- land, and a graduate of two English colleges.

Services were held in the school-house until December 25th, 1880, when the congregation took possession of a

The building is of wood, on a cut-stone basement. It streets. On an adjoining lot is the priest's house, a

St. Joseph's Total Abstinence Society, connected with the church, has a membership of two hundred, and there is also a sodality of one hundred and twenty young men, and a Sunday-school of four hundred members.

church edifice, which was then formally dedicated. The new building occupies a lot on A street near the Lehigh Valley Railroad depot, 60 feet wide by 100 deep, which was the gift of the Girard estate. The edifice is a wooden 1870; W. B. Bache, July, 1871; Thomas Bache, January, structure 34 by 48 feet, built by Price & Hall at a cost 1872; Joseph W. Reed, July, 1872; W. B. Bache, April, of $2,000. The furnishing and a cabinet organ cost $400 more, and the entire expense was provided for on 1874; H. G. Russell, April, 1875; George Parker, No- vember, 1876; Samuel Evans, April, 1879; Thomas Bate- the day of dedication. The present membership is sixty- man, April, 1880. The last named is the present pastor. two, with William Waters, George Howells, Jonathan

Harvey and John Evans as deacons. The Sunday-school, under the care of Deacon George Howells, has an aver- age attendance of one hundred.

CASS TOWNSHIP.

HIS township is located a little west of the

township has failed to elicit any information concerning them. It is not known that any of the descendants of

center of Schuylkill county geographically, any of them are living in the township. As farming be- gan to give place to mining, a half century ago, the land passed into the possession of new comers, and the origi-

and is bounded by Butler, New Castle, Nor- wegian, Minersville, Branch, Reilly and Fos- ter. It was formed from Branch, in 1848. In nal owners went to other sections. At Coal Castle there was, when coal mining began, an old saw-mill which was used to some extent afterward, and later repaired and run by Lewis C. Dougherty. Residents there about 1830 were Michael Sands, Abraham Steeper and Frank and James Daniels. There was at Heckscherville another old mill, which was repaired by George and William Payne, and operated for some time in manufacturing lumber used in improvements about their collieries. It was long since torn down.

1855 a portion was set off to form part of Foster, and in 1857 another portion was included in Reilly, then formed. The number of taxable inhabitants in the territory now comprised in Branch, Cass and part of Reilly townships was in 1842 1,058. The number of taxable inhabitants in Cass in 1849, as then bounded, was 799. The population of Cass in 1880 was 3,061. The township is divided into two election precincts, known respectively as North and South Cass. The sur- face of the township is rough and uneven, Sharp and Broad mountains encroaching much on its territory, and much of it is yet unredeemed from the forest.

EARLY SETTLEMENT-OLD MILLS.

Many years elapsed between the date of the first settle- ment within the present limits of Cass and a time when the township had more than a very meagre and very scattering population. Mr. Alspach, who located on the top of Primrose hill, between Minersville and Forestville, is stated to have been the first settler in the township. Mr. Crouse built the primitive cabin, half a mile south of Als- pach's clearing. The date of their coming is uncertain, but it is supposed to have been an early one. In 1830, when coal operations began to attract business men to the southern part of the present township, the only residents between Forestville and Minersville were Abraham Hoch, a quar- ter of a mile north of Primrose; Peter Yokam, at Prim- rose, and Jacob Kantner, on the old Crouse farm. At

INDIAN OCCUPANCY-PIONEER LIFE.

In the southern portion of the township when the land began to be cultivated, farmers found from time to time arrow heads, spear heads, stone hatchets and other relics of the aboriginal occupants of the soil, and, though it does not appear that any considerable Indian village was ever located within the present township limits, there is proof that the savages at least frequented the section; but historical incidents connected with the Indian period are not as plenty in the history of the northern portion of the county as in that of the southern townships.

Very few of the old houses built by the pioneers of the township were standing when the influx of settlers began. One or two of the first domiciles in the southern part are remembered by the oldest residents of the section as primitive in all respects.

The life of the pioneers in Cass was as arduous and as uninviting as it is apt to be anywhere. There were no local conditions to render it more than usually easy and uneventful. The country was rugged and heavily tim- bered, and, until the era of coal development, was valued somewhat lightly for its productive qualities and its tim- ber, for which the market was early very poor and later none too good. The animals common to the American forests were numerous, and while some of them, with the fish that abounded in the streams, afforded easy subsist- ence to the pioneers, others, notably the bear and the wolf, often made their presence disagreeably manifest.

Forestville were an old house and an old mill, both of which had been long abandoned. The oldest present residents in the locality cannot state when or by whom they were built, or how long they had been idle. It is probable that the mill played its part in the earliest im- provements in that section, and went into disuse in con- sequence of the later sparse population and consequent small demand for lumber. Prior to 1840 this establish- ment often received unimportant repairs at the hands of the few residents, and any man who wished to manu- facture a little lumber used it at will. About 1840 it was repaired and partially rebuilt by Robert Patton, who used It is said that so frequent were the incursions of the bear and the wolf on the scattered pig styes and sheep folds of the district now including Cass, that the resi- it five or six years. It was subsequently torn down. There were also early settlers in Heckscher's valley, but patient inquiry of the oldest present residents of the dents for miles around were necessitated to combine in

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MINING IN CASS TOWNSHIP.

periodical hunts, which served the double purpose of ridding the neighborhood of the pests in a measure, and securing rewards offered for their extermination. Tra- dition has it that the excitement of one of these early hunts centered in Wolf valley, and that a number of ani- mals were slain there, and on the environing hillsides; but on account of the long time which has elapsed since, and the scarcity of definite information concerning the pioneer period of the history of the township, no authen- tic account in detail can be given of the affair.

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History of Schuylkill County, Pa. with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 44

Author: Publication date: 1881 Publisher: New York, W. W. Munsell Number of Pages: 604

Author:
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: New York, W. W. Munsell
Number of Pages: 604