USA > Pennsylvania > Schuylkill County > History of Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, Vol. I > Part 19
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The village was incorporated on the Ist of April, 1831, when it
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began to assume formidable proportions as a trading point. Its early development was retarded by the difficulty encountered in re- moving the heavy timber which covered the town site and adjacent lands, much of which was sawed into lumber and rafted down the river to market. With the development of the coal industry, and the opening of navigation, the borough grew rapidly in inhabitants and importance, and when the Mine Hill railroad was built, thus affording an outlet for the mineral wealth of the community, the growth of the town was greatly stimulated.
Among the settlers of 1829 was Joseph Dobbins, a carpenter, who built many of the earliest houses in the place. From the settlement of the Reed family until about 1829, the growth of the place was limited. practically, to the people employed by Reed in his various industries. Reed's sawyer, Peter Dilman, was one of the earliest settlers; but in 1829-30, there was a large accession to the population. George Dengler was the first blacksmith, and the first store was established in 1830 by Swaine and Duncan, and Drs. Robbins and Steinberger were the first physicians. A brewery was established by Francis Kinselbach in 1830, and this was one of the first institutions of its kind in the county. Among the people who took up a residence here in 1829 and 1830, were the following: Samuel Rickert, Daniel R. Ben- net, N. Baker, B. McLenachan, Joseph Mills, Jacob Bruner, Samuel McBride and others, whose names are not procurable.
The first borough election was held on the Ist of May, 1831, and resulted in the choice of the following as officers for the first year of the borough's existence : Samuel Rickert, chief burgess; John Provost, John Patrick, Dr. Anthony Steinberger, John L. Swaine, Daniel R. Bennet, John B. Hahn and Daniel Buckwalter, councilmen. Daniel R. Bennet was elected president of the council; John Bruner, borough treasurer; Thomas J. Harman, town clerk, and Miligan G. Gable, high constable. Thomas Reed was one of the first justices, and his son, Jacob Reed, served in that office for many years. The borough limits of Minersville have been twice extended, and now include more than twice the original area.
The church and the school follow the American pioneer, and this truism is fully exemplified in the history of Minersville. The German Lutherans seem to have been among the first in taking up religious work in the village. The exact date of the organization of this church cannot be given, but it was one of the first. On the 21st of June, 1849, the cornerstone of this church was laid, the congregation having con- ducted their services in the school house for a number of years previous to building the church. This house has been rebuilt, enlarged and
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modernized, and the organization has had a successful career under the title of the "German Evangelical Lutheran Zion's Congregation." Horeb Welsh Baptist church was first organized in 1831, but the membership was numerically weak, and the church was disorganized after an existence of two years. In 1834 it was reorganized under more favorable auspices, and has since been one of the persisting religious bodies in the borough. The first house of worship was built in 1835-6, and about eleven years later, a larger and more commodious structure was erected which has since served the congregation and Sunday school. The First Congregational church, also a Welsh organ- ization, was established in 1836, and has had a continuous existence since. Two churches have succeeded the original building, the dimen- sions of which were twelve by fourteen feet. The present church was dedicated on the 9th of February, 1848. Sunday schools have been maintained from the beginning. The Methodist Episcopal church has been represented in Minersville since 1834, when a preaching appointment was established there by the pastor of the church at Pottsville. The first services were held in a store building. In 1836 a class was formed in the town, and conducted its religious services at the residence of Joseph Dobbins, whose son, Rev. J. B. Dobbins, late of the Philadelphia conference, was one of these pioneer members. The Minersville charge was under the jurisdiction of ministers from other points for a number of years, being associated with the Orwigs- burg Mission, attached to the Pottsville charge, and with the latter and Port Carbon; but since 1846 the church has been a separate station and supplied with a regular pastor. A neat frame church building was erected in 1837, and this was enlarged in 1843, and the same site is occupied by the present commodious and handsome structure. This is one of the strong and influential religious organizations of Minersville, having a large membership of the prominent and well- to-do citizens. The Sunday school has always been a feature of great interest, commanding the attention of the elderly members of the church as well as of the children and youth. This was started in 1830, through the efforts of Peter Stroug, and the regular Sunday School society was organized in 1838, and the school maintained since. The "First English Baptist Church of Minersville" was organized May 14, 1840. Its first services were held in a rented house which had served a similiar purpose for the Welsh Baptists and the Welsh Congregational churches during their church-building period. The congregation bought a small frame building in 1842, and this was their religious home until the building of a church in 1865. Preaching services and Sunday school had been held in Odd Fellows' Hall for
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some time before thé completion of the church building. Removals, deaths and transfers of membership kept this organization numerically weak, notwithstanding it had repeated accessions to its membership, and it was without a regular pastor during a considerable portion of the time, being supplied, usually, by the pastors from Pottsville. But the organization has been maintained through the efforts of Professor H. H. Spayd, a licentiate of the church, and others equally zealous in the cause. Emmanuel's church (Reformed) was organized in 1840, and has had a prosperous and successful career as a religious organization. For some twenty-seven years it occupied the Lutheran or union church as a place of worship, when, in 1867, the congregation erected their present brick edifice on the corner of Church and Center streets. A Sunday school has been maintained in connection with the church since its organization.
The parish of St. Vincent de Paul was established in January, 1846, under authority of the diocese of Philadelphia, and soon thereafter a Roman Catholic church was located at Minersville. The assistant pastor of St. Patrick's church at Pottsville was installed as pastor of the new organization. On assuming charge of the work, the pastor caused to be erected in the cemetery lot a small frame building in which the first mass was celebrated. April 21, 1846, ground was broken for the new church building, and in August following, the cor- nerstone was laid by Bishop Neumann of Philadelphia, in the presence of several thousand people from the surrounding country. The first mass was celebrated in the church on Christmas, though the building was not entirely finished until December, 1861, these later improve- ments including a tower and bell. The interior of the church was further improved and beautified in 1879, this being the completion of the original plan. This parish is numerically very strong, having a membership of more than three thousand within the jurisdiction of this church. The original boundaries of the parish included about 240 square miles, and a Catholic population of seven thousand souls.
St. Paul's Protestant Episcopal church was incorporated in 1845, and the church edifice was erected in 1849. The English Lutheran church was organized in 1851, and the church building was erected and dedicated in 1853. Previous to the completion of the church, the congregation held services in a Baptist church, but later removed to the Odd Fellows' Hall. St. Mary's church of Mount Carmel (Ger- man Catholic) was established about 1855, and is located in the north part of the borough. It was brought into existence for the accom- modation of about seven hundred communicants who desired religious instruction in their native language. Zoar Baptist church (Welsh)
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came into existence in 1874 in response to demand for better facilities for religious worship in the Welsh language. A church building was erected the same year of the organization, and services were regularly held during the succeeding three years, after which, for several years no regular pastor was engaged, though the organization was kept up, and the Sunday school perpetuated. But the rising generations have discarded the ancestral languages, and "Zoar Baptist church" has had a precarious existence.
The first cemetery in Minersville was upon land donated for the purpose by Thomas Reed, and his own the first burial there. It was located in the rear of the old Red Tavern, and adjoins the more recently established cemetery connected with St. Vincent de Paul church. St. Mary's cemetery is located in the northwest part of the borough, and the German Lutheran and German Reformed parishion- ers have a cemetery southeast from the borough, on the Llewellyn road. The Welsh Baptists' is located on Spencer street, and the Con- gregational is near St. Mary's, while the St. Vincent de Paul cemetery is in rear of the church.
Minersville public schools were the outgrowth of the liberal policy adopted by Norwegian township in being one of the first four districts to approve of the public school system. This occurred in 1835, four years after the village was founded, though for school purposes the territory was still attached to Norwegian township. Branch town- ship was organized in 1836 from Norwegian, and it is probable that after that date the school interests of the village were under the joint jurisdiction of two townships, until Minersville became a separate school district, March 7, 1843. In September following, 119 pupils were enrolled in the borough schools, and immediately preceding the division, the enrollment was 227. This shows that even in 1843 the borough schools were considered superior to those provided by the township district, the difference consisting in a longer term and better teaching force, provided for by private contributions. The first public schools in Minersville were taught in 1837, by Chester Stratton and his sister, Eunice. It is said that a Mr. Tomlins taught a public :school in the borough about the time the district was set off, and the rapidly increasing population rendered it necessary to provide for other schools in different parts of the borough. Chester Stratton, Benjamin C. Christ, afterwards the Colonel of the Fiftieth regiment,. Miss Elizabeth A. Christ and Miss E. W. Tomlins were among the early teachers after the independent organization of the district. Dr. William N. Robbins was the first secretary of the school board, and remained in that position for a number of years. Under the jurisdic-
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tion of Jonathan E. Krewson as Principal, the schools were graded in 1853. Mr. Krewson was elected county superintendent of schools, and J. W. Danenhower, M. D., was chosen to the position of principal teacher and superintendent of the schools of Minersville, in September, 1854. He held that position for many years, and until the election of the present incumbent, Professor H. H. Spayd. School houses were provided in rapid succession, the first built in the district after the division being a four-room stone building, erected in 1839, but schools were also conducted in the basements of two churches. With the development of the town, the interest in education increased, and handsome and substantial school buildings were erected, and the courses of study broadened to include the usual high school studies A special school for working boys, whose attendance was necessarily short and irregular, was opened in 1857-8, and continued with great advantage, especially during the winter season.
The press in Minersville has been represented by the Schuylkill Republican and the Free Press. The former was established in 1872, by Charles D. Elliot and John O. Beck. It had a brief but prosperous career, being purchased in 1879, by J. H. Zerby, and by him combined with the Pottsville Republican, as will appear in the article on the press in Pottsville. The Free Press is a Republican journal established in 1884, by Charles E. Steel, published on Saturday of each week, and is a sprightly repository of the local news.
Minersville has excellent fire protection, consisting of a well organ- ized department, represented by three hose companies and a hook and ladder company. For many years in its earlier history the depart- ment was under the able management of Jacob S. Lawrence. The excellent water system, conducted from an elevation of nearly five hundred feet, renders the use of fire engines unnecessary. The Miners- ville Water company was incorporated April 30th, 1855, and the company was organized the following year. Water was introduced in the borough in 1861. It is brought from Big run on Broad moun- tain, four miles north from the borough.
All lines of mercantile pursuits are represented in the borough, including extensive manufacturing interests and banking. There are within the borough limits 162 retail business houses and one whole- sale house. By wards the distribution is as follows: First ward, 58; Second ward, 39; Third ward, 25; Fourth ward, 41. The population of the borough in 1900 was 4,815.
The ten social and beneficial orders in Minersville represent the Odd Fellows, two lodges; Masonic, two bodies; the German Beneficial society; the P. O. S. A; the A. D. O. H; Lawrence Post No. 17, G. A. R .;
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the Frugal Saving Fund and Building association; Cambro-American Order of True Ivorites. The latter is a branch of a Welsh benevolent association established at Wrexham, North Wales, in 1836. It was named in honor of Ivor Llewellyn, or "Ifor Gael," as known among the Welsh people. He was a charitable Welsh gentleman, and Lord of Maesley and Wenaltt. The first lodge of this order in America was established at St. Clair, in this county. One of its objects is to maintain the Welsh language, and to that end all its business is transacted in that tongue. It is a flourishing body, both in Europe and America. There is also a lodge of the German Order of the Haru- gari, a fraternal organization of citizens from the fatherland still using the German language. The reader is familiar with the plans and purposes of the other societies mentioned.
CHAPTER XIV.
TOWNSHIP AND BOROUGH HISTORY CONTINUED-BUTLER AND CASS TOWNSHIPS-THE BOROUGHS OF ASHLAND, GORDON AND GIRARD- VILLE.
BUTLER TOWNSHIP.
Butler township, named for an old-time American stateman, was erected from territory which was separated from Barry township in 1848. At that time it was considered as "very much out of the world," being designated in the older settlements as "above the moun- tain, "and most of the territory thus situated was new and undeveloped. But the coal developments of the lower Schuylkill regions soon drew attention to other prospective fields, and lands which had been entered on Revolutionary warrants were thrown upon the market as coal lands. The principal tracts lying between the Mahanoy and Little Mahanoy creeks, and which now contain the boroughs of .Ashland and Girardville, and the township of Butler, were patented to the Brobsts, Prestons, Kunkles and William Parker. Lumbering was the principal industry for many years after the first settlement of the region. The old Center turnpike crossed the territory from south- east to northwest, and along this thoroughfare, as early as 1810, an occasional settler could be found, and one or two places for the refresh- ment of man and beast had been opened. The "Seitzinger Tavern" at Fountain Springs was one of the earliest of these. It was built by George Seitzinger, in 1810. The next of its class was a log tavern built on the present site of Ashland, in 1820. This was owned and operated by Jacob Rodenburger. The Seitzingers, Fausts and Roden- burgers were the earliest settlers, and their connection with the ter- ritory dates back to 1801, though it is claimed that Nicholas Seitzin- ger made a clearing at Fountain Springs as early as 1795. The first election in Butler township was held at Fountain Springs, and resulted in the choice of R. C. Wilson for school director; J. L. Cleaver for justice of the peace, and Elisha Pedrick for township clerk. The township is now divided into five voting districts, known as East, Northeast, West, North and South Butler. The first saw-mill in the township was built on the Mahanoy in 1830, at a place then called Mount Hope, and the first school was established at Fountain Springs
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in the same year. The first death in the township was that of a young man named Seitzinger who was interred in the "Seitzinger burying ground."
Three boroughs and seven villages are located within the bounds of Butler township. The former are treated in separate articles in this chapter. The villages are Locust Dale, Big Mine Run, Holmes- ville, Rappahannock, Connors, Fountain Springs and Rocktown. All except Fountain Springs and Rocktown came with the develop- ment of the mining interests, and all except these are railroad stations.
Gordon (named for a prominent official of the old M. H. & S. H. Ry. Co.) is an important and beautiful borough at the foot of the Gordon planes, on the Mine Hill & Schuylkill Haven railroad, incor- porated in 1891. The building of this road, and the staking out of the planes some thirty-five years before that date, was the influence which attracted the first settlers to Gordon. The promotion of the engineering and mechanical feat which resulted in providing an out- let for the product of the mines, hitherto comparatively valueless, was an achievement which astonished the world of mechanics in its day. The resistance of the mountain was overcome in the transpor- tation of coal, since from 1,500 to 2,000 cars were daily transported from one side to the other, thus rendering the rich mines on the north side about as profitable as those more favorably situated. The building of this mammoth enterprise was of slow progress, handicapped by financial embarrassments, through the incredulity of capitalists; but it was completed in 1855, and readily demonstrated the wisdom of the undertaking. The land in the vicinity of Gordon, and including the village site, was mostly patented to the Kunkle family, and later transferred to the McKnights whose posterity founded the village. Of seventeen tracts patented to John Kunkle on the 19th of August, 1795, seven were transferred to members of the Kunkle family. The first improvement in the vicinity of the present borough was made in 1846, when William Stevenson built a saw-mill near the village of Mount Hope, and also opened a new road, which became the prin- cipal street of Gordon. There are two Protestant churches in Gordon -the Methodist Episcopal and English Evangelical Lutheran. The former was organized in 1859, and the latter on the 3d of September, 1876. These churches are prosperous and well sustained by an appre- ciative laity. A strong camp of the Patriotic Order Sons of America is located in Gordon. The borough is beautifully located, and is thriving and prosperous. It has a present population of 1,165, and twenty-one business houses.
Locust Dale, another prosperous village in Butler township, came
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into existence with the opening of a colliery near by, and the first buildings were erected by George C. Potts & Co., in 1857. They com- menced the shipment of coal in 1858. The school house was built in 1859, and this was succeeded about twenty years later by a hand- some and convenient structure which still accommodates the wants of the district. J. L. Beadle and William Rearsbeck, of this place, were the inventors of the ventilating fan for coal mines, which is now in general use.
Fountain Springs is conspicuous in being the location of the Miners' hospital, mentioned elsewhere in this volume. It is one of the oldest villages in the county, and the first postoffice in the northern part of the county was located there. This office was removed to Ashland in 1854, but was reestablished at a later date. The population in 1900 was 691, this being a considerable increase in recent years, due in part, to the establishment of the Miners' hospital in the village. The usual lines of mercantile pursuits are carried on in the village, and indications are favorable for a prosperous and permanent growth. A brewery has also been recently built here. The Seitzinger family, previously mentioned, were the first settlers, and here was established the first cemetery in the township, which is still used as a burial place for many of the Protestant people of Ashland and the surrounding country.
Big Mine Run was the site of the Bast and Taylor collieries, and the existence of the village dates from the erection of tenant houses by these operators, in 1854. It is on the Mahanoy City branch of the Lehigh Valley railroad, and the Shamokin branch of the Philadelphia & Reading.
Holmesville is on the Lehigh Valley, and Connors and Rappahannock are small stations on the Philadelphia & Reading near it, while Rock- town is inhabited by some of the miners, but none of these villages are important as trading places outside of their own limits. There are many collieries in this township, and the territory is rich in mineral deposits. To name and describe the various industries in this line would be superfluous; suffice to say that the Philadelphia & Reading Coal and Iron company owns or operates most of the extensive mining' enterprises in the township, and the principal part of the product is marketed over the Philadelphia & Reading railroad. Merchandising and general trade is well represented in Butler township, there being, exclusive of the three boroughs, thirty-seven business places. These include two company stores at collieries.
Ashland Borough .- The village site where now stands the beautiful borough of Ashland, was surveyed in 1847 by Samuel Lewis, and the
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development of the town dates from that period. Previous to this, however, the surrounding territory had been thoroughly tested as to its coal deposits, and foreign capitalists had made extensive pur- chases of coal lands. Some eight hundred acres were bought surround- ing and including the village site, by John P. Brock, of Philadelphia, and James Hart, who named their purchase the "Ashland Estate," after Henry Clay's "Ashland" home, and in 1846 they employed an experienced miner to develop the field. The proprietors expended large sums of money in this work, and in clearing the land, laying out the streets of the village, building tenement houses for their workmen, and inducing people to locate there. Some of the lots were given away, a hotel being established through this liberal policy. The town had a tardy growth until 1852, when the advent of the Mine Hill railroad, and the systematic opening of collieries by Col. James J. Connor, of Pottsville, stimulated its future progress. Jonathan Faust opened the first store, about the time that Connor leased lands for mining operations, and thereafter the business interests developed rapidly. As early as 1854, Colonel Connor had implicit faith in the ultimate completion, and future success of the Gordon planes, and in that year had a carload of coal drawn across the mountain with mules and shipped by rail from the other side, this being the first shipment of coal from the region about Ashland. Of the men whose public spirit, energy and means contributed largely to the develop- ment of the Ashland district in the early days, the following names are remembered: John P. Brock, Burd Patterson, James Hart, Doc- tor Pancoast, Samuel Grant and Colonel Connor. In the spring of 1853 a postoffice was established at Ashland, and Dr. D. J. McKibbin was the first postmaster. Daily mails were received by stage from Pottsville and Sunbury, and over the Mine Hill railroad.
The first church building in the place was erected in 1855, by the Methodist Episcopal denomination, but St. Joseph's English-speaking Catholic society built a church soon afterward. The first school house was erected in 1854. The village of Ashland was incorporated as a borough on the 13th of February, 1857. James J. Connor was chosen as the first chief burgess and the councilmen were E. V. Thompson, John Orth, Charles Connor, Lawrence Hannon and William Thomas.
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