USA > Pennsylvania > Schuylkill County > History of Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, Vol. I > Part 25
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The first church in this township was erected by the German Luth- eran and Reformed denominations in 1826 as a union church when it replaced an old log structure which had served as a school house and meeting house for many years previously. The cemetery connected with this church was in use as early as 1794. This house of worship is known as the old Jerusalem church and is located on the old Center turnpike in what is called Spring Garden, within the borough of Schuylkill Haven, where a handsome edifice has been erected within recent years. The United Brethren erected a house of worship in 1869, at the present site of Landingville, and this has been in constant use by the founders and other denominations to the present. The boroughs in the township have established churches and Sunday schools in accordance with the growth of the towns, as appear in their special history.
The Patrons of Husbandry, or "Grangers," have long been repre- sented in this township, and a cooperative store was established at the former residence of Martin Dreibelbeis, and another at Spring Garden. The county alms-house and hospital, with their numerous and extensive out-buildings, and a large and valuable farm, are located in this township. It has sixteen licensed business houses in the villages and at cross-road stations within the township.
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Manheim township, and its later subdivisions, furnished many soldiers to the wars in which the country has been concerned, from the days of the Revolution down to the late trouble with Spain.
The public schools of the township are well sustained by an appre- ciative and intelligent citizenship who willingly bear the burdens of their support for the public good. Fourteen schools are established in the rural territory, in well-built and comfortable houses.
The Laflin & Rand Powder mills, established on the west branch of the Shuylkill, near Cressona, is the most extensive manufacturing industry. A few of the early grist and flour-mills have survived the ravages of time and flood, and are transformed into custom mills to accommodate the farming community. A fertilizer establishment was also operated with profit to the founder and his numerous customers.
Cressona Borough was incorporated in February, 1857, at which time the name of the village was changed from West Haven to Cressona, thus honoring the name of John C. Cresson who owned the land upon which the town was established. He was also president of the Mine Hill & Schuylkill Haven railroad, and was personally interested in the welfare of the employes of that corporation, many of whom bought homes at Cressona under the liberal policy adopted by the founder. The large farm upon which the original village of West Haven was located, was the property of Thomas Sillyman who sold a portion to Mr. Cresson for the purpose above indicated. The borough had a rapid growth for several years, it being an important station on the Mine Hill & Schuylkill Haven railroad at which shops were established, hotels and stores opened, and the population, consisting largely of railroad officials, mechanics and operators, rapidly increased. But the progress of the town was suddenly terminated when the Mine Hill road was leased to the Philadelphia & Reading, and its contemplated extension to the Lehigh river was stopped. The population of the borough has increased but little in the last twenty years, in 1906 being 1,738, with twenty-eight licensed business houses. There are four churches in the place occupied by Protestant denominations. An excel- lent- school house was erected some years ago, and the educational interest has not waned. There are several secret societies in the borough, including the Masonic, Independent Order Odd Fellows, Grand Army of the Republic, P. O. S. of A., and other insurance and beneficial organizations.
Landingville is a prosperous little borough in North Manheim, three miles from Schuylkill Haven. It is devoted principally to the manu- facture of shoes and leather goods. Landingville is one of the youngest
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boroughs in the county. It has a population of 244, with five retail business houses, a school, church and hotel, and a camp of the Patriotic Order Sons of America.
Mount Carbon, now an unimportant suburban village adjoining Pottsville on the south, was one of the first boroughs in the county. This borough was at the northern terminus of the Schuylkill naviga- tion, hence the outlet for all the commerce conveyed over the Center turnpike from the Susquehanna region, as well as the shipping point for the Schuylkill valley coal region. Large warehouses and extensive docks were constructed, other lines of business developed, and for a time Mount Carbon was a point of considerable importance. But much of its prestige departed with the extension of the navigation to the mouth of Mill creek, and the building of the Mine Hill railroad. For several years Mount Carbon was the terminus of the Philadelphia & Reading railroad, during which time the Pottsville passengers and traffic for that road were conveyed by teams to and from the trains. A rolling-mill was built at Mount Carbon in 1864, and ten houses were constructed for the use of the employes; but the plant was destroyed by fire. The machine shops of the Pennsylvania Railroad company are located at East Mount Carbon, and this is the only public industry, except the brewery plant of the Schmidt estate. Mount Carbon was incorporated as a borough in 1864, and its municipal organization is maintained as a school and election district, but in other respects Pottsville is recognized as the official head. The mails are gathered and distributed by the Pottsville free delivery system. The population of Mount Carbon in 1906 was 252, with nine licensed busi- ness places.
Manheim township was the temporary camp of a company of colonial marines under command of Capt. Dennis Leary at the time of the Neyman massacre on the site of Pottsville. These men were sent out to guard workmen engaged in cutting mast timbers for the colonial and French navies. The Indians were troublesome, having learned that to "nick" a log meant its rejection, and rendered it useless for the purpose designed in cutting it. They therefore resorted to this method of annoying the workmen by stealthily "nicking" the selected timbers when possible. The marines were sent to prevent this, and also to protect the men from attack. They were the first on the ground when news of the Neyman murder was spread. This is said to have been the only authorized military station within the bounds of Schuyl- kill county during the Revolutionary war. This camp was established at the northern entrance to the gap in Second mountain, on the bank of
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the Schuylkill, and a little to the south of the present site of Mount Carbon. Reference is made to this subject in Chapter VI, but it is repeated here as being intimately connected with the early history of North Manheim township.
Schuylkill Haven Borough was incorporated on the 23d of May, 1840. In 1859 the borough was divided into four wards, as at present. One of the first settlers of this part of Manheim township was Martin Dreibelbeis, who came from Berks county before the commencement of the Revolutionary war. He was the owner of all the land which the borough now includes and built and operated two mills-a saw-mill and a grist-mill-having several men employed, for whom he erected tenant houses, these and his own home being the first dwellings in the village. In 1799 Mr. Dreibelbeis built a large residence for his family at East Schuylkill Haven, and died in this house the same year, at the age of forty-eight years. By the terms of his will, his sons, Jacob and Daniel, inherited the lands now embraced within the borough. In 18II Jacob Dreibelbeis laid out the town of Schuylkill Haven, but that part of the village known as East Schuylkill Haven, was not laid out until 1832, the Daniel Dreibelbeis farm having passed into the hands of Dr. Kugler, who laid out that portion of the town. Henry Mertz, Abraham Heber, John Hughes, Andrew Wilauer, William Kiehner, Dr. Samuel Shannon, Michael Freehafer and John Rudy were among the early settlers of the village. Daniel Dreibelbeis built an oil-mill and a saw-mill at East Schuylkill Haven about 1814. These, and the mills inherited by his brother Jacob from the parental estate, were taken down to make way for the Schuylkill navigation, at the building of that thoroughfare. Rebecca Dreibelbeis, daughter of Martin and Catherine, was born here in 1775, being the first child born in the place. She became the wife of Benjamin Pott, a son of John Pott, founder of Pottsville. The second child born in Schuylkill Haven was the sister of Rebecca-Mary Magdalene Dreibelbeis, born in 1778; and she married John Reed in 1795, this being the first marriage in the village. Martin Dreibelbeis donated land for "church, school, and burial purposes," and he was buried in the cemetery provided by his own generosity, his grave being near the later site of the "old white church." A brick church succeeded this old landmark in later years. Henry Mertz was the first blacksmith; John Rudy the first shoemaker. and Michael Freehafer kept the first tavern.
The first school house in the vicinity was a log structure, suitable for a meeting house as well as a school, and used for both purposes prior to 1806. This building and its successors were located on the
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land donated by Martin Dreibelbeis. Previous to 1838, when the free school system was adopted, there was but one small school house in Schuylkill Haven, this being a "pay school." The schools of the borough are now centralized in one large building of eleven rooms, under the jurisdiction of as many teachers. Various changes were made in leading up to this system of organization, and primary depart- ments are still conducted in separate rooms ; but the graded school and its high school department are under the careful supervision of a super- intendent. The school year embraces a term of ten months.
Cemeteries were established in an early day in accordance with the needs of the community ; but this method of promiscuous burials was long since discontinued, and in 1852, the Union Cemetery association of Schuylkill Haven was incorporated by the court, and a plat of eight acres was purchased for a public cemetery near the northern limits of the borough. This has been beautified, and proper buildings erected, and many of the bodies removed and re-interred.
There are several fine church edifices in the borough of Schuylkill Haven, and the religious organizations of the place seem to be appre- ciated, and well sustained. The Evangelical church was organized in 1830; St. James' Protestant Episcopal church was organized in 1839; the United Brethren in Christ effected an organization in 1846; St. Ambrose Roman Catholic church was supplied with the first resident priest in 1865, though services had been conducted by Pottsville priests for nearly twenty years ; St. Matthew's Evangelical Lutheran congrega- tion erected a house of worship under their present organization in 1860; St. John's Reformed church succeeded to the church property erected by the Methodist Episcopal denomination, the latter organiza- tion erecting a new building at a different location ; Trinity Church of the Evangelical Association separated from the original organization formed in 1830, and, in 1873, established an English-speaking congrega- tion of the same religious faith ; Grace Evangelical Lutheran church is just now finishing a new church edifice in the borough. Some of the religious bodies above mentioned have excellent church buildings and fine pastoral homes connected with them. All sustain the usual social features and Sunday schools.
Schuylkill Haven has been an important shipping point for the coal product in contiguous territory for many years. I Its location at the terminus of the Mine Hill railroad and the fact that many of her people were owners of canal boats, or otherwise employed on or about the canal, had much to do with the growth and prosperity of the town. However, later on, this growth has been seriously impaired by the
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absorption of the Mine Hill by the Reading road and the abandonment of the canal. But her people did not idly despair; they turned their hands to establishing various industrial enterprises. There are several important manufacturing industries located in the borough, the first of which was the rolling-mill, erected in 1870. This enterprise was established for the purpose of making iron from raw ore, without going through the usual processes employed in such manufacture. The ex- periment was unprofitable, or at least unsatisfactory, and the plant was changed. It is now employed in the manufacture of merchant bar iron, truck bolts and railroad spikes, and makes a specialty of the manu- facture of horseshoe bars. During recent years knitting-mills and shoe factories have been added to the mechanical industries, and their - presence has brought an increase to the population, and afforded re- munerative employment to a considerable number of wage earners.
The Schuylkill Haven Gas and Water company was organized in 1881 with a capital stock of $175,000. The corporation supplies gas and water to the borough of Cressona and Schuylkill Haven, the two plants being constructed and in operation within four years after organ- ization of the company. In 1891 the borough put in an electric light plant which is now used for lighting the streets and the principal busi- ness places, as well as many of the residences. Several newspapers have been published in this borough, but The Call is the only one now existing. It is a neatly printed six-column folio, independent in politics, and devoted to local news and advertising. It was started in 1891, and Jay G. Shumway is the present editor and proprietor. The Call is published weekly at one dollar a year. There is one national banking institution in Schuylkill Haven.
From an early day in its history, Schuylkill Haven has been the . home of numerous lodges and civic societies. Carroll lodge, No. 120, Independent Order Odd Fellows, was instituted on Aug. 14, 1845, this being the first secret society established in the town. Metamora council, No. 66, O. U. A. M., was the second organization effected, its origin dating from 1847. Theodore Koener lodge, No. 41, D. O. H., was in- stituted Feb. 26, 1853; and Page lodge, No. 270, Free and Accepted Masons, was instituted in June of the same year. The charter members of this lodge withdrew from Orwigsburg, the oldest Masonic lodge in the county, for the purpose of this organization. Washington camp, No. 47, Patriotic Order Sons of America, was organized Oct. 17, 1857. Jere Helms post, No. 26, Grand.Army of the Republic, was mustered in on Feb. 5, 1867, being thus one of the oldest organizations of the veterans of the Civil war in the department of Pennsylvania. This post
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was named in memory of the drummer boy of Company C, Fiftieth Pennsylvania volunteers, who laid aside his drum and volunteered to carry a gun at the battle of Antietam and received a mortal wound. The post has always been aggressive and self-sacrificing in the care of the indigent comrades of the days of the sixties, and has rendered material aid to many deserving ones. It has also been the means of transferring helpless and dependent soldiers from the county alms- house to the more appropriate quarters provided for them by a generous nation. The ranks of this honored organization are rapidly thinning, and soon the achievements of the grand armies of the North and of the South will be known only in history. Webster council, No. 23, J. O. U. A. M., was organized Nov. 16, 1867. Mountain lodge, No. 84, Knights of Pythias, was instituted June II, 1868, and Schuylkill Haven castle, No. 66, Ancient Order Knights of the Mystic Chain, was organ- ized in 1873. In addition to the foregoing fraternal orders, there are social and beneficial societies and insurance organizations represented in the borough, and there are but few of the male population of the borough who are not identified with one or more of the societies mentioned.
Schuylkill Haven has a population of 3,654, and is a handsome and well-built little city. Its business interests have been materially changed by the transfer or abandonment of early enterprises, but new industries have arisen, and the borough is growing and prosperous. Ninety-five licensed business houses cater to the wants of the retail trade.
NORTH UNION TOWNSHIP.
North Union township lies in the northeast corner of Schuylkill county, and is bounded on the northwest by Columbia and on the north- east by Luzerne counties; the southern boundaries are East Union and Union townships. It was erected in 1867 from territory then embraced in Union township. Conrad Faust was recognized as the first settler in this locality, his residence there dating from 1806. Albertus Miller became a "neighbor" to Faust in 1809. Frederick Lelibenberg is believed to have been the first settler of Union township, but whether his residence was in the portion of the township now embraced in North Union, is uncertain.
This section of the county is devoted extensively to agricultural pursuits, though mining is carried on to a limited extent. Mining towns are located at convenient distances in almost every direction, thus affording good markets for the products of the field and garden.
Zion's Grove is the only village of importance in North Union town-
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ship, the railroad name of which is Raricks. This village has 629 in- habitants, and is located on the West Milton branch of the Philadelphia & Reading railroad. The first settler of Zion's Grove was Jacob Breisch, who built a house and opened a store there in 1830. Zion's church, an old landmark in the township, is occupied in common by the German Reformed and Lutheran denominations. The reader is referred to the history of Union township for a fuller discussion of related topics. The postoffice at Zion's Grove was established in 1868, with Theodore VanDuzen as the first postmaster. The Evangelical Association established a church at Zion's Grove in 1879, and then erected a church building which the congregation still occupies. There are twenty-two business houses in North Union township.
NORWEGIAN TOWNSHIP.
Norwegian township was one of the original civil organizations established in 18II at the formation of Schuylkill county. Its territory has been subdivided until its present area is comparatively small. The townships of Foster, Branch and Cass were wholly formed from the territory of this township, while it contributed in the formation of Butler, Barry, Reilly, New Castle and East Norwegian townships, and in the formation of Pottsville and other boroughs within its former limits. The surface of the township is rugged and broken, and poorly adapted to agricultural pursuits, which was the principal employment of its earliest settlers.
The first settlements of Norwegian township, as at present con- stituted, were made on the road between Pottsville and Minersville. A man named Bright made the first improvements on the York farm; and though it seems that he was a non-resident, his house, kept by a tenant who did the farming, was opened for the accommodation of the few travelers who reached the locality in that day. The date of Bright's settlement is not certainly known; hut Jacob Yohe settled about a mile east of Minersville between 1780 and 1790. John Boyer was the first settler on the turnpike, and his son-in-law, William Yohe, came about the same time. The turnpike was made passable about 1810, and Boyer and Yohe built a tavern near this thoroughfare, and near the northern border of Norwegian township. They had previously erected a house half a mile south of this which became a well-known landmark. familiar to all travelers between Pottsville and New Castle. This tavern was kept for some years by another son-in-law of Boyer, but subsequently changed hands frequently. The life of the early settlers of Norwegian was fraught with hard and unrequited labor.
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The crops, their main dependence, were not prolific, and the labor of clearing the land and fitting it for the plow, was arduous. The intro- duction of the primitive saw-mills was some relief, but much of the timber which had to be removed was not suitable for lumber, while the cost of marketing the latter by the methods then employed, was nearly as great as the value of the product. While in this unhappy condition the discovery of coal underlying their farms, and the demonstration of its usefulness, came as a panacea for their multiplied troubles, and verified the statement that "fortune comes to those who wait." The settlement of the township was slow, and the. population was small until the development of the mining interests stimulated the sale of lands, or inspired the holders of realty to develop their posses- sions. The completion of the Schuylkill navigation, and the building of railroads which conveyed the product from the mines to the canal, inaugurated a new era and established a feeling of independence and affluence, even at that early period in the history of coal mining. Nor- wegian township, in common with contiguous territory, soon became the field of the most active operations and the rugged mountain sides have been penetrated to almost unknown depth in the search for "black diamonds," while the persistent investigator has seldom been disappointed. The extent of the coal operations in this township has been phenomenal, beginning in the early part of the last century, and continuing with increasing capacity and power to the present time. Previous to 1816 John and James Lyons were operating a mine on the York farm, the product of which was conveyed with teams to their local buyers wherever ordered. John Bailey was another of the earliest at Centerville who operated his mine according to the primitive methods then in vogue. Samuel Huntzinger, Thomas Sillyman, Nicholas Kant- ner, Robert and John Young, Abraham Pott, George H. Potts, Burd Patterson, Samuel J. Pott and Dr. Gideon J. Palmer were some of the individual operators who opened workings at various places before the installation of mining machinery. But with the organization of mining companies, and the centralization of large capital, the small operators were obliged to sell or combine their possessions for the purpose of securing capital to keep abreast of the developments. This ultimately led to the absorption of nearly all of the coal lands by one or two rich corporations. With boundless capital, a monopoly of transportation facilities, and a practical control of the coal market, they were enabled to penetrate to the deeper veins and enlarge their facilities in every direction. The operation of any of these mines is an old story with
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any who are liable to be interested in a history of Schuylkill; and the patient reader is spared the infliction of long-drawn descriptions.
The existence of large and prosperous boroughs which almost sur- round Norwegian township, has prevented its interior development, and the people have come to rely upon these boroughs for religious and educational advantages. Minersville, St. Clair, Port Carbon, Potts- ville and Yorkville are all located on the township boundary, or pro- jecting into the territory. This township sustains four rural schools, and was one of the first districts in the county to adopt the free school system. The first school house in the township was built in 1829 by Abraham Pott, and donated by him to the use of the people. This was the only school in the township prior to the acceptance of the free school law in 1834. Mr. Pott was an ardent advocate of free schools, and devoted much time and energy to the cause of universal education. There are eight retail business houses within the bounds of this township.
Pottsville Borough, the metropolis of the Schuylkill anthracite coal region, and the county seat of Schuylkill county, had its origin in 1806, when John Pott, the founder of the town, purchased the Reese & Thomas furnace and encouraged the building of homes. But the town was not laid out until 1816, though at least one family occupied the site of Pottsville as early as 1780, this being the ill-fated Neyman family, four of whom were massacred by Indians, as appears in another chapter. Lewis Reese and Isaac Thomas, with their employes, some eight or more families, located north of Sharp mountain, in the Schuyl- kill gap, in 1795, or perhaps a year later, and there they purchased a tract of land and erected a small furnace which they operated until it was sold to Mr. Pott in 1806. This furnace was torn down and Green- wood forge was erected in its stead ; but in 1807 Mr. Pott built Green- wood furnace which he operated until his death in 1827. Previous to 1809, Mr. Pott erected tenant houses for several families of employes, and thus the general settlement assumed a degree of permanence not before accorded to it. These families constituted the first settlers of the immedite vicinity of Pottsville, and were represented by John Else, Henry Bolton, Daniel Focht, Thomas Swoyer, Anthony Schott, George Frievie and George Reimer. In the days to which this record relates, neighbors were considered "near" when separated by several miles ; and the following list of pioneer names includes persons whose early coming has been noticed as settlers in other localities. But they were contemporaneous with the first settlers of Pottsville, hence their names are repeated in this connection. Henry McClattery, the Neuschwender
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