USA > Pennsylvania > Schuylkill County > History of Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, Vol. I > Part 26
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family, Michael Boechtel, Jacob Yohe, Thomas and Isaac Reed, John Boyer, Nicho Allen, Peter Neuschwender, John Hughes, Philip Dil- comp, Solomon, Jacob, Peter and George Reed, Conrad and John Keim, Mr. Stitzel, Shadrach Lord. John Pott himself became a resi- dent of the settlement (which subsequently became Pottsville) in 1810, removing from Berks county, where he was born. He had a family of six sons and three daughters, the former becoming prominently identified with the history of Schuylkill county and in the develop- ment of its business interests. The family name is indissolubly asso- ciated with Pottsville. The memory of John Pott will be perpetuated through coming ages by a granite memorial, erected in his honor by the city of Pottsville. This is located in a neatly kept little park ad- joining the grammar school building on Center street.
The land upon which the borough of Pottsville and the suburban villages and boroughs are now located was patented to non-residents between the years 1751 and 1794. In the year first written a patent was granted to Edmund Physick of the county of Philadelphia, cover- ing a portion of the town plot, and this property subsequently became vested in John Pott (in the year 1808). Grants were made to Arthur St. Clair, William Morris, Luke Morris and Samuel Potts, for the tract called "Norway," on Feb. 14, 1788; and a patent was issued to the same parties, covering the Pine Grove tract, in the same month and year. The tract known as "Honor" was patented to Samuel Potts on Feb. II, 1788. The names used in designating these various tracts of land became localized, and nearly every old resident of Pottsville knows what is meant by "Pomona," or the Physick tract, "Coal Pit," "Pine Grove," "Honor" and "Norway" tracts. By sundry conveyances, nearly all of these lands came into possession of John Pott, who laid out the village of Pottsville on part of the "Pomona" tract in 1816. Portions of these various holdings were sold by Mr. Pott to Jacob Alter and Jonathan Wynn who laid out additions bearing the names of the then owners of the land; and the sons of Mr. Pott, who suc- ceeded to the estate on his death, sold lands to various parties who laid out other additions to the town. Abraham Pott conveyed an un- divided half interest in two hundred acres of land to Burd Patterson, and in 1829 they laid out Pott & Patterson's addition. A Mr. Buckley and others acquired title to some of the Benjamin Pott lands, and in 1830, Buckley's addition was platted. This was subsequently known as Greenwood addition, sometimes called the "Orchard." Morris' addition was laid out in 1829 by Henry Morris on lands known as "Stephens Green." This property was not included in the Potts possessions, but
17
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was patented in February, 1792, to Stephen Paschall, from whom it descended by numerous conveyances to Israel W. Morris whose son laid out the addition. The "Norway" tract, and a part of the tract called "Honor," became vested in Samuel Kepner, who, on Jan. 20, 1816, conveyed the same to the Schuylkill Navigation company. The "Norwegian" addition was laid out on this tract in 1852. A portion of this addition has been known locally as "Fishback" for many years. Wood's addition was platted on land originally patented to Michael Bright in October, 1794, but owned by Joseph Wood and others in 1830, when this addition was laid out. This land was known as the "Eyre" tract. Thouron's addition was laid out in 1830 on lands patented to Conrad Minnich and Jacob Zoll, in 1792 and 1794, respectively .*
Samuel and Thomas Potts, of Pottstown, owned or controlled about 1,800 acres of these lands at the time the settlement of this section of the county was commenced. Associating themselves with Gen. Arthur St. Clair, Jesse Potts, Samuel Baird, Thomas Rutter and Thomas Maybury, they made a feeble effort at exploring and developing their holdings, but did nothing further than to establish a saw-mill on Norwegian creek and commence lumbering, an enterprise which they abandoned about 1798, when the company was dissolved. A local tradition recites that these lumbermen made the first discovery of anthracite while engaged on this tour of investigation ; but that being unable to burn it, they decided it was a species of black rock with which they were not familiar, and gave it no further attention. In 1807, while engaged in building Greenwood furnace and forge, John Pott made a more satisfactory test of the virtues of "black rock" as a fuel; and in 1810 while sinking the foundation for Orchard grist-mill he opened a vein of anthracite nine feet thick. To these fortuitous circumstances, occurring in the development of other interests, the Pottsville of today owes its existence. Between 1806 and 1810 the business interests of John Pott the elder, were in the hands of his son John Pott, Jr., and his assistant Daniel Focht. They found six houses on the village site: viz., the Reed house; a house occupied by the Alspach family, on the present site of the Charles Baber residence ; a house occupied by Anthony Schutt, on Lawton's hill ; Thomas Swoyer's
*A copy of the original town plot of Pottsville, and addition thereto by John Pott, and of drafts of the purparty by which his real estate was divided, can be found in "Orphans' Court Docket, No. 7, page 275," in the office of the clerk of the Orphans' Court of Schuylkill county. The original town plot, and the addition made to it by John Pott, and the several additions herein mentioned, excepting the Norwegian Addition, are laid down in Fisher's Plan of Pottsville, published in 1831.
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house on the site of a livery stable later established on Union street ; Nathan Taylor's house on the site of the Philadelphia & Reading freight depot ; and the old Neyman house in the "Orchard." The Alspach house was fitted up for a residence for the Pott family, which was occupied, with some improvements, by three generations of this old and prominent family. Hannah Pott, daughter of Benjamin, was the first white girl born in the settlement, her birth occurring in this pioneer home, and she became the wife of Lawrence T. Whitney, later on a prominent citizen of Pottsville. Jeremiah Reed, who for many years was a prominent resident of this city, was the first white child born within the borough limits.
Pottsville did not have a rapid growth during the early years of its existence as a village, Mount Carbon being a formidable rival until after the extension of the Schuylkill navigation to this place. But there has been no decade during the seventy odd years of the corporate existence that the town has not shown an increase in population. This growth has been gradual from the incorporation of the borough in 1828 to the present time. The federal census for each decade shows the following population in the borough : In 1830, 2,464 ; 1840, 4,337 ; 1850, 7,575 ; 1860, 9,444; 1870, 12,384; 1880, 13,253; 1890, 14,117; 1900, 15,710. It is probable that the census of 1910 will show a greater increase in population than any preceding one, in that new industries are being established with each succeeding year, and Pottsville is now enjoying a season of unparalleled prosperity. The borough was in- corporated on the 19th of February, 1828, and the first election was held at the house of John Weaver, on Monday, the 7th of May, follow- ing. At that election, Francis B. Nichols was chosen for chief burgess, with John Pott, assistant burgess; Daniel Hill, high constable, and Samuel Rex, clerk. The councilmen elected were: Jacob Kline, John Strauch, Benjamin Thurston, David Phillips and Samuel Brooks. The first meeting of the council was held at the public house of George Shoemaker, May 9, 1828. The incorporation of the town met with some opposition from the residents of Mount Carbon, who sought to have that town incorporated in the borough of Pottsville and the name changed to "Mount Carbon," even Governor Shulze being favorable to this arrangement. The title given was somewhat ambiguous, being "the burgess and inhabitants of the town of Pottsville, in the county of Schuylkill." and this ambiguity was eliminated by action of the legis- lature in 1831, when the corporation known as the Borough of Potts- ville succeeded the former title. The borough of Pottsville as now constituted is the aggregation of several communities, some of which
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still retain their local names, such as the "Orchard," Morris' addition, Fishback (Fish creek), Jalappa, etc. In 1824 Pottsville contained about a dozen houses, but within the succeeding seven years, this num- ber had been increased to more than five hundred. Business houses multiplied with the increase in population, the inspiring motive being the development of the mining interests. Some of the early merchants were: Thomas and Samuel Sillyman, John C. Offerman, Daniel Stall, Fairchild Hodgeson and Charles Clemens. The first hotel at Pottsville was erected by George Dengler, in 1818, and was designated as the "White Horse Tavern." It long continued as the Merchants' Hotel on the site of the present Allen House. In 1829 there were but three hotels in the place, but so greatly did the demand increase that in 1831 there were twenty-five engaged in a struggle to meet the requirements. Pennsylvania Hall was built by George Shoemaker in 1831, and was then as now, a first-class hotel. But few of the early buildings of this nature have survived the ravages of time, and new and better ones have taken the places of the hotels of pioneer days. Of the latter, the Hotel Allen stands at the head, and is probably as well equipped as any hotel in the state, excepting a few in the two larger cities. Other old hotels were: The American House, Hill's Northwestern, Betz' Eagle, the Exchange, Wall's, etc. The hotel accommodations of Potts- ville will compare favorably with those of much larger places through- out the country.
The discovery of coal, and the development of the mines in the vicinity of Pottsville, led to the influx of people of a speculative temperament. and the expansion of values in all kinds of real estate. Town lots were as staple as coal lands, and both were greedily taken at fabulous prices. The quiet village in the wilderness became a bedlam of speculation and contention among fortune-seekers from distant sections of the country. The stage coach between Reading and Sun- bury brought its cargo of human freight on every trip, and many of the more thoughtful passengers carried bedding with them and were content to occupy a corner in the bar-room of the over-crowded tavern. Those men who succeeded in buying land naturally became residents of the town, temporarily at least; hence the growth of the place was hardly in keeping with the increase in population during those days when speculation was at its height.
The Miners' Journal in 1830 assumed to classify the needs of the town, in the way of new enterprises, and included in the list all lines of mechanical trades, barbers, butchers, bakers, cabinet-makers, cigar- makers, distillers, "a regiment of carpenters, brick-layers and masons,"
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grocery stores, drug stores, milk depots, etc. So great was the demand for building material that lumber was shipped to the town from Phil- adelphia, notwithstanding that a few years previously the only com- mercial commodity of the whole Schuylkill valley was lumber ! .
The business interests of Pottsville developed with the growth of the town, and its energies in this direction have never relaxed. Few towns in the state, having the population of Pottsville, have a greater diversity of manufacturing industries, or more capital invested in such enterprises. The furnaces of pioneer days have long since passed out of existence and modern enterprise, together with the invention of labor-saving machinery, have supplanted the methods, and in many instances, the product of the early days.
To enumerate all of the various manufacturing establishments which have had or now have an existence in Pottsville would be a task far beyond the scope of this present history of the whole county, and a consumption of space for matters of local interest only. Some of the leading manufacturing industries of the present, as well as those of historical significance in the past, will, however, be mentioned in the following pages.
In 1829 the late D. G. Yuengling established the Eagle brewery in Pottsville. This is one of the continuing industries, and is today operated by a grandson of the founder-Frank D. Yuengling-whose father (Frederick, since deceased), became a partner in the business in 1873 under the present firm name of D. G. Yuengling & Son. The establishment has been enlarged and modernized, increasing its capacity from time to time, in keeping with the demand for the product. This was probably the first institution of its kind in this section of the state, and it has been the training school for many successful brewers in Schuylkill county. The Orchard brewery was established in 1830, under the management of A. S. Moore. After two or three transfers, it became the property of George Lauer, who greatly improved it and operated it successfully for many years. After his death his successor, Lorenz Schmidt, abandoned the old brewery and rebuilt his brewery in Mount Carbon in 1886, where it is still operated in the name of his estate. The Market Street brewery was at first a small plant started by Gottlieb Shaidle, who sold out to Charles Rettig and John Leibner, and was originally located near the eastern boundary of the borough. The plant was removed and reestablished at its pres- ent location on Market street in 1868. Ten years later, Mr. Rettig became the sole proprietor, and so continued until his death in 1893. The business was then operated for some years under
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the firm title of Chas. Rettig & Son, but it is now owned by a stock company. The old Christian Kuenzler brewery on North Center street is a thing of the past.
The Colliery Iron works were established in 1835 by George WV. Snyder and Benjamin Haywood, for the manufacture of mining machinery. The plant was enlarged to keep pace with the increasing requirements, and was in its day one of the leading manufacturing industries in Pottsville. It is now operated by the Philadelphia & Reading Coal and Iron company. This plant built the blowing machinery for the old Pioneer furnace where the experiment of making pigiron with anthracite coal as fuel was first made a commercial success. William Lyman manufactured the first iron by this process in 1839. He sold his blast furnace to Atkins Brothers in 1853, and they re- built it and enlarged the capacity, adding another furnace in 1865, and still another in 1872. The extensive business of the Atkins Brothers was finally merged into the Pottsville Rolling mills, and this industry was absorbed by the Pottsville Iron & Steel company, which, in turn, after years of enforced idleness, was lately succeeded by the Eastern Steel company. The latter is one of the largest steel manufactories in the United States, giving employment to hundreds of men in the opera- tion of its various departments, and has given renewed stimulus to this city and bids fair to become its principal support next to the gigantic works of the old Reading company. The Orchard Iron works was founded in 1848, by John L. Pott, the son of John Pott-later Pott & Vastine (Vastine being a son-in-law of old Pott)-and its principal business was the building of machinery for iron mills. It was located at the corner of Coal and Washington streets and was a pros- perous and successful business enterprise for many years.
Several other large and, for many years, very prosperous iron works, foundries and machine shops-though now things of the past-must also be referred to in this brief history of the county, especially so as they were not local concerns but for years made mining machinery, engines, etc., for all the collieries in this whole region. Enoch W. McGinnis, a former coal operator, for years carried on extensive machine works on Coal street. Benjamin Pomeroy (a lay or special judge of the county court) for many years conducted the extensive foundry and machine shops at the corner of Coal and East Norwegian streets. The Wren Brothers (James and Thomas) had probably the largest of these iron works, which were located on Coal street, south of Norwegian street, and for many years were foremost in their line of business. All of these works gradually had to submit to the in-
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evitable when the Philadelphia & Reading Coal and Iron company became the principal landowner and coal operator in this county, and no private operators were left to supply. The Reading company naturally found it necessary for them to have their own foundries and machine shops to meet their own constantly increasing wants. Thus it came that the coal and iron company acquired all of these shops, and is now the principal employer and the main stay of the people of Pottsville.
Sparks & Parker now operate the Schuylkill County Machinery depot, which was established in 1855 on the site of the present Reading railroad station. Jabez and John Sparks and Edward Greathead were the founders of the business. They engaged in the manufacture of boilers, smokestacks, ventilating stacks and mine fans. From a small beginning the business developed into a large enterprise. Mr. Great- head was killed in 1857, and John Sparks retired in 1860. Jabez Sparks continued, associating with him Hiram Parker, his son-in-law, as Sparks & Parker, in which name the business is now conducted by Mr. Parker.
The Derr Stove works was one of the early established manufactur- ing industries, founded by Joseph Derr in 1848, and his brother Simon Derr became his partner in 1851. They afterwards dissolved and each of them for years carried on extensive stove works; Joseph's plant being now the site of the Pennsylvania railroad station. Simon Derr continued his works (still existing at the corner of East Norwegian and George streets) till his death in 1891. On the death of Simon Derr, his son Charles F. assumed charge of the business until the spring of 1906, when it passed out of his hands, and was reorganized and continued along former lines by the Pottsville Stove works.
The Pennsylvania Diamond Drill company was formed in 1869. thus introducing into the United States a foreign invention which added greatly to the then existing facilities for prospecting for minerals. The company at once turned its attention to prospecting for mineral lands, and soon established itself in a prosperous and rapidly increasing busi- ness. The practical utility of the drill being established, they engaged in the manufacture of the Diamond drill, which has wrought a revo- lution in the methods of discovering the hidden wealth below the earth's surface. The extensive plant, which was located at the end of South Center street, was forced by disagreement with the owner of the prop- erty to remove to Birdsboro about 1887. Another important industry of the present is the corporation known as the Pottsville Spike and Bolt works, founded in 1872 and incorporated under the above title in
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1890. The purpose of the organization is defined in its title, the product being used principally in the anthracite coal regions The late John W. Roseberry, Esq., was one of the incorporators, and the first president, continuing in that office until his death in 1893.
Another establishment to be remembered is the Noble Boiler shop, located opposite the old freight depot of the Reading railroad company where John T. Noble for many years carried on most extensive boiler works, supplying most of the colleries in Schuylkill and adjacent counties until the advent of the Reading coal and iron company. Note also the large steam flour mill of Rush & Evans at the corner of Railroad and East Norwegian streets, and the Hetherington mill at the corner of Union and Railroad streets, as well as the Stein mill in the "Orchard"- the latter two having been destroyed by fire.
There are three meat-packing houses in Pottsville, all located in the subdivision called Jalappa. Of these the business of Jacob Ulmer & Son is the most extensive, though all are doing a large business. The Pottsville Pork and Beef packing house was commenced in 1873, by Jacob Ulmer and David Neuser. The following year Mr. Ulmer pur- chased the interest of his partner, the business being thereafter con- ducted under the title of the Jacob Ulmer Packing company, and with the exception of some months when Louis Stoffregen was a partner, Mr. Ulmer conducted the business until his death, with his sons asso- ciated with him. The plant is large and well equipped, having in con- nection an artificial ice plant, which not only supplies the needs of the packing houses but also disposes of large quantities of ice to the town trade. The business is conducted under the former title, Jacob S. Ulmer, a son of the founder, being president of the company.
The Seltzer packing house was the outgrowth of a business in live stock and a drovers' and dealers' stock yard, established in 1869, by Conrad Seltzer. In 1877, William and Albert, Jr., Seltzer, sons of the founder, purchased the property, enlarged the yards and built additional sheds and feeding arrangements for the accommodation of stock held here for sale. This led to the erection of suitable buildings for slaughtering and packing and the establishment of a packing business which has grown to large proportions. This firm also operates a large ice plant and supplies the town people. The Schuylkill County Stock Yard was established in 1872 by Louis Stoffregen, L. W. Weissinger and David Neuser, the principal business of the firm being the buying and selling of horses and cattle, the stock yards being located on Coal street ; and the old Bittle farms on the Cressona road were also ac- quired by them for the purposes of their enterprise for stabling, etc.
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In 1875, the partnership was dissolved, and L. W. Weissinger con- tinted the business till the time of his death, dealing exclusively in horses and cattle. He also acquired the G. A. Doerflinger packing house in Fishback, now conducted by Weissinger, almost enclosed, however, by the Eastern Steel Mills' plant.
The Schuylkill County Steam Soap and Candle works was estab- lished in 1844 by Charles F. Kopitzsch, and soon developed into an important industry. This business, located at Third and West Arch streets, was enlarged and improved with the passing years until it became one of the most extensive manufacturing institutions in the town. The old works being destroyed by fire, a large and commodious factory building, four stories in height, was erected in 1878, and the institution became a formidable rival of similar industries in the large cities. But the aggressions of factories conducted in connection with the large packing houses rendered the business unprofitable as a separate enterprise, and the plant was closed some ten years ago after the death of Mr. Kopitzsch.
The Tilt Silk mill is one of the large manufacturing industries estab- lished in Pottsville within comparatively recent years, operating in con- nection with other mills of this company in other cities. Its establishment here was largely due to the efforts of the enterprising board of trade, through whose energies the borough has been benefited in many ways. This industry gives permanent employment to several hundred wage- workers of both sexes. It was opened for business in 1888, and is one of the most complete institutions of its kind in the United States.
The shoe factory at the northeastern outskirts was also erected by the efforts and contributions of the town's public-spirited citizens, but was not a success and has been idle for years, other efforts to utilize the building having also proved unprofitable so far. Numerous other in- dustries (on limited scales) have been established within recent years, giving employment to many of the wage-workers of Pottsville and find- ing fair markets for their products in the commercial centers of the country. Of these there are knitting factories, shirt and underwear factories, shoe factories, paper box factory, several wholesale cigar factories, and many smaller industries. A large mercantile trade is established with dealers in the small towns and other boroughs of the county through the twenty-two wholesale houses and jobbers in Potts- ville ; and the local trade is abundantly provided for by the 322 licensed business houses engaged in the retail trade.
An admirable system of heating is provided through the agency of the Pottsville Steam Heat and Power company, incorporated in 1888.
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This system is employed in heating private residences as well as public houses and institutions, and is not only a saving in fuel expenses, but it dispenses with the worries of "firing up" numerous furnaces and stoves and saves the expense of individual plants, besides affording the people uniform heat, day and night alike. Pottsville has an excel- lent system of fire protection, consisting of five well-organized and disciplined companies, the nucleus to which was organized in 1833. This was the Humane Hose and Steam Fire Engine company, which was incorporated under the above title in 1844, though existing as a volunteer fire company from 1833. Good Intent Fire company, and Phoenix Fire Engine and Benevolent company, were each organized in 1846, and both were incorporated in 1860. American Hose company was established in 1865, while Goodwill Hose and Engine company, and West End Hose company were later organizations. The fire de- partment is under control of a board of trustees, and a liberal policy is adopted in caring for the injured members through the agency of the Firemen's Relief association. Some of these old fire companies furnished a large quota of the boys who went to the front to battle for their country from 1861 to 1865.
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