USA > Pennsylvania > Schuylkill County > History of Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, Vol. I > Part 3
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I despatched a messenger to Captain Weatherolt, desiring him to come here in the morning with the men under his command, to be mustered. The people stationed here, and on the other side of the gap, I think, may be of great service, as it is a good road through the mountain, and very steep and high on each side, so may, in a great measure, prevent any Indians to pass through undiscovered, if they keep a good guard. Here the river Lehigh passes through the mountain, and is a very rapid stream.
At 7 in the morning I mustered the men here. The Sergeant informed me that Captain Weatherolt was gone 12 miles from this, and he believed on his way to Philadelphia for their pay, which was the reason the people did not come here, and, finding this company so much dispersed at different stations, in small parties, I could not regularly muster them; therefore at nine A. M., I set out for Fort Norris. The road for the first six miles is a good wagon road, along the foot of the North mountain; the other seven miles very hilly and stony. Passed three plantations on this road all deserted and the houses burnt down.
At II A. M. came to Fort Norris; found here a Sergeant command-
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ing with 21 men. The Sergeant told me that the ensign with 12 men was gone out to range the woods towards Fort Allen; the captain was at Philadelphia for the people's pay; and the other Sergeant was absent at Easton on furlough.
This fort stands in a valley midway between the North mountain and the Tuscarora, 6 miles from each, on the high road towards the Minnesinks; it is a square, about 80 feet each way, with four half bastions, all very completely stockaded, finished and defensible. The woods are clear 400 yards round it. On the bastions are two swivel guns mounted. Within is a good barrack, guard room, kitchen ; also a good well.
Provincial stores: 13 good muskets, 3 bursted ones, 16 very bad, 32 cartouch boxes, 100 pounds of powder, 300 pounds of lead, 112 blankets, 39 axes, 3 broad axes, 80 tomahawks, 6 shovels, 2 grubbing hoes, 5 spades, 5 drawing knives, 9 chisels, 3 adzes, 3 hand-saws, 2 augers and 2 splitting knives.
At 1 P. M. the ensign returned from ranging; they had seen nothing of any Indians. I mustered the whole, 34 in number, stout, able- bodied men. The ensign had no certificate of enlistment. The arms loaded and clean. The cartouch boxes filled with 12 rounds per man.
Provisions: A large quantity of beef very ill cured, standing (in) tubs; a quantity of biscuit and flour, and about 50 gallons of rum.
At 3 P. M. we set out from Fort Norris on our way to Fort Hamil- ton. At 6 P. M. we came to Philip Bosart's farm, 12 miles from Fort Norris; here we staid all night. In our way to this house we found the road very hilly, the country barren; passed by three plantations; all deserted and the houses burnt down. In Bosart's house are six families from other plantations.
June 24th. At 4 A. M. set out from Bosart's; at 6 came to Fort Hamilton; about 7 miles from Bosart's a good wagon road, and the land is better than any I have seen on the north side of the mountain. Fort Hamilton stands in a corn field, by a farm house, in a plain and clear country ; it is a square with four half bastions, all very ill con- trived and furnished; the stockades are six inches open in many places and not firm in the ground, and may be easily pulled down. Before the gate are some stockades driven into the ground to cover it, which I think might be a greater shelter to an enemy. I therefore order to pull them down. I also order to fill up the other stockades where they are open. I found here a lieutenant and eight men, seven were gone to Easton with a prisoner, a deserter from General Shirley's regiment.
Provincial stores: 1 wall piece, 14 good muskets, 4 want repairing, 16 cartouch boxes filled with powder and lead, 28 pounds of powder, 13 pounds of lead, ro axes, 26 tomahawks, 28 blankets, 3 drawing knives, 3 splitting knives, 2 adzes, 2 saws and 1 brass kettle.
At 8 A. M. set out from Fort Hamilton for Samuel Depue's, where Captain Weatherolt's lieutenant and 26 men are stationed. When I came there his muster roll was not ready. I therefore proceeded to the next fort, ten miles higher up the river (Delaware) ; at I P. M. I
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came there. It is a good plain road from Depue's; there are many plantations this way; but all deserted and the houses-chiefly burnt. Found at this fort (Hyndshaw) Lieutenant Hyndshaw with 25 men. He told me that the captain with five men had gone up the river yesterday, and did not expect him back these two days. They had been informed from the Jerseys that six Indians had been seen and fired at the night before, 18 miles up the river.
This fort is a square about 70 feet each way, very lightly stockaded. I gave some directions to alter the bastions, which at present are of very little use. It is clear all around for 300 yards; the fort stands on the banks of a large creek, and about one fourth of a mile from the river Delaware. I think it is a very important place for the defense of this frontier.
At 3 P. M. I mustered the people, and find them agreeable to the lieutenant's roll regularly enlisted. Finding here such a small quantity of powder and lead, and this fort the most distant frontier, I wrote a letter to Captain Orndt, at Fort Norris, where there is a large quantity, desiring him to deliver to this fort thirty pounds of powder and ninety pounds of lead; and I promised that he should have proper orders from his superior officers for so doing, in the mean time my letter should be his security; in which I hope I have not done amiss, as I thought it very necessary for the good of the service.
At 7 P. M. came to Samuel Depue's; mustered that part of Captain Weatherolt's company stationed here-a lieutenant and twenty-six men, all regularly enlisted for six months, as are the rest of his com- pany. Around Depue's house is a large but very slight and ill-con- trived stockade, with a swivel gun mounted on each corner. Mr. Depue was not at home. His son, with a son of Broadhead's, keeping house. They expressed themselves as if they thought the Province was obliged to them, for allowing this party to be in their house, also made use of very arrogant expressions of the commissioners, and the people of Philadelphia in general. They seem to make a mere merchandise of the people stationed here, selling rum at eight pence per gill.
June 25. At 5 A. M. set out from Depue's for the Wind Gap, where part of Weatherolt's company is stationed. Stopped at Bosart's plantation to find our horses. I was informed this morning, that two miles from the house in the woods, they found the body of Peter Hess, who had been murdered and scalped about the month of February.
At 11 A. M. came to the Wind Gap, when I found Captain Weather- olt's ensign, who is stationed here with seven men, at a farm house. Four only were present; one was gone to Bethlehem with a letter from the Jerseys, on Indian affairs; one was on (at) a farm house on duty; and one absent on furlough from the 15th to the 22nd, but had not yet returned. I told the officer he ought to esteem him a deserter. I found here six Province muskets, all good, and six rounds of powder and lead for each man. I told Captain Weatherolt to send a supply as soon as possible. At 3 P. M. set out from Wind
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Gap, for Easton. About half post by Nazareth mill, around which is a large but slight stockade, about 400 feet one way, and 250 feet the other, with log houses at the corners for bastions. At 6 I came to Easton; found here ensign Enslee, of Captain Enslee's company with 24 men. He told me the Captain was gone to Philadelphia for the company's pay, and one man absent, sick at Bethlehem.
June 26. At 9 A. M. I mustered the company stationed here; found them stout, able bodied men; their arms in good order. They fired at a mark; 16 out of 21 hit within 9 inches of the center, at 80 yards distance.
The ensign had no certificates of enlistments, but told me that Colonel Clapman had carried them with him. Provincial stores : 25 good muskets, 25 cartouch boxes, with II rounds in each, and 25 blankets. In Major Parson's charge for the use of the inhabitants: 37 bad muskets, a parcel of broken muskets, 24 cartouch boxes, 12 pair of shoes, 56 pounds of powder, 100 pounds of lead, 14 blankets, Io axes, I broad axe, and 6 hatchets.
June 27. At Bethlehem.
JAMES YOUNG, Com. Gen. of the Muster.
Philadelphia, July 2, 1756.
The foregoing "report" is quoted in this connection to show not only the generally devastated condition of the frontier in 1756, but also the careful supervision of the forces in the field, and the attention given to the minutest details of military organization. Some of the officers' names and locations mentioned in Captain Young's report are familiar to all students of our pioneer history, and this recital emphasizes the importance attached to this, the first line of fortifica- tions erected in America as a protection against Indian incursions.
CHAPTER 11.
ORGANIZATION -- EARLY SETTLERS-PIONEER LIFE- PUBLIC OFFICERS- INDIANS.
As intimated in the preceding chapter, much of the pioneer history of Schuylkill county is involved in the territory from which the county was formed, though the early settlers of the Schuylkill valley did not wait for the present county organization before establishing their homes in the wilderness. With the expansion of settlements outward from Philadelphia, the territory adjacent to the frontier was occupied by the vanguard of civilization, and constantly pushed forward into the previously unexplored regions. The necessity of county organization was therefore felt for some years before the final action was taken in the establishment of Schuylkill county.
Governor Simon Snyder approved the act creating the county, on March 18, 1811. The preamble to this act declares that "the inhabit- ants of the northern part of Berks and Northampton counties have, by their petitions, set forth to the General Assembly of this State the great hardships they labor under from being so remote from the present seat of justice and the public offices." The first section of the act reads: "Be it enacted * that all that part of Berks county lying and being within the limits of the following townships, to wit: the townships of Brunswick, Schuylkill, Manheim, Norwegian, Upper Mahantongo, Lower Mahantongo and Pine Grove, in Berks county, and the townships of West Penn and Rush, in Northampton county, be, and the same are, according to their present lines, declared to be erected into a county, henceforth to be called Schuylkill."
The townships of Brunswick, Manheim and Lower Mahantongo have been divided into other townships and boroughs, and their names do not now appear upon the records of the county. The dividing lines and area of North Manheim and Norwegian townships were changed by the Court, Sept. 14, 1861. March 3, 1818, additional territory was attached to Schuylkill county from the counties of Columbia and Luzerne, thus establishing the county boundaries as at present. This newly-acquired territory was designated as Union township, and is described as follows: "All that part of Columbia and Luzerne counties lying within the following lines, viz .: beginning
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at a corner in the line dividing the county of Columbia from the county of Schuylkill; thence, extending through the township of Catawissa, north ten degrees, east four miles and a half, to a pine tree on the little mount; thence, extending through the townships of Catawissa and Mifflin, north forty-five degrees, east five miles, to a stone on Buck mount and in a line dividing the county of Colum- bia from the county of Luzerne; thence, through the township of Sugar Loaf, in the county of Luzerne, south seventy degrees, east eight miles, to the line between the county of Schuylkill and the county of Luzerne; thence along the said line and the line between the county of Columbia and the county of Schuyklill, to the place of beginning." The county as thus constituted, is 30 miles in length, and has an average breadth of 2412 miles, with an area of 840 square miles. The population in 1811 was between 6,000 and 7,000, repre- senting several nationalities, of whom the Germans predominated.
The Legislative enactment which created the county also provided that until a court-house was erected, the courts should be held at the house of Abraham Reiffsnyder, in Brunswick township. Accord- ingly, on the first Monday in December, 1811, the first court was held, and the judicial affairs of the new county set in motion. Judge Robert Porter, of the third judicial district, which then comprised the counties of Wayne, Schuylkill, Berks and Northampton, presided at this court, and George Rausch and Daniel Yost sat as associate justices. The constables in attendance were Christian Kaup, Bruns- wick township; Jacob Emrich, Manheim; Isaac Reed, Norwegian; Christopher Barnhard, Pine Grove; Peter Kahrl, Upper Mahantongo; Joseph Keffer, Lower Mahantongo; George Olinger, Schuylkill. Two new townships then organized, West Penn and Rush, had no repre- sentatives on the list of constables at this session of the court. Will- iam Green, then high sheriff by appointment, having returned the precept to him directed as "in all things duly executed," the following named persons were, upon legal oath or affirmation, con- stituted a grand inquest: Bernard Kepner, George Body, Jacob Houser, Adam Yost, Philip Fegely, Tobias Wagner, Isaac Yarnell, Peter Kaup, Conrad Rader, Daniel Fenstermacher, Daniel Bensinger, Peter Albright, Joseph Heck, Joseph Old, Abraham Hoffa, John Klock, Daniel Graeff, George Hillowgas, Andrew Gilbert, Philip Seidle and Conrad Yeager. Frederick Hesser, a drummer-boy of the Revolution, was appointed the court crier. It is said that it was his custom to announce the convening of court by beating his drum under the window of the court room. At the first session of court ten lawyers were admitted to the bar of Schuylkill county,
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viz .: George Wolf, Charles Evans, Frederick Smith, William Witman, James B. Hubley, John Spayd, John W. Collins, M. J. Biddle, Samuel Baird and John Ewing.
The location of a seat of justice was provided for in some degree, by the act which created the county; yet there are very few counties organized which do not have controversies over this question. Schuyl- kill was no exception to the general rule. "At the house of Abraham Reiffsnyder in Brunswick township," is rather indefinite; but in fact the courts, though held in Reiffsnyder's house, were also held in the village of Orwigsburg, which was a formidable candidate for the county-seat, and ultimately succeeded in getting it.
The act creating the county provided that the governor be em- powered to appoint three commissioners, not residents of Berks or Northampton counties, to fix the seat of justice in Schuylkill county. The commissioners were duly appointed, in accordance with the law. McKeansburg, Schuylkill Haven and Orwigsburg were rival candidates, with claims fairly balanced. The locating committee appeared and examined the different sites. But while the question was yet undecided, it is said that some of the citizens of Orwigsburg resorted to a clever ruse to secure a decision in favor of their town. There were several water-power saw-mills located on Mohannan creek above the village, and it was arranged to hold the water in the dams for some time, and then open the flood gates, and thereby show the commissioners the excellent facilities which the town pos- sessed as a manufacturing point! The flow of water, many times greater than the normal flow of the creek at that time, according to the tradition, secured the coveted prize!
Orwigsburg was laid out in 1796 by Peter Orwig. The village had a tardy growth until after its incorporation in 1813, from which time it attracted attention as a growing and prosperous town. It is the oldest borough in the county (See township section.) The first court-house was erected in the borough of Orwigsburg in 1815, at a cost of $5,000. It was a two-story brick, with ground dimensions of 40x50 feet. The court room was on the first floor, and the jury- rooms and public offices in the second story. The builders were John Kreter, William Wildermuth and John Downing. The first named did the mason-work, the second, the joiner-work and painting, and the last, the plastering. A bell was presented by Samuel Bell, of Reading. The first session of court held in the new building was convened in the spring of 1816.
In 1827 a one-story building was constructed of brick, about thirty feet in rear of the court-house, and covering the same ground dimen-
(
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sions. This was used to store the public records, and contained two fire-proof vaults. In 1846 an addition to the court-house was erected which filled the space between the old building and the record-offices, and thus a very convenient court-house was completed. It served the people until the removal of the seat of justice to Pottsville in 1851, of which event in the county's history, a more detailed account will be given in the borough histories.
At the time the county organization was effected, the only avenue of travel and transportation, except over the old Sunbury road, . was by means of the Center turnpike, which was then but little more than a passable thoroughfare. But this was rapidly improved and soon became an important factor as a means of communication with the outside world. The Schuylkill river was used as a means of transporting lumber, the principal product of the region in the early days. This means of transportation, however, was fraught with uncertainty and danger; and in 1814 a plan was conceived to build a canal from Philadelphia, under the impression that the lumber of Schuylkill county, and the grain and stock from the counties bordering on the Susquehanna, would, in their more ready transpor- tation to the eastern markets, ultimately afford a dividend to the stockholders. The question of the coal product, long since become the greatest industry of the county, was not then considered. The building of the canal was looked upon by a large majority of the . people "as a chimerical scheme, more fitted for speculators in a stock market than for any benefit that might result to the stockholders, or the public." The canal was completed to Pottsville in the summer of 1825; but during the period of construction, covering some ten or eleven years, the practical value of anthracite as a fuel was fully demonstrated, and the canal carried 6,500 tons of it to market during the first year of its operation. (Canals and railroads will be treated elsewhere in this volume under proper headings.)
Schuylkill county has had a steady, though not phenomenal increase in population during each decade of its existence. The population in 1811 is not certainly known, but it is estimated at about 6,000. In 1820 it was 11,311; in 1830, 20,744; in 1840, 29,053; in 1850, 60,713; in 1860, 89,510; in 1870, 116,428; in 1880, 128,784; in 1890, 154,163, and in 1900, 172,927. The opening and operation of the coal mines contributed largely to the steady growth in population, and also to a degree of cosmopolitanism not found elsewhere in the United States. In the borough of Shenandoah as many as seventeen nation- alities are represented upon the rolls of the public schools.
Three efforts have been made to sub-divide Schuylkill county
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since its organization, one in 1841, another in 1853 and an effort was again made in the late nineties to create a new county out of parts of Schuylkill and Luzerne but the bill was vetoed by Governor Hastings, and the boundaries remain as finally established in 1818. The act creating Schuylkill county also created a legislative district comprising the counties of Berks and Schuylkill, and a congressional district was expanded to include this newly-acquired territory and comprised the counties of Berks, Chester, Lancaster and Schuylkill.
The legislative district remained unchanged until 1828 when Schuylkill was separated from Berks, and continued as a representa- tive district, with various changes in the number of representatives, in accordance with the increasing population. The act of 1874 pro- vided for two representatives from the county, while that of 1887 increased the number to six, and divided the county into four repre- sentative districts, the first, second and third each having one repre- sentative, and the fourth three. The number of representatives was reduced to five by act of the legislature in 1905, limiting the fourth district to two members. Schuylkill and Berks counties were constituted one senatorial district from 1812 to 1835, when Schuylkill and Columbia were associated from 1836 to 1843, and Schuylkill, Carbon, Monroe and Pike counties comprised a senatorial district from 1844 to 1849, and from 1850 to 1874 Schuylkill alone was honored with one senator. In the year last written, Schuylkill was accorded the honor of two senators, a condition which however in 1905 was again reduced to one, known as the twenty-ninth senatorial district.
The congressional district of which this county has formed a part since 1812, has also been subjected to many changes. Berks and Schuylkill were associated until 1822, when Lehigh county was added to the list. In 1832, Berks was transferred, leaving Schuylkill and Lehigh associated for the succeeding ten years. In 1842, Lehigh was dropped, and Dauphin and Lebanon became associated with Schuylkill until 1852, when Schuylkill and Northumberland were constituted a district. Schuylkill was associated with Lebanon from 1860 until 1874, when the former became a separate district, and so remains, being designated as the twelfth congressional district.
The twenty-first judicial district, as constituted by the act of 1901, embraces the county of Schuylkill, and has three common-pleas judges, and one judge of the separate orphans' court, created in 1895. From 1811 until 1851, the judges were appointed by the Governor, . since which time they have been elected by the people in the manner provided for the election of other county or district officers. An
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Act of Assembly in 1867, established the court of the first district of criminal jurisdiction which included the counties of Schuylkill, Dauphin and Lebanon, and Colonel D. B. Green was appointed by the Governor to preside therein. At the election following this appointment, in October, 1867, Judge Green was elected as his own successor. This court was abolished by the Constitution of 1874 and Judge Green filled out the remainder of his term to 1877 as a judge of the common-pleas court under the schedule attached to the new Constitution. Hon. Robert Porter was the first law judge appointed by the Governor, and to him was delegated the authority to appoint the temporary officers at the organization of Schuylkill county. Following Judge Porter were Law Judges Samuel D. Franks, Calvin Blythe, James M. Porter, Anson V. Parsons, Nathaniel B. Eldred and Luther Kidder, who served under the Governor's appointment.
In 1851, when the judiciary became elective in Pennsylvania, Charles W. Hegins of Sunbury was elected to the office of president judge, and was reelected in 1861, but he died in 1862 and Edward Owen Parry was appointed to fill the vacancy. Parry was succeeded by James Ryan, elected in 1862, and during the term of the latter in 1870 the law went into effect which provided for an additional law judge, and Henry S. Souther of Erie filled that office by appointment until the election of Thomas H. Walker, in 1871. Cyrus L. Pershing was elected president judge in 1872, succeeding Judge Ryan. Oliver P. Bechtel became the second additional law judge in 1877, succeeding Judge Green who, however, was again elected to the bench in 1881 when Judge Walker's term expired. Judge Bechtel was re-elected in 1887 and again in 1897 and is now the president judge. Judge David B. Green was again reelected in 1891 but died in 1893, when Judge Weid- man was appointed to fill the vacancy, and he was afterward in 1893 elected for a full term, but died in 1898, when the Governor appointed Judge D. C. Henning to fill the vacancy, who served till 1899, when Judge Wadlinger was elected to succeed him. Judge Wadlinger died in 1900, and Judge Arthur L. Shay was appointed to fill the vacancy, and being elected for a full term in 1900 is now one of the judges of this court.
When Judge Pershing resigned in 1898 Judge Richard H. Koch was appointed to the vacant place but Judge William A. Marr was elected in 1899 to succeed him, and is now on the bench.
Following is a list of names of the principal officers elected in Schuyl- kill county from its organization to the present year (1906).
Sheriffs :- William Green, 1811; Frederick Hesser, 1814; Benjamin
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