History of Tioga County, Pennsylvania, Part 78

Author:
Publication date: 1897
Publisher: Harrisburg : R. C. Brown
Number of Pages: 1454

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Gethsemane Swedish Evangelical Lutheran Church was organized in 1879, with about forty members. The first pastor was Rev. P. A. Bergquist, who served part of the year 1881. Rev. A. Kinett served during 1882 and 1883. Between 1884 and 1887 the congregation was served by C. G. Norman, C. J. Bengston, C. J. Youngberg and S. J. Youngert, theological students from Augustana College and Theological Seminary, Rock Island, Illinois. Rev. J. A. Rinell was pastor from 1888 to 1890, and Rev. S. G. Olsson from 1890 to 1894. Rev. C. J. Youngberg, the present pastor, took charge June 24, 1894. The church at present numbers 200 communicants and 188 children. There are sixty pupils in the Sunday-school, of which Jacob Anderson is the superintendent. The church owns a neat house of worship, which was erected in 1883 at a cost of $2,000.

St. Andrew's Roman Catholic Church was organized in 1880, and a church build- ing, 28x45 feet, erected, at a cost of $1,500. This church is under the charge of the pastor of Blossburg. St. James' Lyceum Hall, erected in 1895, is under the auspices of this church. It is used for Sunday-school, lectures, etc., and as a meet- ing place for Catholic societies. This church has a large adult and Sunday-school membership. It is a mission church and is served by the pastors of the church in Blossburg. A branch of the Catholic Total Abstinence and Benevolent Associa- tion, numbering over sixty members, is connected with St. Andrew's.

The Swedish Free Mission was organized in 1885, with ten members, and now has a membership of twenty persons. The pastor is Rev. C. J. Wideberg. There are twenty pupils in the Sunday-school, of which Charles Larsen is the superintendent.

The Puritan Congregational Church was organized in 1887. Rev. J. T. Mathews, the first pastor, served from 1887 until 1893, when Rev. R. J. Reese, the present pastor, took charge. Mr. Reese also holds regular services in Landrus. Charles Stickler is the superintendent of the Sunday-school, which numbers 150 pupils.

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A neat church building was erected in 1891 at a cost of $2,000, and a parsonage in 1893 at a cost of $800. The church now numbers seventy-five members.

SOCIETIES.

Arnot is the meeting place of a number of secret and benevolent societies. The earliest organized was Arnot Lodge, No. 947, I. O. G. T. It was instituted February 23, 1871, and is now in a flourishing condition. Arnot Lodge, No. 465, K. of P., was organized June 24, 1880, and now numbers nearly 200 members. Division No. 1, A. O. H., which was organized April 7, 1887, now numbers fifty members of either Irish nationality or parentage. Winterview Castle, No. 220, K. G. E., was instituted March 14, 1893. It has a large membership, composed mostly of young people.

LANDRUS.

In 1882, after the completion of the Arnot and Pine Creek railroad from Arnot to Hoytville, the Blossburg Coal Company erected a saw-mill on Babb's creek, five miles southwest of Arnot. Around this mill, which has a capacity of 60,- 000 feet of lumber and 15,000 feet of lath a day, there soon grew up a village which was named Landrus, in honor of Henry J. Landrus, manager of the Blossburg Coal Company. A company store was started in June, 1887. This store, in which the postoffice is also located, is now carried on for the W. W. Bradbury Company, by Frank L. Beauge. The saw-mill is in charge of George Watson, outside foreman, and the railroad station in charge of D. F. Wilcox. The public school is in charge of James Muir, and religious services are held regularly in the school building by Rev. R. J. Reese, pastor of the Puritan Congregational church of Arnot. The village has a population of about three hundred.

The Bear Run Coal Mines were opened, a short distance above the village, by the Blossburg Coal Company, in 1888. The machinery of these mines is driven by electricity, the cars from the drifts to the chutes being hauled by thirty-horse power motors. The mines are in charge of Joseph Maxwell, mining foreman. When operated by a full force, they have a production of 625 tons a day.

CHAPTER LIII.

BLOSSBURG BOROUGH.

THE WILLIAMSON ROAD-PETER'S CAMP-BOROUGH SITE AND SURROUNDINGS- PIONEER SETTLERS-EARLY INDUSTRIES AND ENTERPRISES-DISCOVERY OF COAL-JUDGE KNAPP'S ENTERPRISES -- THE ARBON COAL COMPANY-A REAL ESTATE BOOM-THE CORNING AND BLOSSBURG RAILROAD-THE SEYMOUR HOUSE -SIR CHARLES LYELL'S VISIT-WINDOW GLASS MANUFACTORY-THE MORRIS RUN RAILROAD-THE ARNOT BRANCH-BOROUGH ORGANIZATION AND OFFICIALS -FIRE DEPARTMENT-THE FIRE OF 1873-PHYSICIANS AND LAWYERS-SCHOOLS -CHURCHES AND CEMETERIES-SOCIETIES-LATER BUSINESS CORPORATIONS- THE COTTAGE STATE HOSPITAL.

I N 1792, when the party of immigrants engaged in cutting the Williamson road from Loyalsock, in Lycoming county, to Painted Post, New York, under the guidance of Robert and Benjamin Patterson, reached the Tioga river, after coming down the Bellman run valley, they established upon its bank a supply camp. Here the women and children were left and cared for until another section of the road had been cut and another camp established. The camp established at the point where the road crosses the Tioga river, was named Peter's Camp, Peter being the Christian name of the man who had charge of the bake oven. It is related that Peter was not an over-neat individual, and that in order to reform him in this regard, the members of the party, upon one occasion, treated him to a compulsory bath in the Tioga river.

The site of this camp is now within the limits of Blossburg borough, the sur- veyed area of which is nearly two miles from east to west, by two and a half from north to south. Owing to the restricted character of the valley-the average width at the bottom being scarcely more than a quarter of a mile-and the almost precipitous mountain incline on either side-the actual, built-upon area-save a somewhat less restricted space up Bellman run valley, in the southern part of the borough-is confined to a narrow strip, nearly three miles long, which follows the windings of the Tioga river from below the mouth of Morris run to the mouth of East creek. Midway of this narrow strip is the business center of the borough, the main street of which is the old Williamson road.

Within the borough limits the Tioga river receives the waters of Coal run, Bear run and East creek from the east, and Bellman run from the west. A small run having its source in Bloss township, flows down a ravine, back of the Horton place, and unites with Bellman run a short distance above its mouth. The moun- tains which line the river valley, rise to a height of over 1,800 feet above the level of the sea. The altitude of the borough-railroad level-is 1,348 feet above tide- water.

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HISTORY OF TIOGA COUNTY.

Blossburg is the second largest borough in the county. In 1880 it had 2,140 inhabitants, and in 1890, 2,568.

PIONEER SETTLERS.

In the year 1801 Aaron Bloss, born at Killingby, Connecticut, May 29, 1775, came to Tioga county, from Chenango county, New York, and settled near Coving- ton. In 1802-the year given by his living descendants-he removed to Peter's Camp. Here, across the road from the east end of the bridge over the Tioga river, in the southern part of the present borough, he erected a house, the site of which is now occupied by a private residence. In this house he kept hotel until 1820, when he built a larger one, in which he continued in the hotel business until 1835, when he moved back to Covington, where he died March 24, 1843. To him, therefore, belongs the honor of being the first settler in Blossburg. It may be said, in passing, that this pioneer-a thorough woodsman and a noted hunter-was a man of strong, rugged build, with the courage to dare, the patience to endure, and the shrewd common sense to plan and execute, so frequently found in the men who formed the advance guard of civilization a century ago.

How long Aaron Bloss remained without neighbors cannot be definitely ascertained. The first to join him appears to have been Absalom Kingsbury. He came to Tioga county about 1813, made a clearing on Elk run, in Covington town- ship, and afterwards, not earlier, probably, than 1818 or 1820, removed to Peter's Camp. The first attempt to found a town was made in the latter year, when Aaron Bloss changed the name of Peter's Camp to Blossburg. During the next five years the place grew slowly. Royal, Isaac and Asahel Walker, nephews of Aaron Bloss, and sons of Isaac Walker, a pioneer of Covington, were among the earliest settlers. They were followed by Eli Dartt, Judge John H. Knapp, Gearhart Boehm, Evan Harris, a man named Roberts and another named Dowers, some of whom made only a temporary stay. D. P. Freeman came in 1827; Dr. Lewis Saynisch, the first physician, in 1831; John L. Evans, in 1837; Francis Welch, in 1839; Col. Joseph Y'onkin, Alexander H. Gaylord, James H. Gulick, Charles Finney, John James and George Richter in 1840.

Washington Landrus, father of the late Henry J. Landrus, of Wellsboro, and the oldest resident of Blossburg, came in 1839. He gives the names of twelve other persons who were here in that year. They were William Cleese, Clarendon Rath- bone, Eli Dartt, Everett Winter Bloss, a son of Aaron Bloss, David Chatfield, Thomas Farr, Evan Harris, Gearhart Boehm, Dr. Lewis Saynisch, Dr. Joseph P. Morris, John L. Evans and Isaac Thomas. Joseph Hughes, also, came about this time and settled in the northern part of the borough. Bernard Murray, a native of Ireland, came about 1841. William Butler came in 1841, and remained until 1875, when he removed to Sunbury, Northumberland county. Patrick Bannon, a native of Ireland, and father of Senator Bannon, came in 1841. Benjamin R. Hall came from Lycoming county in 1842. Thomas Morgan and Reese W. Thomas came about the same time. Martin Stratton, born December 23, 1807, the oldest person in the borough, also came in 1842; John Cook and Simon Golden in 1848, and Jacob Jones in 1850. All these early settlers have passed

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away, except Washington Landrus, Martin Stratton, George Richter, John Cook, Simon Golden and Jacob Jones.

EARLY INDUSTRIES AND ENTERPRISES.

In 1792, during the construction of the Williamson road, coal was discovered within the present limits of Blossburg, by Robert and Benjamin Patterson. The first effort to mine and market it, however, was made by David Clemons, a pioneer, who settled in Covington township in 1806. He opened a mine on Bear run, not much earlier, probably, than 1812 or 1815, and hauled an occasional load over- land to Painted Post, New York. Aaron Bloss also opened up a mine on Bear run- a lower vein than that opened by Clemons, and now known as the Bloss vein-but only to supply local demands. These first efforts, owing to the lack of shipping facilities, were on a very small and very limited scale. They led Aaron Bloss and others, however, to ask the legislature, in 1817, for an appropriation of $10,000- which was refused-to improve the Williamson road over the mountain between Blossburg and Williamsport, and to attempts, on the part of individual enterprise, to widen and deepen the channel of the Tioga river, and finally to the organization of the Tioga River Navigation Company.

In the meantime, Blossburg coal had not only found its way to Painted Post, Corning and Elmira, but to Albany, where it played an important part in railroad, canal and navigation legislation, and, also, to Philadelphia, where men of capital and enterprise soon became interested in its development. The first man of means, however, to become interested in Blossburg was Judge John H. Knapp, of Elmira, New York. He came about 1825, in which year Curtis P. Stratton and Peter Kelts built a saw-mill for him, on the river, in the southern part of the borough, near the Fall Brook railroad bridge. In this mill-the first one here-Dr. Lewis Saynisch was afterwards interested. In 1826 Judge Knapp started the first store in the place. He also erected iron works for the smelting of iron ore and its manufacture into foundry and blacksmith's iron. He opened ore beds on "Barney" hill, and a coal mine on Coal run, where both coal and iron ore were mined. Failing to secure financial assistance promised by men of capital, and being in feeble health, he turned over his Blossburg enterprises to Samuel Weeks, and removed to Fort Madi- son, Iowa. During the next thirty years the iron works had many owners-most of whom lost money. Among the more prominent were John G. Boyd, P. P. Cleaver, James H. Gulick and A. J. Gaylord, who devoted himself to the manu- facture of fire brick. In December, 1864, the plant was purchased by T. J. Mooers, who then established the foundry and machine shop still carried on by him.

In 1827 a large hotel building, known as the Knapp House, was erected west of the river, almost opposite the hotel of Aaron Bloss, by D. P. Freeman. Although erected under the patronage of Judge Knapp, and auspiciously opened January 1, 1828, with house-warming festivities, to which friends from far and near had been invited, this hotel does not appear to have prospered. After being occupied as a tenement for a number of years, it was destroyed by fire.

The first systematic attempt to determine the character and extent of the Bloss- burg coal and iron ore beds was made in 1832, and will be found set forth in detail

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in the chapter devoted to the mineral resources of the county, which deals par- ticularly with the early mines and mining.

In 1835 Aaron Bloss moved back to Covington, Absolom Kingsbury succeeding him as landlord of the hotel, which was afterwards kept by John L. Evans-also an early merchant-Francis Welch, John Cochran and others. It was destroyed by fire about 1853.

It was in 1835, also, that James R. Wilson-who became its first president- Dr. Joseph P. Morris and others, of Philadelphia, with Dr. Lewis Saynisch, of Blossburg, organized the Arbon Coal Company, and appointed James H. Gulick, of New Jersey, selling agent. Land was purchased of Aaron Bloss, including the Bear Run mines, and preparations made to mine coal and iron on an extensive scale, as soon as the railroad, then projected, could be completed. John James, a native of Pontypool, Wales-prominent in later years in the development of the Fall Brook coal beds-was placed in charge of the mines, and held the position under the various owners for sixteen years.

In 1837, in anticipation of the building of the railroad from Corning to Bloss- burg, Hon. Horatio Seymour, Hon. Amos P. Granger and Hon. Thomas Davis, of New York, and Hon. James Ford and C. Parkhurst, of Lawrenceville, became in- terested in the development of Blossburg. They purchased 240 acres of land, em- bracing the present business center of the borough, and divided it into building lots. They also became identified with various enterprises, calculated to make the place an important manufacturing center. Clarendon Rathbone, the first lawyer in the village, became interested in coal and timber lands here about this time.

About 1838 a postoffice was established, the first postmaster, Dr. Joseph P. Morris, holding the office until 1842, when he removed to Mansfield. Among the more prominent of his successors were James P. Taylor, who held the office from 1860 until his death in 1874. Frank H. Stratton, the present incumbent, has held the office since March 29, 1894.

In 1840 Charles Finney started a store in a little building-thought to have been the old Knapp store building-just north of Washington Landrus' dwelling. He sold out to Captain Moss; who in turn sold out to John Cochran, who after- wards sold to A. H. Gaylord and Washington Gray. In this year, also, Col. Joseph Yonkin, who previously had a contract with the Tioga River Navigation Com- pany, built the old Washington Hotel. Some years later Colonel Yonkin built the well-known Yonkin House, in which he kept hotel during the remainder of his life. This house is now kept by John Boothe. About this time James Jenkinson kept hotel in the northern part of the borough, on the site of the Hughes residence. James Husted also kept hotel in this house for a time.

July 4, 1840, was marked by the completion of the Corning and Blossburg railroad to Covington. Early in the following September it was completed to Blossburg. A real estate and business boom followed. The Arbon Coal Company began shipping coal by rail. It established a store with Dr. Joseph P. Morris in charge, in the building now occupied by Mrs. Kelly's grocery store. It also built a saw-mill near the mouth of East, creek, in the northern part of the borough, and made an excavation with the intention of building a large hotel, and drawing the business of the town in that direction. The hotel was never built.

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In 1841 John G. Boyd, cashier of the bank at Towanda, and a member of the lumber firm of Boyd & Cleaver, of Covington, built the Seymour House, in con- nection with Samuel Cleaver. It was named in honor of Hon. Horatio Seymour, of New York. The first landlord was Philemon Doud, who was succeeded by P. P. Cleaver. During the more than fifty years of its existence it has had many landlords, being vacant, at times, for years. The present landlord, M. S. Murray, took charge ... the fall of 1894. The building is owned by the "Erie" Railroad Company, and a portion of the first story is occupied by its local ticket agent and the office of the division supervisor.

John G. Boyd also became interested in the iron works and other enterprises. His various speculations, however, seriously entangled him, and on the morning of February 17, 1842, he committed suicide, in Philadelphia, by firing a loaded pistol into his mouth. His death had a serious effect upon various enterprises, and upon individuals, in Blossburg and in Covington.

In 1841 Sir Charles Lyell, the eminent English geologist, visited Blossburg and made a very thorough examination of the coal deposits, especially of the Bear Run mine, then being operated by the Arbon Coal Company, of which Dr. Lewis Saynisch was the president. After returning to England, the distinguished scientist published a full description of the Blossburg coal deposits, noting the similarity between them and the coal measures of South Wales.

In 1842 Benjamin R. Hall came to Blossburg, from "Block House," and for over twenty years kept the United States Hotel, on the corner north of the present opera house. In 1844 the Arbon Coal Company was succeeded by William M. Mallory & Company, who operated the mines until 1857, mining and shipping 405,116 tons of coal. In the latter year Duncan S. Magee, as the representative of his father, John Magee, leased the mines, and operated them until 1859, when . the mines at Fall Brook were opened. Since then coal has been mined within the Blossburg borough limits for local supply only, shipment by rail ceasing with the opening of the Fall Brook mines. In 1866 the Bear Run mines, now known as the Jones mines, were purchased from James H. Gulick, by J. M. Evans, J. M. Evans, Jr., John Bouncer and Jacob Jones, and operated by them under the name of Evans & Jones. They are now owned by Mr. Jones, and operated by his son, Benjamin F. Jones. The Coal Run mines are operated by A. F. Gaylord. The Golden Brothers and Loyd & Crooks, have opened up mines west of the river, in the southern part of the borough. Hutchinson Brothers operate a mine west of the river, in the northern part of the borough.

A window glass manufactory was established in 1847, in the northern part of the borough, by William Dezang, of Geneva, New York, and glass manufactured from sand rock. Several years later Mr. Dezang was succeeded by Webb, Fellows & Co., who operated the factory until 1860, when they were succeeded by O. F. Taylor and James H. Gulick. In 1867 a co-operative company, known as Hirsch, Ely & Co., leased the factory, operated it, and carried on a store in con- nection therewith, until 1888, when it passed into the hands of the United Glass Company, otherwise known as the "Glass Trust," who soon afterwards shut it down.

In October, 1853, the railroad from Blossburg to Morris Run was completed,

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HISTORY OF TIOGA COUNTY.

and in 1859 the railroad from Blossburg to Fall Brook built. In 1862 the repair shops of the Tioga Railroad Company were removed from Corning to Blossburg, and a new impetus given to the growth and business activity of the place. In 1866 the railroad to Arnot was built and the mines opened up there. In 1868 Drake & Taylor erected a saw-mill west of the river, near the site of the old Knapp Hotel. This mill was destroyed by fire March 3, 1876, and was rebuilt by the Blossburg Coal Company, and run until the summer of 1895, when it was dismantled. In 1869 A. Rumsey & Company, of Philadelphia, built a tannery, with an annual capacity of 75,000 to 100,000 sides of sole leather, on the west side of the river, in the southern part of the borough. In 1875 they sold it to Hoyt Brothers, of New York, who carried it on until May, 1893, when it passed into the control of the Union Tanning Company, a member of the United States Leather Company. It gives employment to seventy-five men, and is in charge of A. E. Botchford, superin- tendent.

BOROUGH ORGANIZATION AND OFFICIALS.

Blossburg was incorporated as a borough August 29, 1871, and the first election held September 12, 1871, resulting in the choice of the following officers: L. H. Shattuck, burgess; E. S. Scofield, A. H. Gaylord, D. H. Stratton, William M. Butler, O. F. Taylor and William McCarron, councilmen; Francis Welch and H. P. Erwin, justices of the peace; Thomas Morgan, overseer of the poor; J. H. Putnam, judge of election; William Wallace and B. A. Murray, inspectors of election; G. C. Fuller, R. D. Horton and J. L. Belden, auditors, and John Weaver, Michael Ely, Henry Hollands, Jacob Jones, A. T. James and J. Phillips, school directors. The first meeting of the council was held September 8, 1871, when . J. C. Horton was elected borough clerk. The names of the burgesses since elected are as follows: A. H. Gaylord, 1873; H. Hollands, 1874; C. H. Goldsmith, 1875-76; O. F. Taylor, 1877-78; J. Yonkin, 1879; S. Bowen, 1880-81; H. J. Shattuck, 1882; G. W. Morgan, 1883-84-85; A. F. Gaylord, 1886; J. Aylesworth, 1887-88; W. H. McCarty, 1889; C. T. Knight, 1890; Frank D. Andrews, 1891- 92-93; A. Richter, 1894-96, and Frank D. Andrews, elected in 1897.

The following named persons have been elected and commissioned justices of the peace: H. P. Erwin, 1871; re-elected, 1879, 1884; Francis Welch, 1871; R. B. Freeman, 1876; re-elected, 1881, 1882; J. B. Denmark, 1876; Adam Schoop, 1888; John Cook, 1888; re-elected, 1893; D. R. Doud, 1891; Thomas H. Williams, 1892; re-elected, 1893.

FIRE DEPARTMENT.

The Eagle Engine Company was organized in 1869. The officers were: A. T. James, foreman; Joseph Maxwell, assistant foreman; Sumner P. White, treasurer, and W. A. Shields, secretary. The Mist Hose Company was organized at the same time, with the following officers: J. E. Belden, foreman; G. C. Miller, assistant foreman, and J. C. Horton, secretary. This company was incorporated January 31, 1887. In 1873 a reorganization of the department took place, the Eagle Engine Company being succeeded by the Drake Engine Company. The department, as now constituted, is composed of the Mist Hose Company and the Andrews Hose Company, each having a good equipment of fire-fighting apparatus.

D. M Show

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BLOSSBURG BOROUGH.

THE FIRE OF 1873.

On the night of March 6, 1873, Blossburg was visited by a destructive fire, which swept away nearly the entire business portion of the town, involving owners and occupants in a heavy financial loss. The district burned over extended from Carpenter to Hannibal streets, on both sides of Main street. The buildings, being of wood, burned quickly, and the flames spread rapidly. The loss was happily confined to property. Though severely felt, it did not deter the owners of the real estate from rebuilding. Substantial and sightly buildings of brick soon arose to replace the wooden ones destroyed, greatly improving the appearance of the business portion of the borough. From time to time, since then, additional brick business buildings have been erected, each in keeping with the prevailing ideas in architecture. The township records and many other valuable papers were either entirely or partially destroyed in this fire, and much valuable information con- cerning the earlier history of Blossburg obliterated, save, in so far as it has been preserved, in the memories of the living.

PHYSICIANS AND LAWYERS.

Dr. Lewis Saynisch, a native of Germany, was the first physician to locate permanently in Blossburg. He settled there in 1831, and soon after identified himself with the development of the coal deposits, and with the early mercantile and manufacturing interests of the place, serving for several years as president of the Arbon Coal Company. He continued to practice his profession until his death, in 1858. Dr. Henry Kilbourn, who located in Covington in 1828, included Blossburg in the wide territory over which he practiced, residing at different times in each place, during the more than half a century of his active professional career. Among the later physicians were Drs. J. P. Davison, M. L. Bacon, William Cald- well, Nelson Ingham, Patrick Culnane, H. G. Smythe and I. N. Ingham. The late Dr. L. W. Johnson began practice in the borough in 1883, having previously practiced at Liberty. Dr. Charles Clarence Winsor practiced in the borough from 1885 to his death, December 3, 1889. Dr. Francis A. Birrolo came in 1895, but subsequently removed to Trenton, New Jersey, where he died January 21, 1897. The present resident physicians are Dr. G. D. Crandall, who located in 1872, and Dr. E. M. Haley, who came in 1890.

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History of Tioga County, Pennsylvania, Part 78

Author: Publication date: 1897 Publisher: Harrisburg : R. C. Brown Number of Pages: 1454

Author:
Publication date: 1897
Publisher: Harrisburg : R. C. Brown
Number of Pages: 1454