USA > Pennsylvania > Tioga County > History of Tioga County, Pennsylvania, with Illustrations, portraits and sketches of prominent families and individuals > Part 21
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Mansfield, Pa., April Ist 1882.
TOWNSHIP AND BOROUGH HISTORIES.
BLOSS TOWNSHIP .- ARNOT.
BY JOHN L. SEXTON JR.
mining village of Arnot and its near surroundings. According to the last census all the inhabitants but 31 lived in Arnot, which had a population of 2,783; the history of Bloss township will therefore necessarily be confined to that of Arnot. Blossburg being the place where settlements were first made in the original town- ship, they will be treated of in the history of that bor- ough.
The township officers in 1881-2 were: Supervisors, William Bowers and John H. Davis; justices, E. T. Evans, D. C. Waters; constable, Robert Esgar; treasurer, Cunningham McIntyre; town clerk, Matthew A. Blair; auditors, George E. Tylee, E. R. Cooley, A. C. Edwards; assessor, Charles S. Logan; collector, Frederick W. Win- grave.
The election for township officers in February 1882 resulted as follows:
Supervisors-John H. Davis, 236; John Robina, 124; William Devine sen., 80. Constable-Robert Esgar, 231; John Rennie, 130. School directors-M. A. Blair, 194; William Alexander, 177; Henry Patterson, 172; William Orr, 172; John Baird, 170; W. R. Logan, 178. Assessor-Robert Baird, 179; James W. Patterson, 178; William Baird, 180. Assistant assessors-Thomas W. Williamson, 136; David Mitchell, 136; F. Howland, 82; William M. Dunsmore, 77. Treasurer-Richard Smith, 202; Hugh Kerwin, 159. Town clerk-Andrew S. Nel- son, 225; B. R. Cooley, 135. Judge of election-John Hill, 180; James Peden, 179. Inspectors of election- Isaac Keagle, 184; John Archibald, 175. Auditors -- Thomas Herron, 202; R. F. Purcell, 181; Michael Faul, 180; Elias Phillips, 177; Andrew Bowers, 157; Robert Brownlee, 155.
THE BLOSSBURG COAL COMPANY'S OPERATIONS.
T HE township of Bloss was organized in 1841, being taken from Covington township. Arnot is situated on Johnson Creek, four miles south- west from the center of Blossburg, and is the leading mining town in Tioga county and northern Pennsylvania. By an act of the Legislature approved April 11th 1866 Within the past twelve years the borough of Blossburg and the township of Hamilton have been formed from its territory, and pretty nearly all that remains is comprised in the Constant Cook, John Arnot, Charles Cook, Henry Sher- wood, Franklin N. Drake, Ferral C. Dininy, Henry H. Cook and Lorenzo Webber were incorporated under the title of the Blossburg Coal Company. Financially this was one of the very strongest companies that had been instituted in the coal regions. Constant Cook was a resident of Bath, N. Y., a man of great business capacity and large wealth, whose very name was the synonym of success. John Arnot, of Elmira, was a gentleman of even greater wealth than Mr. Cook, a banker, financier and business man generally. Charles Cook, of Havana, was a man of wealth, a banker, and a sagacious business man. Henry Sherwood, who resided at Corning. was a prominent lawyer, who had carved his way from the humbler walks of life to distinction. Franklin N. Drake was a native of Vermont; a successful lumberman of Liberty, Steuben county, New York, shrewd, active and practical, a man of wealth, who unaided had made his mark. Ferral C. Dininy was a lawyer who, like his as- sociate Henry Sherwood, had by force of talent, energy and ability won success. Henry H. Cook, a son of Con- stant Cook, had been trained and educated with care by his father in the business affairs of life, and was active and in the prime of his manhood. Lorenzo Webber was a native of Vermont, but in 1828 settled in Schuyler county, N. Y., and was a successful farmer, merchant, lumberman, miller and tanner; a man about fifty years of age, full of enterprise and possessing a knowledge of the practical affairs of life.
At the time of the incorporation of this company, and their purchase of several thousand acres of timbered and coal lands, the Fall Brook Coal Company and the Mor- ris Run Coal Company where in successful operation. The demand for coal and the market price apparently
11
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HISTORY OF TIOGA COUNTY.
did not warrant the expense of developing new coal fields in the township of Bloss. However, a contract was entered into by the Blossburg Coal Company with Messrs. Sherwood and McLean to build a railroad from the Tioga Railroad at Blossburg to the coal fields on Johnson Creek.
This road the contractors finished during the summer of 1866. A wagon road connecting with the Williamson or Block House road about two miles south of Blossburg was made, for the purpose of transporting materials and supplies, and a steam mill was erected at Draketown (so called in honor of Franklin N. Drake, one of the cor- porators). A log house was built before this to accom- modate the explorers and those engaged in cutting down the timber preparatory to the building of a village. After the mill was completed dwellings and stores were erected in an incredibly short time. A large force of choppers, carpenters and mechanics was employed, and the fame of Draketown spread far and near. During the year 1866 drift No. I was put in by James R. Cam- eron, John Dunsmore and others, James R. Cameron afterward becoming mining superintendent and opening drifts 2, 3, 4 and 5, drift No. 6 being opened by J. J. Davis under the managership of S. B. Elliott. The pros- pects for a large field of coal were found so good by the explorations of 1867 and 1868 that the company felt warranted in purchasing the Tioga Railroad, extending from Blossburg to Lawrenceville and Morris Run, mak- ing with the four miles constructed by the company about 34 miles. The company further made arrange- ments with the Fall Brook Coal Company to carry coal over its road from Lawrenceville to Corning. It now had railroad facilities for connecting with the Erie road at Corning, and commenced mining coal on an extensive scale. James R. Cameron was then mining superin- tendent, E. K. Mandeville superintendent of the outside and lumber department, and F. C. Dininy general superintendent.
At this time the owners and corporators desired a post-office, and a permanent name for the town. It had hitherto been known as Draketown. It was determined to christen it Arnot, in honor of John Arnot the vener- able banker and financier. We may here appropriately give a brief sketch of this gentleman.
John Arnot was born in Doun, Scotland, September 25th 1793. When he was about ten years of age his family emigrated to America, locating at Albany, N. Y., for a short time, thence removing to Catskill. Subse- quently the family returned to Albany, where the sub- ject of this sketch was employed in mercantile pursuits. A few years later he went to Elmira, then known far and wide as " Newtown," and commenced business on Water street, aided by his friend Egbert Egberts, of Albany. of years, gradually increasing his very limited capital and gaining friends among the substantial business men of Elmira and others. In 1824 he was married to Miss Harriet, daughter of the late Stephen Tuttle. So well had he prospered that in 1830 he built a brick store on
the corner of Lake and Water streets (the first brick store in Elmira), on the site of the elegant building re- cently erected by his heirs. In 1829 he built a foundry and machine shop, which occupied the site of the pres- ent opera house in that city, and there in 1834 he put up the first steam engine seen in Elmira. In :833 he became a stockholder in the Chemung Canal Bank, and in 1842 cashier of that institution. He sold his stock of goods and devoted his whole time to the affairs of the bank, and made it one of the most substantial and relia- ble banking institutions in the State of New York. In company with his life-long friends John Magee, Charles Cook and Constant Cook, he contracted to build the Erie Railroad from Binghamton to Hornellsville, and they successfully executed the contract. This was in 1848-49.
In 1852 he was elected president of the Chemung Canal Bank, with his son John Arnot jr. as cashier, which position he held at the time of his death, Novem- ber 17th 1873. In 1849 he was largely interested in the construction of the Elmira and Jefferson Railroad, now operated by the Northern Central management. In 1854 he was instrumental in the building of the Junction Canal. In fact there was no public enterprise during a period of fifty-four years calculated to benefit the busi- ness interests of Elmira and the country at large that did not receive his aid and support. He was a man of un- common business foresight and sagacity, and universally regarded as one of the safest financiers of the State. Starting in life as a poor boy, by his industry, economy and close application he accumulated a fortune. We knew Mr. Arnot from our earliest boyhood, and during a period of over thirty-five years not even a whisper of anything derogatory to his character was ever uttered to our knowledge; but, on the contrary, everything that was honorable, just and upright was ascribed to his character and name.
The village of Arnot grew rapidly, school-houses and churches were erected, and soon there was a community with all the facilities in this respect that old villages en- joy. In 1867 Franklin N. Drake, for many years presi- dent of the company, removed to Blossburg, that he might give the work his personal supervision and atten- tion. He remained at Blossburg a year, and after every portion of the work was arranged in detail and moving on smoothly he went to Corning, N. Y., where he has since resided, giving the coal and coke trade and the business connected therewith his undivided attention. For a history of the coke trade see page 49.
In March 1868 H. J. Landrus went to Arnot in the capacity of cashier in the office. In 1872 he was made manager, and remained in that very responsible position until May ist 1876, when he resigned and was succeeded This was in 1819. He continued in business a number by S. B. Elliott, who remained until September Ist 1881. He then resigned and was promoted chief engineer, and Mr. Landrus resumed the manager's duties.
There are now upon the pay-roll of the company about 1,400 names, and Arnot to-day has a population of between 3,500 and 4,000. Many of the employes of the
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COAL MINING AT ARNOT.
company reside at Blossburg, the company not having a sufficient number of dwellings to accommodate them.
The shipping office of the Blossburg Coal Company is located just over the township line, in the borough of Blossburg. Mart G. Lewis is, and has been for many years, the weighmaster and shipping clerk. The posi- tion is a responsible one. All the coal, coke, lumber and bark shipped from Arnot is weighed and billed by Mr. Lewis, and his duties require great rapidity and ac- curacy.
The work is divided into departments. The principal positions are filled as follows: Manager, Henry J. Lan- drus; paymaster, Frederic W. Wingrave; mining super- intendent, John Dunsmore; drift masters, William Duns- more, James Smith and John McKay; clerks in pay- master's office, Thomas M. McKay, George Lee, William Dunsmore and Theodore F. Williams; manager of store, J. L. Higgins, with W. R. Logan, Richard Smith, Frank
Besides being extensively engaged in mining and cok- ing coal the company manufactures lumber in large quantities, and for this purpose owns large tracts of tim- bered lands. To supply the mines with lumber it was necessary to have saw-mills, and one was built at Arnot and another at Blossburg. The timber in and around Arnot is hemlock, beech, maple, birch and cherry. Large quantities of hemlock and beech are used in the mines, for props, cap pieces, rails, bed pieces and doors. By the establishment of a large tannery at Blossburg by A. Rumsey & Co. (now owned by Hoyt Bros. of 72 Gold street, New York), the company was enabled to make sale at a fair rate of its hemlock bark, which other- wise would have been lost, or found a more remote market.
To answer the double purpose of affording transporta- tion for coal from No. 6 drift and hauling timber and bark a narrow-gauge railroad was constructed in 1880 from Arnot southwest three miles through the forest to a coal opening. In the summer of 188t was formed (mainly from the stockholders of the Tioga and Elmira State Line Railroad Company the Arnot and Pine Creek Railroad Company. L. H Shattuck was chosen presi- dent, D. S. Drake secretary and treasurer, and S. B. El- liott, William Hull, A. S. Spicer, J. B. Niles and M. F. Elliott directors. The chief engineer was Ransom Du- rumor of " Jock's " death proved unfounded.
puy. The road, from Arnot to Baliby's Creek, a distance of about fourteen miles, completed in 1882, is of the standard gauge and built in a substantial manner. It passes through a dense forest for two thirds of the way, and opens up a great coal field and lumber district.
Arnot now contains over 400 dwellings, and is one of the most active and busy mining towns in the State. From its beginning to the present the affairs of the com- pany have been well managed, and in its later years of success much credit is due to Franklin N. Drake, the president, and S. B. Elliott, the manager and civil en- gineer, and those under them.
Colonel William F. Fox was for several years the pay- master and handled large sums of money; and here we deem it just to remark that the coal companies of Tioga county have been very fortunate in the selection of the men for such work. Not less than $20,000,000 has
Howland, William Reynolds, James Smith, Patrick been entrusted to their paymasters from time to time Ryan, Charles Harding and John Burke as clerks; de- since the commencement of mining operations, and not livery clerk, Otto Johanson; weighmaster and shipping one dollar so far as known has ever been appropriated clerk, Mart G. Lewis; weighmasters at drifts, James by them to their own use or misapplied. As a general thing the paymasters have reached that position by gradation and long service in the employ of the com- panies. None of them have ever been wealthy, and their position has been one of trust, no bonds ever being re- quired from them by the companies so far as we can learn. Packages of twenty-five, thirty, and even forty thousand dollars in currency have many times been en- trusted to their care for disbursement. Honor, in their cases, has been as good a security as bonds endorsed by millionaires. Cleary and Cunningham McIntyre; boss dispatchers at drifts, Robert Pendleton, Solomon Pittsley and William Murray; barn boss, James Smetam; foreman of mill, Nicholas Shultz; of little car shop, I. H. Butters; of feed-mill, Charles H. Hahn; engineer on mining loco- motive " Flash," Zack T. Hall; engineer on bark, lum- ber and coal train, engine "J. A. Drake," Thomas Llewellyn; telegraph operator, H. A. Mitchell; foreman of lumber department, H. G. Boardman; foreman of mill yard, Michael Clark; superintendent of construction of new saw-mill, R. F. Cummings.
Quite a large proportion of the early inhabitants of Arnot were from Blossburg, Morris Run and Fall Brook; they had been at work at those places, and when Arnot " started up " they accepted positions and places under the new company, as it was then called. The Camerons, Dunsmores, Sullivans, Ryans, Dugans, Herons, Joneses, Davises, Eddings, Coles, Ellisons, Allens, Clearys, Harrises and Logans had all worked at Fall Brook and Morris Run, while the ranks were filled by immigration from England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Sweden, Germany and Poland, as in other mining regions of the county. To-day it is hard to find a miner who has been in this country twenty years who has not worked in the mines of Tioga, Bradford, Lycoming, Clearfield, Cambria, Blair, Westmoreland, Fayette and Allegheny counties, and in the hard coal region of Luzerne and Schuylkill. They are very fond of social and church or- ganizations, and as a class are good musicians.
In Arnot resides a Scotchman, a miner and a poet, who is a native of Cumbernauld, Scotland, a descendant of Robert Ferguson, the Scottish poet, and a relative of "Clauders," a famous satirist of the last century. His name is Nicol Ferguson, and we subjoin one of his ran- dom effusions, written upon the supposed death of a friend of his, John Dryberry, a native of Dumterline, Scotland, who was known as "Jock the Piper." The
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HISTORY OF TIOGA COUNTY.
You Scotchmen a', where'er you dwell, List to me, 'tis truth I tell.
I'll mak you a' as wae's mysel'
When you hear o' Jock the Piper. For sure as aught blithe Jock is dead, An' iu his grave they have him laid. His last tune here on earth is played. Wae's me for Jock the Piper.
He was a Scotchinan true frae Fife, An' where he gaed he stirred np life ; For lad an' lass an' man an' wife
Hae daneed to Jock the Piper. When he put on the hose and kilt, An' the elcar dirk hang frae his belt, Ilk ane they took him for a Celt, For buirdly was oor piper.
An' when o' the pipes they'd weary grow He'd tak' the fiddle an' the bow, An' play a string. Few but Neil Gow Would match wi' Jock the Piper. But a' oor mirth is past and gane, For noo he lies beneath a stane, His pipes and fiddle hing alane, An' seem wae 'boot Jock the Piper.
And mair than them his loss noo feels. He's left among us waefn' chiels,
For nae Yankee here can lilt Scotch reels Tae us like Joek the Piper. But where'er he's gane I wish him weel, For O! he was a eanty chiel,
Could win the hearts o' saint or deil, Blithe, merry Jock the Piper.
Through the generosity of F. N. Drake, president of the Blossburg Coal Company, the employes of that com- pany were given a free ride over the Tioga and Elmira State Line Railroad from Arnot to Elmira and back on Saturday August 23d 1879. About fifteen hundred per- sons accepted the invitation of Mr. Drake, and had one of the pleasantest excursions of the season. Work was on that day suspended at the mines. The Arnot cornet band discoursed sweet music on the trip. The excursion train was divided into two sections, and consisted of 21 cars, the band accompanying the first section. At Bloss- burg both sections tarried a few minutes to take on em- ployes who resided there, the band in the mean time playing right merrily. The ride over the mountain to Elmira from the Tioga Valley was grand. The excursionists arrived at Elmira a few minutes after nine, having made the trip in a little over two hours from Blossburg. There they were conducted to Fallihee Park, headed by their band. During the day they vis- ited various portions of the city. Few incidents occurred to mar the pleasure of the day. Little delay was had on the trip home, the party arriving at about 7 o'clock in the evening.
In the hard coal region of Pennsylvania shafts are sunk to reach the coal, some of them to a very great depth. In the Blossburg coal region the plan is differ- ent; the coal, lying nearly horizontal in the mountains in seams or veins, is reached by means of drifts. In open- ing and putting in a drift the first thing necessary to de- termine is the inclination of the seam or vein to be worked. This is found either by sinking shafts until the coal is reached, and then taking levels from two known points, or by drifting. Both depend upon the face of the land. In many instances a drift can be put in cheaper than a shaft can be sunk. After having deter-
mined the inclination, " dip " or " pitch " of the seam, a tunnel, drift or gangway (all synonymous terms) is driven into the mountain until the outcrop of the coal is reached. The coal in what is known as the Bloss vein lies upon a stratum of fireclay and slate, and below sand rock. The vein of coal is from 21/2 to 772 feet thick.
To admit a mule or engine into these gangways or tun- nels the top is blasted down. The gangway is usually about nine feet wide for a single track, but where switches and turnouts are required it is made wider aad dropped in the center. The gangway is driven in a straight line, and from it at right angles are driven other gangways, which are termed " headings." An inside view of the mines would present a diagram similar to a checker board, with one row of squares taken out of the center, representing the main gangway; alternate sections are worked at first, and when the final workings are com- pleted all the squares left as pillars at first are with- drawn and the mountain suffered to fall down to the ex- tent of the height of the coal. The main gangway is driven to the outcrop, and sometimes clear through the mountain, as at Morris Run and Fall Brook.
An air passage, which is a narrow gangway, is driven parallel with the main gangway, and fresh air is forced into the mines through this passage, by a furnace and shaft located near the entrance to the mines. As fast as new headings are opened this air course is extended.
The cars are drawn into the mines by mules or en- gines and distributed properly to the miners in the dif- ferent headings. Filled wagons are found ready to be pushed out on the crossings and are soon made up into trains and a return trip made to the schutes. There is a train dispatcher stationed at the mouth of the drift, who regulates the arrival and departure of trains with the same precision as is practiced on our first class railways. To prevent the current of air passing into the gangway alone doors are placed upon it, and boys stand there for the double purpose of opening and closing them after the passage of each train, and for signals. By these means the dispatcher can determine the locality of each driver in a very short time. Collisions and accidents rarely occur. This department is intrusted to the most care- ful and competent workman, who is known by the ap- pellation of " boss mule driver." The title is not very high sounding, but the place is one that requires skill, judgment and constant attention to duty. The props used by miners to hold up the roof while they are mining the coal are made of sound timber, usually beech, birch or maple, but sometimes of hemlock, sawed two inches shorter than the thickness of the vein of coal being worked, and are stood upright and wedged. If two veins are worked, one above the other, these props are usually placed three feet apart; if only one vein, four feet apart. The item of props is a large one in the cost of mining. To mine a hundred thousand tons of coal would require forty thousand props, and eighty thousand cap pieces, or wedges. The tracks in the main gangways and prin- cipal headings are of iron. There are miles of this nar- row gauge track in the mines of Tioga county. Gangs
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COAL MINING AT ARNOT-THE "YANKEE PATH ".
of men in each mine are busily employed keeping the
In coal seams where there is a stratam of " bony " or road in order. The mining wagons are of several grades rock dividing the vein, the mode is varied somewhat of capacity, ranging from 1,050 to 2,500 pounds. We from the one above indicated. When this occurs in min- have said that from the main gangway others are driven ing it is more difficult and expensive. The average at right angles. Pillars of coal 33 feet wide are left in miner in a clean four-feet vein of coal will mine from 436 mining, in addition to the props we have alluded to, be- to 6 tons per day. If there is bony, or much slate, the amount will be less.
tween the breasts and gangways. The breasts or cham- bers are worked usually 54 feet wide and 180 feet long. feet long. This will apply to drifts where two veins are worked one above the other. Where only one vein is worked the chambers are larger and the pillars smaller, the miner depending more on the props spoken of for safety. When these chambers have been worked to the out crop a retrograde movement is taken; the pillars are " drawn," as it is termed, the work commencing at the out crop and proceeding toward the mouth or entrance of the drift. If there is only one vein worked the moun- tain is allowed to settle as fast as the coal is taken out. Sometimes the slate and rock covering is so firm that too large an area is gone over before it falls, which has the effect when it does fall of creating a miniature hur- ricane. This however is not often the case. Scarcely any waste of coal occurs if the plan we have described is followed.
The clothing of the miner while at work is composed Between each two breasts is a pillar 45 feet wide and 180 chiefly of woolen stuff. A heavy woolen shirt and drawers, made from a class of flannel known as miners' flannel, overalls of twilled duck or sail cloth, long and heavy woolen stockings, a strong pair of cowhide mining shoes, well nailed, and a cap with a stiff forepiece con- stitute the working dress. Their vests and coats, which are worn to and from the mines, are also of heavy woolen material. When they leave the mines after performing their day's work they are so blackened by coal dust that persons seeing them going into the mines in the morning, with faces clean, can scarcely identify them at night, unless familiar with the mining regions and having ex- perience in these matters. On their return home they take a bath in warm water, washing the entire person, change their clothes, and come forth as fresh and clean as any gentleman in the land.
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