History of Tioga County, Pennsylvania, with Illustrations, portraits and sketches of prominent families and individuals, Part 22

Author: Sexton, John L., jr; Munsell, W.W., & co., New York, pub
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: New York, Munsell
Number of Pages: 486

USA > Pennsylvania > Tioga County > History of Tioga County, Pennsylvania, with Illustrations, portraits and sketches of prominent families and individuals > Part 22

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

PUBLIC ROADS.

The pick used in mining in the Blossburg coal region weighs from 21/2 to 37/2 pounds with the handle. It is There are three public roads leading out of Arnot- one to Blossburg, one to Liberty and one to Maple Hill and so on to Charleston. These are kept in good condi- tion. pointed with the best of steel and drawn down as small at the point as a first-class hay fork. His lamp is made like a miniature coffee pot without the handle, and will hold about half a gill of oil. There is a hook to it by There is an old path in the township which has be- which the miner is enabled to attach the lamp to the come obsolete (a stage road having taken its place) that front of his cap or hat. The lamp answers a double might with propriety be alluded to here. We refer to the " Yankee path." What old riverman of the upper waters of the Susquehanna, the Chemung, Conhocton, Cowanesque or Tioga does not know of the Yankee path? Until the railroad was built from Williamsport to Ralston those who had gone down on rafts were com. pelled on their return to go by the way of Trout Run to Liberty or the Block-House, thence down the Williamson road near where Arnot is located, passing the memorable dwelling of Mother Bellman. This house was located about two miles east of Arnot, and was a great halting place for the weary raftsmen, and the incidents that transpired there would require a volume to relate; most of it would be rather inelegant reading, so we pass it by. purpose, affording light and computing time. An ex- perienced miner can keep track of the hours while at work by the number of lamps of oil used. Whale oil or lard oil is generally used by the ininer in his lamp. If he is working in a "heading " he requires drills, sledges, needles and powder. Powder and wedges are some- times used in breasts or chambers. Cual is much lighter than gravel or earth, and a No. 6 shovel is used. It makes no difference with him if the seam is six feet thick and he can stand upright in the chamber, he is obliged to lie down on his side and undermine the vein at the bottom. Here is where the hard work of a miner commences. His position is not an easy one. To lie on a hard fire-clay floor, on his side, and undermine a About forty-two years ago a new path was cut across the mountains from the Lycoming to the Tioga, termi- nating in the township of Bloss. Alfred Jackson, of Union, was one of the projectors of this scheme, and was aided and encouraged by hotel keepers of Blossburg, as well as by his own townsmen. The path left the Ly- coming near the mouth of Mill Creek, proceeded west- ward near the residence of Mr. Jackson, and, continuing, ascended the mountain and descended to the Tioga River. This new route was eagerly sought by raftsmen, for it was an easier and much shorter way. In the spring during rafting times hundreds of rivermen from the Tioga, Cowanesque, Canisteo, Conhocton and Chemung " fall " is no easy task. Short props, ten or fifteen inches in length, are placed under the coal to keep it up until he shall have undermined a sufficient quantity · to complete his day's work. When this is done the props are knocked out and the coal is permitted to fall. If it does not fall readily he either takes a wedge and drives in between the coal and the rock top or puts in a small squib of powder and blasts it down. When the " fall " has been made, either by wedging or pow- der, he breaks the coal up into a suitable size for loading with a shovel or by hand into the mining wagon, and it is drawn by the mules out to the schutes.

HISTORY OF TIOGA COUNTY.

would throng this path. To meet them on their return from down the river would remind one of an army of militia which had been routed and was retreating in a regular skedaddle-some having their coats on their arms. others with bundles and packages for their wives or sweethearts, some wearing red shirts, others hickory ones, some footsore, some drunk, some sober, some sing- ing at the top of their voices, others as silent as the grave, all hastening to Blossburg to take the cars for points along the route to Corning, Addison, Painted Post, Big Flats and Bath. The highest point they had to cross on the Yankee path was over 2,000 feet above tide. To stand aside in the wild surroundings and see this promiscuous crowd pass by, and listen to their shouts, was a novel experience. The march of improve- ment has conspired to divert travel from the Yankee path, and substitute a more easy mode of traveling than the rough and rugged road of forty years ago. All traces of it have now passed away; the remembrance of the scenes enacted along its route still lives in the memories of the old settler, but in a few years, were it not for such record as this, its history would be forgotten.

FIRE APPARATUS.

November 28th 1880 a fire destroyed the coal washer and crusher at Arnot, involving a loss of many thousand dollars. A fire or two had occurred at the mill and other places about town, which led the company to pur- chase a steamer in the spring of 1881, and place it in a house near the railroad track for the protection of the property at Arnot and elsewhere along the line of the road where it should be needed. To afford a water supply for the engine at Arnot the company constructed a dam across the creek, which furnishes plenty of water for the steamer to use in the central portion of the town. Since purchasing it the owners have had occasion to use it in putting out forest fires. The miners and other employes turned out nobly at the fire at which the coal washer was burned and at other times; and if a fire should take place there now they are fully prepared to quench it at the first alarm. They have one of the strongest volun- teer companies in the State, composed of seven or eight hundred members ready to aid at any moment.

POPULAR SPORTS-A CONGRESS OF NATIONS.

During the rage for the national game, baseball, Arnot always had a good club, of hardy and athletic young men who had any amount of endurance, and at their matches with other clubs were quite successful. Other amusements have been introduced. The bicycle now takes the precedence, and one of the young men from Arnot last fall carried off the golden prize at the Mans- field agricultural, industrial and mechanical fair. Quoit- pitching is practiced by many, and some of the most ex- pert pitchers of quoits in the county are found at Arnot. Dances are quite frequent, and should one wish to learn various old country dances, such as are practiced by the English, Scotch, Welsh, Irish, Germans, French, Swedes or Poles, Arnot is the place to go. Or does a person wish to affiliate with any particular church or sect, he

can find them there, from the orthodox Presbyterian, Catholic, Episcopal, Methodist or Baptist down to the most liberal free thinkers. Or did one wish to acquire a knowledge of foreign languages, such as the German, French, Welsh, Swedish or Polish, the mining regions would be the place where they could be learned cheaply from natives of those countries, with the proper modu- lation and inflection. It is not to be inferred that there are no native citizens employed at Arnot. There are, but their numbers are comparatively few when taken in relation to the aggregate. It is more, however, like a congress of many nations, and dull must be the man or woman who has not profited by such an association. Many come here from their native land learned in its literature, customs and habits, the modes of living, the fashion of dress, the manner of cultivating the soil, the mechanical appliances, the metallurgy of iron and steel, the appliances for mining-in fact everything which per- tains to their countries; and we repeat that the American or other citizen who does not learn or profit by the con- tact is indeed thoughtless or stupid. He need not copy these habits and customs, except so far as they are bet- ter than his own, or adopt the foreigners' theories if they conflict with reason or common sense; but if they have a better way of doing a certain piece of work, or know of better appliances, that can be used to his benefit or the benefit of this country, certainly then he is not to stand like an embodiment of wisdom and claim that all knowledge beneath the sun is his, wrap the cloak of egotism about himself, and reject knowledge because it comes from the mouth or hand of an Irishman, Eng- lishman, Scotchman, Welshman, Swede or Pole.

GENERAL BUSINESS INSTITUTIONS.

The people at Arnot are accommodated with dry goods, groceries, meats and provisions by stores and mar- kets at the place, and farm products are brought in by farmers of Liberty, Union, Covington and Charleston. The establishment of the mining town of Arnot has proved highly advantageous to those townships, by affording a ready cash market for every thing that a farm produces. There is so much competition among the farmers that the inhabitants of Arnot are enabled to make purchases of fresh articles at a fair rate, and in the matter of mer- chandise, if they are not suited with the stores at Arnot, it is but four miles to Blossburg (fare ten cents), where they certainly can find what they desire. Merchants of Blossburg also deliver goods of any amount to purchasers in Arnot upon their orders, without even the buyers hav- ing to leave home.

Millinery and dress-making are carried on by MIrs. Sarah Murray, and shoe shops by Hugh Kerwin and Fred. F. Passmore. J. L. Higgins is postmaster; his deputy is Mrs. F. Howland. The only post office in the township of Bloss is Arnot.

The resident physicians are D C. Waters and C. C. Winsor.

Charles Fish is hotel proprietor, and L. H. Drake saloon proprietor. Seeley Phillips has a barber shop.

INSTITUTIONS OF ARNOT

L. H. Drake is proprietor of a meat market and drug, mining region. The society's regulations guird in against clothing and grocery store. A large building was ereeted any member who might feign sickness or bring it upon himself by imprudent and immoral conduct.

in 1873 by the Blossburg Coal Company, and was leased to H. S. Drake for general mercantile purposes. He died in December of the same year, and the management of the business was given into the hands of J. K. Tillot- son, of Elmira, who was succeeded by the present pro- prietor. This is a separate store from that of the com- pany. Mr. Drake is now assisted in the business by Andrew Bowers and George E. Tylee.

The store of the company is a large two-story wooden building, standing on the opposite side of the street, con- venient to the railroad platform, where goods can be un- loaded from the cars into it. All the lower portion, with a very large cellar, is used by the company for the storage and sale of dry goods, groceries, boots and shoes, flour, feed and other commodities. A portion of the upper floor is used for the same purpose, and the rest as an office for the manager and paymaster.

CHURCHES.

Rev. E. S. Schenk is the pastor of the Presbyterian church. This church has a considerable membership and a large Sunday-school. Of the latter George Forsythe and Alexander Logan have been superintendents.

The " Christian " church has no pastor. Andrew Wat- son and Richard Grant are elders. Rev. John Daisley, of Blossburg, preaches occasionally.

The Primitive Methodist church enjoys the ministra- tions of Rev. James Lee, of Morris Run.

Rev. P. J. Murphy, of Blossburg, officiates at the Catholic church.

Arnot now contains five church edifices and seven church organizations. The church organizations owning edifices are the Presbyterian, Evangelical, Methodist, Catholic, "Christian " and Welsh Baptist. The other or- ganizations are the Primitive Methodist and Swedish Lutheran. The latter uses the Evangelical Methodist church, and the former the school-house.

SCHOOLS.

There are four school-houses. Among the early teach- of much good. ers were Mr. Rockwell, of Troy, Pa., who taught first in a dwelling; R. E. Howland and wife, who taught a num- ber of years; Mrs. David MeIntyre, and S. A. Gaskell.

The present teachers are Frederick L. Gray, principal; Mrs. Cruttenden, preceptress; Miss Cynthia Packer, Miss Emma Neil, Miss Laura Brown and Miss Armetta Morris. The school board consists of Samuel Heron, Burke.

Andrew Watson, M. H. Pierce, John Hughes and John Carty, Thomas M. McCarty, Edward Ryan, Daniel Collins,

LODGES AND ASSOCIATIONS.

Friendly Society .- This society has a large membership, composed of all nationalities at Arnot. It is not a secret organization. If a member keeps up his dues, which are fixed at a certain sum per month, he is in case of sick- ness or death in his family entitled to benefits. In sick- ness he is allowed a certain amount per week, and in case of death a certain amount is paid toward the funeral expenses, This is one of the best institutions in the

Musical Organizations .- There have been several brass bands, with various leaders, in existence since Arnot was settled. The present very efficient band is under the leadership of Thomas Heron, an accomplished musician, with Solomon Pittsley major.

The Arnot band was engaged by the citizens of Elmira to play during the ceremonies at the Sullivan centennial, August 26th 1879.

The Choral Union is an excellent musical society, composed of a large number of fine singers. Their concerts are highly appreciated. George Forsythe is the leader.

Arnot Reading Room .- For several years there was a reading room kept open in a small hall next door to the shoe shop of Hugh Kerwin. Among the members of the association maintaining it were Samuel Heron, John MeKay, William Fleming, Eugene Lynch, John Hill, Adam Wilson, W. B. Wilson, W. S. Wilson, Hugh Ker- win, Thomas Williamson, Alexander Williamson, Robert Pendleton, Michael W. Ryan and Thomas Cox. It was provided with periodicals and was the source of much information. The association has recently disbanded.

The Ivorites is a Welsh beneficial society organized in 1875. The first officers were: President, David T. Evans; vice-president, David Harris; secretary, Albert Lewis; treasurer, Jacob Thomas. The meetings are held semi- monthly in the Welsh Baptist church. There are now about 35 members. The grand lodge is in Scranton.

Temperance Societies .- The Catholic Total Abstinence Society was organized in June 1874, with Michael W. Ryan president, who held the office about nine months and was succeeded by James Cleary, who has annually been re-elected since. The present officers are: James Cleary, president; P. F. Ryan, recording secretary; Michael MeCarthy, financial secretary; Hugh Kerwin, treasurer. It numbers about 40 members, and has con- nected with it a cadet association of about 35 members. The association occupies furnished rooms and is a source

There are also at Arnot bodies of Good Templars and Patrons of Temperance.

Catholic Knights of America .- Father Matthew Branch, No. 196, was organized November 3d 1881. It is a benevolent and social institution. The family of a de- ceased member receives 82,000.

The dispensation to work was granted to Michael F. Me-

James MeCreddie, Cornelius Sullivan, Timothy Donahue, Dennis Keough, Charles Gallagher and Garret Brown.

The present offiers are: James McCreddie, president; Michael McCarty, financial secretary; Thomas McCarty, recording secretary; Garret Brown, treasurer. The meet- ings are held in the same room with those of the C. T. A. society.

Knights of Pythias .- There is a lodge of this order at Arnot, with a large membership. We have not been able to obtain any data in relation to its organization and officers.

BLOSSBURG BOROUGH.

BY JOHN L. SEXTON JR.

T HE borough of Blossburg was organized in man, composed of the material needed in making a suc- August 1871, being taken from Bloss town- cessful pioneer. He erected a dwelling, which was ship. It is situated at what might be termed afterward used as a hotel; being located midway on the the head of the Tioga Valley, at an elevation Williamson road between Williamsport and Painted Post, of 1,348 feet above tide, in the center of the his tavern soon became famous among travelers between Blossburg coal basin. It is in a valley and from the north and west branches of the Susquehanna River. it diverge several small valleys-Johnson Creek In 1820 he built a larger hotel. In the mean time he Valley, Morris Run and the continuation of the Tioga had opened the coal mines of which an account will Valley in a very restricted form. Three railroads also be found in the general history of the county. He diverge from it, viz. the Fall Brook Railroad and the remained at Peter's Camp many years, and changed the Morris Run and Arnot branches of the Tioga Railroad. name to Blossburg about the year 1821. Upon his These branches are each four miles long, and the Fall land were found not only bituminous coal but iron ore, Brook Railroad seven miles. The distance from Bloss- fire clay and glass sandrock. He returned to the town- ship of Covington, and died there March 24th 1843, aged 64. In many respects Mr. Bloss was a remark- able man. Possessing a fund of humor and a treasury of hunting anecdotes, he would captivate his listeners by telling stories. He was a shrewd business man, and burg to Covington is 5 miles, to Wellsboro 17 miles, to Corning 40 miles, to Elmira 38 miles by wagon road and 46 by railroad, Williamsport 40 miles, Harrisburg 135 miles, Philadelphia 240 miles and it is almost exactly north of Washington, D. C.

At the taking of the census of 1880 it had a popula- alive to the flattering prospects of his wilderness home. tion of 2,140, but this has increased several hundred Absalom Kingsbury was also an early settler, and kept since that time. Among its business institutions are a the Bloss hotel after it was vacated by Mr. Bloss. Asahel tannery with a capacity of one hundred thousand sides Walker, Isaac Walker and Royal Walker were also early of sole leather annually, a glass manufactory which pro- settlers, as were Eli Dartt, Dr. Lewis Saynisch, John H. duces about 40,000 boxes of window and double-thick Knapp, Evan Harris, Gayheart Boehm and Samuel glass, a saw-mill cutting 5,000,000 feet annually, a steam Weeks. planing-mill and sash factory, a feed mill, a wagon shop,

In 1826 Judge John H. Knapp, of Elmira, opened the a foundry and machine shop, two blacksmith shops, be- first store, in a building near the Bloss hotel; the year sides the large machine shop of the Tioga Railroad Com. before he had erected a furnace for the conversion of pany, and a car shop of that company. There are three ore into pig iron. This furnace stood on the site of the hotels, a bank, three drug stores, two jewelry stores, a tobacco store, two wholesale liquor stores and bottling

present foundry and machine shop of T. J. Mooers. The first saw-mill was built by Curtis P. Stratton and Peter establishments, one rectifying establishment, a brewery, Keltz, for Judge Knapp, in 1825. It stood on the bank two merchant tailoring establishments, two bakeries, a of the Tioga River a few rods north of the present cem- etery. At this time Blossburg contained in all about fifteen dwellings.

confectionery, a book store, a printing office, several dry goods stores, a number of grocery and provision stores, three ready-made clothing stores, two boot and shoe stores, one with harness shop attached; four shoe shops, a china palace and Yankee notion store, etc.

four millinery, dress making and fancy goods concerns, southwest side of the river, opposite the hotel of Aaron

OLD SETTLERS.

In '1801 Aaron Bloss settled at Covington, and five friends at home and at Williamsport (a distance of forty years later he purchased "Peter's Camp," where the miles), Trout Run, Liberty, Covington, Mansfield, Wil- German and English immigrants had encamped when they were being conducted into western New York by Benjamin and Robert Patterson in 1792. This camp was near the bridge across the Tioga in the southern portion of the present borough of Blossburg.

Aaron Bloss was a hardy, courageous and athletic

In 1827 D. P. Freeman, under the patronage of Judge Knapp, commenced the erection of a large hotel on the Bloss, on the Williamson road, and near where stands the saw-mill of the Blossburg Coal Company. On the first day of January 1828 Mr. Freeman invited his lardsburg (now Tioga), Lawrenceville and Painted Post to a house warming, to which they generally responded, and a most enjoyable time was had.

No man deserves more credit and honor for the pros- perity of Blossburg than Judge Knapp. He built a furnace, a saw-mill, hotels and dwellings, opened mines

EARLY RESIDENTS OF BLOSSBURG

of coal, iron and fire clay, and otherwise planted the seed of success which was ultimately reaped by other parties. A committee of New York gentlemen, consist- ing in part of Hiram Gray and Levi J. Cooley, as early as 1825 visited him with a view of ascertaining the mineral wealth at Blossburg, intending to use their in- formation to induce the Legislature of New York to pass the bill for the construction of the Chemung Canal. The citizens of Chemung county, who were so much bene- fited by the Chemung Canal, in later years have been equally fortunate in reaping large profits from the con- struction of the Tioga and Elmira State Line Railroad, leading to the spot where Judge Knapp, one of Elmira's former citizens, failed for want of promised assistance from that very community fifty four years ago. Baffled on every hand by not meeting with the promised aid and support, and feeble in health, he placed the work so nobly commenced in the hands of Samuel Weeks, and removed to Fort Madison, Iowa, still sanguine that the mining of coal here would prove a success. President James R. Wilson of the Arbon Coal Company said be- fore his death, realizing the immense sacrifice the judge had made in the valley, that he had hoped to live long enough to be the means of starting some public acknowl- edgment of the great services of John H. Knapp.

The first physician who located permanently in Bloss- burg was Dr. Lewis Saynisch, a German. He came in 1831, and subsequently became one of the most public spirited and enterprising citizens. He was president of the Arbon Coal Company for several years, and enter- tained Sir Charles Lyell, the celebrated English geologist, when he visited Blossburg in 1841. He died about the year 1856 and is buried in the Blossburg cemetery, in the southern portion of the borough. No stone marks his grave, to inform the present generation of the resting place of an eminent physician, a ripe scholar and a dis- tinguished citizen.

The Arbon Coal Company was organized in 1834, and was composed chiefly of gentlemen from Philadelphia and vicinity. Dr. Lewis Saynisch, of Blossburg, was one of the stockholders, and subsequently became its presi- dent. The company began mining on the Clemmons openings, on the Bloss vein of coal, on the hills east of the Seymour House. Settlements in Blossburg had hith erto been confined to what is now the southern portion of the borough, around the Bloss Hotel; but this com- pany was instrumental in bringing about settlements in the northern and what is now the central portion. It operated the mines until 1844, when they passed into the hands of William M. Mallory & Co., of Corning, N. Y.

Gulick, John I .. Evans, John James, William Butler, Martin Stratton, David Chatfield, Thomas Randall, Thomas Turner, J. P. Morris, J. Jones Smith, Franklin Wright, James A. Van Ness, Clement H. Smith, John W. Johnson, Jacob G. Scudder, Samuel Lord, John G. Boyd, Phineas B. Cleaver, Joseph Wilson, Elisha Narsh, Beloris Spencer, Thomas Morgan, Clarendon Rathbone, Elijah Gaylord, William Griffiths, - Gearhart and others, and for ten years Blossburg was a prosperous and growing place.

Colonel Joseph Yonkin, of Lycoming county, who came to Blossburg in 1836, had a contract with the Tioga Improvement Company. In 1840 he built the house where he now resides, and for many years kept it open as a hotel. He was born in Fairfield, Lycoming county, in 1818. He was commissioned as captain of militia in 1837 by Governor Joseph Ritner; appointed and cont- missioned by Governor David R. Porter as lieutenant- colonel of the 156th regiment December 15th 1842, and again by Governor Francis R. Shunk, December 27th 1845; has been supervisor of the town, and in 1879 was elected burgess of Blossburg borough, which position he filled very acceptably. In his younger days he was a man of fine physique and commanding presence. He is one of the old landmarks of Blossburg, having resided in the township and borough forty-six consecutive years.

Alexander H. Gaylord is another of the old settlers. He came to Blossburg in 1837 and has remained ever since. His vocations have been varied; he has been merchant, surveyor, superintendent of glass works, man- ufacturer of fire brick, coal operator, land agent, lumber- man, etc. He has frequently been supervisor, justice of the peace, assessor and school director, and has served one term as burgess of the borough. He is an old gen- tleman of sterling character and inflexible integrity. He has been a life-long Democrat.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of Tioga County, Pennsylvania, with Illustrations, portraits and sketches of prominent families and individuals, Part 22

Author: Sexton, John L., jr; Munsell, W.W., & co., New York, pub Publication date: 1883 Publisher: New York, Munsell Number of Pages: 486

Author: Sexton, John L., jr; Munsell, W.W., & co., New York, pub
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: New York, Munsell
Number of Pages: 486