USA > Pennsylvania > Tioga County > History of Tioga County, Pennsylvania, with Illustrations, portraits and sketches of prominent families and individuals > Part 23
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).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95
John L. Evans came to Blossburg in 1837, from Ly- coming county. He built a fine residence on Main or Williamson street, and erected a store near the site of the J. S. Mitchell block. For a number of years he was an active and enterprising merchant, and was conducting a successful business when he was taken ill and died suddenly, March 21st 1859, aged 52 years. He served several years as justice of the peace, and was otherwise prominent in the affairs of the township. He left a wife and eight children-William, who died in the army dur- ing the Rebellion; Ann Jane, wife of Henry Husted; Matthew, who went to California about the year 1851 and has not been heard from since; Adelia, deceased, wife of Thomas Llewellyn, of Arnot; Mary, wife of Sheriff H. J. Landrus; John Charles, who resides at Pleasant Stream, Lycoming county; Ellen R., wife of A. J. Nash, and Miss Dora Evans.
In 1837 Hon. Horatio Seymour, Hon. Amos P. Gran- ger, Hon. Thomas Davis of New York, Hon. James Ford, and C. Parkhurst of Lawrenceville purchased 240 acres of land in Blossburg, and commenced selling lots and Francis Welch came to Blossburg in 1837, and has making improvements. Clarendon Rathbone was also since resided here. He was justice ot the peace about twenty-five years. He is still a hale and hearty old gen- tleman. interested in lands in the place. The agitation of the building of a railroad from Blossburg to Corning incited settlements at Blossburg. About this time came Col. James H. Gulick located in Blossburg in 1837, and for Joseph Yonkin, Francis Welch, A. H. Gaylord, James H. thirty-eight years was a resident of the place. He had
12
98
HISTORY OF TIOGA COUNTY.
charge of the construction of the Pennsylvania portion of the Blossburg and Corning Railroad; was interested from time to time in coal operations at Blossburg, glass manufacturing and real estate; and was one of the charter members of the Fall Brook Coal Company, incorporated in April 1859. About eight years ago he removed to Williamsport, still retaining a large real estate interest in Blossburg, and engaged in business there. He died dur- ing the year 1881.
William Butler, long and favorably known as a promi- nent free mason and a genial gentleman, came to Bloss- burg in 1841, and resided here until about the year 1875, when he removed to Sunbury, Northumberland county. His father was one of the pioneers of the county, having removed from Vermont to the Tioga at Mitchell's Creek in 1812.
Benjamin R. Hall, son of Roland Hall, of Lycoming county, was born in that county in the year 1803. He removed with his father to Lawrenceville in 1819, and in a few years thereafter, with the Magees, was connected with the stage route between Painted Post, N. Y., and Williamsport, Pa. He kept a hotel near the "Block- House " for a time, and in 1842 came to Blossburg and opened a hotel, in which business he continued over twenty years. He was a public spirited gentleman and a warm friend. His hotel was frequented and patronized by the best citizens and travelers. He was a member of the masonie fraternity and true to its precepts and teach- ings. His son Joseph Hall was for many years the owner and talented editor of the Catskill Recorder. Mr. Hall died March 9th 1872, of hemorrhage of the lungs, aged 69 years.
John James was born in Pontypool, Wales, March 9th 1809. He came to America in 1832 and landed in Que- bec, and from there went to Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne county, Pa. After a short time he removed to Schuylkill county, where he had contracts with Heilman & Co. After completing these he went to Dansville, and from there came to Blossburg in 1840. Here he was first em- ployed by John G. Boyd, and subsequently by the Arbon Coal Company and its successors-William M. Mallory & Co., Duncan S. Magee and the Fall Brook Coal Com- pany. Mr. James was a practical miner, and had charge of the mines at Blossburg for sixteen years. He also engaged in the mercantile business, which in 1862, when he was appointed mail agent on the Corning and Bloss- burg Railroad, he gave over to his son Alfred T. James. He remained in the position of mail agent to the time of his death, which occurred March 4th 1873. His widow survived him only six years, dying in April :879 at Ar- not, at the house of her daughter, Mrs. John J. Davis. His children are: Mary V., wife of John J. Davis; Al- fred T .; Jane, wife of E. Laas of Syracuse, N. Y .; Mat- tie A., wife of A. W. Smith of Corning; John, and Alice, wife of Clark Evans, of Elmira, N. Y. Mr. James had served the township of Bloss in the capacity of treasurer and justice of the peace, and the county one term as commissioner. He was a gentleman of rare social qual- ities and an esteemed citizen. He was a member of the
masonic fraternity, and the last solemn rites of the order were performed at his funeral.
Patrick Bannon, a native of Ireland, came to Blossburg from Schuylkill county in 1841. He early learned the trade of a moulder, but soon took up mining. Previous to his settlement in Blossburg he had been engaged in putting down slopes and superintending the work about collieries in Schuylkill county. He was married to Miss Joanna Lonergan of Pottsville in 1839. While in Bloss- burg he has been engaged in exploring for coal, mining, and work connected with the mines. He was one of the school directors when the union school-house was erected in Blossburg, and also assisted in preparing the founda- tion for the Catholic church in 1850. Mr. Bannon is a public spirited gentleman. He built the place where he now resides, known as Bannon's block.
Bernard Murray was a native of Ireland and came to America in 1827, landing in Quebec. He immediately went into Schuylkill county, and came to Blossburg in 1839. He purchased about that time fifty acres of land in the township of Union, in the Irish settlement, now owned by James A. Decoursey. He worked in and about the mines at Blossburg, and was familiarly known as "Uncle Barney." The hill on the east of Blossburg, now known as "Barney's Hill," was named in honor of him. He was a shrewd, witty and warm hearted man. He died December 26th 1868, aged 72 years, and is buried in the Catholic cemetery at Blossburg. His chil- dren are: Mary, widow of James Hurley, of Ward; Jo- seph, of Antrim; Colonel Bernard A., of Blossburg; Thomas, of Illinois; and John, of McIntyre. His widow resides with her son Colonel B. A. Murray, of Blossburg. She is highly respected for her many kind deeds in days gone by.
Thomas Morgan was born in the town of Brecker, Breconshire, South Wales, December 25th 1805, educated in the English schools, and at the age of twenty-one went to work in the iron ore and coal mines. In 1830 he joined the Odd Fellows' lodge near Pontypool, Mon- mouthshire, Wales. In 1836 he came to America. In July or August 1836 he walked most of the way from Farrandsville, Clinton county, Pa., to Pottsville, Schuyl- kill county, learning that there was a lodge of Odd Fel- lows there. He was for several years a member of that lodge. He then lived at Danville until he came to Tioga county, where he joined the lodge of Odd Fellows at Covington, there being none then at Blossburg. He be- came a member of the old Arbon Lodge and was a charter member of the present Arbon Lodge. He has filled all the chairs in the subordinate lodge but one, and the principal offices in the encampment. October 28th 1878 he was presented with an elegant gold headed ebony eane by Arbon Lodge, as being the oldest member in good standing in Tioga county. He is also a member of Bloss lodge, No. 350, Ancient York Masons. Mr. Morgan has been a very active and intelligent miner and explorer for coal, and is well known throughout the mining regions as being well versed in the geological formation of coal and iron. He is now in his 77th year,
99
EARLY RESIDENTS OF BLOSSBURG.
and is as enthusiastic a friend of the order of Odd Fellows and its principles as when he first entered the lodge, fifty-two years ago.
Reese W. Thomas was one of the early settlers of Blossburg. He was a carpenter and force-pump maker, the pumps being chiefly used in the coal mines. He was a member of the Baptist church more than 40 years, having joined it in South Wales, his native land; a man of sterling worth and pure morals. He married the youngest sister of the late John James. For ten years previous to his death he was an invalid, unable to pursue his avocation. During all those years he bore his afflic- tions meekly and with Christian resignation. He died July 17th 1879, in the 62nd year of his age. His funeral was largely attended on Saturday July 19th, services being performed by Rev. F. K. Fowler, assisted by Rev. F. Tilo Evans.
John Cook has been a resident of Blossburg thirty- four years, and is one of the reliable and honored citi- zens of the place. He is a consistent member of the M. E. church. He is a plain and ornamental plasterer by trade, and has pursued that business ever since he resided in Blossburg, often going into other localities in the county to do the work.
Doctor Henry Kilbourne sen., a physician widely known in northern Pennsylvania, was born in Shrews- bury, Rutland county, Vermont, in 1802; studied medi- cine, and received his diploma in 1828; married Miss Fanny Briggs in December of that year, and soon after removed to Covington, Tioga county. He has alternately lived at Covington and Blossburg, but for the last fifteen years in Blossburg. For fifty-four years he has practiced his profession. His practice began when the country was new and a physician's duties were difficult to perform, and thousands to-day thank him for his skill and fidelity. He is a descendant of one of the oldest families in New England, and has a musket used by one of his ancestors in 1755 in a desperate fight with the Indians at Walpole, Connecticut. It measures from muzzle to shoulder guard five feet and eleven inches, and carries an ounce ball. The old flint lock which was used a hundred and twenty-seven years ago is in a good state of preservation. Dr. Kilbourne is now eighty years old, about six feet tall and straight as an arrow, and still continues to heal the sick. He resides in a neat cottage on North Main street.
For fifteen years James P. Taylor was prominent in the business affairs of Blossburg. He came to reside in the borough in 1860, and was engaged with his brother Judge O. F. Taylor in mercantile pursuits. He was soon after appointed postmaster, which office he held until the day of his death, with the exception of a few weeks; he was removed by Andrew Johnson for political reasons, but the citizens, irrespective of party, joined in During his term he had appointed one of these schools, a petition to the president and he was reinstated. He and many had assembled to compete for the honors ac- cruing to the best speller. The seats were full. An extra amount of fuel had been provided and the fire blazed cheerfully in the old chimney. was the worshipful master of Bloss Lodge, No. 350, A. Y. M., and a member of the Wellsboro chapter and com- mandery and the consistory at Corning, having attained the 32nd degree. In his younger days he visited Australia and California, and returned in 1855. He was
a genial and companionable gentleman, all his instincts being kindly and fraternal, his hand always ready to give in a quiet and unostentatious manner; and at his death, which occurred May roth 1874, the whole community mourned his loss, as well as those in northern Pennsyl- vania and southern New York, with whom in a long life of social and business connection he had been associated. He was buried with masonic honors, Tuesday May 12th, at Covington, and was followed to the grave by a large concourse of mourners and friends. He was a bachelor, and aged about sixty-five years.
Thomas Turner, a brother-in-law of the late Erastus Corning, resided several years in Blossburg and carried on the mercantile business. Thomas M. McCay, now of the cashier's office at Arnot, was one of his clerks.
Martin Stratton was born December 22nd 1807, and was an early settler at Blossburg. He was married in 1832 to Miss Eliza Holden, by whom he has three children, Daniel H., Myron L. and Lucy, wife of Rev. Marcellus Karcher, of White Haven, Luzerne county, Pa. Mr. Stratton has been a carpenter about forty- seven years. lle was many years in the shops of the Arbon Coal Company, then with D. S. Magee at Bloss- burg, and master of tenements about fifteen years at Fall Brook, returning to Blossburg about six years ago, where he has for many years owned a snug home. He was employed in the car shops of the Tioga Railroad Company. He refitted his homestead, and it is now one of the pleasantest dwelling places in Blossburg. He has filled many official stations in the township, and at Fall Brook was postmaster. He however has never been an aspirant for official stations, preferring rather the pur- suit of his chosen calling. Several years ago he related to the writer the following story, which we insert as a typical scene that transpired a hundred times in other sections of the county in its pioneer history:
SPELLING SCHOOL .- PANTHER HUNT.
There were a number of settlers in 1814 near the mouth of Canoe Camp Creek. Among them were the Millers, Spencers, Strattons, Gilletts, Williamses, Higleys, Rowleys and Negleys. Canoe Camp Creek is on the line of the Williamson road, between Covington and Mansfield, and derives its name from the fact that in 1792 Robert and Benjamin Patterson, who were conducting the German and English immigrants to found Bath, N. Y., stopped there, and at the junction of the creek and river built canoes wherewith to descend the river. A school house had been erected where these rude boats were made, and in 1814 the school was taught by Daniel Rose. It was customary in those days as often as twice a month to hold an evening session called a "spelling school."
In the early part of the evening the younger portion of the school had tested their abilities, and they were sent
100
HISTORY OF TIOGA COUNTY.
home at recess, the better or first and second class spellers remaining to have their "spell." Among the children sent home were the Stratton, Seymour, Curtis and Mar- tin boys and Thomas and Jehiel Williams. Their homes were not more than half a mile distant, and it was deemed perfectly safe, the oldest boys being nearly fif- teen years of age. They had not proceeded far on the Williamson road in the direction of Mansfield when they were startled by a scream as of a woman in distress. They paused, listened and consulted. Again that fear- ful cry rang through the forest, nearer to them than be- fore. The awful truth broke in upon them that it was a panther ! What should they do ? The distances from their homes and the school-house were about equal. They could hear Stratton's dog "Trump " barking in the door yard at home, and in a moment more they heard the frozen brush crack and break under the tread of the panther, but a few rods from them. Without delay they clasped hands and ran, screaming with terror, the older accelerating the speed of the younger. In a short time the dog " Trump " met them, and they heard but one scream more. Arriving at home, in breathless accents they related to their parents the cause of their alarm. Parents are sometimes too incredulous in relation to the stories of their children. Mr. Stratton thought their alarm was caused by screams of an owl and sent the boys to bed. The youngest boy, Martin, says that whenever he attempted to close his eyes in slumber the recol- lection of those screams awakened him, and that all night long he was haunted by those startling cries.
In the morning his father arose before daylight and went to the barnyard to feed the cattle. He found a two-year-old heifer unable to walk, and on obtaining a lantern he ascertained that she had been terribly bitten and mangled by some wild beast, whose tracks were plainly seen in the snow. He immediately gave the alarm to his neighbor Daniel Williams, a clothier, who lived but a short distance from him. Mr. Williams found that he had been robbed of an oxhide, which had hung in the woodshed, and that it had been carried across the road and buried in the snow but a few rods from his house. Messrs. Stratton and Williams then went to the house of David and Richard Miller, who lived where Bixby's paint mill afterward stood, and informed them of the circumstances. Erastus and Augustus Niles were in the neighborhood, with a full complement of guns, and they were made acquainted with the facts. They pronounced it the work of a panther and immediately struck upon its track, other neighbors joining in the pursuit. In less than an hour the music of the dogs commenced. Around the swamp they ran; then, leading off, would be heard on the hill east of the Tioga River, and again in the valley among the willows and alders. Thus for three hours was the chase continued, until they had gone south and crossed the State road near Covington and were upon the mountains east of the David Clemmons farm, near the present borough line of Blossburg. Every rifle or musket in the settlement was in the hands of a pursuer, and every dog-cur,
spaniel, mastiff or hound -- was on the trail. At 11 o'clock the sharp report of two rifles in quick succession, and the silence of the dogs, conveyed the announcement that the panther was killed and the chase ended. An hour later it was confirmed. The carcass of the panther was dragged down the hill to Clemmons's, placed on a sled and drawn to Canoe Camp, much to the gratifi- cation of the neighborhood and especially the Stratton and Williams boys.
We are on the cars to-day, and they make a brief pause at Canoe Camp. We step upon the platform of the car and see yonder a large number of apparently happy chil- dren, playing in the old school-yard, and our mind is irresistibly drawn back to the year 1814, sixty-eight years ago, when our old friend Martin Stratton was a youth, and when the events we have just narrated transpired. In imagination we can see the old log school-house, with Daniel Rose as teacher, the cheerful fire, the anxious competitor for orthographical honors, the forest covering the hillsides and valley, the cabins of the pioneers with an acre or two of cleared land surrounding them, and the terror-stricken boys as they flee from the approach of the king of our American forests. Surely there has been much accomplished since those days. If cities have not been built, a forest has been prostrated and the wilderness converted into rich and productive farms; thriving villages have sprung up, and the scream of the panther, the howl of the lank gray wolf, and the growl of the bear no longer affright the schoolboy.
UPS AND DOWNS IN BUSINESS.
Blossburg's history embraces four distinct eras. From 1837 to 1858 it gradually increased in wealth, population and commercial importance, and from 1858 to 1863 very materially declined. In 1855 it had a population of about 1,500, and in 1860 but 880. This decrease in pop- ulation can be accounted for by the fact that it was in 1859 that Duncan S. Magee withdrew his coal operations from the place and founded Fall Brook, the inhabitants going to the latter place to engage in mining and work connected therewith. The store was transferred to Fall Brook which he had established at Blossburg in 1852, in company with James H. Gulick, and which was con- ducted by John Lang, now treasurer of the Fall Brook Coal Company, with Alfred T. James, Conrad Ganse- voort and others as clerks.
A directory of the business in Blossburg in 1862 would read about like this: Merchants-E. J. Bosworth (in the Chadwick store), John James & Son, the estate of John L. Evans; firebrick, A. H. Gaylord; butcher, P. L. Clark; hotels-B. R. Hall, Joseph Yonkin, A. L. Bo- dine; groceries and saloons, Stephen Bowen, Joseph Monell; postmaster, James P. Taylor; shoemakers- William Butler, Patrick Costello, James Tuckey; glass factory (built by William Dezang in 1847), conducted by James H. Gulick and O. W. Taylor; physician, Dr. Wil- liam Hartman; minister, Rev. Father S. Somers, of St. Andrew's Catholic church. At this time there were fifty vacant dwellings in Blossburg. Before the termination of the year the aspect of affairs was materially changed.
TOI
GROWTH OF BLOSSBURG-FIRST BOROUGH OFFICERS.
In August 1862 the Tioga Railroad Company made of the Arnot and Pine Creek Railroad, with a prospect preparations for removing its repair shops from Corning of its continuation to Williamsport, impress the citizens to Blossburg. L. H. Shattuck came to Blossburg and of Blossburg with the belief that it has seen its gloomiest superintended the work in person. This event was the days, and that hereafter its course of prosperity will be commencement of Blossburg's second progressive era. uninterrupted. The fifty vacant dwellings were soon occupied by an honest and industrious class of laborers and business INCORPORATION AND OFFICERS. men. Stores and dwellings were repaired and new ones The following is a part of the decree of court incorpo- rating the borough of Blossburg: erected, and the town presented a more cheerful look. The demand was increasing for the coal which passed "And now, August 29th 1871, the court confirms the judgment of the grand jury, and decrees that the village of Blossburg be incorporated into a borough, in con- formity with the prayer of the petitioners; that the cor- porate style and title thereof shall be the borough of Blossburg: that the boundaries thereof shall be as fol- lows, viz .: Beginning at a birch in the south line of war- rant No. 5,982, thence north one and five-eighths degrees (1 58) east, seven hundred and seventy-five perches to the south line of Covington township; thence south eighty-eight and three-fourths (8834) degrees east, six hundred and twelve and five-tenths (612 5-10 perches to a post or tree; thence south two 2 degrees west seven hundred and seventy-five (775) perches to an 'old hemlock; thence north eighty-eight 88 degrees west, six hundred and seventeen 617 perches to a birch, the place of beginning." over the Tioga Railroad from Morris Run and Fall Brook, and in three years from the time the shops were located at Blossburg the railroad company, in order to keep pace with the work demanded of them, increased its capital stock to $1,000,000. A few years later a com- pany from Buffalo erected a large tannery, giving employ- ment to a great number of men in its construction and operation. The glass manufactory was started up again by a co-operative company, which gave employment to fifty or sixty men. The railroad was extended to Arnot in the summer of 1866, which also increased the demand for labor. New business men came and invested their capital in various pursuits. Churches were erected, a newspaper founded, a bank started, an elegant school house built and everything was going on prosperously, Then follows the order of the court, setting forth the time and place of the first election and naming the per- sons to hold the same. The first election was to be held on the 12th of September 1871; J. L. Belden to give notice thereof, Henry Hollands to be the judge of elec- tion, and A. T. James and John Evans jr. to be the in- spectors. The vote was as follows: when the great fire of March 6th 1873 in one night swept away almost the entire business portion of the town. From Carpenter street south on both sides of Main or Williamson street to Hannibal, a distance of nearly fifty rods, every business place was destroyed with the excep- tion of one, standing on the southwest corner of William- son and Hannibal streets. The buildings were constructed of wood and fell an easy prey to the consuming element. For burgess-L. H. Shattuck 231, A. T. James 52. For councilmen-E. S. Scofield 275, D. H. Stratton 274, A. H. Gaylord 273, William Butler sen. 265, O. F. Taylor 259, William McCarron 211, James Conlon 72, scattering 2. The first six were declared elected. It was thought by some that Blossburg would never re- cover from this disastrous blow. In this they were mis- taken. Scarcely had the flames been subdued ere tem- For justices of the peace-H. P. Erwin 201, Frank Welch 195, H. M. Beeles 88, scattering 3. The first two were elected. porary places of business were erected. Happily no lives were lost, but that night of terror will always be For constable-David Hutchinson 168, William Larkin 106. remembered by those who witnessed the scene. During the spring and summer of 1873 several fine brick blocks For overseer of poor-Thomas Morgan 279. were erected, and some were incomplete when the panic For judge of election-J. H. Putnam 265, J. B. Wil- COX 16. in September of that year paralyzed trade and business For two inspectors of election-William Wallace 265, B. A. Murray 38, J. B. Wilcox 36. almost as much as the fire had: The people of Bloss- burg fought manfully against adverse circumstances for For assessor-H. Hollands 216, E. Gavigan 65. For auditors-G. C. Fuller, 3 years, 281; R. D) Horton, 2 years, 278; J. L. Belden, r year, 273. several years. During this time Philbrick & Evans's brick block and hall was destroyed by fire. Within six weeks after the fire the Graves Bros., who had lost their
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.