USA > Pennsylvania > Tioga County > History of Tioga County, Pennsylvania, with Illustrations, portraits and sketches of prominent families and individuals > Part 41
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
174
HISTORY OF TIOGA COUNTY.
now in the township of Gaines-then in Shippen-and ran the lumber down Pine Creek in rafts to Harrisburg, Middletown, Columbia and the southern market, the route being a hundred miles shorter than that beginning with the Cowanesque. Only a few years since, in con- versation with the writer, the late James W. Weir (for nearly fifty years cashier of the Harrisburg Bank) said that Mr. Billings was one of the most prompt and reliable lumbermen that came down the river from the upper waters of the Susquehanna. Mr. Billings was a very ec-
When Mr. Billings came into Tioga county there were not five thousand inhabitants in the county. The forest along Pine Creek and to the southwest for nearly one hundred miles was unbroken, and scarcely a human being disputed the occupancy of the lands with the wild beasts. No man that ever lived in the county, with such facilities at his command, ever made a better record in the development of the section in which he resided than Silas Billings. He converted the forest into a merchant- able product, let the sunlight into the shades of the wil- derness, and laid the foundation of wealth and pros- perity for those who succeeded him. For seventeen years he labored as few men could in the saw-mill, in the woods and on the river, getting his lumber and timber to market, overcoming all obstacles in his path. A full history of his life would form an important chapter in the annals of Tioga county. He was no aspirant for office, yet he exerted a great influence in the political affairs of the county. In 1840 he removed from Knox- ville, Pa., to Elmira, and purchased the first brick build- ing erected in that now flourishing city, on what is now West Water street, where he resided the remainder of his days. In that year, with thousands of others who had used liquor all their lives, he, under the moral suasion of the Washingtonians, joined that society, took the pledge, and faithfully kept it. He was one of the founders of the Park Church, Elmira, now occupied by the parishioners of Rev. Thomas K. Beecher. While re- siding in Elmira he did not lose his interest in the bus- iness affairs of Gaines township or Tioga county. After he had recuperated from his seventeen years' siege of the Tioga county forest he again returned to the scenes of his labors, although residing at Elmira, and prosecuted his business in Tioga county with increased vigor. He died in Elmira, August 28th 1853, in the 64th year of his age.
His estate was divided, and his son Silas X. Billings came into Gaines in 1855 and continued and enlarged the business commenced by his father. He resided in Gaines village until his death. He was the foremost citi- zen of western Tioga county. He was at the time of his death probably the largest individual landowner in
the State of Pennsylvania, and his property embraced coal, timbered and agricultural lands. A sketch of his life is appended to the history of Wellsboro.
SAW-MILLS AND TANNERIES.
The first saw-mill on Pine Creek in Gaines township was the Hewett or Babcock mill, now owned by David Rexford. The next mill west was that of Locke, White, Davis & Rexford, which stood where the Gaines or Mc- Cullough tannery now is. The next west was the Bil- centric man in many respects, but frank, outspoken, lings mill, which stood about half a mile down Pine scrupulously honest, with warm attachment to his friends. Many anecdotes are related of him by old raftsmen and lumbermen in connection with his rafting exploits on the Cowanesque, Pine Creek, Chemung and Susquehanna, In one of his adventures he acquired the local sobriquet of "Lunger Billings." Creek from the present post-office in Gaines village; this latter mill was built in 1835 by John Benn, for Silas Bil- lings. The Phenix mill was built on the site of the Bil- lings mill, by John L. Phenix, son of Captain Phenix. The next mill west was built by John L. Phenix, near the Potter county line; it was afterward owned by Perry Smith, and was consumed by fire a few years ago. There was also one up Elk Run, built by John L. Phenix, on the site of the mill now owned by Charles B. Watrous.
The first saw-mill on Long Run was built by Wheaton Hewett, and the second one by a Mr. Tuttle. The Hewett mill was built about the year 1845, and the Tuttle mill about two years later. For twenty-five or thirty years about eight million feet of white pine lumber were annually cut and run down the creek from Gaines town- ship, besides large quantities of square timber.
The tannery of R. Mccullough & Co. was estab- lished in May 1881, with J. E. McDermott superintend- ent and Miles I. Sallada outside foreman. It is situated on Pine Creek, about two miles east of the village of Gaines, and has a capacity of about 65,000 sides of sole leather annually. The company employs 25 men at in- side work and the same number outside, exclusive of the bark peelers and haulers. The motive power is fur- nished by two large and two small engines. The con- pany owns 23 dwellings, rents five others for the use of its employes, and intends to erect more dwellings in the near future. It also has a store, in charge of Miles I. Sallada, assisted by H. W. Lush and M. E. Kulp. Lewis Kopp is book-keeper for the concern. Everything con- nected with the management of this tannery denotes or- der and system, and it adds much to the business interest of the township. There are used about 6,000 cords of bark per annum.
THE VILLAGE OF GAINES.
The village of Gaines is situated on the north bank of Pine Creek, on a plain overlooking the valley of that stream, and in the center of the township. It is distant from Wellsboro sixteen miles and from Westfield fourteen miles.
About the year 1835 John Benn erected a saw-mill about half a mile east of where is now the village of Gaines; subsequently he sold it to Silas Billings. John L. Phenix built a mill about that time where the mill belonging to the estate of Silas X. Billings now is. Benjamin Barse erected a hotel in the village in 1848, which he kept un- til 1855, when he rented it to H. C. Vermilyea. The
175
GAINES AND MARSHFIELD VILLAGES.
latter remained in it until 1860, when the Izaak Walton House was erected and taken possession of by Mr. Ver- milyea. In 1854 the late A. P. Cone, of Wellsboro, erected the first store in the village. Soon afterward a store was erected by Silas X. Billings; also a boarding house and office. A school-house was built on the opposite side of the street from the present Izaak Walton House. Among the early teachers were Cynthia Post, Mert Johnson, Miss Albina Vermilyea, and Miss Mather. A Methodist Espicopal church was erected in 1868, and services are now held by Rev. F. D. Goodrich. The village now con- tains a drug store, three other stores, a hotel, a church, a school-house, a blacksmith shop, a cabinet shop and turning establishment, and about twenty dwellings, and is one of the brightest and most sprightly hamlets in the county.
For years the minds of the dwellers on Pine Creek and its tributaries in this township were absorbed in the lumbering business, but for the last 15 years it has been a great resort for those who take delight in hunting and fishing, and the quiet little village of Gaines has become the center of attraction. There are a number of cosy cottages in the village, and a large and commodious ho- tel, well ordered and kept, and a more delightful retreat for those who desire rest and recreation can not be found. The scenery along the creek is delightful, and the huge mountain, shaped like an elephant, and covered with the evergreen forest, which rises in full view across Pine Creek from the village, forms a landscape worthy of a painter.
F. D. Ritter, M. D., a graduate of the University of Buffalo, has erected an elegant cottage in the western portion of the village, and made it his permanent home. He was married to Miss Albina Vermilyea, daughter of H. C. Vermilyea, April 30th 1862. They had one child, Fred. H. S. Ritter, who is now attending school at Al- fred, N. Y. The doctor during the war was medical director of the department of Harrisburg and Chambers- burg, and was assistant surgeon of the 4th Pennsylvania regiment for a year, and also assistant surgeon at the prison barracks, Elmira, N. Y. He is fond of fishing and hunting, and has a cosy and elegant home on the banks of Pine Creek, where he can practice his profession and enjoy the pleasures of the chase and the stream.
much to inspire habits of refinement, taste and culture among the people with whom he mingled. He was fond of hunting and fishing, and was deemed one of the most expert fly fishermen in the United States. The propriety and respectability of the Izaak Walton House under the management ot Mr. Vermilyea gave the locality greit fame, and many of the most prominent men of the county, and the States of Pennsylvania and New York, were at times his guests. He died in June 1878, aged 63 years. He was postmaster at Gaines twenty-two suc- cessive years. His widow, Mrs. U. A. Vermilyea, is now postmistress, and continues the mercantile business.
Tyadaghton Lodge, No. 981, I. O. O. F. was instituted at Gaines November 18th 1881, by D. D. George T. Losey, with the following officers: N. G., W. E. Jackson; V. G., C. W. Williams; secretary, Dr. F. D. Ritter; treasurer, John Peck; past grand, G. W. Barker. The order has a neat and well furnished lodge room over the store room of Mr. Lock, and a membership of 26.
A lodge of the Patrons of Temperance is about being instituted at Gaines by Charles D. Rumsey, of Mains- burg.
MARSHFIELD.
Marshfield, situated in the southwestern portion of the township and named in honor of D. K. Marsh, one of the prominent citizens of that locality, is a hamlet, con- taining a Baptist church and a Methodist church, which cost each about 82,000; a neat and tidy school-house, a store and post-office, of which D. K. Marsh is post- master, and several dwellings. The village is located at the junction of the Maynard and Wetmore branches of Elk Run, on the line of the township roads leading from Gaines to Germania and Cedar Run.
The first permanent settler in that locality was David Smith, although a short time previous John L. Phenix had built a saw-mill on Elk Run, about a mile below. Mr Smith located in 1846 and his family consisted of his wife, five sons and three daughters. Their children are Elvira wife of George Wood), Lewis, Lomanda (wife of Nathaniel Dickinson), Alonzo, Russel, John, Irene (wife of Joshua Bernauer), and Octavius. David Smith and his sons Russell and John were each given fifty acres of land by the Lewis heirs, of Philadelphia, through William Horace C. Vermilyea, one of the prominent citizens of Gaines, was born in Otego, Otsego county, N. Y., April 15th 1815, and was educated in the common schools of his native county. He was married February 8th 1839 to Miss Ursula A. Green. Their children were: Alwilda M. wife of Charles H. Rexford), Albina (wife of Dr. F. D. Ritter), Delbert R. and W. H. Mr. Vermilyea came into Tioga county in 1847, and into Gaines village Bache, agent, and each purchased fifty acres. David Smith erected a log house immediately, and the next year a framed house, the first one on Elk Run. It is the house where Lewis Smith now resides in the village of Marshfield. At the time he made the settlement there were no roads or bridges across Elk Run. Mr. Smith cleared up a farm, setting out orchards, and adding other comforts to his new home. He died in 1870, aged 88 in 1855, and leased the Benjamin Barse hotel, where he years. He and his wife (Lomanda Wright) were natives remained five years. In 1860 he built the Izaak Walton | of New Haven, Connecticut.
Octavius Smith was born in Chenango county, N. Y., in 1833. While he was an infant his parents, David and Lomanda Smith, removed to Pennsylvania and located on the Manchester farm, now in the township of Shippen.
House, which he conducted with credit and success for eight years, when he established himself in the mercantile business in the village of Gaines. He was a man of commanding presence (weighing three hundred pounds and well proportioned), courteous in manners, and did He came with his parents to Elk Run, now Marshfield,
176
HISTORY OF TIOGA COUNTY.
in 1846, and was educated in the common school and Wellsboro Academy. His occupation has been that of a farmer. In 1863 he was married to Miss Hannah Klein- hanf. Their children are Marshall M. and Minnie W. Mr. Smith is one of the representative pioneers of that locality. He has been town clerk two years, town audi- tor nine years, three years county auditor and three years county commissioner. He is a member of the Baptist church. He now owns a fine farm of 100 acres, 65 of which is under a good state of cultivation. He has a good framed house and barn, a good orchard and all the necessary farming implements. He resides within about eighty rods of the Marshfield post-office and two miles south of Pine Creek.
SCHOOLS AND CHURCHES.
It was a number of years before there was a school- house in Marshfield. The first one was framed, and stood where the present one is located. Miss Lettie Dudley is the present teacher.
About twelve years ago the Baptist church at Marsh- field was erected. Rev. F. G. Stevens was the first minister after the church was dedicated. The present
minister is Rev. J. C. Warren. The membership is 35. The deacons are M. P. Marsh and John Barnhart. The cost of the edifice was about $2,000.
The Methodist Episcopal church of Marshfield was built and dedicated in 1875. The first minister who preached after the church was dedicated was the Rev. Mr. Brayne. The present minister is Rev. F. D. Good- rich. The membership is 30; cost of church edifice about $2,000.
The Sunday-school is a union one maintained by the Methodists and Baptists, and is held alternately at each church. The superintendent is J. D. Strait.
The first school-house in the township was near the present residence of Aaron K. Furman. This was about 1813. Among the early teachers were one Dodge, Ed- win McMasters, William Drew and Maria Merrick. The present teacher is Hattie Embree. There are now seven school-houses in the township, where about 160 scholars receive tuition. The township of Gaines, although limit- ed in population, has shown a commendable pride in erecting neat though small school buildings, and fur- nishing them with necessary charts, maps and black boards.
HAMILTON TOWNSHIP .- MORRIS RUN.
BY JOHN L. SEXTON JR.
ECEMBER 7th 1871 the township of Hamil- Samuel Vickers, John Nailon, William Kelly, Andrew ton was formed from the townships of Bloss Baird, William R. Gilmour, William Bland, Dennis and Ward. At the time of its formation all Mooney, John Kelley and James Brown. John Young was superintendent of mining, and the weighmasters were James Brown, Peter Cameron jr. and H. J. Landrus, in the order named. In 1853 a log building was used as an the inhabitants were in the village of Morris Run, which is about two and a half miles east of Blossburg, on the head waters of a creek bearing the name of Morris Run, which empties office for the superintendent and a supply store. Alfred into the Tioga River one and a half miles southeast of Jones, of Philadelphia, opened an office in Corning, N. Y., Blossburg. The land on which the village is situated is and was the general sales agent and paymaster of the com- from 1,678 to 1,840 feet above tide.
pany. Few miners were employed. Some residents of THE COAL INTEREST. Blossburg, however, worked at the mines and returned every night to their homes. The business of the com- In 1852 explorations for coal were made on the west pany was thus carried on about ten years, when there side of the creek by the Tioga Improvement Company, had been mined 323, 174 tons, or an average of about whose officers and stockholders were chiefly residents of 30,000 tons annually. In 1862 the Salt Company of Philadelphia-the Ryers, Calkets, Morrises and others. Onondaga (Syracuse, N. Y.) leased the mines and com- During that year, under the direction of the company, menced operations on a more extensive scale, opening Colonel Pharon Jarrett, of Lock Haven, Pa., assisted by mines and erecting dwellings, stores, offices, hotels, H. Brewer and J. Livingston, surveyed a route for a schutes, etc. After operating the mines about two years railroad from Blossburg to where the coal cropped out, the company sold its interest to the Morris Run Coal and where the "openings " had been made. This rail- road was finally constructed and open for the transpor- tation of coal in October 1853.
Company, which carried on the business more extensively than before, erecting more dwellings, a saw-mill and schutes, and in many ways increasing the capabili-
Buildings had been previously constructed, and at the ities and capacity of the works. The village of opening of the road there were sixteen log houses, which Morris Run increased rapidly in population. Large were occupied by Joseph Mitchell, Henry Mitchell, accessions from England, Scotland and Wales were James R. Cameron, Joseph Hughes, Frank Smith, made to the mining population. Schools were es-
177
MINING AND MINERS AT MORRIS RUN.
tablished and churches and lodges organized; and, al- though all or most of the township offices were filled by men living at Blossburg, still the village of Morris Run was for many purposes an independent locality. In the spring of 1864 W. S. Nearing was employed by the com- pany as a civil and mining engineer, and during that year he was given sole management of the company's busi- ness. Major T. B. Anderson had preceded him one year before as the mercantile agent for the Salt Company of Onondaga, and was retained under the new order of things. Both have held their respective positions to the present, each discharging his duty with fidelity.
The work carried on at the mines at Morris Run has been divided into departments, which are looked after by W. S. Nearing, general manager and superintendent; W. R. Gilmour, mining superintendent; Michael Driscoll, drift boss at Jones mine; Alexander Dunsmore, drift boss at New mine; Campbell Haddow, drift boss at East mine; T. B. Anderson, store agent; Charles Church, William Dunsmore, A. Munro, Keagle, Albert superintendent; Frank Church, foreman at the saw-mill; P. F. O'Donnell, cashier; J. N. Anderson and Thomas B. Keefe, cashier's clerks; Thomas B. Keefe and Freder- ick Watkies, telegraph operators; weighmasters-New mine William Tipton, Jones mine Samuel Woodhouse, East mine O. T. Smith; blacksmiths-New mine Joseph B. Middaugh, Jones mine Henry Kretser, East mine John Stephenson; weighmaster for the company at Bloss- burg, Henry Hollands.
Frost and Agnes Gilmour, clerks; David Wetsell, outside selected in their rough state from building stone on the
The Morris Run Coal Company about five years ago became financially embarrassed, had a receiver appointed, and finally wound up its affairs. A new company was formed entitled the Morris Run Coal Mining Company, which has since operated the mines very successfully. Substantially the same men at the mines were retained by the new company. The estate of Hon. John Magee, deceased, is a large stockholder in the concern.
There is probably not a mine in the State where better facilities for mining have been provided than at Morris Run. Mr. Nearing has from time to time made im- provements in the manner of ventilating and drain- ing the mines, and invented or provided the latest appliances known to the business. The mines are worked on what is known by miners and mining engineers as the "double heading system," ventilated by furnaces and overcasts. The furnaces are of good size and equal to the task required of them, keeping the air in circulation in the mines. He has introduced air compressors as a motive power in hauling out coal from beneath the mountain, by means of endless ropes; also using them for pumping and drainage, and for working coal cutters or "iron men " for undermining the coal. There are five of these iron men, driven by compressed air, which will cut or undermine 50 tons per day each, on an average. There are many miners employed in the old way of mining, averaging from four to six tons per day each, yet it is quite evident that improved machin- ery is fast taking the place of hand power. A small lo-
comotive is used at one mine in hauling the coal from the drift to the schutes, while in others mules are used both for inside and outside work: The plan for mining by hand is substantially the same in all the mines in Tioga county. The seams or veins of coal lie nearly horizontal, between a rock overhead and a hard clay bot- tom beneath; the inclination of the seam being at the rate of about 27 feet to the mile, and in some places from 30 to 32. This affords an ample opportunity for drain- age except in portions where there are swamps or depres- sions. In those cases the difficulty must be overcome either by blasting out the bottom, filling up the swamps and blasting down the top rock, or by pumping.
The Morris Run Coal Mining Company's office is a good and substantial building, erected in 1866. It is used by the superintendent, cashier and telegraph oper- ator. In connection with it is a stone vault for the preservation of valuable books, papers, maps of the com- pany etc. The vault is 22 by 16 feet and 27 feet high. The perfect ashlars of which it was constructed were lands of the company.
A MIXED POPULATION.
In 1874 a gentleman residing at Morris Run, who had access to the books of the company, furnished the writer a table of the population at Morris Run, showing the ratio of nationalities. In 100 there were 31 Welsh, 19 Irish (including Scotch-Irish), 16 Americans, 15 English- men, 5 Swedes, 5 Scotch, 4 Germans, 2 Poles and 2 Frenchmen. The population at that time was about 2.350, occupying 356 dwellings. These different nation- alities dwell together in harmony, and very rarely does any breach of the peace take place. The courts have very little criminal business, and the social status of the people is a standing refutation of the doctrines advanced by many leading writers in England, France and Ger- many. The general manager, Mr. Nearing, has done much to assist them in organizing churches, lodges and associations, and stimulating them in the maintenance of good order and morality. In the promotion of these refining influences the manager has been ably assisted by Major T. B. Anderson and William R. Gilmour, seconded by good men of all nationalities and creeds represented in the place. Among the entire mining population of the county, which amounts to about 8,ooo, there is less disturbance of the peace and less litigation in a crimi- nal form than among any other class of people. During the times of " strikes" the litigation is confined prin- cipally to civil suits brought by the companies to obtain possession of their dwellings. The writer was called upon in May 1873 to address the members of a " Friendly Society," and, in adverting to the beneficial re- sults of societies where all nationalities meet in common upon the same level and platform, said: " The Friendly Society is calculated by its association to confer lasting benefits on this community by the removal of national prejudices. I see before me many persons who are natives of other States and countries, The recollec-
22
178
HISTORY OF TIOGA COUNTY.
tions of your old homes beyond the sea are as dear to you as mine of the beautiful valley of the Chemung, yet we meet together in the Friendly Society, forgetting our nationalities, interchanging ideas and thoughts freely and without reserve. We become acquainted with each other, and many, very many of our crude and erroneous pre- conceived ideas are corrected; our narrow and national prejudices are divested of their rough projections by the But they enter with equal spirit into the celebration of gavel of association, and we more fully realize the truth- fulness of Robert Burns's lines:
" The rank is but the guinea's stamp, A man's a man for a' that.
"For your children's welfare, and for their future good and prosperity, strive to forget the associations of the past; adopt the customs of the country in which you live as far as consistent; assist in promoting every good object which has for its aim the happiness and prosperity of our community, State and nation. There is no good reason why we should not cultivate habits of sobriety; why we should be ignorant of the civilities of life; why our children should not have the benefit of good ex- amples as well here as in a more elegant and populous town. Let us meet together oftener. Let us become more social. Let us study the common interest of all."
When the foreign born miners come in contact with each other in the church, in the lodge or society room, their resentments, their prejudices to a very large extent vanish, and they learn to understand one another. In- telligent and unbiased native born citizens have also con- tributed much toward this good feeling by showing the various nationalities that it was the man they respected, not his peculiar nationality.
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.