USA > Pennsylvania > Tioga County > History of Tioga County, Pennsylvania, with Illustrations, portraits and sketches of prominent families and individuals > Part 51
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Roman Catholic Church .- For a number of years the Catholics in the Irish Settlement and other portions of Union had felt the necessity of organizing a church and having a place of worship.
Accordingly a neat little church was built under the direction of Matthew McCormick, John Kinsella and James A. Decoursey, building committee, and it was opened for service in March 1880. It is on a lot on the McCormick estate. Rev. Patrick J. Murphy, of Bloss- burg, officiates in it.
TOWNSHIP ELECTIONS AND OFFICERS.
The first township elections were held in the house of Eli McNett, who lived in the eastern portion of the town- ship, in the Lycoming Valley. They are now held at Ogdensburg, at the house of Patrick McIntyre.
The township officers for the year ending March 1882
217
THE SETTLERS OF WARD TOWNSHIP.
were: Supervisors, Samuel Stull, George Gibbon; assess- or, Thomas Groover; justices of the peace, P. B. Har- rington, Patrick Wynne; auditors, J. Whitehead, John Secrist. Chauncey Wheeler; treasurer, Royal T. Thomas; town clerk, R. C. Irving; constable, C. M. Washburn; school directors, J. B. Collins, Joseph Brooks, Ichabod Jones, Royal T. Thomas, Thomas Ward, H. A. Lawrence; judge of election, Samuel Morgan.
49: Hiram Rice, 40. Constable-C. M. Washburn, 156; A. B. Harrington, 59. School directors-Thomas Ward, I40; Joseph Brooks, 123; William Spencer, 81; C. Wheeler, 8. Assessor-John D. Turner, 106; Patrick Wynne, 102. Assistant assessors-William Newell, 136; Jay Whitehead, 113. Treasurer-R. T. Thomas, 164. Town clerk-Alfred Newell, 82; D. L. Preston, 76; Larry Riley, 48; R. C. Irving, 10: William Rathbone, 2. Judge
The vote for the official board of 1882-3 was given in of election-C. S. Randall, 112; J. A. Decoursey, 102; the Wellsboro Agitator as follows: C. M. Dibble, 1. Inspectors of election-William Col- Supervisors-Samuel Stull, 97; J. B. Williams, 64; lins, 95; C. E. Thomas, 76. Auditor-O. C. Cole, 139; George Gibbon, 59; D. G. Dowd, 57; Westley Barrow, Jerry Austin, 129; P. B. Harrington, 21.
WARD TOWNSHIP.
BY JOHN L. SEXTON JR.
T HE township of Ward, named in honor of C. L. tosh Hollow, about the year 1837. After them came Ward, of Towanda, Pa., is situated in the James Lyon, Andrew Kniffin, Erastus Kiff, William R. Lyon, Daniel Hagar, Waterman Gates, - Joiners, John Purvis and Simon Conglin. The lands were very heavily timbered with beech, maple, cherry, hemlock and southeastern highlands of Tioga county, where arise the springs, rivulets and creeks which first form the Tioga River. It is bounded on the north by the township of Sulli- a few scattering pines. The settlers were principally van; on the east by Bradford county; south by from the State of New York, and a number from Dela- Union, and west by Hamilton and Covington townships. ware county of that State. They suffered great priva- It has a population of 327, according to the census of tions and hardships in establishing their homes, and the 1880. The township produces excellent grass, oats, corn tales which each could relate would fill a book. and potatoes, and the new land, wheat. Tobacco has There are now a number of very fine farms in the township. The estate of C. L. Ward includes several thousand acres of coal and timbered lands in the town- ship, which are not for sale in small quantities; hence the been raised to a limited extent. The township is well adapted to grazing, and the butter made on these high- lands is of the choicest kind and sweetest flavor.
The only post-office in the township is Chase's Mills. limited population. There has been a marked improve- The inhabitants of the southern portion are either ac- ment made within the last few years by those who do commodated with post-office facilities at Gleason, in occupy lands here.
Union township, or Canton, Bradford county; while those on the east get their mail at Canton or Alba, and William R. Lyon was born in Kortright, Delaware county, New York, June 7th 1813, and was married those in the north and extreme west receive mail at Ar- November 8th 1836, to Miss Rachel Stouten, by whom
menia, Mainsburg, Fall Brook or Morris Run.
The market for the sale of farm products is good, every thing that is raised upon the farm finding a ready sale at the mines at Fall Brook, or at Canton, Alba and Troy.
THE EARLY SETTLERS.
It is not known who was the first settler in the town- sides. He has served three terms (15 years) as justice ship of Ward. There are many traditions in relation to it. of the peace, and for a long time was special agent for It is certain, however, that a settlement was made many C. L. Ward. Mr. Lyon has always been an active and public spirited gentleman. years ago on what is now known as the "Old Posses- sions," in the northern portion of the township; this was afterward abandoned, and Dr. Fellows had tenants upon the property, which caused the name of Fellows Creek to be given to the stream, which heads in the vicinity and flows eastward into the Tioga River.
The McIntoshes, William, Simon and Matthias, and Harry Coovert settled in what is now known as McIn-
he had children-Melissa Adelaide, wife of David Beardsley; William Stanley, Festus Watson, Victoria Emogene, Ruloff E. and Isabella. He located in Mc- Intosh Hollow in 1847. There were then only five or six families in the township. Mr. Lyon afterward lo- cated lower down the stream, and in 1863 built a saw- mill and in 1865 a good framed house where he now re-
Erastus Kiff, one of the pioneers of Ward, was a na- tive of Delaware county, N. Y., as also was his wife, whose maiden name was Sarah Palmer. His children are: John; Harriet, wife of Israel Moore of Canton; Ann Eliza, wife of Ambrose Murray, Troy, Pa .; Lucy, wife of Daniel Cosper, Alba, Pa .; Charles, Horace H, and Helen, wife of Warren Whitman of Michigan. Mr. Kiff
27
218
HISTORY OF TIOGA COUNTY.
settled in McIntosh Hollow in 1839; he subsequently re- moved to Rathbone Creek, built a saw-mill and shingle- mill, cleared up a farm, and raised a highly respectable family. He was many years supervisor, justice of the peace, school director, etc. A few years ago, his wife dying, he sold out and removed to Michigan.
Horace H. Kiff, son of Erastus and Sarah Kiff, was born in Bloomville, Delaware county, N. Y., February 17th 1837, and removed with his parents to Ward town- ship when he was about two years old. He was educated in the schools of Ward township, and has been a resident of the township forty-three years. July 15th 1863 he was married to Olive Blakeman, daughter of A. Blake- man, of Alba, Bradford county, by whom he has had one child, Adell, who died in infancy. He early became ac- quainted with the practical workings of a saw-mill, and for several years was in the employ of the Fall Brook Coal Company in the manufacture of lumber. He was also employed two years in Morris Run as foreman in a mill. He now has sixty acres of land in Ward township near the scenes of his early childhood, with a good dwel- ling, a barn, a fine orchard, etc.
John M. Kiff was born in Kortright, Delaware county, N. Y., October 17th 1823, and came into Ward with his father in 1839. He was married October 25th 1854 to Miss Susannah Bascomb, by whom he has seven chil- dren-Mettie; Jennie, wife of Charles Green, of Armenia; Willie, Harrison, Frank, George, and Delos. He now resides on Rathbone Creek and owns ninety-six acres of land. For over forty years he has been a resident of the township, and he was largely instrumental in its forma- tion, circulating a petition for the same. For about twenty years he was engaged in lumbering. He was one of the first supervisors of the township. When he located in Ward there were no roads. Everything had to be brought on horseback from Troy or Canton, and the first lumber market was reached by going over a moun- tain and down its steep descent to Alba or Canton. Many settlers could not stand the hardships and moved away; but Mr. Kiff has remained and is very comfortably situated.
A. J. Teeter was born in Lansing, Tompkins county, N. Y., December 31st 1828, and was brought up as a farmer. December 31st 1854 he was married to Miss Jane A. Brooks, of Springfield, Pa., by whom he has three children, Marion L., wife of Henry Harkness, of Salamanca, N. Y., and two sons, C. Wellington, and Chauncey I. He settled in Ward twenty-seven years ago and purchased a wild lot from C. Rathbone, contain- ing about seventy acres, forty-five of which are improved, with a good frame dwelling and barn, an orchard, and a shingle-mill.
Tracy O. Hollis was born in Chenango county, N. Y., in 1827, and was educated in the common schools of that State. At a suitable age he learned the cabinet maker's trade, and for several years after completing his SCHOOLS. apprenticeship he followed the business. He was mar- The first school-house was erected in what is known as McIntosh Hollow, and was made of logs. Among the ried in Jackson, Susquehanna township, Pa., in 1849, to Miss Christine Hill, daughter of Deacon James D. Hill. first teachers in the township were Mary Welsh, Susan-
In 1858 he bought eighty-seven acres of land, situated near the highest point in the county, in the township of Ward. At the time of his purchase there was upon the lot a small log house, and a few acres of timber had been chopped down but not cleared away. Mr. Hollis has since cleared up the farm and brought it under a high state of cultivation. He has a good house and barn, and orchard, and at this very high altitude has a very pro- ductive farm; he has utilized a spring for the raising of trout, German carp and other fish. Early in 1862 he en- listed as a private in the 12th Pennsylvania calvary, and was soon promoted sergeant major. He was subsequent- ly further promoted. On account of poor health he re- signed; but, recovering, enlisted in the 2nd Pennsylvania heavy artillery and served until the close of the war. He was retained in the secret service until February 1866, in the department of the Nottaway in Virginia. He has served a term as county commissioner very acceptably, and is now serving his third term as justice of the peace.
FORMATION-OFFICERS.
The township was formed in February 1852, and taken from the townships of Sullivan and Union. The borough of Fall Brook was taken from Ward in August 1864, and has about one thousand inhabitants; so that within the original limits of the township there are now about fourteen hundred inhabitants.
The first election was held at the house of William R. Lyon. They are now held at the house of W. L. Thomas. The township officers for the year 1881 (the term end- ing with February 1882) were: Supervisors, Stephen Seagur, Ferris P. Comfort; justices of the peace, Wallace Chase, T. O. Hollis; judge of election, Myron Gregory; inspectors of election, R. E. Lyon, Henry Hill; town clerk, Wallace Chase; assessor, Darius Kniffin; auditors, Charles Smith, Erastus Chapman and Alfred Furman; school directors, A. A. Griswold, Erastus Chapman, A. P. Coon, Wallace Chase, Hugh Crawford, George Conley; township treasurer, Hezekiah Wilcox; constable, Anson Furman.
The present officers were elected February 21st 1882, the vote being as follows, according to the Wellsboro Agitator:
Supervisors-A. P. Coon, 36; E. Larcum, 26; John Kiff, 12; Mayhue Horton, 5; John L. Thomas, 3. Constable -- Anson Furman, 38. School directors-A. S. Gray, 39; Hugh Crawford, 28. Assessor-William R. Lyon, 8; H. Kiff, 16; Stephen Seagur, 19. Assistant assessors-William R. Lyon, 24; Stephen Seagur, 17; H. Kiff, 18; L. S. Kniffin, S. Treasurer-H. R. Wilcox, 37. Town clerk-Henry Wilcox, 38. Judge of election -James Kniffin, 21; M. E. Gregory, 21; A. J. Teeter, 1. Inspectors-L. S. Kniffin, 10; A. P. Gray, 23; R. P. Kiff, 9. Auditor, D. M. Evans, 30.
219
CHURCHES IN WARD-COAL FOUND AT FALL BROOK.
nah Bascomb, Electa Lyon, Elizabeth Coovert, Eliza church edifice has as yet been erected. Services are Ann Taber, Mary Denmark, Adelia Denmark and Mettie held every alternate Sunday by Rev. Mr. Crowell, of Kiff. Miss Mettie Kiff taught ten terms, and is now en- Alba. There are between forty and fifty members. gaged in Fall Brook. The present teachers are Daniel The deacons are James D. Hill and Tracy O. Hollis; Preston jr., Miss Hattie Conley and Miss Laura Breese. | clerk, V. A. Manville. The first schools were taught in private houses. Miss Susannah Bascomb taught the first school in a framed MISCELLANEOUS. house built for school purposes. There are four sub There are three unincorporated graveyards in the school districts in the township, viz., McIntosh, No. 1; township-one in McIntosh Hollow, one at Kniffin's, and Seagur district, No. 2; Lyons district, No. 3; and Horton one at the Red school-house. district, No. 4.
RELIGIOUS EFFORTS.
Rev. John Spaulding was the first clergyman who Lyon, R. E. Lyon and Wallace Chase.
preached in the township; then came Rev. Messrs.
A lodge of grangers was instituted about four years ago, which for a time was quite prosperous. Among the | prominent members were George Beardsley, William R.
The first and only hotel in the township was erected in Sweet, Hyatt and Lester, and others have from time to 1864, by a Mr. Peet; it was afterward kept by Myron time ministered here. There being no churches, services Nichols and later by W. L. Thomas. were held at private houses or in school-houses.
The first saw-mill in the township was erected by Mr. Application has been made to the court of common Wood, about the year 1845; the next by William McIn- pleas of Tioga county for a charter for the First Method- tosh. Erastus Kiff built the next, and in 1863 W. R. ist Episcopal Church of Ward. Rev. D. W. Smith of Lyon built one, which for several years has been owned Canton now officiates at the Red school-house. W. R. by Wallace Chase, and is now known as Chase's Mill. Lyon is class leader, and P. C. Brooks steward. A Sun- There are now three in the township, owned by Hugh day-school is also held in the school-house, with Charles Crawford, Charles Rathbone and Wallace Chase, with Smith superintendent. There are about twenty scholars two shingle-mills; Andrew J. Teeter owns one of the in attendance.
latter.
A Baptist church was organized in the winter of 1879- During the Rebellion Fall Brook and the township of 80, composed chiefly of members who formerly belonged Ward, with 148 votes, furnished either by commutation, to the Baptist church at Canton. Since its organization " as volunteers, or as substitutes 366 men for the Union quite an addition has been made to its membership. No |armies.
FALL BROOK BOROUGH.
BY JOHN L. SEXTOX JR.
N the general history of Tioga county we have of himself as superintendent, and a dozen or more assist- alluded to the leasing and operating of the ants. The land where they contemplated exploring was coal mines at Blossburg by Hon. John Ma- rocky, uneven, and covered with a heavy growth of tim- gee, of Bath, N. Y., in 1851, that being the ber, tangled thickets of laurel, swamps and wind falls. initial step in the subsequent development of Coal was found to a considerable extent during the year the coal trade in the Blossburg coal field of the 1856, but not in sufficient quantities to warrant Mr. Ma- county. We now proceed to give the reader an idea of the manner in which this was accomplished.
THE MINES AND THEIR ADJUNCTS.
gee in the purchase of the land from Mr. Ward. He was still operating the mines at Blossburg, giving employment to a large number of men for those days. During the winter of 1856-7 plans were devised for continuing the explorations. New arrangements were made with Mr. Ward, and in the spring of 1857 the same corps, with ad- ditional force, commenced their search again. Drifts were opened at various points along the side of the moun-
The mines at Blossburg were only leased by Mr. Ma- gee. His eldest son, who in the main had conducted the operations, was not satisfied with paying a rental or royalty, and therefore in the year 1856 obtained a con- tract from Hon. C. L. Ward, of Towanda, Bradford tain on the west side of the Tioga River. Coal was county, which conferred the right to explore for coal on found of a superior quality, and in quantities which would the lands of Mr. Ward, situated on the waters of Fall make the enterprise a success if railroad connections Creek (or Fall Brook, as it has subsequently been called), were made. A survey was made and levels taken, and it and the Tioga River, six miles east of Blossburg. Dun- was ascertained that the coal field was about six hundred can S. Magee organized a corps of explorers, consisting feet higher than the railroad track at Blossburg. This
220
HISTORY OF TIOGA COUNTY.
was discouraging. Another obstacle prevented the con- summation of the purchase. The coal could not be worked from the east side of the mountain, for the rea- son that it declined toward the southwest, and the water would follow the course of excavations and prevent min- ing. Quite a sum of money had already been expended, and the panic of 1857 was not favorable to the prosecution of the work. John Magee, who had been furnishing the funds to carry on the explorations, hesitated to advance any more money, but he was finally prevailed upon to do so. The explorers changed their position over on to the Fall Brook side of the mountain, and in less than three months it was demonstrated that there was an immense body of coal in the mountain, and that it could be
worked. Without going further into detail we will state that during the year 1858, under the direction of Duncan S. Magee, drift No. I was put in on the Fall Brook side of the mountain, by William Grif- fiths, Robert Pryde, John Dunsmore, Alexander Pollock sen. and Thomas Morgan. During this year a survey was commenced for a railroad from Blossburg to the new mines on Fall Brook by H. Brewer, under the direction of D. S. Magee. Before, however, a survey for a railroad had been completed John Magee had purchased 6,000 acres of land of C. L. Ward, embracing these mines or coal openings. The location of the road was a difficult task. Drift No. I was about 550 feet above the railroad track at Blossburg. Mr. Brewer, however, proved equal to the task and located the line. John Magee, James H. Gulick and Duncan S. Magee, during the winter of 1859, made an application to the Legislature for a charter under the name of the Fall Brook Coal Company. This application met with considerable opposition. The bill granting it passed the Legislature March 9th 1859; but a strong pressure was exerted upon Governor William F. Packer and he vetoed the bill. The bill, however, on the 7th of April 1859 passed both branches of the Legis- lature by the necessary two-thirds vote and became a law. The opposition came chiefly from another mining com- pany. The first officers of the company were: John Magee, president; John Lang, secretary and treasurer; D. S. Magee, superintendent; H. Brewer, civil engineer. During the year 1859 the business of the company was prosecuted vigorously. The Fall Brook Railroad was completed; a saw-mill was erected for the company by George Richter at the " Falls;" coal schutes were built at the mouth of drift No. 1; thirty or forty dwellings were hastily constructed; a supply store, which stood upon the site of the present fine hotel, was completed and placed in charge of James Heron, assisted by O. W. Pattison and Thomas J. Hall; boarding houses, black- smith shops and carpenter shops were built, and every- thing assumed an air of business and activity in that wild mountainous forest in the township of Ward, where be- fore for centuries the denizens of the woods were the only inhabitants save the dusky warriors of the Six Nations, who perchance had erected their hunting huts at the " Falls " and roamed over the craggy and rocky hills adjoining.
The work was immediately divided into departments, with Duncan S. Magee superintendent, H. Brewer and G. A. Beckus civil and mining engineers, Captain Robert Merritt overseer of the lumber department, Martin Strat- ton master mechanic and supervisor of tenements, Thomas Reese weighmaster of mining wagons and coal, John Morse overseer of railroad track, and afterward first weighmaster and shipper of coal, succeeded by Peter Cameron jr., J. L. Sexton jr. and W. D. Lynahan.
Before the coal schutes were finished, the company, feeling anxious to have the quality of the coal tested, hauled some in wagons to near where drift No. 3 is now located, loaded it into dumps, and shipped it to various sections of the country for trial. The trial and test proved highly satisfactory, certificates being received by D. S. Magee from the most celebrated railroad men, ma- chinists etc. in the land. This was a proud day for Mr. Magee. In the face of obstacles which at times seemed insurmountable he and his friend Brewer and associates had explored for and found inexhaustible quantities of coal, superior for the generation of steam, for black- smithing and furnace use, for glass-making and domestic use. They had constructed a railroad to it, connecting with the Tioga railroad and the outer world; had founded a town in the wilds of northern Pennsylvania, away up in the mountain peaks at the head of the Tioga; and Mr. Magee might well reflect upon his achievements with de- light and satisfaction. On the Ist of April 1860 he is- sued a circular, announcing the opening of the new mines of the Blossburg coal at Fall Brook, setting forth the facilities for mining and shipping and the character of the coal, and furnishing certificates of trials and tests; thus he laid the foundation of the great business subse- quently done by the Fall Brook Coal Company.
The mining of coal was abandoned at Blossburg, and all the energy of the late John Magee and his son Dun- can was concentrated upon developing the coal trade at Fall Brook. Andrew Beers was agent for the company at Corning, and John Lang at Watkins, where the com- pany a few years later acquired valuable franchises for the erection of docks, trestles with schutes, etc. Fall Brook was being fast populated. A corps of carpenters was constantly employed in erecting dwellings and the necessary shops, stores and offices, so that at the close of the year 1862 there were one hundred and eighty dwell- ings, one school-house, three boarding houses, one store, a saw-mill, two carpenter shops, two blacksmith shops, three weighing offices, and a population of about fourteen hun- dred inhabitants.
During the years 1861 and 1862 George J. Magee, now the enterprising president of the Corning, Cowanesque and Antrim Railroad, the Fall Brook Coal Company and the Syracuse, Geneva and Corning Railroad, and the suc- cessful executive trustee of the estate of Hon. John Magee, spent considerable time at Fall Brook, making himself acquainted with the workings of the mines and their management; and his knowledge of the business of the Fall Brook Coal Company while living at Watkins, during the lifetime of his father and brother, added to his good
221
MANAGERS OF MINING AT FALL BROOK.
common sense, enabled him, when called upon, to dis- Pollock sen., Alexander Pollock jr., James Quinlish, charge the responsible duties which of late years he has James Tracey, Thomas Morgan, William Allen, Anson performed.
In 1862 the office of manager was instituted by the Fall Brook Coal Company, and Humphries Brewer, of Fall Brook, was selected to fill it. He assumed the man- agement of the affairs at the mines at Fall Brook, the mining and shipping of coal, explorations, constructing tenements, and everything pertaining to the business of the company at that place. That very responsible posi- tion he acceptably filled until his death. He died De- cember 25th 1867, aged 50 years. D. S. Magee imme- diately notified the employes of the Fall Brook Coal Company of the event, and ordered a general suspension of business, requesting those in authority to cause the several shops, offices, stores, engines, etc., to be draped in mourning in token of respect to the memory of the deceased. The funeral took place December 28th. The whole population of Fall Brook, and many from all sec- tions of the county and from Corning, Elmira and Wat-
George Cook was one of Duncan S. Magee's explorers in the year 1856, and continued in active work up to kins attended, together with the principal officers of the about 1866 or 1867, when he was stricken with rheuma- Fall Brook Coal Company. Mr. Brewer was buried in the cemetery for which the Fall Brook Coal Company about fifteen years ago selected a location on the east side of what is known as the "Fallow." The company put the grounds in good condition, and fenced them, and made the lots free.
James Heron had for some time discharged the double duty of mercantile agent and cashier, but the increased duties in the office of the company rendered it necessary that he should devote his whole attention to the business devolving upon the cashier, for it was in the cashier's office that all the various accounts of the company and employes centered; and in 1861 Frank Lewis, of Alle- gany county, N. Y., assumed control of the mercantile department. He remained until February 1864. when he was transferred to Bath, N. Y., to take charge of a woolen mill for Mr. Magee, and Charles E. Halsey, of Hammondsport, N. Y., became his successor. He re- mained at Fall Brook until 1875, when, his health failing, he resigned the position. Mr. Heron died September 2Ist 1872. There was a general suspension of work, and the funeral was largely attended. He was buried in the Fall Brook cemetery. The first burial in this ground was that of G. A. Beckus, brother of Mrs. Humphries Brewer and one of the civil engineers on the first explor- ation for coal at Fall Brook, who died in February 1864.
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