History of Venango County, Pennsylvania : its past and present, including, Part 52

Author: Bell, Herbert C. (Herbert Charles), 1868-
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Chicago : Brown, Runk & Co.
Number of Pages: 1323

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The Free Methodist Church in its systematic plans of work finds occa- sion to frequently change circuits, districts, and conferences to suit exigen- cies that arise, and from this cause arises the fact that Genesee Conference formerly, and Pittsburgh of late years, have embraced Oil City within their limits; while it has formed a part of circuits of various dimensions until it became a station September 19, 1888.

It is of interest to trace the growth of a society which has been under the care of so varied a catalogue of ministers as the following, especially since the Oil City congregation was one of the first of this faith in western Pennsylvania: Reverends R. W. Hawkins of Olean, New York, with occa- sional services for several years previous to 1871; W. W. Warner, 1871; S. K. J. Chesbro, 1872; Joseph Henning, 1873; J. T. James and J. Barn- hart, 1875; H. H. Loomis and S. R. Titus, 1876; H. H. Loomis, 1877; J. Barnhart and H. G. Smith, 1878; John Robinson, 1879; J. S. McGeary, 1881; William Richards, 1882; R. H. Bentley, 1883; A. D. Gaines, 1884; J. D. Rhodes, 1886; M. B. Miller, 1887, and the present pastor, A. T. Sager.

It was in July, 1871, after Reverend Hawkins had long visited Oil City, that a camp meeting was held on the hill near the old Methodist Episcopal camp ground above South Oil City, and the interest was such that a congre- gation was organized the following autumn in that usual place for public meetings on the south side-Lee's hall. They afterward worshiped in Sheppard's hall, the old Covenanter church, and other places for nearly ten years, when in 1880, during Reverend Robinson's pastorate, they secured a a lot on East Fourth street and erected their present frame church at a cost of about one thousand five hundred dollars. It was appropriate, too, that the dedicatory services were performed by their old pioneer evangelist, Rev- erend R. W. Hawkins.

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OIL CITY.

The Lee's hall company who began their corporate career in 1871 were composed of Mr. and Mrs. James Whitehill, Charles Lee, Mary Marshall, John Swallow, Mr. and Mrs. John D. Holtzman, Mrs. - Miller, Mr. and Mrs. H. A. Crouch, Mrs. Mary Flack, and possibly one or two others whose names seem not attainable. Of these Mr. Lee was the first steward, and a lady served as one of the first class leaders, Mary Marshall. The absence of complete records and the action of uncertain memories makes some desirable details unobtainable. The greatest accessions were probably during the pastorates of Reverend Warner, the first pastor, and that of Reverend Bently in 1883, whereby the present membership has reached fifty-two, and a Sunday school of twenty-five members with its missionary auxiliary has reached a prosperous stage.

The Second Adventist Church of South Oil City grew from a series of evangelistic meetings held late in 1883 in Fritz hall on Pine street by Elder John T. Ongley, of Lincolnville, Pennsylvania. The movement encoun- tered some opposition but soon secured the following members and formed a society: F. N. Gibbs, William Oram, W. H. Porterfield, R. G. Wordem, A. Gail, Mary and Jane Oram, Mary and Harry Porterfield, Levi Hall, Nancy Lyons, Mrs. Jane Amy, Fred and Jane Sherrett, and L. M. and Mary Linza. Messrs. Oram and Porterfield (W. H.), were chosen deacons, and a Sunday school was organized which flourished only during pastorates. Their place of worship in Fritz hall was used for about four years since. which they have occupied Fair's hall on the same street, where they now enroll thirty-one members. Their pastoral record is as follows: Reverends J. T. Ongley, 1883; Mrs. L. M. Stoddard, 1884; various supplies, 1885; C. W. Stephens, 1886-87; and evangelists in 1888-89.

The Primitive Methodist Church. - Auspicious importance has always been attached to the number seven, so the little company who began cottage prayer meetings in South Oil City in the fall of 1888 might have taken it as a good omen that their number embraced only the following persons: Rever- end W. H. Litzenberg, John Aungst, G. W. Smoyer, Henry Winger and his wife, B. E. Cook and Mrs. Maggie Cook, and the fact that ten more have since joined them gives substance to their encouragement.

The society secured chapel rooms on Pine street between Second and Third, and for the first time held services December 31, 1888. Reverend W. H. Litzenberg organized the society under authority from the Primitive Methodist church at large, and has since had charge of this point and Stone- boro, Pennsylvania. Reverend J. Whitely, a former pastor of Trinity church, is his assistant.

The Young Men's Christian Association was formed April 5, 1887, in the parlors of Trinity Methodist Episcopal church and H. L. Foster chosen president. D. Beidleman was chosen general secretary, and by June follow- ing they had rooms fitted up in the old Derrick block on Seneca street, with

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HISTORY OF VENANGO COUNTY.

reading room, parlor, office, hall, and gymnasium. After about eighteen months Mr. Beidleman resigned and W. E. Jolly succeeded him. In April, 1889, the management was placed in the hands of the younger members, and P. S. Ingham was chosen president.

The Woman's Christian Temperance Union grew out of the "crusade " movement that flourished in Oil City late in the seventies under Mrs. Jane Fulton and Mrs. H. P. Williams, and was organized in February, 1881, by the state organizer-Mrs. Wittenmyer of Philadelphia. Their fifty mem- bers soon secured the services of the famous temperance worker, Francis Murphy, and during their career such names as Willard, White, Bain, Foster, Hunt, St. John, Mills, and others have lent vigor to their efforts. Charitable and Bible work of earlier years has given way to definite temper- ance and prohibition work. The members and meeting places of the society have varied; they now have about one hundred and use the hall of the Y. M. C. A. society.

Their successive presidents have been: Mrs. W. Chambers, Mrs. W. W. Hulings, Mrs. F. L. Clarke, Mrs. George Porter, Mrs. J. R. Penn, and Mrs. P. P. Pinney.

PARKS AND CEMETERIES.

The most that the city can boast in parks is two defunct driving parks, one on Clark's Summit, whose winding road, plains, and beautiful views make the nearest approach to a public park, and one in a distant part of the south side.

Grove Hill Cemetery is beautifully laid out at the head of Bishop avenue and under the charge of an association composed of lot holders, which was organized November 24, 1870, at the suggestion of ladies of the city. The incorporators were Messrs. McNair, Munhall, Drake, Cox, McCance, Weller, W. R. Stevenson, H. H. Stephenson, Dale, Mawhinney, Shoemaker, and Cone. Nine and a half acres were secured of Graff, Hasson & Company and tastefully laid out by Superintendent Cone and Engineer W. R. Stephenson. The first cost when completed was probably very near two thousand dollars.

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BOROUGH OF EMLENTON.

CHAPTER XXIV.

BOROUGH OF EMLENTON.

EARLY HISTORY-THE FIRST MERCHANTS - HOTELS- LOCAL BRIDGE AND RAILROAD ENTERPRISES-MANUFACTURES-THE BOROUGH OR- GANIZATION-SECRET AND OTHER SOCIETIES- SCHOOLS-CHURCHES.

V ILLAGE history in the earlier settled and purely agricultural sections of the state is a record of small and unpretentious beginnings, tardy ex- pansion, and slow accretions of population or business, with which the rapid growth of towns in the oil regions is strikingly in contrast. The conditions under which Emlenton has reached its present size and importance corre- spond more nearly to the former than the latter, and in this respect its posi- tion among the towns of the county is somewhat anomalous. Unlike the county capital it was not ushered into existence by the fiat of legislative en- actment, and without the prestige which naturally attaches to the county seat it competed successfully for a time for the business of this part of the Allegheny valley. It was a thriving town before Oil City was possible, and its citizens have not lacked the enterprise to derive their share of advantage from the development of the oil industry.

Early History .- The first improvement upon the site of Emlenton was made by John Kerr. He was probably a squatter. He cleared that part of the town between Ritchey's run and the Allegheny Valley depot, and built a cabin near the present residence of John C. Porterfield. Nothing was left to indicate its location in 1834 except a pile of stones. Kerr was a waterman, and was drowned while loading a flat-boat with building stones for Pittsburgh. This occurred two miles down the river; he slipped from a flat rock, still called by his name. His family moved away, and John Cochran succeeded to the improvements. It does not appear that he re- mained long, but changed his residence to the vicinity of Richland church, where the family is still represented.

The owners of the townsite at the time it was surveyed were Joseph B. Fox and Andrew McCaslin. The former was of English origin, a member of the society of Friends, a man of great wealth, and one of the earliest settlers of Clarion county. Here he owned a large tract of land and founded the town of Foxburg, four miles below Emlenton, the intervening territory forming

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HISTORY OF VENANGO COUNTY.

part of his estate. Before their marriage the name of Mrs. Fox had been Hannah Emlen; and when the time arrived that the struggling village on the northern border of his land should rejoice in " that strange spell, a name," the present designation was conferred in her honor. As described by pres- ent landmarks, the line between Fox's land and McCaslin's ran from the river bank at the Valley hotel to the public school building, and thence at an angle over the hill. McCaslin was a man of influence in county affairs. He was elected sheriff in 1832, removed to Franklin, and subsequently engaged in the manufacture of iron. His house was a small log building, to which a

frame addition was made prior to 1834. It occupied the site of Flynn Broth- ers' woolen mill. Andrew Solinger, an unmarried man in 1834, had charge of the ferry, which was the property of McCaslin. When the latter went to Franklin, he rented his house to William Metzler, a carpenter, who removed to the town of Clarion when it was laid out and did some work on the pub- lic buildings of Clarion county. M. Mccullough, Jr., laid out part of the McCaslin land in 1868, in town lots. James Devlin was the surveyor.

The first doctor of the locality was Nathaniel D. Snowden, who began his professional career in this county at this place in 1828. Two years later he removed to Franklin, his residence the remainder of his life.

Jacob Truby succeeded Solinger at the ferry in 1834. He was a native of Centre county and a lumberman by occupation, married in Cattaraugus county, New York, and settled in Scrubgrass township in 1832, whence he came to Emlenton. Passengers and teams crossed the river on a large flat- boat, assisted in its progress by a stout pole in the hands of the ferryman. On a day in the early spring, shortly after the opening of river navigation, Mr. Truby was starting out with his flat when the pole became entangled in some obstruction. It proved to be the body of a man; and in the absence of anything that would establish his identity, he was buried by the county. A large rock on the bank near which the body was discovered is known as Dead Man's rock. The house in which Truby lived was twenty-five rods above that of McCaslin, where the cellar walls are still visible. It was kept as a public house.

The third house of the village in 1834 was that of Doctor James Gowe, and occupied the site of the Moran hotel. The doctor was one of the first to buy lots of McCaslin, and his third daughter, Keziah, was the first white child born in the town. He subsequently practiced at Callensburg, and then left the ranks of the profession to become prothonotary of Clarion county. Late in life he entered the ministry of the Methodist church.

The fourth building was that used by P. G. Hollister for a store room; it was erected in 1836. In 1837 two new houses were built, and both are still standing - the Valley hotel, by Andrew Truby, who came from Centre county to Scrubgrass township and owned a farm at Big Bend; and a frame · building adjoining Flynn's store, built by Jacob Truby, his son. The next

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house was built in 1838 by Walter Lowrie. It was also on Water street. In 1840 John Diem bought two lots on Main street, and became the first blacksmith of the place. And thus Emlenton gradually assumed the pro- portions of a small village.

The first storekeeper was Andrew McCaslin. Merchandise was brought from Pittsburgh in large covered wagons, of which he had two on the road constantly. His trade extended twenty miles inland east of the river, and half that distance on the west. It is probable that McCaslin established his business in 1820. When he left the place in 1832 P. G. Hollister became the proprietor of his store.

The next merchant was John Keating, whose career is a striking example of what energy and honesty can accomplish in spite of adverse circum- stances. Born in Centre county, in 1804, and left at an early age dependent on his own exertions, he came to this part of the state at the age of eighteen, and worked at a coal mine near Monroeville, Butler county. In 1836 he located at Emlenton, bringing his first consignment of goods from Pitts- burgh in a canoe, himself the entire crew as well as consignee. In 1846 he built a furnace near St. Petersburg, and at the time of his death, Janu- ary 1, 1881, owned an estate of a thousand acres. In 1866 he was elected associate judge of Clarion county. He continued to take an active interest in the prosperity of Emlenton, and will always be remembered among the most public spirited of its early business men.

William Canan, Captain William Karnes, and George Morgan were also early merchants. Brown, Phillips & Company, of the Kittanning Iron Works, established the "Iron Store," in '1849, with J. C. Porterfield man- ager. In August, 1857, Porterfield, Teitsworth & Company succeeded to this business, and in 1865 they were followed by Porterfield & McCombs, so that the "Iron Store" is the oldest of the present business houses. Henry Allebach was the first jeweler, and Joseph Weller was the first tailor. Both were from that part of the state where Pennsylvania Dutch is the ver- nacular. When he came here Weller had the tools of his craft and about one hundred dollars in money, a very limited education, and business sagacity that enabled him to amass a considerable fortune. The frame building in which he transacted business many years is still standing on Water street. In 1855 Henry Gormley kept store opposite the Valley house. Henry Alle- bach repaired and sold watches and clocks on Water street. Brown, Phillips & Company, Keating & Mccullough, and Joseph Weller, were all doing a flourishing business. Among those who advertised in the Echo in 1860 were Diem & Crawford, blacksmiths; Patton Brothers, saddlers; R. F. Blair, tailor; M. Nidle, undertaker; Isaac Young, photographer.

As early as 1840 there were twenty iron furnaces in operation within a radius of twenty miles of Emlenton, nearly all of which were on the eastern side of the river. There was a store in connection with every furnace,

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HISTORY OF VENANGO COUNTY.

under the same management, at which the operatives were paid in goods of every kind. Pittsburgh was the base of supplies. Every spring and fall, the only seasons of the year at which the river was navigable, the iron masters received consignments of goods by steamboat, and Emlenton thus became an important distributing point. The two principal warehouses were those of Jacob Truby and John Long. That of the latter is still standing at the river bank, opposite the Valley hotel. He owned a furnace near Shippenville, and intrusted his interests here to William Hendric. It was not an uncommon thing for several steamboats to be landing goods at the same time, and in the course or two or three hours the warehouses would be filled, and the adjoining street piled up with hogsheads, casks, barrels, and boxes. It was the business of the warehouse proprietor, or forwarding agent, to receipt properly for everything received, and see that no mistakes occurred in the disposition of freight, which was consigned to the furnaces by large, ponderous wagons, usually drawn by mules. Through the long summer months, and after ice had closed river naviga- tion for the winter, the town relapsed into a state of undisturbed tran- quillity, giving merchants an opportunity to relieve their congested store- rooms and prepare for the next shipment of country produce, while the furnace proprietors bent their energies to the manufacture of pig iron.

Under these conditions the town secured an advantage it has ever since retained-good hotels. Andrew Solinger was the first pioneer in this respect. He kept a public house in connection with the ferry, and Jacob Truby succeeded also to this branch of the business. Andrew Truby opened the Valley house in 1837, and for many years this was the leading hostelry of the town. George Morgan was proprietor for a time before the war. In 1847-48, J. S. Haggerty built the hotel known by his name and subsequently as the Exchange; the Saint Cloud now occupies the site. Hugh Murrin established the Union hotel, of which Hugh Keating was proprietor in 1860. After being occupied as a private dwelling for a time, it was reopened by T. J. Moran in 1868, and has since been known as the Moran house. The old building was burned in 1871 and the present one was erected in 1872, and is the third built upon this ground. In 1867 Alexander B. Crawford built the first predecessor of the Grand Central; it was known as the Crawford house. It was purchased by T. A. Moran, who conducted it till his death, October 18, 1876. In 1877 it was burned and Mrs. S. C. Moran erected the present substantial building in 1878, and has since carried on the business successfully.

The Emlenton Bridge has always been an important adjunct of local commercial interests. The undertaking of such a project while the town was yet a straggling village indicates an exceptional degree of co-oporative enterprise. The company organized May 2, 1854, at the Valley hotel, with the election of Samuel M. Fox president, and a board of directors consist-

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ing of John Keating, Joseph Weller, R. S. Porterfield, Henry Kohlmeyer, Samuel Anderson, and J. J. McGinnis. At a second meeting, May 13th, the first secretary, J. F. Winsch, was elected. November 25, 1854, Joseph Weller was elected first treasurer. The location was decided upon Jan- uary 11, 1855. The contract was awarded to Daniel McCain, the present superintendent of bridge construction in Allegheny county, and even then a bridge builder of experience and reputation. He learned his art with Salvinus Lothrop, builder of many of the early wooden bridges of any importance in western Pennsylvania. Work was begun in the autumn of 1855. Daniel Murray, one Blackburn, and John Graham successively superintended the construction of the masonry. The timbers were obtained at Tionesta from a lumberman named Dale, and floated down in rafts. The cord and arch pieces were whip-sawed by Andrew and William Long, of Freeport. The other timbers were hewed by hand. October 13, 1856, the secretary of the company was directed to procure and circulate five dollars' worth of hand-bills, notifying the public that the bridge was passable. It was a Burr truss and arch structure, with two spans of two hundred and thirty feet each. In the winter of 1856-57 the pier was injured by an ice flood, involving an expenditure of several thousand dollars. No other casualty occurred until the complete destruction of the bridge, April 10, . 1883. During the following summer the present structure was erected by the Canton Wrought Iron Bridge Company, and opened for travel August 16, 1883. It is built upon the old pier and abutments. Hugh Adair was elected president of the company May 1, 1855; John Keating, May 6, 1856; A. W. Crawford, the present incumbent, May 2, 1881. The present di- rectory is constituted as follows: A. W. Crawford, John A. Weller, John McCombs, Samuel J. Knauss, A. B. Crawford, Levi Allebach. J. C. Por- terfield has been treasurer since May 1, 1855. The bridge yielded no dividends during the first fourteen years of its history, but has now become a valuable property.

The Emlenton and Shippenville Railroad was an enterprise no less in- dicative of a progressive business spirit than the bridge, but not so fortunate or permanent. The company organized June 17, 1875, with James Bennett, president; J. W. Rowland, secretary; R. W. Porterfield, treasurer; P. F. Kribbs, Jacob Black, Jr., William R. Shippen, Marcus Hulings, H. C. Brad- ley, J. C. Porterfield, directors. W. H. Smith, civil engineer, was employed to make a preliminary survey in the spring of 1876. At the second elec- tion, C. W. Mackey was elected solicitor and W. J. McConnell, superintend- ent. The latter resigned in November, 1876, and his successor, J. V. Pat- ton, had charge of the road from the time it was constructed until finally abandoned. In September, 1876, trains were running to Turkey City, a distance of seven miles, and by the end of the year the road was in opera- tion to Edenburg. That section of country was then one of the most active

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HISTORY OF VENANGO COUNTY.

areas of development in the oil regions, and the road yielded handsome returns from the start. This induced the projectors to extend their line to Clarion, a distance of thirty miles, a movement which the added receipts failed to justify. In the meantime a rival road was opened from Foxburg via St. Petersburg; a favorable opportunity was offered the Emlenton invest- ors to dispose of their property, which they did, at no pecuniary loss, but in the consolidation of the two roads Foxburg was retained as its terminus, and that part of the roadbed between Emlenton and Clarion Junction was abandoned. Before this occurred the name had been changed to Emlenton, Shippenville and Clarion Railroad Company; and that part of the original roadway between Clarion Junction and Clarion has since been absorbed by the Pittsburgh and Western.

Manufactures .- The earliest local manufactory, if such it may be called, was a saw mill built in 1838-39, by Walter Lowrie, on Ritchey's run. Some years later Elias Widle built a steam saw mill at the mouth of the run. In this same vicinity John Whittling, a shoemaker and the first collector of the Emlenton bridge, established a tannery, which was destroyed by fire, rebuilt by his son, and burned a second time. The old stone building on Hill street was built by Joseph Weller some time before the war and used as a distillery. At a more recent date S. Kreis established the Allegheny Valley Brewery, which has also been abandoned.

In 1854 Elias Widle and Ebenezer Crawford established a foundry on the present site of the Presbyterian church. They were succeeded in 1863 by Crawford, Livingston & Company, A. H. Crawford, G. W. Livingston, and Dennis Moriarty constituting the firm. In 1873 the foundry was removed to its present location; A. H. Crawford & Son became proprietors, the lat- ter, D. A. Crawford, becoming individual owner in 1884.

In 1882, G. M. Sheffer placed the Emlenton Machine Works in opera- tion, having removed the plant from Pickwick, Clarion county. General re- pairing and machine work was given exclusive attention for several years. November 10, 1885, William Conver, a local mechanical genius, patented the Daisy engine, in which Mr. Sheffer at once secured an interest, and the Daisy Engine Company was organized, R. V. Gilbert and G. M. Sheffer con- stituting the company at present. It is a rotary engine, with vibrating pis- ton; journals and packing block of such a nature as to make a steam joint between the piston case and bottom of cylinder were patented November 5, 1887, and other new features are being tested. The engine is a curi- osity in its way; one of fifteen horse power weighs only five hundred and fifty pounds, for which reason it would be well adapted for use on street cars, etc.

The Emlenton Milling Company-A. Cochran, W. J. McConnell, and Albert Cochran-organized January 1, 1889, operates the steam flouring mill built in 1875 by Cochran & Bennett. The plant consists of engines and

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boilers of sixty horse-power, nine sets of rolls (Short process), etc., with a capacity of one hundred and fifty barrels per day.

The Emlenton Woolen Mills, Flynn Brothers, proprietors, consist of a main building, forty-five by one hundred feet with four floors, twelve small and two broad looms, engines of forty-five horse-power, and went into oper- ation April 21, 1888. Twenty-one operatives are employed. The daily ca- pacity is five hundred yards of cloth, and the product, consisting of flannels and blankets, is sold through New York jobbing houses. These works give a cash market for all the wool grown in the adjoining country for miles around.

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History of Venango County, Pennsylvania : its past and present, including, Part 52

Author: Bell, Herbert C. (Herbert Charles), 1868- Publication date: 1890 Publisher: Chicago : Brown, Runk & Co. Number of Pages: 1323

Author: Bell, Herbert C. (Herbert Charles), 1868-
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Chicago : Brown, Runk & Co.
Number of Pages: 1323