History of York County Pennsylvania, Volume I, Part 164

Author: Prowell, George R.
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: J. H. Beers
Number of Pages: 1372

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men were held in southern prisons until the continuance of the war, about sixty of the

WELLSVILLE.

rington. The town assumed its name shortly after the establishment of the whip factory in 1843. It became a post village about 1850. Owing to the prosperity of the manufacturing interests, Wellsville has be- come one of the most attractive towns in York County. The population is composed entirely of English-speaking people and the community is noted for its general intelli- gence and its earnest support of public education. Wellsville was incorporated into a borough June 30, 1892.

Wells

The industry that has brought prosperity to Wellsville is a

Whip large whip factory, one of the

Company. leading establishments of this kind in the United States. In 1837 Peter McIntyre, one of the associate judges of York County, and Abraham Wells started this business at York, under the firm name of McIntyre and Wells. In 1841 Abraham Wells withdrew his interest from the firm of McIntyre & Wells and moved to Wellsville and started the business of whip making. John E. Wells became a partner in 1841 and aided in building up an extensive manufacturing business. The whips made were of an excellent quality and found a ready sale. Wells Brothers also started a tannery nearby for the manufac- ture of leather to be used in the making of whips. In 1859 William Riddle of Pitts- burg became a member of the firm operat- ing the whip factory and a branch of this business was established in that city. From 1861 to 1865, during the period of the Civil War, Wells, Riddle & Company made large quantities of artillery whips and army belts for the United States government.

The patriotic spirit of Wellsville and vicinity was quite prominent and during the employees of this factory enlisted for the defence of the Union. Owing to the de- parture of so many of the young men to join the army, the factory at Wellsville was compelled to employ boys from the Penn-

In the western part of Warrington Town- ship in a fertile region of country, lies the interesting town of Wellsville. It is situ- sylvania House of Refuge. In 1865 the ated a short distance northwest of the War- factory at Pittsburg was discontinued and rington Friends' Meeting House, on the from that time forth the business at Wells- road leading from York to Dillsburg. The ville was conducted by the firm of A. and J. land upon which this town has been built E. Wells. Abraham Wells, the senior mem- was originally purchased from the sons of ber of the firm, died in 1870, and the busi- William Penn in 1737 by William Ayles, ness was then continued by J. E. Wells &

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WELLSVILLE

Company, with James Gowen Wells, a son T. B. Hoover, secretary, treasurer and of Abraham Wells, as a partner. In 1878 general manager. Mrs. Margaret Wells purchased the inter- With its enlarged facilities the company est of J. E. Wells and the name of the Com- has extended its business and is engaged in pany was then changed to J. G. Wells & the manufacture of fine leather driving nets, Company and later in the year was again leather and cord nets for work horses and changed to Wells Whip Company.

cotton mesh nets. The products of this fac- tory have found a ready sale throughout

A large factory building was erected in 1880 by the side of the original one. It was the United States, Canada, Germany and well equipped with modern machinery for other European countries.

increased facilities of manufacture. A fif-

WV. D. Brougher Net Company, engaged teen horse power engine and a thirty horse in the manufacture of leather fly nets, has power boiler were put to use in this build- about thirty employees. This business was ing. which was heated by steam. With the enlarged accommodations afforded in the originated in 1902 by E. L. Apple who later entered into a partnership with W. D. new building, all kinds and varieties of Brougher. The latter purchased the entire whips used, were then made and distributed interest in the business in 1906.

throughout the United States, by a dozen I. J. Seiple owns a creamery which was conducted for several years by the Cleaver Brothers. Dr. A. C. Hetrick conducts a drug store in a building formerly owned and occupied as the Harlacher Store for many in the large building owned by Dr. A. C. or more travelling salesmen. For several years this company engaged in the manu- facture of whips by employing the inmates of the state prison at Trenton. This was done under a contract entered into with the years. Steck Brothers have a general store State of New Jersey. About fifteen em- ployees at different times at the Wellsville Hetrick and R. J. Belt. Prowell & Baker factory were brought there from Girard own a general store with a millinery de- College in Philadelphia. In 1887 Wells partment. Whip Company was incorporated. The Wellsville National Bank was or-

R. J. Belt has been manager of the busi- ganized January I, 1907, with a capital stock ness at Wellsville since 1878. In 1891 the of $25,000. The bank began business by factory which had been erected in 1880, all the election of Dr. A. C. Hetrick, president ; of its equipments, and a large number of E. L. Apple, vice-president; Joseph Milli- manufactured whips were destroyed by fire. gan, cashier; William Morthland, E. L.

It was then rebuilt and again consumed by fire in 1901-and the present stone struc- ture erected in 1902.

Wellsville Manufacturing Com- Other . pany operates an industrial Interests. plant which has given employ- ment to a large number of per- The following is a list of postmasters at Wellsville in order of succession, with dates of appointment; Abraham Wells, 1850; John E. Wells, 1870: R. J. Belt, 1878; J. G. sons in Wellsville and vicinity since the Wells, 1883; Dr. J. R. Garretson, 1887: time of organization in 1893. The capi- James G. Wells, 1891; John Irrgang, 1896; tal stock is $50,000 in 500 shares of C. N. Kuhn, 1900.

manufacture of leather fly nets in one of Churches.

$100 each. The company began the the apartments of the building owned by the Wells Whip Company, and continued there until the factory was destroyed by fire in 1901. The loss of a large quantity of finished goods in this fire did not prevent the company from continuing business on a more extensive scale. In 1903 the present three-story frame building was erected and has since been used as a factory. Joseph Milligan is president of the company and

Apple, William Smith, Joseph Milligan, Aaron G. Smith, Mitchell Ferrence, J. Frank Lerew, and W. H. Owen, directors.

Methodist Episcopal Church .- Religious services were held by the Methodists in the vicinity of Wellsville as early as 1830. Meetings were conducted in the farm house of Ed- ward Wells, later owned by Jacob Brenne- man and now by his son, M. L. Brenneman, and the dwellings of Abraham Harman and Mrs. Wolgemuth. Permission was ob- tained to use the old frame school house which stood one-half mile northwest of the present limits of the borough.

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HISTORY OF YORK COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

Some of the early Methodist clergymen pleted will be one of the most ornamental who preached here were George Cooper, H. structures of its kind in York County. Company H of the 87th Regi- ment Pennsylvania Volunteers which served for a period of three years during the Civil War, was en- listed at Wellsville in August, 1861. Ross L. Harman, the first captain of the com- pany; Wells A. Farrah, the first lieutenant, and John L. Shilito, second lieutenant, were

Boggs, John Monroe and William Pretty- man. Arrangements were made to build a Military. church. Abraham Wells presented the lot, and $2,200 were raised by subscription to- ward which amount Mr. Wells was also a contributor. The cornerstone was laid in 1852, and the building completed in 1853. The dedicatory services were conducted the same year by Rev. Dr. Wentworth, of Dick- all from Warrington. This company joined inson College.

the regiment at York, and served with it in the mountain campaign of West Virginia in 1862 and 1863, and in the Army of the Potomac under Grant in 1864. During the entire war this company lost in killed and wounded five commissioned officers. Lieu- tenant Slothower was killed near Winches- ter, Virginia, June 13, 1863, and Sergeant John H. Griffith was wounded. The fol- lowing day, Wells A. Farrah, who had been promoted to captain, was mortally wounded at the battle of Carter's Woods. In the

The building committee were: Abraham Wells, Daniel Coover, J. E. Wells, George Heyd, Joseph Mosser, Wells A. Farrah and Jacob Byers. Rev. John Monroe and Rev. William Gwynn travelled the circuit at that time. Many changes have been made since. The Sunday School which is connected with this church, was organized in 1842, in the old school house with George Bushey as su- perintendent, and Catherine Harman as as- sistant superintendent. The ministers who served this congregation since 1886 were hard fought battle at Monocacy near Fred- Joseph F. Anderson, A. V. Hartzel, R. M. erick, Maryland, on July 9, 1864, Lieutenant Armstrong, Alexander Lamberson. W. A. Daniel P. Dietrich, of this company, a na- Carver, J. W. Forrest, George S. Womer, tive of Warrington Township, was instantly M. S. Derstine. F. E. Hartman and J. B. killed and several of his men. wounded. Mann.

During the entire three years of service,

United Evangelical Church conducted re- Company H took part with the regiment in ligious services for several years in the twenty-eight skirmishes and battles.

building formerly used as a village school house. In 1907 plans were laid for the con- Hillside struction of a church. The congregation Park. was then under the pastoral care of Rev. Ralph Smith, who preached to several other congregations in the upper end of York County.

Richard Young, prominent and influential in the business affairs of New York City, within recent years has purchased five farms in the vicinity of Wellsville, and has since been deeply interested in the growth and pros- perity of the borough and the surrounding country.

Schools.

The children of the first residents of Wellsville and vicinity at- Rest-a-While, a large dwelling on his farm adjoining Wellsville, is a beautiful home, fitted up with all modern improve- ments. Here Mr. Young and his family have spent several months of each summer enjoying this delightful rural retreat. A landscape gardener has transformed the surrounding fields and meadows into a walks. tended school in a building near the Friends' Meeting House. A township school house was built within the limits of the village and was used for many years un- til a new one was erected with two rooms. In 1907 Frank Green, a noted architect of New York city, prepared plans for the Wil- liam Wells Young school building. This beautiful park, traversed by drives and is to be erected as a memorial to her son by Mrs. Richard Young, daughter of the late In 1905 Mr. Young purchased a stone house situated in the southern boundary of his park. This historic building is of pure colonial architecture. It was built by a practical mason from native sandstone Abraham Wells. The plan of the building shows that it will contain three rooms and a library. In the basement are two apart- ments for boys and girls to play separately on rainy days. This building when com- found along the Conewago. On a large

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Abaham Ily

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cornerstone is neatly carved the date 1641, 61,000 acres, was granted by King George placed there by the first owner of this pio- III. Among the patentees were Edmund W'ells, Thomas Wells, his father, and Joseph Wells, his uncle, in what is now Westches- ter County, New York.

neer dwelling which stood in the primeval forests when the region west of the Susque- hanna was still occupied by the Indians.

ABRAHAM WELLS, in whose honor the borough of Wellsville received its name, descended from a prominent family of Eng- land. The name as well as the family is di- rectly descended from Normandy, and was Vaux or De Vallibus, signifying brooks, or running water. Wells seems to be derived from the Saxon word, wells, meaning a well or spring and was spelled, during the Thir- teenth Century, Wellys or Wyllys, then De Welles and finally Wells.

The Wells family was founded in England after the Conquest in 1066, having its origin in the "House of Vaux" of the ancient province of Neustria, in Normandy, as early as 912 A. D. The descent is through Har- old De Vaux, a near connection of William

The town of Rye, New York, which ante- dates White Plains, was located on the shore of Long Island Sound by residents of Connecticut. Just across the hills was Quarroppas, which in English means White Plains, consisting of the rich lands of a peaceful Indian tribe. Toward these lands some of the settlers looked with longing eyes, and finally in 1684 purchased them from the Indians. To this settlement of White Plains, James Wells, the ancestor of the York County Wells, was attracted when he left his Connecticut home.

Just when he broke his home ties in Con- necticut and how long he stayed in White Plains, is not clear, but it is definitely known that he was living in Robeson Township, Wells was of Dorsetshire, England, ances- try. His wife's name was Dorothy and the

the Conqueror, and passes down through Berks County, Pennsylvania, in 1764. James his youngest son, Robert De Vallibus, a lin- eal descendant of Hubert De Vallibus, the eldest son of Harold De Vaux in Normandy, children mentioned in his will were Benja- and designated in English records as Robert min, Isaac, Abraham, Henry, Dinah and Je- mima. De Welles. This name his descendants afterward bear, . as Baron or Lord De Henry Wells, one of the sons of James Welles of Rayne Hall, Essex, England, Wells and Dorothy, married Elizabeth 1145. and he is accepted by all the Wells Holmes. He was a weaver by trade, lived family as the founder of the English branch. in Robeson Township, and died in 1802. But as early as 1066, William the Conqueror gave one of his knights the Manor of Welles and other estates elsewhere, which was his custom of apportioning the properties of the Saxons, giving the same to his followers for services rendered, and called him Baron or

His wife, Elizabeth, and son, Edward, were joint administrators of the estate and a copy of the report was made to the court at Reading. The children of Henry and Eliz- abeth Holmes Wells were: Edward, James, born in 1768; Abraham, born April 13, 1774; Lord Richard De Welles. In return for this Isaac, Henry, Mordecai, Miriam and Han- royal favor, Richard was to see that the nali. king's household was provided with bread,

Abraham Wells, son of Henry, was born and held his title and possessions by this April 13, 1774, and married Hannah Hoff- singular tenure.

The ancestors of the Wells family in America sailed the unknown seas to the wil- derness of a new country with the Puritans, and settled in Salem, Massachusetts, as early as 1629, thence to Glastenbury, Weathersfield and Hartford, Connecticut, where the family is represented in the first land purchase of the town, in 1720, and in 1757, they seemed to be landed proprietors, farms. In 1820, Abraham bought the prop- and still moving westward. July 23, 1761, erty taken up in 1737 by William Ayles, now a large tract of land reaching from Lake occupied by the village of Wellsville and by George to below Albany, and containing the properties of F. A. Barrett and T. B.

man, June 4, 1800. . They were both of West Whiteland Township. Chester County, and were married in West Chester by the Friends' ceremony. Abraham and his brother, Edward, left their early home in Chester County, and moved to York County. It is thought that they settled first in Newberry Township, and later came to Warrington where they bought adjoining

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HISTORY OF YORK COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

Hoover. Edward bought the farm and built the house later owned by Martin Bren- neman. He moved to Lafayette, Indiana, in building up a prosperous town and fur- in 1834. Abraham remained in Warring- ton Township until his death April 7, 1851, at the home of his son Abraham. in Wells- ville. Hannah Wells was a woman of strong character, and it was largely through her influence that her son, Abraham, came home and started business for himself in Wellsville. She died June 19, 1847.

The children of Abraham and Hannah Wells were: Caroline, born March 31, 1801; His wife, Margaret Hunter Wells, was a woman of fine literary taste, familiar with the standard writers and early poets. Her sympathy and genial companionship were strong factors in sustaining and making pos- Asbury : Wesley, born March 18, 1802, died 1885. He was a minister in the Methodist Episcopal Church. His wife's name was Olive, and they had two children, Olive and Edward. The latter is a minister in the sible much that was accomplished by her Methodist Episcopal Church in one of the intrepid husband in the march of life. She survived him by many years, but her gentle- ness and noble spirit, with the vital interest she felt in all about her, filled the evening of her days with a serene peace and radiance precious in the hearts of her children and friends. She died September 8, 1899. Ohio conferences. Julia Ann, born August, 1803, married to Immel, and died at the home of her son near Mexico, Missouri, September 7, 1870, aged 67; Caroline, born February 23, 1805; Mary Ann, born March that still reflects a memory fragrant and 2, 1807; Benjamin H., born October 29, 1808; Malinda, born July 15, 1810; W. T., born October 14, 1811; Hannah, born Sep- Abraham Wells died December 28, 1870. Both he and his wife are buried in the cem- etery connected with Warrington Friends' Meeting House. tember 15, 1813: Abraham, born August 10, 1815: Eliza, born May 29, 1817; John, born September 30, 1819, and died 1884.

Abraham Wells, the founder of Wells- ville, was born August 10, 1815, and spent. his boyhood on his father's farm. In early manhood he went to Dillsburg and learned the trade of whip-making. In 1837 he be- gan business with Judge McIntyre. He and Abram Rodman Wells, who married married, February 23, 1837, Adeline Gowen, Ella Michalis, of Bordentown, New Jersey, and had two children, James Michalis and Miriam Elizabeth Wells. James Gowen Wells afterward married Elizabeth Rod- man.

a young woman of culture and rare graces. She died May 6, 1839. August 23, 1842, Abraham Wells married Margaret Hunter, a friend of his first wife. They were mar- ried in Pittsburg at the home of her brother, Rev. Dr. William Hunter, the famous au- thor and writer of hymns. Their wedding journey was a drive over the mountains along the old National Pike, from Pittsburg to York. In 1843, at the solicitation of his mother, Abraham Wells withdrew from the firm of McIntyre & Wells, came to his early home in Warrington Township and began the erection of a factory and homes for the men needed to carry on his business. The lumber was hauled from New Cumberland and the bricks for the church and dwelling houses were made on the farm. Here at

the place of his nativity, Abraham Wells established an industry which has resulted nishing employment to many people. He has transmitted a successful business and an honorable name to posterity. He was a man of many excellent qualities of mind and heart, universally popular with his fel- lowmen and always interested in everything intended to promote the public good of the community in which he lived and was hon- ored and respected.

The children of Abraham and Adeline Gowen Wells were: James Gowen and Ade- line Emily Wells. James Gowen Wells married Miriam Rodman Gerbrich, January 17, 1866. They had two children, Adeline

Adeline Emily Wells married Rev. David Clark John, May 5, 1839, and had five chil- dren, Gertrude, Annie Miriam, James, Da- vid Clark and William Nelson John. Annie Miriam married Frank Armitage, of Mil- waukee, Wisconsin, and had two children, David Clark, and William Armitage.

The children of Abraham and Margaret Hunter Wells were: Emma Hannah, Olive Malinda, Harriet Maria, Mary Dinsmore, Margaret, who died January 13, 1907, and Elliotto Wells. Emma Hannah Wells was married June 1, 1876, to Francis Asbury Barrett, of Wooster, Ohio, and died in

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WINDSOR

Wellsville, July 12, 1898. Their children friends and neighbors over a large extent were : William Hunter, Ruth Dinsmore and Margaret Wells Barrett.

Olive Malinda Wells married Robert John Belt, of Wellsville, December 23, 1870, and had four children: Abram Dinsmore, Mar- garet, James Edward and Miriam Alice Belt. Abram Dinsmore Belt married Anna May Markley, of Steelton, and has three children, Robert Joseph, Abram Dinsmore and Mar- tha Markley Belt. Margaret Belt married Joseph Milligan of Wellsville, and has two children, Robert Dinsmore and Olive Mir- iam Milligan. Miriam Alice Belt married June 15, 1905, Rev. Edward Soper, son of Dr. Julius Soper, of Japan.

Harriet Maria Wells married Richard Young, of New York, August 23, 1871, and had three children, William Wells, Olive Viola and Richard Young. William Wells Young died at Flatbush, Long Island, February 7, 1886. Olive Viola married in 1899, John Alfred Edward Turney, son of Sir John Turney, of Nottingham, England. They have three children, Cecil John Rich- ard Dinsmore, Violet Edith and Audrey Wells Turney.

Mary Dinsmore Wells married Thomas Barkdale Hoover, in Wooster, Ohio, and had five children, Walter Wells, Thomas Leonard, Donald Dinsmore, Dorothy S. Smith.

Goentner and Mary Elliotto Hoover.

WINDSOR.

The borough of Windsor is situated in the southern part of Windsor Township. George Anstine, one of the early settlers of this region, owned 300 acres of the sur- rounding land at the close of the Revolu- tion in which he had served as a soldier. His son, Simon Anstine, succeeded in the ownership of a large farm near Bittersville, and became a successful farmer and a leader in the Democratic party of York County from the time of its origin under Jefferson, from Windsor, carried by C. A. Flinch- until 1830. During that year he bolted the convention which refused to nominate some Dr. Charles Venus practiced medicine here until he removed to York. There are four schools in the borough kept in a hand- some building, erected in 1905, containing four rooms. of his personal friends, ran as an independ- ent candidate for the legislature and was elected. The story of this incident is told on page 583. Michael Anstine, son of this Windsor farmer and politician, opened a On June 5, 1905, the town previously known as Windsorville, was incorporated as the Borough of Windsor. George W. Ga- store upon the site of Windsor Borough in 1834, and during the succeeding fifty years carried on the mercantile business with his ble was chosen first burgess. Members of

of country. In 1884 he sold out his store to J. N. Flinchbaugh, who during the suc- ceeding twenty-three years has been en- gaged in the mercantile business. Mean- time the cigar making industry developed and a village came into existence around the Anstine store. Jonathan Shindle was next to open a general store which he con- tinued for several years.

George W. Gable began the manufacture of cigars on an extensive scale when Wind- sor was a small village. He gave employ- ment to many people and prospered in this business. In 1907 he owned a large fac- tory and employed one hundred workmen in the manufacture of cigars. It was largely through his enterprise that the prosperous town came into existence. Among the other persons engaged in the cigar business at Windsor are W. C. Smith, with thirty employees; W. H. Snyder, with twenty- five; Shearer & Company, W. H. Snyder & Company, and D. A. Frey, each employing from fifteen to twenty workmen. There are a number of small factories in the bor- ough and vicinity. Kohler & Tschop own a cigar box factory.

Stores are kept in the borough by J. N. Flinchbaugh, J. A. Illgas, A. F. Grim and S.

Windsor Post Office was established a short distance south of the present borough near the Chanceford Township line in 1830. William G. Cornwell, who erected Manor Furnace, was the first postmaster. Rev. Peter Herrman, a local preacher, succeeded and held the office for a long time. Michael Anstine was postmaster for thirty-one years. At his death Daniel K. Ruby was appointed. John N. Flinchbaugh, the next postmaster, held the office until 1895, when he was suc- ceeded by A. F. Grim, who has since held the office. There is one rural delivery route baugh.

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HISTORY OF YORK COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

the first council were: S. L. Tschop. W. H. After cutting down the timber, he planted Snyder, E. E. Shindler, S. P. Shearer, Henry a large apple orchard, and the town was Creek, George Ellis and B. F. Arnold. In 1907 there were 180 voters in the borough which contained a population of 750.

The Aldine Hotel of Windsor is a well kept hostelry. Windsor was connected by trolley line from Red Lion and York in Au- gust 1901.

The doctrines of the church of the United Brethren in Christ were preached in the vicinity of Windsor as early as 1820, and a short distance away the first church of this denomination within the limits of York County was erected upon the site of Zion Church. Here the United Brethren people of Windsor worshipped until 1898. During that year Rev. J. R. Jones, the pastor at Red Lion, organized a congregation at Windsor and the same year a church was erected at a cost of $8000. Charles Wil- liams of Glen Rock, was the architect. Rev. J. R. Jones, George W. Gable and J. N. Flinchbaugh were the building committee. Rev. W. H. Weaver succeeded as pastor in 1899. Rev. S. N. Moyer. of Red Lion, was the next pastor and continued until 1906 when the Windsor church was made a sta- tion and Rev. A. N. Horn appointed to the charge. The congregation in 1907 had nearly 200 members. S. A. Miller is su- perintendent of the Sunday School, which has 320 teachers and scholars.'

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History of York County Pennsylvania, Volume I, Part 164

Author: Prowell, George R. Publication date: 1907 Publisher: J. H. Beers Number of Pages: 1372

Author: Prowell, George R.
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: J. H. Beers
Number of Pages: 1372