USA > Pennsylvania > Juniata County > History of that part of the Susquehanna and Juniata valleys, embraced in the counties of Mifflin, Juniata, Perry, Union and Snyder, in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania. V. 2, Pt. 2 > Part 21
USA > Pennsylvania > Perry County > History of that part of the Susquehanna and Juniata valleys, embraced in the counties of Mifflin, Juniata, Perry, Union and Snyder, in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania. V. 2, Pt. 2 > Part 21
USA > Pennsylvania > Snyder County > History of that part of the Susquehanna and Juniata valleys, embraced in the counties of Mifflin, Juniata, Perry, Union and Snyder, in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania. V. 2, Pt. 2 > Part 21
USA > Pennsylvania > Union County > History of that part of the Susquehanna and Juniata valleys, embraced in the counties of Mifflin, Juniata, Perry, Union and Snyder, in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania. V. 2, Pt. 2 > Part 21
USA > Pennsylvania > Mifflin County > History of that part of the Susquehanna and Juniata valleys, embraced in the counties of Mifflin, Juniata, Perry, Union and Snyder, in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania. V. 2, Pt. 2 > Part 21
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
Mark Halfpenny, in 1851, bought the Leonard Smith farm. Melchior Smith, his grandfather, in 1802, owned a saw and hemp- mill on Laurel Run. Mr. Halfpenny put up a building on the Smith place, and fitted it with machinery, and manufactured woolen goods until 1866, when it was burned. The owners rebuilt the woolen-mill under the firm-name of M. Halfpenny & Co. The business there was conducted next by Joseph D. Torrey and Sol. R. Dreisbach for several years.
In 1864 Mr. Dreisbach sold it to Samnel Weidensaul, who opened a store, which from 1875 to 1881 was the site of the Laurelton Station on the Lewisburgh and Tyrone Railroad. In 1875 Mr. Weidensaul sold to James H. Al- bright, who, in turn, sold it to H. D. Al
bright, the present owner. In 1875 an agrienl- tural implement shop was built, now used by J. 11. Albright.
LAURELTON MILA ..- In 1839 Mr. George Broucher built a three-storied mill near Laurel Run, and called it the " Free Mill," but a toll of one-tenth or more was invariably exact- ed before the grist was returned. This Free Mill became the nuelens around which a vil- lage soon began to cluster, which at first was called " Slabtown," but now rejoices in the more euphonions appellation of Laurelton. Mr. Broucher sold the mill, in 1857, to Samuel Shrack, who, in 1867, sold it to Charles II. Shriner, and he sold one-half, in 1868, to Wil- liam Swenk, and, in 1873, the other half to R. V. B. Lincoln, who, in 1875, became the sole owner by buying the interest of William Swenk.
BERLIN IRON-WORKS .- A man named John Kiester was the first settler and made the first improvement on the south side of Penn's Creek, at the place now and for many years known as the Berlin Iron-Works. In the assessment of 1814 he was assessed with a tract of land and a saw-mill. In 1827 David Beaver was assessed with the same property, and the next year with a forge and saw-mill thercon. In 1829 it was owned by Brooke & Co., who leased it to Joseph Evans, John Cummings, Jr., and others. About 1832 the furnace went out of blast. The forge was kept in operation, first by Alexander Robertson.
Jolm C. Wilson, from Chester County, came next and ran the forge until, in 1844, Wilson, Green & Mitchell leased it, rebuilt the old stack of 1829, put in hot-blast pipes and run the forge and furnace for a couple of years, when the firm was changed to Mitchell & Gra- ham.
The business was carried by several different firms until January, 1849. Between 1832 and 1844, when the forge was in operation and the furnace left to tumble down, the pig-metal used by the forge in the manufacture of blooms and bar iron was handed in wagons from Centre Furnace, or from Hecla and Washington Fur- naces, in Nittany Valley, and the products of the forge were, in turn, hauled to Lewisburgh
' The hemp-mill was designed to separate the wood from the fibre of the hemp, and one part of the process consisted in having a large stone, about the size of an ordinary mile- stone, revolve in a circular box, on the bottom of whiel the hemp was placed, and the stone was made to revolve on the hemp and thus break the woody matter into small pieces, which were ensily separable from the fibre. The cultivating of hemp was long ago abandoned, and all ves- tiges of the hemp-mill have been obliterated, except. that some traces of the ruce that conveyed the wuler to the mill enn still be seen in the woods now owned by William Schnure. The sione that, over eighty years ago, revolved its monotonous rounds in the hemp-mill, now does duty ns the pedestal to the monument erected to the memory of Michael Schnure, in the grave-yard of Laurelton.
.
-
1
1383
UNION COUNTY.
und shipped by canal to an Eastern market. At that time bar-iron sold at one Inindred dollars per ton, and a large portion of it was used in the valley, the rolled iron being then thought to be inferior in quality to the hannered. After the works had been idle a year or more they were leased to Church, Rooke & Co., of Chester County, who ran them for a few years. In 1850 Jackson Brothers and Crispin, of Ber- wick, bought the property from John Church, who had become the owner, put up new buildings, put in a steam-cugine and manufactured pig- irou till 1883.
Saw-MILLS .- At an early period in the his- tory of Hartley township the lumbering interest was probably the most important next to agri- culture. The following-named persons had saw- mills, viz. : John Forster, Ezekiel Jones, John Kiester, Henry Kiester, Peter Miller, Henry Roush, James Cook, Leonard Smith, Jacob Weiker, John Williams and Robert Wiley. The Ezekiel Jones, Henry Kiester, Leonard Smith und Robert Wiley saw-mills still have successors on the original sites; all the rest have disap- pared in the progress of time. A few years later there were the following additional saw- mills on Penn's Creek : John Brown's, Ludwig Dorman's, Elias Tees's, David Hunsecker's, Michael Galer's and Abraham Hendricks'. Not one of these is now in existence.
The next most important branch of business was the distilling of whiskey. This article was in daily use by nearly all the male inhabitants. It was supposed to furnish the motive-power in all undertakings that required severe physical exertion. A harvest could not be eut or housed, a log cabin raised or an ark turned without its invigorating influence. At all publie gather- ing, such as vendnes, militia musters, elections, cte., it was freely used and its exhilarating in- fluence found vent in the fights which were common on such occasions. The distillery also furnished a market for the surphis rye and coru of the community, which was sent to market in the more concentrated form of whiskey at a comparatively small expense. As late as 1829 there were twelve distilleries in operation in the township. The fires of all these distilleries have bwen extinguished nearly half a century ago.
The sites of many of them are known only by tradition.
A carding and fulling-mill was in existence for a series of years on Lanrel Run, some dis- tance south of the W. E. Smith & Co. foundry ; it was last owned by Samuel Weiker, who, abont 1843 or 1844, quit the business.
Heury Kiester, ou the south side of Pem's Creek, for many years had carried on au oil- mill. His first oil-mill and saw-mill were up near the gap in Jack's Mountain, by which a road was laid ont in 1824.
In 1828 a road was laid ont connecting with this one in the gap at Kiester's. The county bridge, erected in 1832, was blown down in 1837, and rebuilt the same year. The bridge across Pen's Creek, near Bowersox's, was built 1857. Kiester subsequently removed his saw-mill and oil-mill from the gap in Jack's Mountain to Penu's Creek, and the oil-mill was kept until 1843; the then owner, Samuel Kiester died, and the oil-mill along with him. The saw-mill is owned by J. II. Albright.
LAURELTON.
At the point where the public road from Hartleton to the upper end of the valley crosses Laurel Run there were several small buiklings in 1811. Robert Spear, a weaver, then lived in a cabin covered with boards and slabs. Cal- vin Preston, a millwright, lived in a cabin on the east side of the run. James Diven, a weaver, lived on the west side of the run. John Gerry lived near by. A blacksmith-shop and house were built on land owned now by Amos Fauver, a gunsmith-shop on the place now oe- cupied by Daniel Weidensaul. To these a slab-covered school-house was soon added, and also a log church or meeting-house on the hill, cast of the run. Henry Schnure put up a house and shop on what is now a part of the mill prop- perty, where he had a turning-lathe, which was run by water, and where he made bedsteads, tables, cte. In 1839 George Brancher built the brick mill just across the run, and a little north of theold log meeting-house. A year or twoafter, a new brick church having in the mean time been built, W. Brancher purchased the old church, removed and rebuilt it near the cross-roads and
.
₩
1381
JUNIATA AND SUSQUEHANNA VALLEYS IN PENNSYLVANIA.
at the same time built a house on the corner of said roads, and rented the whole concern to D. B. Kerst, who came from Berks County and opened a store there in 1813. Quite a lively little village has now come into existence at the cross-roads, consisting of about fifty dwellings, two blacksmith-shops, a saddler's shop, two foundries, a shoemaker's shop, one flouring-mill, two stores that deal in general merchandise, one drug-store, school-house, a Lutheran and a Re- formed Church. It has a physician, a saw-mill, shingle-mill and planing-mill. A few years before 1857 Samnel Weiker, who owned a couple of acres of ground in what is now the central part of the village, had laid it ont in lots, and called his town-plot " Weikerville," but the name never came into nse. The name Eagleville was also tried, and would not go, and the village was spoken of either as " Slabtown " or " Laurel Run." The name Laurelton was given to the post-office established there in 1857. The name was suggested by H. W. Crotzer, who was then the postmaster at Lewisburgh. Samuel Weidensaul was the first postmaster, and Daniel Weiden his deputy.
The mail was then carried in a two-horse stage, through Hartleton and the Narrows, over the turnpike, promptly and regularly. Ac- cordingly, upon the incoming of the adminis- tration of President Lincoln, in March, 1861, Mark Halfpenny was appointed postmaster, and the next year the Laurelton post-office was put upon the regular mail-route from Lewis- burgh to Spruce Creek. In 1866 Mr. John Dielil was appointed the postmaster, and re- mained such until 1877, when the stage ceased running, and the post-office was again brought back to the village proper, and C. E. Haus ap- pointed postmaster. Ile remained until 1882, and was superseded by Daniel R. Smith, who is still in office.
A post-office was established, in 1876, at a small hamlet and flag-station near the month of Weiker Run, and called Weikert. John L. Goodlander was postmaster, who is still in office. In 1877 another was established at Cherry Run, called Cherry Run post-office. William Johnson, Jr., is postmaster. Still another was established near the Berlin Iron Works, called
Glen Iron. John T. Church was appointed postmaster in 1883. These three last-named post-offices are all in territory which, previous to 1877, was subsidiary to the Laurelton post- office. The Lanrelton post-office is a money- order office.
Serroots .- The early educational advantages enjoyed by the people of this township, inclu- ding Lewis and the borough of Hartleton, did not differ materially from the general deserip- tion of the carly schools, already given. Ac- cording to tradition, the first school taught in the township was about 1795, in a school-house near Lanrel Run, on ground which formerly belonged to the farm owned by Melchior Smith, Sr. Among those who received instruction were General AAbbott Green, Jolm Glover, Esq., Enoch Fry, Leonard Smith and Melchior Smith, Jr. Tradition also tells that, about the year 1805, Abel Owen taught a school in his own house, a short distance below where the bridge across Penn's Creek, at the Berlin Iron Works, spans the creek.
Among those who came here for instruction were James Reed, John Reed and Elizabeth Reed, children of William Reed, who had settled a few years before on the place now owned by William Cook. A few years later a school was taught in a house near where John F. Catherman now lives; the teacher's name was John Heath. About this time the school-house was built, according to the directions in the will of George Kiester, on the lot still occupied for school purposes, near the Dunkard 'Church. About 1832 the old house was superseded by a substantial frame house, weather-boarded and painted white, which long continued to be known as the " white school-house." The first teacher in the log school-honse at Keister's was a man named Frederick Gettig, said to have been a good teacher, but immoderately fond of fire- water. Henry Hendricks, John C. Coverly, a Mr. Bochtekarch and a man by the name of Bee- inaker were some of the earlier teachers at this place. Mr. Coverly also taught in Mifflinburg and other places in the valley.
The first school-house on the ground now covered by Laurelton was where the house of Levi Mercer now stands. After the house on
1385
UNION COUNTY.
the hill near the church was built, the former wased to be used as a school-house. This house hear the church continued to be used for school purposes until it was superseded by a better one, on the same lot, npon the adoption of the com- mon school system. There was also a school- house at Hartleton, of the old type in its interior arrangements, but it was lathed and plastered on the outside. There had, however, been in former years another school-house on the same lot. It was built of round logs, with the bark on, and was covered with boards and slabs, and Irad slab seats. Its successor, which was plas- tered, was considered very grand.
At the period of which we are writing, these three school-houses-viz .: at Kiester's, Laurel- ton and Hartleton-were the only ones within the broad limits of Hartley township. At a later period, but prior to the adoption by the people of the common school law, other houses were erected by subscriptions taken in their re- spretive neighborhoods, viz .: one on land of John Brown (now Bowersox), where there is still a school-house; one near to where the present school-house stands, along the Penn's Creek road, on land then belonging to Robert Shippen ; one on the turnpike below Hartleton, on Reish's land ; one on the north side of the turnpike, west of Hartman's, and on the site now occupied by the school-house removed from Laurelton in 1884; one near Swengle Station, which still remains, and retains its old appella- tion of the " brick school-house." All of these houses, except the last-named, were built of hewn logs, and have long since been demolish- ed.
Among the teachers who taught in these houses were John Highly, - Mclaughlin, -- Hart, William Robeson, - Weiser, Breyfogle, - Cunningham, Joseph Gadding, Joel Hamor (who subsequently tanghit in Mifflinburg), Charles Mann, William Ged- des, Daniel Mizener, now, and for many years, a minister of the Methodist Church.
FREE SCHOOLS .- The amendment of 1836 to the school law required a vote to be taken annually in non-accepting school districts, npon the question of schools or no schools; and the vote of the township was uniformly for no
schools, until the spring of 1812, when schools carried the day by a small majority. On the 2d day of April, A.D. 1812, the first school board of Hartley township met, organized and made arrangements for building additional school- houses and putting the " free" schools into op- eration. That first board consisted of Solomon Knauss, Melchior Smith, John Spigelnyer, Henry Roush, Alexander B. Cummings and John Smith, the last of whom is still living. The board bought the "white" and "brick " school-houses, which were the only ones worthy of the name in the territory, and awarded con- tracts for the building of ten new school-houses, as follows :
Near John Brown's; William Young, contractor; cost, $187.50.
Near Berlin Iron-Works; G. & H. Roush, contrac- tors; cost, $188.
West Hartleton ; William Young, contractor ; cost, $190.
East Hartleton, Elias Tees, contractor ; cost, $180. On pike west of John Diehl's; G. & H. Roush, contractors; cost, $184.
Upper End, now "Tight End;" G. & H. Roush, contractors ; cost, $188.
Near Orwig's mill ; Elias Tees, contractor; cost, $188.
On Penn's Creek, near Boop's; Elias Tees, con- tractor; cost, $165.
Laurel Run, now Laurelton; Elias Tees, contrac- tor; cost, $190.
On turnpike near Reish's ; Elias Tees, contractor ; cost, $190.
Of these ten houses built in 1842, only three are in existence, viz. : the one in "Tight End " and the one "on Penn's Creek, near Boop's," both of which, after having been remodeled, are still used, and the third one, "on the turnpike, west of John Diehl's," which is owned by the Evangelical Association, and is used as a place for religious worship.
At a meeting of the school directors, held December 10, 1842, on examination for teach- ers, certificates were granted to Daniel C. Wilt, Henry W. Crotzer, Jacob Weirich, Richard V. B. Lincoln, Christian Breyman, James Mad- den and William Geddes.
All of the above-named applicants for schools were employed, along with others em- ployed at a subsequent meeting, whose names do not appear on the minutes. At the end of the
-
1386
JUNIATA AND SUSQUEHANNA VALLEYS IN PENNSYLVANIA.
first year of operations nuder the common-school system (1812) we find the following statistics :
Whole number of schools, 12; whole number of months tangbt, 3; whole number of pupils, 180; re- ceived from State appropriation, $2881.56; received from collector of school tax, $275.31; cost of school houses, $2250.12. The school tax levied for 1812 was $292.19; the school tas levied for 1813, $30.68 ; the school tax levied for fS.H, $361.50.
Various supplements to the original school law of 1831 provided that all undrawn ap- propriations due to the several districts should remain in the treasury of the State and accu- mulate for the use of the district entitled to the same, for a certain specified time, which time was extended by joint resolution of the Legis- lature from time to time. It thus came to pass that when Hartley adopted the common-school system she drew from the State treasury a sum of money more than sufficient to pay for the twelve school-houses erected. In 1818 the school tax of Hartley, which then included Lewis and Hartleton, amounted to the paltry sum of $330.68. In 1883, forty years after- wards, the school tax of Hartley alone (Hartle- ton and Lewis being each a separate school district and having a school tax of their own) amounted to $1650.96, with an additional tax for building of $607.96.
In 1851 an additional school-house was built ucar Halfpenny's factory, to relieve the over- crowded school at Laurelton, and to better accommodate the large number of children at the factory. In 1866 the factory was burned and not rebuilt, but the house continued to be used for school purposes until, in 1884, a new school-house was erected in the village of Lan- elton, with two school-rooms, into one of which all the pupils of the township of a certain grade of scholarship are entitled to admission. The old Lanrelton school-house was removed to the turnpike, rebuilt and remodeled, and the house at Bower's abandoned and sold.
When Lewis township was taken from Hart- ley, in 1857, the line between the two townships was run through the middle of what was called Brown's school-house, thus leaving the school in both town-hips. For two years, until 1867, the school at that house was supported by both townships. In 1867 the board of Hartley si-
rendered to the Lewis board all control of the school-house and built a new house on the Penn's Creek road, immediately west of the line of R. V. B. Lincoln's farm. In 1858 the borongh of Hartleton was separated from the township and became an independent school district, with two schools, to which a large number of the pupils of Hartley were sent, the township paying to the borough the cost of their instruction. This ar- rangement proved unsatisfactory, and a remedy was found in the erection of a new school-house near Henry Vanatta's, called " Pine Grove." This house was built in 1866. There are now in the township seven school-houses, one of them a fine brick buikling, with two school- rooms, the other's of wood, weather-boarded and painted and all in good condition.
R. V. B. Lincoln, Esq., is the Nestor among school directors, being now in the twenty-fomth year of his service in that capacity, but not for that number of years conseentively. During the school year ending on the first Monday of June, 1885, there were four hundred and thir- teen pupils instructed in the eight schools of the township.
A benevolent citizen of Hartley, named John Brown, who died in 1846, the owner of a small farm (the one now owned by Abraham Bower- sox), and who had no lineal heirs, in his last will and testament made the following bequest : "I give and bequeath the one-fourth of my estate for the benefit of the school-house on the east line of my farm, commonly called Brown's school-house; the said one-fourth of my estate shall remain a lien on my estate for the term of twenty years, during which time the interest shall be paid to the trustees of said school- house, who shall apply the same in a Christian- like manner. At the expiration of said twenty years the principal shall be paid to the then trustees, who shall apply the same to church or school purposes wherever the majority of the school district shall choose." After several years of delay, on account of there being no person legally authorized to receive the annal interest on the above-mentioned bequest, an act of Arembly was passed authorizing the Court of Common Pleas of I'nion County to appoint a trister to receive and apply the bequiet.
1387
UNION COUNTY.
In pursuance of authority, the court in 1859, appointed Richard V. B. Lincoln the trustee, and with the interest of the bequest the trustee had three months of summer school taught atmually at the school-house, in addition to the regular term of the public school. A few years after the bequest became available, and while the school at Brown's was supported jointly by the two townships of Hartley and Lewis, an application was made to the court by citizens of the two townships residing in the territory contiguous to the school-house to form an in- dependent school district at that place. The court appointed viewers, who examined the circumstances of the case, and reported unani- mously in favor of the erection of the proposed independent school district of Brown. But the pople of those portions of the townships outside of the proposed district protested, and the court refused to confirm the report of the viewers.
At the expiration of the twenty years mentioned in the will of Brown, and when the principal of the bequest had become due, a meeting of those entitled to vote on the question was held, and they all, with the exception of tour, voted that the money should be applied to church purposes ; and at another meeting held subsequently the majority voted it for an Evangelical Church at Millmont. The money was paid by the trustee of the fund to the proper church authorities, and formed the uncleus of the fund from which the neat little brick church at Millmont was built.
Thus the money bequeathed by John Brown " for the benefit of the school-house on the cast liue of his farm " has been lost for educational purposes, and with its loss the intended bene- factions of the benevolent testator will soon be forgotten.
RELIGIOUS. The carly settlers mostly came from places where religious worship had re- cvived a due share of attention, and it is fair to presume that in their new homes the pioneers would not entirely forget their religious duties. A church was built in 1814 on the hill east of Laurel Run near the spot on which the Lutheran Church now stands. This structure was built of logs, " chinked and danbed," with a small log stable adjacent in which to feed and
shelter the parson's horse. The land was do- nated by John Glover, Sr., for the use of all Protestant denominations ; but no deed had been given ; so, when the old church was aban- doned and a new church was about to be built, John Glover, Est., who then owned the land, made a deed for it to the Lutheran and Re- formed congregations, by whose efforts the new structure was being built. In 1842 the second church was built, and dedicated October 29, 1812. It was a two-storied brick building, with galleries around three sides, and an eleva- ted pulpit in which the preacher was perched, according to the style then in vogue. The Rev- erend J. H. Fries was the first pastor of the Reformed congregation ; he served them for a member of years, and was succeeded by Bass- ler, Harman, Ephraim Kieffer, John C. Bucher, Weisz, Rittenhouse and George E. Addams. During the pastorate of Mr. Addams the Re- formed congregation bought a lot of Mr. Bery- man and built a neat little wooden church thereon, which was dedicated in the fall of 1875. Mr. A. C. Whitmer succeeded Mr. Addams in the pastorate, and still continues to administer to the spiritual wants of the congre- gation. The Reformed congregation at Lanrel- ton, has usually, if not always been served by the pastor resident at Mifflinburg.
LUTHERAN -- J. G. Heim was the first shepherd of the Lutheran flock ; he was succeeded by J. G. Anspach, who served them from 1831 to 18.10 ; succeeded by J. P. Shindel, M. J. Alle- man, Fred. Ruthraulf, Daniel Klose, - Salım, W. C. MeCool, Charles Schnure, M. L. Furst and --- Finkle, the present pastor. During the pastorate of Mr. MeCool the Lutheran con- gregation bought the interest of the Reformed congregation in the old brick building, tore it down and built the present brick structure; this was done in the year 1876.
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.