History of the Beech Creek Area of Clinton County, Pennsylvania, Part 12

Author: Harry A and Vera A Lingle
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USA > Pennsylvania > Clinton County > Beech Creek > History of the Beech Creek Area of Clinton County, Pennsylvania > Part 12


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


In 1870 William Rupert was officially listed as a carpenter. By 1875 he became sufficiently interested in the field of cabinet making to enter the coffin manufacturing business. In a historical publication of 1875 he was listed as the local undertaker. However by 1880 he had redirected his woodworking talents toward wagon making as noted in an earlier chapter of this story. Our early undertakers, it should be pointed out, were primarily cabinet makers who specialized in coffins. Prior to Mr. Rupert's brief stint in undertaking, and for the sixty-five following years, we were without a local undertaker.


In an earlier chapter mention was made of the already high number of men employed by the local brick plant at the time of its eighth year of operation in 1909. These figures were obtained from an unofficial sur- vey of our town prepared, perhaps, by a telephone company. At that time two telephone companies, Bell and Commercial, were competing for local subscribers. The Commercial company, which established a local exchange, was already in the lead, and eventually won out, but not until the 1920's. During the intervening years some local sub- scribers had both Bell and Commercial connections. In 1909 twelve local men, each of whom is identified in a previous chapter, were employed by our two railroads as telegraph operators. Such a high number leads one to assume that a number of these operators were employed at towers and stations at other points. Then, too, some may have been trainees. The one noticeable statistic in the 1909 survey in- dicates the decline that was taking place in the number of persons employed in lumber production. When the official census records for the 1910 enumeration are eventually released they should closely con- form to the data contained herein.


Fleming P. Trexler, long-time local shoemaker and outstanding citizen, was known for his tenor singing voice. He was often called upon to sing a particular song, that was not only his favorite but also the favorite of audiences - Tenting on the Old Camp Ground. Flem was still a young boy when his family came here from Jersey Shore. Some


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time after he closed his cobbler shop Michael Salvia of Lock Haven opened a shoe repair shop in the small building on Main Street, where Clarence Rossman had maintained an office for insurance sales and local tax collection. Mr. Salvia arrived daily on the morning train, car- rying a basket that contained enough food for two meals. He departed each evening on the night train.


As previously stated the National census records for the year 1890 were destroyed by fire. However, in that same year a special census of Civil War veterans, or their surviving spouses, was completed. This enumeration revealed each soldier's rank, branch of service, regiment and company, and included the enlistment and discharge dates. The following from our area were listed: Joseph Bitner, Joseph Brady, Wil- liam A. Bridgens, William T. Buck, Margaret Bullock (widow of Wil- liam C.), Nelson Caldwell, John Cook, James Riley DeHaas, John C. DeLong, William J. Eyer, James A. Falls, John E. Gummo, James Harleman, John S. Harleman, Enoch W. Hastings, Joseph Heverly, Peter Hoffman, Uriah Kitchen, Daniel Leyden, Francis Mills Linn, James A. Linn, Joseph M. Linn, John D. Lyons, Campbell McCloskey, John C. McGhee, Carpenter Miller, William Montgomery, James B. Moore, Samuel Mortimer, John Myers, Joseph Myers, Michael Myers, George W. Packer, George W. Searle, John A. Smith, Michael G. Stahl, Mary E. Swartz (widow of Henry E.), Joseph E. Tibbins, Fleming P. Trexler, William Waite, Edward Williams and William J. Wilson. Several of these men served more than one enlistment. Not included, of course, were our soldiers who did not return. They are named in an earlier chapter of this story. Records indicate that the following local


This house on Main Street was built by John McGhee in 1854.


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men also served in the Union Army, but were not living here in 1890: Henry Bollinger, Samuel Bowman, Sylvester Brady, William Calderwood, William Crispen, Henry Kirk Graham, Thomas Harleman, William Huff, William C. Miller, Andrew Myers, Emanuel Nestlerode, James Nestlerode and James A. Quigley.


It has been mentioned that, in addition to long standing family names and bible names, many newborns received the names of local doctors, ministers, etc. Daniel Dobbins Gunsallus, born around 1822, and generally known as Dobbin, was one of a number of babies named for Dr. Daniel Dobbins of Bellefonte. Mr. Gunsallus, the son of Wesley and the grandson of Revolutionary War soldier, Richard Gunsallus, lived in our township for a period following his marriage to Nancy Confer. The Daniel Dobbin name became quite popular among Nancy's Confer kin for at least the next one hundred years. It is remembered that the late Daniel Dobbin Confer was severely injured during the sneaky Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. His wife, Betty, the daughter of Lloyd and Mary (Uhl) Bechdel, was born here. Another doctor to whom many area residents owed their name was Dr. Ira D. Canfield, who had begun his very successful career at Jacksonville. This doctor later moved his practice to Clinton County, where on September 3, 1867, at age 63, he was drowned in the Susquehanna River.


At one time it was quite customary to clip and preserve a lock of hair from a deceased loved-one. In those days preparation for burial fell upon the deceased person's relatives and friends. However, assistance was often obtained from the one or more persons in the neighborhood familiar with the task. This procedure easily allowed for the clipping of a favorite lock. Saved over the years and currently in possession of the authors of this story are three such locks. They are sealed in envelopes and identified as being from the following: Girard Bitner, son of Abraham and Mary (Leathers) Bitner, who died in 1852 at age twenty; James Leathers, son of John and Barbara (Bitner) Leathers, who died in 1860 at age twenty-three; and Andrew Brady, son of James and Mary (Locke) Brady, who died in 1859 at age twenty-two. The ages of these three may be an indication that the custom prevailed particularly when someone died prematurely. James Leathers was a younger brother of John Bitner Leathers, the Mt. Eagle potter, whose crocks have become a highly-priced collectors' item.


In the late 1920's Griffith's 5 and 10 cent store in Lock Haven, an- nounced that it was discontinuing business. Sheldon C. "Shed" Mckean, thereupon, purchased the entire stock of that store. Following a quick renovation of the vacant room adjoining his pool hall, and the purchase of supplemental merchandise, Mr. Mckean opened


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Mckean's Variety Store which employed two sales girls. The grand opening featured background music provided by a phonograph. An out- door sign advertised "Notions, Novelties and Necessities" in a price range of 5 cents to 25 cents. Today's residents are hard pressed to recall just how long this store was continued.


For a number of years Fairview Street in our town was nicknamed "Laudenum" Street. The nickname became so popular that it was as- sumed by many younger people to be the real name. This name had been applied because a certain widow (name withheld) in that part of town was known for her constant use of the laudenum drug.


On the evening of November 8, 1980 the home of Robert and Yvonne (Wohlfert) Boob on Harrison Street was gutted by fire of unknown origin. This house is located on the inside of the sharp turn where Har- rison Street leads to Water Street. Early maps show that in 1862 this was the location of George W. Sterling's residence and tailor shop. Mr. Boob is a grandson of Elmer Young, a long-time resident of our township, who lived to age ninety-seven. The interior and roof of the home of William T. Kessinger on Main Street were very extensively damaged by fire on the evening of December 16, 1980. This house, built in the 1870's by Jesse S. and Blanche (Owens) Hall, was occupied for more than fifty years by the Hall family.


In December 1980 considerable newspaper publicity was given to "Onward Victoria," a current Broadway musical depicting the life of Victoria (Claflin) Woodhull, whose family is mentioned in an earlier chapter of this story as having lived in Beech Creek. It was stated that Victoria was born in Home, Ohio in 1838. Her birth year is a clear in- dication that she was not born here as had been thought by some. Hav- ing left here about 1830 her family was likely one of a number of families that moved from here to Ohio around that time. William B. Collins, the Philadelphia Inquirer's theater critic, not quite satisfied with the Broadway production, wrote that Victoria was "A promising subject for a musical of walloping impact, which 'Onward Victoria' is not."


An automobile repair business, specializing in body work, was recently opened by John Gundlach, a son of Jack and Pauline (Hawkins) Gundlach. The shop is located just beyond the entrance of the mountain road that leads to Renovo. This portion of the road, along the side of the mountain, was originally built to serve as a roadbed for the dinkey train that hauled clay from Wynn's mine to the local brick plant. It had been closed and fenced off for many years with only a path for pedestrians. In the 1930's it was widened and graded by Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) members of the Salt Lick camp beyond Monument.


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Many of the early histories of Central Pennsylvania areas mention David Lewis, who was a notorious, although a Robin Hood type, rob- ber. It is not known if Lewis, who was aided by his partner, Connelly, committed any of his acts within our area. However, it is known that he was a son of Lewis Lewis, a highly regarded surveyor, who had worked here with Charles Lukens as early as 1775. After the death of Lewis Lewis his widow, Jane (Dill) Lewis, became the second wife of Frederick Leathers, the great, great, great, great grandfather of the authors of this story. Following Frederick's death in the Mt. Eagle area in 1796, his will (Mifflin County Will Book I, p. 105) was contested by his seven children. Jane was accused of tampering. After eluding many a posse David Lewis and Connelly were finally captured amidst gunfire near Sinnemahoning in late June, 1820. While being transported to Bellefonte Connelly, who had been critically wounded, died at Great Island (Lock Haven), and was buried there. Lewis, who refused am- putation of a badly wounded arm, died of gangrene in the Bellefonte jail several weeks later, and was buried at Milesburg. The many stories regarding Lewis usually noted that his brothers and sisters were highly respected citizens of Centre County. The Lower Paxton Township bicentennial book of 1967 lists some of the activities of Lewis in Dauphin County, and stresses that he robbed the rich and divided his plunder with the poor. Later in 1820 Lewis was posthumously pardoned of his crimes by Governor Findlay.


Late in 1980 J. Filmore Miller, who, with his wife Catherine, lives east of town at the crest of Bickel's Hill, received some deserving publicity. Mr. Miller, a retiree of the local Armstrong plant and more


Q Who was the first woman to run for president of the United States? A Victoria Claflin Woodhull was nominated for the presidency by the National Woman's Suffrage Association in 1872. Her platform supported free love, abolition of the death penalty, excess- profits taxes, better public housing, birth control and easier divorce laws. The first woman member of the House of Represen- tatives, Jeanette Rankin of Wyoming, was elected in 1916, four years before the en- actment of nationwide women's suffrage. In 1932, Hattie Caraway of Arkansas became the first woman elected to the Senate, though 10 years earlier a woman, Rebecca Latimer Felton of Georgia, had been appointed a senator.


VICTORIA WOODHULL: Free love lost.


Victoria's family lived in Beech Creek in the 1820's.


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recently an employee of Spotts store, makes wooden toys for free dis- tribution to needy children at Christmas time. Working through the Salvation Army "Fil" is always assured that each toy reaches a very ap- preciative youngster.


The authors take this opportunity to thank all those persons who provided pictures and material for this book. The efforts of Joseph M. DeHaas in this regard were especially gratifying. Tribute is paid to the late Mae (McCarthy) Miller for the memories she shared in her latter years.


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