History of the counties of McKean, Elk, Cameron and Potter, Pennsylvania, with biographical selections; including their early settlement and development; a description of the historic and interesting localities; sketches of their cities, towns and villages biographies of representative citizens; outline history of Pennsylvania; statistics, Part 131

Author: Leeson, M. A. (Michael A.) comp. cn; J.H. Beers & Co., pub
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Chicago, J. H. Beers & Co.
Number of Pages: 1320

USA > Pennsylvania > McKean County > History of the counties of McKean, Elk, Cameron and Potter, Pennsylvania, with biographical selections; including their early settlement and development; a description of the historic and interesting localities; sketches of their cities, towns and villages biographies of representative citizens; outline history of Pennsylvania; statistics > Part 131
USA > Pennsylvania > Potter County > History of the counties of McKean, Elk, Cameron and Potter, Pennsylvania, with biographical selections; including their early settlement and development; a description of the historic and interesting localities; sketches of their cities, towns and villages biographies of representative citizens; outline history of Pennsylvania; statistics > Part 131
USA > Pennsylvania > Elk County > History of the counties of McKean, Elk, Cameron and Potter, Pennsylvania, with biographical selections; including their early settlement and development; a description of the historic and interesting localities; sketches of their cities, towns and villages biographies of representative citizens; outline history of Pennsylvania; statistics > Part 131
USA > Pennsylvania > Cameron County > History of the counties of McKean, Elk, Cameron and Potter, Pennsylvania, with biographical selections; including their early settlement and development; a description of the historic and interesting localities; sketches of their cities, towns and villages biographies of representative citizens; outline history of Pennsylvania; statistics > Part 131

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).

*Died after the war. +Killed, or died in Andersonville, or died on the field.

1038

HISTORY OF POTTER COUNTY.

ney resigned on account of disability, but held his rank, and was attached to Gen. Foster's staff from November 27, 1862, to February, 1864, when he was sent on detached service to Roanoke, Va., shipping store, and thus escaped the Plymouth catastrophe. In June, that year, he was discharged after nearly three years' service. The captain was the organizer of this company, beginning enlist- ment immediately after the first Bull Run, under commission of Gov. Morgan, of New York. Col. Davis, who organized the regiment, resided over the State line, and won to his standard many residents of northern Potter county. Zal- mon Barnes, now residing near Honeoye, was in Company C, with S. J. White; Boyce Kinney served in the 2d Iowa Cavalry, died after the war; Alanson T. Kinney served two years in the 85th New York Infantry, and was commissioned captain of Company F, 210th P. V. I.

In the foregoing record the great majority of soldiers from this county find mention, others are named in the sketches of Grand Army Posts through- out the county, while other names of men who died on the field or after the war, not given previously, are perpetuated on the monolith at Coudersport: Charles Heffrecht, M. Fretzer, F. Schultheis, Jacob Braun and Dan Boligh, of Abbot; D. H. Judd, A. I. Nelson, John Ross, J. J. Burd, Geo. Cole, Henry and George Byam, W. Rogers, Perry Brown, Wm. James, A. Hatch, J. D. Burd, C. Bunnell, H. Smith and Darius Brown, of Allegheny; Allen Bennett, L. H. Merrick, W. N. Howe, G. M. Perry, John Graham, E. Kile, V. C. Merrick, Levi Hann. Abram Williams, C. C. Crum, Calvin Morris and W. W. Eddy, of Bingham; John Staysa, D. S. Morey, H. Smith, O. S. Chandler, Geo. Wakely and Uriah Robinson, of Clara; B. F. Stebbins and Asa Toombs, of Coudersport; Wm. McCarn, R. C. Cannon, Loren Haggedorn, Sam Schofield, Uriah Glace, Lorentus Cole and Frank Crook, of Eulalia; John Amedon, Denis Clancy, J. M. Barlow, Roger Rooney, Ira Downs, John V. Plants and Matthew Roach, of Genesee; John Blackman, Ransom Fessenden. C. H. Hydorn, G. W. and Lewis Higley, F. Davis, L. J. Clark, A. W. Estes, Burdsell Harris, Geo. W. Luce, Martin White, Edward Bickford, Almeron G. Burdick, M. Monroe, N. Campbell, H. Hollenbeck, Wm. Van Wickle, John Phillips, S. B. Finch, E. Vanwegen and Henry Ingram, of Hebron; A. Leach, Thomas, John and Rook Wilkinson, Warren and Joshua Owen, J. Abbott, James Brooks, W. W. Little, Francis Surdam, H. Button, J. Persing, O. Sunderlin, S. L. Loucks, Samuel Rogers, A. Martin and Sylvester Burdick, of Hector; Wm. B. Ayers, A. M. Cheeseboro, H. Hadley and G. C. Rossiter, of Homer; John A. Thomas, John Springer, John Harrison, James Colton, Geo. Kennedy, Geo. and Levi Ellis, A. and Burt Palmatier, Wm. H. Raymond, Menassa Courtwright; Geo. Kibbe, Samuel Stone, R. Springer, Leonard Will- iams, L. Fletcher, Geo. Morgan, Wm. Corsting, Peter Van Sickles and Cady, of Harrison; Geo. Haight, of Jackson; Joe A. Dingee, of Keating; J. R. and Henry M. Munson, Benjamin R. and Nathan A. Goff, J. D. Barger, J. P. Miller, W. Hyatt, Jonathan Oles, Henry Snath, Orson Kenyon, John Brizzee, C. M. Cole, Ed. Morley, W. W. Robbins, A. B. Harris, James Bad- ger, Edgar Furman, Milton Merwin, Silas Andrus and Geo. K. Hodge, Jr., of Oswayo; E. A. Kilbourne, Walter S. and Sam D. Youngs, C. McCumber, Geo, W. Howd, James Alvord, W. B. Trask and Hiram Wilcox, of Pike; Henry McDowell, A. Eastwood, John and Philip Haynes, of Pleasant Valley ; Stephen Redson, of Summit; J. N. H. Bell and Gottlieb Hundredmark, of Sweden; M. B. Carson, James Logue and Geo. Cooper, of Sylvania; John S. Hulbert, C. Terrett, Cyrus Warner, Henry Maddison, Robert Bessy, Wm. Hitchcock, Geo. Wakeley, Henry Carpenter, Ed Burslem, John Haynes, W. S.

1039

HISTORY OF POTTER COUNTY,

Coats, Marvin Corwin (of Sickles' brigade, killed at Cedar mountain), Roscoe Warner, W. H. Hanyan, L. A. Wood, J. B. Perry, C. Christman. Monroe Barnes, John Hay, John Tompkins, Hosea Perrin, Nicholas Bradley and John Covert, of Sharon; John Jordan, Jr., Dan Courtwright, Horace Taylor. Wm. Horton, Thomas Logue, George Cooper, Brewster Foster, Chris Corwine and Warren Mahon, of Wharton; O. A. Lewis, A. Byam, Abram Close, D. Whip- ple, Jr., O. Johnson, R. Calhoun, Edward, Melville and Nathan Torrey, Nel- son Labar. James Haddock, Russell Perkins, Eph. E. Howe and A. Van- Gelder, of Ulysses; W. W. Wetmore, of West Branch; W. R. Pomeroy, John Maltby, J. Tompkins, F. Reed, George Barr, L. A. Fisher, M. Weimer, Riley Pomeroy, Almeron Lyman, John McDowell, Angelo Cropsey and Gardner Shel- don, of Roulette; C. Knickerbocker and James Thurston, of Stewardson.

MISCELLANEOUS.

The first soldiers' memorial service was held at Coudersport May 31, 1876. The question of erecting a monument was discussed so early as September 20, 1869, but the column was not raised until December 20, 1874. It bears the names of 318 soldiers who died in battle or from the effects of war-all, with a few exceptions, belonging to Roulette township, who had passed away prior to that time pending mention. In April, 1887, the statue of a soldier was placed upon the shaft, and the ceremony of unveiling performed June 8.

Soldiers of foreign and Pennsylvania commands, now belonging to the G. A. R. Post at Oswayo, who were not charter members of that post, are W. Pal- mer, 109th N. Y. ; A. W. Lee, 189th N. Y. ; Michael Hamer, 1st Pennsylvania Artillery; Perry Wilcox, 71st New York; C. Seriber, 104th New York; John Morley, 3d New York Artillery; Frank Rowlee, New York Light Artillery; John Rooney, Dennis McGinnis, S. M. Bly, Bryan McGinnis and Patrick Clark, 170th New York; John Carney, 13th Ohio Infantry; I. Whitter, 64th New York; J. R. Higby, 72d New York; W. H. Sherwood, 76th Pennsylvania; James S. Barnes, 184th Pennsylvania; F. S. Gillett, 94th New York; A. C. Sturdevant, 207th Pennsylvania; J. M. Buchanan, 64th New York; Eugene Colegrove, 161st New York; R. Swift, 136th New York; J. C. Hollett. 179th New York; B. F. Lyman, 16th Pennsylvania Cavalry; A. P. Vanghn, 130th New York; L. Lowton, 93d Pennsylvania; W. Miller, 4th Artillery.

The county was still in its wilderness state when the devoted patriots of older counties were engaged in making those solid foundations on which the Republic rests. In later years some of the very men who took part in that struggle of patriotism against tyranny settled here, and later, before the echoes of Perry's victorious cannon on Lake Erie died away, others made their homes here. The widow of Thomas Ryan, a soldier of the Revolution, died at her son's house in Genesee township, in April, 1857, aged ninety years. Stephen Taylor, a soldier of 1812, died at Neri Taylor's house in 1878, aged eighty-two years. Mrs. Ruth Gibbs, who died in Sharon in June. 1888, was the widow of a soldier of 1812, and an old resident of Potter county. The old soldier is buried at Sharon Centre. Sons and danghters of heroes of the Revolution selected the wilds of Potter county for homes, and as related in the pages devoted to biography, children, grandchildren and great-grand- children of Revolutionary sires dwell here to-day, enjoying the liberty which their predecessors won for them.

1040

HISTORY OF POTTER COUNTY.

CHAPTER VIII.

RAILROADS-AGRICULTURAL-STATISTICAL.

RAILROADS-PROJECTED AND COMPLETED RAILROADS - FIRST PASSENGER TRAIN-ESTABLISHMENT OF RAILWAY MAIL SERVICE.

AGRICULTURAL-SOCIETY-RESULTS OF NOT WORKING IN HARMONY.

STATISTICAL-STATISTICS OF POPULATION-VALUATION-RECEIPTS AND EX- PENDITURES.

RAILROADS.

B ENJAMIN REYNOLDS, in 1837-38, assisted the surveyors in running their lines for the proposed railroad up the Allegheny, across the divide and down Pine creek. The enterprise was a just one, but owing to the wild character of the country and the difficulty of obtaining men, even for the survey, the project was abandoned. The surveyors tried many routes, even going down the Allegheny portage and again crossing Bunker Hill. Mr. Reynolds, after half a century, remembers Miller, the chart man, Fitzgerald, the man of levels, and Powers, of the transit.

The Jersey Shore, Pine Creek & State Line Railroad Co. was chartered in 1856, but little was done toward the construction of the line. In 1864 Francis Hughes presided over the revived company, the route was surveyed, and a full effort made to obtain a bonus from the farmers and others along the line, but the enterprise again collapsed. In 1870 the name was merged into the J. S., P. C. & B. R. R., and Sobieski Ross elected president. Under him the road bed was perfected to within four miles of Coudersport; but the Reading Railroad Company, the new helpers of the scheme, became em- barrassed, and the officers of the reorganized Reading did not look with favor on expenditures in this diretion, so that in 1876 work ceased. In 1877 Judge Ross died, when John S. Ross succeeded him as president, and served until 1881, when Gen. George Magee, representing a new company, took control. and sold the right of way between Coudersport and Port Allegany to the Coudersport & Port Allegany Railroad Company. John S. Ross died December 14, 1882.

In 1881 citizens of Coudersport and Olean, headed by A. G. Olmsted and F. W. Knox, negotiated for the purchase of right of way and grading, with the railroad men, represented by Gen. George Magee, of the J. S., P. C. & B. R. R., from Coudersport to Port Allegany-seventeen miles. The right was bought, with the proviso that Magee could have it back any time after ten years, by paying back to the stockholders all moneys expended by them in fitting and equipping the road. The organization at first (1881) was named Coudersport & Olean Railroad, but in 1882 the name was changed to the Coudersport & Port Allegany Railroad. The capital stock, $150,000, was divided into 1,500 shares at $100 each. Eight directors were chosen: F. W. Knox (president); A. G. Olmsted and Isaac Benson, of Coudersport; F. H. Root, of Buffalo; A. M. Benton, of Port Allegany; B. D. Hamlin, of Smethport; C. S. Cary and C. N. B. Barse, of Olean, and F. H. Arnold, of Port Allegany. B. A. McClure was appointed superintendent. On September 26, 1882, the first passenger train passed over the road.

1041

HISTORY OF POTTER COUNTY.

The officers of the Coudersport & Port Allegany Railroad at present are F. W. Knox, president; C. S. Cary, of Olean, vice-president; A. B. Mann, secretary ; M. W. Barse, of Olean, treasurer, and B. A. McClure, general superintendent. In December, 18SS, the question of adopting the standard gauge was looked on favorably, and this work was commenced April 1, 1889, under Mr. McClure's supervision, and in July the cars were run over the broad gange road. The length of the road is seventeen miles. The freight carried in 1888 amounted to 30,848 tons, 11,250 being local freight, and the number of passengers carried was 21,924. It is now (March, 1890) stated upon author- ity that this road will extend their line to Lymansville, thence to Sweden Val- ley and beyond.

The officers of the Coudersport & Port Allegany Railroad elected in Jan- uary, 1890, are F. W. Knox, president; C. S. Cary, vice- president; M. W. Barse, treasurer; B. A. MeClure, superintendent; A. B. Mann, secretary: A. G. Olmsted, F. H. Root, B. D. Hamlin, C. S. Cary, Isaac Benson, F. H. Arnold, W. K. Jones and James L. Knox, directors. In March, 1890, the proposition to sell the Coudersport & Port Allegany Railroad to a New York syndicate was made. The latter propose to connect it with the Lackawanna system, or by using the roadbed already graded and bridged, via Geneva, N. Y., to connect with the New York Central. The Coudersport & Port Allegany road is to be extended south forty miles to Ansonia, to connect with the Reading system, or to Weedsport, to connect with the Pennsylvania system.

In May, 1883, a gang of laborers entered on the work of grading the Cou- dersport & Gaines Railroad, but an injunction by the S. L., B. & P. C. R. R. Co. ended the matter. The Cowanesque branch to Harrison Valley was begun in April, 1883, and completed that year to the east end of the village, and is now being constructed to Mills. The survey of the proposed ex- tension of the C., C. & A. R. R. from Mills to Lewisville, made in July, 1883, showed a grade of 100 feet per mile for three and three-fourths miles, up the Worden Summit from Mills, and of ninety-two feet per mile for four miles up the Marsh Creek Summit. In December, 1888, the railway mail service was introduced on the Fall Brook Company's railroads, the first postal car, under Fred. W. Bailey, coming in December 3.

The proposed Hornellsville, Coudersport & Lackawanna Railroad, with headquarters at Hornellsville, is a project with a promise of success. The company was organized in October, ISSS, with the following named officers: President, D. C. Larrabee: treasurer, H. J. Olmsted; secretary, C. L. Peck; directors, P. A. Stebbins, William Dent, A. B. Crowell, W. B. Perkins, F. A. Raymond, Amos Raymond, Thomas Coulston. In April, 1889, a meeting of stockholders was held at Gold to elect a president, vice D. C. Larrabee, de- ceased. The honor was conferred on N. J. Peck. The following-named officers were elected in January. 1890: N. J. Peck, president; C. L. Peck, secretary; H. J. Olmsted, treasurer; A. B. Crowell, Thomas Coulston. P. A. Stebbins, William Dent, W. B. Perkins, F. A. Raymond and Amos Raymond, directors. From a statement prepared by C. L. Peck. of Coudersport, it is learned that there is an average daily production of lumber to be reached by this road of 750,000 feet at present, which can be increased to 900,000 feet. It is safe to say that there are 5,000,000.000 feet of lumber, of which 4,500,000,000 is hem- lock. The average daily production of bark at the present time is 500 cords, which the building of this road will increase to 600 cords.

The Coudersport & West Branch Railroad Company elected N. J. and C. L. Peck to their positions as above, with A. B. Crowell, treasurer; W. B. Cutter,

1042

HISTORY OF POTTER COUNTY.

P. A. Stebbins, Thomas Coulston, W. J. Grover, F. A. Raymond, A. Carpen- ter and C. H. Armstrong, directors. A New York syndicate is said to have taken this road in hand, with the intention of building it and the Couders- port & West Branch Railroad during the coming season. Engineers were on the ground in February, 1890, preparing estimates. The same syndicate is trying to buy the Coudersport & Port Allegany Railroad, and have offered a large premium for the stock of the road.

The Wellsville, Coudersport & Pine Creek Railroad elected in February, 1890, the following named officers: John MeEwen, president; E. J. Farnum, vice-president; H. K. Opp, secretary; H. N. Lewis, secretary; Rufus Scott, attorney, and they, with G. H. Blackman, W. B. Coats and Charles Day, were directors. The stock is subscribed, and ten per cent of the amount paid, while the road is mostly graded between Wellsville (N. Y. ) and Genesee Forks (Penn. ). The contract for regrading the road-bed has been sold, and an assess- ment of ten per cent has been levied for the purchase of ties.

The Sinnemahoning Valley Railroad is completed and running from Keat- ing, in Keating township, to Costello, in Sylvania township, and is now being rapidly constructed toward Galeton, in Pike township.

In the southeast corner of the county there is a short line, known as the Slate Run Railroad, connecting Slate Run, in Lycoming county, with Black Forest, in Stewardson township, Potter county.

In Pike township is a portion of the Addison & Pennsylvania road, con- necting Gaines, in Tioga county, with Galeton; and from this line a short branch, called the Phoenix Railroad, runs to Davidge, also in Pike township.

In 1872 the building of the B., N. Y. & P. R. R., cutting through the edge of the county at Keating Summit, was begun, and was finished in November of that year.

AGRICULTURAL.

The Potter County Agricultural and Horticultural Society was organized in 1860. But one fair was held prior to the war, which broke up all further action upon the part of the society until Peace again spread her white wings over the land. April 25, 1878, W. B. Gordnier, having been appointed commissioner by the managers of the Potter County Agricultural and Horticultural Society, purchased of J. M. Spafford the grounds between Coudersport and Lymans- ville, now used for the fair grounds of this society. These grounds had here- tofore been leased by the Driving Park Association.

For a few years back a fair has been held annually at Lewisville, at the Driving Park in that borough, with a considerable degree of success. Con- nected with the fairs, both at Coudersport and Lewisville, have been the races of the driving associations. For reasons heretofore given regarding agriculture in Potter county, the fairs have not equaled those in older counties, and, owing to the little animosities and antagonisms of different portions of the county, a worthy enterprise has been injured.

STATISTICAL.

The statement of property assessed in the several townships of the county, for 1889, prepared by Commissioners' Clerk Rennells, relating to the number of taxables, total valuation and population in 1880, is given as follows:

1043

HISTORY OF POTTER COUNTY.

No. Valuation.

Population.

No.

Valuation.

Population.

Austin,

389

$ 48,071

Oswayo,

306

$ 77,226

883

Abbot,

186

148,426

623

Pike,

330

79,241

981

Allegheny,

190

80,255

672

Pleasant Valley, 101

47.445

211

Bingham,

264

89,301

832

Portage.

71,794

114

Clara,

39,150

238

Roulette,

350

81.723

648

Coudersport,

458

73,052

Sharon,

42-4

64.885

1,055

Eulalia,

224

195,318

554

Stewardson,

146,989

223

Genesee,

289

73,971

883

Sweden,

151

69,555

416

Harrison,

590

123,693

1.162

Summit.

107,879

202

Hebron,

279

69,138

835

Sylvania,

211

82,415

214

Hector,

337

90,768

958

Ulysses.

299

166,909

638

Homer.

109

73.705

189

West Branch,

154

127,816

374

Keating.

186

61.771

204

Wharton.

133

140.086

346

Lewisville.

206

33,814

365

The total number of resident tax-pavers is 6,385, and this total multiplied by 4, equals 25,540, giving a fair estimate of the number of inhabitants, while the number of voters, 4,616 multiplied by 5 gives only 23,080. The political character of the county is shown by 2,570 Republican. 1,692 Democratic, 172 Prohibition, and 182 Union Labor voters, the figures representing the vote cast for the several presidential electors in 1889. It may be said that the census of 1890 will show double the population of 1880, which was 13,797. The popu- lation of the undivided county, in 1810, was 29; in 1820, it increased to 186; in 1830, to 1,265; in 1840, to 3,371; in 1850, to 6,048; in 1860, after division, to 11,470, and in 1870, it decreased to 11,265.

The receipts and expenditures of the county of Potter, for the year ending December 31, 1888, are as follows:

RECEIPTS.

EXPENDITURES.

Paid assessor's wages

.8 1,480 15

Paid auditor's wages

208 88

Paid Agricultural Society 100 00

1887.

1,601 31

Paid bridge expenses ..

1,286 75

Received from collector, State tax for 1887, 511 44

Paid bounty and probate.

29 15

Received from collector, county tax for 1888.

6,472 23

Paid commissioners' clerk's wages

800 00

Received from collector, special tax for 1888

758 72

Paid constable's returns

355 12

Paid clerk of quarter sessions.

303 35

Paid commonwealth costs

1.466 98

Received from collector, unseated county tax for 1887 ..

8,412 12

Paid fuel for court-house and jail.

315 21

Received from collector, unseated county tax for 1888

3,547 75

Paid insane hospital bills,

911 25

Received from collector, unseated special tax for 1888.

709 40

Paid jurors (rrand ). 650 09

Paid jurors (traverse).

1,814 27

Paid jail (care of).

562 50

Received from collector, seated returned tax for 1887 ..

57 03

Paid road views. 716 00

Paid county treasurer's commission on 838,979.37, at 21 . per cent .. 974 48

Paid for printing for county.

507 50

Paid for repairs and fixtures to jail.

214 80

Paid for stationery .. 118 09

Paid stenographer's wages 253 50

Paid sheriff's costs. 301 91

Paid State tax. ..

1.349 00

Paid tipstaff and court eriers.

285 00

Paid jury commissioners' clerk

127 77

Received on bond to M. E. Olmsted for court-house repairs ..

8,000 00

Paid prisoners' board .. 387 67

Paid Pike township bridge expenses.

48 50

Paid referee bills. . .

170 00

Paid miscellaneous.

929 15

Paid for court-honse repairs and altera- tions to January 7, 1889. 14,086 03

Received from sale of brick, lumber and sundries from court-house 79 13

Received on note of T. H. Coulstou 221 52

Received from commonwealth costs and fiues ..

99 22

Received from poor districts on account of money paid Warren Hospital

1,228 84

Received from Sharon township and C. H. Cole to balance bridge account 150 00

45 07

Paid penitentiary bills

680 45

Received from collector, seated returned tax for 1888. ... 1 66

Received from money refunded by E. N. Stebbins (error in bill) ..

4 40

Received from check of O. J. Rees (error in footing bill)

Received on bond to Walter Wells for bridge purposes.

3.000 00

Received on bond to Mary E. Stebbins for court-house repairs

2,00JO 00

Paid lunacy commissioners 72 25

Received on redemption of T. U. Thomp- son's land (Stewardson township) ..... Received from Pike township order to pay commissioners' service on bridge ,

147 47

28 50

Paid commissioners' attorney for 1887 and 1888.

100 00

1,338 87

Received from collector, State tax for 1888, Received from collector, unseated county tax for 1886 ..

8,491 41

Paid election expenses.

1,823 20

Paid interest on debt.

744 03

Paid institute bill.

200 00

Received from collector, seated returned tax for 1886 ..

Paid commissioners' wages

1,865 00

Balance in treasurer's hands, by auditor's report .. 758 54

Received from collector, county tax for

1044

HISTORY OF POTTER COUNTY.

The total receipts amounted to $47,699.69, all of which was expended except $7,514.67. The estimate of receipts for 1589, including this balance, is $58,858.77; being $4,299.52 under the estimate of necessary expenditures, which includes $10,000 to apply on completing court-house, and $2,000 for county bridges.

CHAPTER IN.

EULALIA TOWNSHIP-BOROUGH OF COUDERSPORT.

EULALIA,TOWNSHIP-GENERAL TOPOGRAPHY-OIL WELLS, ETC .- POPULATION -ASSESSORS' STATISTICS-ELECTIONS IN FEBRUARY, 1890-LAYING OFF OF ROADS-EARLY TAX-PAYERS-MISCELLANEOUS.

BOROUGH OF COUDERSPORT -- SURVEY-SOME FIRST THINGS - REMINISCENCES OF MRS. MARY A. ROSS-POST-OFFICE AND POSTMASTERS-SCHOOLS, ETC .- RESIDENT TAX-PAYERS IN 1848-MUNICIPAL MATTERS-THE GERMANS-EARLY EVENTS-THE GREAT FIRE OF 1880-LUMBERING-CHURCHES-SOCIETIES, ETC .- BUSINESS.

E NULALIA TOWNSHIP, named in honor of John Keating's daughter is, marked by the picturesque canon of the Allegheny, which flows in a general course from the northeast to the southwest, through this division. The walls of the valley are mountains of Catskill, capped with Pocono sandstone or conglomerate. Immense masses of this conglom are grouped here and there, a formidable group existing just east of the Coudersport limits. Almost within the limits the grey sandstone is developed, and also on the Homer road, while southeast is the brown sandstone with its rare fossils. Up Dingman's run, 7,000 or 8,000 feet, and, in fact, in all the valleys around Coudersport, great conglomerate boulders are scattered, while on the hill tops the remnants of coal beds may be found, particularly where the mines of 1839 were opened, but the bed does not average more than fourteen inches, while on the east side of Nelson run a trial shaft was put down, ouly to find a twelve-inch vein separated by flag rock from a three-inch vein, and, of course, unprofitable to work. On the hills west of Dingman's run coal deposits have been found, but time has worn away, not only the tops of the old hills, but also the under- lying rocks, the coal beds and some of the strata on which they rested.

Mr. Sherwood, in his geological report, says: " The topographical feature of most interest in the geology of northern Pennsylvania is exhibited in this town- ship, namely: the drainage in opposite directions inward toward the anticlinal axis. This involves the striking phenomenon-nowhere better exhibited than here-of the branches of a stream all heading in broad anticlinal valleys, and breaking into a central mountain mass through gates, and flowing through the center of that mass in a common stream." In the Coudersport neighborhood, glacial moraine material shows itself, and also some peculiar detachments of rock foreign to the district. Sherwood's collections, on the road to Homer, one and three-quarter miles from Coudersport, on top of the mountain, in "Catskill grey," comprise stigmaria? stem 18" long, 23" wide; plant stems, rngose; plant stems, slender, straight, rugose; stigmaria? impressions of long narrow stems, and lepidodendron.

H. H. Dent.

1047

HISTORY OF POTTER COUNTY.

In July, 1885, the Nelson oil well, five miles west by south of Couders- port, was drilled to a depth of 1,460 feet, when thirty-five feet of oil sand was struck, and another well drilled on Dingman's run, both by Watson. In January, 1886, the 2,200-feet well at Coudersport was drilled. Joe Tait found oil in the most improbable places in Mckean county, but when he came to Potter county, fortified with his former success, he was stranded, so to speak, among the unlucky crags, and found a well so dry that it blew dust in his face. He was not contented, and grappled with another well in 1881, which proved as profitless as any of the numerous failures which marked nearly every township in the county. Jim Chambers, for the Germania Oil Company, drilled one well about eight miles from Coudersport, in 1881. This company drilled about a half a dozen wells in various parts of the county with- out success. Olmsted station, No. 2. Tide Water Pipe Co., is located three miles south of Coudersport, thirty miles from the Rixford pump station. The tornado of March 20, 1834, won from the pen of Burrel Lyman seven verses descriptive of the storm, which were published in Hiram Payne's Forester at Smethport. One verse, in particular, deals with the force of the hurricane at Lymansville thus:

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Author: Leeson, M. A. (Michael A.) comp. cn; J.H. Beers & Co., pub Publication date: 1890 Publisher: Chicago, J. H. Beers & Co. Number of Pages: 1320

Author: Leeson, M. A. (Michael A.) comp. cn; J.H. Beers & Co., pub
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Chicago, J. H. Beers & Co.
Number of Pages: 1320