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 19
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 19
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 19
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 19
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The Ceres News was issued at Ceres in 1874 by Jerry Barker. One volume was issued within fourteen months, when a humorous valedictory was issued. The disappointed editor died a poor man, at Machias. The second paper published at Ceres was the Courant, issued by J. P. Herrick in the summer of 1886. The success of this journal under Mr. Herrick is told by the fact that in May, 1889, a two-story building was completed, and opened as the office. The Oswayo Valley Mail is the new name of the Consolidated Ceres Courant and the Sharon Leader, of which Mr. Herrick is publisher. The consolidation dates to April, 1889.
The Eldred Express was issued at Eldred August 17, 1878, by Judson Howden, publisher, and A. J. Hughes, of the Reporter, owner. In September, 1879, this journal was consolidated with the present Reporter of Port Allegany.
The Eldred Eagle was issued at Eldred by A. D. Gould, August 24, 1878, as an independent journal in politics. When the Express people witnessed the failure of the Eldred oil field, they ceased their contest with the American bird, who has held the field successfully down to the present time.
The Herald was issued at Duke Centre in November, 1879, by Wellington & Carr. Other journals followed during the great oil fever at this point; but now the Auger is the only journal published. A number of small papers were issued at various oil camps since 1878, such as the Bordell Bazoo, The Driller.
The Kane Blade was published at Kane as an independent weekly news- paper by O. B. Lay, from 1879 to 1882. It was printed in Ridgway, until the fire of September, 1882, destroyed the printing office there, when the Blade suspended publication.
Kane Leader .- On July 2, 1885, Earl Bros., of Sterling and T. J. Malone, of Ridgway, formed a partnership and published the Kane Leader. Earl Bros., on March 11, 1886, sold their interest to a friend of Mr. Malone's. December 24, 1886, Mr. Malone transferred his interest to Miss Ada C. Ma- lone, who, under the name of "The Leader Publishing Company " managed the paper until May 5, 1887, when it was purchased by Eugene J. Miller. During the Prohibitory Amendment Campaign of 1889 Mr. Miller sold the paper to a Prohibitionist who desired to control it, and Miss Malone again became its publisher in 1889. The Leader is a weekly journal carefully edited, and replete with local news.
SCHOOLS.
The school history of McKean county begins in September, 1807, when John Keating, the donor of the county seat, set aside 150 acres for the sup- port of a teacher, and subscribed $500 toward a school building. A refer- ence to the transactions of the commissioners will show that for fifteen years, at least, no steps were taken to utilize this liberal grant. The first school, however, was opened at Instanter in 1809. Joseph Otto taught the second school in the county at his house. It was an eleemosynary institution, sug- gested by the ignorance and wants of the times, and, like the age, very primitive. In time the academy was established at Smethport, a few sub- scription schools were opened throughout the county, and the system of com- mon schools was adopted.
Richard Chadwick taught a school at Smethport in 1828, having constructed
8
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HISTORY OF MCKEAN COUNTY.
a frame house for that purpose in rear of the present Methodist church. Mr. Chadwick compiled an arithmetic, and had it printed at Williamsport, which was used for a number of years. The Red School-house was erected on the lot where Dr. Freeman now resides, in about 1834. Jedediah Darling, Anson and William Burlingame and Dr. Graves were among the first teachers, and to them the children of the pioneers went to be educated.
In November, 1834, the education law was in force here, Amos Patterson, Brewster Freeman and John Smith being commissioners. John Morris was delegate from Ceres; Lemuel Lucore, from Shippen; Orville Ketchum, from Keating; Ambrose Corey, from Bradford; Russell M. Freeman, from Cory- don, and Henry Scott, from Sergeant. All agreed on appropriating moneys for common schools, and levied a school tax of one mill per dollar valuation. In 1835 the delegates were Rensselaer Wright, John Chaudler, Nathaniel White, A. Corey, David Cargill and Daniel A. Esterbrooks, from the respect- ive townships, with Asa P. Barnaby, of Liberty, and Epaphas Root, of Hamil- ton. A mill tax was authorized in the face of strong opposition. In 1836 William White represented Norwich as school delegate; James Greene took Freeman's place as commissioner, and a one-half-mill tax was authorized.
The growth of the system is shown by Supt. W. P. Eckels' report on the schools of Mckean county for the year ending June 4, 1888. This document gives the following figures: 163 school-houses, or 190 rooms, 6 houses being built during the previous year; 63 male and 202 female teachers; 4,668 male and 4,360 female pupils, of whom 6,435 attended school; school tax, $93, - 599.28; State moneys, $7,212; total revenue, $117,833.53, of which the sum of $64,762.36 was paid to teachers. The total expenditures amounted to $111,514.52.
There were fifteen graded schools, and twenty-four districts in which books are supplied free. At Bradford there were five school buildings, containing thirty-two rooms. There are 1.905 pupils enrolled, presided over by thirty- three female teachers, of whom Miss Ella M. Boyce was superintendent. The Catholic separate schools, in charge of the Sisters, also claim a large attendance.
PHYSICIANS.
In 1817 Dr. Butterfield, who settled at Clermont, then called Instanter, attended, in 1818, Richard Chadwick, of Rich Valley. Dr. Coleman was a farmer and hotel keeper near the Coleman homestead. He was a very excel- lent citizen, but did not make medicine a profession.
Dr. George Darling, the first physician of the county who devoted his time to the profession, settled at Smethport in 1827-28. Dr. R. B. Graves was school-teacher and physician. Dr. W. Y. McCoy came shortly after, and mar- ried Dr. Darling's daughter, who died in 1832. She was the first person buried in the old Smethport cemetery. William Printup, a native physician of the Oneida Indians, was born during the Revolutionary war, and conse- quently was too young to share with his tribe in their removal to Canada, or death. At the time that George Loug, George Saltsman, Peter Grove and the other great frontier men were carrying on their warfare against the In- dians on the Sinnemahoning, Printup was a boy, but he remembered the two companies of Oneidas-one of twenty-five men (hunters), one of forty men (warriors)- who were still working under the British license. This Printup, with the remaining Oneidas, hunted through this district until 1845. Elihn Chadwick, Jr., was dangerously ill at Lafayette Corners, twelve miles west of Smethport, in June, 1831, and the local physicians failing to cure the sufferer,
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HISTORY OF MCKEAN COUNTY.
Printup took charge of the patient, and within ten days had him able to ride home in an ox sled, Edmund Freeman and Gideon Irons assisting.
Dr. Jedediah Darling died February 22, 1871. He was born in Massa- chusetts September 25, 1814, and came to Bunker Hill with his father in 1822. After a term of study in Dr. McCoy's office he began practice. Dr. Joshua Baxom was at Smethport prior to 1837. The house in which he lived, while being moved in 1838, careened, killing Joseph Barnes, who was assisting in the work. Dr. Jones is said to have practiced at Smethport as early as 1840; Drs. Nobles and E. C. Olds were at Littleton (Bradford), and also Goit Brown and McDougall. About this period a number of physicians, whose names are scattered throughout the sketches of townships and boroughs, were here. Dr. B. F. Cory studied in Ohio, and practiced here as early as 1844, then moved to Ironton, Ohio, in 1852, where he now resides. Dr. Wisner came here early in the "fifties," moved to Michigan after the war, where he died about 1887. Silvanus D. Freeman came in 1856, and still resides here. Henry L. McCoy came after the war. Kanistanaux, an Indian doctress, was a professional vis- itor in 1866, and also Dr. A. C. Jackson.
The Mckean County Medical Association was organized July 24, 1880, with Dr. F. M. Follett, president; Dr. Hand, vice-president; Dr. S. B. Dorn, secretary, and Dr. Murdoch, treasurer. Drs. Matteson, Buss, Dorand, Wallace and Wright, with the officers, were the constituent members. Dr. Shoemaker, of Bradford, died in 1888. Dr. S. D. Freeman, Dr. Dorn. Dr. Buss, Dr. Henry L. McCoy, have served the society as presidents.
The following is a list of the medical men who have registered in Mckean county from 1881 to 1889, inclusive:
Those who registered in 1881 were as follows:
Silvanus D. Freeman, Buffalo, 1856. Abram Mayer, Bavaria, 1866.
Edward G. Brown, Buffalo, 1875.
F. M. Follett, Buffalo, 1863.
Thomas H. Carroll, Buffalo, 1881.
G. S. Wykoff. Buffalo, 1877.
Wilfred W. Streeter, Washington, 1875. J. A. Wallace, Philadelphia, 1869.
Matthaeum M. Griffith, Philadelphia, 1867.
G. W. Weaver, Philadelphia, 1873. James L. Carnahan, Cleveland, 1874. John C. Swan, Philadelphia. 1876.
Henry Wilson, Buffalo, 1872. Joseph H. Shuey, Cleveland, 1876.
W. P. Shoemaker, Ann Arbor, 1874.
H. Scott Baker. Ann Arbor, 1855. A. R. Baker, Cleveland, 1879.
Myron A. Todd, Cleveland, 1876.
Bela E. Phelps, Buffalo, 1847. O. S. Wright, Aun Arbor, 1875.
James 'T. Kinsler, Bellevue, N. Y., 1867.
Julius Scheffer. Germany, 1865.
David E. Matteson, Cleveland. 1873.
Urban G. Mease, Philadelphia. 1867.
T. J. Martin, Philadelphia, 1878. Aug. F. McKay, Georgetown, 1872. A. F. Groves, New York, 1879. Cbester S. Hubbard, Ann Arbor, 1877. Sylvester S. Satterlee, Cleveland, 1872. Charles D. Buss, New York, 1876. G. H. Monegan, Cleveland, 1880.
W. L. Craig, -- , 1871. W. F. Conners, New York, 1880. W. H. Kinnier, Albany, 1881.
Merritt Wilcox, Philadelphia, 1866.
Horace A. Place, New York, 1878.
W. R. Dorand, Philadelphia, 1870. Thomas D. Ross. Cleveland. 1878.
Henry L. McCoy, Buffalo, 1868.
L. B. C. Phelps, Columbus, 1877. Henry A. Page, Yale, 1865. W. W. Powell, Ann Arbor, 1854.
Frank H. Murdoch, Ann Arbor, 1873.
Thomas H. Stewart, Berks, Mass, 1844.
Kay A. Sweet, Buffalo, 1880. Justin C. Elliott. Buffalo, 1851. H. A. Canfield, Ann Arbor, 1877.
James Love, Pennsylvania, 1851. Edwin A. Walter, Cleveland, 1879. G. W. Rae, Canada, 1875. G. E. Benninghoff, Cleveland, 1879.
Sidney E. Ford, Cleveland, 1878.
John D. Maloy, Buffalo, 1875. A. M. Williams, Philadelphia, 1867.
W. Robert Hand. Cincinnati, 1877. John E. McDougal. 1871. James V. Otto, Buffalo, 1878. John S. Stearns, Buffalo, 1872.
A. K. Corbin, New York, 1881. H. T. Dunbar, Cincinnati. 1876. Nathaniel Sweet. Buffalo, 1865. W. A. Hobday. Buffalo, 1881. C. H. Gumaer, Ann Arbor. 1878. Thomas E. Lewis, U. S. Cert., 1863. Albert H. Smith, Buffalo, 1865. Fred C. Cluxton, Canada, 1870.
Luther Phillips, Cincinnati. 1856. W. C. Tracy. Boston. 1866.
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HISTORY OF MCKEAN COUNTY.
J. H. Harmon, Pennsylvania, 1869. Comfort Carpenter, Pennsylvania, 1871. Samnel G. Ginner, Pennsylvania, 1871. Sullivan B. Dorn, Pennsylvania. 1870. Charles P. Alling, Cleveland, 1862. Lyman Deck, Ann Arbor, 1878. John C. Cheeseman, Buffalo, 1865. O. W. Sadler, Chicago, 1868.
G. H. Preston, New York, 1879. Simon B. Stevens, Cincinnati, 1877. S. B. Hartman, Philadelphia, 1857. Jacob E. Kincaid, Buffalo, 1879. John R. McCarthy, Buffalo, 1866. Lewis Balfour, Edinburgh, 1871. G. H. Goltry, Buffalo, 1860.
Those who registered in 1882 were as follows:
W. Y. McCoy. Ohio, M. C., 1877.
C. H. Reed, New York, 1876.
F. W. Hogarth, Buffalo, 1868.
Thomas C. James, New York, 1874. Andrew Meisell, Anstria, 1842. Emily A. Corbin, 1868.
Those who registered in 1883 were as follows:
Jacob C. Batdorf, Columbus, 1864. James Nichols. Buffalo, 1864.
Robert J. Sharp, New York, 1883.
F. W. Johnson, -, 1883.
Elmer E. Livingstone, Buffalo, 1882. Rufus A. Egbert, Ann Arbor, 1875.
Those who registered in 1884 were as follows:
Francis H. Linning. Am. Ec., Ohio, 1881. W. H. Perdomo, New York, 1882.
E. O. Anderson, Philadelphia, 1880. S. S. Herman, Buffalo, 1884.
Evanum O. Kane, Jefferson College, 1884. Henry J. Nichols, Buffalo, 1882.
Ed. Van Scoy. Ec. Pennsylvania, 1872.
James Johnstou, Canada, 1884.
Those who registered in 1885 were as follows:
Erwin M. C'oss, Buffalo, 1884. John P. De Lancy. New York, 1885.
Martin E. Drake, Cleveland, 1885. J. C. F. Bush, Baltimore, 1880. Harriet A. Kane, Women's Medical Col- lege of Pennsylvania, 1885.
Those who registered in 1886 were as follows:
Gardner B. Young. New York, 1886. S. M. K. Wells, Buffalo, 1883.
Thomas L. Kane, Philadelphia, 1886. H. C. Chesney, Fort Wayne, 1883.
David Howard, McKean county, 1866. Francis E. Watts, Chicago, 1883. F. W. Winger, New York, 1886.
Those who registered in 1887 were as follows:
James M. Peebles, Philadelphia, 1876. Walter B. Ilottell, Cleveland. 1886.
W. J. Armstrong, New York, 1883. Joseph B. Colcord, Baltimore, 1885. James H. Douglass, Baltimore, 1882. Joseph Ward, Cleveland, 1885. Orra M. C'ain.
Those who registered in 1888 were as follows:
B. Chadwick, Philadelphia, 1888. Thomas Eddy, Cincinnati, 1854.
Dunham E. Ash, Ohio, 1887. C. M. Blakeslee, --- , 1859.
Those who registered in 1889 were as follows:
J. G. Taylor, -. 1864 Eli Monell, -- , 1870.
James B. Stewart, Cincinnati, 1888.
A. M. Straight, Ohio, 1871. John L. Wright, Philadelphia, 1881.
Emma Griggs, Chicago, 1888. Abigail Grace, Philadelphia, 1887.
A. Grace White, of Bradford, registered in June, 1889.
John C. Brown, Buffalo, 1889. W. J. Fredericks, Philadelphia, 1889. Walter J. Russell, Philadelphia, 1889.
William R. Gibson, August 12, 1889. Nelson Cheney, September. 5, 1889.
Elizabeth D Kane, Women's Medical Col- lege of Pennsylvania, 1883.
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HISTORY OF MCKEAN COUNTY.
CHAPTER IX.
RAILROADS.
THE KINZUA VIADUCT-THE WARREN RAILROAD CONVENTION-SUNBURY & ERIE R. R .- BUFFALO, BRADFORD & PITTSBURGH R. R .- THE TURKEY PATII -SALE OF THE WESTERN NEW YORK & PENNSYLVANIA R. R .- OLEAN. BRAD- FORD & WARREN R. R .- BRADFORD & FOSTER BROOK R. R .- THE " PEG-LEG " LINE-BRADFORD, BORDELL & KINZUA R. R .- BRADFORD, DEGOLFER & SMETH- PORT R. R .- PITTSBURGH, BRADFORD & BUFFALO RY., AND BIG LEVEL & BRADFORD R. R .- BIG LEVEL & KINZUA R. R .- BRADFORD R. R. AND KINZUA R. R .- BRADFORD & STATE LINE R R. CO .- BUFFALO DIVISION OF ROCHESTER & PITTSBURGH R. R. CO -MISCELLANEOUS.
I F variety be a recommendation to railroad systems, Mckean county is singularly well endowed. Here have been constructed roads, ranging from a single rail to a double track of six-feet gauge, and from a prairie level to a grade of 264 feet per mile. In the matter of viaducts the county is no less blessed, for every form of bridge from the common wooden culvert to the Kinzua viaduct is found. This latter structure completed September 2, 1882, may be classed as one of the world's wonders. This bridge rests on founda- tions of sandstone, quarried near by. It consists of twenty lower spans of thirty-eight and a half feet each, and twenty one intermediate spans of sixty- one feet each. The trains run 301 feet above the creek bed, and the length of the structure is 2,051 feet. The first watchman (Stafford) used to inspect three of the twenty towers every day. In the winter of 1883-84, while en- gaged in this work, the air benumbed his hands, so that he could not cling longer to the braces, and losing his grip, fell sixty-five feet into a deep snow- drift which saved him. On another occasion some one hailed him from the track, and, forgetting his location, he let go his hold and was falling from the top girts, when a friendly iron brace, within reach, saved his life. The old " Peg- Leg " Railroad, now a thing of the past, was wonderfully unique. It belonged to Bradford's infancy and for this reason is referred to historically in the sketch of that city. To-day a ride on the Bradford, Bordell & Kinzua Rail- road, is almost as exciting as a chariot-race or bull fight, and a trip from Bradford to Smethport, or south on the main line, is something at once enjoy- able and instructive. A reference to the first chapter will point out the sharp high elevations over which our engineers have carried this and other local rail- roads.
The Warren railroad convention of June, 1851, claimed Representatives O. J. Hamlin, Hiram Payne and N. W. Goodrich, of McKean county; Henry Souther, James L. Gillis and C. K. Early, of Elk county, on the executive committee. Many other citizens, however, were present as delegates. Work on the Sunbury & Erie Railroad was soon after commenced, and the comple- tion of that road through Mckean, Elk and Cameron counties in 1864 followed.
The Buffalo, Bradford & Pittsburgh Railroad from Carrollton to Gilesburg. twenty-six miles, was consolidated in 1859 with the Buffalo & Pittsburgh and the Buffalo & Bradford Railroads, and opened January 5, 1866.
The Turkey Path was proposed in 1872, and $50,000 was expended on sur-
.
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HISTORY OF MCKEAN COUNTY.
vey and right of way. Asa H. Cory was agent for purchase of right of way, and B. D. Hamlin attorney, in 1873. This road was graded through Farmers Valley by Contractors A. I. Wilcox and Capt. Murphy, who abandoned it the same year.
In April, 1881, the Western New York & Pennsylvania Railroad was sold to Archer N. Martin. This sale covered the main line, 121 miles; the Olean, Bradford & Warren Narrow Gauge (twenty-three miles of which were then built); the Kendall & Eldred Narrow Gauge (eighteen miles opened July 30, 1877); the MeKean Railroad from Larrabee, twenty-three miles up to the coal mines, together with 16,000 acres of the Buffalo Coal Company's lands. The price paid was $4,850,000, exclusive of $3,000,000 first and $1,000,000 second mortgage bonds. Sherman S. Jewett represented the old company, A. N. Martin represented the purchasing syndicate, while the city of Buffalo, owner of $700.000 stock, was also represented. The Olean, Bradford & Warren Railroad was opened in 1878 to the State line (twelve miles), and from the State line to Bradford the same year.
The Bradford & Foster Brook Railroad Company was incorporated in Octo- ber, 1877, with Col. A. I. Wilcox, president; John B. Brawley, M. N. Allen, S. H. Bradley, Roy Stone, George Gilmore and E. W. Codington, directors. The object was to build a railroad from Bradford to Gillmor City, on Foster Brook, the gange not to exceed three feet. Among the stockholders were the officers named. with C. W. Staats and T. J. Skidmore. The work of construc- tion was soon commenced, and in January, 1878, the road was opened to Tar- port, running in opposition to the Olean & Bradford Narrow Gauge, com- pleted February 11 that year. Eli Perkins, who traveled on the Peg-Leg in February, 1878, describes the road as follows:
The cars run astride an elevated track on a single rail. This rail is nailed to a single wooden stringer which rests on the top of piles. So evenly balanced is the train, that passing over a pond or creek at the rate of twenty miles an hour the water is hardly dis- turbed. The motive for building is economy, the price per mile being $3,000, and the cost of a ten-ton locomotive, $3,000. The locomotive is a queer looking thing. An Irish- man here compared it to a gigantic pair of boots swung over a clothes line. The boiler is without a flue, the engine without a piston, and the driver withont a crank. I rode with Gen. Stone around corners and up steep grades at thirty miles an hour.
Eli exaggerated somewhat, as this speed was never attained, there were no corners, and little or nothing in the way of grades. The Peg-Leg depots were Bradford, Tarport, Foster Brook, Babcock's Mill, Harrisburg Run and Derrick City. Ten double trips would be made daily, and an accident was chronicled almost every day. The accident of Angust, 1878, was a trivial one. It appears that immediately after the two flat cars were pulled out of the depot, by the new locomotive, A. I. Wilcox, the timbers holding the single track gave way and the flat cars fell ten feet. leaving the engine on the track. Iu May, Hugh Brawley, now deputy prothonotary, was appointed conductor. In De- cember he moved to Smethport, leaving George Grogan to take his place. On January 27, 1879, the explosion of a boiler, during the trial of the Gibbs & Sterrett locomotive, over the Peg-Leg. resulted in the death of six men and the mutilation of three others: George Grogan (conductor), John Addis (brake- man), John Vaughn (engineer), Charles Shepherd (assistant superintendent), Michael Hollevan (fireman) and Thomas Luby (engineer) being killed, and Sterrett, Peterson and Gartside injured. In February; 1879, the road was sold to Allen & Skidmore, and in March, 1880, it was disposed of at sheriff's sale.
The Bradford, Bordell & Kinzua Railroad Company was incorporated March 4, 1880; among the local directors were F. E. Boden, W. F. Jordan, James Broder, W. W. Brown, G. L. Roberts, of Bradford, and C. H. Knox,
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HISTORY OF MCKEAN COUNTY.
of Kendall. On April 17 the first locomotive was placed on the track for construction purposes, and the road was opened for traffic June 7, 1880, to Kinzua junction, the train being in charge of Conductor Stubey, with A. T. Harris, engineer, and Reuben Sweet, express messenger. The officers of this company for 1890 are as follows: President, J. J. Carter; vice-president, W. W. Brown; directors: John E. Ransom, of Buffalo, N. Y .; A. S. Murray, Jr., of New York; John C. Havemeyer, of New York; August Stein, of New York; M. L. Hinman, of Dunkirk, N. Y .: W. W. Brown, of Bradford, Penn. : A. I. Wilcox, of Bradford, Penn .; George A. Eckbert, of Titusville, Penn. ; John C. McKenna, of Bradford, Penn. ; John J. Carter, of Titusville, Penn.
In September, Craigie, Rafferty & Yeomans signed the contract for build- ing the road from Simpson's to Smethport, and December 16 the first train arrived at the county seat, with President J. J. Carter, Attorney W. W. Brown, F. E. Boden, James Broder, A. I. Wilcox and J. W. Humphrey, of Bradford, among the passengers. The first freight was received by Ed. Schenck, of the Bennett House.
Col. Carter, lessee of the Bradford, Bordell & Kinzna, reported a total tonnage of 430,000 tons five years ago, when he took charge, and 2,000,000 tons in 1889. This road is now known as the Bradford & Smethport Railroad, and forms part of the old Bradford, Bordell & Kinzua system. The officers elected in 1890 are as follows: President, J. J. Carter; vice-president, A. I. Wilcox; directors: J. J. Carter, J. C. McKenna, W. W. Brown, G. L. Roberts, A. I. Wilcox, J. E. Ransom, M. L. Hinman, L. J. Backer, August Stein. The other officers of the roads elected are as follows: Superintendent, J. C. Mc- Kenna: treasurer, C. T. Griggs; secretary, J. E. Ransom; auditor, W. R. Diffenbach.
The Bradford. DeGolier & Smethport Railroad Company was organized April 16, 1880, under charter, with L. Emery, Jr., president; Eben Brewer, sec- retary; Robert H. Rose, treasurer; R. B. Stone, George A. Berry, M. A. Sprague, C. S. King, P. H. Towell and W. C. Kennedy, with the officers named, directors. The people of Smethport soon entered the project, B. D. Hamlin, D. Sterrett and R. H. Rose, leading, and by April 22, $8,000 dollars were subscribed. In May, 1880, the Bradford, Bordell & Kinzua Railroad Company was consoli- dated with the Bradford, DeGolier & Smethport Road, the condition being that the latter's charter be surrendered, and $30,000 subscribed to the stock of the first- named company.
Under the management of Col. C. W. Mackey, of Franklin, the Pitts burgh, Bradford & Buffalo Railway was extended to Kane in 1883. The same year it was consolidated with the Big Level & Bradford Railroad (par- tially constructed in 1881 by Gen. Kane) and the united railroad was in turn consolidated with the Pittsburgh & Western Railroad, and completed to Mount Jewett. Difficulties of transfer from narrow to standard gauge at Mount Jewett however prevented the development of much traffic until. in 1886, Elisha K. Kane joined with five of the stockholders of the Pittsburgh & Western Railroad, and built the Big Level & Kinzna Railroad from Mount Jewett to Ormsby station on the Bradford, Bordell & Kinzua Railroad. Con- tracts were then entered into by which the Bradford, Bordell & Kinzna Rail- road Company gained control of the line from Ormsby to Kane, and have since operated it greatly to the satisfaction of the people of Kane, and to the devel- opment of traffic.
The railroad accident of January, 1884, on the Bradford, Bordell & Kinzua Road, three miles from Bradford and one from Tarport, resulted in the death of three female passengers and one male, and injury to many others. It
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HISTORY OF MCKEAN COUNTY.
appears that oil from the Anchor Company's tank on the Buchanan farm leaked, in large quantities, down the steep hill to the railroad track, and running along the track formed a pool 1.000 feet below. Engineer Patrick Sexton and Fire- man Walsh did not suspect the presence of oil until the gas caught the engine fire, and in a minute the engineer opened the throttle wide to fly through the flames. It was a terrible ride, the air-pipe couplings were burned, and the train plunged down a grade of 130 feet per mile, until derailed at the curve, the engineer and fireman being at their posts until their roasting flesh com- pelled them to plunge into the snow. The persons burned to death were Mrs. Fair, of Kinzua Junction; Mrs. Jones, of Rew City; Miss Moran, of Allen, and the aged Prof. Fought, of Tarport.
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