USA > Pennsylvania > Jefferson County > Jefferson County, Pennsylvania : her pioneers and people, 1800-1915, Volume I > Part 93
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 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95
band. Dr. McKnight was introduced and deliv- ered an historical address, in compliance with a request unanimously adopted at the reunion. Rev. Mr. Purdy, of Corsica; Rev. Mr. Blair, of Big Run : Rev. Mr. Adams, of Brookville, and Rev. Mr. Britt, of Corsica, also made short addresses.
Another interesting feature of the after- noon's program was the roll call of pupils who attended the Roseville school for the term commencing November 20, 1853, William W. Reed, teacher. The roll of the school for that terin was as follows, and many of the pupils of forty-seven years ago were present and an- swered to their names as they were read : Males -Jolin Sharp, James Sharp, William Love, Benjamin Love, Loami Mendenhall, Robert Kelley, Hughes Kelley, Robert Anderson, Jere- miah Anderson. Robert Mckinley, Scott Mc- Kinley, William Boyd, Manuel Haugh, Wil- liam Haugh, Daniel Eisenhuth, John McCul- lough, Joseph Richards, G. W. Mckinley, A. G. Milliron, Adam Haugh, David Sharp, Israel Johnson, Wesley Crooks. Wallace Kelley, AAdren, Huey, David McKee. John Love, Har- vey D. Haugh, John Yingling, David McCul- lough. John Wilson, John Kaylor, Benewell Haugh, Samuel Anderson, Thomas Love ; total thirty-five. Females-Jane Richards, Rebecca and Ann Mccullough, Pin. and Phoebe Kay- lor, E. C. Ilaugh, Cathrina Haugh. S. Summer- ville, Susan Haugh, Eliza Haugh, Ann Sharp. Lucy Haugh. Mary J. McKee, Margaret McKee. J. Kaylor. Susan Love, Elizabeth Richards, Lavina MeKinley, Elizabeth Sharp, Mary Johnson, Elizabeth Mccullough, Har- riet Ilaugh, Margaret Richards, Maria Haugh ; total twenty-four.
The Haugh family is one of the most numer- ous and at the same time most highly respected families in this county. Jacob and Elizabeth ( Huffman) Haugh settled on the farm where the reunion was held, located one mile west of Roseville and now occupied by Nathan J. Hangh, in 1846, and the family records show that these honored people have an army of de- scendants numbering over five hundred peo- ple, their several children contributing to the grand aggregate of descendants as follows : Daniel Haugh, thirty-five : Michael Haugh, one hundred and fourteen : Benjamin Haugh, twenty-seven ; Mrs. Elizabeth Deibler, twenty- eight ; Jacob Haugh, eighty-eight; David Haugh, ten; Mary Undercoffer, sixty-three ; Sarahı Eisenhuth, ninety-nine; Jonathan Haugh, sixty : John Haugh, nine. One daugh- ter, Fannie, was never married. This list in- cludes one hundred and fifteen great-grand-
497
JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
children living and sixteen dead, and three great-great-grandchildren, all living. The rec- ords will also show that during all these years not a single Haugh was called upon to appear as defendant in a criminal prosecution, nor has anyone been forced to appeal to the law to obtain from any member of the family the financial consideration of a single business transaction. The Haugh reunion, although conducted on the most gigantic proportions ever attempted in this section, was a grand success in all particulars, and the many who were there will ever remember the day as one spent in a profitable and pleasant manner.
We give some extracts from the address made by Dr. McKnight :
Ladies, Gentlemen and Fellow Descendants of the Pioneers:
The first person to erect his cabin on this farm, then a wilderness spot, was John Bar- nett, a son of Joseph, the patriarch of Jeffer- son county. John bought ninety-six acres from William Bingham and settled here in 1825, then in Pinecreek township. John Quincy Adams was president. This was one year after the Susquehanna and Waterford turnpike had been completed, and travel and staging had commenced upon it. The stage drivers at that time were, east of Corbet's to Luthersburg, Henry Dull and the late Andrew Loux, who lived and died on the pike about two miles west of Corsica. On his night drives, Loux had been severely scared by the presence of wolves around his coach in and near what is now Brookville. William Hind- man was a pioneer driver. The drivers west of Corbet's in 1830 were Paul and Jess Berlin. The first stage coach to pass over this pike was one managed and driven by John O'Neal, No- vember 6, 1824. The Haughs who drove stage were Ed., John, Daniel and Jacob, Jr. Their pay was eight to ten dollars a month and board.
John Barnett sold his improvements, July 14. 1840, to John Sheridan, and migrated west. April 10, 1846, John Sheridan sold this farm, with its log house, then in Rose township, to Jacob Haugh, Sr .. for one thousand two hun- dred dollars cash. Jacob Haugh came from Centre county, Pa., with all his goods in a two-horse covered wagon, bringing with him a dog and a gun. In 1846 I find him assessed with the land, two horses and two cows. Jef- ferson county contained then about ten thou- sand people ; our county now has a population of about fifty thousand. Our nation was then composed of twenty-nine States and James K. Polk was president. Now our domain has in- 32
creased to forty-five States; our country, the richest on the globe, and our territory is as large as Russia, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Holland, Belgium, Germany, Austria-Hun- gary, Italy, Spain, Portugal, France, Great Britain and Ireland, fronting on two great oceans, and populated, too, with a people only twenty per cent of whom are unable to read and write; and we have in our savings banks three hundred million dollars more than Rus- sia, France, Great Britain and Italy combined, and every dollar of it, gold, silver or paper, is worth one hundred cents on the dollar in every nook and corner in this wide world. I cannot pause here to dwell on our individual or national greatness.
In 1846 emigrant trains of from one to six wagons going west were to be seen almost daily. Jacob Hough's advent into this county was made in one of these wagons. I saw him pass through Brookville. His outfit, like all others, was two horses, a wide-tracked wagon covered with hoops and a white canvas, with stiff tongue, heavy harness, and iron pole and trace-chains. He, too, was going to the far west, going to Ohio, but near this spot some one of his family took sick, and during this sickness he was prevailed upon to buy and settle on this farm. He was a man of some means and made a good citizen. When Jacob Haugh, Sr., settled in Jefferson county there was no Woman's Christian Temperance Union. no Woman's Relief Corps, no society for the prevention of cruelty to animals or children.
In 1846 Pennsylvania had one hundred and fifty-five thousand people in her domain. The first telegraph poles were erected in the State in 1845. In 1846 we had no Pullman palace coaches, no vestibuled trains and no Pennsylvania Central railroad-this company was not chartered until 1846. The first rail- road to the interior of the State was called "The Philadelphia and Columbia," and was a horse road. Of course it ran from Philadel- phia to Columbia, Lancaster county. This road had a single track, with turnouts here and there. In 18344 anybody could use it by pay- ing two cents a mile for each passenger and $4.84 for the use of each coach. The passen- ger cars were built like the stagecoach of that day and with horse power made nine miles an hour.
It was not until the 10th of December, 1852, that a train of cars was run through on the Pennsylvania road, from Philadelphia to Pitts- burgh. These pioneer cars were very primi- tive and were propelled by indifferent locomo-
498
JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
tives. Now, to-day, the Pennsylvania com- pany, under the management of President A. J. Cassatt, is the greatest industrial interest on this continent. Every section of our State and country is either directly or indirectly penetrated by its lines and branches. The Pennsylvania Company employs an army of well-paid and not overworked men, compe- tent, efficient and polite. This applies to all branches of their service. The credit of this polite systematized service and assurance of personal safety to the traveler is principally due to the rules and regulations prepared by Superintendent Cassatt, in 1873. adopted by the board of directors, and enforced from that time to this on employes of the road.
Coal mining was an early industry in that part of Rose township which now forms Union. The pioneer to mine in what is now Union was William Mendenhall; the next James Green, in 1839, and George H. S. Brown, in 1840. Coal has been mined on a more extensive scale recently by the Kennedys and Cowans. Other early miners and operators in the forties, in what is now Union township. were John McAnulty, Philip Cyphert and Jacob Mineweiser. The output in the county in 1840 was two thousand bushels.
In 1852 Jacob Haugh, Sr., leased the right to Jacob Mineweiser to open and mine coal on this farm. From that day to now coal has been steadily mined on this farm. The local output was considerable in 1852-53. as Mine- weiser worked three men in addition to him- self. The toll on a load of coal to Brookville was twenty-five cents.
I need not tell you that Jefferson county to- day is sending her coal to Greenland's icy mountains, to India's coral strand, to every part of the globe. Our county now has a daily output of twenty-five thousand tons of coal. and an output of about one hundred cars of coke each day. We have, too, the largest bituminous coal mine tipple in the world, with a daily output of four thousand tons of coal.
Names were originally simple and signifi- cant, but now, through the lapse of time and changes in language, the meaning of many of them has been lost. It was not until about the twelfth century that people began the use of and making second names permanent as family names. The baptismal names, such as Eli, John, Mary, etc., had become so common as to cause great confusion, even though the designation of son had been used as a distinc- tion by the people of every language, notably in Hebrew "Ben"; among the Normans "Fitz"; in Russia "Vitch"; in Wales "Ap":
in Scotland "Mac," and in Ireland "Oy" or 'O'".
The place of residence gave rise to many surnames among the Saxons. The Haughs being of Saxon origin, their surname, or fam- ily name, originated in this way. Haugh. pro- nounced "haw," meant "a cleared field, in an inclosure, near by a river." So "Jacob, the man who lives in a cleared field, in an in- closure, near by a river." in short, would be "Jacob Ilaugh."
In conclusion, I will say that sometime be- tween 1824 and this year of grace, 1900. Jacob Hangh, Sr., like twenty-one million, one hun- dred and sixty-four thousand other down- trodden and oppressed citizens of Europe, migrated to these United States, for liberty and a home, to this paradise on earth. Let 11s, then, one and all, to-day, thank God for America, Liberty, our Flag, and that we are AMERICANS.
CORSICA
Corsica was located on the Dr. William Smith warrant, No. 677. The first improve- ment on the farm where Corsica is now sit- uated was made by John Scott, in 1802. He migrated from Pine Creek, Lycoming county. He married Mary, daughter of Paul Clover, of Clearfield county, Pa., who settled there in 1797. In 1847, John J. Y. Thompson laid out the town and sold the lots.
In 1852, the village contained two churches, three stores, two shoe shops, two taverns, one tannery, two groceries, one brickyard, two coal banks, one cabinet shop, two blacksmith shops, two tailor shops, one milliner shop and twenty- four dwellings.
It was ineorporated as a borough in 1860, by an act of Assembly approved March 22d. In anticipation of the passage of this law the people elected their first borough officers on February 6th, a month and a half before the borough was created. This election was in- valid, of course, but we believe the people were all satisfied to let it stand, and the officers then elected were sworn in after the borough was formed, and served during their several terms. They were as follows: Justice of the peace. Joseph Garvin; constable, Samuel P. Barr; town councilmen, W. B. Mapes, S. C. Espy, F. H. Sowers. J. C. McCombs. William B. Slack; auditors. Daniel Undercoffer, George H1. Kennedy, J. 1 .. Mccullough; as- sessors, J. W. Rhea, J. J. Meredith ; judge of election, William B. Slack and J. H. Dill, tie vote ; inspectors, Samuel Short and J. Sowers ;
499
JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
school directors, J. W. Rhea, W. B. Slack, J. W. Ardery, John C. McComb ; burgess, An- drew. Slack.
The pioneer tavern in what is now Corsica was kept by Alexander Powers, in 1824; the pioneer store, in 1835-36, by E. E. Tipton ; the pioneer gristmill was built by John T. Wann; the first graveyard was the Pisgah Presbyterian Church burying ground.
In 1915 the town is lighted and heated with natural gas. William H. Glenn keeps a tem- perance hotel there.
Corsica has been twice terribly devastated by the fire fiend. The first fire occurred on the night of March 17, 1860. The loss fell prin- cipally upon E. B. Orcutt, whose hotel, occu- pied by Calvin B. Clark, was destroyed. The entire loss was estimated at three thousand dollars. In 1873 nearly the whole town was
laid in ashes, the loss being estimated at one hundred thousand dollars.
About the summer of 1869 Professor Richey started an academy in Corsica, and taught it for several summers. He was succeeded by Professor MeKinley, who was followed by Professor Ely. Professor White came next as principal. The school has been very nu- merously attended ever since it was organized, and is doing a good work.
POPULATION
1860, 249 ; 1870, 372; 1880, 391 ; 1890, 338; 1900, 293; 1910, 301.
At the election held November 2, 1915, R. D. Simpkins and A. E. Shannon were elected school directors, for six years, and W. C. Mc- Millen constable for four years.
CHAPTER XLI BEAVER TOWNSHIP
ORGANIZATION-TAX LIST OF 1851-SETTLEMENT-TOWNS, ETC .- FIRST ELECTION-OFFICIALS- POPULATION-UNION GUARDS
Beaver township, organized in 1850. was named after Beaver run, which flows westward · across it. entering Red Bank at Heathville. It was taken from Clover and Ringgold town- ships, and is bounded by Clover on the north, 011 the east by Rose and Oliver townships, on the south by Ringgold, and on the west hy Clarion county.
TAX LIST OF 1851
John Alcorn, two cows; Jacob Esbangh, cow; George Byerly : George Berkhouse, Jr., cow, two oxen ; Michael Boyer, three horses, three cows; Henry Byerly, horse; Lewis Byerly, horse, two cows; Daniel Brocious, horse, two cows; George Berkhouse. two horses, two cows; Israel Byerly, cow: Daniel Byerly, horse; John Berkhouse; Emanuel Byerly : Solomon Byerly, horse, cow ; Peter Brocius, two horses, three cows; John Craw- ford, two oxen; Michael Crawford, cow; David Dinger; Daniel Dinger, horse, cow; Peter Fyock, cow: William Gearhart, cow; Solomon Gearhart, horse, cow : Levi Gearhart, cow ; Henry Glintz ; Solomon Glintz, cow, two oxen; George Gearhart, cow; David Himes,
cow, two oxen; Michael Hetrick, horse, two cows; Henry Hetrick, horse; Henry Himes; John Hastings, two horses, two cows, two oxen, two buggies ; B. T. Hastings, cow ; Jacob Heckman, cow, horse; Tobias Himes, cow ; Samuel Lerch ; Charles Jacob, cow, two oxen ; Hazzard Jacob, two cows, two oxen; John Imhoff. two horses, two cows, one carriage; James Lunny, cow ; George Keck ; Henry Mc- Aninch, horse, cow; John Mc. Aninch, two horses, cow ; Daniel Motter, two horses, cow; Peter Motter, two horses, cow; Silvis Mc- Aninch ; William McAninch, cow ; Abraham Milliron, horse, two cows; Samuel Milliron, two horses, cow; Sylvester McAninch, horse, cow; David L. Moore, cow ; Phillip Millen, two oxen; George Gumbert, two horses, two cows; Eli Plyler, cow; Charles Plyler, two cows, two oxen; Daniel Plyler, cow; George Reitz, Jr., cow, two oxen; Jacob Reitz, Sr., horse, two cows ; Daniel Reitz, cow, two oxen ; George Reitz, Sr., horse, cow; Bolser Ray- buck, cow; Godfrey Reitz, cow, two oxen ; Isaac Reitz, cow, two oxen; Michael Reitz ; John Reitz, two horses, two cows; John Shields, two horses, two cows; James Shields, horse. two cows; Robert Shields, five cows,
500
JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
two oxen; John B. Shields, two cows, two oxen; Hulett Smith, two horses, two cows; Tonas Sowers; Jonas Sowers, Jr., five cows, two oxen; Ifenry Sowers, two horses; David Smith, two horses, two cows; Walker Smith, horse. cow: Benjamin Sowers, two horses, three cows ; Henry Spare, Jr., five horses, four cows, two oxen; Edwin Scott; Simon Stahl- man, horse, cow; IJenry Spare, Sr., horse, three cows: David Sugar, cow; Absolom Smith, horse. cow; John Spare, horse. cow ; Solomon Shaffer, two cows, two oxen ; Daniel Spare, horse, cow ; Christ Smathers; Absolam R. Teats, cow ; Benjamin Thomas, two cows; Eli Thomas, cow; Jacob Thomas, cow ; Peter Thomas, horse, cow ; Mike Thomas, cow ; John Thomas, horse, two cows; Emanuel Thomas (carpenter), horse; George Thomas, cow ; Joseph Thomas, cow: Edward Updegraff, two cows, two oxen; Henry Wonderling. horse. two cows; Phillip Whitesell, Sr., cow ; George Wolfgang, two cows; R. Whitesell, horse; David Williams ; Mike Young, two cows : John Young ; Phillip Bentner, horse, cow ; Benjamin Burns, cow, two oxen ; Michael Brocious, Sr., two horses, two cows: Michael Brocions, Jr .. horse, cow; Peter Brocious; Jacob Brocious. horse, cow : John Banghman ; Andrew Doyles ; Thomas Edmond, cow ; David Edmond, horse : George Eckler ; William Edmond ; David Fay- weather, horse, three cows, carriage; Sol. C .. Fayweather. horse. cow; Abraham Funk, two horses, two cows: Christ Funk. two horses, two cows, two oxen; Iliram Fuller, three horses, carriage; James Guthrie, cow: John Campbell, cow, two oxen; Abe Vandervert. horse, two cows; James Wailing, cow: Beech Wailing, horse, three cows ; Euphrastus Wail- ing, two oxen: John Guthrie; John Love; Isaac Clark. cow ; Moses - Plyler, cow : Robert W. Campbell, horse, cow ; Anthony Eshbaugh, cow: Samuel Ballentine (blacksmith), cow : Pearl Roundy, watch: John Cerby. cow : Daniel Cerby; John F. Gearhart, cow ; Daniel Wilkenson; John Covel; Levi Boyer: Josephi Plyler: Henry Reitz; Robert Reed: Daniel Clock, two horses, cow : William Stewart.
SETTLEMENT
The first settler in what is now Beaver town- ship was Hulet Smith, in 1816. Other early settlers were Henry and Conrad Nulf ( who) built the first and third sawmills, respectively ). Solomon Gearhart, George Reitz, Rev. Samuel Lerch, the Me Aninches, and Philibers. These, or most of them, came there in the thirties. "Hance" and William A. Robinson settled at
Robinson's Bend at an early date. They erected a sawmill and gristmill (the second mill here), and "Hance" opened a store in 1840. It is supposed these mills were the first erected in the township. This, however, is not certain.
Now the only gristmill in the township is that of the late Nicholas MeQuiston, located at Langville, on Little Sandy.
Pioneer merchants were Sparr & Dungeo, J. Baughman and John Hastings in 1854.
Jacob Reitz came in 1842. He was the father of ten children, seven sons and three daughters. His sons Manuel W. and Edward have filled offices of trust in the township and county.
The first schoolhouse in the township was built in 1837, on the Ferguson farm.
The first church in the township was on the Filiber farm, and the pioneer graveyard was on the Thomas Holt farm.
Now there are seven schoolhouses and six churches, with a cemetery at each church.
TOWNS, ETC.
Heathville, Pleasantville and Langville were pioneer villages. Each has had one or more stores.
Judge Heath. for whom Heathville was named, lived there, and carried on lumbering for a number of years. Conrad Nulf was a very early storekeeper there. In 1878 C. L. Guthrie had a store there.
A store was opened at Langville in 1837, by Jesse MeKennan & Co. John Lang erected his woolen mill there about 1851-52, and the village was named for him in 1850. He moved his family there in 1852. Ilis large plant is the only manufactory in the township.
By 1878 there were four post offices in the township, Heathville, Patton's Station, Pansy and Ohl. Shaffer & Reitz had a store at Pansy, and E. M. Ohl at Pleasantville. The blacksmiths in Beaver then were Jonathan Horner and George Myers, at Heathville, and Jonathan Buzzard. at Pansy.
Conifer, a large mining town, is located in Beaver.
There are no hotels in the township.
The present post offices are at Conifer, Heathville, Langville, Ohl and Pansy.
11 1915 the township has a railroad, the Pittsburgh, Shawmut & Northern, and is a great coal territory.
FIRST ELECTION-OFFICIALS
The first township election was held in 1850, the year the township was formed. Following
501
JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
were the first township officers chosen: Jus- tices of the peace, Charles Jacox and Absalom Smith; constable, David L. Moore; super- visors, John Imhoff and Michael Brosius; auditors, Henry McAninch, David Fayer- weather. George Gumbert; school directors, Henry McAninch. Peter Motter. Michael Bro- sius, David Himes, Absalom Smith, Charles Jacox ; judge of election, David Edmonds ; in- spectors, James Wayland. George Gumbert ; poor overseers. John Hastings, David Smith, David Fayerweather.
On November 2, 1915. E. M. Reitz and T. E. Shields were elected school directors ; Peter
Brosius, supervisor; W. R. Ferguson, con- stable.
POPULATION
In 1850 the township had a population of 662: 1860. 874: 1870, 1.094; 1880, I,II3; 1890. 093 ; 1900, 876; 1910, 1.439.
UNION GUARDS
In 1859 Beaver had a militia company, named the Union Guards, commanded by Peter Fike.
CHAPTER XLII
POLK TOWNSHIP
ORGANIZATION-OLD SETTLERS-PIONEER NOTES-PIONEER TAXABLES, ASSESSMENT OF 1852- BUSINESS-DEVELOPMENT-POPULATION-OFFICIALS-SOLDIERS' REUNIONS-JOHN DIXON, JR.
Polk township was organized in 1851, being taken from Warsaw and Snyder townships, and was named in honor of James K. Polk. It is bounded on the north by Elk county and Heath township, on the east by Snyder town- ship, on the south by Warsaw and Heath town- ships. The whole township is drained by the North Fork.
OLD SETTLERS-PIONEER NOTES
The pioneer settler in Polk township was Paul Vandevort. The second, Frederick Het- rick, came in 1838, and made quite an im- provement. He was industrious, a hunter, and quite prominent throughout the county. I remember him well. Philip Hetrick came in 1842, Isaac Nichols in 1844, John Masters next, John Lucas in 1846, the Lockwoods in 1847, Jacob McFadden in 1848, Henry Schoff- ner in 1849. Mr. Schoffner was an honest, industrious man, an Albright Methodist ; his wife was neat, tidy and a good cook, and his house was a public stopping place for all trav- elers until the day of his death, about 1882. Other old settlers were John Plotner and John Nofsker in 1850, James Carnahan and Henry Wingert.
The pioneer marriage was that of Adam l Ietrick to Maria Hetrick. The first child born here was Rebecca Dixon, in 1848, and hers was the first death, in 1850, from dysentery,
which prevailed in that year over the county- a terrible scourge.
PIONEER TAXABLES, AS PER ASSESSMENT IN POLK TOWNSHIP IN 1852
Thomas Allison, cow; John Chamberlin ; Samuel Cochran, two cows, $100 at interest; Alvin Clark; John Dixon, cow, four oxen ; Phillip Hetrick, sawmill, cow, two oxen ; Fred- erick Hetrick, sawmill, two cows, four oxen ; Stephen Hetrick ; James K. Huffman, cow, two oxen; Richard Long, cow; Samuel Long; Thomas Lucas; John Lucas, cow, ox, steer; Leonard Lockwood, cow, two oxen; Jacob McFadden, two cows, four oxen; Isaac Nichols, Sr., two oxen; Rufus Nichols, saw- mill, cow, two oxen ; John Nofsker; Emanuel Nofsker, two cows, two oxen; John Plotner, two cows, two oxen; Amos F. Riggle, horse, cow; Thomas S. Reed; George Smith; John Smith, two cows, two oxen ; Henry Schoffner, two cows, three oxen; Solomon Schaffner; John Snyder. cow, two oxen, $100 at interest ; Fred Sheckler ; Mathers Wills, two oxen.
BUSINESS-DEVELOPMENT
The pioneer sawmill was erected in 1844 by Philip Hetrick, and lumbering was extensively carried on in the past. Since its decline farm- ing is the principal vocation. Polk is a rich
502
JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
farming township, and the people are intelli- gent. industrious and very hospitable. Lately the township has been developed as a gas field.
Nathaniel Clark had the pioneer store in 1856, at Greenbrier. Sylvester Davis was a storekeeper in 1806 (and has continued in business ever since ) ; J. R. McFadden at Blow- town in' 1879; Newton Webster about 1888.
The first post office, Mary Annsville, was es- tablished in June, 1858; the second, Schoff- ners Corners, in 1850. Now the only post office in the township is at Munderf.
The first election in the township was held in 1852.
The pioneer school was conducted in 1848- 49 by Thomas Reed, and Nathaniel Clark was the second schoolmaster in the township. Polk was a pioneer township in the county to in- troduce Webster's Dictionary in the schools. which it did in 1850.
POPULATION
The population of the township in 1860 was 244: 1870. 256; 1880, 361; 1890, 616; 1900, 653; 1910. 414.
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.