Jefferson County, Pennsylvania : her pioneers and people, 1800-1915, Volume II, Part 32

Author: McKnight, W. J. (William James), 1836-1918
Publication date: 1917
Publisher: Chicago : J.H. Beers
Number of Pages: 972

USA > Pennsylvania > Jefferson County > Jefferson County, Pennsylvania : her pioneers and people, 1800-1915, Volume II > Part 32

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road, waving their handkerchiefs and wildly cheering as the little engine puffed and rolled away, presented a scene the fairest and most animated ever witnessed on the banks of that once magnificent stream-the Clarion.

"The tramroad was four miles in length, built of cribbing and stringers, having wooden rails, which were bored and pinned to the stringers with wooden pins. For a time I was given an assistant to run the train, but later was asked by my employer if I could not man- age the work alone, my answer being that I could. and cheerfully did so. The laborious work of loading the cars alone was not the only difficulty to contend with ; added to that was the work of scrambling from the engine to the log cars, over the logs and to the brakes on coming to the various steep pitches. and then back to the engine again. Picture all this and night overtaking one, having to make the fearful descents without lantern or light of any description : knowing every foot of road in the pitchy darkness from a knowledge which came as by intuition and worked in a manner like instinct.

"Since then the world has changed, and when we compare the primitive methods thus described with the great operations where modern locomotives and cars are used in con- nection with the steam loader, one cannot help but admire the progress, although we may deeply deplore the ruin and destruction which these more scientific methods have made on the forests of the country."

LUTHER GEER, "A Tribute to the Old- Time Millwright," by Alfred Truman .- Dat- ing back to fifty-odd years ago, I had an inti- mate knowledge and acquaintance of the mechanics of that time in this section of the country. I mean the old-time and type of workman, a kind of genius in the art of con- struction we no longer know of, and never will again. We see in the blind the develop- ment of faculties that to us, of sight, are in- penetrable, and so it was with the inherent aptitude of our earlier men-the necessity to accomplish, on their part, unaided by the power of education.

My first millwright work was with "Old" Luther Geer, the father of the late Lawson Geer, on an up-and-down mill, as far back as 1865, Luther being past seventy-five at that time. Lawson followed in the footsteps of his father, but it is of Luther and his genera- tion that I wish to bring back to memory in the course of this writing.

Nowadays the work of a mechanic consists

largely of making plans and specifications and later of assembling the parts as the same come from the factory. In earlier days the plans were in the heads of the master work- men and the ability to put the same into execu- tion was in their hands and brain together. Blueprints were not known to these men, and of all those who could construct independent of drawings, none so excelled as did my first tutor, Luther Geer, the backwoodsman of the first half of the nineteenth century.

Of this most remarkable man there are left but few who knew and can longer speak of him, a man who worked and fashioned mills and buildings, from the stump without the use of a figure or a line of drawing. Even in my youth I was amazed to see his self-taught manner of doing things and doing them to perfection-the making of shafts from com- mon logs, finding the centers and inserting gudgeons, and its final working out to take its place in a mill, as perfectly formed as if from the lathe of a great workshop. Then came the knowledge possessed of bevel and mitre gear work-both friction and cog gear -worked out to an infinitesimal nicety as re- gards pitch, speed and working action; no matter what the difference in size of the driver and driven, all these infinite calculations being contained in the head of a totally uneducated man. He seemed to perform these mechanical miracles as naturally as do birds build their nests, and in no instance was there any guess- work. His appeared to be a case of prodigious mentality. an ability to perform independent of schooling or scientific training. Luther Geer was a backwoodsman, a child of the then great forests, and his genius developed to suit the conditions under which he lived.

When building a mill. having the various parts ready to be placed. every one, with the educated man of to-day, would have been a consideration for accurate drawings on scien- tific principles, but not so with the encyclo- pedic prodigy of which I write. His manner of doing things was not & mere matter of ap- plying old principles to a new purpose, for both principles and purpose were already old. His knowledge and the way he applied it was to him unwritten, as are the constitutions of some nations.

Luther Geer and his assistants were not versed in, and therefore never used, scientific or technical terms in connection with their work. For such words as inertia, efficiency. diagonal. periphery, equilibrium, centrifugal, momentum, units and many other terms now constantly in use by mechanics, these back-

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woodsmen had a nomenclature of their own : for the word "diagonal" they used "yaper." and, beyond this, all their other peculiar ex- pressions in mechanics have passed from me. In this same connection, I venture to say, could "Old" Luther Geer, and others who were con- temporaneous with him, be brought back to life and placed in company with our modern satellites engaged in conversation on matters of mechanical construction, that neither could understand the other.

If my memory serves me right, the firm's name I want to recall was "The Great Western Iron Company," and was located in former years on the Allegheny river. This same firm was engaged in the construction of an immense plant, the structure being of timbers. The managers had employed what was thought to be the most highly skilled mechanic in the State to lay out the framing, and when in the midst of the stupendous job, the architect be- came utterly lost in his work and in a state of bewilderment gave it up. The cry went far and wide, the general proclaim being that if any man living could master the undertaking it was Luther Geer. This came to the hear- ing of the ironmasters and Geer was soon on the job. Before proceeding to lay out a stick. Geer measured his ten-foot pole, to discover that it had been maliciously shortened by two inches. The great framer kept this deficiency in mind in his measurements, and in the course of weeks framed, finished and raised the great building without having made a single error. a performance of its kind never before nor since equaled in this State.

With the passing away of my generation, there will be none left to tell of the mechani- cal characters we had in early days, and how different life was then as now. Of Luther Geer, this may be the last mentioned of him. and shortly he will be lost to all living mem- ory .- The Brookville Republican, Thursday, January 20, 1916.

JOSEPH BAUMGARTNER was the founder of the Punxsutawney Brewery and it is principally due to his initiative and tech- nical ability that the business of this concern has been developed to its present substantial proportions. In his native land he learned the brewing business according to the unexcelled standards maintained in Bavaria, and in his present enterprise he has brought to bear the expert knowledge thus gained, with the result that the Punxsutawney Brewery is known for the superiority of its products and commands a large and appreciative trade. This important

industrial enterprise is being successfully con- ducted under a State license.

In the Kingdom of Bavaria, Germany. Joseph Baumgartner was born on the 5th of January, 1858, and his parents passed their entire lives in that beautiful section of Ger- many. His father, George Baumgartner, was a miller by occupation. In the schools of his fatherland Joseph Baumgartner enjoyed ex- cellent educational advantages in his youth. and there also he served a most thorough ap- prenticeship to the brewers' trade, under the admirable system that has made Bavarian beer world-famous. .At the age of twenty-four vears Mr. Baumgartner came to the United States and established his residence in the city of Pittsburgh, Pa., where he entered the em- ploy of the Iron City Brewery, with which he continued his association three years. For the ensuing nine years he held a responsible posi- tion with another large brewery in Pittsburgh, and he then, in 1893. came to Punxsutawney and established himself independently in the brewing business. For a time his establish- ment was known as the Spring Brewery, but later the original title of Punxsutawney Brew- ery was again adopted. Bernard Schneider was associated with Mr. Baumgartner as a partner in the business for a few years, and after his retirement Mr. Baumgartner con- ducted the enterprise independently for two years. Then, in 1902, he effected the organi- zation of a stock company, as a matter of com- mercial expediency, and the Punxsutawney Brewing Company is duly incorporated under the laws of Pennsylvania, with Joseph Baum- gartner as president, Ben Record as general manager, and Frank Lang as secretary and treasurer. The plant of the company is thor- oughly modern in equipment and facilities, and is eligibly situated adjacent to the tracks of the Pennsylvania railroad on the south side of the borough. Its average output of high- grade beer is twenty thousand barrels a year.

Mr. Baumgartner is one of the vital, pro- gressive and public-spirited citizens of Punx- sutawney, is a Republican in his political allegiance, and is affiliated with the local or- ganizations of the Benevolent Protective Or- . der of Elks, the Improved Order of Red Men and the Fraternal Order of Eagles.

In the year 1883 was recorded the marriage of Mr. Baumgartner to Katrina Arand. and they had eight children, namely: Joseph C., Gregory, Francis, Edward, Albert. Julius, Mary and Helen. For his second wife he married Theresa Seigfried.

TUF NEW YORK PULLIC LID: ARY

× 1

J.R. Williams

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T. R. WILLIAMS, M. D., now a resident of Cynwyd, Montgomery Co., Pa., held rank with the leading medical practitioners in south- ern Jefferson county for thirty years. During that period his record shows a variety of professional activities justifying his reputa- tion, as physician and surgeon for the Buffalo, Rochester & Pittsburgh Coal & Iron Company, as surgeon for the Buffalo, Rochester & Pitts- burgh Railroad Company, as one of the enthu- siastic spirits in the establishment and conduct of the Adrian Hospital, and in private prac- tice. Aside from his medical work, his mate- rial interests have been chiefly in banking institutions, with which he still retains his asso- ciation. His career has been crowded with constructive labors, whose practical results make up a creditable part of the record of progress which Punxsutawney and all that section of the county have to show during the three decades of his residence there.

Dr. Williams was born in the fifties on a farm in Twin township, in the southern part of Darke county, Ohio, and his early life was passed in the manner customary among farmer boys of the time. That is, he worked on the farm in the summer months and studied his a b c's in the pioneer log schoolhouse of the vicinity during the winter season. His young manhood was spent in the alternate pursuit of work and study quite usual among professional aspirants. In the early seventies he entered Ohio Wesleyan University at Delaware, Ohio, where he was a student for five years, grad- uating with the class of 1878, and he followed by matriculating at the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Baltimore, Md., where he took a three years' course, being graduated in 1881. Meantime he had taught school for four terms in his native State. His profes- sional experience has all been obtained in Pennsylvania. Locating at Dagus Mines, Elk county, he practiced there a short time, and also made a brief stay at Brockwayville, Jef- ferson county. In 1883 he settled at Beech- tree, this county, as physician and surgeon for the Buffalo, Rochester & Pittsburgh Coal & Iron Company, a few years later-1887- changing to Adrian in the same capacity, his connection with this company extending over a period of more than thirty years. In 1888 he took a six months' post-graduate course at the New York Polyclinic. Dr. Williams had not been long at Adrian before he rec- ognized the need for a hospital, affording better facilities for the care of surgical cases especially, and he associated himself vigor- ously with the movement for securing such an

institution, with the result that the Adrian Hospital was established at Adrian, being opened publicly Feb. 11, 1889. It was removed to its present location, in Punxsutawney, in 1901 to allow further scope for its work. Though primarily intended to benefit the men injured in the mines, it was impossible to keep the services of the hospital within those limits for long, once its usefulness was per- ceived by the inhabitants of the locality, and thus as a general hospital it is covering a wider field even than the founders contemplated.

From the time of the establishment of the hospital until about two years ago Dr. Wil- liams remained an active member of its med- ical staff, working faithfully to promote its efficiency in every respect, and carrying out the purposes of the institution in accordance with the best ideals of humanitarian and med- ical motives. He changed his home from Adrian to Punxsutawney Feb. 3, 1898, and in November, 1915, he removed to Cynwyd, Pa., where he now resides. He is still a member of the hospital staff and of the board of di- rectors.

Dr. Williams has been a director of the Dayton (Pa.) National Bank since its organ- ization, and was a charter member of that institution. Ile was also a charter member of the Punxsutawney National Bank, and for a number of years has served on its directorship. In the spring of 1903 he became associated with J. B. and S. S. Henderson, of Brookville, in the organization of the Pocahontas Lumber Company of Brookville, an account of whose interests and operations will be found in the biography of S. S. Henderson. In 1913 Dr. Williams and Mr. S. S. Henderson were asso- ciated in the purchase of twelve hundred acres of valuable coal lands in Indiana county, Pa., at Dilltown, establishing the Dilltown Smoke- less Coal Company, whose workings are at Dilltown.

On Oct. 6. 1890, Dr. Williams married Mrs. E. 1. Raifstanger, and they have one son, George Howe. Since 1890 the Doctor has been a communicant of the Episcopal Church.

JOHN CHILLCOTT, of Brookville, super- intendent of prospecting for the Shawmut Mining Company, is known as one of the most thoroughly informed men in that region in regard to the value of local mining lands. His knowledge of the geology of this section has enabled him to take an effective part in the location and development of coal properties, and though as a man of modest disposition he has kept out of the limelight, doing his work

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quietly and without ostentation, yet there are few whose authority has as much weight and still fewer who are called into consultation when important coal land deals are pending. Many of the best paying workings of the Shawmut Company have been acquired and developed on his advice, and his opinions are accepted without question wherever he is known. Mr. Chillcott has led an interesting life, filled with hard work but varied by unus- ual incidents and valuable experiences which he recalls with pleasure as welcome diversions from the monotony of routine.

Up to the generation preceding his own, Mr. Chillcott's ancestors have had notable rec- ords as soldiers, and one of his nephews is now serving in the world war. His grandfa- ther was a soldier in the British army, serving thirty years in the King's Guards, and taking an active part in many of the most important military operations of his time. He took part in the capture of Napoleon, was sent to Amer- ica and was at the battle of New Orleans, and took ship for England with his own and other regiments after that engagement, their pres- ence in America being plainly unwelcome. However, they were not allowed to land, being returned at once to France (whence they had been transported to America), Napoleon hav- ing come from Elba. Three of the sons of this soldier also served their country, the one for whom John Chillcott was named having been killed at the battle of Sebastopol, in the Cri- mea. One died in the China war, and one on his way home.

Thomas Chillcott, father of John Chillcott, was born in the barracks at Bristol, England, and became a cable chain maker, making the chains used for shipping and dock purposes. He earned good wages at that occupation, but it brought him into the company of undesir- able associates, and neither he nor his family received all the benefits of his labor under the circumstances. He was a kind and loving father and husband, and in August, 1868, largely through the influence of his wife's brother, decided to come to America with his family, where he could have just as good ad- vantages for making a living and be spared the disadvantages of surroundings not to their taste. They arrived at Brockwayville, Jeffer- son Co., Pa., in due time, finding a small vil- lage whose houses could be numbered on one's fingers and toes without missing one. It was just such a quiet home place as they were seeking. Thanks to some of the business men of the early days the sale of intoxicating drinks was prohibited there long ago, and has

never been carried on legally since. When the Chillcotts arrived there were no iron mills or factories in the place, farming and lumber- ing being the only occupations followed on an extensive scale, and as Thomas Chillcott had no training in either line he turned to day labor and mine work in a country mine. He continued to follow farming and mining until about a year before his death, which occurred in March, 1899. He passed away leaving a record for honesty and integrity which had earned him the respect of all who knew him. His wife and eight children were at his side when he died. He was buried in Wildwood cemetery at Brockwayville, at which place he had resided from the time of his arrival in this country.

John Chillcott was born in Staffordshire, England, in 1857, son of Thomas and Maria Chillcott. Unfortunately he was deprived of educational advantages, for there were no free schools in his native country during his early boyhood, and his parents could not always af- ford to pay for the privilege of sending him. Besides, after he was old enough to help care for the younger children he was needed at home. When but nine years old he com- menced to work in a factory, doing shift work, one week nights, the next days, and though his wages were but twelve and a half cents a day he thought himself of some importance the first time he placed a week's earnings in his mother's hands. He has supported himself ever since, and his only regret has been that for lack of education the fight was an uphill one for many years. In the fall of 1868 he went to work with his father in the country mine where the latter found employment as a laborer, and has been occupied in this line ever since. Having a natural liking for geology, he took up its study from the practical stand- point, getting whatever help he could from books and persons in the locality, and by close observation enlarged his knowledge until it became valuable. When yet a young man he ventured into contract work, and played a very extensive part in the development of the Toby Valley, contracting with the Northwest Min- ing & Exchange Company and others as well. He had just completed the opening and devel- opment of what is known as the West Cla- rion mine, at Brockwayville, when he was called to Shawmut by Mr. G. S. Ramsay, then general superintendent of the Shawmut Min- ing Company. This was in May, 1899, and he has been in the same service constantly since, holding the position of superintendent of pros- pecting, and having sole charge of this work

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for the company. His principal duty is to pass upon the value of coal lands which the company has in prospective ownership, and the vast tracts purchased during that period have been acquired upon his recommendation, the general superintendent authorizing the deal after obtaining his opinion. The company has, in fact, not bought any lands in the meantime without his inspection and approval, a state- ment which gives some idea of his responsi- bilities. The coal property of the Allegheny River Mining Company was practically all bought under the supervision of the Shawmut Mining Company, Mr. Ramsay having full charge until within a short time of his death, and under his superintendency the economical construction work and well directed develop- ment made the production the cheapest among all the mines of the Allegheny Valley Railroad Mining Company or the Shawmut Mining Company. Mr. Chillcott has also been con- sulted freely regarding the development of the mines, and has had much to do with the plan- ning of the work.

Mr. Chillcott is a part owner and general manager of what is known as the Pawnee Coal Company, whose property is located three miles south of Brookville. It promises to develop into a five-hundred-ton mine very soon, and has been equipped with all modern machin- ery. being an up-to-date working in every re- spect and a credit to efficient management. Mr. Chillcott's part in its development and op- eration bids fair to add to an already enviable reputation. He has not confined himself en- tirely to geology and mining, but has acquired an extensive knowledge of lumbering and sawmill work and also farming, and because of his love for this life has purchased a small farm of six acres on which he has built a nice cottage home, where he resides at this writing.

In 1879 Mr. Chillcott married Miss Frances Matson, a daughter of Alonzo Matson, one of the early lumbermen of Jefferson county, and to them were born three children, only one of whom lived to maturity, Leah V., now the wife of J. T. Armstrong, purchasing agent for the Pittsburgh & Shawmut Railroad Company and the Allegheny River Mining Company, and residing at Kittanning, Pennsylvania.

PERRY A. HUNTER, of Brookville, is a native son of Jefferson county who has ren- dered excellent account of himself in material achievement along normal lines of business and industrial enterprise and also in public offices of distinctive trust. He gave four years

of most effective service in the dual office of county recorder and register of deeds, from which he retired Jan. 1, 1916, and he has since held definite prestige as one of the representa- tive men of affairs at the judicial center of the county.

Mr. Hunter was born in Knox township, this county, on the 12th of May, 1863, and is a grandson of Andrew Hunter, who was born in Ireland, where he was reared to adult age and whence he came to America when a young man. Andrew Hunter established his home at Bolivar, Westmoreland Co., Pa., soon after his arrival in the United States, and for a time he found occupation as a driver on the canal. In an early day he came to Jefferson county, where he purchased a tract of land, in Knox township, and turned his attention to agricultural pursuits. He developed one of the excellent farms of that township and on this old homestead he continued his residence, a sterling and honored citizen, until his death, at the venerable age of seventy-four years, his remains being interred in the new ceme- tery at Brookville. Of his children the first- born was Eliza, who became the wife of Rob- ert Springer and who was a resident of this county at the time of her death. The only other child who attained to years of maturity was Samuel A., father of him whose name introduces this article.

Samuel A. Hunter was born in Westmore- land county, Pa., on the 25th of August, 1826, and there he passed the period of his child- hood and early youth. He was still young at the time of the family's removal to Jeffer- son county, and after the death of his honored father he became the latter's successor in the operating of the old homestead farn. He not only held for many years secure place as one of the representative agriculturists of Knox township, but also achieved success in con- nection with his extensive lumbering opera- tions in Jefferson and other counties of this section of the State. He served two consecu- tive terms as county commissioner, to which office he was elected in 1873 and again in 1875. and he was recognized as one of the leaders in the councils of the Republican party in Jefferson county, with definite vantage ground as one of the progressive, enlightened and public-spirited citizens of the county. For many years he gave efficient service as a mem- ber of the school board of his district, and he was always ready to lend his aid in the furtherance of measures and enterprises pro- jected for the general good of the community. the while his inviolable integrity in all of the

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Jefferson County, Pennsylvania : her pioneers and people, 1800-1915, Volume II, Part 32

Author: McKnight, W. J. (William James), 1836-1918 Publication date: 1917 Publisher: Chicago : J.H. Beers Number of Pages: 972

Author: McKnight, W. J. (William James), 1836-1918
Publication date: 1917
Publisher: Chicago : J.H. Beers
Number of Pages: 972