USA > Pennsylvania > Schuylkill County > Old Schuylkill tales, a history of interesting events, traditions and anecdotes of the early settlers of Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania > Part 10
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
Wm. Zoll, with his infant son Joseph, removed to his old home near Orwigsburg, where the latter for many years ran a tannery. The third of that name, Joseph Zoll number two, died several years ago, unmarried, thus practically wiping out the direct line of descent. Wm. Zoll was heard frequently to remark that he was the first settler here and that the town should have been called Zollville instead of "Pottsville." William Zoll was a soldier in the War of 1812, and a member of a Masonic lodge at Philadelphia, Joseph left several adult children when he died at the ripe age of eighty. The Orwigs- burg tannery was a large and successful business venture for those days.
When Isaac Thomas, Lewis Reese and Lewis Morris, enlarged the Zoll forge and built a furnace, they sent workmen here to dig a race and build a dam. Among them was John Reed, who brought his wife with him, and who built a small
168
Old Schuylkill Tales.
log house two stories high for their home. This house stood about sixty feet east of the hospital, on what is now Mauch Chunk Street, and here Jeremiah Reed, the first white child born in Pottsville, saw the light of day, December 19th, 1800. John Reed and wife were born about five miles south of this place, toward Orwigsburg.
Reesc and Thomas built a small charcoal furnace on the island where afterward were located the Pioneer furnaces of the Atkins brothers. In 1804, John Pott, Sr., bought from Lewis Reese, Isaac Thomas and Sarah Morris, the ground on which the settlement had been made, including the Zoll, May- field, Moorfield and Physic tracts of land.
When this purchase was made the only houses hereabouts were: the John Reed dwelling, before referred to; the Cook house, corner of Coal and Washington Streets, where afterward stood the John L. Pott's iron works; the Alspach house, on the site of the Charles Baber residence; the Swoyer house, near the Philadelphia and Reading freight depot, near which also stood the Nathan Taylor house. A family named Schott lived on Lawton's Hill, west of the F. W. Hughes' residence.
After the building of the larger furnace in 1806, by John Pott, the construction of a straggling row of houses was at once begun. They extended through the orchard and eventu- ally over the marsh and creek to the higher ground now Centre Street. This was practically the opening and foundation of the town, men came to work in the furnace and the homes erected for their families were the nucleus and others soon followed.
April 27, 1808, Lewis Reese sold to John Pott 227 acres of land which covers the old site of the town of Pottsville. The
169
Old Schuylkill Tales.
town was laid out in 1816, but it was not until 1828 that it was regularly incorporated. John Pott died. His son John Pott. built a distillery in 1819. He was the proprietor of a small two story hotel, known as the White Horse tavern, which was a stopping place for the stages on the Sunbury road. In 1824 there were five scattered dwellings in the vicinity of the Pott tavern between what is now Mahantongo and Norwegian on Centre Street. Others had built along the early roads and when the surveys were made, as in the city of Boston, the old cow paths and turnpike, with their irregular twistings and turnings were not disturbed, but only made the pivotal centres for other and more regular thoroughfares.
John Pott, Sr., took possession of the Alspach house. He weather-boarded it and had it painted red and it became the Pott family home. In this house was born Hannah Pott, grand daughter of John Pott, Sr., and daughter of Benjamin Pott. She was the first girl baby born in Pottsville and after- ward became the wife of Lawrence F. Whitney.
In 1810, the year in which John Pott removed to the settlement, he built the stone grist mill, known as the Orchard mill and afterward operated by Stein & Trough. In 1815 he built a stone mansion for the occupancy of his family. This house stood on the site of the brick house owned by Thomas Schollenberger and now occupied by his sister, Mrs. Sarah Bar- tholemew. He also built a barn opposite where the Pottsville Hospital now stands.
In the early days the old Sunbury road, from Reading to Sunbury, wound around the hill near the point where the Henry Clay monument now stands. From there it ran to York farm, Bulls Head, thence to Minersville. Centre Street was then
170
Old Schuylkill Tales.
a dense hemlock swamp thickly covered with bushy under- growth, the turnpike road was not entirely completed until 1812 and even then there was much complaint about the lack of stones and the plentitude of mud on Centre Street. It was not until 1816 or 1817, that Centre Street from Mahantongo to west Racc Street was covered with stones.
The State road was layed out in 1770. It entered Pottsville near Furnace Island, it ran on the right hand side of the creek and marsh, about Coal Street, toward Fishbach, joining the main road again at Bull's Head. There is a difference of opinion as to which was the main branch, this or the road that ran around the hill opposite.
The survey in 1816 to lay out the town in lots began at Church Alley, or Howard Street, and extended to west Race Street. The plot included all the ground from Second on the west to Railroad Street on the east; from Union Street on the south to west Race; Norwegian Street extended west to Fifth Street and east to Railroad Street.
Pottsville is beautifully situated above the gorge through which the Schuylkill river breaks through the Sharp mountain. At no point in the town can the dimensions of the town plot be seen. Closely hemmed in by spurs of mountains and wooded hills, to obtain a perfect view of the town and the beauty of its surroundings it is necessary to climb to a point on the steepest declivity and here a scene of unequalled grandeur may be en- joyed. The town as it now exists, extends into five distinct valleys, gravitating at the centre with the old original town plot as layed out in 1816.
When the town was first formed it was made up of small settlements: Morrisville, now Morris Addition; Greenwood,
New Court House, Pottsville
-
Old Schuylkill Cales. 171
now Greenwood Addition, or more recently the Orchard; and Mt. Carbon. Salem included Young's Landing, Bath and Allen- ville, with Salem and Buckleysville, are now obsolete as names. When Pottsville was incorporated in 1828, there was a strong effort made to absorb it into Mt. Carbon, then a thriving ship- ping mart, and name it Mt. Carbon. Hessc-Stettle, a suburb of later growth, now known as Yorkville, was settled in the 'forties although there were a few scattered log houses on the main road toward Sunbury as early as 1812. They were thrifty German settlers from Hesse-Darmstadt who gave the settlement its name Hesse-Stettle.
SITE OF CENTRE STREET TWENTY-FIVE DOLLARS
The descendants of Charles Siegfreid, the Hookeys, Eilers and Russels, tell the following story: Charles Siegfreid, black- smith, from near Port Clinton came to Pottsville in 1807, after the opening of the Greenwood furnace, where he worked for several years. On one occasion money was scarce, John Pott owed Siegfried $25, as it was not forthcoming, he offered his employee several acres of ground to cancel the debt. The ground included all of the tract from a point near the corner of Mauch Chunk Street, east side, to a tree on Lawton's Hill opposite the Grammar School building, Siegfreid said, " What do I want with that swamp, I'll wait until you get the money," which he did, Mr. Pott paying the claim.
172
Old Schuylkill Tales.
Siegfreid was a powerfully built man and fond of dis- playing his prowess. In after years a son-in-law of his, Daniel Eiler, a quiet and inoffensive man was loading a car of coal on his wagon at the corner of Coal and East Norwegian streets, where a landing was maintained for the loading of boats on the canal, a branch of which ran to that point.
It was first-come first-served and each took their turn. Dan Holland, of Cressona, something of a scrapper and another heavy weight, took advantage of his reputation and would wait for no one. When the little box cars came down the wooden rails he advanced to the head of the line filled his wagon and was off, Siegfreid heard of this and came to the landing to en- force fair play. His son-in-law was first on that day, when Holland came and as usual, went to the head of the line. A few well directed sledge hammer blows by Siegfreid on Holland's anatomy convinced him that discretion was the better part of valor and he was never known to take other than his rightful place thereafter.
Charles Siegfreid was a soldier in the war of 1812. When he died he was given a large military funeral. Apropos of this it must be borne in mind that when the military of this locality enlisted in the War of 1812 they walked from Pottsville to. Reading and from thence, where they joined others, that had been drafted or enlisted, they walked to Baltimore and return. Mrs. John Wagner nee Schwab, of Pottsville, 87 years of age at this writing, remembers of the condition of her father's shoes and clothing on his return to the Lykens Valley where the family lived.
In 1818 all of the houses included within the town plot and not hitherto named were: Henry Donnell's house on the
Old Schuylkill Cales.
173
first lot sold where now stands the Pennsylvania Hall; the Wil- liam Cassley Log house on the site of the Miller Bookstore, opposite; a log house about in the centre of the square, be- tween Mahantongo and Howard street, built by Joseph Bleck- ley; a house near the site of old Town Hall and the White Horse Tavern, built by George Dengler and afterward kept by John Pott, Jr., Henry Donnell opened the first store in Potts- ville, in his new building, except that opened by the Pott family for their workmen. The Buckwalter Hotel afterward the Northwestern, now the Park, was built before 1829. The Mortimer House, where the Mountain City building stands, now owned and occupied by the Mammoth Miehle Dry Goods and Department Store, was known as the Mt. Carbon Hotel and was built by Jacob Seitzinger in 1826. Jolin Pott in 1824, sold the ground, N. E. corner of Centre and Mahantongo streets to T. Ridgeway. The lot changed hands a number of times, until 1830 when the Pottsville House was erected. The hotel also changed hands often, Col. Joseph M. Feger being one of its most popular landlords. In 1863 Daniel Esterly bought it and removed his hardware business to it after improving and remodeling it. Col. Shoemaker built the Penna Hall. On the southwest corner of Centre and Market streets was the Moyer Hotel, built by Daniel Moyer about 1826, and the Central or Lindenmuth Hotel, north of Market on the west side of Centre was kept by a man named Geist. In 1830 Jacob Seitzinger erected the Exchange Hotel, corner of Centre and west Arch streets.
174
Old Schuylkill Tales.
BEAR STORY
Mrs. Sarah Gumpert, deceased, wife of the late Samuel Gumpert who was an expert accountant and transcriber, and for eighteen years a clerk in the law offices of the Schuylkill County Court House, related many interesting stories of the early history of the county. Her parents lived in the Tumbling Run Valley. One wintry day in early December her father, Jos. Webb, started to walk to Orwigsburg over the Tumbling Run Mountain.
The family butchering had just been completed and as the custom was among the early settlers, he intended to give a friend part of his killing, the friend would return the gift later in the season and thus the two families would be kept supplied with fresh meat during the winter. It was late in the after- noon when Mr. Webb started with the quarter of fresh beef hung over his shoulder. He had not reached the summit of the mountain before he discovered that he was being pursued and by a huge black bear. Bruin had scented the odor of the blood and was determined to exact with it not only the red corpuscles but "the pound of flesh," also.
Mr. Webb was a large and powerfully built man and de- termined not to part with the meat if he could help it. If he could reach the summit of the mountain with it he might make the descent and save the bcef. He had no weapon with him but his huge clasp knife which was stuck in the belt at his waist and the mad race began. The bear gained steadily on the man. He could almost feel his hot breath and his heavy panting would have dismayed any but one of the sturdiest of the old-timers.
175
DID Schuylkill Tales.
The four-footed pursuer had almost reached his prey when Mr. Webb bethought himself and took his huge knife and cut off a slice of meat and dropped it for the bear and sped on as rapid- ly as he could hoping to at least save some of the beef. But the slice merely whetted bruin's appetite and he was up and after the farmer again with full speed. The operation was repeated again and again and still Mr. Webb ran on. The speed down the mountain, of both, became little short of terrific.
At last Orwigsburg came in sight, the bear would turn back he thought, or someone would see him and come to his assistance. No one came and Mr. Webb feeling his load be- coming very light discovered that he was carrying a few beef ribs on his shoulder the rest of the meat having been devoured by the bear. He vented his chagrin by tossing the carcass to the brute and had nothing to offer his friend but the story of his adventure when he reached his home. When the latter brought his gift in return some months later to the Webbs, he came by wagon, up the Sunbury turnpike road, not caring to encounter another or even the same hungry bear that Joseph Webb fed, like a dog, with a quarter of beef.
ON THE ROAD TO HEAVEN
"Granny" Lash, as she was familiarly known, was one of the quaint characters of the early days in Pottsville. She lived on the road to Port Carbon, was a strict Methodist and one of the first members of the class established by Jonathan Wynn. She
176
Old Schuylkill Tales.
lived to a ripe old age and saw many innovations creep into the church of her choice. Granny was loud in her denunciation of instrumental music in the church and thoroughly disliked the first melodeon and organ introduced. .
On one occasion a young musician, a visitor to town from Philadelphia, played a violin solo at the service at the request of a member of the church, whose guest he was. The selection was a simple old-fashioned hymn tune around which the player wove numerous delicate fancies and musical intertwinings and variations. At the close of the service, the old lady said:
" That was beautiful. It made me feel so happy." "Why Granny! " said the member, " I thought you would not like it; that you would think it a sin."
" Oh, a violin is all right," said Granny. " If it had been a fiddle it would have been different. I love a violin; but I just hate a fiddle."
Granny was fond of walking and as she grew more de- crepit she sometimes lost her bearings on her road home from church. Passing her home one day she was toiling on toward Port Carbon when she was accosted by a young girl of the neighborhood with:
" Granny where are you going? You are on the wrong road." "I am on the road to Heaven, Miss! and that is enough for you to know," answered the dame. She did not object to being turned around, however, and it was not very long after- ward that she started out for that destination afresh.
177
Old Schuylkill Tales.
A NEGRO GRAFTER
One of the sights on a certain day of the week in Pottsville, was the incoming of the farmers from the Mahantongo ("Mocka- tunkey") Valley. These townships, upper and lower, with Barry were very fertile and productive and the fruits of the fine farms found their market in Pottsville. The farmers and hucksters came in and departed together and formed a regular caravan, with their green Conestoga wagons one after another, high back and front and covered with white canvass hoop- framed top-covers. As many as seventy wagons were counted in the hotel yards on one night. At first some of this produce was shipped down the line by canal but the population of the county increased so rapidly that it was soon all consumed at home.
One, "Old man Rater," was a regular weekly visitor. Hanging about the old White Horse Tavern, kept then by Wm. Matz, was a half grown negro boy, black as the ace of spades, who came from the Long Swamp and could talk Dutch. He ingratiated himself with the farmers and was always the richer by a pocketful of coppers after market day. He would accost Rater with :
"Father, give me a penny, as sure as I live I have not eaten a mouthful this day." The penny forthcoming, he bought a huge gingerbread and munched it in the farmer's presence, seemingly contented.
One morning he came as usual, with a gingerbread in each hand, and apparently forgetful of the fact, whined as usual, be- tween the mouthfuls:
12
178
Old Schuylkill Tales.
"Daddy gib mir ein bense. Ich hab ga wis ich labe, heit noch nix gessen."
A few well directed kicks from Rater disposed of the youthful manipulator of gingerbread trusts and he was seen no more about old man Rater's Conestoga craft on market day, nor in the tavern yard.
HAD A GIFT OF REPARTEE
One evening during the 'fifties, the old Methodist Epis- copal Church, on Second Street, was more than usually crowded. The Rev. Wm. Barnes, familiarly known as "Old Billy Barnes," was the pastor. (He must not be confounded with the Rev. Samuel Barnes who served the congregation later.) He was a most exemplary man and a radical preacher and when thor- oughly warmed up handled wicked doers and the unrighteous without gloves.
Mr. Barnes had been very much annoyed by the frivolous conduct of several young people in the church and he publicly reprimanded them from the pulpit. One of the young women became very much incensed at the action of the clergyman and arose to go out but not without first showing her contempt at the reproof by laughing aloud. Mr. Barnes said :
"Good-night, daughter of the Devil!"
" Good-night, Father! " said the girl.
[This story has been claimed in Lancaster, where Mr. Barnes also served as pastor, but there are several members of
179
Old Schuylkill Tales.
the M. E. Church of Pottsville still living who were present when the incident occurred, who are willing to vouch for its accuracy. ]
ANOTHER CLAIM FOR NAME, THE SAME YET DIFFERENT
The town was named after John Pott, the founder, who came here in 1806. The place was known as Pott's at the coal mine (pronounced "Putts"), and after the incorporation, was known by the German settlers in the southern part of the county, as "Buttsville."
The early newspapers and the first settlers took the matter up and it was asserted that Pott (Pot) had been corrupted through the Pennsylvania German to "Put," and the name of the town was " Potsville " (Pottsville).
During the 'seventies, however, Ramsey Potts, Esq., con- tended that Pottsville was named from the first, " Pottsville," after William B. Pott, an ancestor of his, who was an old-time settler and one of the first lawyers at the old county-seat, Orwigsburg.
This was the same Wm. B. Potts who so vehemently op- posed the removal of the Court House from Orwigsburg to Pottsville. When the great parade and glorification took place and the windows of the houses of the new county town were illuminated with rows upon rows of tallow candles, Mr. Potts followed a float representing the Orwigsburg Court House,
180
Old Schuylkill Tales.
clinging to a rope hitched to the rear and objecting at every turn of the wheels to the seat of justice being taken away. It was one of the leading features of the event.
Quite a spirited discussion over the matter ensued between Mr. Potts and Colonel Robert H. Ramsey, and the tilt between them furnished lively reading matter for a time in the "Miners' Journal" of town.
The name, however, according to both parties was Potts- ville, and Pottsville it has remained ever since, with John Pott, who did so much for the town, as the acknowledged founder. He died October 23, 1827, before the town was in- corporated.
With the building of Greenwood Furnace small houses were erected for the workmen. These were occupied by John Else, Henry Bolton, Thomas Swayer, Anthony Schott, George Frevie, George Reimer and Daniel Focht, Clerk. These men and their families all lived here before Mr. Pott removed his family from Berks County, in 1809.
There were other settlers at Mt. Carbon and other points, but it was not until the discovery of coal was put into practical use that the place attracted any considerable number of set- tlers. In 1828, with the incorporation of the town, a daily stage to Philadelphia was established, making the trip in four- teen hours.
THE FIRST RAILWAYS
Schuylkill County had seen the evolution in travel from the Indian path, common road and bridle path, Durham boat,
181
Old Schuylkill Tales.
stage coach and Conestoga wagon, to the Philadelphia and Read- ing railway, completed in 1842. In the month of May, of that year, a train of fifty cars carrying 150 tons of coal was sent from Schuylkill Haven to the port at Richmond, making the trip in one day.
The first railway was the Mill Creek, begun in 1829, and extended from Port Carbon to the Broad Mountain. The Schuylkill Valley Railway, was commenced in 1829 and fin- ished in 1830. It extended from Port Carbon to Tuscarora. The Norwegian and Mount Carbon Railway, which was de- signed to meet the Danville railroad to Pottsville, was completed in 1831.
The Mine Hill and Schuylkill Haven railroad extended from Schuylkill Haven to the Broad Mountain, a line of 15 miles. The Little Schuylkill Railway extended from Port Clinton to Tamaqua, a distance of 22 miles.
All of these roads were run by horse power and connected with the Schuylkill canal. The Tamaqua Railway was the first to run a steam engine. It burned pitch pine and was quite a novelty.
The Philadelphia and Reading road was the first to use steam motive power. The engines were wood burners. When the road to Philadelphia was completed a jubilee was given in honor of the event and people came from far and wide to see the novelty. The celebration lasted several days and the people were carried free. The cars were only open platform- trucks and rude freight cars with rough wooden benches, loosely constructed, set on top. Many that accepted the com- pany's invitation felt that they were not only taking their lives in their hands, but placing them at a great risk in the hands of
182
Old Schuylkill Tales.
others. General Winfield Scott, afterward a candidate for the presidency, came up, and the occasion was a momentous one for the coal regions.
THE FIRE DEPARTMENT
Before the days when a town water supply existed and the people depended upon the public pumps for their water for domestic purposes, a bucket brigade existed for the extin- guishing of fires. In 1830, a fire took place in Clinton Row (where Union Hall now stands), on Mahantongo Street, and in 1831 the store of Lewis and Witman, with the goods, was burned out.
Norwegian creek and the bucket system became inade- quate, even when a house was burned on the Landing and the canal was resorted to, and a fire company was formed. It was known as the "Rough and Readies." The Hydraulian or " Drollies " organized about the same time and the Humane, Good Intent and Young America followed.
In 1832, a destructive fire occurred at Port Carbon and the Hydraulian Co., of Pottsville, responded. In 1833, the two-story frame brewery of D. G. Yuengling, on Mahantongo Street, took fire and burned to the ground. In 1835, a fire broke out and consumed a double frame building, on west Norwegian street, next the George W. Cumming residence, when the tenants lost everything even their clothing. Their lives barely being saved. In 1849 the stable, horse and carriage of G. W. Cumming were burned. The building was in the same locality.
183
Old Schuylkill Tales.
In 1837 the apothecary store of Wm. T. Epting (uncle of the wife of President Judge of the Schuylkill County Courts, O. P. Bechtel) took fire and was destroyed with all its contents. The fire was caused through the carelessness of a boy who held a lighted candle in his hand while filling a bottle with ether. Morris Brothers lost heavily in this fire.
In 1838 the steam grist mill belonging to Clemens and Parvin was partially destroyed, and in 1846 four wooden dwell- ings belonging to the same firm, on George Street, were de- stroyed. They were occupied by Isaac Higley, John L. Mennig, Nicholas Madara and Jacob Olewine. A woman living in one of these houses became so terrified she was temporarily insane and fled from the building without her babe which she left in the burning house. It was found by a neighbor in a room next the roof, laughing and crowing at the sparks that fell from the roof that caved in shortly afterward.
STORY OF CENTRE STREET FIRE
One of the most destructive fires was that in the old Arcade, Centre Street, east side, between Norwegian and Mar- ket. Henry Matter, deceased, who was one of the chief suf- ferers said:
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.