USA > Pennsylvania > Schuylkill County > Old Schuylkill tales, a history of interesting events, traditions and anecdotes of the early settlers of Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania > Part 3
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The shadows grew longer, the squirrels and rabbits scampered hurriedly across the path, the late birds had sought their nests, and the occasional screech of the panthers and other wild animals added not a little to her apprehensions about the lateness of the hour and the little mare seemed, too, to be dis- quieted and nervous. The superstitions of the country arose
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in her mind and she knew that they were nearing a little clearing in the forest where lived a German refugee who was accused of witchcraft and who was said to have the power of turning himself into a white cat and at times the wood was filled with a gathering of the felines, who would fill the air with their snarling and screeching.
Hark! there was the sound she had often heard described but had forgotten about. A frightful yell. Surely the man would not hurt her. Had not her father carried him food in the ox sledge in the dead of winter that he might not starve and had he not always been kind to her when he came to bor- row the few necessary things for his existence, which he never returned.
There it was again. Yes! and on that tree a white object with fiery green eyes. It was the witch, she dared not look again. There was a scream, a dull thud, she looked over her shoulder and saw a white cat perched on the haunches of the mare. Trembling with fear that each moment would be her last Elizabeth gave the mare the rein and leaning forward clasped her arms about her neck knowing full well that the little beast would do her best, she needed no urging and then she closed her eyes and prayed and prayed and waited.
On and on they sped. The soft green moss yielded to the hoofs of the mare and made the riding heavy. But Black Bess went as she never did before as if knowing her pretty mistress' life was the stake for which she was fleeing. From her nos- trils came huge flecks of foam, her fetlocks and sides were wet with sweat and from her haunches dripped drops of livid red blood from the clawing of the white cat on her back.
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Elizabeth could feel the hot breath of the creature but be- yond an occasional unearthly yell and fresh clawing of the mare it made no effort to harm her. What a mad ride it was! Tam O'Shanter's was a mild one in comparison to it. Would the clearing never be reached ? It seemed ages to the trembling girl and again she closed her eyes and prayed and feebly stroked the mare's ears. At length she heard a soft snort in response. The clearing was in sight, like a silvery rift in the clouds, a light in the gathering darkness. The Old Red Church would soon be arrived at, and the witches hated churches and perhaps
Just then a dark figure loomed up as they emerged from the wood. It was her betrothed, Andrew Miller, who came out to meet her. He caught the bridle of the exhausted and panting mare, the white cat gave a parting screech and disappeared in the wood and Elizabeth fell fainting into his arms. When she recovered he hinted at wild cats but the trembling Elizabeth would hear nothing of them. "Who ever heard of a wild cat act- ing that way ?" said she. But being a sensible girl she consented to keep her adventure a secret until the morrow, for well she knew that the story of a witch so near would mar all the pleasure of the merry party.
The husking was a great event in a country bereft almost of entertainment for the younger people and it was the first one of its kind held in that part of the State. The trick of finding a red ear and then exacting a kiss from your partner was new to her and from the frequency with which Andrew exacted the forfeit she suspected him of having secreted some of the tell- tale Indian cereal on his person but he gave no sign. And the
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supper, how good it was and how hungry they all were and how they enjoyed it!
Elizabeth left for home in the bright sunlight on the mor- row accompanied by Andrew who walked all the way by her side. But not without Elizabeth's having first confided to Polly the story of her adventure with the white cat. Polly, too, decided it was a witch but thought the witch meant her no harm but good luck, as the wedding was to take place at Christmas. And a witch the white cat has remained through successive generations as each in turn hands the narrative to the next.
Note: Andrew Miller and Elizabeth Stout were married December 25th, 1786. They raised a large family of boys and girls among whom was a daughter, Hannah, who was mar- ried to Andrew Schwalm in 1819, at Orwigsburg, and from whom are descended a large line of that name and other leading families residing in Old Schuylkill, Pottsville and elsewhere throughout the country. The John and Joseph Schwalm, Wm. E. Boyer, Frederick Haeseler and Wm. M. Zerbey families, are descendants of Andrew Schwalm and Hannah Miller. Eliza- beth Stout was the great-great grandmother of the children of the present generation of the above mentioned. In the list of taxables, returned, Reading, Berks County, about 1780, occurs the name of Andrew Schwalm, Tulpehocken. At that date the area from between the Lebanon Valley Railway to the Blue Mountain was known as Tulpehocken. This district has since furnished the dimensions for several townships in Berks and Lebanon Counties. The name Tulpehocken does not refer to the mere post office or locality as it now exists but included
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the area to Womelsdorf. Andrew Schwalm, Sr., was the father of Andrew Schwalm the above.
PART II
OLDEST TOWNS OF SCHUYLKILL COUNTY
PART II
OLDEST TOWNS OF SCHUYLKILL COUNTY
M cKEANSBURG has the honor of being the oldest town in Schuylkill County. The greater part of the town was laid out in 1803, and the remainder in 1809. The town was named after Governor Thomas Mckean. Warrants for tracts of land were issued to the first settlers as early as 1750, the Webb family, who afterward sold their interest to Peter Or- wig in 1790, being the original owners. Others followed, and a strong fight was waged to make this town the county seat. When Schuylkill was partitioned from Berks to Northampton, Orwigs- burg had one of its citizens in the Legislature and succeeded in getting the Court House plum. Judge Daniel Yost, a native of Montgomery County, was made a Justice by Geo. Snyder in 1809. He became one of the first Judges of the Court of Com- mon Pleas in 1811. He lived and died in McKeansburg, where he is buried. The grandfather of the late Judge D. B. Green lived there. The ancestors of Judge R. H. Koch, the father of Banker Jacob Huntzinger, Joshua Boyer and Dr. J. F. Treichler, one of the first physicians prominently known in the County, who was engaged in active practice for more than fifty years, were among the early settlers of McKeansburg. It is
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related that when the commissioners appointed by the Governor to examine the rival towns, Orwigsburg and McKeansburg, ar- rived at the former place a ruse was employed to gain the advantage. Peter Frailey, Daniel Graeff, John Kobb, John Drehr, Phillip Hoy and others induced the nearby owners of saw mills along the creek that ran along the Borough to dam up the water supply for a period. At a signal from the men, the blowing of a horn, the flood gates were hoisted and the Man- hannan had such a supply of water that the commissioners con- cluded that it would be an excellent town for manufacturing purposes and Orwigsburg became the County seat.
OLD UNDERGROUND PASSAGE
On what was the Heinrich Boyer homestead, near Mc- Keansburg, where the heads of most of the families of that name, in different parts of the County, originated from, a valuable discovery was recently made. The early settler, Boyer, who settled here in 1754, whose log cabin stood for many years on the farm, had made a means of defense for himself and his neighbors against the Indians. He built and timbered an underground passage from the cabin to a tree some distance away, where there was an opening, for a means of exit and es- cape to safety. It was covered at the mouth with a brush heap to conceal it and was entered from the cabin by removing a log
View of Orwigsburg
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at the fire place. The picture of this cabin is a highly prized asset among the descendants of Heinrich Boyer.
ORWIGSBURG SECOND TOWN IN THE COUNTY
Orwigsburg was laid out in 1794 by Peter Orwig, bache- lor, of Brunswick Township, then Berks County. A small pass book found among the effects of Christopher Loeser, Esq., gives the names of one hundred and forty-eight purchasers of lots, with the dates of the deeds to the same, all of which were recorded during the months of April, 1795, and April, 1796. Some of these lots were subject to ground rent and on this fact the claims of a lawsuit by the Orwig heirs and others is based. Schuylkill County separated from Berks and North- ampton in 1811, but it was not until March 12, 1813, that Orwigsburg was regularly incorporated and became the County seat.
Of the older towns of the County the following is the data with that of other leading events :
McKeansburg, First Settlers 1750
Town laid out 1803 -
Orwigsburg, First Settlers 1747-1755-1794 -
Town laid out, Inc. . 1794-5-1813
Pottsville, First Settlers .1780-1796-1802-4-6
Town laid out, Inc 1816-1828
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Schuylkill Haven Incorporated 1841
" First Settlers 1775
Tamaqua laid out by Schuylkill Coal and Navi- gation Co
1830
Minersville, First Settlers
1793
66 Laid out, Inc. 1830-1831-'41
Port Clinton, laid out, Inc 1828-1829
St. Clair, Incorporated 1844
Port Carbon. First Settlers 1826
1816
Pinegrove, First Settlers Laid out 1830
The "north of the mountain" towns are of mushroom growth as compared with the above and exist only since the upper basin of coal was opened. Different localities had their carly settlers. Mahanoy City was incorporated in 1863, and its con- temporaries in the upper vallcys followed in its wake, during the next decade or two, and have since shown the most remark- able growth and spirit of enterprise and progress. Their in- corporation is of too recent date to be included at this point.
SCHUYLKILL COUNTY FOLK-LORE
No country is richer in legendary folk-lore than that of the southern part of Schuylkill County. There were many quaint characters among the early pionecrs. These frontiers- men were accredited with a phlegmatic temperament that the
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delightful imagery of poesy and imagination was not supposed to penetrate. Yet the old citizen of to-day will narrate the tales of his youth, stories rich with the folk-lore of the early days, the stories of his grandsires, that made his hair stand on an end, on occasions, and caused him many a sleepless night. He will tell you in one breath that there was nothing in them and with the next reiterate with Hamlet, that, "There are more things be- tween Heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy."
Many superstitions existed among the early settlers of Schuylkill and Berks Counties. The New Englanders werc not alone in their belief in witches. The same belief was rife in the southern part of this County, where several so-called magicians lived who were believed to be in league with the spirits, and who practised on the credulity of the country people for their own benefit. One of these was a man named Hunt- sicker, who claimed to have discovered the lost books of Moses in a spur of the Blue Ridge Mountains near where he lived.
PROLOGUE SIXTH AND SEVENTH BOOKS OF MOSES
The Sixth and Seventh Books of Moses were translated from the Hebrew by Rabbi Chaleb from the Weimar Bible, and are dedicated to Magical Spirit-Art. It is claimed that these
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two books were revealed by God to Moses on Mount Sinai and subsequently came into the hands of Aaron, Caleb, Joshua, and finally to David and Solomon, and were then lost. In the original Hebrew it says: "Thus spake the Lord of Hosts to me, Moses."
All the mysteries of conjuration through the seals of the Heavenly messengers that appeared to Isaac and Abraham, the Cherubim and Seraphim and ministering angels of God are given in these books, together with the seals of the angels of the planets, and with these seals, it is claimed, wonders can be worked. The spirits of the air and the spirits of fire are said to be under the command of the angels of the seven planets and of the sun. It is also claimed that :
The power of magic descended from the Israelites, when God spake to the people in dreams, so many of which are re- counted in the Holy Scriptures, and which are republished in these lost books of Moses. The vision of Jacob and the ladder with the angels, how Jacob was told to practice a certain some- thing that belonged to the art of necromancy in order to increase his herds, is given in full from the Bible story in Genesis. Other old Bible instances follow in succession, particular stress being given to the powers resembling magnetism which Moses possessed when he performed his wonders before Pharoah. When he smote the rock in Rephidim and the waters gushed forth, and the spirit of clairvoyance and prophecy is set forth, that the Lord permitted Moses to convey upon the seventy el- ders. Further it is asserted that :
There were spurious magicians and prophets in those days but the school of these prophets, it was claimed, was inspired by God. The Kabala magic of the Sixth and Seventh Books of
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Moses was only performed by the assistance of God, by men who purified themselves by fasting and prayer and relied on Him. They must lead clean lives and must be perfectly healthy, but they could not tell of their Art to others, nor impart how it was done. They might tell right-minded, God-fearing people that they were not wicked but that they were assisted by God, who gave them the power to command the spirits of Evil that worked among men.
Note :- Anyone desiring to read further of the Sixth and Seventh Books of Moses will find a copy of them in the Li- brary of the Schuylkill County Historical Society.
THE HUNTSICKERS
.
One morning in the early years of the last century, some- where in the 'Twenties, smoke was seen ascending from the chimney of the deserted old log cabin near the Abram Albright farm in West Brunswick Township, about a mile and a quarter from Orwigsburg, the old County seat. The Peterpins who lived at the fork in the roads had not had such close neighbors for a long time and their interest was excited. During the day the "Fader" took occasion to walk over, something like a half mile away, to offer his services, if they were needed, in the moving, and to see who the newcomers were.
There were no visible evidences of moving or chattels about, except at the rude little shed that did duty as a barn, where a black cow was tethered and a number of black chickens ran about responding to the feed thrown to them by a bent-up
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lame and very black negro, who was shambling about. "From the Long Swamp," said Father Peterpin, mentally.
Now the Long Swamp people were the aversion of the thrifty German settlers. A motley erew of a mongrel type of Indians, Negroes, and bad whites, some of them eriminals, in- termarried and living mainly by their wits, for they were too lazy to work. Sometimes several of them would appear to help in the harvest or planting, and when, subsequently, hay, eorn. and fodder or even potatoes disappeared, it was always laid to the thieving Long Swampers, who had first sent out their scouts to work and to see where what they wanted was to be had and then eame after it at night. The Long Swampers made baskets from the willows that surrounded the swamp and aeted as fakirs at the battalions and vendues, but beyond this had no visible means of support. The remains of their deserted cabins may still be seen on the edge of the swamp.
The front door of the little eabin was opened and earefully shut by a plump, rotund little woman with a great peaked white eap with broad ruffles on her head. Her dress was pinned up over a finely quilted silk petticoat and her white lawn 'kerehief erossed on her ample bosom, betokened a refinement of dress not common to that part of the country. She wore a large seal gold ring on the middle finger of her right hand which she waved in welcome to Peterpin and said to him in a eultivated High German that "Herr Huntsieker was not at home. They had come to live there. She was glad to know that they had such kind and friendly neighbors as the Peterpins." From that time on they were known as "Der Herr und Die Frau Hunt- sicker."
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The lame negro, whom no one had ever seen beture, worked about the place, patched up the old roof, fixed up the barn, milked the cow, but how they had come there no one knew. In the meantime, a quaint looking little old man would occasion- ally appear walking about the place, toward nightfall. His smooth-shaven face, yellow parchment-like skin, drawn tightly toward a large half-open mouth filled with big, even vellow white teeth and with bloodless lips. He was carefully dressed in smooth black small clothes with high cut vest, swallow-tailed coat, high collar, black silk hat, like the "Parrah" or the "Schulemaster," they said, and on the middle finger's of both hands he, too, wore a large golden seal ring. That was Herr Huntsicker. He seemed to be always searching for something in the ground or in the sky and invariably carried a half-open book in his hand which he consulted carefully.
The Huntsickers began to have strange company. People appeared from everywhere and especially at night. Then it began to be noised about that Huntsicker was a magician and performed strange mysteries of the spirit art. The good church people thereabouts would have none of it, but when they saw the results that sprang from the use of his occult powers they all believed in him, but said in whispers among themselves that it was from the Devil and not from God that such things were done.
Some of the most daring of the country people visited him, when at midnight he conjured up the beautiful and mild human form of a youth who was to bring them whatever they desired (but he said their lives must be entirely blameless; and what wonder if they never got their desires). Many carried or wore
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the high seals, in hieroglyphics, that would conjure the realiza- tion of these desires or defeat the machinations of their enemies. Some seals were supposed to confer long life, secure the wearer from misery and confer great fortunes. Others conferred the power of conveying to man through dreams what he wanted to know.
The Fourth Table from the Book of Moses was the most important one, and that the settlers openly availed themselves of. It was that governing the Spirits of the Earth and its treas- ures. If a well was to be dug, Huntsicker came at night, the air was filled with red lights and fantastic shapes, a huge divining rod was thrown by him; the next day they dug at the spot and lo! the best of water and plenty of it appeared.
To wear the seal of the sun was popular, too. That conferred wealth, honor, and power through its strength; and the spirit of the planet Mercury had helped find the ore, in after years burned at the furnace at Hecla, and the potters clay near what is now Ringgold. The charming of snakes was taught from the Talmud and numerous incantations were sought for at Huntsicker's hands; the lovesick swains, disappointed in their hopes, resorted to him for love-powders and lotions; he cured sick headaches, and other diseases, too, with charms and pow- ders. The evil was growing and in vain did the clergy and more cool-headed among the people caution and berate the set- tlers. Huntsicker was feared, but he was thoroughly believed in by everybody. To doubt him was to doubt the evidence of their own senses; to not credit what they had seen with their own eyes.
One day Frau Huntsicker came over to the Peterpin
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farmhouse. She was of a very friendly nature and had upon several previous occasions deplored the fact that people dreaded them so, and called then witches. Herr Huntsicker, she said, "had had the whereabouts of the Sixth and Seventh Books of Moses revealed to him in a dream. He had secured them from fire and among scorpions at the bottom of a great mountain and had been commanded to use them to rid the earth of wickedness. He did not like to do it. He was afraid, but it was God's com- mand. They had nothing to do with the Devil except to exor- cise him and drive him away." "No one prayed and fasted," she said, "as much as Herr Huntsicker."
On this particular day she said, 'the Herr was sick in bed ; he took cold the night before while out laying the evil spirits in men and forcing them to return stolen goods," which he frequently did. The negro was away and she could not do the chores herself ; would they send some one over from the farm ?" "Madam" Peterpin, as the Frau called her, said, "they- were all at work at the oats except Peter, who she thought was too small," but the Frau gave him a glance and Peter at once arose from his copybook in which he was making the great round German script letters and said, "he would go," calculating mentally what he would do on Christmas with the coin she was sure to give him. The Frau preceded him and he re- mained to change into his working smock and shoes that he wore for choring.
There was no one about when Peter arrived at the Hunt- sickers, but he would not be afraid and boldly he walked up to the door with the kettle of fresh buttermilk in hand that his mother had given him for the sick man. He had never been in-
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side the house, but had heard much about it, and he reconnoitered the inside through the crack in the door. Yes, there was the large black book-case filled with books and yellow manuscripts. The twelve wooden rocking chairs with their gay cushions werc gently swaying to and fro, and at the foot of each lay a black cat. A large corner clock ticked solemnly, and in the far corner, on the other side of the hearth, where a bright fire was crackling and over which hung the silver kettle in which the spirit lotions were brewed, stood a large high-posted, silk-curtained bed, and in it Herr Huntsicker with a funny high-peaked night cap on his head, his yellow claw-like hands with the big seal rings clasped in front of him on the heavy skins and silken coverlets, for he was "sweating out" the cold and chills.
Just then, leaning too hard upon the door, it lurched open and Peter, half falling, sprawled into the room and in his con- fusion he said, as he would at home to old Tom, "Scat." The twelve black cats that had been lying each on their own rugs in front of their rockers flew up. Spitting and with tails in the air, the largest one mounted the top of the corner clock, the others ran up the wall to the beams overhead and glowered down at Peter, snarling, spitting and yelling. Peter rccovered him- self, however, without spilling the buttermilk and began, hat in hand, in his best German, a little speech to the Herr. They were the witches, he knew, but they were only black cats now, he thought ; he would not be afraid of them. Just then the Frau appeared. She, too, had apparently changed her visiting black silk for her more ordinary everyday garb.
The cow was soon milked, the kindling wood split and brought in, the numerous chores about the stableyard per-
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formed, hay taken down from the loft. and everything that a little boy could do, was done for the Frau that she might get along until the morrow when, if the negro did not come back or the Herr get well, he would go over again. She would send Nero, the big black dog, to tell him. "The dog would talk in his own way," said the Frau, "and he would know, but if he would bring a couple of pails of water from the spring, supper would be ready and he must eat some before he went."
Peter would rather have gone home for his evening meal, but he did not like to offend his kind hostess. His heart, how- ever, misgave him when he went into the living room, where the table was already set, and there were the twelve black cats, each in his or her own seat. blue china plate, knife, fork, and spoon and a pewter mug in front of each, all sitting waiting on their hind legs with their front paws crossed on the edge of the table. The Frau took the foot of the table, the head remained vacant for the Herr, and Peter sat at her side where he felt tolerably secure. There was a moment's pause and Peter said his little German grace mentally as a means of protection against the witches and then the Frau clapped her hands and the cats all fell to with a gusto and ate the porridge from the china plates and drank the milk from the mugs. Peter was a country boy with a good healthy appetite and there were some delicacies on the table not always visible on the table at the Peterpin home, where there was a large family and plenty of wholesome food, but not many dainties.
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