USA > Pennsylvania > The Historical journal : a quarterly record of local history and genealogy devoted principally to Northwestern Pennsylvania > Part 30
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Zephaniah Branch
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HOW CARTERVILLE ROSE AND FELL.
BY A. S. HOOKER, TROY.
About two miles below Roaring Branch, Lycoming County. Pa., and little over a mile above Ralston, on a romantic spot at a curve of the Lycoming, stand several deserted houses, whose window- less openings sometimes show a goat or some wild creature, and back of them stands a square built, solid stone furnace. It is an object that attracts much attention in this lonely spot. Across the valley is the deserted McIntyre coal plane, and higher up on the mountain the now deserted but once busy coal village. Or the brow of the mountain, perched like the eyrie of some mountain bird, is the conical topped music stand and lookout which was a gala place in the days of McIntyre's prosperity. This iron furnace with its wide arched mouth gaping toward the passing trains, is, with the old weather painted houses, all that remains of Carter- ville. The Red Run Coal Company had opened a mine at this place, and in 1854 built a plane and run the mines for three years, getting out about 20,000 tons of coal and then abandoning the mine. A vein of reddish gray iron ore was opened, containing about thirty per cent. of metallic iron. Mr. Carter, of Tamaqua, built here an iron furnace of the Mauch Chunk sandstone. and called the place Carterville. It was ready for blast in 1854, but not put in blast in consequence of a dreadful tragedy in Philadel- phia, resulting in the death by pistol shot of Carter. The old Carterville iron mines caved in and twenty years passed away. when a Mr. Williams, from Minersville, blew in the first blast, May 20th, 1874. For two months the furnace run with anthracite for fuel, operating on the " white ore," the red ore not being found good enough or too full of slate and clay, and with the ore used was mixed iron ore from York State. About 500 tons of the white ore was used, and then the furnace closed, probably never to open again. Thus ended the experiment of iron making on the Lycoming, stimulated as it was in an early day by seeing hundreds of tons of crude and bar iron hauled past these beds from Belle- fonte by long strings of teams, from the foundries and shops of Troy, Athens and Towanda. A little ore was shipped from the Hayes mine, near Cogan Station, to Danville, and furnaces on the Susquehanna River were supplied from the Quiggleville mines west of Cogan Station. -
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NEARING THE END OF A CENTURY.
MRS. ELIZABETH QUIGGLE, of Beech Creek, was 90 years old January 1st, 1888, having been born January Ist, 1798, in Nittany Valley. She is the widow of Nicholas Quiggle, deceased, and is the mother of six children, four of whom are living. She has twenty-one grandchildren, twenty-four great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild. The Lock Haven Express thinks she is the oldest woman in that county. She has resided within the territory embraced in Clinton County all her life, and can re- late many interesting incidents of early history. The venerable lady enjoys good health, has good eyesight, and her mental facul- ties are unimpaired. She spends much of her time in reading and delights to talk of the past.
DANIEL BECKLEY, EsQ., the well-known court crier, at Sunbury, Pa., was 86 years old on the 2d of February, 1888. Mr. Beckley served the people of Northumberland County several years ago as prothonotary and sheriff. His father moved to a farm below Milton in 1811, when Daniel was nine years old. His name was also Daniel. The ex-sheriff is active and sprightly for a man of his years, his voice is clear, his sight good, and he loves to meet and talk with his friends. As an officer of Judge Rockefeller's court he is always on duty, and opens and closes it with all the judicial dignity and solemnity that could be desired.
RIPE SHEAVES GATHERED BY THE REAPER.
JOHN KING, who died at his home in Piatt Township, Lycoming County, on the 10th of December, 1887, was a descendant of one of the early settlers in the West Branch Valley. His father, Robert King, was a native of Ireland, and, with two brothers, set- tled near Pine Creek in 1774. In a short time they abandoned their first settlement and located in Level Corner, Lycoming County. During the Indian wars they were driven off and the savages burned their cabins. On the restoration of peace they returned and soon after obtained a title from the State for 640 acres of land. Robert died on the land he had purchased, March 28th, 1848, aged 94 years, 7 months and 29 days, and was buried in the old cemetery, in Williamsport, near Lycoming Creek. John, the subject of this sketch, was born July 5th, 1794, and conse-
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quently was 93 years, 5 months and 5 days old at the time of his death, having lived almost to the great age of his father. For 60 years he lived on the premises where he died. He was a quiet, unobtrusive man, seldom went away from home, and was a farmer by occupation. He married Miss Martha Marshall, a daughter of one of the pioneer settlers of this county. They raised three sons and five daughters, all of whom are living, except the youngest daughter. Mrs. King died more than 25 years ago. She joined the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1837, and in 1840 was followed by her husband. They lived devout Christian lives. For several years before his death Mr. King was almost totally blind.
JACOB L. MUSSINA, who died at his home in Williamsport on January 8th, 1888, aged 80 years, 8 months and 8 days, was a man of excellent standing and greatly respected. His father was a Pole and came to this country in 1786 and opened a store at Mif- flinburg, Union County. He afterwards removed to Aaronsburg, Centre County, where the subject of this notice was born April 29th, 1807. At the age of 11 years he was left fatherless and thrown upon the world. He learned the trade of a jeweler in Bellefonte, came to Jersey Shore in 1828, and to Williamsport in 1830. After serving four years as clerk in the prothonotary's office he opened a jewelers' shop. He followed his trade for thirty-five years, built up a large and profitable business and retired in 1866. Mr. Mussina opened the first Daguerreotype gallery in Williams- port, in 1842, and was the first telegraph operator. He also organized the first band. During his long and useful life he held various positions of trust in civil and religious circles. He was a justice of the peace for ten years. For over thirty years he was trustee and secretary in the Pine Street M. E. Church, and for forty-three years he served as clerk to the return judges of the elections. He was a great lover of the mechanic arts and excelled in his trade. In 1834 he married Miss Jerusha P. Bailey, of Williamsport. She preceded him to the grave a short time ago. They had five sons and three daughters. Mr. Mussina acquired a handsome competence during his life, and passed away honored and respected by his fellow citizens.
THE wife of Coleman Huling, who died at her home near Charl- ton, Clinton County, on the 28th of December, 1887, was one of the oldest residents of Pine Creek Township. She was born
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October 20th, 1813, at Dunnstown, and was married in 1833. In company with her husband she removed to Pine Creek Township in 1844, where she lived up to the time of her death. She was the mother of twelve children-nine sons and three daughters, nine of whom survive her with her aged husband. Deceased was a daughter of Captain Samuel Fagundus, who served with honor in the war of 1812.
TOMBSTONE RECORD.
In the new cemetery at Milton, which occupies a lofty position overlooking the river, many of the early settlers in that part of the country are buried. A few names copied from the tombstones are given as follows:
GEN. HENRY FRICK Died at Washington City D. C. March 1, 1844. Aged 48 y's. 11 mo. & 14 D's.
General Frick was a representative man in his day. He founded the Miltonian in 1816, and conducted it for several years. At the time of his death he was a member of Congress.
DR. JAMES S. DOUGAL Born Oct. 7, 1794, Died May 23, 1878.
He was one of the early physicians in that place and reached a high eminence in his profession." Many physicians now in active practice studied under him, and they all reverence his name.
In Memory of GEN. R. H. HAMMOND, Who Died On board Steamer Orleans from Vera Cruz, Mexico, June 2, 1847, Aged 56. 1 m & 4 Ds.
General Hammond was engaged in the Mexican war, and having been taken sick at Vera Cruz, died while en route for home.
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Rev. Joseph Painter, D. D. (See Page 359.)
THE HISTORICAL JOURNAL.
A MONTHLY RECORD.
ยท
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1888, by JOHN F. MEGINNESS, in the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.
Vol. 1.
MARCH, 1888. No. 11.
HISTORY
---- OF-
NORTHUMBERLAND PRESBYTERY.
BY REV. JOSEPH STEVENS, D. D.
GREAT ISLAND CHURCH .- This church, located in what is now the city of Lock Haven, was organized about the time of the organization of the churches of Lycoming and Pine Creek. These three churches were united under the pastorate of the Rev. Isaac Grier, who was their first pastor-from 1794 till 1806, when he re- signed. This fact would seem to indicate that they commenced their careers as organized churches about the same date. It has been already noticed that before 1774 preachers had been sent more than fifty miles above the Buffalo Valley, in the valley of the West Branch. This distance would include the country lying be- . tween Lycoming and Great Island, and we find that about 1778 a Rev. Mr. Kinkaid preached in this region as an itinerant mission- ary. But at this date the population of this section of the country was very sparse, and it is not likely that any effort was made to gather the settlers into organized churches till a later date. We find in possession of the Great Island Church a subscription paper for the support of the gospel for one year, dated 1787. This is subscribed by forty-three names, and probably marks the first combined effort made by the people to secure occasional preaching. Robert Fleming and David Hannah are designated as the commnit- tee to whom the subscriptions were to be paid, and as these were
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made in wheat, rye and corn, another committee, consisting of David Lusk, William Reed, Sr., and James Rodgers, is designated to convert this grain into money. Of course, it was not to be sup- posed that supplies, who should come among them and preach one or two sermons and then pass on to another community, could carry away with them bags of such produce, or would have the time to attend to the sale of it. When the settled pastor was paid in this way, he had usually himself to sell what of it his family did not need for their own consumption. In 1790, we find from the minutes of the General Assembly of that year, the Rev. Messrs. Nathan Ker and Joshua Hart were appointed to labor as mission- aries in this region. It is altogether probable that these mission- aries prepared for organization the three congregations to which the Rev. Isaac Grier was called in 1794, and that they were organ- ized about the year 1792, as before stated.
Mr. Grier withdrew from the pastorate of this church a few years before he resigned the pastorate of Lycoming and Pine Creek, and transferred his residence to Northumberland. Then followed a vacancy of about eight years, when the Great Island united with the Pine Creek congregation in calling the Rev. John H. Grier. The call was made out in 1814, but was not put into his hands by the Presbytery till its spring meeting in 1815, and he was installed as pastor of these two congregations in August of the same year. Mr. Grier, as has been stated elsewhere in this narra- tive, was a native of Bucks County, Pa., but while he was yet a child, the family moved to Chester County, in the same State. It was there he grew up and entered on his preparatory course of education for college, in his 16th year. He graduated at Dickin- son College, Carlisle. Pa., in 1809. in the same class with the late President James Buchanan. He studied theology with the Rev. Nathan Grier. and was licensed in the spring of 1813. For further account of his life, work, and of his death refer to Part II. of this history.
Mr. Grier resigned the Great Island part of his charge in 1828, and was succeeded by the Rev. D. M. Barber. Just how long Mr. Barber continued in the pastorate we do not know. The church was no longer associated with any other charge in the support of a pastor, and being yet weak, and none of the people possessed of
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large wealth, must have had a hard struggle to support a pastor. It had made reasonable progress, as things went in those days, but the people were not affluent, though they had great resources in the soil they possessed, and money of reliable value was the scarcest article among them, and the hardest to conimand. Mr. Barber was succeeded in the pastorate by the Rev. Alexander Boyd, who was installed in 1838, and resigned in 1844. Mr. Boyd was a good and worthy man, a forcible preacher, and a capable pastor. He died June 1st, 1845, while on his way home from the meeting of the General Assembly. to which he had been sent as a commis- sioner by the Presbytery. The next pastor to Mr. Boyd was the Rev. Slater C. Hepburn. He was a native of this interior section of Pennsylvania, belonging to one of its most prominent and re- spected families. Mr. Hepburn had visited the church in 1844 and engaged to supply it for two months. At the end of this en- gagement a call was made out for him, and in January, 1845, he, being a licentiate only, was ordained and at the same time installed. This service took place in the meeting house at Mill Hall, which was then included in the Great Island congregation. At this date Lock Haven was a small town, numbering about 700 inhabitants. Ten years before there was but one house and probably a dozen inhabitants in the place .* The Church in that locality had wor- shiped in a log building situated on the hill, on the road leading to Flemington and Mill Hall. The founder of the town, Jerry Church, an eccentric but enterprising man, only got possession of the site on which it is located in April, 1834, though he had, by permission of the party from whom he purchased it, laid out some town lots in November preceding that date. The old church building on the hill had been abandoned before Mr. Hepburn came, and during his ministry the services were conducted, a part of the time, in the upper story of the Academy building, corner of Main and Vesper 'streets, and the other part of the time in the old Methodist Church building, which was rented for the half of each Sabbath. The church building on Water Street, below the canal, was not com- pleted till about the time he left; his farewell sermon seems to have been the first preached in it. About the time Mr. Hepburn left Mr. Alexander McCormick bequeathed the sum of $500 to the
* Meginness' Otzinachson. Jerry Church's statement.
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church, the interest of which was to be paid annually to the pastor. This was safely invested on real estate security, and the interest paid over as directed by the testator from April, 1850. Such be- quests are in some cases valuable helps in efforts to sustain the preaching of the gospel among a people whose resources are limited; but in all cases they must be securely guarded and wisely managed, or more harm than good will be likely to ensue. The practice of endowing pastorates is not of frequent occurrence in the Presbyterian Church, and does not seem to be popular. With all its vast wealth, the Church in the United States has but few endowed pulpits, either in whole or in part, while experience does not seem to recommend this as a wise method of sustaining the gospel. In this particular case the amount bequeathed was small. perhaps just sufficient to yield an annual income equivalent to what the testator had been in the habit of giving to the support of the pastor in his life-time. Knowing that the church was then weak financially, and not foresecing the rapid increase of population and resources which was to develop itself in the near future, he prob- ably felt that he could not leave a better memorial of his interest in the cause of Christ in that community than the perpetuation of his usual contribution to the preaching of the Word. In any event, it was not to be regretted that the endowment was small.
The next pastor of this church was the Rev. Samuel A. Gayley. He was a graduate of Lafayette College, received his theological education at Princeton Seminary, and had been licensed to preach the gospel by the Presbytery of New Castle. He received the call in January, 1851, and was ordained and installed in the ensuing spring or summer. Mr. Gayley proved himself a faithful and use- ful pastor. He was an excellent preacher, an active, vigilant shepherd of the flock. Under his pastorate the church increased largely in all the elements of strength. In the five years of his pastorate the membership of the church was nearly doubled; the church building at Mill Hall was improved in appearance and com- fort, and the one in Lock Haven was enlarged, its basement fitted out for a lecture and Sabbath School room, and a steeple and bell put upon it.
Each wingof the church had now become sufficiently strong to support a pastor for itself, and it was no longer for the interests of
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religion that they should remain together. There was ample ma- terial for two churches within the territory covered by them, and their relative position was such as made separation both practicable and desirable. Accordingly in 1855 the Mill Hall part was set off' by Presbytery as a separate charge, under the name of Bald Eagle and Nittany, and- called the Rev. Henry L. Doolittle to be its pastor. The Lock Haven part retained the old name and title of Great Island, and after being vacant about a year, called the Rev. James H. Baird to its pastorate on the 11th of February, 1857. This pastorate was not conducive to the welfare of the church; its peace and comfort were greatly disturbed from causes which need not be discussed here, though in justice to the church it should be noted that these causes were not the fault of the people. At a congregational meeting held on the 26th of December, 1859, it was resolved to call the present pastor, the Rev. Joseph Nesbitt. In April of the following year the call was put into his hands by the Presbytery, and accepted by him, and he was installed on the 2d of May, 1860. Mr. Nesbitt is a native of the North of Ireland, was educated at Edinburgh, Scotland, and is a man of scholarly at- tainments. He is an able and popular preacher, and has served this church longer than any of his predecessors. Under his min- istry the church has steadily advanced in all the elements of healthy growth. This is especially seen in the building of a large and commodious chapel; and then, some years later, the erection of a new and elegant church building, to which this chapel is attached, in a central and prominent locality of the city. In 1863 the con- gregation resolved to build this new church edifice, and sold their old building to the Lutherans, agreeing to give them possession in December of that year. This was in the midst of the civil war, when the whole nation was in a state of great excitement and pub- lic affairs and private business were alike subject to sudden and extreme changes. By the arrival of the time to commence the contemplated building, the price of labor and material had risen to such an excessive value that they were compelled to suspend their effort. After worshiping for more than a year and a half in a public hall, at great inconvenience and disadvantage, they erected a chapel-now used as the lecture room-which they used for all church purposes till their new house of worship was completed. In 1869 they resolved to proceed to complete the new building
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according to the original plan, and in 1872 they met for the ... first time within its walls. The whole property-chapel. church and grounds-cost about $42,000, the last dollar of which was provided for on the day of dedication. In the mean- time, however, sometime in 1868, a difficulty arose in the church, in which two or more of the elders were concerned. touching the pastor, which resulted in an effort to establish another Presbyter- ian church in the city. As to the merits of this difficulty it is not needful that we should write; suffice it to say that the pastor offered his resignation, but the majority of the congregation would not accept it. The dissatisfied parties went out, applied to Pres- bytery for a new organization, which was eventually granted, pur- chased a church building of the Methodists, who had just completed a new and larger building for themselves in another part of the city, called a pastor in 1868 or 1869, and for a little while seemed to hold on their way tolerably well; but in the course of a year or two the pastor resigned and another was not called. Eventually the organization expired, and the most, perhaps all, who had entered into it, at length returned to the church and the pastor they had left. Since this affair came to an end the church has pursued its career in peace and harmony, and has made very commendable progress. May it never grow less, or halt in its onward course. The city of Lock Haven had a surprisingly rapid growth for a time, and at- tained to a population of about 9,000. The general depression of business and commercial crisis, which occurred a few years ago, affected its interests very sensibly, and diminished its population to a considerable extent; but the present revived state of business seems to be lifting it up to prosperity again, and may possibly settle it on a more solid business foundation than it has ever possessed. The people are beginning to interest themselves in manufacturing enterprises of a more general character, and if their efforts meet with no disaster they may soon enter on a career of prosperity which will largely increase their population. Already they have regained all and perhaps more than they had lost. If this prospect should be realized it is to be hoped the Presbyterians there will reach out and grasp with energy the opportunities that may fall in their way for the extension of Presbyterianism.
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MILL HALL AND NITTANY CHURCH .- This church, as has been noted in the account of the Great Island Church, commenced its existence in December, 1856, and the Rev. Henry L. Doolittle was called the same year to be its first pastor. Mr. Doolittle came from Western New York, from the Presbytery of Susquehanna, if I am rightly informed. He was a very conscientious man, zealous and industrious, a forcible preacher, marked by some rather odd peculiarities. There was but little elasticity in him, or ability to accommodate himself to circumstances. Hence he failed to get a very deep hold of the people, and did not continue the pastor of this church very long. When he resigned he returned to Western New York, whence he came, where he shortly after died. After Mr. Doolittle's resignation the church was vacant for about two years, when the Rev. W. G. E. Agnew was called to its pastorate, in October, 1862. The name of this church was changed, at its own request, from Mill Hall and Nittany to Bald Eagle and Nit- tany, in November, 1856, at an adjourned meeting of Presbytery, held in Sunbury. Mr. Agnew, its second pastor, at the time of his call to its pastorate, was the principal of a female academy in the Tuscarora Valley. He was a refined scholar, and an industrious pastor, and served the church a greater number of consecutive years than any pastor it has had up to the present date. His wife having been called to her eternal rest, and his own health becoming impaired, he retired from the pulpit and made his home with his married daughter at Elizabeth, New Jersey, till he died. The suc- cessive pastors since Mr. Agnew's resignation have been Revs. Messrs. Warrington, Houghawought, Jenks, and the present incum- bent, Rev. S. W. Pomeroy, who was installed over this and the Beech Creek Church, jointly, in 1886. The Bald Eagle and Nit- tany Church has a wide but laborious field open to its enterprise, owns a good and comfortable parsonage and is amply able to sup- port a pastor.
BEECH CREEK CHURCH .- This is one of the younger churches of the Presbytery, organized May 25th, 1871. Its field of operation is somewhat circumscribed, and its financial ability has not been sufficient to support a pastor all his time. nor have the means of grace been enjoyed by it with much regularity since its organiza- tion. It owns a substantial brick church building, with convenient
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