USA > Pennsylvania > Berks County > The story of Berks County (Pennsylvania) > Part 6
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
36th, I-Berks and Lebanon Counties. Joseph G. Holmes
44th, L-Reading Troop J. C. A. Hoffeditz
44th, M-Reading Cavalry.
Thomas S. Richards
46th, E-Reading Rifles. Cornelius Wise
48th, D-Berks and Schuylkill Counties. Daniel Nagle
50th, B-Ellsworth Zouaves. Hervey Herman
50th, E-Reading Light Infantry William H. Diehl
79
BERKS COUNTY RECORDS IN THE NATION'S WARS
50th, H-Union Light Infantry Thomas S. Brenholtz
55th, B-Washington Legion. . John C. Shearer 59th, K-Cavalry, Berks & Philadelphia . Stehen H. Edgett
70th, G-Reading Dragoons George E. Clymer
74th, G-Berks and Adams Counties. . . William J. Bart
$0th, L-Cavalry, Berks & Northumb'ld. Charles C. McCormick
$2d, I-Reading & Harrisburg. Robert W. McCartney
88th, A-Junior Fire Zouaves. George W. Knabb
88th, B-Neversink Zouaves Henry R. Myers
88th. H-Union Guards David A. Griffith
93d, B-Union Zouaves. John E. Arthur
93d, G-Reading & Norristown. Alexander C. Maitland
93d, K-Berks & Lebanon Counties David C. Keller
96th. G-Hamburg Light Infantry. James M. Douden
104th, H-Berks County. William F. Walter
D-Independent Battery. George W. Durrell
5th, M-Battery U. S. Artillery. James McKnight
Nine Months' Service, 1862-63.
Regt. Co. Name Captain.
128th, A-Washington Infantry L. Heber Smith
128th, B-Muhlenberg Infantry William McNall
128th, E-Reading Artillerists William H. Andrews
128th, H-Felix Light Guards. John Kennedy
128th, I-Reading Iron Works Guards .. Richard H. Jones
128th, K-City Guard.
George Newkirk
151st, E-Ontelaunee
Jacob S. Graeff
151st, G-Bernville Levi M. Gerhart
151st, H-Upper Tulpehocken William K. Boltz
151st, I-Berks & Schuylkill. William L. Gray
151st, K-Longswamp James W. Weida
Volunteer Militia, 1862.
Regt. Co. Name Captain.
2d, G-Fifth Ward Guards . Franklin S. Bickley
11th, E-Nicolls Guards Dr. Charles H. Hunter
80
THE STORY OF BERKS COUNTY
11th, I -McKnight Guards.
Nathan M. Eisenhower
20th, G-Liberty Fire Zouaves William Geiger
20th, H-McLean Guards. Samuel Harner
20th, I -Halleck Infantry
Frederick S. Boas
20th Berks County Cavalry Samuel L. Young 1
Drafted Militia, 1862, Nine Months' Service.
Regt. Co. Location
Captain. .
167th, A-Womelsdorf
.Jonathan See
167th, B-Reading
Charles Melcher
167th, C-Oley
Peter Y. Edelman
167th, D-Ontelaunee
Samuel A. Haines
167th, E-Spring
Hiram H. Miller
167th, F-Marion
Joseph Groh
167th, G-Washington
William A. Schall
167th, H-Pike
Abraham H. Schaeffer
167th, I -Richmond
Jonas M. Schollenberger
167th, K-Rockland
Edward F. Reed
179th, I-Reading
Amos Drenkel
179th, K-Amity
John B. Wagoner
Volunteer Militia of 1863.
Regt. Co. Location
Captain.
31st, H-Reading
David A. Griffith
42d, A-Reading William F. Walter
42d, B-Reading Samuel Harner
42d, C-Reading John E. Arthur
42d. D-Robeson William D. Smith
42d, E-Reading
John McKnight
42d, F-Robeson
Bentley. H. Smith
42d, G-Ontelaunee Samuel A. Haines
42d. H-Reading John Obold
42d. I-Birdsboro
Edward Bailey
42d. K-Heidelberg
Jacob Deppen
58th, G-Reading Joseph G. Holmes
81
BERKS COUNTY RECORDS IN THE NATION'S WARS
53d. A -- Reading Richmond L. Jones
53d. B-Reading Jacob› Lehman
Independent Artillery-Reading. . .William C. Ermentrout
100 Days' Service, 1864.
20th, G-Reading
. George W. Ashenfelter
194th, I-Reading Henry E. Quimby
195th, A-Reading Henry D. Markley
' 195th, B-Reading Harrison Maltzberger
196th, I-Reading George S. Rowbotham
One Year's Service, 1864-65.
192d. F-Reading
.John Teed
195th, A-Reading Henry D. Markley
198th. D-Reading Isaac Shroeder
198th, G-Rockland William L. Guinther
205th, B-Reading
Joseph G. Holmes
205th, E-Reading
William F. Walter
205th, H-Ruscombmanor
Franklin Schmehl
Regimental Bands.
5th, Reading City E. Ermentrout, leader
25th, Ringgold John A. Hoch, leader
26th. Bernville Henry S. Grime, leader
46th. Birdsboro Richard J. Stanley, leader
SSth, Reading City E. Ermentrout, leader
War with Spain. For years the people of America sympa- thized with the inhabitants of the island of Cuba who were suffering from the tyrannical oppression of Spain. When early in 1898 the United States battleship Maine was blown up in Havana harbor, en- tailing the loss of 266 American sailors, feeling against Spain became so great that on March 29 Congress declared war against that coun- try and officially recognized the independence of Cuba.
When President Mckinley called for 125,000 volunteers the patriotic spirit was aroused in our county and the Reading Artil- lerists responded. Under the command of Captain Samuel Willits they proceeded to Mount Gretna, where they were mustered into
82
THE STORY OF BERKS COUNTY
service on May 9, with the Fourth Regiment of Pennsylvania. This regiment went to Chickamauga, where John C. Hintz, first lieutenant of Company A, died. On August 2 they landed in Porto Rico and went to the support of the advancing army at Guayama.
They took their position on a hill and were ready to fire when the news of the "Peace Protocol" was circulated. Active opera- tions now ceased and they were put on outpost duty near Ponce. They were mustered out of service November 16 and received a cordial welcome when they returned home.
-
CHAPTER VII.
INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT. COLONIAL LIFE.
Homes. In the early colonial days the furniture in the smaller houses was usually of home manufacture. Benches made of slabs and stools having three legs served as chairs and couches. Beds were often simple frames built against the wall on which were mattressess stuffed with corn husks or straw, cut into lengths of- about four inches. Leaves and brush at times even re- placed the straw, for to the colonists "a hard THE KITCHEN FIREPLACE. day's work made a soft bed." The kitchen was usually large and had a large hearth in which the fire for heating was kept. Light at first was furnished by the old-fashioned "fat lamp." This was followed later by the tallow candle in the manufacture of which Franklin's father was engaged. The molds in which they were made may yet be seen in the old home- steads, but they are seldom used. The tallow candle was replaced by the coal oil lamp with which all of us are familiar. Gas and electricity followed and are now fast replacing all other means of illumination. Several pipe lines which conduct oil from the oil regions to the seaboard, pass through the county.
Matches were unknown and fire was kindled by means of the flint stone. The stone was struck with a piece of iron, producing sparks which were caused
A WHALE OIL LAMP.
84
THE STORY OF BERKS COUNTY
to strike punk. By blowing or fanning a flame was started. As this was a tedious and uncertain method the colonists were care- ful not to allow their fires to go out. When through: neglect or accident the fire happened to die out it was nothing unusual to borrow a shovel- ful of burning embers from a neighbor and carry them for a long distance.
Market value of articles about 1800. Wheat $1.80 a bushel, rye 60 cents a bushel, oats 25 cents a bushel, corn 72 cents a bushel, flour $9.25 a TALLOW CANDLE. barrel, ham 9 cents a pound, beef 4 cents a pound, sugar 12 cents a pound, butter 12 cents a pound, eggs 8 cents a dozen, labor 40 cents a day and rum $1.00 a gallon.
Farming implements. The farm- ing implements were very , crude. Plows and harrows were made of wood and usually drawn by oxen. The harness was made of ropes or raw. deer skin. The skins were twined and twisted together and then dried. These often served as traces.
+ Grain and grass were cut by means of sickles, which were later replaced by the scythe and the grain cradle.
Threshing was done by causing CARRYING FIRE FROM THE NEIGHBORS. the oxen and horses to walk back and forth over the grain or by means of a flail with which the grain was beaten.
Clothing. But little was 'known of cotton in those days in Berks County. The sheep furnished wool. The flax was dried, beaten, broken and spun into cloth out of which the moth- ers made home-spun garments. At times knee breaches were
85
INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT
OLD PLOW.
made of deerskin. The shoes, worn generally only in winter, were made of leather tanned in the locality. Reading, from its first days was a center for mak- ing hats, and some of the imple- ments used in the early manufac- ture of hats may still be seen in the rooms of the historical soc- iety.
The iron industry and early furnaces. The iron industry was early carried on throughout the eastern portion of the State. The first stoves in America were made in Berks County. They consisted of five plates which were put together like a box, the sixth side being walled into the large chimney. The plates were heavy and were molded when men did not know nearly so well how to use hot metal as we do today.
The early furnaces made what the set- tlers needed. When it was found that the stove just described was not very service- able, one of the pioneer iron men made a new model which had an oven that could be used for baking. It was an old-fashion- ed box stove such as some of us have seen in our younger days. It stood upon legs like a sewing machine and was about three feet long and one and one-half feet wide. SPINNING IN A COLONIAL HOME. with a small hearth extending in front of it. There was an opening in the top for a pipe.
One of these stoves was shown at the World's Fair, Chicago, 1893. It has lettering and flowers on it, much after the fashion of our stoves today. Upon it may be read : "Hereford Furnace, 1767, Thomas Maybury." On the door is inscribed: "Made 1267" It is the oldest stove in America and, having been made in our coun-
.
86
THE STORY OF BERKS COUNTY
ty, we should feel justly proud of it. It is now in possession of the Berks County Historical Society.
To operate one of the charcoal furnaces at which stoves, and cannons and cannon balls for the Revolutionary war were made, many men were required. Thomas Maybury, at times, had as many as forty and even employed the Hessian prisoners.
Much draft was necessary to furnish the amount of heat required to melt the iron. Water wheels were usually used to furnish the
OLDEST STOVE IN COUNTY.
power to do so, and for this reason the furnaces were located along . the streams. It is supposed that there were at least six of those early furnaces located in our county.
87
INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT
In 1838 there were eight furnaces for manufacturing pig iron at which 3790 tons of iron were made in one year: 4300 bushels oi charcoal were "ised in its making; and 290 men were employed. At the same time there were two rolling mills which made the pig iron into usable form. At that time the county contained two scythe factories which manufactured 2000 scythes. This was before the days of the mowing machines and reapers and binders. There were seven gun factories which during the year turned out 370 guns.
At the same time there were seven ore mines in operation in the county from which 1200 tons of ore were taken by 73 miners. Nine limestone quarries were also in operation. In them 170 quarry men were employed. There were 300 lime kilns which during the year burned 665,000 bushels of lime.
Burning charcoal. There were usually about a dozen wood- choppers who cut down our giant forest trees at the rate of fifty cents a cord. The teamsters generally using a sled with greased runners and a yoke of oxen, dragged the wood to the hearth. The best and most trusty men were the charcoal burners.
A level circular space was cleaned and in the center were placed one or more poles from three to six inches in diameter. Around these the wood in pieces about four feet long was piled upon the ends. Three lengths were placed one on top of the other. When completed, the pile of wood was about forty feet in circumference, twelve feet high and shaped like a cone. The center poles were then withdrawn and the hole was filled with chips and dry shavings. The whole was then covered with leaves upon which was placed a layer of ground to a depth of several inches to make the whole pile air tight. The chips and shavings were then lit, and holes were made at the bottom along the outer edge so that the fire would burn downward.
Two burners were usually on hand. The fire was allowed only to smoulder, or kept as a "dead fire." The heap had to be closely watched so that one side would not burn faster than the other, this being regulated by opening and closing the openings previously men- tioned. The time to burn such a "heap or pit" varied from two days to a week. When completed the heap was only half its original size. Heaps often contained 700 bushels of coal.
.88
THE STORY OF BERKS COUNTY
The burners lived in huts made like the Indian wigwams, except that the poles were covered with dirt and leaves. Their bill of fare usually was "flitch and potatoes for breakfast; potatoes and flitch for dinner; and for supper they had one or the other over again." And yet they were a jolly set of fellows. The burden of their song always was:
"There is nothing pleasanter under the sun Than sitting by the fire till the taters are done."
The charcoal was later taken to the furnace where it was used to melt the iron out of the ore.
RIVERS AND CANALS.
Early navigation of the Schuylkill. The Schuylkill is the largest stream of the county and from the time of the first settle- ments it afforded a means for travel and exchange of products. It furnished the early settlers a supply of fish which were cheap and wholesome meat. In order to catch the fish easily and in large num- bers those who lived upon its banks built dams, mears, and racks, into which the fish were driven by fishermen or men upon horses. These dams became a hindrance when the river was to be used for boating. It was the custom of the farmers in the county to take their wheat down the river in boats. These boats were usually hewn out of the log of a single tree, and at times carried as much as seventy bushels of wheat. These boats would get fast at various dams, when to preserve their load, the boatmen were compelled to leap into the river. The dams were spoiled and quarrels followed.
C
A number of the boatmen finally lodged complaints with Squire Boone of Oley Township, and secured a warrant to remove the dams. The fishermen did not care for the boatmen or their warrant and they came to blows. The affair was settled and the boatmen were allowed to carry their loads to the Quaker city. It was some time before the trouble was ended.
The Swedes used the Schuylkill to transfer their skins as early as 1716, and used this means of going to mill, church and store.
Among the hills of the upper Schuylkill an abundance of pine and hemlock timber was found. The first settlers soon 'began to cut the trees and built rafts to float produce down the river, the rafts being .
-
89
INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT
later sold for lumber. These rafts would be hurriedly loaded when there was a rise of water and rafts and cargoes would be floated down the river.
Some knowledge of the extent of the business done by these may be gained from a statement in a Reading newspaper in 1802:
"Within the present week was taken down on the Schuylkill to the mills and the city of Philadelphia in boats in one day from this place the following articles: 1,201 barrels of flour, 1,425 bushels of wheat, 17 tons of bar iron, 1,492 gallons of whiskey, 365 pounds of butter and 500 pounds of snuff. The whole amounted to upwards of one hundred and sixty tons, and would require, in the present con- dition of the roads, at least one hundred and sixty teams of good horses to haul the same to market."
Union Canal. Many of the great schemes for improving this country in its early days were originated in Pennsylvania. In 1791, the Legislature passed an act which incorporated the Schuylkill and Susquehanna Navigation Company, which was to connect these two rivers by a canal. The idea had first been suggested by Penn about a hundred years before, and the first survey was made by David Rit- tenhouse and others in 1762.
The route selected was from Reading along the Tulpehocken and Swatara to Middletown. This was the first canal ever surveyed in America, canals and turnpikes being unknown at this time, even in England. The Delaware and Schuylkill Canal Company was chartered in 1792. It was to connect Philadelphia and Reading by a navigable waterway. These canals were to be a part of a great net- work of waterways that should connect the large cities in the state, with the intention of extending the chain to Lake Erie and the Ohio River.
Very little was done toward building either canal until 1811, so the members of the old companies formed a new company called the Union Canal Company of Pennsylvania. They were authorized to build a canal from Philadelphia to Lake Erie. The new managers went to work, but capital was scarce, and it was more than seven- teen years before the work was completed from Reading to Middle- town. The first boat, called the Fair Trader, left Philadelphia, March 20, 1828, and went by way of Reading to Middletown, where it ar-
1
90
THE STORY OF BERKS COUNTY
rived on the 23d: In July of that year there were seventeen canal boats in use and by the end of December of the same year there were over two hundred.
The highest point in the canal was four miles east of Lebanon. From there east to the mouth of the Tulpehocken creek is 37 miles, while the total length of the canal was seventy-nine and one-half miles. A short distance west of Lebanon a tunnel was constructed through which the waterway passed. This was the first tunnel in the United States.
In order to get some idea as to the value of the canal when completed one needs but remember that in 1831, in one day, eighty boats passed through. the canal toward Philadelphia. , Of these, forty-five were loaded with lumber and coal, the others with flour,
مصـ
CANAL BOAT PASSING STOUTS' FERRY BRIDGE.
whiskey, castings and the like. On the same day, sixty boats passed in the opposite direction and sixteen of these were loaded with merchandise. This was the purpose it served in the days of its greatest usefulness. After the completion of the Lebanon Valley
1
91
INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT
Railroad to Harrisburg, traffic on the canal began to grow less, and in 1884 it was altogether abandoned.
Schuylkill Canal. The first coal was sent over the Schuylkill River in flats owned by Abraham Potts in 1821. In the same year, mention is made of several flats which passed down the river, loaded -
with coal. In the early days there were shanties stationed along the river for the accommodation of these flat boat voyagers. They were known as boat houses. To these the boaters often resorted for lodging and provisions.
The Schuylkill Navigation Company was incorporated in 1814. It was formed to provide means of carrying coal, lumber and mer- chandise from Port Carbon, Schuylkill County, to Philadelphia. At that time teams were the only conveyance between Philadelphia and Reading. The building of the canal was begun in 1817. It was completed in 1827. Its total length was 108 miles. It cost $3,- 000,000.
0
CONESTOGA WAGON.
There were three special boats loaded with guests that descend- ed the canal when it was completed. The first was the "Thomas Oaks," named after the engineer under whose direction much of the canal was built. This boat was occupied by Governor Joseph Hiester, managers and engineers of the company, and invited guests. The second boat was named "Stephen Girard." It was occupied by young ladies and gentlemen from Reading. The third was the
.
92
THE STORY OF BERKS COUNTY
"De Witt Clinton," which was named after the famous promoter of the Erie Canal in New York, and bore a cargo of agricultural implements. In Lewis Dam the boats were anchored, and Charles Evans, Esq., delivered an appropriate address.
The "Thomas Oaks" went only as far as Pottstown, when it was drawn back to Reading by one horse, at the rate of nearly six miles an hour. The "Girard" and "Clinton" proceeded ten miles further down the canal and returned to Reading about twilight.
Value of canals. In the early days of the canal it cost forty cents to carry a hundredweight of produce from Reading to Phila- delphia by stage, and twelve and one-half cents by canal. The toll from Port Carbon on a ton of coal to Philadelphia was one dol- lar and sixty-eight cents.
Owing to the increase in coal trade the canal was enlarged in 1846 so as to allow the passage of boats carrying a burden of one hundred and eighty tons through the whole course. The depth was at no place less than five and one-half feet and the width sixty feet. In 1857 the canal was used to transport 1,275,988 tons of coal to Philadelphia. The distance from Pottsville to Philadelphia would often be made in a day and a half.
Horses and mules were used to tow boats after 1826. Before that they were pulled by men pushing against a stick fastened to the rope that pulled the boat, called the tow line. A trip from Port Carbon and return usually required six weeks.
The business of the canal company was good. In 1842, over 500,000 tons of produce were taken through the canal. Dividends were high and shares which originally cost fifty dollars were sold as high as one hundred and seventy-five dollars. The boats were about seventeen feet wide, one hundred feet long and carried about ninety tons of coal.
For a time the company offered a premium for making a trip quickly. In 1870 the canal was leased to the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad Company for 999 years.
TURNPIKES AND OTHER ROADS.
Tulpehocken road. Up to the war of 1812, Berks was chiefly an agricultural county. No provision had been made to sup-
1
.
INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT
93
ply the land with a fertilizer of any kind. It was about this time that the value of lime for this purpose was discovered and it came into general use. The fact that slacked lime, when mixed with sand, would harden and serve as plaster for building, was learned about the same time. Lime kilns were erected and the hauling of wood to the kilns and lime to the towns and fields made the need of roads and bridges felt more keenly, just as automobiles today cause the building of macadamized roads. Many cross roads and many less im- portant roads were also built and the streams were spanned with bridges.
REMAINS OF PIONEER ROAD NEAR KUTZTOWN, PA. LAID OUT ABOUT 1750.
The Schuylkill Ford was a convenient crossing place for the Indians and many of their paths met here. The first road of which a record remains was laid out from Philadelphia to Tulpehocken in 1687. This was known as the Tulpehocken road. It passed through what is now Womelsdorf, Rehrersburg and across the Blue Mountains to the Susquehanna.
Berks and Dauphin turnpike. The Berks and Dauphin Turn- pile Company was chartered in 1805 and the Tulpehocken road was
94
THE STORY OF BERKS COUNTY
5
MILESTONE.
piked from Reading to Womels- dorf in 1817. The first Penn Street Bridge was completed a year earlier. In 1822 the length- of this pike was 34 miles.
It was the custom to place milestones along the early piked roads. On these the distance to prominent places was cut. Many of the original milestones are still in places along the principal roads.
Maidencreek or Easton road. In 1745 a road was laid out from Par- vin's Mill, near the mouth of the Maidencreek, to Reading, in almost a straight line. In 1753 it was extended to Easton by the commissioners of Berks and Northampton Counties. It is now the great highway between Read- · ing and Allentown.
The story is told that a young" man who lived at Parvin's Mill and was influential with the politicians of those days, was court- ing a young lady who lived in Reading. So much difficulty did he have in making his weekly trips through the roadless woods, that he used his influence with the politicians, who arranged for the building of the road.
Centre turnpike. In 1805 the Centre Turnpike Company was formed for the purpose of building a road from Reading to Sun- bury. This company piked the Maidencreek road to Parvin's Mill. From this point they constructed a road through Hamburg and Ashland to Sunbury. In 1822 the total distance piked was 75 miles.
The Oley road. A petition to build a road from the "Lutheran Meeting House," at Tulpehocken, to the "Quaker Meeting House,"
95
INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT
in Oley, was presented to the Philadelphia Court in 1727. In 1736 it was built from the ford at Reading to Amityville.
The road from this "Old Philadelphia Road," near Schwartzwald Church, to what was called the King's High Way, (Pleasantville to Amityville), was laid out in 1755. This now constitutes the Oley Turn- pike and extends from Black Bear Inn to Pleasantville. It was piked in 1862 at a cost of $50,000. It is only ten miles long.
Perkiomen turnpike. In 1810 the Oley road, from Reading to Black Bear, was made a part of the Perkiomen turnpike, extending from Reading through Douglassville and Pottstown to the Perkiomen Creek. In 1822, this pike was twenty-nine miles long.
The Schuylkill road. This road was surveyed in 1751. It entered Berks County from Chester County, and extended through Caernarvon, Robeson and Cumru Townships to the "Old Tulpehocken Road" opposite Reading. It was surveyed by George Boone and is twelve miles long.
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.