Twentieth century history of Altoona and Blair County, Pennsylvania, and representative citizens, Part 23

Author: Sell, Jesse C 1872-
Publication date: 1911
Publisher: Chicago, Richmond-Arnold Publishing
Number of Pages: 1036

USA > Pennsylvania > Blair County > Altoona > Twentieth century history of Altoona and Blair County, Pennsylvania, and representative citizens > Part 23

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In 1805 John Gloninger & Co., built the Tyrone Forge, located on the Little Juniata, between Tyrone and Birmingham. Caleb Berry was the first manager. Eight years later the company built another forge half a mile up the Juniata, which was called the Upper Ty- rone Forge, and both were operated by the same firm. About 1807 a rolling mill and nail factory were built below the old forge which continued to be operated until 1830. The same power operated a grist mill which is now the only one remaining.

In 1835 the Gloninger company sold its in- terests to William M. Lyon & Co. They re- built both the lower and upper forges about 1840. The capacity of both was increased. In 1865 a new and greatly enlarged forge was built on the site of the lower one. It con- tained twelve fires and one large steam ham- mer. The forge was operated by steam and its capacity was almost 2,000 tons of blooms per year. It was successfully operated until 1874 when work was suspended and the build- ing has since been used for other purposes.

In 1880 Sieman Anderson & Co., occupied

the Tyrone forge in preparing iron for the manufacture of hearth steel, by submitting the crude ore to the action of Sieman's rotating furnace. The metal produced is highly satis- factory and brings about $60 per ton. The operation requires the attendance of twelve men.

Bald Eagle furnace was built on the stream of that name in Snyder township in 1830 by John Gloninger & Co., and five or six years later it was sold to William Lyon & Co., who operated it until it went out of blast in 1865. When it worked to its full capacity it pro- duced about 2,200 tons per year, and the work connected with the plant gave employment to about 150 men.

William Mann & Co., axe factory is one mile above Tyrone on the site of the Cold Spring Forge. It was built in 1835 by John Kratzer and operated until it was destroyed by a flood in 1838. It was rebuilt again by Kratzer and Steele. It later passed into the hands of John S. Isett & Son, and from them to others until the panic of 1873 stopped all operations.

The Pennsylvania Axe Co. leased the plant and in 1881 commenced the manufacture of axes. In March, 1881, the company dissolved and the business passed into other hands. A few years later operations ceased and the buildings are in ruins. It gave employment to about forty men and the output was 400 axes per day.

While the details and particulars of the early iron works as forges and furnaces have gone into oblivion, fortunately the place of their location and the time of their operations is accurately recorded, and are given in the introduction to this chapter, being derived from Mr. Clark's semi-centen- nial history. We will yet append some par- ticulars that have been preserved.

John Royer, a native of Franklin county, moved into the lower end of what is now embraced in Blair county, and in 1811 built what is known as Cove forge, which con- tinued operations for about seventy years. Rolling-mills were as yet unknown, and at

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this forge iron was drawn-hammered into bars. These bars found a market in Pitts- burg, and the only means of transportation was by wagons over the rudely constructed, primitive roads. The expense of conveying the finished product to market was from twenty to forty dollars per ton. The out- put of the forge was about four hundred tons annually. It gave employment to about thirty men.

Springfield furnace was the third furnace erected in the county. It was built in 1815 by Daniel and John Royer. Daniel had the greater interest in the furnace, and contin- ued to reside here till his death, which oc- curred in 1838. During the early days when foundries were few and far between, this firm did considerable business in cast- ing the old-fashioned tin-plate wood stoves. These huge stoves found their way into al- most every house in the rural districts and for comfort have never been surpassed. Artistic taste and scarcity of wood as a fuel consigned them to the junk pile. The fur- nace gave employment to about fifty men and produced about thirty-four tons of iron per week.

Daniel Royer became the owner of a large land estate which included the rich iron mines connected with his furnace. After his death his son John Royer and George Schmucker became the owners of the whole estate including Cove forge and continued the business under the firm name of Rover & Schmucker until 1854, when Mr. Schmucker sold his interest to Mr. Royer, who continued the business while he lived. He died near the age of ninety.

The analyses of the stratified and un- stratified rock is identically the same, the only difference being a geodetic one. The latter carrying more impurities in the way of vegetable matter which adheres to the stone. stone.

The analyses of Ganister rock as found on the Canoe mountain range is as follows :

Silica

Iron Oxide and Alumina.

.60

Lime

none

Magnesia trace

Loss of Ignition.

.25

The underlying statistics show the in- creased growth of this business from the years 1886 to 1910.

Total

Used

Year

Production

for Brick

Tons

1886 to 1890 *

.90,260.

15,600

1890

. 30,505 .

7,626

I891

. 30,442 .

10,144

1892

28,617.

11,440

1893

. 21,584.

12,948

1894

33,954.

16,977

1895

· 36,914.

· 33,219

1896

. 34,725.

.27,780

1897

· 32,046.

26,705

1898

. 36,925.

.29,540

1899

.57,115.

45,620

1900

. 58,874.

.49.060

1901

.88,896.

.80,002

1902

87,679

.80,366

1903

76,196

70,000

1904

. 62,865

. 61,456

1905

.99,408.

.97,600

1906

.78,201

.75,325

1907

.63, 115

.62,97I

1908

36,563.

· 34,623

1909

64.494.

62,010

* The tonnage given is total for four years.

GANISTER QUARRIES.

The higher benches and summits of the mountains in the interior of Blair county contain an immense quantity of a whitish rock which is neither sand nor flint, but known in commerce as "ganister." It ex- ists in vast piles of loose rocks, among which there is no earth to nourish any vege- table growth. It seems as though the all- wise Creator selected those secluded places to store them until man should find out their valuable properties. When they once took a place as an article of commerce in the industries of the country it became a problem how to get them down from their elevated positions.

This was soon solved by the ingenuity of man, who found in the rocks a profitable article of trade. Tram roads were con- structed from a convenient point on the line of the railroad at the base of the mountain, which extended to the very summit. They

99.10

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HISTORY OF BLAIR COUNTY

were operated by the force of gravity. A .Walker company in 1886. Prior to the strong steel wire cable stretched from the above dates the famous Dynas silica brick foot to the top of the mountain which wound around a cylinder, with a car at- tached to each end. The weight of the loaded car on the declivity would elevate the empty one. In this manner operations would continue day in and day out from year to year. were imported to this country at great cost, but from this time on the American brick plants steadily grew and importations of the material gradually fell off until 1889, when they ceased altogether, the brick plants in the United States having assumed such a marked growth that they were able to take care of all the requirements for this material at a much lower cost.

Jesse L. Hartman was the pioneer ship- per from this county. His operations com- menced in McKee's Gap on land leased from Peter Duncan. As the demand in- creased, or continued, he purchased land from time to time until he has now in his own right about 7,000 acres and controls perhaps the largest ganister works in the United States. His son, James Denniston Hartman, furnishes the following very in- teresting and satisfactory account of the industry :

The history of ganister or quartz rock as found in the central part of Pennsylvania may be said to first date back to the days of the old Pennsylvania canal. From the lands of the Isetts at Point View, Pa., several boat loads were shipped to the Cambria Iron company about the year 1870 as sam- ple rock, and which marked the first use of ganister in the manufacture of Bessemer steel in the United States. From 1870 to 1880, practically none of the material was used, but from 1880 to 1884 the quarrying and shipping of this material for Bessemer purposes assumed the role of an infant industry. The requirement of rock in this one branch of the steel industy was very limited and not until it found its way into the manufacture of silica brick did it as- sume any substantial growth as a perma- nent industry.

In the year 1884 the first silica brick was manufactured by the A. J. Haws & Sons, Ltd., Johnstown, Pa., from ganister rock from the south range of Dunnings moun- tains, McKees Gap, Pa., and shipped by Mr. J. L. Hartman. The next company to manufacture silica brick was the Harbison

The most important fields in which silica brick are employed is the open-hearth pro- cess of making steel. The brick are used as a refractory lining for the sides, roofs and checker work in the furnaces, and are bound by heavy steel girders in order that the expansion of the brick may be taken care of. This is the chief characteristic of ganister or silica brick, namely the refrac- tory properties. The expansion of this ma- terial under a heat of 2,800 to 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit is so great that all crevises are completely closed and a tight compact fur- nace lining is the result.

The composition of silica brick is pure ganister ground to the size of sea sand and bonded with a one per cent solution of lime water with a resulting analyses the same as that of the pure rock with the only excep- tion of CA CO3 added. From the time the rock is received at the brick works about eighteen days is required before the mate- rial is turned out a finished product. Dur- ing this time the rock is crushed, ground, moulded into green brick, dried in the dryer tunnels and burned in the kilns at a temper- ature of 2,700 to 2,900 degrees Fahrenheit.

The second chief use of silica brick is the construction of the new bi-product coke ovens.

The mineral ganister exists in stratified and unstratified formation, the former in a very compact ledge and lying under ground, the latter, or unstratified, consists of broken deposits lying on the surface and averaging from four to six feet in depth. The strati- fied or formation rock is found in heavy

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deposits on the Canoe mountain or Beaver dams range. In this locality the solid measures has been worked with much suc- cess for a period of five years. Its quality showing more uniformity and purity than the surface stone. The solid measures as found in most localities are unworkable, owing to the position of the ledge and the amount of stripping, together with the im -- purities contained in it. On the Canoe mountain tract the pitch of the ledge is slightly less bv five degrees than the decliv- ity of the mountain, carrying with it practic- ally no impurities and small quantities of stripping. For successful quarrying of these solid measures the steam drill is employed and holes to a depth of fourteen feet are drilled. The blasting of the holes is about the same as in other ledges of solid rock, namely the use of black powder and dyna- mite.

MISCELLANEOUS INDUSTRIES.

As many of the industries of the county are part and parcel of the history of the towns with which they are connected, they are written co-jointly. By referring to the towns it will be seen that the county is all dotted over with industries of one kind or another. As one disappears another sprang up in its place and upon the whole the county with its loss of iron works has grown in wealth and prosperity.

Among the industries of earlier days may' be named distilleries, tanneries, hat factory, woolen mills, oil mill, cabinet making, axe factory.

DISTILLERIES.

At an early day distilleries were very nu- merous, but no attempt will be made to give the number, location, or the capacity but simply state the facts of their existence. The pioneers were not an intemperate peo- ple, neither were they tetotalers. The pre- vailing opinion was that the stimulating ef- fects of liquor were good for the system, and therefore used it daily as a tonic. It It seemed to be as much of a necessity to

them as bread and meat. The distilleries were mostly small affairs, and their prod- ucts were made from the grain raised in their own community and found a market at the same place. The grain mostly used was rye, and the liquor was the pure distil- lation of the grain. The article being strictly pure had doubtless less injurious ef- fects than the adulterated article of com- merce of later years. Few, if any, of the present citizens of the county have any recollection of a distillery within our bor- ders in actual operation. A better knowl- edge of physiological law has lessened the demand for stimulating beverages and its consumption is confined to the more intem- perate and depraved.

HAT FACTORY.

Newry in an earlier day contained among its industries a hat factory. It was perhaps the only one in the county limits. Just when it was started, by whom, how long continued and its products, nothing is defi- nitely known.

CABINET MAKING.

This industry antedates machinery. As soon as the settlers erected houses they needed furniture. This opened up shops for the manufacture of household necessities. The means of transportation were not yet at hand, so they could not be brought from a distance; this made a growing and profit- able business at home. All work was done without the use of machinery and shops were numerous. Among the first of any importance was at Frankstown, operated by William McFarland in 1821.

WOOLEN MILLS.

Before the invention of the power-loom for weaving fabrics, and the opening up of highways for commerce, the cloth for wear- ing apparel was all manufactured within the county. The wool clipped from the sheep and the flax raised in the field were taken to the mill and there put through the

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HISTORY OF BLAIR COUNTY

process of carding, spinning, weaving, full- ing and dyeing. It was then sold in retail to be made into garments. This was a ne- cessity from the start. Woolen mills were as much of a necessity as flour mills. There were quite a number in different places, but the history of some of them seems to be lost. There were two in the vicinity of Claysburg. The one was afterwards con- verted into a flour mill and was for many years operated by Jacob Friese. It has been out of commission for a number of years and its site is now occupied by the Hollidaysburg and Bedford railroad and its seat is obliterated. The other was for many years operated by Mr. Wertz and continued in operation for a number of years after the spindles of all others had ceased, thus winning the laurels of an old time industry to that corner of the county. As noted elsewhere, Willis Gibbony built a woolen mill near the present site of Eldo- rado in 1806-8, which he operated till 1828 when he moved to Duncansville, and there erected a similar establishment which was continued in the Gibbony name and also in operation up to the time it was destroyed by fire.

George Gardner in 1832 erected a woolen mill at what was afterwards called the foot of ten. Power was supplied by the Blair's Gap stream and it continued in suc- cessful operation for many years. Col- onel John Halfpenny removed from Oak Hall, Center county, Pa., to the vicinity of Bell's mills, now Bellwood, in 1853. He was an experienced woolen mill operator. He at once began the manufacturing of car- pets and woolen cloth and yarn. In 1867 he built a new mill which gave employment to ten or twelve men and women. On Decem- ber 13th, 1875, his mill burned and was never rebuilt. The proprietor died Jan. 8th, 1882.

AXE FACTORY.

Daniel Colclesser started an axe and pick factory at Eldorado in 1832 on the site of the old Gibbony woolen mills. It was the

only one in the county and for many years it gave employment to half a dozen men. After his death it was operated by his sons, John, Samuel and Aden, and is still in oper- ation in 1910.

TANNING.

Tanning was in earlier days a profitable business and like distilleries, tanneries were to be found all over the county. Hides taken from animals slaughtered for meat, with such as were procured from game ani- mals, were made into leather, which called into requisition the shoemaker to supply the population with the boots and shoes now turned out by the more speedy means of machinery. It was a time of general re- joicing in a family when the leather and measure were left at the shoemakers for the supply of winter footwear. Among the nu- merous tanneries that dotted the county over from 1810 to 1860 may be mentioned the larger ones. Michael Sellers of Wood- bury township operated one as early as 1800. Joseph Patton had one in Franks- town in 1810. Frances Smith erected one in Duncansville about 1810. It was en- larged afterwards and was rather a preten- tious establishment for a number of years. It is now in ruins. Long before the organi- zation of the county, David Caldwell owned and operated successfully for many years a tannery in Gaysport. In 1862 Louis Plack erected a large one in Altoona, but it ceased operations in 1884, and was demolished in 1889-90. There was quite an extensive one erected in Tyrone and has continued in successful operation for many years, and has survived all others as it is the only one now in operation in the county.

OIL MILL.

Christian Hoover owned and operated an oil mill from 1800 to 1830, but of the kind and quantity of oil we have no data. It was probably the only one in the country.

LUMBERING.

Saw mills were among the first indus- tries of the new country, and as settlers in-

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creased the mills became very numerous. They were mostly associated with the grist mill, so that one dam could supply power for both. They were what was known as the "up and down" mills. The saw was straight and the ends were securely fastened in a sash which was operated by a piston connected with a crank on the water-wheel. Two thousand feet per day was considered a good out-put. With the introduction of the circular saws the timber of the county

soon disappeared, and lumbering, except in a few isolated places, is a thing of the past.

PLANING MILLS.

Tyrone, Martinsburg, Roaring Spring and Curryville are each supplied with a planing mill. Altoona with three and Hol- lidaysburg with two. The investments have been good, as all are doing a thriving business.

CHAPTER IX.

BANKS AND BANKING.

Branch of Exchange Bank, Pittsburg-Bell, Mc Dowell & Co .- First National Bank of Holli- daysburg-Farmers' Bank of Lancaster in Hollidaysburg-Bryan, Gardner & Co .- Gard- ner, Morrow & Co .- Their Failure-William M. Lloyd & Co.'s Bank-Second National Bank of Altoona-First National Bank of Altoona-Altoona Bank-Altoona Trust Co .- Blair County Trust Co .- Mountain City Trust Co .- The Union Bank, Altoona-Citizens' National Bank of Hollidaysburg-The Williamsburg Branch of the First National Bank of Hollidaysburg-Farmers' and Merchants National Bank of Williamsburg-First National Bank of Tyrone-Blair County National Bank of Tyrone-Merchants' National Bank of Tyrone-Banks of Bellwood, Martinsburg, Roaring Spring-Juniata, etc.

In the year 1836 or 1837 the first banking institution was established in Hollidaysburg under the name of the Branch of Exchange bank, Pittsburg, at Hollidaysburg, of which John Walker was president, and William Wil- liams, cashier. The building occupied stood on the site of the present standard office, and the business was continued until 1849, when the affairs of this house were closed, and all claims promptly liquidated. During its ex- istence this branch of the Exchange bank of Pittsburg had notes in circulation, and per- formed all of the banking business in a wide region of country.

In 1849, James M. Bell, a prominent lawyer in the central part of Pennsylvania, and Thomas C. McDowell, a gentleman who had been engaged for some years in the trans- porting business on the old Pennsylvania canal, established a banking-house in Hollidaysburg, occupying the building vacated by the Branch of the Exchange bank of Pittsburg, under the firm name of Bell, McDowell & Co.

In a short time Mr. McDowell withdrew from the firm, and Robert B. Johnston, a young gentleman of excellent business qualifi- cations, who had been engaged in the office, took his place as a member of the firm, the

firm name being changed to that of Bell, Johnston & Co.

In 1852, Mr. William Jack, who had been for several years acting as chief clerk of the lower house of the general assembly of the state, became one of the firm, and the firm name was then designated Bell, Johnston, Jack & Co.

In 1854, Mr. Bell retired from business con- nection with the establishment, and Messrs. Johnston & Jack associated with them Mr. William Lloyd, and the banking business was conducted under the name of the old firm until 1862, when Mr. Lloyd withdrew, and the business was conducted by Messrs. Johns- ton & Jack under the firm name of Johnston, Jack & Co.

In 1863 the establishment was changed into a national bank, designated the First National bank of Hollidaysburg, Pa., with a capital of $50,000, William Jack being elected president and Robert Johnston, cashier. On the 21st of June, 1868, Robert B. Johnston, the cashier, was accidentally killed at Baltimore, and on the 24th of the same month William H. Gard- ner, a gentleman who had been for several years engaged in the service of the government at Washington, D. C., was chosen to fill the

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place of Mr. Johnston as cashier. The bank is now capitalized at $100,000, and the officers are as follows: President, Jesse L. Hartman; vice president, Dr. A. L. Garver; cashier, J. G. Shope; directors, H. A. Webber, W. I. Woodcock, D. L. Sillinger, W. A. Huff, J. W. Gromiller, Dr. A. L. Garver and J. L. Hart- man.

The banking house, known in its later days as the Gardner, Morrow & Co., bank, stood as the last of a series of changes made in firm names following the establishment of a branch of the Farmers' bank of Lancaster in Holli- daysburg, about the year 1850. It appears that soon after the branch of the Exchange bank of Pittsburg had ceased to operate, the Farmers' bank of Lancaster established a branch in Hollidaysburg, under the manage- ment of Edward R. Bryan. However, but a short time elapsed ere a law was enacted pro- hibiting the operations of branch banks, and in consequence this branch of the Farmers' bank of Lancaster closed up its affairs.

Richard R. Bryan, Thomas Jackson, Wil- liam Gleim, Thomas E. Franklin, D. McMur- trie and James Gardner then formed an asso- ciation for the purpose of conducting a general banking business, under the firm name of Bryan, Gleim & Co., and purchased the ma- terial of the branch house just mentioned. A few months later some of the members of the firm retired, when the name of the house was changed to that of Bryan, Gardner & Co., and continued so until 1859. From the latter year until 1874, James Gardner conducted the business alone. He then became associated with Anthony S. Morrow, and under the firm name of Gardner, Morrow & Co., a general banking business was carried on until the bank failed on Friday, September 18, 1896.

This date was, indeed a "Black Friday" for many people in Blair county. For upwards of half a century this institution had enjoyed the confidence of the public and it was supposed to be on a solid financial basis. Hundreds of frugal people had their savings deposited there and not until a few days before the failure had there ever been a question raised as to its

stability. To some familiar with the affairs of the bank the failure was not wholly a surprise, for it had been overburdened with paper which, while good, could not be realized on. A few days before the closing there were rumors that the bank was involved and there began a run on the institution. It was then decided that an assignment was the best method of liquidation and John Cree, who was connected with the First National bank of Hollidaysburg, was named as assignee.

The following statement concerning the failure was issued by the bank's officials the day the doors were closed :

"Owing to the general depression in busi- ness, the impossibility of making collections and with a view of affording the best of pro- tection to our creditors, we have decided it proper to close our doors and suspend busi- ness. We have made assignment to Mr. John Cree for the benefit of creditors and with time and opportunity thus afforded to convert our assets we hope and expect to pay our creditors every dollar of indebtedness. We ask the pa- tience and indulgence of our depositors and the work of liquidation will begin at once."

The failure of the Gardner and Morrow bank also temporarily embarrassed the First National bank of Hollidaysburg, and the banks at Williamsburg and Martinsburg. They were all in good financial condition, however, and the embarrassment was only temporary.

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Twentieth century history of Altoona and Blair County, Pennsylvania, and representative citizens, Part 23

Author: Sell, Jesse C 1872- Publication date: 1911 Publisher: Chicago, Richmond-Arnold Publishing Number of Pages: 1036

Author: Sell, Jesse C 1872-
Publication date: 1911
Publisher: Chicago, Richmond-Arnold Publishing
Number of Pages: 1036