HISTORY: Twentieth Century History of Clearfield County, PA, Roland D. Swoope, 1911, Chapter 18 Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by Judy Banja and Sally Copyright 2005. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/clearfield/ NOTE: Use this web address to access other chapters: http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/clearfield/1picts/swoope/swoope.htm ________________________________________________ TWENTIETH CENTURY HISTORY OF CLEARFIELD COUNTY PENNSYLVANIA AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS BY ROLAND D. SWOOPE, JR. PUBLISHED BY RICHMOND-ARNOLD PUBLISHING CO. F. J. Richmond, President C. R. Arnold, Secretary and Treasurer CHICAGO, ILL. CHAPTER XVIII MANUFACTURES AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS 227 The Lumber Industry - Beginning of the Industry - Its Growth by 1854 - Method of Operating - Rafting - Log Drivers and Lumber Arks - Conflict with "Square Timber" Men - Marking the Logs - Small Profits of the Business - Erection of Saw-Mills - Decline of the Business - The Fire Brick Industry - Firms and Companies Engaged in the Business - The Tanning Industry Lumbering Interests The traveler who now journeys over Clearfield county for the first time and sees the coal, fire clay and agricultural development and how little timber remains, can hardly realize that a century ago the whole territory was covered with seemingly boundless forests, the only cleared space at that time being a few acres of land where the town of Clearfield now stands. The work of the pioneers in clearing up the wood-land and opening up roads through these great forests, can hardly be realized by the present generation. The first lumbering in the county was not for the purpose of shipping the logs and lumber as a business, but the trees were cut into logs in order that land might be cleared to make room for homes for the early settlers and sufficient fields to cultivate their scanty crops, and the logs used for building. Although Daniel Ogden and Frederick Haney had each built saw-mills as early as 1805 and Daniel Turner erected a saw-mill on Anderson Creek in 1808 and about the same time Robert Maxwell built one near Curwensville and William Kersey one at the Kersey settlement, and James and Samuel Ardary soon afterwards built a saw-mill near the old Clearfield bridge, it was not until the year 1820 that lumbering operations assumed business proportions. When the "Raftman's Journal" was founded in 1854, by the late Hon. H. B. Swoope, lumbering had become such an important business in the county, that the name of the paper was selected on that account, and Mr. Swoope, himself, drew the design of the rafting scene, a copy of which is still used as a part of the heading of the "Journal." For many years lumbering was the chief occupation of nearly every resident of the county. Agriculture was neglected and the magnificent forests were destroyed and the lumber made into "square timber" or logs, was floated down the river, and the proceeds built up the towns of Lock Haven, Marietta and Williamsport where large HISTORY OF CLEARFIELD COUNTY 228 saw mills were erected to manufacture the lumber and great dams and booms constructed to receive and hold the logs until they could be sawed. This "square timber" was made entirely with an axe, the trees were first chopped down and then squared by the use of a peculiarly shaped axe with which was cut off the branches, bark and sufficient of the tree to square it up. These great timber sticks were then hauled during the winter on sleds to the river bank where they were piled, ready to be made into rafts in time for the spring floods. These rafts were made by placing the great timber sticks side by side in the water and fastening them together across each end and in the center by long saplings laid across the timber sticks and fastened by hickory hoops held by wooden pins driven into holes bored into the timber sticks. The rafts were steered by immense oars, one in front and one at the rear of each raft. From two to four men operated each of these oars according to the size of the raft. Small cabins or "shanties" were built on the larger rafts in which the crew ate and slept during the trip down the river. These "shanties" were usually equipped with a lot of hay or straw, some blankets and a sheet iron stove, using wood as fuel. A trip down the river occupied from three to four days, and after delivering the rafts at Lock Haven, Marietta or Williamsport, as the case might be, the sturdy raftsmen footed it back home in time, if possible, to make another trip during the same flood. In those days to be a "Pilot" on the river was the great ambition of every boy and young man in nearly every section of the county and, indeed, it required long experience and considerable skill, to successfully navigate the different streams and run the chutes at the dams or steer between the rocks at the "Falls" and at other dangerous points, and many thrilling stories are told of narrow escapes from destruction of both rafts and crews. This method of sending the timber to market continued until about 1857, when a new system was introduced by lumbermen from the New England States, who began floating the timber to market in the form of round saw-logs instead of in "square timber." These saw-logs were not made up into rafts but were turned into the river and allowed to float down with the flood and in the rear of the "drive" of logs there followed the log drivers, who were equipped with "spiked" shoes and what are called "cant hooks" for handling the logs, and also had a number of teams of horses to haul the logs into the water. These log drivers lived in "arks," which were great cabins built on rafts and fitted up with bunks for sleeping, dining room and kitchen, and there was usually a separate ark for the horses. These log drivers were usually the men who had been working in the woods all winter, cutting the timber into logs and running them down on the slides to the river bank. They were a hardy and picturesque lot of men and when after their winter's work and their log drive was finished, they landed in a town with their pockets full of money, they usually "painted the town red," and at their appearance, the peaceful citizens stayed close at home until the logmen departed. When the first attempt was made to float logs down the river, the "square timber" men fought the innovation AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS 229 vigorously; some of them organized a party and attacked the log drivers on Clearfield Creek, with such effect as to drive them from the Creek. Although some of the attacking parties were arrested, tried and convicted for riot, it was many years before the driving of logs on Clearfield Creek was again engaged in. Both the "square timber" and logs were marked on the ends by what was known as the owner's mark or stamp. This mark or stamp was put on with a stamping hammer, the metal head of which had the mark cast on it in sharp relief, so that when the head of the hammer was struck against the soft wood of the timber stick or log, it would leave a distinct impression, and thus the timber sticks or logs were easily identified. The law provided for the registering of these log marks in the prothonotary's office, and it was a serious offense to use another owner's mark. Many million dollars worth of lumber was floated out of Clearfield county during the period referred to and the results were of comparatively little benefit to the owners of the timber, the hazard and expense of the lumber operations and the uncertainty of the market preventing the Clearfield county lumbermen from realizing the profit that they should have done, and so the mighty forests were sacrificed, and today there is comparatively little merchantable timber standing in Clearfield county. Had this timber been manufactured at home instead of having been floated off to other points, some permanent advantage might have been obtained in the way of building up the various towns along the river in Clearfield county, but lack of railroad facilities, want of capital to secure them and the necessity of the land owners selling their timber in order to make payments on their lands, combined to prevent the manufacture of the lumber at home, with very few exceptions. John E. DuBois, who founded the borough of DuBois, was one of the men who saw the advantage of manufacturing the lumber at home and he erected large saw-mills and created an extensive business, as one of the results of which DuBois is the largest town in the county, and Mr. DuBois accumulated one of the few fortunes made in the lumber business in this section. The lumber business in Clearfield county is a thing of the past and while it had its proper place in the development of the county, the rapid cutting out of the forests was really a benefit, because with the departure of the timber it became necessary for the inhabitants to engage in some other occupation, and the result was that farming was again taken up, and the people of the county who owned the land, cleared the same up and those who devoted themselves to farming achieved substantial independence. The coal and fire clay was opened and the great mineral wealth of the county made available. The Fire-Brick Industry From the time that man, in the progress of civilization, discovered the necessity of some material that would withstand the great heat necessary in the use of fire for the purpose of refining metals, many efforts were made to discover a substance suitable for this purpose, but it was not until fire-clay was discovered in Stourbridge, England, in the year 1555, that success crowned the efforts of the experiment- HISTORY OF CLEARFIELD COUNTY 230 ers. From that date, fire-clay has been extensively mined for the purpose of making a brick to be used as the lining of all receptacles requiring protection from the effects of concentrated heat. In a country like the United States, where such vast capital is invested in the iron, steel and kindred industries, the search for fire-clay commenced at an early date and the first large deposits were found near Morgantown, West Virginia, and have been extensively developed. Fire-clay was known to exist in Clearfield county at an early period in its history, but on account of the lack of railroad facilities, no steps were taken to open it up for commercial use until the extension of the Tyrone & Clearfield Branch of the P. R. R. in 1869, provided means of shipping the clay and its products to market, since which time this has become one of the leading industries of the county. As mentioned in the chapter on the geology of the county, large deposits of fire-clay of superior quality have been found. The veins vary from two to six feet and over in thickness and the brick made therefrom have a high reputation in the market. The Clearfield Fire Brick Company, organized in 1871, was the first corporation to undertake the development of this business, this company constructed works at Clearfield, which they operated for a number of years until they were taken over by the Harbison-Walker Refractories Company. The Harbison-Walker Fire Brick Company, now the Harbison-Walker Refractories Company, was one of the first concerns to mine the clay and manufacture fire- brick on a large scale and their plant at Woodland was among the earliest erected in the county, and has also been one of the most successful. This company, on account of the excellence of its product and the consequent demand therefor, soon enlarged its operations and rapidly secured control of much of the best clay territory, and finally of many of the other plants, so that at the present time, the Harbison-Walker Refractories Company is one of the largest producers of fire-brick in the United States. Their headquarters are in Pittsburg, Pa., and their present officers are as follows: President, H. W. Croft; vice-president, S. A. Walker; general manager of the works in Clearfield county, Neil McQuillan. The largest independent company is the Bickford Fire Brick Company of Curwensville, Pa. This company has what is probably the finest, best equipped and one of the largest fire-brick plants in this country. The officers of the Bickford Fire Brick Company are as follows: President, Howard Janney; Vice- President and General Manager, J. A. Bickford; Assistant Manager and Treasurer, S. M. Bickford. The following are the fire-brick plants in operation in the county at the present time: Harbison-Walker Refractories Company Plants Clearfield Fire Brick Co. at Clearfield. Harbison-Walker Plant at Clearfield. Woodland Fire Brick Works at Woodland. Mineral Springs Works at Mineral Springs. Wallaceton Fire Brick Co. at Wallaceton. Stronach Fire Brick Works at Stronach. The following are the plants not controlled by the Harbison-Walker Refractories Company: Bickford Fire Brick Company at Curwensville. Wynn Brothers & Company at Blue Ball. AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS 231 Osceola Silica Fire Brick Company at Osceola Mills. Karthaus Fire Brick Co. at Karthaus. Geo. S. Good Fire Brick Company at Lumber City. Irvona Fire Brick Company at Irvona. In addition to the foregoing plants manufacturing fire-brick there are also a number of concerns whose business is the manufacturing of building and paving brick, in which fire-clay is largely used: Clearfield Clay Working Company at Clearfield. Paterson Fire Brick Company at Clearfield. Bigler Fire Brick Company at Bigler. Bigler Reed Fire Brick Company at Krebs. Wrigley Fire Brick and Tile Co., at Riverview. The combined output of the brick plants of Clearfield is over 1,200,000 brick per working day, and their products are shipped to nearly every state in the Union, as well as to foreign countries. The Tanning Industry In the early days of the county's history, on account of the cheapness of bark, by reason of the abundance of timber, several small tanneries were built, two of these were at Curwensville, owned respectively by William McNaul and S. B. Taylor, the McNaul Tannery was built in 1819, and the Taylor Tannery in 1851, and there was also a tannery at Clearfield, owned by M. Shirk. These tanneries were run without steam power and tanned only "Upper Leather," but it was not until the extension of the Tyrone & Clearfield Railroad to the county, thus giving facilities for the shipment of leather to market, that tanneries were constructed on a large scale. In October, 1873, Messrs. Wooster & Lull built a tannery in Osceola Mills, which they shortly afterwards sold to W. S. White & Son, who in turn sold to J. B. Alley & Company of Boston, Mass., who conducted the tannery for a number of years, until it was finally abandoned. The Summit Tannery was built at Curwensville by W. S. White & Son and was completed in May, 1877. On April 3, 1878, it was purchased by J. B. Alley & Co., of Boston, Mass., which firm was succeeded on January 1, 1887, by Alley Brothers & Place, who continued to operate the tannery until it was taken over by the U. S. Leather Company in 1894. In the year 1879, Hoyt, Fairweather and LaRue erected a large tannery at Clearfield, which they conducted for a number of years, until it passed under control of the U. S. Leather Co., in the year 1894. In 1881 McKinstry & Clearwater erected a tannery at Penfield in Huston township, which they sold to Thomas E. Proctor in 1882. This tannery was operated until bark became scarce, when it was abandoned. In 1886 a large tannery was built in Mahaffey. It is owned by A. B. Mosser & Company and is still in operation. In 1883 a tannery was built at Irvona by N. W. Rice & Company. This tannery is now owned by the U. S. Leather Company and is still running. DuBois and VanTassel Brothers built a large tannery in DuBois in 1884. This tannery is now owned by A. R. VanTassel and does a large business. Wm. F. Mosser, now deceased, constructed a large tannery at Westover in the year 1889. This tannery is still in operation and is owned HISTORY OF CLEARFIELD COUNTY 232 by the Wm. F. Mosser Company of Boston, Mass. In 1894, after the sale of the tannery of Alley Bros. & Place, at Curwensville to the U. S. Leather Company, that firm in connection with Fred J. Dyer, erected a new tannery at that place, which unfortunately was destroyed by fire in the year 1899, but the firm erected a still larger tannery on a new location in Curwensville, which tannery was subsequently sold to the Penna. Hide & Leather Company, and is still operated on a large scale. The tanneries controlled by the United States Leather Company manufacture what is known as "Union Crop" sole leather. The tannery of the Pennsylvania Hide & Leather Company manufactures "Upper Leather," which is finished at their plant in Curwensville. Owing to the fact that the supply of bark, within a reasonable distance, has about given out, it is probable that the number of tanneries in Clearfield county will become less, as the years go by. At the present time, a large amount of "Extract," which is made at works in the Southern States, where available timber is still plenty and cheap, is shipped to the tanneries in this county and used in lieu of that much of the bark formerly required, but even advertisement states that the signers to the industry, it has passed its greatest development in this county.