Local History: Chapter XIV - Part II, SUNBURY: Bell's History of Northumberland Co PA Contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by Tony Rebuck Tar2@psu.edu USGENWEB NOTICE: Printing this file by non-commercial individuals and libraries is encouraged, as long as all notices and submitter information is included. Any other use, including copying files to other sites requires permission from the submitters PRIOR to uploading to any other sites. We encourage links to the state and county table of contents. Transcribed from Bell's History of Northumberland County Pennsylvania Chapter XIV. PART II SUNBURY FACILITIES OF TRAVEL AND TRANSPORTATION - INDUSTRIAL ACTIVITY - BANKING INSTITUTIONS - GAS, ELECTRIC LIGHT, AND WATER COMPANIES - LOCAL PAPERS - THE POST OFFICE - SECRET AND OTHER SOCIETIES - EDUCATIONAL INTERESTS - CHURCHES - CEMETERIES - BOROUGH OF EAST SUNBURY FACILITIES OF TRAVEL AND TRANSPORTATION. The old Reading road, the first public highway passing through the site of Sunbury, was opened in colonial days. A petition for a road from Reading to Fort Augusta (Sunbury) was petitioned for by a "very considerable number of the inhabitants of Berks county" in January, 1768, but, as part of the territory through which it would necessarily pass had not yet been purchased from the Indians, the provincial Council would not at that time grant it favorable consideration. Two years later the effort was renewed, and on the 9th of February, 1770, George Webb, Jonathan Lodge, Henry Miller, Henry Shoemaker, John Webb, Isaac Willits, and Job Hughes were appointed to lay out the road, in which all participated except Henry Miller. They returned a report of the courses and distances, April 14, 1770, which was confirmed, April 23d, when an order was issued directing that the road should be forthwith "opened and rendered commodious for public service." It was declared to be a "King's highway." This was the route by which emigrants from Lehigh, Northampton, and other southeastern counties of Pennsylvania, and from New Jersey, reached the "New Purchase," or Shamokin, as the territory acquired in 1768 was popularly known. Lateral branches diverged at various points, one leading to Danville, another to Catawissa, etc., and thus the old Reading road came to be one of the most important interior highways of the State. Corresponding to the inward current of inauguration, there was an equally noticeable stream of travel in the opposite direction, for it was by this route that the products of a large section of country found their way to a market at Reading or Philadelphia. A road from Sunbury up the West Branch was laid out in 1772; down the Susquehanna on the west side, in 1773, and on the east side, in 1775; south of the North Branch to the site of Danville, in 1774; up the valley of Shamokin creek, in 1775, and from Sunbury to the Tulpehocken road, in 1782. The road last mentioned became the principal highway to Harrisburg and Lancaster. The Centre turnpike was a public improvement from which much local benefit was derived for a time. It was constructed by a company to the stock of which the legislature subscribed liberally, and extended from Sunbury to Reading. The stock of the State was afterward purchased principally by certain persons at Northumberland, where the officers resided for some years. It was not a renumerative investment, however, and that portion between Sunbury and the coal regions was ultimately abandoned. The Stage Coach was for many years the only means of conveyance for the traveling public. The date of its introduction in this part of the State END OF PAGE 480 has not been ascertained, and but meager information upon the subject is afforded. In 1801 the mails departed from Sunbury and Northumberland on Monday of each week for Lycoming, Berwick, and Centre county. The first stage coach from Reading to Sunbury was probably that of William Coleman, while the line between Sunbury and Wilkesbarre was operated at a corresponding period by Miller Horton. In 1816 Mr. Coleman had two mail stages on the line between Sunbury and Reading, and Jacob Singer's four-horse mail coach entered Sunbury over the North Branch bridge, but whether from Wilkesbarre or Williamsport does not appear. In 1820 the stage for Harrisburg left the house of Amelia Hegins (now the residence of Mrs. Donnel), on Market street, Sunbury, on Monday and Friday of each week at five o'clock A. M., arriving at Harrisburg at ten o'clock A. M. on Tuesday and Saturday; returning, the stage for Sunbury left Harrisburg on Tuesday and Saturday of each week at three o'clock P. M., arriving at Sunbury on Wednesday and Sunday at four o'clock P. M. The fare was four dollars; baggage to the amount of fifteen pounds was allowed each passenger, and one hundred fifty pounds of baggage were regarded as equal to a passenger. At that date (1820), the Reading stage departed and arrived three times a week at Weitzel's hotel on Market street. The proprietors of this line were John and Nicholas Coleman. The traveling facilities of the period were thus summarized by Hamlet A. Kerr in the Susquehanna Emporium of August 10, 1829:- Many of our friends in the city are not aware of the facility of traveling in this section of country, thinking this part of the State too far back to have good roads, horses, and coaches, and on that account do not visit the beautiful village of the Susquehanna. But we can boast of as rapid and cheap traveling as any of our neighbors. We have two daily stages passing through this place twice every day (Sundays excepted, on which day there is but one), - one by the way of Pottsville to Philadelphia, the other by the way of Harrisburg to Philadelphia, Baltimore, etc. - the return stage passing through about three o'clock in the afternoon, to meet the North and West Branch stages at Northumberland. Persons leaving Sunbury at nine o'clock in the morning get into Philadelphia in the afternoon of the next day, passing through Pottsville, Orwigsburg, Reading, Pottstown, Morristown, and Germantown. To the painter or poet the country is romantic, being interspersed with hills and dales; to the capitalist it presents many inducements, abounding with ore, coal, and other minerals; to the man of pleasure this route also holds forth objects worthy his attention. The route passing through Harrisburg and Lancaster is pleasant and expeditious. You have the Susquehanna gliding along near the road the whole distance to Harrisburg. There you take the celebrated Lancaster turnpike and pass over the ground at a very rapid rate, arriving in Philadelphia in about two days. Gentlemen visiting this country generally take one line coming and the other going, so as to give both a fair trial. The Construction of the Canal diverted a large share of the traffic and travel to that avenue of communication. Several of the prominent merchants of the town owned canal boats, which made frequent trips to points farther down the river during the season of navigation, transporting the grain and other produce of the region to market and returning with articles of general END OF PAGE 481 merchandise. The following extract from the Sunbury Advocate of May 11, 1833, shows the manner in which events of this nature were chronicled at that date:- PORT OF SUNBURY. Arrivals.- Entered our basin, returning home from Philadelphia, on the 3d of April, the canal boat Sunbury Union, the property of Mr. John Buyers, laden with merchandise. On Saturday, May 4th, the canal boat Augusta, the property of Mr. George P. Buyers, laden with merchandise. Clearances.- Entered the canal on the 8th, on their second trip this season to Philadelphia, both the Sunbury Union and the Augusta. The Captain of the Sunbury Union was G. Lorwick, and of the Enterprise, a boat similarly employed, J. Kramer. The Sunbury Partnership was the property of H. Yoxtheimer & Company, while there were also other merchants who owned boats. For passenger travel packet boats were in use; regular relays of horses were provided, and in comfort, safety, and speed, the packet was a formidable competitor of the stage coach during the season of navigation. It was continued upon the canals in this part of the State until the opening of railways. Railroads.- The Danville and Pottsville railroad was the first opened at Sunbury; that event occurred on the 20th of November, 1835, amid the ringing of bells and the acclamations of a large concourse of people. Horse-power was used on this occasion; the introduction of steam occurred three years later, when the road was opened to Shamokin. Regarding the inauguration of the coal traffic, the Sunbury Advocate published the following in its issue of Saturday, October 22, 1836:- We are much pleased to announce the arrival here on Saturday last of two cars on the Sunbury railroad laden with coal from the coal mines of Shamokin. The coal are of the best quality, and were promptly bought by Charles G. Donnel and George Prince at three dollars and fifty cents per ton. The cars since run regularly, bringing coal for sale at the basin in front of Sunbury. The following appeared in the same paper under date of November 5, 1830:- The coal trade of Sunbury, but just begun and opposed by great inconveniences, Is already forming a respectable character. The coal mines, distant eighteen miles from here, are six miles beyond W. Bird's tavern, where the railroad terminates. To this point the coal are brought by wagons passing over the incompleted railroad, where they are put in the cars and started for the Susquehanna. Thus a train of cars, propelled by horse-power, reach us daily, making the trip in about two hours. On Fawn and Deer streets, where the railroad crosses, we constantly see a considerable bustle, caused by the loading of coal into carts and delivering them to purchasers in this place. Demands for our coal on the West Branch are about being supplied. The Philadelphia and Erie railroad was opened to Sunbury, January 7, 1856; the Northern Central, June 28, 1858; the Sunbury, Hazelton and END OF PAGE 482 Wilkesbarre, November 4, 1869; the Sunbury and Lewistown, November 1, 1871, and the Philadelphia and Reading, in July, 1883. The Ferry Franchise was originally granted by the colonial authorities to Robert King, August 14, 1772, and successively transferred to Adam Haverling, November 30, 1773; Stophel Gettig, April 17, 1775; Abraham Dewitt, October 9, 1779, and John Lyon, October 25, 17-. In 1787 Lyon petitioned the legislature for a confirmation of the privilege for a term of years. The act of March 24, 1797, incorporating the borough of Sunbury, vested the exclusive right of operating the ferry in the borough authorities, who forthwith procured the necessary water craft. Ferry rates were established by the court of quarter sessions at January term, 1798, and modified from time to time. For a number of years the exclusive privilege of operating the ferry was annually disposed of by the borough authorities to the highest bidder, and the sum thus realized formed an appreciable contribution to the public funds of the town. The apparatus at first used was of a primitive character, consisting only of the flat-boat and poles, and in seasons of low water a channel had to be dug to permit the passage of this draft across the river; the erection of the Shamokin dam obviated this necessity, and the prospect thus assured of good navigation throughout the year induced the erection of a rope ferry. A tread- mill horse-power ferry-boat was also operated at one time by Hovey & Wharton. The first steam ferry-boat was the Shad Fly, erected in 1853 by Ira T. Clement; it was a large side-wheel boat, and was built more particularly for the towing of canal boats across the river to and from the coal wharves on the Sunbury side. Several years later, while on a return trip from Clark's Ferry, it stranded on a rock; the machinery was used in the construction of a second Shad Fly, which was replaced in 1875 by the present steam ferryboat. On the 1st of May, 1854, Ira T. Clement leased the wharf at the terminus of Market street from the borough authority. The exclusive right of ferriage across the Susquehanna opposite Sunbury was vested in Dr. Isaac Hottenstein by an act of the legislature approved on the 11th of April, 1859; the canal had been constructed through his land a distance of a mile and an abutment of the Shamokin dam was also built upon it: it was in compensation for damages thus sustained that this franchise was conferred upon Doctor Hottenstein, from whose heirs it passed to Ira T. Clement. The Sunbury Steam Ferry and Tow Boat Company, in which the privileges and franchises previously owned by Ira T. Clement have become vested, was incorporated by an act of the legislature approved on the 5th of April, 1870. This company owns two steamboats and operates the ferry between Sunbury and the opposite side of the river. Five steamboats, owned by Ira T. Clement indi- END OF PAGE 483 vidually, ply regularly between Sunbury, Northumberland, and Shamokin Dam. The Sunbury and Northumberland Street Railway Company was incorporated on the 29th of January, 1885, with a capital of seventy- five thousand dollars and the following officers: H. E. Davis, president, L. H. Kase, secretary, and S. P. Wolverton, treasurer. The line is in operation between the terminal points designated in the title, a distance of three and two tenths miles. The first car was run in June, 1890, and the line was opened for travel on the 1st of July in the same year. The number of passengers carried averages eight hundred per day. The propelling power is electricity, for the generation of which a plant has been constructed with two engines of one hundred horse-power and two dynamos of fifty horse-power each. INDUSTRIAL ACTIVITY. Haas's Mill is situated in the borough of East Sunbury on the Shamokin creek a mile from its mouth. At or near this site the first mill within the present limits of Northumberland county was built prior to 1774 by William Maclay; it was first operated by Valentine Geiger, and received patronage from a large extent of country. The original structure, a two-story log building with basement, is described as having been twenty by thirty feet in dimensions. In 1831 McCarty & Davis, who purchased the property from Maclay's heirs, erected the present substantial brick mill; they also added saw, plaster, and clover mills, excavated a basin, and constructed a new dam of sufficient capacity to furnish water-power for the entire establishment. Gideon Markle became the next proprietor; John Haas, formerly of Jackson township, purchased the mill from him in 1850, and in 1870, his son, Hiram Haas, the present owner, acquired possession. He had the mill remodeled to the roller process in 1887. Distilleries.- The assessment of Augusta township for 1781 credits David McKinney with three stills, and David Mead and Henry Starret each with two; McKinney's were located on Front street between Penn and Walnut, but whether those of Mead and Starret were in the town or country can not be satisfactorily ascertained. In East Sunbury on the Shamokin Creek road James Towar erected a large stone distillery prior to 1796; it was the most extensive establishment of the kind in the county at that date, but does not appear to have been operated very long. In 1808 Edward Gobin had a distillery on Market street in Sunbury. A large frame distillery was erected at some time between 1835 and 1838 by Gideon Markle in Chestnut street between Fifth and Spring run; it was subsequently operated by John Robins, and then abandoned. Tanneries were for many years the most important local industrial feature. Jacob Yoner's, which first appears in the assessment of 1788, was doubtless the earliest established; it was situated on the west side of Second END OF PAGE 484 street immediately north of the Shamokin Valley railroad. After pursuing his calling at this place for more than twenty-five years, Mr. Yoner moved to Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania, in 1818, and sold the property to Isaac Zeigler. He continued the business until within a short time before his death, July 25, 1840; Conrad J. Fry and Francis Bucher then operated the plant several years, and it was subsequently destroyed by fire. The second tannery established was that of Christian Gettig; it was situated on the south side of Chestnut street at the present site of James C. Packer's residence and the Reformed parsonage, and first appears in the assessment of 1793. The first proprietor died in 1797; in his will he mentions the bark-mill and also a quantity of leather in various stages of preparation, and devises his establishment to his son, Christian Gettig, Jr., who continued operations until his death in 1802; several years later the property was purchased by Dr. Solomon Markley, by whom the building was adapted to other purposes. The Robins tannery, which was also established in the last century, occupied the southeast corner of Market and Fifth streets. It first appears in the assessment of 1796, credited to Zachariah Robins; several years later he was succeeded by Thomas Robins and John Spear, who dissolved partnership in 1803. Thomas Robins was individual owner in 1805, and Zachariah Robins in 1811; from that time the establishment was operated by Thomas, John, and Gilbert Robins, and possibly by Gideon Markle also, until finally abandoned. William Dewart, Jr., is credited with a "large tanyard" in the assessment of 1802; it occupied the southeast corner of Chestnut and Third streets, and was one of the principal establishments of this nature for many years. At some time between 1808 and 1811 it was purchased by George Weiser, subsequently associate judge of Northumberland county, who continued the business nearly half a century. The establishment was then operated under lease by Francis Bucher, and by Bucher Brothers (J. Weiser and E. Masser Bucher) until its destruction by fire in 1866. Frederick Haas established a tannery on the north side of Market street at the second lot east of Fourth at some time between 1820 and 1823, as evidenced by its first appearance on the assessment books at the latter date. It was then operated for some years by Charles Gobin and subsequently by Henry Haas. Bucher Brothers (J. Weiser and E. Masser Bucher) built a tannery at the southeast corner of Center alley and Linden street in 1866. This partnership was dissolved in 1868, after which the business was continued by E. Masser Bucher individually until 1871. This was the last tanning establishment at Sunbury, and the only one that was equipped with modern appliances. Brickmaking was first begun as a regular business at Sunbury by John END OF PAGE 485 Lyon, who had learned the art at his former home in Delaware. His yard and kilns occupied outlot No. 41, east of Awl street and south of Penn, and there the brick which entered into the construction of the old court house, "state house," and many of the first brick houses of Sunbury were manufactured. John Young, who acquired his knowledge of the business as an employee of Lyon, established a brick yard at an early date on outlot No. 42, and eventually, in partnership with his sons, manufactured nearly all the brick used at Sunbury during the period of their operations. As early as 1796 Thomas Grant also had a brick yard. This branch of industry has been uninterruptedly continued, and at the present time several yards, are in operation. Potteries.- Daniel Bogar is credited with a pottery at Sunbury in the assessment of 1805; he was also one of the first local tobacconists, and pursued that calling as early as 1817. The pottery, situated on the north side of Chestnut street between Front and Second, was operated by Mr. Bogar until within a short time before his death, January 6, 1836. Jonathan Harp then continued the business several years, after which it was abandoned. Peter Bastian had a pottery on Arch street opposite the county prison at a building owned by Henry Yoxtheimer; it is mentioned among the taxable property of the borough for the first time in 1832 and for the last time in 1838. Carriage Building.- The prototype of the modern carriage was probably first introduced at Sunbury by Joseph Wallis, who is credited in the assessment of 1791 with one "coachee." Some years elapsed, however, before the demand for improved vehicles was sufficient to justify or sustain a local establishment for their manufacture at this point. John Bright, coach maker, resided at Sunbury in 1826, but whether actively engaged at his calling can not be satisfactorily determined. In 1829, Jacob Heller, formerly of Harrisburg, erected a shop on the west side of Second street between Race and Arch and announced through the local papers his readiness to manufacture stages, carriages, lumber and pleasure wagons, sulkeys, gigs, sleighs, etc., of any desired description. He continued the business thus inaugurated for some years. Mark P. Scupham, one of the oldest residents of Sunbury at the present time, began the manufacture of carriages, etc., at the west side of Fourth street between Arch and Race in 1839, retiring in 1870. The shop, a frame building one hundred feet long, was then leased to William Fetter two years, after which the business was discontinued. Francis Lerch established the carriage works at the southwest corner of Fourth and Chestnut in 1870. They were purchased in 1874 by H. K. Fagely &. Company, who disposed of the plant in 1890 to Isaac Furman, the present proprietor. J. S. Seasholtz began the manufacture of carriages on Market street, East END OF PAGE 486 Page 487 contains a portrait of A. A. Heim. Page 488 is blank. Sunbury, in 1871, at a frame building now used as a dwelling house. In 1886 the present frame shop was built. H. L. Hauck's carriage works, near Market street, East Sunbury, comprise a two-story frame building twenty by eighty-five feet in dimensions, erected in 1887. J. S. Stroh & Brother's carriage works are the latest addition to this branch of local industry. The business was begun by J. S. Stroh individually in the spring of 1890; two frame buildings, twenty-eight by forty and twenty-four by thirty, respectively, were erected later in the same year. Boat Building first attained the proportions of a distinct industry at Sunbury during the construction of the Shamokin dam, when different varieties of water craft were in demand for the transportation of stone and other materials. After the opening of the canal the construction of canal boats was first begun by Charles Gussler, who established a yard at the bank of the river immediately south of Spruce street and continued the business for some years. At a later date Samuel Clements and Samuel Snyder also had a boat yard on Front street between Penn and Church; it was subsequently removed to the vicinity of Gussler's yard by Clements individually. Dr. R. H. Awl furnishes the following account of the first and only canal boat ever launched on Shamokin creek: This boat was built in 1832 or 1833 by Adam Shissler, Jacob Martz, and others on the farm now owned by Benjamin Zettlemoyer at the north side of the creek. It was launched in the spring when the water was deemed high enough and floated with the current as far as Leisenring's fording, between L. T. Rohrbach's and Charles Rhinehart's farms. There the boat stuck, but after considerable prying it was extricated and reached the mill dam by the close of the first day. On the following morning an effort was made to get it over the dam by the use of skids, but without success; William McCarty's jack was then brought into requisition, after which an attempt was made to pull it over by means of a rope attached to the boat and connected with the windlass on the shore, but all without avail. At this juncture a heavy rain began, and the creek rose rapidly; the boat was borne over the dam with John Shissler, William Martz, Aaron Vansickle, and others aboard, and its progress down the stream was witnessed by hundreds of people on the banks. It ran aground at the island back of Haas's mill, but was pulled out into the current by means of ropes by persons on the bank. As it was thought that the stream was too high to permit the passage of the boat under the bridge near the mouth of the creek, it was pulled up the tail-race to the mill and loaded with flour; when the waters had subsided sufficiently it was floated under the bridge and down the river to Clark's Ferry, where it entered the canal, ultimately finding its way to the Schuylkill canal, where it was finally completely wrecked by going over a dam in a freshet without skids, jacks, or ropes to steady its course. The first steamboats built at Sunbury were the Susquehanna and Shad END OF PAGE 489 Fly; both were constructed by Ira T. Clement, the former for the Shamokin Valley and Pottsville Railroad Company, the latter as a private enterprise. Mr. Clement has since built six steamboats at Sunbury, five of which are still in operation. In 1889 Jeremiah Savidge built the Iona, the last steamboat constructed at this place. Breweries.- The old stone building erected by James Towar as a distillery was converted into a brewery by Philip and Gottlieb Brymier about the year 1836. After the dissolution of this partnership the business was continued by Philip Brymier individually for a time and then abandoned. Cold Spring brewery, established in 1865 by Joseph Bacher, was purchased in 1873 by J. & A. Moeschlin, the present proprietors. The plant comprises brewing and bottling departments, and has an annual capacity of five thousand barrels. Foundries and Machine Shop's.- In 1838 George Rohrbach, formerly of Columbia county, Pennsylvania, and one of the oldest citizens of Sunbury at the present time, established a small foundry a mile east of Sunbury between the Centre turnpike and Shamokin Valley railroad. Two years later, having secured a location on the south side of Chestnut street between Fourth and Fifth, he removed to Sunbury; this was the first foundry at that place, and was operated for some years by George Rohrbach, either individually or associated at various times with his brothers, William, Jacob, and Daniel Rohrbach. They were succeeded by Clinton D. and Jacob Rohrbach; the latter retired in favor of T. G. Cooper, and in 1866 the firm of Rohrbach & Cooper gave place to Rohrbach & Son, of which George and W. H. Rohrbach were the constituent members. After the admission of Jacob Rohrbach as a partner the style was changed to Rohrbach & Sons, by whom the business was continued until 1883. The establishment was then sold to Halfpenny Brothers, and several years later the plant was purchased by John J. Batman. A second foundry was established in 1858 by Edward Y. Bright; it was located on the north side of Chestnut street between Third and Fourth. The plant was purchased by William Rennyson, who removed it to Shamokin in 1864. Jacob Youngman started a foundry on the south side of Arch street between Third and Fourth in 1867 and operated it until January, 1871, when it was purchased by George B. Youngman. The business was continued by Haupt & Youngman until the plant was purchased by John J. Batman. The Keystone Machine Works, situated in East Sunbury on the south side of Market street, comprise a two-story frame building sixty-five feet long and thirty feet wide, occupied as a machine shop, with foundry thirty by forty feet in dimensions attached, and blacksmith shop thirty by twenty-four feet on the same lot. The proprietor, John J. Batman, began business at Sunbury in 1874 as successor to Haupt & Youngman on Arch street, and END OF PAGE 490 removed to his present location in 1880. The Keystone radial drill press, of which Mr. Batman is the inventor and patentee, is manufactured as a specialty. M. C. Bowlby's foundry and machine shop, a two-story frame building on Church street near Fourth, was established in 1883 by Bowlby & Zimmerman, to whom the present proprietor succeeded individually in 1886. The Bowlby lath mill and bolter is manufactured as a specialty. The Lumber industry.- The first saw mill at Sunbury was built in 1847 by Ira T. Clement at the site of his table factory on Front street. In 1867 he sold it to William Reagan; it then passed successively to the Sunbury Lumber Company and to the firm of Friling, Bowen & Engle, who became insolvent in 1877. The mill was then conducted under the auspices of their creditors until 1883, when it was again purchased by Ira T. Clement and is now occupied as an extension table factory. Ira T. Clement's various industries include at the present time a saw mill, planing mill, table factory, and coffin factory, extending from Front street to Third, north of Race. The saw mill was established in 1867 and the planing mill in the following year; the latter was originally a two-story frame building sixty by eighty feet in dimensions, but has been materially enlarged. The upper story was equipped for the manufacture of coffins in 1875, and in 1887 a two-story frame building forty by one hundred forty feet in dimensions was erected for the exclusive purposes of a coffin factory. The manufacture of extension tables was begun at the planing mill in 1880, and in 1887 the old Friling, Bowen & Engle mill was adapted for use in this department of work. One hundred twenty-five men are employed as operatives in the saw mill, planing mill, table factory, and coffin factory, the annual products of which are valued at two hundred fifty thousand dollars. The Sunbury Lumber Company, organized in 1885, was originally composed of William Whitmer & Sons, to whom Hiram Driesbach was added in 1888 and George W. Rhoads and F. S. Kauffman in 1890. A building at the intersection of Mulberry and Center alleys, previously occupied by the Hill & Neff Organ Company, was the first location of the works of this company; the present site in the southern part of the borough with a river front of six hundred fifty feet was secured in 1888. The plant consists of a two-story planing mill, ninety by one hundred forty feet in dimensions, a saw mill, fifty by one hundred feet, and a kiln capable of drying eight thousand feet of lumber per day. Seventy operatives are usually employed. Simpson Brothers' planing mill, as originally established in l886 by a firm composed of William Whitmer and John and William Simpson, was a frame structure forty by one hundred feet situated on Awl street it was destroyed by fire in November, 1887. The present mill, a frame building thirty-five by eighty feet, employs eight operatives; John and William Simpson are the proprietors. END OF PAGE 491 The Pennsylvania Railroad Company's Repair Shops at Sunbury were originally established in 1866. The plant comprises the following buildings: a round-house three hundred feet in diameter, with stalls for forty-four engines; a machine shop and planing mill, which form one building two hundred twenty by eighty feet, half of which is occupied by each; a building seventy by one hundred ten feet, occupied as blacksmith shop, boiler shop, and store-room; a car shop two hundred by one hundred twenty feet, and other minor buildings used for miscellaneous purposes. The number of operatives employed in the various departments at this time (December, 1890), is as follows: machinists and helpers, sixty- nine; blacksmiths and helpers, thirty-four; boiler-makers, twenty-two; coppersmiths, four; tin-smiths, five; car inspectors, forty-nine; the car shop employs one hundred seventy-eight, and the number not included in the foregoing classification (in which the master mechanic and foremen, engine cleaners and preparers, clerical force, etc. have not been embraced) is ninety- seven, a grand total of four hundred fifty- eight. The stationary engines have a capacity of eighty horse-power. The entire plant is lighted by electricity, derived from motors requiring a fifty horse-power engine. The establishment is devoted exclusively to the repair of locomotives and cars, and receives all the work of this nature from that part of the Pennsylvania system embraced in the Eastern and Sunbury divisions of the Philadelphia and Erie railroad and the Susquehanna division of the Northern Central railway. The position of master mechanic has been filled successively by T. J. Hamer, Martin Wall, W. F. Beardsley, and Henry K. Stout, the present incumbent, who assumed charge in April, 1882. The Sunbury Nail, Bar, and Guide Iron Manufacturing Company was organized in 1883 with a capital of one hundred thousand dollars (since increased to one hundred fifty thousand), and the following officers: president, John Haas; vice- president, D. Heim; secretary, E. W. Greenough, and treasurer, Lloyd T. Rohrbach. The works, situated at the eastern limits of the borough, were erected during the same year; these consist of a nail mill two hundred seventy-five by seventy-five feet and a factory one hundred twenty-five by one hundred feet, equipped with one heating furnace, three double and three single puddling furnaces, forty- one nail machines, and six engines aggregating four hundred thirty horse-power. The cooper shop, hoop and stave sheds, and blacksmith shop are attached to the main buildings. The mill gives employment to one hundred twenty-five men, and has a capacity for manufacturing seventy- five thousand kegs of cut iron and steel nails annually. It has been in continuous operation since its erection with the exception of three months in the year 1889; this suspension was caused by the damage occasioned on the 9th of January in that year by a violent wind-storm. Mr. Haas, who has been president of the company since its organization, retired from the active management of the works in April, 1890, when George B. Cadwallader assumed charge as general manager. D. END OF PAGE 492 Heim is the present vice-president and Lloyd T. Rohrbach the present secretary and treasurer. William S. Rhoads has been chief clerk and Levi Bussler superintendent since the works were placed in operation. The Sunbury Carpet Cleaning and Novelty Works, were established in October, 1889, by the present proprietors, C. C. Ray, A. Moulder, and E. F. Hoover. Novelties of various descriptions are manufactured. Defunct Enterprises include, in addition to those mentioned, Young, Gussler & Company's paint mill, placed in operation in 1856; Snyder & Harrison's steam flour mill, erected in 1857; Morgan & Masser's linseed oil mill, placed in operation in 1868; Wolverton & Purdy's phosphate mill, burned on the 17th of June, 1871; the works of the Sunbury Smelting Company and of the Hill and Neff Organ Company, etc., etc. The Sunbury Canal Company is worthy of notice in this connection. Its organization was authorized by an action the legislature approved on the 10th of April, 1826, appointing Lewis Dewart, Hugh Bellas, Alexander Jordan, Samuel J. Packer, Henry Shaffer, Martin Weaver, Ebenezer Greenough, John Young, John G. Youngman, George Weiser, and Isaac Zeigler commissioners for its organization. In 1834 the time for the completion of the work was extended five years from the expiration of the period of ten years originally prescribed, and about that time the canal was partially excavated between the North Branch and Spring run. In the summer and autumn of 1841 a number of men were employed in excavating that part of the canal connecting with Shamokin creek. In 1842 William McCarty was president of the company and Kimber Cleaver was engineer; a prospectus issued in that year indicates the location of the basin above Race street and connection with the river at that point, although the plans of the company in this respect were not carried out until ten or twelve years later. A prospectus issued in 1853 gives the names of C. Hager, president, and William Riehle, secretary and treasurer; at that time a reorganization had been effected under the name of the Sunbury Canal and Water Power Company; the Sunbury Lumber and Car Manufacturing Company, an affiliated corporation, owned fifty thousand acres of timber land on the headwaters of the West Branch. It was proposed to float the logs from this tract to Sunbury, and a large lumber mill was erected on Shamokin creek, but the project never materialized and the mill was never placed in operation. What is now known as the upper basin was excavated by the canal company, and connection was established with the river by means of an iron lock designed by Kimber Cleaver; the latter was constructed by the Philadelphia and Sunbury Railroad Company under terminal privileges granted by the act of April 2, 1853. When the ground froze in the first winter after its construction the lateral pressure (for which the engineer had made no provision) was such as to break its iron sides, thus rendering it entirely useless. And thus the great canal project finally collapsed. END OF PAGE 493 BANKING INSTITUTIONS. The first public movement for the establishment of a bank at Sunbury was made in 1810, when, at a meeting of the taxable inhabitants on the 27th of April, resolutions were unanimously adopted requesting the Bank of Pennsylvania to locate a branch at Sunbury. "The certain increase of the trade of this part of the country arising from the turnpike road now in operation from this place to the borough of Reading, would," the directors of that institution were assured, "enable the bank to support an establishment here which will be very productive to their institution." It is needless to observe that the application was not favorably considered, and it was through the Bank of Northumberland that the citizens of the county seat first secured local banking facilities. The First National Bank of Sunbury was originally incorporated under the title of the Bank of Northumberland, April 1, 1831, with a capital of two hundred thousand dollars. The first election of directors was held at the house of James Lee, in the borough of Northumberland, Pennsylvania, on Thursday, August 1, 1831, and resulted in the choice of the following gentlemen: John Cowden, John B. Boyd, James Merrill, A. B. Cummings, John Taggart, Joseph Wallis, Abbot Green, James Hepburn, Daniel Brautigam, Henry Frick, William Clyde, Alexander Jordan, and Dr. David Petriken. On the 8th of August, 1831, James Hepburn was elected as president and Joseph R. Priestley as cashier; and on Monday, September 26, 1831, the business of the bank was regularly commenced. The stock was originally subscribed by one hundred fourteen different persons; by the terms of its charter the institution was located at Northumberland, and its administration was in the hands of citizens of that borough for some years. James Hepburn, the first president, resigned, April 23, 1840, and on the 30th of the same month he was succeeded by John Taggart; he served until November 26. 1855, when William Cameron was elected by a board of directors composed of Samuel T. Brown, F. W. Pollock, Paul Masteller, John Walls, William Cameron, William H. Waples, Amos F. Kapp, Jesse C. Horton, William I. Greenough, George Schnure, Edward Wilson, C. B. Paxton, and John B. Packer. A change in the management of the institution was effected by the election of this board, which occurred at the regular annual meeting of the stockholders on the 19th of November, 1855. Upon the resignation of Mr. Cameron as president, June 25, 1857, John B. Packer was elected as his successor, and has continued in that position until the present time. Joseph R. Priestley, the first cashier, served in that capacity until his death, November 10, 1863; Samuel J. Packer, the present cashier, was elected on the 19th of November, 1863, and has since been the incumbent of that office. By virtue of an act of the legislature approved April 16, 1864, the bank was removed from Northumberland to Sunbury on the 25th of July in the same year. There it continued as a State bank until the END OF PAGE 494 1st of July, 1865; the last directory under the State charter was composed of John B. Packer, James K. Davis, Jesse C. Horton, William H. Waples, William M. Rockefeller, George Conrad, Daniel Heim, E. Y. Bright, Samuel John, Andrew Ditty, John B. Linn, Paul Masteller, and John Haas. On the 1st of July, 1865, the Bank of Northumberland surrendered its State charter and was organized as a national bank under the title of "The First National Bank of Sunbury" with an authorized capital of five hundred thousand dollars, of which two hundred thousand was paid in in four thousand shares of fifty dollars each. Of this amount the stockholders paid in thirty-five dollars per share; the balance, fifteen dollars per share, was derived from the earnings of the bank while it was a State institution. The present number of shareholders is seventy- eight The first board of directors after the organization as a national bank was composed of John B. Packer, James K. Davis, Jesse C. Horton, William H. Waples, Simon Cameron, William I. Greenough, Alexander Jordan, John Haas, William M. Rockefeller, George F. Miller, William Cameron, George Smuller, and A. B. Warford; John B. Packer, James K. Davis, H E. Davis, William I. Greenough, John Haas, William M. Rockefeller, George Schnure, James C. Packer, and D. B. Miller constitute the present directory. The present (1891) officers are as follows: president, John B. Packer; cashier, Samuel J. Packer; bookkeeper, A. L. Bastress; teller, George W. Deppen; clerks, W. F. Rhoads and D. E. Bloom; messenger, Nathaniel Strain. The period for which the institution was originally incorporated having expired, it was re-chartered in June, 1885, for another period of twenty years. This bank is one of the oldest in central Pennsylvania, and throughout its entire history has maintained the highest standard of financial integrity. While the notes of a large number of the banks of the State were at a discount, the notes of the Bank of Northumberland were uniformly redeemed at par in gold in Philadelphia; and during the panic of 1873, when nearly all the banks of the country declined to pay to their customers more than fifty dollars in currency at one time, this bank paid all checks without limit, thus demonstrating its ability to meet promptly all demands of its depositors, although the deposits at that time averaged three hundred fifty thousand dollars. The institution has paid in dividends since its organization in 1831 (not including the fifteen dollars per share previously mentioned) one million forty thousand dollars, and its undivided profits at the present time amount to one hundred thirty-five thousand dollars. The Augusta Bank was originally incorporated under the name of the Farmers' Mutual Life Insurance and Trust Company of Upper Augusta Township, the organization of which was authorized by an act of the legislature approved on the 13th of April, 1867. The company was not formed until 1872, however, and the name was subsequently changed to "The Augusta Bank" by decree of court upon petition of the stockholders. J. Adam END OF PAGE 495 Cake was president and George W. Saylor cashier. The institution was located in that part of Sunbury known as Caketown; business was continued four years. The Sunbury Trust and Safe Deposit Company was organized on the 15th of July, 1890, with the following officers: president, Charles W. Nickerson; vice-president, Hiram Long; secretary and treasurer, J. Weiser Bucher; directors: Charles W. Nickerson, Hiram Long, Henry Clement, George B. Reimensnyder, R. F. Wilson, C. H. Dickerman, P. H. Snyder, Adolph Oppenheimer, A. R. Trexler, S. P. Malick, George B. Cadwallader, John R. Kauffman, Sr., S. E. Slaymaker, O. R. Drumheller, and Irvin F. Guyer. The authorized capital is two hundred fifty thousand dollars. A. L. Bastress became secretary and treasurer on the 1st of March, 1891. GAS, ELECTRIC LIGHT, AND WATER COMPANIES. The Sunbury Gas Light Company was incorporated on the 22d of December, 1876, with a capital of twenty-five thousand dollars and the following corporators: Truman H. Purdy, Hiram Long, S. P. Wolverton, Ira Hile, John Eckman, and William M. Rockefeller. S. P. Wolverton has served as president and Truman H. Purdy as treasurer of the company since its organization. The plant was erected by the Sunbury Gas Company (incorporated in 1873), purchased by Truman H. Purdy in 1876 at sheriff's sale, and transferred by him to the present company. The Edison Electric Illuminating Company of Sunbury was organized in 1883; the first directors were Thomas C. Detweiler, James W. Sweely, Frank H. McCormick, Seth T. McCormick, and Charles B. Story. Light was first supplied on the 4th of July, 1883. The Sunbury Electric Light and Power Company was organized in 1890 with H. E. Davis, president, C. M. Clement, secretary, S. P. Wolverton, treasurer, and a board of directors composed of H. E. Davis, F. P. Abercrombie, C. M. Clement, H. A. Schuck, A. R. Trexler, P. P. Smith, and Thomas Murty. The dynamo has a capacity of fifty arc lights. Light was first supplied on the 4th of July, 1889. The Sunbury Water Company was incorporated on the 2d of March, 1883. The first officers were John Haas, president, L. T. Rohrbach, treasurer, and S. E. Slaymaker, secretary, who have held their respective positions to the present time. The capital is thirty-three thousand dollars. Little Shamokin creek is the source of supply; the reservoir has a capacity of five million gallons. LOCAL PAPERS. Der Freiheitsvogel, the first newspaper published at Sunbury, was established by Jacob D. Breyvogel in 1800. The succession of local papers since that time has been as follows: The Times, Publick Inquirer, The Gazetteer, END OF PAGE 496 Der Northumberland Republikaner, Nordwestliche Post, Shamokin Canalboot, The Workingmen's Advocate, The Sunbury Gazette, Susquehanna Emporium, Der General Staats Zeitung, The Sunbury American, Der Deutsche Amerikaner, Der Deutsche Demokrat, The Northumberland County Democrat, The Sunbury Independent, The Weekly Independent, The Sunbury Enterprise, The Sunbury Weekly News, The Sunbury Daily, The Daily American, The Morning Express, The Evening News, and the Northumberland County Legal News. Three weeklies, the American, Democrat, and Weekly News, and two dailies, the Daily and News, are published at the present time. THE POSTOFFICE. The following is a list of Sunbury postmasters, with dates of their respective appointments: Robert Gray, January 1, 1797; John Weitzel, October 1, 1798; Solomon Markley, July 1, 1802; Lewis Dewart, April 19, 1806; Edward Gobin, March 13, 1816; Thomas Painter, May 14, 1822; Samuel J. Packer, December 9, 1822; John G. Martin, February 12, 1824; Rachel B. Packer, March 27, 1835; John Youngman, March 5, 1855; Martin E. Bucher, December 15, 1856; George M. Renn, March 19, 1861; Jonathan Bastian, April 26, 1864; John J. Smith, April 19, 1871; Jacob Rohrbach, May 5,1881; Jacob E. Eicholtz, May 25, 1885; A. N. Brice, March 20, 1890. SECRET AND OTHER SOCIETIES. The following is a list of secret and other societies at Sunbury, with dates of organization or institution: Lodge No. 22, F. & A.M., October 4, 1779, and March 26, 1787; Northumberland H. R. A. Chapter, No. 174, December 27, 1852; Sunbury Lodge, No. 203, I.O.O.F., November 9, 1846; Fort Augusta Lodge, No. 620, I.O.O.F., January 25, 1868; Anna (Rebekah Degree) Lodge, No. 56, I.O.O.F., May 18, 1871; Washington Camp, No. 19, P.O.S. of A., March 13, 1869; Washington Camp, No. 149, P.O.S. of A, July 19, 1873; Susquehanna Commandery, No. 9, P.O.S. of A, September 10, 1872; Eastern Star Lodge, No. 143, K. of P., March 24, 1869; Cayuga Lodge, No. 416, K. of P., December 6, 1873; Diamond Division, No. 40, Uniform Rank, K. of P., June 9, 1890; Lance and Shield Conclave, No. 11, S.P.K., November 11, 1870; Lieutenant William A. Bruner Post, No. 235, G.A.R., May 21, 1883; Colonel James Cameron Camp, No. 160, s. of V., July 1, 1887; Woman's Relief Corps, November 2, 1888; Shamokin Tribe, No. 69, I.O.R.M., 1885; Alphoretta Tribe, No. 98, I.O.R.M., 1888; Sunbury Council, No. 945, O.U.A.M. June 8, 1886; Ivy Castle, No. 414, K.G.E., April 6, 1889; W. C. Packer Council, No. 285, A.O.U.W., July 17, 1889. EDUCATIONAL INTERESTS. Nothing definite is known concerning the early educational advantages of Sunbury, although it is possible that the community was not utterly destitute END OF PAGE of facilities for the instruction of its juvenile population. How meager was the local provision for this important object at the period immediately following the close of the Revolutionary war is attested by an entry in the minutes of the orphans' court of Northumberland county at September term, 1782, from which it appears that "on account of the troubles and difficulties attending our situation on the frontier," the guardians of the orphan children of Simon Cool were permitted to remove their wards "to some interior part of the country for the better advantages of their education and maintenance." The earliest effort to establish a school at the county seat of which there is any authentic record was made in 1796, when a number of prominent citizens formed an association for the erection of a school building their names, with the number of shares subscribed by each, were as follows: John Buyers, four; William McAdams, one; Daniel Hurley, three; William Dewart, four; William Gray, three; John Weitzel, two; Martin Withington, two; Joseph Wallis, four; Martin Kendig, three; Paul Baldy, two; James Alexander, one; Christian Gettig, two; John Lyon, one; Frederick Lazarus, two; Nicholas Miller, one; James Black, three; Joseph Thompson, one, and Thomas Grant, one. Lot No. 136, situated at the southeast corner of Arch street and Center alley, was purchased for the sum of fifty-five pounds from Colonel Thomas Hartley, of York, Pennsylvania, and on the 19th of October, 1796, he executed a deed* to John Buyers, William Gray, William Dewart, Frederick Lazarus, John Weitzel, and Daniel Smith, "trustees nominated and appointed by the persons whose names are hereunto annexed, for the purpose of purchasing a school house to and for the use of the subscribers according to the number of shares to each person's name annexed" (the foregoing list). It is not probable that the school thus planned was ever established; if it was, it did not continue long enough to secure a place in the traditions of the community. In a contribution to the "Report of the Superintendent of Public Instruction for 1877," John F. Wolfinger, of Milton, who passed several years of his early life at Sunbury, states that the first school at that place was opened in 1800 "on the ground-floor room of a two-story log house on the south side of Chestnut street" a short distance west of Second. Among the families who patronized this school he mentions those of Alter, Baldy, Black, Bogar, Brady, Bucher, Buyers, Coldron, Darch, Dewart, Gray, Haas, Hall, Harrison, Hileman, Hurley, Irwin, Kiehl, Lazarus, Lebo, Lyon, Mantz:, Markle, McKinney, Painter, Robins, Scott, Shaffer, Sinton, Simpson, Smith, Vanderslice, Wallis, Weaver, Weitzel, Withington, and Young. The first teacher was a Mr. Smith, "a small, chunky Englishman," and the school continued two or three years. Mr. Wolfinger also states that the second school was taught by a Mr. Davis, a middle-aged man, "on the ground-floor of a two-story log house" on the south side of Arch street between Front and Second. ____________________________________________________________________ *Northumberland County Deed Book I, p173 END OF PAGE 498 Dr. R. H. Awl furnishes the following list of teachers in private schools at Sunbury, the majority of whom taught before the introduction of the public school system: Samuel Howe, Mr. Smith, Mr. Davis, Andrew Callum, William Graham, Thomas Armstrong, James Nolan, Jesse K. Millard, J. G. Ungerer, Peter Hall, Edward Chapman,* E. C. Braden, John Colsher, Mr. O'Neil, Andrew Kennedy, Alexander Strickland, George Haas, Peter Shindel, Mr. Grimes, Christian Wood, John Sinton, John Eisely (German), Robert E. Smith, George A. Snyder, Mr. Carter, Ebenezer Russ, Daniel Kohler, Jeremiah Shindel, Francis P. Schwartz, Frederick Lebrun, Cale Pelton, Edward Oyster, Aaron Fisher, Mr. Thayer, Joseph B. McEnally, Joseph Rhoads, William Jordan, Doctor Huff, Richard Peale, Mr. Dickson, S. P. Wolverton, L. T. Rohrbach, Mr. Fink, A. N. Brice, Mrs. Irwin, Mrs. Patch, Mrs. Crosby, Mrs. Margaret Black, Mrs. Dorcas Grant, Mrs. Mary Eisely (German), Miss Maria Kennedy, Miss Elizabeth Kennedy, Mrs. Ogle (nee Alexander), Miss Mary Jane Peters, Miss Jane Finney, Miss Sophia Weimer, Miss Catherine Brooks, Miss Virginia Brooks, Miss Hogar, Miss Mary Wharton, Miss Elizabeth Breck, Miss Catherine Black, Mrs. Rebecca A. Awl (nee Pursel), Mrs. Susan Youngman, and Miss Ella Painter. The following with reference to the location of the schools anterior to the introduction of the public school system has also been compiled by Dr. R. H. Awl: North side of Walnut street between Third and Fourth - a log building subsequently occupied by Polly Henninger; north side of Walnut street between Front and Second - a log building subsequently occupied by John Snyder, fisherman; east side of Third street between Penn and Chestnut - the second story of Weiser's tannery, reached by an outside stairway; Chestnut street between Second and Third - a log house subsequently occupied by a German named Westerman; southeast corner of Market and Front - a frame building subsequently occupied by "Het" Colley (colored); Front street between Market and Arch - the second story of a log building that stood immediately south of the alley and across from the Episcopal church; south-east corner of Penn and Front streets, a log building subsequently occupied _________________________________________________________________ *Edward Chapman was a native of Richfield county, Connecticut. In his "Reminiscences," published in the Northumberland County Legal New's, John F. Wolfinger describes him as a man of fine appearance, agreeable manners, and superior intellectual endowments. He read law with Charles Hall, and was admitted to the bar in April, 1814, but never engaged in the practice of that profession, and died on the 5th of April, 1821, at the age of thirty-two. He possessed fine poetic talent, and was the author of several poems which found their way into the newspapers of the day, one of which, entitled "Columbia" begins as follows:- "Columbia's shores are wild and wide, Columbia's hills are high, And rudely planted side by side, Her forests meet the eye; But narrow must those shores be made, And low Columbia's hills, And low her ancient forests laid, Ere Freedom leaves her fields; For 'tis the land where, rude and wild, She played her gambols when a child." END OF PAGE 499 by John Martin as a hatter shop; south side of Market street between Third and Fourth, a frame building subsequently occupied by a Mr. Gulicks, harness maker; northeast corner of Chestnut and Third - a log building subsequently occupied by Miss Sallie Giberson, a lady of remarkable avoirdupois; Chestnut street between Front and Second - a log building subsequently occupied by Jacob Bright, watchmaker; Second street near its intersection with Race - "Beshier's red house;" west side of Second near Race - a building subsequently used as a wagon- making shop by Jacob Heller; south side of Chestnut street between Third and Fourth - a building subsequently occupied by John Hileman, shoemaker; north side of Chestnut street between Third and Fourth - a log building subsequently occupied by Jacob Coble; north side of Market street between Third and Fourth - a building subsequently occupied by John Boulton as a hotel; north side of Penn street between Third and Fourth - a large building subsequently occupied by "Captain" Heinen, a soldier of the war of 1812; south side of Arch street between Second and Third - Youngman's printing office; northeast corner of Front and Arch - the old Maclay house; south side of Market street between Second and Third - a frame building near Third; northeast corner of Third and Race; west side of Second street between Market and Chestnut, a small building nearly opposite the law building of S. P. Wolverton. The most important of these early locations were the log building opposite the Episcopal church, where Edward Chapman and Alexander Strickland taught; the Weiser tannery, where Chapman and Braden taught; and the log building on the north side of Walnut between Front and Second, known as "the Dutch school," and used by the German population as a school house and place of worship. Christopher Wood taught at the north side of Chestnut street between Second and Third; Robert Smith, brother of Rev. William B. Smith, at the southeast corner of Market and Front; the Misses Kennedy, at the south side of Market between Third and Fourth; Mrs. Ogle, Miss Mary Jane Peters, and Ebenezer Russ, at the south side of Chestnut street between Third and Fourth; John Colsher (who died on the 25th of May, 1857, at the age of ninety years), at the north side of Market street between Third and Fourth; Miss Elizabeth Breck, at the Youngman printing office on Arch street; Lebrun and Pelton, at the south side of Market just west of Third, from which Pelton moved to the northeast corner of Third and Race. The Sunbury Academy was established in 1835 (as nearly as can be ascertained) by Cale Pelton, a teacher of much ability, whose school proved to be a great intellectual stimulus to this community. The curriculum included the higher mathematics, Latin, and Greek. Mr. Pelton was a graduate of Yale College, and the author of a series of outline maps and other aids to the study of geography that once acquired a wide circulation. His work was ably continued by Frederick Lebrun, a graduate of the University of Oxford, an accomplished linguist, and a teacher of the highest repu- END OF PAGE 500 tation, whose last term closed in March, 1839. Among the subsequent teachers were Joseph C. Rhoads, Aaron C. Fisher, Dr. Isaac Huff, Henry Donnel, a Mr. Thayer, Joseph B. McEnally, Richard S. Peale, and S. P. Wolverton. The institution was incorporated in 1838, and efforts were several times made to erect a building, but without success. The Public School System was adopted at Sunbury in 1834. Regarding the attitude of public sentiment when the vital subject of taxation for its support was presented, the following extract from the Workingmen's Advocate (edited by John G. Youngman, who was the secretary of the first school board) in its issue of December 6, 1834, may be of interest:- Upon due notice given by the school directors, a small portion of the citizens of the borough of Sunbury met on the 29th ultimo in the court house, and, acting upon the VIth section of the "free school" law, passed and approved, April 1, 1834, - Henry Reader, in the chair- Resolved, That double the amount of the county tax be raised as a sum in addition to the amount of half the county tax determined upon by the school delegates on the 4th of November previous. These amounts, added to our dividend from the State treasury (eighty-six dollars, twenty-three and three fourths cents) would amount to about fourteen hundred fifty dollars. This large sum, to be collected chiefly from the pockets of persons who either have themselves no children to send to school, or have intended them for higher schools, was altogether unexpected, and caused considerable excitement among a majority of the citizens, which was evident in a subsequent meeting held on the evening of Tuesday last, Mr. George Prince in the chair. This meeting, we are told, was attended by upwards of one hundred persons, all, except two or three, vehemently expressing their determination against paying anything in addition to the sum agreed upon by the school delegates; thus leaving no doubt that an attempt to impose and collect any additional sum would become a very troublesome affair, however lawful such an addition might be, the nullifiers not coming forward and expressing their negative sentiments upon this subject in the first meeting. Under these circumstances, the course left the school directors to pursue is very doubtful and difficult. Under the new regime the first school building, a two-story brick structure sixty feet long and forty feet wide, was erected in 1886. The directors at that time were Rev. J. P. Shindel, William M. Robins, Jacob Painter, George Bright, and Alexander Jordan. The contractors for the building were Charles Dering and Samuel Fetter. It occupied the site of the Masonic hall on Third street, and was the only school building in the borough until 1867, when it was sold to the Masonic order. Two school houses were erected in 1866-67, one at the southwest corner of Second and Spruce, the other on the south side of Arch street between Third and Fourth; both have since been enlarged, and are still occupied for school purposes. The building on Second street between Market and Arch was erected in 1868 and enlarged in 1873. The building on the west side of Fourth street between Penn and Walnut was built in 1868 and enlarged in 1884. The Fifth ward (Caketown) school house was erected in 1876. The high school was established in 1870, when a regular system of grad- END OF PAGE 501 ing was first adopted; the board at that time was composed of L. T. Rohrbach, Jacob Fetter, M. C. Gearhart, W. Rhoads, M. P. Scupham, and Henry Y. Friling. The high school organized on the 3d of October, 1870, with J. B. Miller as principal, at J. M. Bartholomew's store-room on the west side of Fourth street between Arch and Market; from that place it was removed to the building on Second street opposite the jail, and thence to the present substantial three-story structure on Front street. The following items have been derived from the official report of the school board for the year ending on the first Monday in June, 1890:- Number of schools 18 Average number of months taught 8 Number of male teachers employed 6 Number of female teachers employed 13 Average salary of males per month $68 Average salary of females per month $87 Number of male scholars attending school 526 Number of female scholars attending school 535 Whole number in attendance 1,061 Average daily attendance 802 Average percentage of attendance .95 Cost of each pupil per month $0.98 Indebtedness of district $12,352.16 Estimated value of school property 33,000.00 CHURCHES. Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church is one of the oldest and largest congregations of that denomination in central Pennsylvania. Its first place of worship was a log building on the north side of Walnut street between Front and Second, jointly used for school and church purposes, and finally sold in 1841 to the Rev. J. P. Shindel. In September 1791, proposals were received for the erection of a church edifice "forty by thirty feet and sufficiently high enough for raising a gallery." On the 12th of December, 1793 (as evidenced by a letter from Rev. Christian Espich, published in Kennedy's Gazette of January 1, 1794), a congregational meeting was held at which John Painter, Philip Peffer; Bernard Hubley, and Frederick Lazarus were elected "to meet at the house of Christian Gettig on Friday, the 20th instant, to settle and adjust the accounts of the managers appointed to build the church for said congregation." The auditors met accordingly; their published report states that "The managers, viz., Christian Gettig, Nicholas Routher, Paul Baldy, and Peter Smith, merit the thanks of the congregation for the undertaking of said building, as their trouble must have been great and arduous; a great part of their time was spent in superintending the building; from a liberal and Christian spirit they have never charged anything therefor; the architecture of the building is a masterpiece for so small a sum of money that was expended." They presented the following financial summary:- END OF PAGE 502 Aggregate cost, including the bell £497 2s. 4d. Aggregate receipts 401 4 2 Aggregate disbursements 399 0 8 1/2 Uncollected subscriptions 105 12 2 Unpaid obligations 98 1 7 1/2 This building was situated on the west side of Third street, at or near the site of the second church edifice of this congregation. It was constructed of hewn logs. The pews were of the "old-fashioned high-back order," and the pulpit was of the "wine glass or goblet style." A pipe- organ of Stall's make, one of the first in central Pennsylvania, was purchased in 1815, and when first played attracted such a crowd that the building sustained considerable damage by a collapse of the floor. During the year 1826 the structure was plastered both inside and outside, the pulpit and pews were modernized, and the building was reopened for service September 10th of that year. At a congregational meeting, June 24, 1841, it was decided to establish a separate denominational Sunday school, to sell the old school house and lot, and to erect a Sunday school building on the church lot, for which John Young, George Martin, and Rev. J. P. Shindel were appointed as a building committee. A brick structure was accordingly erected, and used for Sunday school and other purposes as designed. At a congregational meeting on the 28th of July, 1853, formal action was taken for the erection of a new church edifice. The corner-stone of the brick structure which now stands on Third street was laid on the 8th of September, 1854, and on the 25th of December, 1855, the dedication occurred. This building was subsequently enlarged; a parsonage was also erected on Walnut street. The site of the present church edifice at the southwest corner of Market and Fifth streets was purchased in 1886 at a cost of five thousand dollars; ground was broken on the 2d of August in that year, and on the 10th of October following the corner-stone was laid. John Haas, John L. Miller, John B. Lenker, William H. Rohrbach, and Solomon Stroh composed the building committee. The edifice was completed and furnished at a cost of twenty-seven thousand dollars, and dedicated on the 10th of June, 1888, when Rev. J. H. Menges, D. D., delivered the dedicatory sermon. In pursuance of congregational action taken on the 18th of May, 1887, the present parsonage on Fifth street at the rear of the church was built at a cost of two thousand dollars. Rev. John Herbst is supposed to have been one of the first pastors; Rev. Chistian Espich was pastor at the time the first church edifice was erected, and Reverend Unger was also an early incumbent of that office. Since 1812 the succession has been as follows: J. P. Shindel, June 4, 1812, to July 2, 1850; (Mr. Shindel preached only in German; toward the close of his pastorate Rev. J. Alleman also conducted English services;) P. Born, D. D., April, 1851, to September, 1859; P. Rizer, April 1, 1860, to May 1, 1862; M. Rhodes, D. D., July 1, 1862, to January 1, 1867; G. W. Hemperley, 1867 to October, 1876; George Parsons, December, 1876, to October 1, 1884; S. END OF PAGE 503 G. Shannon, March 8, 1885, to April 1, 1889; J. H. Weber, September 1, 1889, present incumbent. The church received two hundred sixty accessions during the first year of Mr. Weber's pastorate. The Sunday school was organized on the 4th of July, 1841, with William M. Gray as superintendent and one hundred six members. The present superintendent is John Haas, who has held that position since 1868 with the exception of one year. The official report for 1890 showed a membership of nine hundred twenty-one. A branch school was organized in the Third ward school house on the 7th of September, 1890, with sixty-five members. The First Reformed Church was organized in 1784. The first church building at the site of the present edifice, northwest corner of Second and Chestnut streets, was erected in 1793; it was a wooden building, with entrances from the east and south; the pulpit was at the north end, and galleries extended around the remaining three sides. The Reformed and Presbyterian congregations jointly occupied this building for religious worship until 1841, when the latter withdrew. In 1847, under the pastorate of Rev Richard A. Fisher, it was replaced by a substantial brick structure. In 1885, under the pastorate of Rev. J. Calvin Leinbach, this congregation laid upon the altar of the church a centenary offering to the amount of nearly nine thousand dollars, to be devoted toward enlarging and beautifying their church edifice. The work was commenced, August 9, 1885, and the cornerstone was laid on the 13th of September following, Rev. J. A. Peters, D. D., of Danville, Pennsylvania, preaching the sermon in the Presbyterian church. The building was completed, and dedicated to the worship of God on Sunday, May 16, 1886, the pastor being assisted in the services by Rev. J. O. Miller, D. D., of York, Pennsylvania, and Rev. C. S. Gerhard, of Reading, Pennsylvania. Who organized the congregation in 1784 can not be ascertained; as far as learned from the very imperfect records, the following ministers have served the congregation in the order of their names: Rev. Jonathan Rahauser, 1789-92; George Geistweit, 1794-1804; John Dietrich Adams, 1808-13; Martin Bruner, 1813- 23; Richard A. Fisher, 1826-54; Daniel Y. Heisler, 1856-58; John W. Steinmetz, 1858-62; William C. Cremer, 1864- 67; Abraham H. Dotterer, 1869-70; Calvin S. Gerhard, 1870-79; Thomas J. Barkley, 1879-84; and Rev. J. Calvin Leinbach, from 1884 to the present time. The Sunday school was organized by Rev. Richard A. Fisher. First Presbyterian Church.- On the 31st of May, 1787, "the united congregations of Buffalo, Sunbury, and Northumberland, having never in these places had the stated administration of the Gospel ordinances,"* extended a call to the Rev. Hugh Morrison, a licentiate of the Presbytery of Root, Ireland, who had been admitted to the Presbytery of Donegal in 1786. The call was intrusted to Reverend Wilson for presentation to the moderator of ___________________________________________________________________ *LINNS Annals of Buffalo Valley, p 249. END OF PAGE 504 Page 505 contains a portrait of Charles M. Martin. Page 506 is blank. Carlisle Presbytery by William Gray and Abraham Scott, of Sunbury; William Cooke and James Hepburn, of Northumberland, and William Clark, of Buffalo; it bore eight signatures from Sunbury, from which it is clearly evident that the church at this place was very weak numerically. Mr. Morrison became pastor of the Buffalo church in October, 1787, and continued in that relation until November, 1801; Sunbury was included in his field of labor during this period, and perhaps later, as he died on the 13th of September, 1804, and is buried in the Sunbury cemetery. The next pastor was Rev. Isaac Grier, S. T. D., who died in 1814; since that date Reverends Robert F. N. Smith, William R. Ashmead, William R. Smith, Wheelock S. Stone, William R. Smith, William Simonton, James Reardon, Samuel W. Reigart, Orr Lawson, Samuel J. Milliken, Martin L. Ross, and Andrew Brydie have successively served as pastors. The church became a separate pastorate during Mr. Simonton's incumbency; previous to that time it had been connected with Northumberland, where the pastors, with the exception of Rev. William R. Smith; resided. The Presbyterians worshipped in the old church building at the north-west corner of Second and Chestnut streets from its erection until 1841, when they built a brick church edifice at the northwest corner of Third and Chestnut. This was the place of worship until 1870. The deed for the site of the present church building, a two-story brick structure on the north side of Market street between Second and Third, was executed on the 11th of June, 1869, in favor of William L. Dewart, William M. Rockefeller, A. N. Brice, L. T. Rohrbach, and J. William Johns, trustees; building operations were begun on the 24th of the same month, and on the 25th of December, 1870, the completed structure was dedicated. The parsonage, a brick building at the southeast corner of Second and Race streets, was erected by Rev. William R. Smith. It was long the residence of Miss Mary Hunter, who devised the property to this church by her will. Judge Alexander Jordan was the first superintendent of the Sunday school, and filled that position many years. St. John's Methodist Episcopal Church.- The Methodists of Sunbury worshiped at Northumberland for some years after the introduction of Methodism into this section of the State. The year in which a local class was first organized can not be definitely stated; it is known, however, that William Search and wife, Eli Diemer and wife, Mrs. Nancy Follmer, Solomon Shaffer and wife, Jacob Dawson, and Jacob Heller were among its members, of whom Mr. Heller was the first leader, and the class meetings were held at the house of Mr. Shaffer. The grand jury room in the old court house was the place of public worship until 1838, when a one-story brick church edifice, now the property of the Catholics, was erected on Arch street near Third during the pastorate of Rev. Henry G. Dill. The corner-stone of the present church END OF PAGE 507 edifice, a two-story brick structure on the corner of Arch and Second streets, was laid, July 2, 1869; the building was rapidly approaching completion when the tower collapsed, involving a loss of seven thousand dollars; work was resumed, the tower was rebuilt, and on the 13th of March, 1870, the lecture room was dedicated, Bishop E. R. Ames, Rev. C. C. McCabe, and others officiating. The dedication of the entire building occurred on the 24th of October, 1873. The Shamokin circuit, extending from the Susquehanna river to Broad mountain between Mahantango and Nescopec creeks, was formed in 1812, and it is quite probable that the preachers appointed to it included Sunbury in their field of labor. From 1812 to 1830 the following clergymen successively officiated on this circuit: 1812, James H. Baker, James Hickcox; 1813, Abraham Dawson, Nathaniel Reeder; 1814, Marmaduke Pearce; 1815-16, Benjamin Bidlack; 1817, Abraham Dawson; 1818, Isreal Cook; 1819, Elisha Bibins; 1820, Marmaduke Pearce; 1821-22, John Rhodes; 1823, David Steel; 1824, Jacob R. Shepherd; 1825, John Thomas; 1826, John Taneyhill; 1827, Jonathan Monroe; 1828, Henry Tarring; 1829, Edward E. Allen. In 1830 the name was changed to Sunbury circuit, which was served by the following ministers until 1868: 1830, Josiah Forest; 1831, Oliver Ege, James R Brown; 1832, Wesley Howe, J. Clark; 1833, Thomas Taneyhill, John R. Tallentyre; 1834, Thomas Taneyhill, John Guyer; 1835, Oliver Ege, J. Anderson; 1836, Oliver Ege, G. C. Gibbons; 1837, Henry G. Dill, Charles E. Brown; 1838, Henry G. Dill, John W. Haughawaut; 1839, John Rhodes, William Hurst; 1840, John Rhodes, John Ball; 1841, John Ball, Gideon H. Day; 1842, George Bergstresser, William S. Baird; 1843, Alem Brittain, Jacob Montgomery; 1844, Alem Brittain, John W. Tongue; 1845, John W Haughawaut, Jacob S. McMurray; 1846, John W. Haughawaut, Thomas Bernhart; 1847, Peter McEnally, H. Huffman; 1848, James Ewing, J. P. Simpson; 1849, James Ewing, William Gwynn; 1850, John Stine, William Gwynn; 1851, John Stine, Albert Hartman; 1852, Joseph A. Ross, T. M. Goodfeller; 1853, Joseph A. Ross; 1854, J. G. McKeehan, James Curns; 1855, J. G. McKeehan, B. P. King; 1856, Thomas Taneyhill, N. W. Colburn; 1857, Thomas Taneyhill, M. L. Drum; 1858-59, George Warren, P. B. Riddle; 1860, E. Butler, J. P. Swanger; 1861, E. Butler, J. A. Dixon; 1862, A. M. Creighton, B. F. Stevens; 1863, A. M. Creighton, E. T. Swartz; 1864, B. P. King, J. M. Akers; 1865, B. P. King, W. H. Norcross; 1866, J. Anderson, E. Shoemaker; 1867, J. Anderson, W. Fritz. Since 1868 Sunbury has been a station with the following pastors: 1868- 70, W. W. Evans; 1871, J. C. Clark; 1872-73, G. D. Pennepacker; 1874-76, J. A. DeMoyer; 1877-78, S. W. Sears; 1879-81, Hiles A. Pardoe; 1882, G. T. Gray; 1883- 84, William G. Ferguson; 1885-87, Reuben E. Wilson; 1888, William V. Ganoe, present incumbent. The Sunday school was organized in 1841 with James Huston as superintendent and Solomon Shaffer as secretary. END OF PAGE 508 St. Matthew's Protestant Episcopal Church.- Rev. Caleb Hopkins, who had organized parishes at Bloomsburg, Milton, and Jerseytown, came to Sunbury occasionally as early as 1812 and conducted Episcopal services in the Lutheran church. It is entered of record that Reverend Bacon, afterward a missionary to Africa, held one service in 1817; that Rev. Elijah Plumb, who had charge of a classical school at Northumberland, held regular services, 1819-22, at the public buildings or the Lutheran church; that Rev. William Eldred, of Muncy, held occasional services in 1825, and that Rev. James Depui, of Bloomsburg, administered the sacraments and conducted public worship in 1826. In that year, and doubtless through Mr. Dupui's instrumentality, the parish was organized, in the parlor of Mrs. Charles Hegins, now the residence of Mrs. Charles G. Donnel, on the north side of the public square in Sunbury; the following persons were among those present: Mrs. Charles Dering and her sister, Miss Giberson, Mrs. Charles G. Donnel (nee Hegins), John D. Hegins, and William Dewart. The first steps toward the erection of a church building were taken on the 10th of January, 1829, when the vestry authorized Mrs. Catharine Ogle, of Philadelphia, and William Dewart, of Sunbury, to receive subscriptions for that purpose. On the 8th of August, 1827, the vestry, composed of Charles Dering, Ebenezer Greenough, Charles G. Donnel, William Dewart, Jeremiah Shindel, John D. Hegins, and Jacob Painter, appointed Mrs. A. Greenough, Mrs. M. Dering, and Miss Amelia Hegins (Mrs. Charles G. Donnel), to solicit and receive subscriptions. Their efforts were not rewarded with a large measure of success, however, and, although it is known that some materials were purchased in 1828, it was not until 1834 that a contract was entered into with Edward Gobin for the erection of a church building. The corner-stone was laid on the 2d of September, 1834, and the dedication occurred on the 7th of December, 1836, Bishop Onderdonk officiating. This was originally a one-story brick structure fifty feet long and thirty-two feet wide; it is situated on Front street between Market and Arch and constitutes the front part of the present church edifice. A brick building twenty by thirty-four feet in dimensions was erected on the same lot in 1854 as a Sunday school room, which was further enlarged in 1885 at a cost of fifteen hundred dollars. An extension fifty by fifty-three feet to the rear of the original church edifice and connecting that building with the Sunday school room was erected in 1886-87 at an expenditure of four thousand six hundred dollars; the audience room and Sunday school apartment thus constitute a single building one hundred fifty feet in length, which was formally opened on the 10th of April, 1887. The Sunday school was organized on the 1st of January, 1825, by Mrs. Catharine Ogle and Miss Amelia Hegins at a house on Third street near Chestnut. This was the first denominational Sunday school at Sunbury. The parish was admitted to the diocesan convention in 1827. The rector END OF PAGE 509 at that time and in the following year was Rev. Lucius Carter, who also taught a classical school at Sunbury. The first resident rector to devote his entire time to the parish was Rev. Christian Wiltberger, who was followed by Reverends Isaac Smith, of Muncy, and Hopkins (not the Rev. Caleb Hopkins) in the period from 1830 to 1836. The succession of rectors since 1837 has been as follows: Alfred Lauderbach, July 25, 1837, to June 21, 1841; William S. Walker, October 11,1841, to October 24, 1842; Joshua Weaver; January 20, 1843, to September 1, 1845; B. Wistar Morris, August 23, 1846, to September 9, 1850; William B. Musgrave, November, 1850, to December 23, 1851; William Montgomery, October, 1852, to 1855; J. W. Gougler, 1856 to April 1, 1859; Theo. M. Riley, July to October, 1859; Lewis W. Gibson, October, 1860, to December 31, 1866; Charles H. Vandyne, August 26, 1867, to March 23, 1869; Gideon J. Burton, June 26, 1869, to May 21, 1872; Charles H. Vandyne, May 30, 1872, to June 3, 1873; H. Hewitt, July 25, 1873, to July 1, 1879; Henry A. Skinner, January 7, 1880, to April 16, 1882; and Charles Morison, the present incumbent, who took charge on the 2d of April, 1883. The First Baptist Church of Sunbury was organized by Reverends John H. Worrell and J. B. Cressinger on the 15th of December, 1842, with eighty-one constituent members, among whom were John Budd, William Reed, Dennis Wolverton, Washington Newberry, Mary H. Budd, Sarah H. Garrison, Anna Wolverton, Malinda Wolverton, Rachel Reed, and Susanna Newberry. The organization increased in numbers until 1850, when its prosperity began to decline, and from 1860 to 1867 no evidences of active existence were manifested. In September, 1867, Rev. A. B. Still, of Danville, Pennsylvania, reorganized the society with fifteen or twenty members; this number increased to one hundred seventy in 1886 and to two hundred fifty-four in 1890. Reverends John H. Worrell, L. W. Chapman, A. J. Collins, A. J. Hay, J. Green Miles, George J. Brensinger, A. C. Wheat, B. B. Henshey, W. J. Hunter, S. R. Reading, D. W. Shepherd, and F. H. Shermer, present incumbent, have successively served as pastor. The court house of Northumberland county was the place of worship until January 1, 1843, when services were first held in a church building forty feet long and twenty feet wide erected on a lot on Fourth street below Penn, presented by Aaron Robins and now the site of the public school building. The present brick chapel was erected in 1874, largely through the instrumentality of Truman H. Purdy and David Clement, on a lot at the corner of Fourth and Chestnut. The church also owns a parsonage, and a movement has been inaugurated for the erection of a church edifice. The present (1891) deacons are Truman H. Purdy, Ira Hile, J. B. Cressinger, and Erastus Hoffman. St. Michael's Catholic Church was organized in the autumn of 1863 by Rev. J. J. Koch, of Milton. Several years before that date, however, services were held for the few resident Catholic families by visiting missionaries and END OF PAGE 510 the priests of neighboring towns. Father Koch celebrated Mass a few times in the house of a Mr. McNamara, which stood at the site of the Pennsylvania railroad depot, and subsequently at John Leary's residence on Fourth street once a month. This continued until the autumn of 1866, when he became pastor at Shamokin. During this time he had collected three hundred dollars toward the erection of a church, and it was the nucleus of the fund used in purchasing the present property. Rev. Arthur McGinnis, of Danville, ministered to the mission during the next two years, and was succeeded by Rev. Mark A. O'Neill, of Milton, now of Mt. Carmel. Since that time the pastors of Milton have had charge of St. Michael's, viz.: Reverends Louis Grotemeyer, Thomas J. Fleming, W. F. McIlhenny, and H. G. Ganns, who assumed charge on the 14th of November, 1881, and is the present incumbent. In the meantime, Major James Malone was prominent in an effort to obtain a permanent place of worship. Accompanied by Rev. Michael McBride, of Harrisburg, he traveled along the line of the railroads and collected sufficient money to enable the congregation to purchase the old Methodist church on Arch street in 1872 for the sum of thirty-five hundred dollars. It was at once fitted up for Catholic worship and dedicated by Bishop Shanahan; it has since been used for that purpose, and services are held twice a month. Father Ganss has collected about two thousand dollars and has now in contemplation the erection of a new church edifice, more in harmony with growth and spirit of the congregation, which numbers about thirty-five families. The cemetery of St. Michael's church is located at Northumberland, and was reserved for that purpose when the town was laid out. It was inclosed in 1864, during the pastorate of Rev. J. J. Koch. The Evangelical Church of Sunbury was organized in March, 1887, by Rev. G. A. Knerr, under direction of the East Pennsylvania Conference. The first minister of this denomination to hold regular services at Sunbury was a Mr. Maxwell, who preached in the Spruce Street school house in 1873 and organized a class; he was succeeded by Mr. Moore, who conducted services in the Caketown school house, and thus the work was continued until 1878, when, owing to a lack of missionary funds, it was abandoned and not resumed until 1887. The class of twenty members organized in that year increased to forty-five in 1889, when a subscription was started for the erection of a church building. This is a substantial and attractive frame structure, situated at the corner of Fourth and Vine streets; the corner-stone was laid on the 17th of August, 1890, and the dedication occurred December 21st in the same year. Rev. G. A. Knerr was succeeded as pastor by Rev. W. S. Harris, the present incumbent, in 1890. The First Church of Christ of Sunbury had its origin in a meeting held on the first Lord's day in October, 1885, at the hall of the hook and ladder END OF PAGE 511 company on Fourth street, at which Francis M. Farra, John H. Shipman, Isaiah W. Hile, Mrs. Alcesta J. Hile, William Lesser, Mr. Kate Leeser, and Charles M. Park were present. Regular meetings for worship were continued at that place, and in March, 1890, the following officers were appointed: Isaiah W. Hile, Francis M. Farra, and William Leeser, elders; John H. Shipman, Horace Tweed, and George Rundio, deacons. At that time the church numbered thirty-three members. On the 20th of September, 1890, it was incorporated with thirty-eight members, of whom the following were the first trustees: Isaiah W. Hile, Francis M. Farra, John H. Shipman, Horace Tweed, Alonzo L. Hile, James Hileman, John Masters, and William Leeser. A brick church building is in course of erection at the corner of Fourth and Arch streets, upon which the work of construction was begun, September 17, 1890. The First Sunday School at Sunbury was organized in 1815 by Mrs. Daniel Hurley and Miss Blake in the lower story of a building on Third street near the old Lutheran church. The Presbyterian catechism was taught and seems to have constituted the only text-book except the Bible. All the various religious denominations then represented at Sunbury supported the school, however, and within a few years it secured permanent quarters in the "state house," as evidenced by the following entry in the Appearance docket of Northumberland county (No. 92, January term, 1820):- The court, at the request of the male teachers of the Sunday [Sunbury?] Sabbath school, give their consent that the said teachers hold the Sabbath school in the grand jury room over the county offices. This was continued as a union organization until the formation of denominational Sunday schools deprived it of supporters and terminated its usefulness. The Caketown Union Sunday School Chapel, a brick building twenty- five by fifty feet with an L sixteen feet square, was erected in 1887 on Susquehanna avenue in the Fifth ward upon a lot donated by J. A. Cake and wife. The title to the property is vested in a board of trustees composed of S. M. Elliott, J. A. Cake, A. Goughnour, W. J. Cornwell, A. Traub, Moses Culp, and A. L. Bastress. The Sunday school was organized at the Fifth Ward school house in 1886 and numbers one hundred fifty members. A. L. Bastress has been superintendent since its organization. CEMETERIES. The old Sunbury cemetery comprises a tract of land situated east of Third street and south of Spruce, adjacent to the original town plot and probably reserved for burial purposes at the time the latter was surveyed (1772). The earliest legible inscription is that upon the tombstone of Sarah McKinney, daughter of David and Rebecca McKinney, who was born on the 24th of END OF PAGE 512 August, 1769, and died, September 22, 1774. Many of the most prominent citizens of the county throughout its history are interred here. There is also an old cemetery in the Fifth ward; it comprises two contiguous inclosures, separated by a stone wall and surrounded by a fence of similar construction. One part was reserved for burial purposes by the Hunter family and the other by the Grant family, the representatives of which in several generations are interred here. The Pomfret Manor Cemetery Company, was originally incorporated as the Mt. Pleasant Cemetery Company, August 4, 1870; the name was changed to its present style, June 9, 1873. The company was organized, August 22, 1870, with Alexander Jordan, president; Lloyd T. Rohrbach, secretary; J. A. Cake, treasurer, and a board of directors composed of Alexander Jordan, J. W. Cake, Sr., Rev. W. W. Evans, Rev. George W. Hemperley, Rev. Samuel K. Milliken, Rev. George J. Brensinger, Rev. Gideon J. Burton, William M. Rockefeller, and Lloyd T. Rohrbach. The grounds comprise twenty acres, situated within the borough limits of East Sunbury at a considerable elevation above the river. Five acres were improved and adapted to cemetery purposes, and, although some interments were made, the project was for some years practically abandoned. A reorganization of the company was effected, August 1, 1890, with the following officers: president, George B. Reimensnyder; secretary and treasurer, W. H. Druckemiller; directors: Rev. George Parson, George B. Reimensnyder, J. H. Alleman, Rev. W. E. Parson, and Ira Shipman. Under the new management the cemetery promises to become one of the most attractive places of interment in the county. BOROUGH OF EAST SUNBURY. That part of the manor of Pomfret bounded by Shamokin creek, Spring run, and the Reading road (embracing the borough of East Sunbury within the same limits and containing three hundred twelve acres) was surveyed for William Maclay on the 17th of January, 1775, in pursuance of warrant dated March 10, 1774. The remaining portion of the borough was also embraced in the manor of Pomfret. For many years this land was used for agricultural purposes, and in 1865 there were but three improvements within the borough limits of East Sunbury, viz.: the mill and residence of John Haas; a frame house on the west side of the Catawissa road, then occupied by Samuel Bloom and now owned by Benjamin Zettlemoyer, and a frame house at the northwest corner of Catawissa and Market streets, then occupied by Charles Wilder and now owned by Daniel Zartman. In 1865 Truman H. Purdy purchased one and three fourths acres of land west of the Catawissa road and laid it out in lots, thus inaugurating the growth of the village, which was known as Purdytown until its incorporation as a borough. The principal subdivisions since that date have been made by Truman H. Purdy, Purdy & Wolverton, John B. Lenker, George Conrad, END OF PAGE 513 John Haas, Lloyd T. Rohrbach, Purdy & Rockefeller, Reagan & Cake, Ira T. Clement, P. M. Eckman, and Henry Conrad. The plat is irregular. Market street extends east and west, with Chestnut street parallel to the south and Arch, Race, Line, Reagan, Masser, Greenough, and Packer streets parallel to the north. The Catawissa and Creek roads diverge from Market street in a northeast direction, and are largely responsible for the irregularity of the plat. The streets extending north and south are Rockefeller, Conrad, Dewart, Clement, Augusta, High, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, Eighth, Ninth, and Augusta avenue, while Wolverton street coincides with the railroad south of Market. The local industrial establishments are the Keystone Machine Works, Haas's mill, Cold Spring brewery, and the carriage works of J. S. Seasholtz, H. L. Hauck, and J. S. Stroh & Brother, to which more extended mention is made in this chapter under the head of "Industrial Activity." The borough was incorporated by decree of court, December 5, 1890; previous to that date it formed part of Upper Augusta township. It is bounded on the east and southeast by Shamokin creek, on the west by Spring run, on the north by a line which coincides with the northern boundary of Pomfret Manor cemetery, and on the northeast by a line extending diagonally from the Catawissa road to Shamokin creek. The first election was held on the 17th of February, l891, and resulted as follows: chief burgess, George W. Keefer; assistant burgess, Julius Moeschlin; council: Peter Eckman, John H. Shipman, Hiram M. Haas, Lot Bartholomew, Samuel Fasold, S. P. Malick; school directors: Sebastian Zimmerman, Jacob Allison, Charles Fasold, Urias Bloom, John L. Miller, P. M. Eckman; auditors: Carl Litz, J. A. Miller, J. W. Morgan; justices of the peace: Ira Shipman, D. M. Schwartz; assessor, Jacob Bartholomew; assistant assessors, S. P. Savidge, Charles Zerfing; overseers of the poor: Isaac Bloom, S. L. Keefer; high constable, Daniel Knouse; constable, C. H. Swank; judge of election, J. H. Slear; inspectors of election: David Straub, J. W. Campbell; tax collector, John Eckman. END OF PAGE 514 and chapter XIV