Area History: History of Schuylkill County, Pa: W. W. Munsell, 1881 Township and Borough Histories pp. 361 - 376 Contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by R. Steffey. Typing and editing by Jo Garzelloni and Carole Carr. 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. ____________________________________________________________ HISTORY OF SCHUYLKILL COUNTY, PA with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Some of Its Prominent Men and Pioneers. New York: W. W. Munsell & Co., 36 Vesey Street, 1881 Press of George Macnamara, 36 Vesey Street, N.Y. ____________________________________________________________ ____________ WEST BRUNSWICK TOWNSHIP. ___________________________________________ Brunswick was one of the original townships of Schuylkill county, formed when it was set off from Berks county in 1811. In 1834 it was divided into East Brunswick and West Brunswick. The population has ranged as follows: 1840, 1,593; 1580, 1,693; 1860, 1,567; 1870, 1,163; 1880, 1,358. INDIAN DEPREDATIONS. Tradition has it that at the junction of the little creek which flows around Orwigsburg with the Schuylkill, was once an Indian town of importance, on or near Sculp hill, which is pierced by the Schuylkill canal at the locality known as "the tunnel," or "the narrows." During the French and Indian was the few scattering inhabi- tants contiguous to the Blue mountains and the present boundary of Berks county were occasionally alarmed on account of murders committed by Indians marauding through that section. The follow- ing account of massacres by these savages will be interesting not only for the incidents which it contains, but also as indicating the location of pioneer families along the Blue mountain. In West Brunswick township, early in February, 1756, ________end page 361._________ page 362 HISTORY OF SCHUYLKILL COUNTY. ________________________________________________________________ the Indians perpetrated several cruel and barbarous murders. On the 14th of that month a band of Indians went to the house of Frederick Reichersdorfer, shot two of his children, set his house on fire, and burned all of his grain and live stock. Then pro- ceeding to the house of Jacob Gerhart they slew one man, two women and six children. Two children escaped their notice by hiding under a bed. One of them was burned with the house; the other escaped and managed to join some white settlers about a mile away. When the intelligence of this massacre had reached Maxatany, Berks county, many of the inhabitants of that township repaired to the scene of death and rapine to ascertain what damage had been done. While on their way they received accounts of other murders. "When," says Jacob LeVan in a letter to Mr. Seely, dated February 15th, 1756, "I had got ready to go with my neigh- bors from Maxatany to see what damage was done, three men that had seen the shocking affair came and told me that eleven were killed, eight of them burnt, and the other three found dead in the fire. An old man was scalped; the two others, little girls, were not scalped." "On the 25th of March following," says the Pennsylvania Ga- zette of April, 1756, "ten wagons went up from Maxatany to this township (then New Albany), to bring down a family with their effects. As they were returning, about three miles below a Mr. George Zeisloff's, they were fired upon by a number of Indians from both sides of the road, upon which the wagoners left their wagons and ran into the woods. The enemy killed George Zeisloff and wife, a lad of twenty, a boy of twelve, and a girl of four- teen, four of whom they scalped. A boy was stabbed in three places, but his wounds were thought not to be mortal. Three horses were killed and five taken away by the Indians." Some time in November, 1756, the Indians appeared again in the territory now included in West Brunswick and carried off the wife and three children of Adam Burns. The youngest child was only four weeks old. Later the Indians murdered one Adam Trump. They took Trump's wife and son (nineteen years of age) prisoners. Soon, however, the woman made her escape, though it is said she was so closely pursued by one of the Indians, of whom there were seven, that she received a severe wound in the neck from a toma- hawk which he threw after her as she fled. Subsequently the remaining settlers built a fort, which af- forded them more or less protection from their red foes. This structure stood on the farm now (1881) owned by Lewis Marberger, about a mile and a half from Auburn borough. Paul Heins was an early settler who, it is said, was never molested by the Indians, who are said to have borne him the utmost good will in consequence of the kindness and hospitality with which he ever treated them. The story goes that it was his custom to set a dish of bread and milk before every Indian visi- tor to his cabin, and that none of them ever offered to touch the arms which hung conspicuously on the walls of his forest domi- cile. EDUCATIONAL HISTORY. The first settlements having been made in the agricultural parts of the county, its educational history commences there. Brunswick was the first township to consider the education of its children, and the last to adopt the public school systems. The early residents evidently had little conception of the advantages a well disciplined mind gives its possessor, in making him capa- ble of thinking and acting for himself. They merely wished their children to be able to read their Bible, study their catechism, and keep their accounts. To this end only they established schools. These schools were held at first in private rooms. As the settlers multiplied in number log houses were erected for school purposes. These first school-houses were built at an average cost, in money, not exceeding twenty dollars. The branches taught were simply rudimentary, and much of the instruc- tion was in German. The only institution within the whole town- ship that furnished a higher grade of instruction was the Orwigs- burg Academy, established in 1813. This academy was purely a county institution, as the charter creating it provided for the election of eight trustees, two to be elected annually. It was in its meridian glory from 1836 to 1850, when it was accounted one of the first academies in the State in point of literary ability and character. During this period its pupils were pre- pared for the second classes in leading colleges; but at the latter date commenced its decline, and it soon sank into obliv- ion. After being used a few years for common school purposes the building was demolished, and the bricks, & c., removed to serve a less important purpose. The Arcadian Institute.-After the demise of the Orwigsburg Academy Prof. W.J. Burnside opened a seminary for young ladies and gentlemen, under the name of the Arcadian Institute, in the old court-house and county offices. The first session opened April 10th, 1834, with 35 students. The course of study embraced all the branches of an English education, ancient and modern languages, and music. In 1855 Elias Schneider, A.M., succeeded Mr. Burnside as principal, and he in turn was succeeded by Rev. Mr. Fries. These gentlemen were all professional teachers, but their praiseworthy endeavors to build up an institution second to none of the same character in the State were not properly encour- aged, and after struggling bravely for a time the institute terminated its existence in 1864. The building has since been converted into a shoe factory. The Public School System.-It appears that the first meeting called to consider the provisions of the school law of 1834 convened in the court-house at Orwigsburg, November 4th of that year. It was a joint meeting of the county commissioners and delegates from the several districts of the county. At this meeting the conditions of the law were accepted by Orwigsburg and three other districts, while the rest rejected it by action of their delegates. Orwigsburg, being then the county town, accepted the ___________end page 362.____________ page 363 ZION'S CHURCH, WEST BRUNSWICK. _______________________________________________________________ system with scarcely any opposition. Two schools were opened, employing a male and a female teacher. An old log house and a one-room stone house, built for the occasion, furnished school room accommodations for all classes and grades outside of the academy, until the old jail was fitted up for school purposes. Since 1865 the schools, three in number, have been graded, and have been inculcating ideas within their massive walls as valu- able as any developed in more pretentious buildings. In 1775 a school was opened at the "Red Church." The first attempt to elect directors friendly to the school systems in 1835 failed, on account of its opponents being largely in the majori- ty. West Brunswick was the last to yield to the system, and only acquiesced when compelled by order of the court. The annual school term has never exceeded five months. ZION'S (THE "RED") CHURCH. Zion's Church, in which both the Evangelical Lutheran and German Reformed congregations worship, is on the Centre turnpike, about a mile east of Orwigsburg. By the year 1755 a considerable number of German Lutheran families had settled in Brunswick township, designated at that time as "the land beyond the Blue mountain." At this time they commenced to agitate the subject of organizing a congregation on the basis of the principles they had learned and practiced in their fatherland. In this undertaking they were greatly encouraged and aided by Rev. Daniel Schumaker, at that time laboring as a missionary in the counties Lehigh and Berks, who occasionally visited them, sometimes crossing the mountain on foot, to preach to them, baptize their children, and instruct and confirm their sons and daughters. His self-denying labors among them commenced as early as 1755 and continued to 1782. In 1765 the settlers began the erection of a house of wor- ship, and completed it in 1770. The congregation was regularly organized in 1765, under the name of "Zion's Evangelical Lutheran Church of Brunswick town- ship, Pa." The church building was dedicated on the first Sunday in Advent in 1770, by Rev. Daniel Schumaker, who preached from Psalms xxvii.4. The men most prominent in this work were Peter Schmelgert, Peter Weyman, Jacob Schaeffer, Michael Geibert, Gottfried Beyer, Paul Heim, Philip Pausman, Christian Schaber, Casper Prag and George Hunsinger. The original membership was about one hundred. The congregation was scattered over a large territory, as this was the only church north of the Blue mountain. The ministers who served this congregation as supplies after Rev. Daniel Schumaker were Revs. Frederick D. Miller, 1782, 1783; Abraham Deschler, 1783-88; Daniel Lehman, 1789-91, and John Frederick Obenhausen, 1792-1803. The membership having considerable increased after the erec- tion of the first church, it was decided, in 1799, to erect a new house of worship, larger and more commodious than the old one, which was a log house. The corner stone of the new building was laid October 14th, that year, by Rev. J.F. Oberhausen. On the 29th and 30th of May, 1803, it was dedicated by Revs. Daniel Lehman, J.F. Oberhausen and David Schaeffer. In 1833 the congregation sold half of their interest in the house to the Reformed church, and since that time the church has been the property of the two congregations jointly. In 1803 the united congregations, which had been until then supplied along with four others, decided to constitute a charge. This charge called as its pastor Rev. John Knoske, who served it from 1803 to 1811. Then Rev. George Mennig was pastor to 1833, and his son, Rev. William G. Mennig, to 1845. The following ministers followed Mr. Mennig: Nathan Yeager, 1845-51; G.W. Scheide, 1852; Julius Ehrhardt, 1853-64; J. Leonberger, 1865-69; G.F. Woerner, 1870; D.K. Kepner, 1871, 1872. The present incum- bent, Rev. I.N.S. Erb, commenced his labors in 1873. The most flourishing period of this church on the Lutheran side was during George Mennig's ministration' the number of communicants being at one time 270. The present Lutheran member- ship is about 125. For a number of years, up to the time of public schools, a parochial school was connected with the church. In the summer of 1750 Peter Weyman purchased from the sons of William Penn all of that large tract of land extending from the confluence of the two branches of the Schuylkill river to within a mile of the present limits of Orwigsburg, with the exception of a few smaller tracts, one of which was bought by Peter Schmel- gert, who became very prominent in the history of Zion's church. Peter Weyman disposed of the greater portion of his large tract to John Schnider, of Berks county, who sold it to George Ege, from the same section, a man largely interested in furnaces and forges. Other Germans followed, so that in 1755 quite a number of families had settled in Brunswick township, including the tract on what is known as Sculp hill, which did not originally belong to the Weyman tract, the first settlers on the hill having been Paul Heim and Michael Miller. It was at this time that these German settlers, nearly all of whom were Lutherans, feeling the want of something to unite them into a closer community and fellowship of sympathy in their trials, organized themselves into a congregation, and publicly held religious services. From the following statement, taken from their church record, in which they recounted their troubles, it appears that they were actually driven from their homes between the years 1760 and 1765. "Inasmuch as we felt ourselves in duty bound to erect a church, after having suffered great calamities from the wild and heathenish people, the so-called Indians, but afterward by the grace of God succeeded in again restoring peace and quiet to live in our former homes, we, therefore resolved to build a new church, which was completed in the year 1770." This first church erected was commenced in 1765, and, as mention, completed in 1770, the slowness of its progress showing that most of these settlers were in destitute __________end page 363.___________ page 364 HISTORY OF SCHUYLKILL COUNTY. ________________________________________________________________ circumstances, as indeed is also known from other sources. The first church building was a small, incommodious structure, built of roughly hewed logs, and only intended to meet the temporary wants of the people. The church which was begun in 1799 and completed in 1803 is yet standing, and is at present occupied by both the Lutheran and Reformed congregations, who worship in it alternately. The above interesting facts show that, one hundred and thirty-eight years ago, not only was so much territory taken possession of in this county by a brave and noble-minded people, but that a community was here established with which have since been associated lofty principles which have aided not a little to form the sturdy, honest character of the successive generations of residents in the township. ____________ ORWIGSBURG BOROUGH. _________________________________________ Orwigsburg was laid out in town lots by Peter Orwig in 1796, and named in his honor. In 1811 the town commenced to attract emigrants from Berks county. The county of Schuylkill was formed March 1st that year, and Orwigsburg became the county seat; therefore Reading, in Berks county, sent her surplus population to the seat of justice of the new county. In 1813 an act of incorporation was granted, making this the oldest borough in the county. From this time Orwigsburg attracted attention as a growing and progressive town. Between 1809 and 1829 the larger part of the village was built. It consists of about 200 dwell- ings, some of which are three-story brick buildings, convenient and handsome. There are several church in the borough (the Lutheran, German Reformed and Evangelical), four stores and three hotels. As early as 1747, George Gottfried Orwig, with his wife Glora, had emigrated from Germany and taken up their residence at Sculp Hill. Their children were four in number: George, Peter, Henry and a daughter. The latter went west. About 1773 George married Mary Gilbert, and located at the place since known as Albright's Mills, where, prior to 1790, he built a house and a mill on Pine creek. His son Isaac, about 1809, married a daugh- ter of Conrad Yeager. Peter Orwig was the founder of Orwigsburg. In 1830 the population of Orwigsburg was 773; in 1840, 779; 1850, 909; 1860, 828; 1870, 728; 1880, 792. A part of the in- crease between 1840 and 1850 was due to the extension of the borough limits. Orwigsburg in 1845 contained 163 houses, 4 of which were fine three-story brick stores and dwellings. The court-house had recently been enlarged. It and the other county buildings were substantial brick structures. There was a brick academy, a brick Lutheran church with a cupola, and a stone German Reformed church with a cupola, two Methodist churches (one brick and one framed), and two school-houses. There was one printing office, from which was issued the Stimme des Volks-a German newspaper. This paper is said to have been established very early. Since its suspen- sion, in 1858, its place has been filled by the Orwigsburg Times, edited by George F. Stahlen. SOCIETY HISTORY. Schuylkill Lodge, No. 138, F.& A.M. was organized June 17th, 1813. The charter members were Theophilus Hughes, W.M., Robert Scott, S.W., and William Nice, J.W. The number of presiding officers elected from the above date to 1881 has been 55. The present officers are: John T. Shoener, W.M; H.S. Al- bright, S.W., and Charles H. Haeseler, J.W. The lodge first held its regular meetings in Graeff's Hotel, now used for the post- office; afterward in the court-house. When the latter building was leased for manufacturing purposes the lodge rented the hall of the I.O.O. of F., where the meetings are now held. The present membership is 54. Grace Lodge, No. 157, I.O.O.F. was organized March 19th, 1846. The charter members were Andrew B. Baum, N.G.; J.C. Rahn, V.G.; W.F. Tyson, Sec.; Michael Seltzer, Ass't Sec., and Chris- tian Berger, Treas. The present officers are: George H. Yager, N.G.; Daniel Samuel, V.G.; Samuel H. Madden, Sec.; Henry Day, Ass't Sec., and Charles N. Body, Treas. The membership is 31. This society first met in a brick house standing opposite the old jail. Three years after organization it removed to a house now owned and occupied by Frederick wilt. Meetings are now held in Odd Fellows' Hall building, owned by the lodge. Washington Camp Patriotic Order Sons of America was organized in February, 1868. The following are the names of the present officers: P.P., William Mattern; Pres., Samuel Draher; W.P., G.A. Raher; M. of F. and C., G.W. Werner; C., Wesley Koch. Early meetings were held in the court-house; at present the camp meets in Odd Fellow's Hall. BOOT AND SHOE MANUFACTURE. The Orwigsburg Shoe Manufacturing Company was organized in 1873, with the following officers: President, Solomon O. Moyer; vice-president, Charles H. Dengler, (Pottsville); secretary, John T. Shoener; treasurer, Thomas Hoy. ___________end page 364.____________ page 365 ORWIGSBURG MANUFACTORIES AND CHURCHES. ________________________________________________________________ When the company began operations their limited amount of machinery was propelled by foot power. An eight horse power engine is now required to carry on their extensive manufacturing operations. The company turns out 5,000 to 6,000 pairs of boots and shoes per annum, and gives employment to from 90 to 100 hands. The present officers of the company are: Solomon R. Moyer, president; George F. Kimmel, vice-president; Charles H. Haeseler, secretary; and John C. Beck, treasurer. James Ecroyd, of Muncy, Lycoming county, William C. Klimert, of Philadelphia, and Thomas Wren, of Pottsville, are directors. The firm of Bickley & Anthony was formed in 1878, and shortly afterward Mr. Anthony withdrew from the partnership. Mr. Bickley was the sole proprietor of the enterprise till May, 1880, when Messrs. John T. Shoener and Lewis Kimmel became his partners. After a few months Mr. Kimmel withdrew from the firm on account of ill healthy, selling his interest to John Bickley. Mr. George H. Bickley, the senior partner, is the practical manager of the business. Mr. Shoener has charge of the finances of the concern. From 20 to 30 hands are employed and 60 to 70 pairs of women's, misses' and children's fine sewed shoes are manufactured daily. The firm of Albright & Brown began business January 1st, 1880, and manufacture a special line of children's and infants' black and colored shoes, turning out from their factory 100 pairs per diem. When running to the capacity of their factory the firm employs 25 hands. These industries are the only ones of importance in the bor- ough, which has the usual variety of small mechanics' shops, and they form the leading business interest of the place. The old court-house has been utilized by one of the firms mentioned, and now does service as a factory building. CHURCH HISTORY. The Methodist Church of Orwigsburg was organized in 1824 with a membership of 25, of whom the following are remembered: John Hammer, Benjamin Sterner, Joseph Zoll, Christopher Wagner and R. Rickert. The first church edifice was built in 1826. It was of stone and a story and a half high, located at the western end of Inde- pendence street, where now is the cemetery of the same church. Before the erection of a house of worship meetings were held in private houses, on several occasions in a hotel, in a school- house, and generally at a later date in the court-house. The first ministers were Revs. John Seibert, John Breidenstein and D. Focht. Revs. S. G. Rhoads, Isaac Hess, John Schell, Daniel Berger, Haman, R. Yeager, J.O. Lehr, D.Z. Kemble, S.B. Brown, Thomas Harper, A. Dilabar, G.W. Gross and F. Kecker, among oth- ers, have served the church since. The present pastor is Rev. J.R. Hentzel. The first Sunday-school was organized October 4th, 1838. The first superintendent was Jacob Schnerr; Charles Haeseler was secretary and Samuel Leffler treasurer. The building of the present church was begun in 1839. It was first occupied in 1840. The present membership is 80. St. John's Reformed Church.-The first records of the St. John's Reformed church as a regular organized Christian body, date back to 1831. Prior to that date the Reformed and Lutheran people worshipped in the red church, about a mile and a half below Orwigsburg, on the Pottsville and Reading turnpike. August 28th, 1831, the Reformed and Lutheran people of Orwigsburg and vicinity jointly organized and laid the corner stone of the present building; soon after erected and dedicated as St. John's Reformed and Evangelical Lutheran Church of Orwigsburg. Revs. F.H. Groll, Jacob William Dechert and the local pas- tors, Revs. Jacob Mennig and Philip Moyer were present. The building committee consisted of Messrs. George Body, John Schall, Abraham Augstatt and Isaac Orwig. The constitution, laws and regulations of the church bear the approval of George Wolf, governor, and G.M. Dallas, attorney-general of Pennsylvania. In 1844 the Lutheran congregation withdrew and organized an inde- pendent church. The Lutheran ministers who served in the church while in joint relation were Revs. Mennig, Harpel, Stahlin, Yeager, Peix- ote and Geissenheimer. The Reformed pastors since 1844 have been Revs. Philip Moyer, ---- Hassinger, John Adam Rubelt, Henry Wagner, D.B. Albright, C.H. Rittenhouse and Henry Leisse, the present pastor. Under his administration the church, which in its appearance had given sufficient indications of time, was remodeled and rededicated. The present membership is 150. The Sunday-school connected with this church or congregation has had for its superintendents since its organization Dr. A.D. Baum, William M. Bickel, William H. Schall, Christian Berger, James Thompson and Samuel H. Madden, the present superintendent. St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Church was organized as an exclusively Lutheran church, January 20th, 1844, from St. John's church. The corner-stone of St. Paul's church was laid June 30th, 1844, and the church was consecrated in the fall of the same year. The officers of the church at that time were: Elders, Philip Wernert and Daniel Hummel, sen.; deacons, Frederick Freed and John Clouse. The following persons constituted the building committee: Jacob Deibert, Frederick Freed, Henry Shoemaker and Peter Hummel. The dedicatory services were conducted by the Rev. Jacob Miller and W.G. Menning, A.B. Gockelen, J.A. Reubelt and A.T. Geissen- heimer. Rev. Augustus T. Geissenheimer was the first to serve the congregation, his pastorate extending from 1840 (including his services in St. John's) to December 31st, 1844. The ministers who subsequently served this congregation up to the time when the present incumbent took charge were: Nathan Yeager, 1845-51; George Schaide, 1852; A. Ritter, 1853, 1854; Joel Grim, 1855-60; William Hoppe, 1861-63; John H. Eberman, 1864, _________end page 365.__________ page 366 HISTORY OF SCHUYLKILL COUNTY. ______________________________________________________________ 1865; J.F. Wicklein, 1866-71. Rev. I.N.S. Erb, the present pastor, entered upon his duties January 1st, 1873. The original church membership was about 100; that of the Sunday-school was about the same. The first superintendent was F. Lauderbrum, jr. The present church membership is 150, and the Sunday-school has a membership of 225. The services are conduct- ed alternately in the English and German languages. In the summer of 1874 the church of this congregation was remodeled and renovated at an expense of $1,000, and was rededi- cated November 22nd following. _______________ PORT CLINTON BOROUGH. ______________________________________________________ Lenhard Rishel was granted the land in and around Port Clin- ton by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, January 30th, 1816. The village was laid out in 1829. Part of the land was sold by Mr. Rishel to the railroad company May 8th, 1829. The first engine, which was manufactured in England, came over the road to Port Clinton in 1832. The borough was incorporated in 1850. Its limits were extended in 1855. As now bounded, it is one mile square. The first burgess was Richard Perry. The first councilmen of Port Clinton were Samuel Boyer, Daniel Eveland, William Province, John Bond and Joseph Perry. The first meeting of the council was held May 13th, 1850. Port Clinton has for years been quite a thriving place. The leading business has been the shipment of coal from the mines in the vicinity of Tamaqua, brought over the Little Schuylkill Railroad, a distance of twenty miles. The coal schutes and the Schuylkill canal, which passes through the borough, have added much to its activity and prosperity, giving employment to many of its citizens. A forge was erected here about 1855, by George Ege. After a number of years' activity it was converted into a rolling-mill by Calvin B. Bertolette, from Reading, Berks county. Later it passed to the ownership of Robert Inness, of Pottsville, and was managed by him with varying success for eight years, when it was purchased by Mr. McDonald and others at sheriff's sale. This establishment is operated by steam and water power, and at times as many as 100 men have been employed. During the freshet of 1850 the place was much damaged. Twen- ty-one houses were swept away, and the railroad bridge was car- ried off. Thirteen persons were drowned. A grist-mill, which had been erected near the present site of the borough in 1800, by whom is not known, was swept away by this flood. Port Clinton contains about eighty good and many small dwell- ings, three stores, two hotels and two churches, with the usual number and variety of small mechanics' shops. The population of the borough in 1860 was 586; in 1870, 578; in 1880, 686. There are three schools in the borough, in which three teach- ers instruct about 150 pupils seven months during the years, at an average cost of eighty-eight cents per month each. CHURCHES. The following sketch of the church and Sunday-school inter- ests of Port Clinton was contributed by the venerable George Wiggan, a resident of Tamaqua, but long prominently identified with the leading interest of Port Clinton: "The writer and his wife were members of the late Dr. Board- man's church, Philadelphia. I was appointed by the Little Schuylkill Navigation Railroad and coal company as superintendent to oversee the shipping of coal at Port Clinton, succeeding Arthur McGonnigle, and, with my family, I arrived there March 24th, 1840. "It was a dark spot for Christian work. The Sabbath was openly violated by loading and unloading boats, and the working class was demoralized. There was no church. Religious services were held but once a month, and there was no Sabbath-school, and never had been one. The preaching generally was by a Lutheran minister, but sometimes a Methodist brother would pass that way and hold a meeting. That good missionary apostle, Richard Web- ster, of Mauch Chunk, of the Presbytery of Luzerne came later, once a month or oftener, and preached in the school-house situat- ed on a hill west of the town. To get to it we had to pass over the bridge that spans the Little Schuylkill river, carry a light in our lanterns, and hold the candle for the minister while he read the Bible. My wife and I thought we had a duty to perform. Seeing the state of things we concluded to begin at the begin- ning-that is, with the children. One Sunday Morning in April my wife collected four or five little ones in my office, where she taught them the first rudiments of the Christian religion. After this the members increased every Sunday, so much so that we had to hold our little school for Sabbath instruction in the little school-house on the hill. Having enlisted a number of gentlemen and ladies connected with the town and its surroundings in our work, we organized a Sabbath-school in due form June 2nd, 1840, under the name of the Port Clinton Union Sabbath-school, with ___________end page 366.____________ page 367 PORT CLINTON SABBATH-SCHOOL WEST MAHANOY COLLIERIES. ______________________________________________________________ Rev. J.Y. Ashton as superintendent and Major Isaac Myers and Mrs. George Wiggan as manager. The following were teachers: George Wiggan, William Beltz, Mrs. Ellen Bond, Mrs. Elizabeth Provins, Miss Rosana Kepner, Miss Salome Ayers, Miss Catharine Schall, Miss Emily Walker, Miss Rebecca Roseberry. "In 1841 he was elected superintendent. Soon after organiz- ing we had a small donated to us by the Sabbath-school of Rev. Mr. Boardman's church. In the first year we gathered in 72 children. Jane Bond, afterwards Mrs. Province, was the first young person converted belonging to the school. "Rev. J.Y. Ashton, now chaplain to the Eastern Penitentiary, Philadelphia, was the first Methodist minister who preached regularly in the neighborhood, serving at both Tamaqua and Port Clinton. Later came Rev. W.E. Schenck, Presbyterian (now secre- tary of the Presbyterian Board of Publication, Philadelphia), who preached for us several months. Rev. M. Yeager, a Lutheran minister, and Rev. Dr. Richards, of the German Reformed church, Reading, preached occasionally. In 1846 the Methodist Episcopal church began to build a stone house of worship at the north end of the town, on the Centre turnpike. It was finished and dedi- cated December 13th the same year. Rev. James Neal, of Philadel- phia, preached the sermon. Rev. John Shields was pastor. "The enlargement and improvement of the union Sabbath-school house took place in 1849, under the care of three trustees repre- senting the following denominations: Lutherans, Samuel Boyer; German Reformed, Major Isaac Myers; Presbyterian, George Wiggan. The house was burned April 15th, 1867, and the lot was sold by the sheriff to Samauel Boyer. The church has never been rebuilt. "June 24th, 1860, a Presbyterian church was organized by a committee of the Presbytery of Luzerne, consisting of Rev. S.F. Colt, Rev. A.N. Lowry, and ruling elders S.N. Russell and Jesse Turner, with the following members: Joseph Clark, Margaret Clark, William Clark, Margaret Clark, James McClain, Catherine McClain, Oliver McClain, William D. Martin, ----- Martin, Dr. George W. Nice, John S. Rick, Elizabeth Rick, Henry Kinsel, ----- Kinsel, Barbara Frank. The ruling elders were Joseph Clark and John S. Rick; the pastor was Rev. F.F. Kolb, who left in January, 1865. He has had no successor. "A large brick church was begun in 1868 by the Lutheran and German Reformed people, at a cost of $3,096. It was never fin- ished. Jacob Weiklein was the Lutheran pastor and Augustus Herman the German Reformed pastor. There are 100 scholars in the Sabbath-school. "It is a noticeable fact that out of 65 boys who attended the Port Clinton union Sabbath-school, organized in 1840, 32, when their county was in danger, volunteered their services for its defense, many of them serving with distinction, some of them in various offices from general down to sergeant; and most of them at this day, with many of the girls, are working in the church and Sabbath-school in various places in the east and west." ______________ WEST MAHANOY TOWNSHIP. ____________________________________________ This township, erected in 1874 from Mahanoy, contained in 1880 a population of 4,418; all, or nearly all, engaged in min- ing. Within its bounds are the villages of Lost Creek, Colorado, William Penn, Rappahhock and Raven Run. It has railway stations and post-offices at Lost Creek, Colorado, Shaft and Raven Run. Lost Creek post-office was established in 1871, with George Miller as postmaster. COLLIERS OF WEST MAHANOY. The Cuyler Colliery, at Raven Run, was opened in 1865 by Heaton & Co., who had formerly operated at Girardville. A break- er with a capacity of about three hundred tons daily was built, and afterward enlarged to about five hundred tons. The workings consist of a drift extending about one and a half miles on the Buck Mountain vein, and, at a distance of about eleven hundred feet from the opening, a slope, driven to another drift on the same vein. About sixty breasts are open. Three stationary and three locomotive engines furnish the motive power and about four hundred and fifty men and boys are employed. The coal is market- ed by way of the Lehigh Valley road, and the veins operated are in the Girard Trust lands. The firm who opened the colliery are its present owners; but the member of the firm who was applied to for information refused to furnish it, and the about outline is the best that could be obtained from the outside sources to which the writer was compelled to apple, and can only be regarded as approximately correct. Girard Mammoth Colliery, at Raven Run, located on the lands granted to the trust of the city of Philadelphia for charitable uses by Stephen Girard, was opened in 1865 by John Johnson, John Donnellson, George Ormrod and others, and operated by them until December, 1879, when the Philadelphia and Reading Coal and Iron Company became its owners. George Ormrod was the superintendent from 1865 to 1877, when Simon Stein, formerly district superin- tendent of the Minersville district, purchased an interest in the colliery and became the super- _________end page 367._________ page 368 HISTORY OF SCHUYLKILL COUNTY. ______________________________________________________________ intendent, acting as such until the sale of to the present own- ers. Jonathan Gedding was outside foreman until 1877, when Charles J. Stein, the present foreman, succeeded him. The inside foremen have been George Wentzel, Richard Johnson, William More, Edward Davis, Thomas Tempest and William Palmer, who is now acting in that capacity. The slope is 365 yards deep and 1,000 yards from the breaker. A mine locomotive is used for drawing coal out through the water level drifts, and it is then hoisted up a plane by a forty horse power engine and dumped in the breaker, which is propelled by an engine of the same power. The dirt plane engine is similar in size, as is also that attached to the 8-inch pump. The fan is drive by one of one-half the rated power of the others mentioned, and a small engine of five horse power drives a blower in the blacksmith's shop. The capacity of the breaker is six hundred tons, and the production about four hundred daily. The veins worked are the Skidmore and Mammoth; the latter not being worked in 1880. The company own forty-two blocks of double tenement houses in connection with the colliery. PHILADELPHIA COAL COMPANY'S COLLIERIES. Colorado Colliery, NO.1.-This colliery is on the north side of the Bear ridge, in the James Paschall, Samuel Scott, and part of the John Brady tracts of the Girard estate, belonging to the city of Philadelphia. The breaker and other outside improvements are about a mile and a quarter east of Girardville, on the Phila- delphia and Reading Railroad. The mines were opened in 1863, by George W. Huntzinger and Jeremiah Seitzinger, by the driving of a tunnel into the Mammoth vein. The mine was worked successfully by this company until 1865, when it was leased to the Philadel- phia Coal Company. A slope of 90 yards in length, on a dip of 66 degrees, was sunk from the water level gangway, and from this slope level the present mining is being done. In 1874 the Lehigh Valley Coal Company purchased a controlling interest in the lease, and continued the operation of the colliery under the old name of the Philadelphia Coal Company. The Mammoth vein is the seam worked. The Seven-feet vein has been worked for a short distance, but has been abandoned. The coal is prepared in a large double breaker, which has a daily capacity of 150 cars. The colliery has an average annual shipment of over eighty-three thousand tons of coal for the past fifteen years. Shenandoah Colliery, No.2.-This colliery is on the south side of Locust Mountain, in Shenandoah valley, about two miles and a half east from Girardville, and about the same distance west of Shenandoah, on the Joseph Paschall, John Brady and Nathan Beach tracts, on the Girard estate of the city of Philadelphia. The mine was first opened in 1863, by George W. Huntzinger, and Colonel Frank B. Kaercher, and was worked by them until 1866, when Colonel Kaercher's share was purchased by Colonel Henry L. Cake, and the mine was then operated under the name of the Girard Coal Company. In 1868 this colliery passed into the hands of the Philadelphia Coal Company. In 1874 the Lehigh Valley Coal Compa- ny purchased a controlling interest in the lease of the colliery, and continued the mining under the old name of the Philadelphia Coal company. The Mammoth vein is the only seam worked at present. The Buck Mountain vein was opened at water level, but mining has been discontinued in it. The coal is hoisted through a slope 225 yards long, on an average dip of 39 degrees; 150 years east of this slope there is another, which runs 200 yards below the present working level, on an average dip of 40 degrees; and through this slope the coal from the lower lifts will be hoisted to the surface. The breaker is a double one, with a daily capacity of 125 cars. The breaker is on both the Lehigh Valley and Philadelphia and Reading Railroads. Lehigh Colliery, No.3.-This colliery, with its improvements, is on the south side of Locust mountain, about a mile west of Shenandoah, on lands belonging to the Girard estate, owned by the city of Philadelphia. In 1865 William Williams put a drift into the crop coal of the Mammoth vein, and worked it until 1870, when he sold his interests to the Philadelphia Coal Company. This company put down a slope and built a new breaker. In 1874 the control of this colliery, with that of Nos. 1 and 2, passed into the hands of the Lehigh Valley Coal Company, and the operations were continued under the old name of the Philadelphia Coal Compa- ny. The capacity of the breaker is 125 cars per day, and all the coal goes to market over the Lehigh Valley Railroad. James Robbins is inside and William Thickens outside foreman. Packer Colliery, No 4.-This colliery, with its improvements, is about a mile and a half west of Shenandoah. The coal is worked by means of a slop 265 yards deep. The first level of Shenandoah colliery, No.2, is cut by this slope, and besides this level there are two others-the counter gangways and the main. The colliery was opened in 1875 by the Philadelphia Coal Company, and is now worked by the Lehigh Valley Coal Company, under the name of Philadelphia Coal Company. The breaker, which is a large double one, is on the Lehigh Valley Railroad, and has a daily capacity of 225 to 250 cars. The large shipments of 1879, aver- aging for days in succession a thousand tons, and aggregating for the year 248,381 tons, give some idea of the capacity of this colliery. The Mammoth vein was the only seam worked until 1880, when a tunnel was driven to the Primrose, opening that vein and the Holmes. A new inside slope has just been driven to the basin, and the coal from the lower lifts will be worked through this slope. WILLIAM TELL. This thriving colliery village owes its origin and prosperity to the enterprise of the gentlemen forming the William Penn Coal Company, whose extensive works, second in size in the county, are located here. It contains a hundred dwelling houses owned by the company, and twenty-five others located on the company's land ____________end page 368._____________ page 369 WILLIAM PENN COLLIERY. _______________________________________________________________ and owned by its employees. Besides, there are the office and store buildings of the company, and a neat union church, 40 by 60 feet, in which services are regularly held, and which accomodates a Sunday-school of one hundred and fifty members. A post-office named Shaft was established in 1880, and the village is furnished with a never failing supply of pure water by the company's pipes from Lost creek. ______________________________ A line drawing of WILLIAM PENN COLLIERY is in this position in the original book. In the TABLE OF CONTENTS it is listed on this page. Original contents follow the divider line. _____________________ William Penn Colliery.-Early in 1864 Seyfert McManus & Co., of Reading, and George Brooke, of Birdsboro, Pa., two of the largest iron manufacturing firms in the Schuylkill valley, and Samuel E. Griscom, an experienced and well known business man of Pottsville, associated themselves as the mining firm of Samuel E. Griscom & Co. Mr. Griscom's partners were to furnish the means and he the necessary business capacity and executive ability. The new firm leased from Jacob Hoffman, of Reading, about five hundred acres on the Orchard, Primrose, Holmes, Mammoth and Buck Mountain veins, with the right of mining and of cutting timber for the necessary structures. The land was also claimed by the city of Philadelphia as a part of the Girard estate, and as such leased by the city to Lee, Grant & Patterson. The region was then covered with a dense forest, tenanted by panthers, bears and deer. The rival lessees both beginning operations on the tract, the Griscom party one night barricaded the mouths of the gangways begun by their opponents, and the latter were denied an injucnc- tion restraining Griscom & Co. Negotiations followed, which resulted in Lee & Co. assigning their lease to Griscom & Co. for a valuable consideration. A gangway on the Mammoth vein was started, and a blacksmith shop and a boarding house for employes were built. In 1865 the gangways on the Holmes and Mammoth veins were pushed forward, houses were built, a saw-mill was in operation in April, and a monkey breaker in August. For the rest of that year coal was shipped at the average rate of sixteen card a day. Clearings were made and roads were opened on the premises and out to the Shenandoah and Pottsville road. Jacob Shelly, who planned and superintended the erection of breakers, was appointed superintendent of the colliery in the fall of 1865. Like other superintendents he was continually in danger of being murdered by the Mollie Maguires. Early in 1865 some striking "loaders" were discharged and substitutes hired. Thereupon the miners and bosses were anonymously threatened with death. Lawrence McAvoy, inside boss, dared not refuse work to a bad class of applicants, and was allowed to resign his position in order to end his responsibility and save his life. The large breaker was completed in April, 1866, and was among the largest in the county, its construction required over a million feet of timber and lumber. Its storage capacity was about 1,560 tons, and its shipping capacity one hundred and fifty cars a day. Additional dwellings were also built. In 1866 the supply of coal above water level proved inade- quate, and it became necessary to obtain a longer lease and one permitting mining below water level. On the completion of the large breaker Henry A. Hunter and Horace Griscom, of Reading, were appointed sales agents for Philadelphia and the line of the Reading Railroad; and Wannemacher & Co. agents for sales by the cargo for eastern markets. Mr. Griscom took the greatest pains to have his product well prepared, and it commanded the best prices. Shipments during 1866 and 1867 averaged about sixty- three cars a day. A Sunday-school was established among the employees in 1866, with the aid of S.E. Griscom; and a general store was started in 1867, by Theodore H. Bechtel and Chalkley Griscom, the latter a brother of the senior partner. A fifteen-years lease of the property was obtained, the original lease having been for only five years. The sinking of a vertical shaft was begun in November, 1868. In the preceding February was formed the Mahanoy and Locust Mountain Coal Asso- ciatin, in which Mr. Griscom represented William Penn colliery. He proposed and was chairman of the committee which effected the organization of the anthracity Board of Trade, Mr. Griscom becom- ing its vice-president. On the passage of the eight-hour law in 1868, the managers of the William Penn announced that the weekly wages of their employees would be paid for ten hours' labor each day except Saturday, when eight hours would be the time. Excited mobs, clamoring for ten hours' pay for eight hours' work, there- upon stopped operations at the colliery on the 6th of July, and work was not resumed till August 25th. The eight-hour law was not complied with. Mr. Griscom, always desirous of adjusting equitably any grievances of his employees, on several occasions attended by invitation meetings of the Workingmen's Benevolent Association. By October, 1869, the shaft had reached its full depth, having pierced the bottom slate of the Mammoth vein at a depth of 256 feet and opened the way to 3,000 tons of prepared coal. An electric battery on the surface was used to fire blasts during the excavations-among the first used in the county. A section of the shaft measured 24 feet by 13, and it was divided into three equal parts, two for hoisting ways and one for air and pump way. It was supplied with two seventy horse hoisting engines, capable of hoisting a car of coal per ___________end page 369.____________ page 370 HISTORY OF SCHUYLKILL COUNTY. ______________________________________________________________ minute; and later with a Griscom steam pump, raising a six-inch column of water-the patented invention of Lewis, John P. and Chalkley Griscom. In 1869, through the efforts of Mr. S.E. Griscom, passenger trains were put on the line from Mahanoy Plane to Shenandoah, and a telegraph line over the same route, with an instrument in the colliery office. Further troubles with disaffected workingmen were experienced in 1870, and a drouth, cutting off the supply of water for the engines, together with the occurrence of "faults" in the workings, conspired to make operations comparatively expensive and unproductive. In June, 1871, a Bradford coal jig was placed in the breaker-the first one used in the Schuylkill coal region-affording superior and economical preparation of the coal. In February, 1872, Mr. Griscom sold his interest to his part- ners, but consented to remain in the management through that year, when William H. Lewis, of Pottsville, was, on Mr. Griscom's recommendation, appointed his successor. The colliery, on the relinquishment of its management by Mr. Griscom, was in a position to take its place in the first rank among the collieries of the county. The substantial basis that was to enable it to take and keep this position lay in the five principal coal veins which this property contains, which a care- ful estimate shows are capable of yielding as follows: __________________________________________________________ Veins. Length Basin Thick Total Coal Estimated of to Product Run. Outcrop yards yards yards cu. yds Tons. ---------------------------------------------------------- Orchard.....2,650 250 1 2/3 1,104,165 552,000 Primrose....2,650 300 3 2,385,000 1,192,000 Holmes......2,650 400 2 2/3 2,826,666 1,413,000 Mammoth.....2,650 650 10 17,225,000 8,612,000 Buck Mtn....2,650 800 3 6,360,000 3,180,000 ----------- 14,949,000 __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ Upon this foundation proportionate improvements had been erected. They consisted of a shaft on the Mammoth vein, with a "lift" capable of yielding 3,000,000 tons of prepared coal, provided with machinery with a hoisting capacity of about six hundred mine cars per day, and with gangways, schutes, headings, & c., already driven, opening up sufficient ground to yield about 163,000 tons prepared coal; with a breaker with a capacity for properly preparing for market one hundred and fifty railroad cars (750 tons) per day; a small or monkey breaker, with a capacity of about fifty cars (150 tons) per dry; a saw-mill capable of cut- ting 150 M per month; seventy miners' dwellings, stables, of- fices, drift cars and a full equipment of all requisite tools. The yearly tonnage of the colliery up to this time has been as follows: 1865, 9,085 tons; 186, 59,917; 1867, 65,448; 1868, 28,295; 1869, 27,002; 1870, 35,363; 1871, 53,558; 1872, 85,602; 1873, 141,116; 1874, 146,402; 1875, 106,636; 1876, 118,268; 1877, 164,496; 1878, 120,344; 1879, 178,318; 1880, 173,000. SCHOOLS OF WEST MAHANOY. Educational interests have not been forgotten or neglected, and there is not a mining "patcy" in the township, large enough to support one, without a well conducted public school. The whole number of building is eight, including the high school at Lost Creek, and they contain, with the latter, seventeen schools and the same number of teachers. The whole number of scholars in attendance is 1,060. The Lost Creek high school building was erected in 1880, and it is a handsome, convenient building, costing, furnished, about $5,000, and accommodating three schools with seating capacity for 225 scholars. It is an ornament to the place and a credit to the township. RELIGIOUS SOCIETIES. The Church of St. Mary Magdalen was organized on the 24th of December, 1879 at Lost Creek. The congregation worshipped in a public hall until Christmas, 1880. Father Walsh is the present pastor. The church edifice, erected in 1880, is a frame build- ing, 102 by 42 feet, in the Gothic style, and it was paid for when finished. The Lost Creek Union Sunday-School Association was chartered by the court of Schuylkill county September 4th, 1876. The first officers were: President, Capt. L.S. Hay; secretary, A.D. Brown; treasurer, J.W. Bedford. The object of this association was to erect a building for the promotion of the "Protestant Christian religion." Ground was broken for this purpose May 10th, 1876. A neat chapel was erected, with seating capacity for 225 persons, at a cost of $1,500, and opened for religious meetings Sunday September 17th, 1876. The present officers are: President, J.W. Bedford; secretary, J.R. Porter; treasurer, A.D. Brown. Lost Creek Union Sunday-School was organized march 26th, 1876, by Rev. Stephen Torrey, of Honesdale, Pa., with 40 members. The first officers were: Superintendent, A.H. Bromley; treasurer, Mrs. J.W. Bedford; secretary, Miss Emma Miller. Average attend- ance in 1876, 82; 1877, 87; 1878, 90; 1879, 163. The present off- icers are: Superintendent, A.H. Bromley; treasurer, Mrs. J.W. Bed- ford; secretary, T.W. Taylor. SECRET SOCIETIES. Lost Creek Section, No. 18, Cadets of Temperance was organ- ized April 26th, 1879, with twenty-three charter members. It meets every Friday night at Lost Creek S.S. building. First officers: Patrons, D.P. Brown, I.W. Moister, Miss I.B. Porter, Daniel Ogden, A.H. Bromley, Mrs. S.H. Brady; W.A., J. Claude Brown. The successive presiding officers have been William Moyer, Harry Groff, William Donaldson, and Claude Bedford. Lost Creek Band of Hope No. 1 organized June 12th, 1880, with thirty-six members. The first president was Mary Markle, and vice-president J. Alonzo Metz. The president in 1880 was Hannah Price; vice-president, J.A. Metz. Total membership in September, 1880, 88. ___________end page 370.____________ page 371 THOMAS SANGER - THOMAS UREN - D.P. BROWN ______________________________________________________________ Lost Creek Division, No. 9, Sons of Temperance was organized July 22nd, 1878, with thirty-six charter members. The first officers were: W.:., D.P. Brown; W.A., I.W. Moister; R.S., T.W. Taylor; A.R.S., A.H. Bromley; treasurer, S.H. Brady; F.S., B.R. Severn; chaplain, J.D. Ledden; D., Fred Hopkins; A.S., William Owens; I.S., W.H. Kaercher; O.S., Robert Peel; P.W.P., John Hallman. The successive presiding officers have been Isaac W. Moister, Joseph Rees, David Thompson, A.H. Bromley, A.D. Brown, John W. Scott and F.G. Clemens. The present officers are: W.P., F.G. Clemens. The present officers are: W.P., F.G. Clemens; W.A., S.H. Brady; R.S., T.W. Taylor; A.R.S., James A. Pott; treasurer, John Hallman; F.S., W.H. Zweizig; chaplain, Samuel Smaill; C., B.R. Severn; A.C., F. Barlow; I.W., Ed. McGovern; O.S., George Dunston; P.W.P., A.D. Brown. THE DEATH OF SANGER AND UREN. Thomas Sanger and Thomas Uren were friends and respectable young men who had been for several years in the employ of the Cuyler colliery, the former as mine boss. On the morning of the 1st of September, 1875, they left Sanger's residence, at which Uren boarded, bidding Mrs. Sanger a playful farewell at the garden gate, and started for the colliery. As they approached the breaker five strangers confronted them and fired a volley, at which both fell wounded. The villain whose bullet had stricken Sanger walked up to him, turned his bleeding body over and coolly sent another ball into it. Robert Heaton, one of the colliery owners, hearing the firing, rushed from his breakfast table and pursued the assassins, emptying the chambers of his revolver without effect, the murderers returning his fire. A crowd of the workmen had gathered, and so boldly had the miscreants' work been done that had Mr. Heaton's efforts been seconded with any prompt- ness or courage they might all have been captured; but the crowd seem paralyzed by the audacity of the attack, and no pursuit was commenced until to late to effect its purpose. The wounded men were taken to the house of a neighbor and the best surgical assistance secured; but the work had been too well done, and both expired soon after. Sanger had, like all the other bosses, been warned to leave the country by the "coffin letters" of the Mollie Maguires; but, regarding them as mere bravado, had remained quietly at work, and, excepting the causeless malice of that band of ruffians, had no enemies. His unfortunate acquaintance, Uren, whose death was due simply to his being in company with the boss, was also a quiet, inoffensive workman. Some of the murderers were recognized to such an extent that they were suspected; and one of them, Charles O'Donnell, met a bloody death at the Wig- gan's Patch affair soon after, at the hands of unknown assail- ants. The whole affair, it seemed, was, even before its occur- rence, under the surveillance of the detective McParlan who was unable to give a warning in time to prevent the crime, but who gave evidence that identified and convicted two of the criminals, Charles McAllister and Thomas Munley, who were arrested February 10th, 1876, and subsequently convicted and executed. _______________ A line drawing of DAVID PERCY BROWN is in this position in the original book. In the TABLE OF CONTENTS is listed as being on page 371. Original text follows the divider line. _________________________________________ Colonel David Percy Brown, superintendent for the Philadel- phia Coal Company, has been a resident of Lost Creek since 1875. He was born in Shillbottle, Northumberland, England, February 14th, 1825, and is a son of David W. Brown and Elizabeth Percy- both natives of that place. David W. Brown, who had been at school, was at the age of fourteen years sent into the mines by the death of his father, who was suffocated by choke damp. He continued to work as a miner until August, 1829, when, with his wife and three children, he came to America, landing in Boston October 16th, 1829. Thence he came to Pottsville by vessel and canal boat and settled at Oak Hill, where he resided until his death, April 5th, 1846. The subject of this sketch was taught to read and write by his parents, as there were no schools nearer his home than at Pottsville, four miles distant. He went into the mines when about eight years old, worked about ________end page 371._________ page 372 HISTORY OF SCHUYLKILL COUNTY. ______________________________________________________________ the colliery as a boy for six years, at the age of fourteen became a miner, and four years later was made a foreman. In 1846, owing to his father's death, he became his executor, and, with his brother William, sunk a shaft to the Primrose vein, one of the first perpendicular shafts ever put down in the State. After conducting some extensive developments he removed to Potts- ville in 1851, and resided there up to the date of his removal to his present residence. During that and the following year he opened the Brown & White colliery at Swatara, in which he re- tained an interest until 1860. In the year 1855 he became a part owner in the Mount Pleasant colliery, which proved an unfortunate venture and led to complications that caused the sacrifice of the large property which he had accumulated, and reduced him from the position of one of the heaviest operators in the county to that of a manager of the Swatara mines. Immediately after President Lincoln's first call for volun- teers in 1861 he joined the Tower Guards, of Pottsville, and on the 17th of April left with the company for Harrisburg. There the Guards were formed into two companies and mustered into the 6th Pennsylvania volunteers. Mr. Brown receiving from Governor Curtin as first lieutenant of company D. On the expiration of his term of service in April, 1862, an arrangement with the creditors of his old firm was effected, and one of the old collieries was purchased and operated until 1865. It was known as the Price Wetherill Colliery, and yielded large- ly, at profitable rates. This fortunate venture relieved Brown & Co. of their financial embarrassments, and as the old mine became nearly exhausted the machinery and renewed lease were sold to a Boston company which operated under the name of the Norwegian Coal Company. In 1866 Colonel Brown sailed for Glasgow, and spent a season in England and Wales, visiting the principal mining districts, and on his return accepting the position of superintendent and manager of the collieries of the Philadelphia Coal Company, which he still occupies. Colonel Brown is actively identified with the best interests of the community in which he has made his home, and is in every sense a representative man of the wide-awake, enterprising locality which this work describes. _________end page 372._________ page 373 FRACKVILLE BOROUGH. ______________________________________________________________ The discovery and mining of coal north of Broad mountain attracted and necessarily caused the settlement of a large popu- lation at the immediate base of operations. At Frackville the coal product of the valley is collected and hoisted over the plane to the mountain top by costly and powerful machinery, about 10,000 tons passing in that way daily over the weighmaster's scales at Frackville. The population in 1880 was 1,727. Daniel Frack, one of the original settlers here, settled in St. Clair in 1833, and engaged in the hotel business, accumulat- ing a considerable property during his residence there. While the coal developments of the Mahanoy valley were yet in their infancy, and the business prospects of the locality were, to men of less sanguine temperament, too uncertain to warrant invest- ments, Mr. Frack, with that keen foresight that marks the suc- cessful pioneer, purchased a tract of one hundred and sixty-six acres at what was then called Girard Place, and removed his family to his new possessions in 1852, opening a hotel. In 1861 he laid off a part of his land in town lots, which were rapidly disposed of and added largely to the development of the village. Samuel Haupt, a native of Columbia county and one of the pioneers of Pottsville, having settled there in 1825, purchased in 1854 a farm at this point, and subsequently laid off a part of it into a town plot with broad avenues, and it went by the name of the "Mountain city property," now constituting a very desira- ble portion of the borough. Prior to its purchase by Mr. Haupt the Mountain City estate was owned by James C. Stephens. The five-acre park that forms one of the chief attractions of the place was projected by Samuel Haupt's son D.P. Haupt, a prominent business man. The borough comprises 366 acres, and was surveyed by John Haupt, formerly of the engineering department of the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad Company, now a merchant in the place, whose store is the oldest business house in the village. The borough government was established by a charter granted April 10th, 1876, and on May 25th of that year the first charter election was held, resulting in the choice of D.P. Haupt as chief burgess, and Henry Parton, A. Bone, Reuben Wagner, Robert McNea- ly, William E. Deisher and H.C. Wagner as councilmen. H. Widen- hold was the first town clerk. the borough officers for 1880 were: Chief burgess, P. Zimmerman; coucilmen, John O'Hallen, James Madeira, James Cowan, Lewis Behmer, James Blackwell and W.R. Nice. The first school-house was erected in 1862, on a lot donated by Mr. Haupt. The schools, four in number, are now kept in a fine building, creditable to the public spirit of this enterpris- ing little borough. Good water, pure air and fine scenery are among the attrac- tions to settlers at Frackville, while the low price of lands, moderate, taxation and the liberality of the land owners, form valuable inducements to immigration; and the wisdom of this policy has been proven by the rapid growth of the population in the last decade. The railway terminating here is a popular line for travelers who wish to make a "short cut" between the county seat and any point north of the mountain, as it connects, by a line of stages established and operated by D.P. Haupt, with the railways at Mahanoy Plane and Shenandoah, the former station being only a mile distant. CHURCHES. Trinity Church of the Evangelical Association was organized in the spring of 1874, with six members-William Y. Antrim, Mary A. Antrim, John Kaley, Matilda Kaley, Valeria Moll, and Sophia Buck. The first preacher was Rev. George W. Lawry, who was followed by Rev. Jacob N. Metzgar and he in turn succeeded by Rev. Leidy N. Worman, the present pastor. The church building was erected by the Methodist Episcopal church, but owing to financial embarrassment fell into the sher- iff's hands, and was purchased in an unfinished state by Rev. Thomas Bowman, presiding elder of the Pottsville district, for $1,400. A board of trustees, consisting of Revs. T. Bowman, A.M. Steick, and G.M. Lawry, was appointed, which also served as a building committee. The building was completed and dedicated in 1874. It is a neat and commodious edifice, occupying a command- ing position, and at present valued at $2,000. About two weeks after the dedication of the church a Sunday- school of about eighty members was organized, with the pastor, Rev. George Lawry, as superintendent. The school now numbers over two hundred members. The church, still under the care of the Missionary Society of the East Penn Conference, numbered in 1880 one hundred and twenty-seven members, and is in a healthy condition. Rev. Leidy N. Worman is a native of Bucks county, where he was born August 24th, 1830. After working as a farmer until about twenty-eight years of age he fitted himself for a public school teacher, graduation at the Bucks County Normal School, and teaching for seven years. Called to the work of gospel ministry, he entered on a course of theological study, and in 1866 was or- dained. In 1876 he visited continental Europe and the Holy Land, and he has made his researches there the __________end page 373.__________ page 374 HISTORY OF SCHUYLKILL COUNTY. ______________________________________________________________ subject of lectures that are doing much to excite an interest in the missionary work of his church. He married Sarah L. Shutt, of Schuylkill county. Methodist Episcopal Church.-During the year 1872 Rev. A.L. Urban organized a class at Frackville consisting of ten members, with E.B. Gray as leader. A lot was secured and a church build- ing erected, but owing to financial embarrassment it was sold to the Evangelical Society. No further attempts were made until 1880, when Rev. W.W. Wisegarver, of Mahanoy Plane, revived the meetings of the class, and on the 27th of June opened a Sunday- school, of which Frederick Weeks, of Gilberton, was elected superintendent. Its sessions are held in Haughton's Hall. Services are held in the same building semi-weekly. The church consists of C.L. Chillson, class leader; Mary M. Chillson, Wil- liam James, Elizabeth James, Elizabeth Bainbridge, Elizabeth Gunning, Mark L. Gunning, Elvira L. Myers, Francis Eckersley, and Richard Morgan. Steps are being taken toward the erection of a church edifice. ______________________ GILBERTON BOROUGH. ______________________________ This borough was formed from a part of West Mahanoy lying north of the Broad mountain and in the valley of the Mahanoy creek, and was chartered in 1873. The first borough election was held march 1st of that year. The officers elected were: E.S. Seaman, chief burgess; Joseph Byers, John Hilihan, John Shandy, John Brennan and William Ryan, councilmen. The chief burgesses since have been Daniel Becker, 1875; and George Burchill, the present burgess, 1879. The first school directors were: J.H. Olhausen, president; Jeremiah O'Connor, secretary; William Agin, P. McLaughlin and Joseph Zimmerman. The borough is divided into three wards, known as the east, middle and west wards. The assessed valuation in the borough in 1880 was $545,725. The population in 1880 was 3,173. MAHANOY PLANE. This, the principal village in the borough, was named from the inclined plane that, running to the top of Broad mountain, connects the Mill Creek railway with the Mahanoy and Shamokin branch of the Philadelphia and Reading road. The building of the roads drew here a few of their employes, and in 1859 a school- house was built by the township of Mahanoy. Immediately follow- ing the completion of the plane, in 1861, the collieries of the adjoining country drew the attention of speculators and operators to this vicinity, and in 1865 the abandoned tunnel which was driven by Stephen Girard in 1833 was taken possession of, and Bear Ridge collieries were established. Meanwhile coal shipments over the plane had commenced, railroad repair shops and engine house had been erected, and the plane made the headquarters of a division of the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad. The hotel known as the Union House was built in 1863, at which time the place contained about two hundred in habitants. William Edwards was the first merchant, and his store was located near the coal schutes. The Shenandoah branch railroad was built during the same year, and the offices of the resident engineer and superin- tendent of the railroad. From 1865 the growth of the place was rapid, three large collieries having been opened, and the trans- fer of coal up the mountain to Frackville became an important industry. In 1880 the place had grown to a prosperous village of 1,000 inhabitants, with a number of fine stores, three hotels, two churches and an intelligent and orderly population. During the time of the labor troubles a "body" of Mollie Maguires was located here, and the usual measures adopted to cripple the operators and employers. A building and loan association was attempted some years since, but it is now in the hands of a receiver. A fine public school is located here, in a convenient building, which was erected in 1874, at a cost of about $5,000. The high school building at Mahanoy Plane was erected in 1874 and 1875. During 1879 a new school-house was built at Gilberton. The number of school-houses in 1880 was three, with five schools. SINKS. One of the most exciting incidents in the history of the village occurred a few years since, when the houses and furniture of two families named Wynn and Jambries were engulfed entire by a sink in the workings of the Lawrence colliery. The families had only time to leave them and escape to surer foundation when a shower of stones and dust filled the air; and where, five minutes before, two pleasant homes, representing the savings of their owners' lives, had stood, was only a vast depression, filling with water from the surface. Occasional sinks as early as 1868 had warned the people of what might be expected, but it was believed that these building were not in danger. From that time to the present these sinks have been frequent, and property owners are protecting themselves by procuring injunctions against mine operators, which compel them to purchase the buildings or improvements if they desire to continue working. INDUSTRIES. The principal employing interest here, aside from the ____________end page 374.____________ page 375 VILLAGES AND CHURCHES IN GILBERTON BOROUGH. _______________________________________________________________ colliery companies, is the railway, and the writer is indebted to George Rahn, clerk for the resident engineer of the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad, for the following information: The number of men employed on Mahanoy Plane, shops and road, is two hundred; and on roadway department, seventy-five. The resident engineers and superintendents at this point have been George B. Roberts, Charles E. Byers, T. Guilford Smith, L.B. Paxson, Joseph Byers, J.H. Olhausen, the present superintendent, and J.E. Umstead, the present engineer. The first postmaster here was J.H. Olhausen. P.P.D. Kirlin has been postmaster since 1873. The Merchants' Hotel was erected in 1876, and it is kept by James R. Deegan. Mr. E.L. Seaman keeps the Valley House. Maurer & Co. are merchants, and P.P.D. Kirlin is a druggist. MAIZEVILLE. Maizeville was named after one of the founders of the Stanton colliery, but is known among the profane of the valley as "the Flour Barrel," from the fact that one of its earliest building had that useful article for a chimney. It is a neat street of substantial looking buildings, occupied principally by miner's families, several hotels, and one or two small stores. It is a flag station on the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad, and the center of the middle ward of Gilberton borough. GILBERTON. Gilberton, a neat and thriving village of well built houses, owes its origin to the establishment here of the Gilberton and Draper colleries. It constitutes the east ward of the borough, and contained in 1880 several hotels, a store and post-office, a fine public school building, and a small Methodist Episcopal chapel. CHURCHES OF GILBERTON BOROUGH. M.E. Church of Mahanoy Plane.-previous to 1868 there had been an English and Welsh union Sabbath-school organized, in which both languages were used. It met regularly in a room over the store of N. Lytte. There were also occasional services held in private houses by Rev. John A. Dixon, of the Central Pennsylvania Conference, then stationed at Centralia, Pa. In the Spring of 1868 the old school-house which stood din the rear of the present church building was secured, and a Sabbath-school was organized, under the superintendency of Charles Hammer, a Methodist from Shamokin. About the same time two local preachers from Gilber- ton, John Murray and Jacob Pillinger, were engaged to preach alternately here. In the summer of 1869 Rev. John A. Borland, of Harrisburg, was appointed to preach as a supply. In March, 1870, the societies of Gilberton and Mahanoy Plane were made a circuit, with Rev. Thomas Harrison pastor. The pastors and their terms of service have been: John A. Borland, six months; Thomas Harrison, 1870, 1871; A.L. Urban, 1872; J.W. Bradley, 1873, 1874; H.T. Quigg, 1875, 1876; George W. North, 1877; C. Hudson, 1878; J.W. Bradley, 1879; W.W. Wisegarv- er, 1880. The first class was organized by Rev. Thomas Harrison, May 15th, 1870. The following persons at that time composed the society: William and Harriet Cope, Harriet Davidson, Annie Edwards, Mary L. Irish, Susanna Smith and Tillie J. Thickens. Charles Hammer was the first leader of the society, and William Cope the first class leader and Sunday-school superintendent. During the 1873 a framed building was erected on lands of the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad Company, and called a union church. The cost was about $1,800. It has never been dedicated, and it is subject to removal at sixty days notice, and its loca- tion is in many respects not desirable. This society has been the only one to occupy it regularly. The Sunday-school now numbers over one hundred members, and the church twenty-five, with a congregation of about one hundred persons. St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church at Mahanoy Plane.-This church, a substantial edifice, was erected in 1874, by the ef- forts of Rev. Daniel O'Connor, who had succeeded in organizing a society here. He was called to Girardville in 1877, and Rev. Father Laughran was sent to this field. Under his labors the edifice has been completed, debts paid, and the cause of the church greatly strengthened. Gilberton M.E. Church.-Previous to the organization of a class the various denominations in Gilberton held union services and Sabbath-school. The change from union to denominational services was made early in the summer of 1865. The place of meeting was in one of the company's houses, south of the stone house of Jay Williams, which was recently torn down and removed. Rev H.H. Davis, then pastor of the Mahanoy City church, was the first Methodist itinerant that preached regularly at Gilberton, and he organized the society. Rev. John A. Borland was the supply here as well as at Mahanoy Plant in 1869, and Rev. Thomas Harrison the first pastor. A church building which had been commenced was completed during Mr. Harrison's pastorate, which covered a period of two years. During this time Mahanoy Plane was added to the charge. In 1872 these places were separated, and Rev. Eli Pickersgill was the pastor at Gilberton for a year, succeeded by Revs. J.W. Knapp, Richard Morley and John Raymond, each one year, and they by Rev. H.H. Davis, the founder of the church. In 1877 Rev. J. Rasterfield, of Shenandoah, preached. Rev. Stephen Thomoff, a native of Bulgaria, was pastor in 1878, when Gilberton was again joined to Mahanoy Plane. The circuit was served until the conference of 1879 by Rev. Cornelius Hudson, succeeded by J.W. Bradley, and in March, 1880, by the present incumbent, Rev. W. Wisegarver. The first class leader was David Lewis, who, with the follow- ing persons, formed the society: Jacob and Hannah Pillenger, Samuel and Anna Bryant, John Murray, Caleb Harrington, Edward and Ann Griffith, Hannah Singleton, Selina Googe, Ambrose Bowen and wife, John Partridge, Joseph H. Hoskings, William Hemenway and __________end page 375.__________ page 376 HISTORY OF SCHUYLKILL COUNTY. ______________________________________________________________ Henry Jones. John Murray was the first Sunday-school superin- tendent. The school at that time numbered seventy scholars, and now it numbers more than one hundred. There are fifty members and thirteen probationers in the church. The church was dedicated during the summer of 1870. It cost about $2,500, and repairs and refurnishing a few years later cost $500 more. The church is on the main street and is a neat and comfortable building. It is on ground leased from P.W. Sheaffer, of Pottsville. MINING INTERESTS. Bear Ridge Collieries.-The Bear Ridge collieries, Nos. 1 and 2, near Mahanoy Plane, are owned by Myers, McCreary & Co. No. 1 was opened in 1865 by Morris, Robinson & Co., who controlled it until 1870, when they disposed of it to the Bear Ridge Coal Company, who had charge until 1879, when they sold to the present owners. No. 2 was opened in 1874 by the Bear Ridge Coal Company. Previous to the opening by this company the tunnel had been driven by Stephen Girard 122 yards, and nothing more was done until 1873, when the Bear Ridge Coal Company drove it 80 yards farther, and struck the Mammoth vein, which is still worked. There are employed at No. 1, on the outside 33 men and 65 boys; on the inside 75 men and 5 boys. At No. 2 there are employed on the outside 33 men and 65 boys; on the inside 75 men and 5 boys. At No. 2 there are employed on the outside 25 men and boys; on the inside 85 men and 6 boys. Connected with No. 1 colliery are seven engines, varying in strength from 30 to 150 horse power; and connected with No. 2 six engines, varying from 30 to 40 horse power. Besides these there is one 6-ton locomotive engine con- nected with the works. They have also sixty tenement houses. At present they are working the Mammoth vein. The average daily production is from 800 to 1,000 tons. The coal from these mines is worked to such a quality that about two-thirds of it is sold in Philadelphia, or along the line before it reaches there, and one-third is shipped across to Port Richmond. Stanton Colliery.-This colliery, located near Maizeville, was opened in 1870, by Miller, Hoch & Co., who have continuously operated it until the present time. Eighty men and 40 boys are employed on the outside, and 50 men and 12 boys on the inside. Connected with the works are 4 engines of 90 horse power, one of 40, one of 20, and one of 12. They are working the Mammoth vein. The breaker has a capacity of 120 cars daily. The average daily production is 80 cars. The coal of this mine is hard white ash. The product is principally sold in the city and on the line of the railroad for domestic use. There are two slopes connected with the colliery, which are sunk to the depth of 750 feet on the second lift. Lawrence Colliery was opened in 1868 by Lawrence, Merkle & Co., of Minersville. It is on the north slope of the Broad mountain, at Mahanoy Plane. The breaker, with a capacity of 750 tons daily, was built when the slope was opened. The average shipments of coal are five hundred tons per day. The workings extend one and one fourth miles from the foot of a slope three hundred and thirty yards deep. One hundred and seventy-eight men and boys are employed outside, and one hundred and forty-eight inside. The vein worked is the Mammoth. Ten stem engines, with an aggregate of six hundred and ninety-seven horse power, are in use, and there are five tenement houses owned by the firm. Lawrence, Merkle & Co. have operated the colliery since its establishment. The Draper Colliery.-The works now known by this name were opened in 1863, by a man named Smith, who worked a drift for some time, and disposed of his interest to the Mammoth Vein Consoli- dated Coal Company, who sunk the first slope in 1869, to a depth of 400 feet. Soon afterward this corporation was reorganized as the Hickory Coal Company, with J.W. Draper as president, and the colliery took his name. The present breaker, with a capacity of 600 tons daily, was built by this company, which continued to operate until its failure, in 1876, when it passed into the hands of trustees, and has since become the property of Oliver Ditson and H.L. Williams, the present operators. The present workings extend to a vertical depth of 668 feet on the Mammoth and Prim- rose veins. The number of men and boys employed is 209, of which 40 are miners, 165 laborers, and 4 clerks and bosses. The number of engines is 11, with an aggregate of 641 horse power. The company has 86 tenement houses. The Gilberton Colliery was opened by Kendrick & Tyson, in 1862, and a small breaker was built, from which coal was shipped in 1863. In the spring of 1864 the Gilberton Coal Company was organized, with James Sturgis as president. The company succeed- ed Kendrick & Tyson, continued to operated the colliery until its failure, when it was taken in charge by trustees, and in March, 1879, became the property of its present owners-the Philadelphia and Reading Coal and Iron Company. At this time the colliery is not producing, the vein being exhausted; but tunnels are being driven to new veins, and ere long it will again become a produc- tive property. When at work the colliery employs two hundred men and boys. The new breaker, built by the Gilberton company in 1872, has a capacity of six hundred tons, and produced an average of four hundred daily. The hoisting engines are two in number, of 90 horse power each; the breaker engine 50, and four pump engines have each a capacity of 150 horse power. Ventilation is produced by natural means. Two quite serious accidents have occurred here; one in which two miners, while taking down tim- bers, were killed by the truck running off the carriage, and one in which inside foreman Edward R. Brickens, and Captain John Williams, a miner, were fatally burned by an explosion of fire damp. There are thirty-eight blocks of double tenement houses on the property. The Dutter Colliery was opened for the purpose of working the outcropping coal on the Gilberton lease, by John A. Dutter, in 1878. Mr. Dutter came from Tremont some years before in the employ of Miller, Hoch & Co., at the Stanton colliery. The Dutter breaker is a short distance south of the village of Gil- berton. __________end page 376.___________