Pennsylvania USGenWeb Archives

Clearfield County

Caldwell's

Illustrated Historical Combination

Atlas

of

Clearfield County

Pennsylvania

From actual surveys by & under the directions of

J. H. Newton, C. E.

Assisted by

C. O. Mann & J. A. Underwood

Artist J. D. McKissin , and E. Franks

Published by

J. A. Caldwell

Condit, Ohio

1878

Otto Kreb's Lith. Pittsburgh, PA

transcribed for the Clearfield County PAGenWeb

by Ellis Michaels and Barbara Kopshina

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Page 9
HISTORICAL SKETCH OF CLEARFIELD COUNTY, PENNA.
THE PIONEERS

     In a few short years the men who were conversant with the toils, hardships, and privations of the early pioneers of Clearfield county will all have passed away. The historian ever possesses a feeling of veneration for the character of those noble men who penetrated the wilderness, and inaugurated civilization and its train of blessings in a region where savages and wild beasts maintained undisputed empire. The scenes through which they passed are suggestive of rich fields for the genius of the poet and painter, sad there are many features embraced in the personal history of those noble men that inspire eloquence in the orator and the writer. But all efforts at adornment of these narratives would only impair their value. They are most interesting and attractive in their plainest and simplest form. Those men who penetrated this great wilderness and endured the hardships incidental to its subjugation, not only transformed it into fruitful fields, but they transmitted to successive generations the comforts and conveniences of a high civilization. They left their impress upon our times-whatever patriotism the present generation can boast of descended from them. Illiterate, comparatively, they may have been, but they possesssed strong minds in strong bodies, made so by their compulsory self-denials, their privations, and toil. It was the mission of many of them to aid and participate in the formation of the institutions of this great commonwealth, and wisely and well was their work performed. Had their descendants been more faithful to their noble teachings, harmony would have reigned supreme where violence and discord have since held their sway in land.

     If the collection of material for a complete and full history of the had commenced earlier, it might have been made vastly more interesting and instructive, but the graves have closed over most of the men of that generation. To-day their numbers are few, and after a careful gleaning of the field of data, traditions, and kindred matter, we have been enabled to gather only a brief sketch, but such as it is we present it as the best under the circumstancm we were able to obtain.
 

EARLY SURVEYS.

     Prior to the Revolutionary War there was some surveying performed in this section. In 1769 Judge Smith, of Lancaster, made a survey of a tract of land which included in its limits the present site of Clearfield. A peculiarity of his plan was to attach an offset (independent of the main lines) of a few perches in order that succeeding surveyors could identify the original work.

     A few years later a party of gentlemen from Berks county visited what is now known as Brady township, hunted, made surveys, and had what might be termed a general frolic. Only one name (Pfieffer) of the party can be recalled. The certainty of this early visit is made evident by some of the lines made by the surveyor accompanying the party being found upon the ground, and some of these marks and the date of their location have been adopted by succeeding engineers, especially those of 1785.

     On their return home war had been declared, and it is presumed that many of them served in the Continental Army, which accounts for the lack of time in making the examination and the actual laying of the warrants. The party were probably Germans, as the settlers who made the improvements, and the occupants of the soil at this time am of that descent.

     John Canon, of Huntingdon county, made some twelve surveys upon Clearfield creek about 1784. He also made twelve locations upon Moshannon, on one of which the town of Osceola is situated.
 

     Daniel Turner, the builder of the Rock Forge, in Centre county, after his failure, came to this county about the year 1792. He made surveys along the Centre and Cambria couty line, and the head waters of Moshannon and Clearfield creeks. Some of his locations extended to the sources of the river in Chest township, Cambria county. Joseph, his son, followed him in this profession, and he was occupied in this business as late as 1834.

     Captain Samuel Brady, the famous hunter and Indian fighter, was a contemporary of Daniel Turner's. His work as a surveyor was in the western part of the county, in what is known as the Brady district, and after whom Brady township bears its name.

     William Anderson, a civil, engineer from New York, performed a large amount of work. His name is perpetuated in Anderson's creek.

     Trczulny, a Polander, and at one time a page to the Queen of Prussia, made a large number of surveys in various parts of the county. He was employed by James, Henry and Hardman Phillips as their agent, in making surveys of their lands, and disposing of them to speculators and settlers. The Phillipses had over 200,000 acres in Clearfield and adjoining counties.

     Daniel Ferguson, who was in the fort at Northumberland, made several locations in the county early in the century. He was afterward county surveyor for thirty-five years.

     William Bagshaw, an Englishman, also made a large amount of surveys. He was agent for the Phillipses, and succeeded Trczulny.

     There are others whose names we have not learned. They were generally careful engineers, and their work will compare with much of similar labors of the present day. Most of these surveys were made before actual settlements to any extent had occurred, and when the rough and broken character of the surface, the wilderness of forests, and the many wild beasts that beset them at every hand, is taken into consideration, the magnitude of their exploits can, in a limited degree, be appreciated.
 

ORGANIZATION AND GOVERNMENT.

     Clearfield county was formed from parts of Lycoming. and Huntingdon counties, and was organized by an Act of the Assembly, passed March 20th, 1804, and approved by Thomas McKean, then Governor of the Commonwealth. The name was taken from the cleared fields that were found in certain parts of the county, being apparently old corn fields of Indian use. Roland Curtin, James Fleming, and James Smith were appointed commissioners by Governor McKean to select a site for a county seat, erect public buildings, &c. They finally determined in 1805 upon land belonging to Abraham Witmer, then the site of the old Indian town of Chincleclamousche, and the present site of the county seat. Chincleclamousche was the name of an Indian chief of Cornplanter's tribe of Senecas.

     For several years this county was only partially organized. Up to 1812 it was attached to Centre county. In that year Clearfield had its first board of commissioners, namely: Robert Maxwell, Hugh Jordan, and Samuel Fulton. They appointed Arthur Bell, Sr., county treasurer, who was the first to fill that office. The relation between the two counties for judicial purposes continued until January 29th, 1822, when the Assembly passed a law organizing Clearfield county as a body politic for all purposes, and authorizing its citizens to elect county officials. The following list of officers chosen at the first election is as complete as we have been enabled to secure.
 

Commissioners—Robert Maxwell, Thomas McClure, and William Tate.
Prothonotary.—Samuel Fulton.
High Sheriff—Greenwood Bell.
Representative—Martin Hoover.
Surveyer—Samuel Fulton.
Treasurer—Arthur Bell.
 

     The first court was held on the third Monday of December, 1822, with Charles Huston as president judge.
 

EARLY SETTLERS.
 

     The first settler within the limits of Clearfield county was James Woodside, an old bachelor, who came from Chester county, Pa., and located in what is now known as Brady township, in the year 1785, living a life of complete seclusion in the dense forest, with none but Indians for neighbors for a period of twenty-two years before the settlement of another white man in the vicinity. His habitation was near Goodlander's. A further account of his settlement will be found in the history of Brady township.

     In 1797 Daniel Ogden and his son Matthew came up the river and located where M. S. Ogden of Clearfield now resides. About the same year Arthur Bell, Sr., settled on a tract of land where a portion of his descendants now reside, in Greenwood township, at the mouth of Bell's run. A little later Paul Clover "squatted " on the bank of the river at a point now occupied by the Irvin store at Curwensville. James McCracken found a home on time on the ridge now within the limits of Ferguson township. John Ferguson came to the top of the hill overlooking the valley of the Little Clearfield creek. This is within Ferguson township. Thomas McClure settled on the river about three miles above the present site of Curwensville. The above were the first pioneers, and to them is due the credit of forming the nucleus, around whom others clustered who followed after, inaugurated the work of transforming the wilderness into fruitful and comfortable homes for the coming generation, and laid the foundation for the wealth and prosperity which the people of the county now enjoy. The edifice they commenced to construct has passed through the various stages of erection, and still advanced, is spite of adverse circumstances, till now it stands a beautiful structure and a lasting monument of their industry an enterprise.
 

INCIDENTS OF THE EARLY SETTLEMENT.

     The first cabin was erected by James Woodside, near Goodlander's, in Brady township, in the year 1785. The next house was built by Daniel Ogden, at " Chincleclamousche," in the year 1797. He afterward erected a grist mill on Moose creek, a mile and a half above his location. He also planted the first orchard, on the farm occupied at present by M. S. Ogden. This was about the year 1798. The largest piece of iron used in the construction of the mill was a three inch spike. The first blacksmith was Paul Clover. His shop was near the site of Irvin's store, on the river bank, at Curwensville. The first saw mill was built by Jacob Henney, at the mouth of Montgomery creek. These were built about the year 1798. The first male child born in the county was Grier Bell, (still living,) son of Arthur Bell, Sr. This was in 1799. The first road, surveyor in the county was General Meade. In the year 1799 he surveyed the route from Milesburg to Meadville, on the present site of the Philadelphia and Erie turnpike. He was afterward killed by the Indians. The first justice of the peace was Arthur Bell, Sr., who was elected in the year 1802. The same year William Bloom, Sr., arrived with his family. The first marriage occurred in 1803, viz., Matthew Ogden to Miss Elizabeth Bloom. The ceremony was performed by Arthur Bell, Sr. The first school-house was erected the same year, at the site of McClure's Cemetery, Pike township. In 1804 Miss Nancy Clover, daughter of Paul Clover, died of consumption. This was the first death in the county. The first school was taught by Hugh Hall, also in 1804. The first store was opened in 1805, at the present location of Curwensville, by James Galloway. The first meeting-house was built in the year 1809, and was located at the site of McClure's Cemetery. It was of the Presbyterian faith. The first sermon preached in the county was by Rev. Charles Pinnock, a Baptist clergyman, at Daniel Ogden's funeral. In 1811 Daniel Spackman built the first tannery, on what is now known as the pike from Curwensville to Philipsburg. In 1815 George Leech and Mason Garrison erected the first woolen factory. Samuel Stewart then acted as county surveyor of that portion of Clearfield county which had been taken from Huntingdon county. The first practicing physician was Samuel Coleman; the next was John P. Hoyt.

     In the early records of the Moravian we learn that in the summer of 1772 a company of pilgrims—numbering two hundred and forty—crossed the Allegheny mountains from Bald Eagle creek, and reached some of the branches of the Allegheny river, on their way to the Ohio. They were the Moravian missionaries with their families, and the Christian Indians from Wyalusing and Sheshequin, on the North Branch. They had with them their children and their children's children, their household goods, cattle, and horses. The relies of one of their camps were afterwards found on Moravian ruts, Graham township, from which fact the stream received its name. With nothing to guide their pathway through this immense wilderness but the indistinct trail of the aborigines, the reader can imagine the difficulties which such a party must have encountered.

     Until near the close of the last century the county remained almost an unbroken and continuous forest, with the exception, here and there, of an Indian corn field. Indian trails were the only routes of travel, and these could be seen in various parts, crossing the country and uniting the eastern and western waters. One path extended toward Fort Venango, another toward Kittanning, and one to the head waters of the Sinnemahoning.

     To give an idea of the early settlers' privations we present the following: Daniel Ogden, with his son Matthew, only eighteen years of age, and Arthur Bell, came up the West Branch in the spring of 1797, bringing with them the simple tools of the pioneer, with a few potatoes and seeds for their first crop. Ogden settled near the mouth of the "Chincleclamousche" creek, now called Moose creek; and Bell several miles up the river, above the present site of Clearfield. They suffered various trials and hardships in opening up their new home. Provisions were very scarce, and the nearest settlement was at Bald Engle, one hundred and forty miles distant by water. Nothing of any weight could be brought by land. Mr. Bell at one time was compelled to travel the whole distance to get a plow point repaired, poling his canoe patiently up the stream, loaded with his irons and some provision. His provisions by some accident were wet. The first time he used his plow the point broke again, and his toilsome journey was in vain. For some time before the mill was built they pounded their corn in mortars. Their route by land was the old Indian path across the mountains, by the Snow Shoe camp, to Milesburg.. Mr. Ogden once traveled this route in winter, with snow shoes, requiring two and a half days to reach Milesburg--33 miles.

     Among the older residents was john Bell, a brother of Arthur. He had been an old revolutionary soldier, and when the conflict was over, he sought an asylum with his brother. From his diminutive size he commonly bore the name of Johnny Bell. From the force of military habits, or for fear of losing the art of fighting by disuse, he used to have au occasional quarrel with the friendly Indians about the settlement, and usually came off triumphant. In a frolic of this sort two of them attempted to drown him, but he came very near drowning both of them. Being an old bachelor he was rather whimsical, and would sometimes get in a pet. In some such mood he once quit his brother's house and encamped in the woods, determined to remain there; but Greenwood Bell, his nephew, one day made him a call at his camp, picked the little fellow up, slung him over his shoulder, and toted him off home, where he was afterwards contented to remain.
 

POPULATION.

      The population of the county for the following years, from 1810 to the present time, is as follows:

GENERAL DESCRIPTION.

     The county is situated nearly in the centre of the state, "behind the Allegheny mountains," and among the sources of the West Branch of the Susquehanna. Its surface is generally rough, but there are no distinct ranges of mountains' being rather a succession of ridges and hills frequently indented by small streams and rapid creeks. Many level plateaus occur at the heads of the streams, and the ridges are generally sufficiently level for the location of fine farms. Some of the branches of the Allegheny have their sources in the northwest part of the county.

     The soil is varied as to quality. The valleys are rich; the uplands, where limestone prevails, are equally fertile; other ridge lands perhaps need the care and attention of good agricultural husbandry, but can be made to produce abundant crops of all kinds of grain, of excellent quality.

     The original boundaries of Clearfield county were as follows: "Beginning where the line dividing Canon and Bradshaw's district strikes

Page 10
HISTORICAL SKETCH OF CLEARFIELD COUNTY, PENN'A,
 

the West Branch of the Susquehanna river; thence north along said district line until a due west course from thence will strike the southeast corner of McKean county; thence west along the southern boundary of McKean county to the line of Jefferson county; thence southerly along the line of Jefferson county to where Hunter's district line crosses Sandy Lick creek; thence south along the district line to the Canoe Place on the Susquehanna river; thence an easterly course to the southwest corner of Centre county, on the heads of Moshannon creek ; thence down the Moshannon creek, the several courses thereof, to the mouth; thence down the West Branch of the Susquehanna river to the beginning." In 1823 a small triangular piece of territory was taken from Lycoming and added to this county, on the eastern side of Karthaus township. A part of the new county of Elk was obtained from this county 1843; and again, in 1868, a small portion was annexed to Elk and Jefferson.

     The following are the heights above the sea level at the places named

BUSINESS, TRADE, AND INDUSTRY.
 

     The principal business occupation of the county has alternately predominated between farming and lumbering. At the outset, and for a considerable length of time after the first settlement, it may be said that the lumber business principally occupied the attention of the citizens, large quantities being annually conveyed down the numerous streams, and rafted down the river to market; but, when the different commercial reactions occurred, the more reliable pursuit of farming was resorted to. In 1840 a writer says: "Lumbering still continues to be the main business of the inhabitants, and agriculture has hitherto been only a secondary pursuit. The hard times, however, have wrought a favorable change in this respect, and the people of Clearfield are opening their lands, and discovering that farming, if not a quicker, is at least a surer way to get rich, than sawing and rafting, or even making iron." But history repeats itself. The vast bodies of valuable pine timber that covered the lands throughout the region of the sources of the Allegheny and Susquehanna, readily attracted the attention of speculators experienced in the lumber trade in localities where it had been more extensively developed. Speculators from Maine knew the value of a pine tree, and capitalists from New England, New York, New Jersey and Philadelphia made large investments in these best timber lands. Subsequent improvements in the lumber markets, and the business, being carried on and developed on a more enlarged scale, it received a new impetus, and thrift and profit followed for a time as a natural consequence. Many saw-mills were built on the numerous streams, new water privileges were improved, and the lumber trade produced renewed speculation in these timber lands, at times causing a lively interest between the lumbermen and landholder. The business continued to increase in extent and importance, large numbers of workmen were afforded employment at liberal wages in cutting and preparing the timber, and during the season of the floods every stream resounded with the preparation of rafts, the river was lively with busy lumbermen, and on every hand were presented the evidences of industry and thrift. This great activity produced excitement in all branches of business incident to the lumber trade, and "flush times" in the habits of the people, when the apparently slow process of farming to make money seemed to be a mere secondary occupation, and was only resorted to when lumber would receive one of its periodicial depressions, in sympathy with the decline and prostration of other departments of commerce. Finally, the panic came which produced the great commercial crash that convulsed the whole nation, prostrating every department of manufacturing, and crippling all branches of trade. This struck the lumber interest such a severe blow that many abandoned it altogether. Then farming, the most substantial of all industries, the most permanent in its effects upon the welfare of every community, began to receive its proper share of attention from the citizens of this county. Lands began to change hands in smaller tracts, the purchasers were men who were turning their attention to clearing up farms, raising stock, building barns, and making the improvements incident to the development of agricultural resources. Lumbering is still carried on by those yet engaged in it with considerable activity, but in a general sense it is only a secondary occupation, and farming may be said to have received an impetus that promises to materially enhance the wealth and permanent prosperity of the people. At present it is substantially the leading feature in nearly every settled locality.

     The agricultural productions for the year 1877 were equal to the entire demand for home consumption, and for the first time to a number of years Clearfield county was a self sustaining community. As already stated, the fertility of the soil is well adapted for agricultural purposes, and with proper attention and cultivation will yield the husbandman an ample return for his labor. The once neglected lands in the districts which were so thickly covered with pine and hemlock are being made available by the use of powerful stump machines, and are rapidly being transformed into productive and valuable farms. Agricultural prosperity may be well said to be the great basis underlying all permanent and solid wealth in every inland community where civilization is known, and it now has a most favorable and promising future in this county.

     Manufacturing has also received considerable attention. Fire clay works, foundries, machine shops, grist mills, tanneries, planing mills, saw mills, shook works, and other establishments have been erected by enterprising citizens, and are generally in successful operation. The great mineral resources of the county, already inviting large investments of capital, and affording employment to labor, promises to be an important feature in the business prosperity of the future, and an immense source of revenue. The advancement that has already been made in the mining interest is only an index of its coming importance. Probably no other county in the state has made more rapid progress in the development, production, and transportation of coal. Possessing immense beds of this great staple, and being nearest the seaboard of all the great bituminous coal fields of the state, its advantages have readily invited the investments of capital, and stimulated the enterprise with which this unprecedented progress has been produced. In addition to the inexhaustible beds of coal that are known to exist throughout the county, valuable fire-clay, iron ore, and limestone are found in many localities.

     Although important works have been erected at the town of Clearfield and at Woodland station for the manufacture of fire-clay into brick and other articles, its great value and effect upon future industry can scarcely yet be appreciated. The coal veins are of ample thickness, and possess all the natural advantages that afford its being mined and handled with ease and facility. The Pennsylvania Railroad Company have well understood and appreciated these great advantages, as is shown by their enterprise in extending their lines to these great coal fields, and the capitalists who have already made investments have realized the facilities for extensive mining operations. The production and transportation of coal from Clearfield county has rapidly and steadily increased, while other localities have fallen off during the recent periods of financial reverses and business prostration. In fact, the rapid increase in the amount mined and shipped from here annua11y, during the last five or six years, is unprecedented in the history of any other county in the state. Yet it may be truly said, that this great industry is at present only in the infancy of its progress, and at no distant day here will be a field of enterprise and prosperity equal to the most favored portions of Pennsylvania.
 

LAWRENCE TOWNSHIP
 

     Was called for Commodore Lawrence. In addition to the early settlers mentioned in the " History of Clearfield county, and the County Seat," there were Jacob Haney, who ran the first ark down the river in 1809, Archibald Shaw, John Owens, William Tate, Henry and John Irwin, Alexander Irvin, Solomon and John Kline, Hugh McMullen, Isaac Goom, Alexander B. and James Reed, Thomas, William, James, Alexander and Amos Reed, Samuel Boyd (colored), Daniel Spackman, Ramsay, who had a woolen mill at Clearfield Bridge at an early day, Robert Ardery, Moses Norris, and Martin Hoover. The relation of this township to the county seat and the Susquehanna river, even before the completion of the T. & C. R. R., had made this section an agricultural region. Time only gave increased extent to this district, and the beautiful farms which are distributed all over its territory in the central and southern part are typical of their quiet lives and the main desires of the present and past generations.
 

PIKE TOWNSHIP
 

     Was called after Gen. Zebulon Pike. The pioneers who first located here were Paul Clover, Thomas McClure, the Blooms, William McNaul, Elisha Fenton, John Smith, Robert Ross, Samuel Caldwell, William Dunlap, the Hartshorns, Robert Maxwell, Dr. Hoyt, James McCracken, the Roll family, Hugh Hall, John Irvin, and William (then only a boy) and Daniel Barrett. In former days lumbering was the chief occupation, but the depression of this business has caused the people to turn their attention to the more quiet avocation of farming. In point of enterprise, industry, and all that makes a successful agricultural district, old Pike is not surpassed in this county. In the township were born six poor boys, who have been President Judges, or Justices of the Supreme court of this and other states.

     Matthew Caldwell, one of the first settlers of Pike township, made his settlement in 1819. He cut out the first road that was made from Curwensville to Bloomington.

     Frederick Harvey built the first ark that was ever run on the west branch of the Susquehanna river. These arks were used in those days for carrying coal down to market. At Harrisburg and Marietta the price obtained for coal at that tine was thirty-seven and one-half cents per bushel.
 

BRADY TOWNSHIP.
 

     The first known white man who settled in Brady township (named for Capt. Samuel Brady, the Indian fighter and hunter), was James Woodside, a native of Chester county, Pa. He located on a tract of land which was surveyed to him in pursuance of warrant No. 570, on the 30th day of July, 1785, and situated on the waters of Stump creek. He lived on this land, with no one to keep him company but the Indians, for a period of 22 years, when Jacob Ogden located about a mile further down the creek in the year 1807, and afterwards built the first grist mill in the township. In the year 1812 George, Michael and Frederick Shaffer located on the waters of Sandy Lick creek. George located on a part of the land where the flourishing town of Du Bois City now stands, Michael and Frederick locating about one and a half miles further up the creek. Janus, Benjamin and Thomas Carson moved into the township in the year 1814. In the year 1820 Lebbeus Luther, a native of Massachusetts, bought and located on the tract of land where Luthersburg now stands. About this time the Waterford and Susquehanna turnpike was completed. Fox & Co., who owned several thousand acres of wild land in this and adjoining townships, appointed Mr. Luther as their agent to dispose of these lands. The first tract sold by him was to Benj. Bousall, Esq., who was the first Justice of the Peace in the township. The settlement in this township, known by the local name of "Germany," wan settled by German emigrants, who, by their industrious habits and strict economy, have accumulated a considerable property, and have added a considerable to the material wealth of the township.
 

BECCARIA TOWNSHIP
 

     Was called Beccaria for the celebrated Italian philosopher, Marquis De Beccaria. Its first settlers were Henry Dillen and Samuel Smiley, who opened farms upon Mt. Pleasant, Isaac Rickets, an early chain carrier for the first surveyors, Samuel Heggerty, William Wright, and Abram Keagy.

     In this township, will be found some of the best improved farms is the county. Here, too, are immense coal fields, only waiting the advent of the iron horse to disclose to the world its invaluable riches.
 

BURNSIDE TOWNSHIP
 

     This township was organized from a part of Chest. It is the S. W. corner township of the county, and its historic reminiscences date back to the time of the Penn purchase from the Indians. The Cherry Tree on the right bank of the Susquehanna, at the corner of Clearfield and Cambria, and on the east line of Indiana county, is the point at which the canoe ran aground, and Penn's agents could proceed no farther by water-Penn's agreement in this purchase being that he was to have the land as far west as he could push a canoe up the west branch of the Susquehanna, and then, in addition to this, as far west from the Cherry Tree as they could travel between sun and sun. This day's journey brought them to a point on the Allegheny river near where Kittanning now stands, the county seat of Armstrong county. This territory was called Westmoreland, deriving its name from this purchase of "more-land-west," and included that portion of the State bounded by Lake Erie and the State of New York on the north, and West Virginia on the south. This line was finally established on the settlement of the old disputed line commonly known as the Mason and Dixon's line—for a history of which see Historical Sketch of the State.

     The climate is subject to sudden changes, the temperature varying from 60 to 90° in midsummer. The nights, as a general rule, being cool during the entire summer, makes it necessary to use more bedding than is required in the same latitude west or east, where it is less elevated. This point in the county is about 2,000 feet above the level of the sea, near the headwaters of the Susquehanna and Conemaugh rivers, the latter being a tributary of the Allegheny. This climate, therefore, is better adapted for oats, wheat, potatoes, &c., than for corn. Potatoes grow to perfection in this climate.

     The soil varies somewhat as you go east from the river, the bottoms running a northerly course through this township. The bottoms are about one-half mile in width, and composed of alluvial deposits, mixed more or less with a yellowish clay and sand, producing fair crops of wheat and corn. The soil of the ridges, through this township, is better adapted to wheat and grass than other portions of the county, being mostly a clay subsoil, and very little shale or coal slate.

     The chief productions are wheat, rye, corn, oats, potatoes; also quite an abundance of fruit, more especially apples and cherries. Peaches, owing to the changeableness of the climate, are only an occasional crop. This location seems to be peculiarly adapted to berries, as raspberries, blackberries, strawberries, &c., grow in great profusion spontaneously, and last, though not least, is the immense forest of pine and hemlock which abound not only in this portion of the county, but throughout its entire extent. These forests have given employment to hundreds of men for quite a number of years, but they are fast stripping the face of the country of the stately pines which looked, at the time of its early settlement, almost inexhaustible.

     The facilities for putting this timber into market have been such that logmen and raftsmen came here from the east and cut and run to market, on the Susquehanna and its tributaries, millions of feet every year. This continual drain will, ere long, exhaust the supply, when they will turn their attention to some other pursuits, or, as some are now doing, pay more attention to their agricultural interest, which is the more permanent means of prosperity. This county can be self-sustaining in an agricultural point of view, as it will be this year.
 

Page 11
HISTORICAL SKETCH OF CLEARFIELD COUNTY, PENN'A.

     This portion of the county is well watered by numerous springs of pure, clear water, nearly soft, and free from mineral impregnations, whirls would make a superior locality for dairy purposes, equal to the better portions of New York State. The face of the country, near the river, borders on the mountainous, but a short, distance back the surface is undulatory and easily cultivated, producing good crops.

     This portion of the county ranks among the first in its improvements, among which may be mentioned the excellent condition of its roads, portions of which are graded and macadamized. Many of the farmers have stump machines, and are pulling their stumps and building fences of the same, which are very durable and not wholly uninteresting. There are many fine residences and large barns which, taken together, show thrift and enterprise.

     The geological structure of this portion of the county presents some interesting features, the coal strata being some eight in number, the upper ranging from three to seven feet in thickness. These are above the bed of the river and are three in number. The strata below the bed of the river (as ascertained in sinking the Artesian well, at Cherry Tree, near the right bank of the Susquehanna,) are five in number, one vein of Cannel coa1,180 feet from the surface, being 11 feet in thickness. There are also small beds of limestone in portions of the township. Fire-clay is found to some extent in Burnside township, and in Chest township inexhaustible quantities. Some hills seem to be composed mostly of this clay.

     James GALLAHER, Sen., was the first settler in what is now known as Burnside township, coming here in June, 1816. This was before the organization of Chest, Burnside or Bell into separate townships.

     Their place of voting at that time was Beccaria township-near the line of Cambria county.

     The first improvement was made on the farm now owned by John M. Cummings, where his orchard now stands, and is included in the borough limits of New Washington. This improvement consisted of cutting down small saplings and piling the brush, and sometimes of building small cabins of these saplings, and were termed at that time "Tomahawk Improvements." Old Mr. Gallaher was accompanied on this first trip in this enterprise by Daniel Turner, who was a surveyor, and ascertaining that there were vacant lands here, located and made this improvement. Turner failing to make the necessary improvements, did not derive any benefit from this investigation, whereas James Gallaher, Jr., did, being only a lad of sixteen at that time. Jas. Gallaher, Jr., is now a resident of New Washington, and is 76 years of age. The Turners were here as early as 1806. John Turner built the first saw-mill in the upper end of Clearfield county, on a branch of Clearfield creek, and this branch took its name from this event, and was called Saw Mill run.

     The second settler in this township (Burnside) was John Byers, Sen.; third, Ludwick Snyder; fourth, Jacob Lee. At that time there were no improvements on the river from Bellville up to its source, nor on Chest creek throughout its entire length in this county.

     These early settlers went a distance of 40 miles to mill, carrying their grist on horseback, unless the streams were too deep to ford, in which case they would have to carry it on foot part of the way. This mill was in Huntingdon county. They frequently went to Philipsburg, Centre count, for their blacksmithing and groceries. Ministers and physicians they did without for a number of years. The first sermon preached was by Rev. Thomas McGee, uncle to Thos. A. McGee and brothers, of Bell township. He was an itinerant minister of the M. E. Church. Old Mr. Hoyt was the first practicing physician who is alive at this time, and a resident of Greenwood township.

     The oldest established post office in this part of the county is Chest, in Bell township, and is kept at Thos. A. McGee's. At the time of its establishment the postage was 18 ¾ cents on a letter to and from Philadelphia.

     Mt. Zim Methodist Protestant Church, near New Washington borough, is the oldest established church in that part of the county, being erected in 1831, according to the best recollection of the oldest settler, James H. Weaver, then a lad of fifteen years of age, rendered assistance in building it. Rev. George Thomas was one of the founders of the church, and was the first person buried in the cemetery there.
 

BELL TOWNSHIP
 

     Was named after the Bell family. Its first pioneer was Arthur Bell, Jr. The McCracken family and Mahaffeys came to the settlement a little later. The general history and description of Burnside township is also identical, in many respects, with that of Bell.
 

CHEST TOWNSHIP
 

     Was named for Chest (an Indian term) creek, which runs through it. The first settlers were Thomas Wilson, Elias Hurd, Rorabaugh, Neff, Samuel McKewen, James Curry, and Jacob Pentico. The general history given in the sketch of Burnside township is also intimately connected with that of Chest.
 

JORDAN TOWNSHIP
 

     Was a namesake of Associate Judge Jordan. The first settlers were James Rea, John Swan, Rev. James Anderson (Presbyteriau), the Patterson family, Truman Viets, John Thompson, James McNeel, Capt. Cyrus Thurston, William Williams, Thomas Davis, and Robert and James Johnston. Here we find many fine farms and a people ever ready to improve—whose motto has been, "No step backward," in agriculture. " Fruit Hill" church (Presbyterian) was among the first meeting-houses in the county.
 

KNOX TOWNSHIP.
 

     The territory of Knox township was originally included in Beccaria township - one of the four original townships of the county - Little Clearfield creek at that time being the northern boundary of Beccaria, Jordan township was then struck off, and named in honor of Judge Jordan, an associate judge, and afterward Knox was made a separate township from a part of Jordan, in 1853, and named in honor of Judge Knox, a presiding judge. Prior to 1853 the citizens of this part of the county had their voting place at John Smith's, on the opposite side of the creek from where Glen Hope now stands. The farm is owned at the present time by Dr. Caldwell. This being at too great a distance for the citizens to attend elections at all times without great inconvenience, was one cause of their being struck off into Jordan, and afterward subdivided into Knox. The court, Judge Knox presiding, had the power of assuring the names to these two townships.

     The early settlers of these two townships, as an inducement to come into these townships and settle, were offered 50 acres free of cost, by purchasing an additional 50 acres at a low price. This offer was made by Peters, Rowls, and Morgan, the original owners of a larger portion of these townships. James Rea and Hegerty were among the very first settlers. James McKee and Robert Patterson were also among the early settlers who availed themselves of this offer.

     The first school-house built in Knox was one mile and a half from Millport, or what is now called Millport. What constituted Millport at that time was a dwelling and a saw-mill, erected and owned by Christian, David, and Phillip Erhard. This saw-mill was the first in the township, erected in 1832. Some ten years afterward Christian and David Erhard put up a grist-mill, and from this event Millport took its name. This is the only village in Knox township. The Methodists, with their characteristic enterprise, erected the first church in Millport, also the first in the township.
 

FERGUSON TOWNSHIP.
 

     The territory of Ferguson was formerly included in the original townships of Pike and Beccaria, but was organized as a separate township, and took its name from John Ferguson, Sr., one of the early pioneers of the township, For a history of which see Biography of John Ferguson. The early settlement of this township is cotemporary with the early settlement of the county. This township was settled by the Bells first—Arthur Bell coining here as early as 1797. Grier Bell, who is a resident of this township, still lives on the old farm, one of the best in the township. Grier Bell was the second white child born in the county, and is at this time 79 years of age. He can recollect when the Indians still camped in the county near the mouth of Anderson creek; also when the wolves destroyed nearly all the stock of the settlers; when the settlen used to go to Milesburg, in Centre county, to mill, and for their blacksmithing to the mouth of Chatham's run, three miles below Lock Haven, carrying their implements, or what blacksmith's work was necessary to be done, in a canoe. The first and only church in the township was the Lutheran, erected in 1851. The first school-house, of logs, was built in 1845, and is called Rattlesnake school-house.
 

PENN TOWNSHIP.
 

     Penn township was taken from Pike (one of the four original townships) in 1834. The history of its organization and name were owing to its being principally settled by Quakers or Friends. The Friends having their interests in common, as a rule, stuck together in their local elections, and put in their own officers, as they were in the majority. This created a jealousy among those who were differently located, and they petitioned court to have this township of Pike so divided as to split this Quaker settlement. The Friends remonstrated, saving they were willing to be set apart by themselves, but were not willing to be divided. Judge Burnside being the presiding judge at that time, favored the Quakers, and allowed this settlement to have a separate township, at the same time suggesting that they name it after some leading Quaker, and they selected the name of Penn instead of Fox, as there was one township in the county named after that distinguished Friend.

     The first settlement made in this township was by Dr. Samuel Coleman, on the farm now owned by James Miller, Esq., one mile from Pennville, in the year 1809. There was a vast tract of land known as the Nicholdson lauds, or the company lands of Hopkins, Griffith and Bown, consisting of 40,000 acres. This company gave Coleman a choice of 300 acres of this land on condition he would locate and make a settlement. Coleman accepted the proposition, and started from Centre county in a keel bottom boat, coming up the river as far as McClure's, two and a half miles above Curwensville, the nearest point to this tract that there was any settlement. They then cut a road a distance of some four miles through the wilderness, near the present site of Pennville, and erected a rude hut of logs, covering it with chestnut bark. The dishes used were in keeping with their dwelling—of the most primitive kind, using blocks of wood or chips for their plates, and tin cups for drinking vessels. To clean their plates they would hew them off with an ax.

     James Moore came to the township in 1810, and made a purchase of 300 acres where Pennville now stands. Shortly after this Moore erected a saw-mill, and in 1813 a grist-mill. There were no stores in the place until after the Kittanning and Curwensville pike had been commenced. This was in 1838. It was not completed the whole distance so as to take toll. In the year 1835 Henry Hile made a settlement at Lumber City, which, at that time, was a vast, unbroken forest of pine and hemlock.
 

BRADFORD TOWNSHIP
 

     Was named for Surveyor-General Bradford, of Pennsylvania. The first settlers were Ross, John Kyle, Conrad Kyle, George Kyle, Jacob Kyle, Benjamin Smeal, George Smeal, John Graham, William Graham, the Mains family, Thomas Forcey, Samuel Harrier, Ceasar Potter (colored), and Henry Funk. An agricultural community is this, and its well improved farms are monuments of the untiring energy of their present and previous occupants. Coal is found here in large quantities, but is not as yet extensively mined.
 

BOGGS TOWNSHIP.
 

     This township was named for Associate Judge Boggs, of this county. Jacob Haney moved from the mouth of Montgomery creek to this township in 1811. Among the other first settlers were George Wilson (Quaker), Nimrock Derrick, John Wisor, Philip Bennihoof, Henry Shimes, Absalom Timms, George Turner, and Peter Young, who had a distillery on one of the fields of the Stoneville farm.

     The quiet pursuit of farming is yet in its infancy, and until this period very little attention has been paid to it. Lumbering has been the main business of the people, but the decline of its production has caused the people to look to other sources for relief, and thereby the ranks of the agriculturists have been permanently increased.
 

MORRIS TOWNSHIP
 

     Was named for Robert Morris, of Revolutionary fame. Its early settlers were Leonard and Abram Kyler, David Cooper, Jacob Gearheart, Jacob Wise, who shot seventy deer in one week, James Seport, and William Shimel.

     The early settlers were devoted to farming, and their descendants have made it an excellent region for general productiveness. The coal strata are being extensively developed, and although this industry is in its infancy, the signs or its future prosperity are apparent to the looker-on who understands the geology of the great coal basin.

     The Morrisdale coal works are shipping large atnounts of coal, is one of the principal operators in the county.
 

DECATUR TOWNSHIP
 

     Was thus termed in honor of Commodore Stephen Decatur. The first settlers were Abram Goss, a Revolutionary soldier, in 1799, John Crowell, Daniel Huffman, and Valentine Flegal. The first industry of this county in importance is the mining of coal, and the great coal beds are being extensively mined. This coal is rapidly displacing the use of anthracite by many of the railroad and steamship companies. Lumbering, in the years previous to the coal development, was the chief employment of the people, and at this time is second only to it in extent. Many farms have been improved, and agriculture is making good headway, and will soon keep pace with the development of the previous industries.
 

WOODWARD TOWNSHIP
 

     Was a namesake of Judge Woodward, of the Supreme Bench. Its first pioneers were Samuel and Henry Heggerty.

     Lumbering has hitherto been the occupation of the farmers, and now the clearing of land and the improvement of the soil are occupying more attention than at any previous time. The coal-bed is being extensively developed, and ranks among the most promising mining regions in Eastern Pennsylvania.
 

GEULICH TOWNSHIP.
 

     Judge James Burnside called this township Geulich, in honor of G. Philip Geulich, a" great friend of religion and morals." The earliest pioneers were Abram Nevling, Amasa Smith, Lisle McCully, Joseph McCully, Schooley Scott, and the Ginter family. Heretofore lumbering has occupied the attention of the inhabitants, but at present they are making considerable progress in farming. Largo veins of coal underlie the surface, and the Moshannon branch of the T. & C. R. R. is extending its line into the township for the freight which its development will yield.
 

BLOOM TOWNSHIP
 

     Was designated Bloom in honor of the Blooms, the most numerous family in the county. The earliest pioneers were Isaac Draucker, Isaac Rodden, Judge and James Bloom. The settlements along the pike were made at an early day, but the greater portion of the township has only recently been improved.
 

KARTHAUS TOWNSHIP.
 

     Was thus termed as a token of respect for Peter Arns Karthaus. Its first men to make an improvement were Karthaus, G. Philip Geulich, F. W. J. Schnarr, Henry Buck Graham, Yothers and Conoway. There are immense beds of iron ore here. In 1820 Mr. Karthaus established a furnace at the mouth of Little Moshannon. In 1836 a company purchased the furnace and managed their works with coke, making one hundred and fifty tons of first class pig iron per week. In 1840 the furnace ceased operations, and has since been idle. A railroad will give life to this enterprise, and without doubt a few years hence will see the township dotted all over with furnaces and coke ovens
 

COVINGTON TOWNSHIP.
 

     The first settler was John Smith, and he was alone for many year. A family by the name of Jacob, from Lancaster county, "squatted " on a tract of land, and, after several years' residence, moved westward. The Joneses, Browns, and Gearharts, who were here at an early date, have all passed away.

     At this date considerable attention is paid to lumbering, though in the southern and central parts great improvements have taken place in farming, and many tracts of land are being opened up in the central and southern portions of the township. Much of this enterprise is due to the thriving French settlement, which traces its origin heel to the year 1835.
 

GIRARD TOWNSHIP.
 

     Stephen Girard's memory was honored by having this township designated by his name. The first settlers were Thomas Leonard, John Spackman, Abram Jury, George B. Smith, Peter Lamb, and, in later days, Augustus and Alphonse Leconte. The northern portion is devoted to lumbering, but the southern part is well improved. Its early pioneers were agriculturists, and their descendants have, in the main, followed the occupation of their fathers.
 

GOSHEN TOWNSHIP.
 

     William Leonard called this section Goshen, as it was, he said, "a land flowing with milk and honey."

     The earliest pioneer, were William Leonard, Jacob Flegal, and Robert Shaw. There are large groves of timber in the northern part, and in the south the farmer finds an ample return, in the small cereals, for all labor of tilling. As regards the southern part, Mr. Leonard', name was well applied.
 

HUSTON TOWNSHIP
 

     Was thus called for Judge Huston, the first judge in the county. The early pioneers were Isaac Wilson, John Hewitt, Thomas Bliss, Martin Nichols, Bundy family, and the Lamb family. There is a very extensive body of timber in this township, and its development constitutes
 

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HISTORICAL SKETCH OF CLEARFIELD COUNTY, PENN'A.
 

the most important industry. Many good farms have been opened, and Huston bids fair to take her place among the leading agricultural townships of the county.
 

UNION TOWNSHIP
 

     Was a union of parts of Pike and Brady—hence its name. The men who made the first settlements were John Brubaker, Wilson Moore, Jacob Burns, and Laborde. Here, as in some other townships, the industries are divided in importance. Lumbering and farming are carried on to considerable extent, but the latter from present appearances will soon take precedence of the former.
 

GRAHAM TOWNSHIP
 

     Was named in honor of James B. Graham. The first settlers were Samuel Turner, the Mains, Edmund Williams, Jacob Hubler, Basil Crowell, Conrad Kyler, and William Hitchins. Lumbering is yet the principal business of the people, and there remains to be felled an extensive tract of choice timber. Wherever farms have been opened the crops raised indicate the peculiar adaptability of the soil for small grain.
 

GREENWOOD TOWNSHIP.
 

     Greenwood was the last township organized in this county, being taken from Bell, Ferguson, and Penn—taking its name from the given name of Greenwood Bell—the earliest settler of this part of the county, except Dr. Hoyt. It may be proper in this connection to state that there was some difference of opinion in reference to the naming of this township—some preferring to name it in honor of Dr. Hoyt, at he was the oldest resident, and others in favor of Bell, as it was largely taken from Bell. Its early history is substantially the same as would be the townships from which it was taken, and what would be true of those would also be true, more or less, of Greenwood.

     There are two small villages in this township —Bellville and Lewisville. The former, named after its founder, whose descendants are still residents of the place, and principal owners of the property in and around the village. Lewisville was named after Lewis Smith, who formerly owned the land, and in the days of its prosperity did quite an extensive business, but sold the property and moved to Virginia. Capt. George Walters erected the first saw-mill in this township near the present site of this village. This mill has pretty much disappeared —Wm. T. Thorp's heirs owning the property. The McClures made the first improvement on what is known as W. Bell's estate near Bellville.
 

CLEARFIELD.
 

     When Daniel Ogden first saw his new location, the cleared fields were covered with buffalo grass. The pasturing of the stock upon it did not interfere with the next season's growth. Hoping to lay in a supply of hay he fenced in the lands, cut the grass, and made a quantity of hay. But this was the last of the buffalo grass. The scythe of the pioneer was as a deadly poison to it, and it never grew again.

     As before stated, the county seat was located on lands of Abraham Witmer. He was a resident of Paradise, Lancaster county. Lots were said at prices ranging from thirty to fifty dollars. Later they were a drug on the market, and but little more than one and a half to two dollar could be obtained for them.

     In 1825 the lot now occupied by the brick house or Josiah W. Smith, on the river bank, was so1d for five dollars.

     The first settlers in the village were Robert Collins, the widow Ann Leathers, the Valentines, Andrew Bowers, and later, Thomas Hemphill, Orris Hoyt, Ebenezer McGee, A. B. Reed, and others.

     In 1825 Thomas Hemphill was keeping a tavern where the Shaw House now stands. Orris Hoyt kept a little tannery, but there was not a single store, and not above ten houses.

In 1840 the population was less than 300. There was a brick court-house, an academy, Catholic, Presbyterian and Methodist churches, and a flouring and lumber-mill owned by Richard Shaw. A. bridge crossed the river, and a pike connected the town with Bellefonte and Erie. Clearfield was made a borough in 1840, and since its incorporation every step has been forward. Its public buildings, the court house and jail, are substantial structures, and well adapted for the purposes intended (see illustrations). The churches are six in number, Episcopal, Baptist and Lutheran, in addition to those mentioned above. The new Presbyterian church is the finest religious edifice in Central Pennsylvania. For architectural design and finish it is unrivaled in that part of the state. The completion of the Tyrone and Clearfield R. R. has added new life to the prosperity of the town, has brought to public attention its advantages as a manufacturing point, and has given to the citizens generally encouragement in the work of developing the resources of the county. The population is about three thousand, with a constant increase to be depended upon for actual enumeration. A glance at the illustrations of city residences will give an idea of the wealth and prosperity of Clearfield. In this respect the "pencil of the artist is mightier than the pen of the writer."
 

THE CLEARFIELD FIRE BRICK COMPANY.
 

     This corporation was organized in 1873, with a capital of $50,000. The officers are: President, Hon. Wm. Bigler; Secretary, C.W. Smith; Treasurer and General Superintendent, J. G. Hartswiek, M. D.

     The clay in this section of the State is unequaled for superior qualities, and the orders from distant points fully verify the truth of this statement. Thirty-five men are now employed, and the average daily product is five thousand. When run to its full capacity, the works can turn out over fifteen thousand of number one fire-bricks per day.

     In the early days of its experimental manufacture, much capital and time were lost owing to the poor quality of the clay, the limited quantity of its strata, and the poor quality of that examined and mined at contiguous points.

     At this time of writing, excellent clay is obtained at distances so near the furnaces as to be easy of access, and we predict for the enterprise a success far beyond the corporators' most sanguine expectations. Everything in the line of ornamental or useful clay goods; such as vase, chimney tops, pipes for sewerage, &c., are manufactured at this establishment. The factory was constructed with all the modern improvements, and supplied with the latest machinery, and is under the personal management of practical men, to whom is due the successful continuance of this, one of the leading interests of this section of the State.
 

CURWENSVILLE.
 

     This place was named for John Curwen, upon whose land it was located in 1823. He was a resident of Montgomery county, and was never a citizen of this county. Upon the river bank near the Irvin store, in very early time, Paul Clover had a blacksmith shop, and later a hotel. Its growth was slow but sure. In 1840 it only contained thirty houses, including stores, and one church. A wooden bridge had just been erected on the location of the fine iron structure of 1878. John Irvin and his brother, William Irvin, then only a boy, were early comers. John at once engaged in the mercantile line, and his store soon became well known to all the settlers along the Susquehanna and the creeks tributary to it.

     Of all the old settlers Josiah Evans, who built the third house in town, is the only one living. Curwensville has supplied many distinguished men for other counties and states. In the legal profession alone, six of her sons have served upon the supreme bench of this and other states. The illustrations of the place will give the reader some representation of the fine residences and public spirit of its citizens. The sketch of the first Sunday-school and the public library convey to the present generation the sentiment of the people in early time, and the prevailing characteristic of to-day. It is the termini of the T. & C. R. R., and several stage lines.
 

ORIGINAL RECORD OF THE FIRST SUNDAY-SCHOOL IN CLEARFIELD COUNTY.
 

     This school met in Curwensville, in the old log school-house which formerly stood near the site of the residence of Wm. P. Chambers. The original is in the possession of the Curwensville Library Association, to whom it was presented by Josiah Evans, Esq., December 18th, 1877.

     Sunday, May 16th, 1824.—Met according to appointment : the characters that convened were as follows, to wit:

Superintendents.—Thomas McClure and Alexander Caldwell.
Secretaries.—John P. Hoyt and Josiah Evans.
Teachers.—Abram Bloom, Ann Reed, Eliza Howe, Susan Henry.
Scholars that are to recite.—Eliza Howe, Susan Henry, Elizabeth Henry, Pamela R. Derush, Phianid Mullen, Sarah Evans, Nancy L. Hartshorn, Priscilla R. Evans, Catharine Bloom, Mary Ann G. Hartshorn, Hannah England, Eliza Stage, Jane Reed, Samuel Reed, Samuel Henry, Hugh Fullerton, Hugh A. Caldwell, Thomas Bloom, Isaac Stage, Nathan Bailey, Jonathan Evans, Jonathan Hartshorn,
William Askey, Andrew Ross, David Askey, William Bloom, William Hartshorn, William Blair.
Scholars in Spelling.—Henrietta Ann Reed, Samuel Blow, William A. Blow, Charlotte Stage, William Harley, Margaret Blow, Mary Blow, Ellis Askey, James A. Bloom, Nancy Bloom, Robert McNaul, Zachariah McNaul, James Askey.
 

SKETCH OF THE CURWENSVILLE LIBRARY ASSOCIATION.
 

     The Curwensville Library Association came into existence in the summer of 1877 as an outgrowth of the Murphy Temperance movements. The want of such an institution had long been felt and talked of in the community, but the matter first took a practical shape during the prevalence of the Murphy Temperance excitement, when the thoughts of the people were directed more than at any previous time to the incalculable benefits and value of such an organization, and it was universally felt that the great and wide-spread good accomlished by the movement in Curwensville and vicinity could be best supplemented and most fitly perpetuated by the establishing of a town institution of this character. The matter was first brought before the public in one of the temperance meetings, by Mr. John Patton, Jr., and its advantages were so apparent that a committee was at once appointed, composed of Jno. Patton, Jr., R. D. Swoope, Z. McNaul, W. I. Bard, and Jno. A. Gregory, to canvass the town for subscriptions and prepare a plan for organization. Their report was so encouraging that at a subsequent meeting a committee consisting of Jno. A. Gregory, R. D. Swoope, W. C. Arnold,Jno. Patton, Jr., and T. J. Frow, was appointed to draft a Constitutionand By-laws for the Association. This committee afterwards submitted a report which with some slight alterations was adopted on Tuesday, July 10th, 1877. The Association held its first meeting in the Library rooms in the Bank building, and the various offices were filled by the election of the following gentlemen for 1877.
 

President.—Rev. Geo. Leidy.
Vice President.—H. B. Thompson.
Beeretary.—W. I. Bard.
Treasurer.—A. E. Patton.
Librarian.—E. E. Segner.
Assistant Librarian.—G. C. Jenkins.
Board of Trustees, chosen, to serve until January 1st, 1879.—Hon. Jno. Patton, Samuel Arnold, Col. E. A. Irvin, Z. McNaul, and Jacob Bilger.
Managing Committee.—G. W. Weaver, J. P. Bard, W. C. Arnold, Jno. Patton, Jr., R. D. Swoope.

     A committee of ladies was appointed at this meeting to raise funds for the purchase of a carpet, composed of Mrs. Samuel Arnold, Mrs. E. A. Irvin, Mrs. W. N. Dyer, Mrs. H. B. Thompson, Miss Nannie Irvin, and Miss Annie Hipple. As a result of their generosity and efforts in the way of entertainments the rooms of the Association were handsomely carpeted. On Friday evening, July 27th, 1877, the rooms were formally opened to the public in the presence of a large audience, and addresses of welcome delivered by President Leidy and Jno. Patton, Jr., and the institution pleasantly and auspiciously started.

     The plan of the organization contemplated an incorporated institution, with a capital stock of $2,000, divided into 2,000 shares of $1.00 each, and monthly assessments of a small amount on each member. The Association has supported since the opening of its rooms a free reading-room for the use of the public, having on file all the principal papers and magazines of the day. This room is free to all every weekday evening and on Saturday afternoons. The rooms of the Association comprise the entire west half of the third floor of the Bank building, and through the generosity of citizens of Curwensville and friends of the Library, they have been beautifully furnished. Handsome pictures and articles of historical interest adorn the walls, and on every hand one sees evidences of the open-handed liberality of the friends of this enterprise. The Association possesses a large and valuable library, chiefly the result of donations, and from the reports of the officers, at the annual meeting in December, 1877, we learn that there is already a membership of 110, that $625 worth of stock have been issued, that 28 periodicals are on file in the reading room, and that the Association is entirely free from debt, with a balance in the treasury.
 

OSCEOLA.
 

     Osceola was laid out in 1859 by Centre county parties who were interested in the vast pine and hemlock forests, underlaid with coal, which were contiguous to this point. The T. & C. R. R. was completed to this point in 1862, and the improvement was so rapid that it was made a borough in 1864. Its own and adjacent population in 1875 was over two thousand, and at this date is over two thousand five hundred.

     In 1863, in and around Osceola there were thirteen large saw-mills, the most extensive of which was that of the Moshannon Land and Lumber Co., with a capacity of over seventy-five thousand feet of lumber per day. The rapid growth of the coal trade also was a valuable aid to securing the remarkable advancement of the town in wealth and population.

     The Moshannon branch of the T. & C. R. R. was commenced in 1864 at Osceola, and extends in different directions throughout the coal basin.

     On the 20th of May, 1875, the town wasp almost entirely destroyed by fire, and over sixteen hundred people were made homeless.

     Having a strong hope in the future of the town, they went manfully to work, and in about a year the better part of the work of rebuilding had been accomplished, and to-day scarcely a remembrance of the holocaust can be seen. The prosperity of the present is only a slight indication of its future wealth. Osceola's motto is "Excelsior," and her citizens seem permeated with a progressive sprit, which bears them on to greater deeds of advancement.
 

HOUTZDALE.
 

     This place is on the Moshannon branch of the T. & C. R. R. It was the creation of necessity, for the development of the great fields of coal called it into being. G. N. Brisbin, a sagacious business man, planted it on land belonging to Dr. Houtz. Its birth, youth, and, we dare not say, manhood, have been so rapid that it was made a borough in 1871, and its population in 1877 was upwards of 3,000.

     A coal town it is, and its industrious miners, if they have rough work in the nether world, patronize liberally the good things of the upper stratum. Its merchants are liberal, and the entire community is working for a progress as substantial as it has been rapid. The magnitude of the coal business s such that this to-day bids fair to become the leading interest of Clearfield county, in 1878. The black diamonds of this district find their way to the seaboard, and many of the railroads, as well as steamers, now use them in place of the anthracite.
 

DU BOIS CITY.
 

     In the summer of 1872 John Rumbarger planted a town (Rumbarger) on lands which he had purchased in 1865, situated on the Low Grade Division of the Allegheny Valley Railroad. About this time John Du Bois commenced the grand scheme of improvements which has made this place so well-known. The railroad station was called Du Bois, and in 1876 the name of the town was changed to the latter.

     If the spirit of Henry Shafer, who was on this spot in 1812, it overlooking the scenes of his early exploits, he will surprised at the rapid change from the timbered region to the bustling town.

     The hum of machinery, the ax of the woodsman, and the sound of hammers, greet one in all directions.

     The population in 1872 was 75; 1873, 150; 1874, 225; 1875, 325; 1876, 728 ; 1877, 1,400, and the tide of new comers is yet flowing to swell its numbers.

     The two words, lumber and coal, give the real gist of its prosperiy. The former with a supply for fifty years' excessive demands, and the latter in inexhaustible quantities, have made, and will continue to make this a great manufacturing and commercial town.

     Du Bois reminds one of the western villages by its unfinished appearance. Time will give these enterprising men an opportunity to replace the frame with brick buildings, and we have no doubt in five years this point will be as attradtive in appearance as it is progressive in business. The illustrations of mills, stores, hotels, &c., portray the present aspect of Du Bois better than any words of ours.

     WALLACETOWN is on the T. & C. R. R., and has a population of three hundred. It was laid out in 1868 and incorporated in 1873 There is a large steam sawmill here, and its trade in lumber is quite large.

     BURNSIDE is in the southwestern part of the county, on the river, and was made a borough in 1874. It is a lumber manufacturinq community, and its resources are very valuable. A railroad would make this town a place of considerable importance. It contains a good grist-mill, saw-mill, three stores, two churches, school house, two physicians' shops, and a number of good dwellings. A fine birds-eye view of the place will be found on another page of this work.

     LUTHERSBURG, in 1840, was a small German rettlement.. It is ten miles northwest of Curwensville. There is considerable limestone in the vicinity. The country surrounding the village is the most productive district in the county.

     PENFIELD, Huston township, is on the Bennett Branch extension railroad. The town is young. and its thrift at this stage portrays a future of prosperity, and a population of considerable numbers.

     KYLERTOWN, Morris township, it small in numbers, but the rich coal-field in its vicinity will make it an important place in the future, and that, too, at no remote time.
 

Page 13
HISTORICAL SKETCH OF CLEARFIELD COUNTY, PENN'A.

     GRAHAMTON, Graham township, is described in the personal sketch Hon. James B. Graham.

     FRENCHVILLE, Covington township, is a large and flourishing French settlement, commenced in 1835. The settlers were from Normandy and Picardy. It is strange that they should have selected this place, since there were no French within a hundred miles.

     Some person failed in Philadelphia in debt to a merchant in Paris, M. Zavron. Mr. John Healing, his agent in Philadelphia, took land on the West Branch to settle this debt. The Paris merchant, by means of a German agent, induced a number of families to emigrate to these lands, and the latter prevailed upon others to follow them. In 1840 there were forty families here. The population now numbers over 200 families.

     GRAMPIAN HILLS, Penn township, from their resemblance in hills of similar name in Scotland, were so designated by Dr. Samuel Coleman. They were first settled in 1805, and the early settlers were principally Quakers. The citizens are exceedingly intelligent, and the land is well cultivated, exhibiting in a high degree the thrift of its worthy occupants.

     GLENHOPE, Beccaria township, is a live town, on Clearfield creek. The coal in its vicinity, if a railroad can be obtained, will make this an important point. The Independent Order of Odd Fellows have a fine hall in this place. A church, school house, store, shook factory, and several shops are also located here.

     NEW WASHINGTON, Burnside township, is a small town in the southwestern part of the county, and was incorporated a borough in the year 1859. The territory surrounding it is very fertile and interspersed with many well improved farms. The place contains two hotels, two stores, a church, school house, an Odd Fellows' hall, two physicians, and several shops of different kinds. A fine birds-eye view of this village, which will be found on another page of this work, shows the taste and enterprise of its citizens.


     LUMBER CITY was made a borough in 1857. Its name explains its business. It is at the head of navigation for full length lumber rafts on the west branch of the Susquehanna, and during a flood is a very busy place. It is a good trading point, and possesses its share of enterprising business men. The place now has two churches, school house, grist mill, shook factory, two dry goods stores, three hotels, two physicians, and several shops. A good academy flourishes in the town, and is kept in session for about ten months in the year. A railroad would make their village a business centre of more than ordinary importance.

     WOODLAND, in Bradford township, is on the line of the T. & C. R. R., six miles east of Clearfield. A large fire brick factory furnishes the principal industry of the place, and a large amount of fire brick and other articles are manufactured there annually.
 

GEOLOGY OF CLEARFIELD COUNTY,
CONTRIBUTED BY HARRIS HOOVER.
 

     Clearfield county is situated near the centre of the state, just northwest of the crest of the Allegheny mountains, and southeast of the great watershed that divides the waters of the Atlantic from those of the Gulf. It coven an area of 1,175 square miles, or 752,000 acres, and is watered by the west branch of the Susquehanna river, which traverses the county in a diagonal direction from the southwest to the northeast corner, a distance of fifty miles. A small part of the northwest portion of the county is drained by Sandy Lick and Mahoning creeks, which find their way into the Mississippi river, while Moshannon creek forms the south eastern boundary of the county.

     The topographical features of the county are the natural result of and point directly to its geological origin. The highest land in the county is elevated about 2,400 feet above the level of the sea. The lowest point is the bed of the river at Three Runs, adjoining the Clinton county line, and is about 850 feet above tide water.

     If we descend front the high lands to this lowest point we shall pass to succession over the outcrop edges of various beds or strata of slate, shale, sandstone, fireclay, &c., separated by numerous seams of coal, until we arrive at a peculiar kind of sandstone, known as " Conglomerate," which forms the bed of the river at the point named.

     The value of these coal beds makes them an object of interest to us, and we naturally inquire: How came these here? and we might, perhaps, be justified in saying that no entirely satisfactory answer has yet been given. If we should hastily conclude that "they were always here, just as we see them," a little observation would serve to convince us of our mistake. A very few years will suffice to show us islands in the river entirely washed away, new ones formed, acres of valuable bottom laud carried away and re-deposited elsewhere, land-slides on the mountain side, gullies washed in the hills, and lowlands covered with mud and sand. These phenomena teach us that " change is the order of nature," and we are irresistibly led to the conclusion that in the course of time the entire valley of the Susquehanna has been eroded, or washed down and out from the tops of the highest hills to the present bed of the stream, and the debris carried by the current to the Atlantic ocean. Again, if we examine the slate that overlies some of our principal coal seams, we shall find, in specimens taken from mines hundreds of feet under ground, most beautiful imprints of ferns, reeds, leaves, flowers, &e. If we carefully examine the coal itself—even with the naked eye--we can discover remains of vegetation, specimens of bark containing " leaf scars" as plain as any to be seen in our forests to-day, and that, too, in coal taken from the deepest mines. In the fireclay underneath the coal we will find the remains of millions of rootlets that once supported a luxuriant vegetation.

     Then, too, we may take a block of-solid sandstone, ten feet square, split it in two, and in the centre we may find coal, wood partly transformed into coal, or remains of living organisms, such as sea-shells, &c. The question recurs, How came all these here?

     It is evident that the vegetables found in, above, and below the coal veins could not have grown there with a mountain on top ; neither could the shell-fish have lived and grown surrounded by solid sandstone.

     It is the business of geology to solve the problem. The geologist, equipped with pick and hammer, scales and crucible, sets himself assiduously to work to coax from nature the secret of the birth of the rocks.

     Carefully comparing all the accessible facts, and noting the changes that the earth's surface is now undergoing, he ultimately arrives at the conclusion that the time was when the matter that now constitutes the earth and all other visible worlds was diffused throughout space in a gaseous form, and in a nearly homogeneous state; that in the course of ages it became condensed into suns, planets and satellites. That the earth, at one stage of its existence, was a globular mass of molten matter, holding in solution the original sixty-five elements of which, in infinite combinations, all the visible forms of earth are now composed.

     This is called the "Nebular Hypothesis." As it accounts for nearly all the phenomena observed, and is adopted by scientific men the world over, we will accept it as the true theory, and attempt to trace the successive steps by which the earth might have arrived at its present condition.

     Supposing the earth to be a liquid globe, 10,000 miles in diameter, and radiating its heat into space, it would gradually become cooler, and this cooling process would create in the globe a tendency to a change of condition from the liquid to the solid form. Scoriae would rise to the surface, and float there as ice floats on water. This process continuing, the liquid globe would eventually become enveloped in a solid cuticle or covering, when radiation would be retarded, and the hydrogen with which the atmosphere was charged in the form of steam would be condensed, and fall upon the earth in the form of rain. Immediately is new force is set to work, and has been at work ever since, modifying the contour of our planet. The water, obeying the law of gravitation, would seek the lowest point, or that nearest the centre of the earth, forming lakes and seas, and in so doing would, by the power of attrition, dissolve the higher points of land, and carry the sediment to the bottom of such seas, there in turn to be transformed into "aqueous," or sedimentary deposits.

     As the years roll on, sediment of a different character from different localities may be washed into the same basin, when the result would be "stratified" deposits. This process, if long continued, would tend to thin out those portions of the earth's crust from whence the material was taken and thicken that part to which the matter was transported, and in consequence of this a new phenomenon soon presents itself. If we take two cakes of ice, respectively one inch and ten inches thick, and place them in water, level with the surface, and then liberate them, being lighter than water they will immediately rise above the surface: the one which is one inch thick rising one-tenth of an inch above the water, while the one that is ten inches will rise one inch above the surface.

     On the same principle the tendency of the molten matter of the earth to assume the globular form will cause it to press against the thicker portions of the crust, displace them and cause them to rise; the result being a new adjustment of levels, old seas drained and new ones formed. The sedimentary deposits of the first now become comparatively dry, and harden into rock, to be in turn disintegrated by the eroding forces of nature, and slowly deposited at the bottom of new seas. Imagine this process indefinitely repeated over the entire surface of the earth, and you will have some idea of the manner in which the "metamorphic," or secondary rocks, such as gneiss, mica schist, quartz, marble, &c., were formed. While these changes are going on outwardly the heat of the planet is being slowly given off by radiation and conduction, which causes crystallization of the internal mass, and a deposition of granite on the inner surface of the earth's crust. Radiation continuing the consequent contraction of the earth's mass would cause the thin crust to crack in numerous places, forming dykes and craters through which the fiery mass would pour and form what are termed "igneous," or plutonic rocks, such as lava, basalt, porphyry, &c., &c. These are termed "unstratified," because they still retain their igneous structure, and have not been subjected to disintegration and deposition in water, hence have not become stratified. Just here we might observe that the granite forms the base of all subsequent formations, and furnishes the material for the same, the metamorphic rocks having undergone a change of texture in consequence of the intense heat and subsequent pressure to which they were exposed. These rocks are called " azoic," i. e., destitute of any remains of animal or vegetable life; but they contain most of our veins of gold, silver, copper and magnetic iron ore, and are found in Pennsylvania, in the southeast portion of the State. We now come to a new series of rocks called-
 

"THE PALAEOZOIC SYSTEM."
 

     The term palaeozoic signifies that the rocks to which it is applied contain the remains of animal life, and have not assumed the crystalline structure, as the metamorphic rocks, upon which they rest, have. This series of rocks is of immense thickness, being, in Clearfield county, no less than 33,000 feet thick; the coal measures forming the topmost layers.

During the geological survey of Pennsylvania the Paleozoic system was divided, for convenience sake, into thirteen formations, numbering from the azoic rocks up to, and including the coal measures. Below is presented a diagram representing the palaeozoic column with the nomenclature adopted by Prof. H. D. Rogers, in his final report of the geology of Pennsylvania. Also a corresponding column giving the names applied to the strata at their outcrop in New York, by the geologists of that State.
 

     These measures from number one to twelve are net exposed in Clearfield county, but, as they underlie those that are, and form part of the system, we will examine them briefly at their eastern outcrops

     No. I "Primal," or Potsdam sandstone, is seen in the hills at Easton and Reading, being a continuation of the Blue Ridge of Virginia.

     No. II "-Auroral," or Trenton limestones, form the great valley extending from Easton, on the Delaware, to and beyond Chambersburg, in Cumberland county. The same formation is seen in Kishacoquillas, Nittany, and Penn's Valleys. Hematite ore abounds in this formation

     No. III. " Matinal " slates and limestones of the Hudson river group are found on the Lehigh and Susquehanna, between the limestone of the valley and the sandstone of the next formation. This stratum furnishes the roofing slates of the country.

     No. IV. " Levant," or red and white sandstones of Medina and Oneida, form the Kittatany mountain, which traverses Pennsylvania from the Delaware Water Gap to the Maryland line beyond McConnellsburg, in Fulton county. They also form the double crest of the Bald Eagle mountain, between Milesburg and Bellefonte, in Centre county; also Tuscarora, Jack's, Stone, Seven mountains, &c.

     No. V. "Surgent," red shales, or Clinton group, is found every where, accompanying and resting upon the sandstone of number four. Fossil ore is found in this stratum.

     No. VI. "Scalent," and pre-meridial limestones constitute valleys enclosed within the walls of the great levant or number four mountains. Brown hematite ore is of frequent occurrence in this formation.

     No. VII. "Meridial," or white Oriskany sandstone, usually forms a range of subordinate hills in the valleys of six. The Pulpit Rocks of Juniata furnishes an instance. The Oriskany sandstone marks a division between the upper silurian and devonian periods, being the base of the latter, and marking the advent of a new form of life--that of fishes.

     No. VIII "Past Meridian," "Cadent,- and " Vergent" are limestones, shales, and slates intermixed with sandstones, and find their counterpart in New York in the "Upper Helderberg, Hamilton, Portage, and Chemung." These formations may fairly be considered the lower oil-producing rock

     No. IX. "Ponent," and No. X. "Vespertine." Red and white. sandstone constitute the Catskill mountains, in New York, Cove, Peters, Berrys, and Mahantango mountains In Pennsylvania. They also.
crop out on the eastern escarpment of the Allegheny mountains. Number nine is the "old red sandstone" of the English geologist.

     No. XI. " Umbral," or red shale, lies between the "false coal measures" and the "great conglomerate," forming fertile valleys between the mountains of coal regions, such an Lyken's valley, Catawissa valley, &c.

     No. XII. " Seral," or great conglomerate, is composed of red and white sand, cemented together, and enclosing pure white quartz pebbles from the size of a pea to that of a hen's egg. It becomes at once an object of interest to as when we learn that it everywhere underlies and forms the bed of our productive coal measures, and, if we mistake not, the composition of this rock will furnish the key to the enigma of the formation of the coal strata:

     First. The waterworn appearance of the pebbles is incontrovertible proof that the material for the rock was brought to, and deposited where it is by the agency of water. Second. The fact that all the land-derived rocks of the palaeozoic system, such as sandstone, shale, and slate, thin out and depreciate as they extend westward, and the sea-derived strata, such as limestone, &c., thicken in a westward direction, indicate that the ancient Appalachian sea spreads out where the palaeozoic formations are now found, and that the ancient land which furnished the material was a range of mountains, in all probability, five miles high, composed of plutonic, or protozoic rocks, extending along the southeastern coast of the present continent, and, for aught we know. occupying a large portion of the Atlantic ocean.

     This immense mountain was worn down by the active agencies of nature, and carried out and deposited in the waters of the Appalachian sea, at a depth of five or six miles, the coarser conglomerate being deposited near the shore, and the finer materials carried far out to sea.

     However much this process may have been modified by volcanic action, one thing is certain—the materials all came from the same general direction, and were successively deposited throughout the immense periods of palaeozoiic age, which ended in tthe deposition and
 

FORMATION OF THE COAL MEASURES.
 

     With all due deference to the opinions of those who attribute to the coal measures an "igneous" origin, the writer hereof prefers to adhere to the "aqueous" theory, or that which contends that coal is a vegetable production, and that the plants grew where the coal is found.

     The facts in favor of this theory are not easily set aside: First. The deposition of twenty-five thousand feet of strata would fill up the Appalachian sea, and cause the waters to spread out over a large extant of
 

Page 14
HISTORICAL SKETCH OF CLEARFIELD COUNTY, PENN'A.

territory, forming shallow seas, lakes, and marshes, producing favorable conditions for the growth of sigillaria, lepidodendra, and calamites, while the islands and drier portions would produce sycopodacae, tree-ferns, and conifera, which constitute the " coal plants."

     Second. The very significant fact that every coal seam, if in its natural position, is found reposing upon a stratum of fire clay. This fact evidently argues some kind of connection between the fire clay and coal. The explanation is found in the further fact that the fire clay is traversed by the rootlets of stigmaria, showing that the coal plants grew where the coal is found.

     Third. The uniform gradation in the varieties of coal from the peat bogs of Ireland, signites of Australia and the Rocky mountains, cannel coal of the west, bituminous coal of Clearfield, and semi-bituminous coal of Broad Top, to the anthracite of Wilkesbarre and Mauch Chunk.

     Fourth. This theory has the support of Miller, Lyell, Rogers, Hodge, Dana, Leslie and Platte, and until another is introduced that will explain and harmonize more of the facts as they exist than the present theory does, we will do well to retain it. Having noted the conditions under which the materials for one coal bed accumulated, it is only necessry to suppose a gradual subsidence of the surface, and a repetition of the former conditions with the intermediate depositions of slates and clay to account for the entire series. The heat of the earth, the action of water, and the pressure of the superincumbent strata (with perhaps some admixture of volcanic bitumen) are considered to be the agencies by which the vegetable matter is condensed and, in the course of time, transformed into coal.

     In the way indicated a series of coal measures were deposited in what is now the Allegheny coal field, to the probable depth of twenty-five thousand feet.

     Whether any of the later geological formations, such as the permian, triassic, jurassic, cretaceous, or tertiary, were ever deposited in this region, we have no means of knowing. We now come to a remarkable epoch in the geological history of this continent
 

THE UPHEAVAL OF THE COAL MEASURES.
 

     During all the long ages from the formation of the Sawsentian rocks at the base of the palaeozoic system, up to the deposition of the last coal seam, the earth had been giving off her heat, and her mass contracting. By this time the crust had become tenaceous, and tended to resist the inward pressure of gravitation ; but, as the internal mass continued to contract, a phenomenon occurred in this quarter of the world which, no doubt, occurred elsewhere before. The resisting cuticle or envelope gave way and was folded in like the wrinkles of a dried grape or prune. These folds would naturally occur in lines of the least resistance along the shores of the ancient sea; hence we have long, parallel mountain ranges, stretching from southwest to northeast, across the continent from Alabama to Canada. These mountain ranges originally presented a very different appearance from their present aspect. At some points in central Pennsylvania they rose to the astonishing height of 35,000 feet above the level of the sea. In all the valleys where the Auroral or Trenton limestone is now exposed was this the ease. In Clearfield county, however, the elevation was not near so great, and probably did not exceed five thousand feet. As an evidence of this, we observe that the same limestone (auroral) which forms the surface of Nittany valley just beyond Bellefonte, in Centre county, underlies Clearfield at a depth of five and a half miles, and would require a well of that depth to reach it. Of course this elevation of the Appalachian region rendered further deposition of coal impossible, and with it a corresponding depression most have taken place elsewhere--most likely over the area now occupied by the Atlantic ocean,—and established a drainage in that direction. Now commenced the work of destruction, on a grand scale, which is still going on at the present day. To realize its magnitude we need only recollect that the ancient Appalachian coal field extended over an area of probably two hundred thousand square miles, connecting the coal fields of Alabama with those of the anthracite regions, with an average aggregate depth of fifty feet of coal. This gives us twenty-eight million acres, and counting seventy-five thousand tons per acre, we have the enormous total of two trillion, one hundred billion tons. Of all this vast deposit not one ton in ten is left. Front nearly the entire State of Pennsylvania the upper productive coal measures, or Monongahela series, have been swept away, four or five counties in the southwest corner of the state alone retaining them (except where the narrow synclinal troughs of the Broad Top sod anthracite regions have succeeded in retaining a small portion of the same). All the counties north of Clearfield, Jefferson, Clarion, Venango, and Mercer have lost the lower productive measures, or Allegheny series, except a few isolated patches, such as Blossburg, Ralston, &c.

     Not only have the coal measures been carried away by the erosive forces of Nature, but in the eastern portion of the state the entire palaeozoic formations have been planed down to the sawsentian rocks, and thousands of cubic miles of debris been carried away by the Susquehanna, to form the recent deposits of Delaware and New Jersey, and thousands more carried to the bottom of the Atlantic. In Clearfield county the lower productive measures have bees left, and in the southwest portion of the county a portion of the superincumbent barren measures, (or those lying between the Mahoning sandstone and the great Pittsburg seam,) remains.

     Notwithstanding the great erosion of this section, the coal beds of Clearfield county are still very valuable on account of their great steam producing power, second to none in the state.

     The coal is enclosed in three or four troughs or basins, formed by the same forces that crumpled up the anthracite regions, and crushed the coal of that region between almost perpendicular walls, and in some instances, as at Dauphin, completely overturned the strata. From this point the corrugations or flexures in the palaeozoic strata soften down until, west of the Allegheny mountains, in Clearfield, the dip of the strata is seldom over 10°, the basins widening until, in Illinois, they lie horizontal. Coincident with this phenomenon is the very significant circumstance of the increase of bitumen, or volatile matter in the composition of the coals as we go westward. In the anthracite basins the amount of volatile matter ranges from two to twelve per cent.; Broad Top, fifteen to seventeen; Clearfield, twenty to twenty-five; Pittsburgh, thirty to forty ; and farther west as high as fifty per cent. This law of gradation extends over such a large range of territory, and is so uniform in its manifestations, that I find it impossible to resist the inference that there is a necessary connection between the debituminization of the coal and the increased pitch of the strata eastward, or in other words, that the coal of the Appalachian basin was originally formed on a nearly level outface, at first highly bituminous, and that its debituminization wits caused by the upheaval, bending, and fracturing of the supporting strata, subjecting the coal enclosed in their convolutions to the chemical and thermal influence of the vapors weeping from the internal molten matter of the earth.
 

THE BITUMINOUS COAL BASINS OF CLEARFIELD COUNTY
 

     Conform to the structure of the Appalachian field, and cross the country from southwest to northeast.

     The First Basin, according to Hodge, is about sixteen miles wide—measured from the crest of the Allegheny mountains, southeast of Philipsburg, in Centre county, to the first anticlinal axis, which is a continuation of Laurel Hill, and enters the county in Chest township, and extends through Marysville, in Boggs township, leaving the county in the north part of Karthaus township.

     The Second Basin is fourteen miles wide, measured from the first axis, through Clearfield town, to the second anticlinal axis, which is a continuation of " Chestnut Ridge," and enters the county in Bell township, extends through Union township a few miles east of Rockton Mills, and leaves the county in the northern part of Lawrence township.

     The Third Basin is about ten miles wide, measured from the second to the third anticlinal axis, which enters Clearfield at Evergreen station, on the Low Grade railroad, and merges into "Boone's mountain," in the extreme northwest corner of the county.

     Hodge's "first basin" has been found to be divided by a sub-anticlinal passing through Janesville, Amesville, Blue Ball, and Kylertown, crossing the Moshannon creek a short distance above its mouth, thence through Pine Glen, in Centre county.

     The first sub-basin of Platte is drained by the Moshannon creek, having its " synclinal axis," or line of deepest depression, along that stream, and contains the coal beds of Houtadale, Osceola, and Philipsburg, and Snow Shoe, in Centre county.

    The second sub-basin is drained by Clearfield creek, and the Susquehanna from Deer creek down. It has no well defined synclinal axis, but contains the coal beds of Glen Hope and Karthaus.

     The Susquehanna river forms the synclinal axis of the second basin, containing the coals of Burnside, Curwensville, and Clearfield.

     The third basin is drained by Bennett's Branch to the northeast, and Sandy Lick creek to the southwest, and contains the coal of Luthersburg, Du Bois and Penfield. All these basins or troughs dip gently to the southwest, and flatten out as they rise to the northeast.

     The average lateral dip is given, in an exaggerated form, however, in the accompanying "Transverse Section," through the centre of the county from southeast to northwest—which see.

The coal seams of this county may aggregate thirty feet, but the workable beds are confined to the six veins found in the "Vertical Sections" accompanying the diagram already referred to, the total thickness of which ranges from fifteen to twenty-five feet. They are known by the letters of the alphabet, according to the scheme of Hodge and Lesley, viz.:

      Although none of these beds are of great thickness, yet the fact that they all (except the lowest at the synclinal axes) lie above water level, making them easy of access, and the excellent quality of the coal, point to bright future for this section as a mining district. 1 herewith give a table of analysis of coal taken from the principal mines as given by Mr. A. S. MeCreath in Franklin Platt's Report for 1874:

     The high percentage of fixed carbon and coke, in connection with the low percentage of ash, with a desirable admixture of hydrogen gas, makes these coals the best in the market for generating steam.
 

FIRE CLAY.
 

     The deposits of fire clay are numerous in this region-in fact, every coal seats rests upon a stratum of fire clay ranging from a few inches to twenty-five feet in thickness-but they are comparatively undeveloped. The lower bed, or that lying between the conglomerate and coal vein "A," is mined successfully at various points-at Sandy Ridge, on the Tyrone & Clearfield Railroad ; near Blue Ball station, on the farm of William H. Peters; at Woodland and Clearfield. At each of these places except Blue Ball, (from whence the clay is shipped to Harrisburg,) extensive brick works are erected, which furnish brick of all kinds, pipes, tiles, and terra cotta ware of unsurpassed quality. Below are MeCreath and Ford's analyses:

     The nearly equal proportions of silica and alumina, and the low percentage of iron and alkalies, attest the good qualities of these clays, which the most crucial tests have verified.
 

IRON ORES.
 

     The iron deposits of this region consist of massive carbonates, irregular patches of brown hematite, and numerous beds of nodular or kidney ore, which last are usually found in the shale formations. Massive carbonate ore is found on Clearfield creek, on Anderson's creek, and on the river at James Farwell's, E. C. Bell's, William McCracken's, and Joseph Kirk's; also in many other places. Kidney and other varieties abound throughout the county. The only furnace in the county was built at Karthaus, where the ore yielded about 33 per cent. of metallic iron. The works are not now in operation.
 

LIME.
 

     There is but one vein of true limestone found in the county, and that is a continuation of the Freeport lime, and is always found between coal veins "D" and "D'." It is usually about 4 feet thick, and yields 90 per cent. carbonate of lime, with a small percentage of magnesia and silica. It does not produce a white lime, but makes a strong cement, and is also valuable for gricultural purposes.
 

OTHER MINERALS.
 

     Little need be said on this subject. Gold and silver do not belong to the carboniferous period, and it is useless for people to spend their time and money prospecting for precious metals where they do not exist. (The great utility of Geology consists in teaching us what to look for, and how to find it, with the least trouble and expense.) The specimens of " gold " submitted to the writer for examination have invariably proven to be " iron pyrites," a perfectly worthless ore. Lead and zinc have been found in limited quantities, but the probability that no valuable deposits exist in the county. Nature is not prodigal enough to shower all her blessings on one locality. Let as be content with what we have, which is amply sufficient, if properly developed. to make us a wealthy and prosperous people.
 

PETROLEUM.
 

     The "oil-bearing rocks" crop out along the eastern escarpment of the Allegheny Mountains, and this renders it certain that they extend through under the entire county. That said rocks contain their due proportion of the "oleaginous wealth" is an inference legitimately deducible from their geological position and lithological structure. Some enterprising gentlemen are now making a practical tt, at the mouth of Beaver run, on the Moshannon, near Osceola ; but should they fail, in consequence of a too close proximity to the eastern terminus of the oil rock, the probability is that a proper test made along the Susquehanna would be entirely successful.
 

CONCLUSI0N.
 

     The foregoing sketch is necessarily imperfect, the subject being too extensive for the limits assigned this article ; and, secondly, because the exploration of our county is scarcely begun. It is confidently hoped that future surveys may supply the defects and correct the errors which are at present unavoidable. The object has been to render the facts of Geology useful to the unscientific reader, without, at the same time, doing violence to scientific accuracy. The writer is fully aware of the difficulty thus presented, but hopes that the scientific reader will excuse any faults of execution or incompleteness of detail, in view of the end sought.
 

REMINISCENCES OF THE GRAMPIAN HILLS.
 

     The following reminiscences of the settlement and early history of the Grampian Hills, in Penn township, are furnished by William F. Johnson, Esq.

     The first three settlers at the Grampian Hills were Joseph Boon, Dr. Samuel Coleman, and Samuel Johnson, all of whom came there its the year 1810. Boon and Coleman came from Washington City, D. C., and Johnson from Centre county, Pa. Boon was a one-third owner of about twenty thousand acres of land, on which there were no improvements at that time, and, for the purpose of bringing his lands into market, came and settled on a 150 acre tract west of where Pennville now stands. This place is now known as the Derrick Farm. He was elected prothonotary in 1831, whereupon he removed to Clearfield town, and remained there until his death.

     The doctor bought 150 acres from Boon, where James Miller, Esq., now lives, and had a farm cleared up while practicing medicine. He had emigrated to Washington City front the Grampian Hills, of Scotland, and gave that name to the new settlement, in honor of his native home. He was a skillful surgeon and physician for his day, and had as extensive practice. On account of the scattered settlement, the great scope of country he traveled over, without roads or bridges, and the dangers to be encountered from wild beasts and the roughs of that day, his practice was attended with many hardships. A great contrast is shown between the practice of the present time and that of Dr. Coleman, when he traveled over a scope of thirty miles square of wild forest, with no bridges and only narrow paths for roads, during all kinds of weather and the darkest of nights, receiving therefor one-fourth the compensation that is now realized by physicians. In addition to his professional hardships, he one time made a narrow escape with his life, being intended for the victim of the first murder in Clearfield county. Being suspected of having a considerable sum of money, he was watched by persons of doubtful character ; and a man named Munks, of Centre county, at one time planned to take his life and rob him. On this occasion the doctor had left home for a visit to the settlement at Curwensville, and Munks selected a place in the forest to waylay him on his return ; but, finishing his business and making his way back sooner than was expected, he arrived safely at home unobserved by Munks. The latter laid in wait for his victim until a man named Reuben Giles, who happened to travel the same road after nightfall, came along, and met the fate that was intended for the doctor. Meeks killed him at the same spot where he intended to take the life of Dr. Coleman, and for his crime was afterwards hung near Bellefonte, Centre county. Dr. Coleman died in the year 1821, and was buried on his own farm.

     Samuel Johnson settled south of Pennville, where he remained forty-two years, then removed with his son Garretson to the state of Indiana,
 

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HISTORICAL SKETCH OF CLEARFIELD COUNTY, PENN'A.
 

where he resided until his death, at the advanced ago of eighty-two years. Three of his sons—James, Elah, and William F.—and one daughter till reside at the Grampian Hills. In 1812 the small colony began to increase, and in, the spring of that year James Moore, Sr., came from Hall Moon, Centre county, with three sons and four daughters, all young men and women, and settled on 400 acres of land where Pennville now stands. The Moores soon after built a saw-mill on Bell's run, and then a small grist-mill—the latter of logs, twenty feet square, two stories high, and all the machinery in the most rude style. It contained no machinery for cleaning grain, and the farmers of those days, having no facilities for that purpose, the grain was ground up, dirt. smut, and all, and the people seemed to enjoy it no well as they do now the best of No. 1 flour. This mill served the people until 1827, when Jeremiah Moore, James Moore's oldest son, having settled on the land now occupied by M. Flynn, built the second grist-mill, in the most improved manner of that day, having the first pair of French burrs ever brought to the county. Andrew Moore, the second son of James Moore, settled on the east end of his father's purchase, where he now remains, at the ripe old age of eighty-two years, in the enjoyment of reasonable health. James Moore, Jr., settled on the west end of his father's land, where he remained until his death, in 1847.

     Immediately after the Moores came the Widemires, who settled where Samuel Widemire now lives ; then Joseph Giddings, the Spencers, David Wall. David Allen, Samuel Cochran, (a colored man,) Jonathan Taylor and son, and the same year Caleb Davis settled where Elisha Moore now lives. In 1824 Jonathan Wall, Sr., emigrated from York county, Pa., and settled on the farm now owned by Elisha Davis, and his family are all living in this neighborhood. The same sear Joseph Davis settled on the farm now owned by John Pentz.

     The first church built at the Grampian Hills was by the Society of Friends, in the year 1823 ; and in 1837 the Catholics founded a small church where the present one now stands. These were the only churches until 1844, when the Methodists built one on what is called Spencer Hill, and subsequently the present one in Pennville.
 

BIOGRAPHIES.

HON. WILLIAM A. WALLACE.

     HON. WM. A. WALLACE was born in Huntingdon county, Pa., November 28th, 1827, of Scotch-Irish parentage. His father's family removed to Clearfield in 1836, where he has resided ever since. His education, although not a collegiate one, was somewhat liberal in its character. and was the result of his own studious habits, and of that constant application which has characterized him through life. He studied law in his father's office, and, whilst engaged therein, he was acquiring practical knowledge, earning his clothing in copying records in the county offices, and thus laying the ground work of that intimate acquaintance with the laws and land titles of Central Pennsylvania, which has been so useful and so marked in his many forensic triumphs at the bar in important land trials. He was admitted to the bar at September term, 1847, before he was twenty years of age ; and was married in 1848 to Margaret, the youngest daughter of Hon. Richard Shaw. He rapidly acquired a reputation in his profession for attention to its details; and the strongly marked characteristic of his of mind-that of organizing power—gave him great advantage in mastering many intricate questions, success in which, during the first fifteen years of his professional life, was the ground work of his subsequent prominent position at the bar.

     This power of organization, so rare among men, wonderfully quick perceptive powers, terse and nervous oratory, and a forcible, condensed and logical style of written language, are among his peculiar gifts ; and these, added to his cool judgment and upright character, have placed him in the foremost rank of the public men of Pennsylvania, and won him success in life. Failure of his health forced him away from close application to his profession in 1862, and he then became the candidate of the Democratic party for election to the State Senate, in the district composed of the counties of Cambria, Clearfield, and Blair. and he was elected over Hon. Lewis W. Hall, then Speaker of the Senate. His majority in Clearfield county in that contest was larger than had ever before been given to any candidate in a contested race. He was re-elected to the State Senate in 1865, 1868, 1871, and 1874, and served fifteen consecutive years therein. In the Senate he soon took rank as an able debater and a shrewd and sagacious party leader. The legislation of those years bears the impress of his organizing power and clearness of statement, and about one-third of the volume of the statutes passed during the session of 1874, to carry into execution the new Constitution, were drafted by him and passed under his direct supervision.

     The Corporation Act of 1874 was the work of his brain and hand. It gives the creative power for corporations of every character—churches, religious, educational, and charitable societies, and industrial, manufacturing, mining, and every other form of corporate power recognized by our laws in the past, are condensed into one harmonious system, and the modes of their creation and management fully set forth. Under this statute perhaps a thousand organizations, of the many forms authorized by it, have already been created. The Democratic party in the Senate were in the majority but one year from 1859 to this time, viz., in 1871, and in that year Senator Wallace was elected Speaker of the body, and presided during that time. In 1865, against his wishes, he was made chairman of the Democratic State Committee of the state; and held that place during 1866, 1867, and 1868 and was again chosen during 1871. His organizing, power and his brief, and ringing addresses came to be known throughout the whole country, and his reputation as a skillful leader was firmly established during these years. He was a delegate to the National convention at Chicago in 1864; a delegate at large and chairman of the Pennsylvania delegation at Baltimore in 1872, where he led the minority of the delegates against the nomination of Horace Greeley.

     He was also delegate at large and chairman of the Pennsylvania delegation to the St. Louis Convention in 1876. He was elected United States Senator in January, 1875, to succeed Hon. John Scott. His competitors for the nomination of his party were Judge J. S. Black, Hon. C. R. Buckalew, and Hon. Heister Clymer. Out of 122 votes in caucus, Senator Wallace received 106. His career in the Senate of the United States up to this time has been marked by that closeness of application and devotion to the interests of the people that has always distinguished him, and he has taken rank among the strongest men in that body and the foremost men of the nation.
 

HON. WILLIAM BIGLER.
 

     IT is a crowning glory of the United States of America, that the paths to wealth and social distinction are here open to all; and there are few whose history better illustrates what can be accomplished by energy and integrity under republican institutions than the subject of this article.

     He was born in Shumansburg, Cumberland county, Pa, in the month of December, 1813, and, when still quite young, his father removed to Mercer county, a region then regarded as the "far west." They settled on a large tract of wild land, for which the elder Bigler had exchanged his estate in Cumberland, and commenced to fell the forest and cultivate the soil.

     The privations incident to this life were too severe for his constitution, and, after a limited progress had been made, the fatal consumption was fastened upon him, and he died in 1824. Amongst the throng of mourners who followed his remains to the grave, were two sons ; John, aged twenty, and William, eleven. Twenty-eight years thereafter, when many of the same throng followed the remains of the mother of these sons to the same graveyard, John was acting governor of California, as was William of Pennsylvania. Six years, and John was a minister plenipotentiary to a foreign court, and William a senator of the United States, and regarded by all the country as au influential advisor of the President.

     William, in early life, had only the advantage of a common school education, but he won his degrees, in what is regarded by many as the best college to disclose the talents of a bright boy, a printing office. This was accomplished in the office of his brother John, at Bellefonte. In 1833, at the solicitation of political friends of his brother, he came to Clearfield to publish a newspaper. The project seemed to him at first to be rather dubious, but he finally consented to make the venture, and in this connection we might state, that no one's advice was more influential than that of Andrew G. Curtin, now himself au ex-governor.

     Our hero now starts, armed for the combat with an old hand-press, a set of sheep skin balls, a font of second-hand type, forty dollars of borrowed money, and arrives in Clearfield in August, 1833.

     An anecdote is related of him that, when in the outskirts of the town, he attemped [sic] to induce the driver of the team that had hauled his effects, to go back with them and return the forty dollars, whilst he, penniless, would proceed westward on foot. But it was necessary to enter the town for the night, and then a night's rest and the cordial greeting of the prominent citizens the next morning, drove from his mind all inclination to leave the place--and the desire has never returned since.

     In a few days he got his office in order and presented to the public the first copy of his newspaper, " The Clearfield Democrat." In a few years, with his ceaseless energy and close economy, he was on the high road to prosperity, and a commanding political prominence in this section of the state.

     In 1836 lie was married to Maria Jane, daughter of Alexander B. Reed, one of the early settlers of Clearfield, and a short time thereafter a business partner. Mr. Bigler soon became a leading spirit in politics, and in a short time was a member of a state convention.

     n 1842 he was elected to the senate of the state. In this election, although he was the Democratic nominee and his opponent was the Whig candidate, with only two hundred difference in the strength of the parties in the county, he received every vote cast in the county but one. He at once took a prominent position in the senate, becoming speaker and chairman of the committee on finance. In the latter capacity he gained much distinction by his hostility to the idea of repudiating the public debt of the state, which in 1842 and '43 showed itself in certain sections. He was also instrumental in abolishing imprisonment for debt, and founding the insane asylums at Philadelphia and Harrisburg. His voice was ever raised for education in all its branches, but the common school system was his especial object. In 1844 he was re-elected to the state senate, and it was during his second term he exhibited remarkable far-sightedness in railroad enterprises. He was the most active senator in securing the act of incorporation for a company to construct a railroad from Harrisburg to Pittsburgh, so as to complete the connection between the latter and Philadelphia. At this time, it hardly seems possible that to this measure any opposition would have shown ; but we have heard Mr. Bigler say that he never had a fiercer conflict in all his life than that which grew out of the effort to prevent the incorporation of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, and to give instead the right to the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Company to extend its road to Pittsburgh. It was in a speech on this subject that Mr. Bigler foretold the construction of a railroad to his own town, on nearly the precise location on which it was placed twenty-five years thereafter.

     By his manly course in the senate, and the foresight he exhibited in the discussion on the internal improvement of the state, his name was brought forward very prominently in connection with the office of governor. In 1848, after the death of Gov. Shunk, he had a very large following in the Democratic convention which nominated Judge Longstreth. The latter, however, was defeated by William F. Johnson.

     In 1851 Mr. Bigler was nominated for governor by acclamation, ever was elected over W. F. Johnson after the most animated contest ever witnessed in the state. The campaign lasted over three months, during which time they both traveled and addressed the people once or more nearly every day.

     Gov Bigler's administration was marked by the adoption of several important measures, the principal of which were the establishing the office of county superintendent of schools, and the founding of the Pennsylvania training school for feeble-minded children. The Pennsylvania railroad from Harrisburg to Pittsburgh was completed, and a powerful impulse was added to the development of the resources of the state, and perfected that grand scheme by which almost a century previous, the inhabitants of the metropolis sought to secure the trade of the west.

     On leaving the gubernatorial chair, he was at once elected president of the Philadelphia and Erie Railroad Company, and served one year, and on the day his term expired he was elected United States Senator, which position he filled until March 4th, 1861. In regard to the sectional strife which prevailed at that time he took a high and commanding position as a liberty-loving and constitution-obeying patriot. Gov. Bigler was a firm friend and able advocate of the " Crittenden Compromise." If the members of our national convention had only listened to his warning voice, the four years of bloody strife would not have come upon our beloved country.
 

CENTENNIAL RECORD.

     Gov. Bigler was unanimously selected by the legislature as one of the commissioners who supervised the expenditure of the one million of dollars which the state appropriated for the erection of Memorial Hall. He acted as president of this board, and won an enviable reputation for his executive ability.

     He was afterwards selected by the Board of Finance to organize the Centennial work in Pennsylvania At the end of a year's constant work in this service, he was selected as a member of the Centennial Board of Finance. His public career, joined to most excellent business management, made his selection peculiarly acceptable to members of all parties and sections of the country.

     In devising means for the raising of funds, it was deemed necessary to extend the organization throughout the entire country. At the earnest solicitation of the Board, he consented to undertake this work, and to that end he traveled through nearly all the states, explaining the nature of the enterprise, holding public meetings, and urging the people to participate therein. His position was that of Financial Officer of the Centennial Board of Finance and the United States Centennial Commission. It was conceded by all that he was remarkably successful in the performance of this difficult work.

     But, perhaps, the most valuable and difficult duty imposed upon him was to visit Washington City, in the winter of 1873, to promote the idea of an international exhibition, as against a national exhibition which was proposed by some.

     After many weeks' diligent labor, he and Col. Forney accomplished this work, and thereby placed the enterprise in a commanding position. His next great task and triumph was in inducing Congress, almost at the last moment, to appropriate three millions of dollars to complete the preparations and carry through the work. This result inspired foreign citizens and exhibitors with confidence in the success of what became the great international exhibition.

     Gov. Bigler has a long history, and some of it very interesting, but no page of it is brighter than this: In the campaign of 1876 he took prominent part, and spoke at many points in Pennsylvania, Ohio and Indiana. He was one of the prominent citizens who were selected by Gov. Tilden to visit New Orleans and witness an honest count of the votes for presidential electors. He left Philadelphia on the night of the closing of the exhibition, and remained in New Orleans till about the middle of December. His action in those memorable proceedings endeared him to all who regard the success of right, as far preferable to power obtained by means ignoble.

     If any young man should chance, on reading our unpretending pages, to resolve to follow in the footsteps of our subject, we shall feel amply repaid for our troubles in portraying his career. Gov. Bigler's life, as it passes before us, exhibits none of those traits which intoxicates the beholder. The plain and unvarnished truths of everyday life are exemplified in his career, and we, as recorders only, deal with the plain facts of a career, and we, as recorders only, deal with the plain facts of a career so rich in political experience and so noted in the annals of successful statesmanship.
 

Dr. JOHN P. HOYT
 

     Who is there in this section of the state that has not heard of Dr. Hoyt? Kind and affable in manner, genial in disposition, extremely hospitable to friend and the strange guest at his table, he it regarded by all as a valuable citizen whose decease would be deemed public calamity. He was born in the city of Hudson, N. Y., on the 12th day of September, 1793. His father, Phineas Hoyt was a native of New Hampshire. He died in 1803. His wife, Julia Pennoyer, who was a native of Hudson, died in 1820.

     Mr. Hoyt's boyhood education was diversified. Now a school boy in Hudson, then a student at Dartmouth college for a few months, and then back to Hudson. In spite of the many changes, he acquired the rudiments of a good English education, and also some knowledge of the ancient languages. Fond of reading, attention was turned toward medicine, and so entered the office of Dr. Woodward in Otsego, N. Y., and afterwards was a student in Dr. White's office of the same locality. We find his name on the roll of Tioga county practitioners, and learn that he was a student of Dr. Wing's, and received his degree in the spring of 1818. He removed, in the same year, to Half-moon township, Centre county, Pa, and in April following, again changed his residence to a point (2) two miles southwest of what is now known as Curwensville. No pen of ours can adequately describe the practice of a country physician of 1819. None but one possessing an iron constitution, could have endured the constant strain upon the very vital energies. The ride of many miles, the constant exposure either to a hot, blistering sun, or the chilly blasts of Boreas, were enough to dampen the courage of any but a cool determined man. The roads were few, and often he blazed his way through the forest, with or sound to sooth his ear save the lone hoot of the owl, the discordant howl of the wolf, or the sudden snort of his horse as the stealthy panther approached. The good he accomplished is not forgotten' the kind word he spake and the medicine he so freely gave the unfortunate have not passed away unremembered. With all its faults, this generation is mindful of the deeds of benevolence of its ancestors, and they have not wrought in vain.
 

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HISTORICAL SKETCH OF CLEARFIELD COUNTY, PENN'A.

     For a few years, Dr. Hoyt was a merchant in Curwensville, and in 1846, wishing for a more quiet abode, he removed to his present home on the Susquehanna about three miles above Lumber City, where he yet resides, a hale and hearty veteran, whose strength bids fair to last a score of years more.

     He was married in January, 1820, to Miss Mary McClure, daughter of Thomas McClure of Pike township. His wife and three children are living, and our aged pioneer is enjoying the comforts and blessings of a fortune, well earned by his years of toil, and patient, economical living. He served as associate judge under Judges White, Burnside and others, from 1862 to 1857.

     As a historical reminiscence, we would state that his ancestors, the Hoyts of Connecticut, presented a Declaration of Independence, signed and published it to the world in 1776, some ninety days before the signing of the famous 1776 Declaration of Independence, of the 4th of July observance.
 

JUDGE GEORGE R. BARRETT.
 

     No history of Clearfield county would be complete without mention of Judge Barrett. His life has been pure, never tarnished with spot or blemish. His professional, judicial and political career have secured for him an enviable reputation and social regard.

     He was born in Curwensville on the 31st of March, 1817. His father, Daniel Barrett, (Irish descent,) located in the county in 1816, having removed from Centre county, where he was born in 1784. He died in 1864. Rachel Rodden, his wife, was born in Centre county, and died in 1871, seventy-three years of age. Our subject's father was a carpenter by trade, and in later years a merchant, and George assisted in the store till about 1833. In that year, he went to Bellefonte and entered the printing office of John Bigler as an apprentice. William Bigler was there too, striving to learn the art preservative. We next find him in Brookville, where he had purchased a paper, "The "Jeffersonian." He edited it about a year, and then read law at Lewisburg, and also published a campaign paper about six months. He continued his legal studies and was admitted to the bar before his twenty first birth day. His legal career began at Clearfield, where he yet is busy in professional duties. In 1853 he was appointed by Gov. Bigler, judge of the 22d judicial district, ( the district comprised Carbon, Monroe, Pike and Wayne counties,) to fill a vacancy caused by the resignation of the presiding judge. In 1855 he was nominated, without his knowledge or consent, and elected to the same position. In 1865 he was unanimously reelected, without opposition, to the same honorable place upon the bench. In 1871 he resigned, and re-commenced the practice of his profession, which he began so many years before, and that, too, in his old office in Clearfield, where he made his maiden address in his first entry into the ranks of the legal fraternity. On the bench, his decisions mere marked by their brevity and striking exemplification of legal principles. His continuous career as judge us the best evidence of his personal popularity. As an attorney, he us well known for the careful preparation of his papers and his arguments on mooted points in equity and chancery practice. Few cases are there, either in civil or criminal practice, but what he is engaged therein; and his standing as a practitioner places him among the leading attorneys of this section of the country. He was married in 1837, to Miss Sarah Steadman, daughter of George Steadman of Northumberland county. Of the ten children born to them nine are yet living.
 

JUDGE JAMES T. LEONARD.
 

     In the life of the man of business, we do not expect to find the achievements of the military hero, or the sublime passages of the eloquent statesman; but there is a fascination in tracing the life of a poor boy, step by step, as he advances in his career toward wealth and affluence, and much of interest that may he profitably recorded.

     The Leonards are of Irish descent. Patrick (born in Ireland) and Margaret Thompson, his wife, the grandparents of James, tame to Peach Bottom, Lancaster county, some time previous to the commencement of the Revolution. In a short time he removed to the present site of Harrisburg. when the only house then erected was occupied by John Harris. Here he was engaged in trading with the Indians, and he advanced as far in his operations as Sunbury. He next removed to a place about three miles above Harris's. Here his son Abram was bone on the 11th of July, 1777. Patrick removed to Warrior Ridge, and engaged in farming till 1816, when he died. His wife soon followed him. Abram was married in 1779, to Miss Elizabeth Armstrong, daughter of Thomas Armstrong, He was engaged in farming, in a rough and precarious way, for several years. In the spring of 1803, in the hope of finding a better location, he visited this section of the state, and, liking the appearance of the country, and noting its salubrity of climate and general healthfulness, he resolved to make this country his home. Thereupon he removed to what is now known as Bradford township, near the mouth of Clearfield creek, arriving here on the 11th of March, 1804. He brought with him three children—James T., Thomas, and Elizabeth—all still living. Abram died on the farm in 1846; his wife died in 1853.

     James T., our subject, was born at the foot of Warrior Ridge, on the 30th of January, 1800. His early education, on the whole, was rather deficient. He had a brief term with Samuel Fulton, an educated gentleman, the first county surveyor. The school-house was situated within a few rods of Samuel Cloyd's residence, in Lawrence township. James boarded with the teacher, as his father's house was at too great a distance from the school-room. The son of a farmer in the backwoods has to obtain his education more by felling the giant trees of the forest and by plowing among stumps, than by the reading of books and attending school. Thus he passed his early years, and as manhood approached he worked yet the more laboriously. His life till 1836 was the usual routine of a hard-working frontier farmer. In that year he was elected county treasurer, and served in that capacity till 1839. He was appointed prothonotary by Gov. Porter, and after a service of one year was elected for a full term of three years. In 1846 he was appointed by Gov. Shunk associate judge, and was on the bench, as an aid to President Judge Knox, five years. In 1859 he was appointed by Gov. William k. Packer prothonotary, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Hon. George Walters. Though nominally he held the office, the actual duties were performed by J. Blake Walters, son of the deceased, then only eighteen years of age. The entire profits of the position were given to the latter, for the benfit [sic] of the family ; and the young man fulfilled every duty in a manner honorable to himself and creditable to his friend and benefactor.

     As to the business career of Judge Leonard, we would remark that it was only a striking evidence of a mind quick to comprehend and ever ready to seize the golden opportunity of making a purchase and disposing of it to the greatest advantage. In 1839, in company with William L. Moore, he opened a general store, under the name and style of Leonard & Moore. Their trade was large, and the firm was among the leading establishments in this section. In 1849 they dissolved partnership, and Mr. Leonard turned his attention to the lumber business, in which for several years he had been somewhat busily engaged, in connection with his other enterprises. From this period to 1873 he was among the leading lumber shippers of the county. In 1859, in company with William A. Wallace and A. C. Finney, he organized a private bank, known as Leonard, Finney & Co. This in 1864 was reorganized as the County National Bank of Clearfield County. He was elected as president of this institution, and still retains the position. He also assisted in forming the County Bank, and is now among the leading stockholders. He was an original stockholder of the Tyrone & Clearfield Railroad Company, and served as treasurer of the corporation for four years. He was indefatigable in his labor for this improvement. He subscribed generously for its progress, and felt amply repaid for all his exertions by the change the iron horse wrought on its entrance into the county seat. He interested himself in nearly all the turnpikes and bridges in the county. He subscribed to them liberally, never as an investment, but solely as an aid to public improvement.

     His greatest honor is the graded school which bears his name. Clearfield may well take pride in this institution, as it is among the finest public school buildings in the central portion of the state. Judge Leonard donated the ground, erected and furnished the building, at an expense of not less than twenty-five thousand dollar, This, a free gift from a generous heart, he makes for the benefit or the rising generation, whom he wishes to enjoy the privileges of which he was well nigh deprived.

     He was married in 1856, to Miss Amanda Lenox, daughter of George D. Lenox. Her grandfather, Robert Collins, built the old court-house, which stood on the site of the present county building.
 

HON. JAMES B. GRAHAM.
 

     THE old adage, "True merit will win," was never better illustrated than in the sketch of our subject. Humble surroundings and lack of early educational training did not hinder him in the race for competence. He was born near Bellefonte, on the 21st of August 1811. His father, Francis Graham, during the Revolution, lived near Valley Forge, and after the battle of the Brandywine, many of the British officers stopped over night with his father—John Graham—although a whig. They, in token of their appreciation of his hospitality, resented him with a cane, which our subject has yet in his possession.

     Francis Graham settled in Centre county about 1790, and removed to Karthaus township, Clearfield county, in 1822. Prior to his father's removal James attended an academy at Bellefonte for a brief time, and after the location in Karthaus he had a limited opportunity of learning the " three R's" at the common schools then in vogue. But the keen desire to improve, and the anxiety to know more than the dull routine of a country school, forced him to read all the books that came in his way, and to act upon the axiom, " Read much, but think more." Although he worked upon the farm till twenty-two years of age, he found many opportunities for study and reflection, so that he might well be termed a well-read man.

     His attention was now turned toward a mercantile life, and in 1834 he entered the store of William Irvin, at Curwensville, as a clerk, and remained with him till 1836. His habits were economical, and from his meagre salary he saved a limited amount of money. With this, and the credit he had so well earned, he opened a general store at Turner's Stills, now known as Grahamton. His old employer aided him constantly, both with goods and money. From a humble commencement his business increased so that he engaged in the lumber trade. The latter seemed his own peculiar field. He erected an extensive saw mill, bought large tracts of land, and sometimes had over three hundred men in his employ. The grist-mill, the blacksmith shop—in fact, the entire business of the town, was owned and managed by himself. Whether rafting on the river, sawing in the mill, or selling in the store, he seemed at home, and managed each department so well that in a few years he secured a handsome fortune.

     In 1852 he removed his family to Clearfield, for the purpose of educating his children, but did not take his residence there till the 4th of July, 1860. In November of that year he was elected cashier of the Clearfield County Bank, organized under the Free Banking Law. This was the first bank organized in the county. After being cashier five years he was elected vice-presidident, and retains the position at this date. He disposed of a portion of his business in Grahamton, and retained his lumber interest, and this he yet is pushing as well as the time will permit. Grahamton is not the thriving town it was prior to 1873, but the prospect is that the good time is soon coming when its business will rival the most palmy days of its former career of prosperity.

     He has been but little in public life. Though often requested, he never was a candidate but twice for official honors. From 1838 to 1839 be served in the board of county commissioners. He was married in 1838, at Clearfield Bridge, to Miss Elizabeth A. Alexander, a daughter of William Alexander, an old settler of Bellefonte. Five children were born to him, all living at the time of publication.

     Socially our subject is a most genial friend, and his acts of kindness and real welcome are a true index of his warm and affectionate temperament. He has acquired a competence, and in a greater proportion has he contributed to public and private enterprises than his wealth has increased. His career has been crowned with success, and there is left for him a future of still larger possibilities.
 

HON. GEORGE WALTERS.
 

     THE Walters are of German descent. George Walters, the grandfather, was born in Germany, and his family occupied a leading social position. He held the office of landgrave, and was in the possession of an estate of no mean proportions. On account of political trouble he was exiled, and thereupon sought a new home in Lancaster county, Pa. The data of emigration, settlement, etc., are unfortunately unknown.

     His son George's early history is very indistinct. He was a farmer, and was killed by the falling of a tree near Lewistown, Juniata county, in 1813. He was married to Margaret Yost, and had five children—three sons and two daughters. Of this family we will speak particularly of one, the subject of this notice. He was horn in Lewistown, Juniata county, on the 13th of April, 1807. After the death of his father he was taken by his uncle Jacob to raise. When only eleven years old he carried for his uncle (the contractor) the tri-weekly mail from Lewistown to Bellefonte, going one day to Bellefonte and returning next day to Lewistown. He acted as postboy for three years, and then entered Frank McCoy's saddlery shop at Lewistown as in apprentice. On the expiration of his service he commenced a jaunt, working at Niagara Falls, Buffalo, N. Y., and many other points. He then located in Salona, Clinton county, where he was married to Miss Ann Elder, daughter of John Elder, an early pioneer on Buffalo creek. He visited Clearfield county in 1834; and, liking the county, he returned the year following, and settled at Curry's Run, on land now owned by Charles Thorpe. In 1841, after making considerable improvements, he sold the property and removed to Curwensville, where he kept hotel, saddlery shop, etc. He remained here till 1843, when he returned to Curry's Run, built a saw-mill, and engaged extensively in lumbering. In 1847 he was elected assemblyman, and served two sessions. He continued in the lumber business till 1856, when he was elected prothonotary, and died in the active performance of his duties, on the 20th of January, 1859. He left two sons. and a daughter, one son and two daughters having deceased. Our subject was a great lover of books, and his time, when not employed in other affairs, was mainly devoted to reading and study. He was a popular man in the true sense of the term, and won his friends by qualities of head and heart, and never descended to the plane of a demagogue.
 

HON. JOHN PATTON.
 

     In the history of every community may be found some one man, who, for far-reaching sagacity, business enterprise, and public spirit, stands pre-eminent among his fellows. Curwensville has such a man, and, though brought into competition with many men possessing these qualities in an eminent degree, it is not invidious to claim, that the man whose name stands at the head of this page occupies the proud position. When an iron frame is bound to a bold. comprehensive mind, business, commerce, capacity for details, and indomitable enterprise, the man who possesses these qualities combined, unless handicapped heavily in life's race at the outset, is destined to win. He has had, outside himself, no advantages not possessed by all, even the poorest and humblest ; and he has, by his own efforts, achieved wealth and reputation. His name has long been in Clearfield county a synonym for skill and sagacity, and this in not all. Many men achieve fortunes by means as selfish as the ends they pursue. Shrewd, no doubt, and acute in their special calling, they are still men of narrow mind—men of routine. They lack that mental breadth and comprehensiveness which enables them to take a large angled view, and realize that even the largest business success is secured by that public spirit which looks to public improvement and the development of the community and country where their business is situated. John Patton had that mental grasp. Ambitious, as all men who suceed are, he appreciated from the beginning the importance of public improvements, and saw with singular clearness, that in working for the public good and the development of the county and community, he was also working in the most effective manner for his own interest.

     John Patton was born in Covington, Tioga county, on the 6th of January, 1823. To properly appreciate his record we will speak of his ancestors on either side. His father, John Patton, was born in Philadelphia on the 8th of February 1783. His father, (our subject's grandfather,) John Patton, was born in Sligo, County of Sligo, Ireland, in 1745, He came to Philadelphia in 1761. Under the old colonial government he was an auctioneer. This was a government office, and there were only four in the city for many years. He was married to Jane Davis, daughter of an old settler of Chester county. They were well known as a celebrated Revolutionary family. Her brother, Lt. Joseph Davis, fell at the massacre of Wyoming. His remains are interred under the monument erected to the memory of the martyrs who fell victims of that terrible conflict. After his marriage he was a merchant in the city, and at the time of the Revolution (1777) was a contributor of £2,000 for the support of the colonial army. He and the noted Robert Morris were extremely liberal friends of the Whigs. He was colonel of the 16th Penn'a Infantry, and played a prominent part in the noted struggle for liberty. Col. Patton removed to Centre county in 1789. He built, in 1791, Centre Furnace. Col. Miles, the proprietor of Milesburg, was connected in business matters with him. He died in 1804. At his death he was major general of this division of the state militia. His wife, Mrs. Jane Patton, died in 1831, aged seventy-nine years.

     Our subject's father (John Patton) in his boyhood wan a sailor. Before he was seventeen years of age he shipped on board the Woodruff, bound for a voyage to China. Before his nineteenth birthday he was appointed a midshipman under Commodore Stephen Decatur. He was a classmate and chum of John Decatur. His vessel was wrecked off the coast of Africa. His friend—John Decatur—and himself were treated with extreme kindness by the barbarous inhabitants of the country. He obtained a commission as lieutenant in the navy. He was in command of a gunboat, with the rank of captain, stationed off the coast of Virginia, with headquarters at Norfolk. On account of ill health he left the navy in 1810, and went into business at Tussey Furnace, Centre county. In 1811 he was married to Miss Susan Antes, of Centre county. Miss Antes wee born in Boggs township, Centre county, on the 10th of May, 1791. She was the daughter of Philip and Susan (Williams) Antes. The families were of German extraction, and among the earliest settlers of Centre county. Her father (Philip Antes) was born in Faldemer Swamp, twenty miles above Philadelphia, on the 25th of August, 1759. Her mother (Susan Williams Antes) was born in Dauphin county, on the 14th of September, 1755. They were married the 21st of February, 1780, and lived for some time in Northumberland. Philip Antes' father (Henry
 

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HISTORICAL SKETCH OF CLEARFIELD COUNTY, PENN'A.

Antes) was a Moravian, born is Germany, but the date of his removal to America is unknown. He was a colonel in the Revolutionary Army throughout the war. Philip Antes moved to Centre county in 1784, and located in Boggs township, on the Bald Eagle, just below Milesburg. He removed) to this county in 1825.

     John Patton, after his marriage with Susan Antes, settled in Tioga county in 1817. He resided there seven years, acting as prothonotary for a term, under Gov. Heister. He returned to Centre county in 1824, and removed to Clearfield county in 1826. He first settled at Centre, but removed to Curwensville in the spring of 1828. He taught school for a number of years ; also acted as justice of the peace, and served a term of five years as associate judge, being commissioned by Gov. Porter. He was an invalid several years before his death, and died of paralysis on the 2d of February, 1848. His estimable lady survives him. and, though over eighty-six years of age, seems possessed of remarkable vigor for one of her years. Her stories of the olden time are very interesting, and her equal in consecutive local history we have seldom met.

     Our subject, as before stated, was born in Tioga county, January 6th. 1823. His educational advantages were very limited, since the circumstance of his family compelled him to contribute all his efforts to their support. He might be termed a self educated youth, and, being a shrewd boy, with a good grip on ideas, he always retained something of the last winter's lesson, and always saw the last pages of his arithmetic before the first were entirely worn out. At the age of eleven he went into the store of William Irvin, at Curwensville, as an errand boy. He continued in the store as a clerk till of age, and then went into business for himself; having no capital but that which he borrowed. This speaks volumes for the character of the young man, and shows how firmly his business reputation had become established, to secure such financial aid. His trade grew, and soon became of respectable proportion. His business was such that he was forced to buy large amounts of lumber. This was the foundation of a business which. under his management, increased to such an extent that he was used for being one of the leading merchants and most extensive shippers of lumber in the county. With fine physical powers, and executive ability to carry out what the mind had conceived, he was noted up and down the river for his operations, which proved singularly successful up to the spring of 1861.

     In 1864 he organized and became president of the First National Bank of Curwensville. The capital was one hundred thousand dollars. Since that time he has been engaged in banking and kindred occupations. Swift, both in conception and execution, he signalized his business career by investments, sales, business ventures, and other financial work, thereby almost distancing his competitors—men, too, older than he, but who lacked that far-sightedness which saw success instead of misfortune, gain rather than loss, in the plans he formed and so admirably carried out.

     As a public spirited man he saw the necessity of a railroad to open up and bring to market the resources of the Upper Susquehanna. He was a strong friend of, and aided liberally in the construction of the railroad from Tyrone to Philipsburg. Some of the best work he ever performed was in extending this same road from Clearfield to Curwensville. The donation of money by himself and the influence he exerted, were such that sixty thousand dollars were at once raised, and what was only spoken of as a possibility was thereby made as established fact.

     During these years he took some part in political life. In 1852 he was a delegate to the National Convention of the Whig party, at Baltimore, which nominated Gen. Scott for the presidency. He also was appointed a member in 1860 of the convention which met at Chicago and nominated Mr. Lincoln. He also was a member of several state conventions, and aided materially in the selection and election of the nominees. In 1860 he was nominated and elected, by the Republican party, a member of the Thirty-seventh Congress, from the Twenty-fourth District. He overcame an adverse majority in the district, and carried Clearfield county, hitherto strongly Democratic, by a handsome vote. In Congress he took a decided stand for the maintenance of national unity, and supported all the measures introduced by the Republican party for the prosecution of the war, emancipation of the slaves, and the raising of moneys by and from the public credit. Every step looking to the prompt payment of the soldiers, the bounties for their families, and the equipment of the men with arms and ammunition, and other military laws, were aided by John Patton in a manner which showed his feeling as a man, and his duty as a union loving legislator. The Twenty-fourth District having been changed, he was tendered a renomination front the district, now strongly Republican. This honor was declined by him. In 1864, at the second election of Mr. Lincoln, he was chosen one of the presidential electors. In the Electorial College, on his motion, the per diem and mileage of all the electors were donated to the United States Christian Commission. Previous to this he had taken a deep interest in the Christian and Sanitary Commissions, and had contributed largely to their support from his private means. Since the war he has been engaged closely in private pursuits, and has taken but little part in political affairs.

     In the Act of Congress which selected the commission to constitute the Board of Finance, his name was among those distinguished gentlemen, as one of that body. To these gentlemen is due much of the success of the great International Exhibition. They set the wheels in motion, and made our great World's Exposition a success, in spite of the great drawback. which accompany such enterprises. He favored having Pennsylvania take hold of this—its greatest honor—and to vote the money necessary to build Memorial Hall, and to be well represented as the first guardian of the infant republic.

     In religious matters he has ever taken a prominent part. He contributed very largely to the cost of the erection of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Curwensville. This, at the time of its construction, was the finest church edifice in this part of the county. He was a generous friend of all the churches of the M. E. connection; and not only that faith has be aided—he was a liberal giver to each and every demomination in building or trying to build in this section of the county. There has been scarcely a public enterprises in this section of the state but what he has been a leading spirit therein. He was indomitable in his labors for the cause of internal improvements. Cautious, possessing a well balanced judgment, he was very decided in the execution of his plans; and his business capabilities were eminently calculated to insure success.

     Mr. Patton has been twice married ; first, in 1847, to Miss C. M. Ennis, daughter of Alexander Ennis, of Hollidaysburg, Pa. She died in November, 1855, leaving three sons and a daughter. In 1856 his oldest son died. In 1858 he married Miss H. J. Foley, daughter of Hon. W. C. Foley, of Clearfield. By this second marriage he has had eight children—three sons and three daughters living, and one son and daughter dead.

     It is impossible, in the limits of this article, to give an adequate history of so shining a life. We have only attempted to portray some of the leading events therein, that in after years the student may know something of the life and struggles of one whose name must always stand prominent in the history of this county, and who has contributed so largely to lay the foundations of its future prosperity.
 

PETER HOOVER.
 

     CONRAD HOOVER was born in Germany in 1734, and came to America in 1752. He lived in York county, Pa., for several years, and was the father of fourteen children. He died in 1806. John Hoover, the second son, born December 24, 1763, married Mary Ashenfelter about the year 1797, and removed to Centre county, and settled in the Bald Eagle Valley, two miles above where Milesburg now stands. Here was born to him seventeen children, the eldest son, Peter (the subject of this sketch), being born September 27,1798. The country being new and the family large, the services of the eldest son was required to support his younger brothers and sisters. The facilities for procuring an education at that time being very limited, the prospect was not a very bright one; but in this instance, as often since, the old adage, "where there is a will, there is a way," was verified. The young student would work hard all day, and at night study arithmetic by the light of pitch pine knots in an old fashioned fireplace. In this way he acquired a common-school education, and considerable proficiency in mathematics. In 1823 he married Mary Hall, removed to Clearfield county, and taught school where Centre schoolhouse, in Lawrence township, now stands. The next year he moved to Brady township, then almost a wilderness, and the following winter collected the few children of the neighborhood together, and taught school at. Luthersburg. In the year 1835 he removed to Pike township, and in 1837 engaged in the mercantile business in a small way, without, however, giving up his chosen profession of teaching. This was continued until 1844, when he moved to a farm on the Susquehanna river, three and a half miles above Curwensville, where he combined farming and teaching until 1864, when ill-health compelled him to abandon both—having taught school every winter, with one or two exceptions, for forty-two years. Mr. Hoover did not claim to teach more than the common branches, but these he taught thoroughly, especially arithmetic, and many of the business men of the county still retain a lively recollection of the manner in which the "old school-master" wielded the pen with his right hand and a hickory "persuader" with his left. The old log school-house, the quill pens, Pike's Arithmetic, the English Reader, and the primitive style of teaching have all passed away, and with them the teachers who labored faithfully to lay the foundation of our present system of free schools, Mr. Hoover being an early and ardent advocate of that system.

     Although never wealthy himself, he was noted for his hospitality, especially to the poor and needy, and was always more anxious to give his children an education than to leave them an inheritance. He passed the last few years of his life, with his son Harris, on "the old place," and died June 18, 1869, leaving a widow and seven children living.

     The following is a copy of an obituary notice that appeared in the county papers at the time of his death:

     "DIED.—At his residence in Pike township, Mr. Peter Hoover, aged seventy years, eight months and twenty-two days. The deceased had been a resident of this county for more than forty years. By his honesty and kindness he had gained the friendship of all who knew him. The large concourse of people who followed him to his grave gave testimony to the high estimation in which he was held as a neighbor and a citizen."
 

HENRY GOODLANDER.
 

     HENRY GOODLANDER was born on the bank of the Susquehanna, opposite the present site of Milton, on the 17th of March, 1805. His father was one of the first settlers of Northumberland. After the massacre of Wyoming, he was among the first parties who fled across the river to a safer refuge in Northumberland. He died in 1805. We might state that he was a squatter on one hundred and twenty acres of land, (present site of Milton,) the title having been obtained from the Indiana, but those who held the title through the Quaker succession of title, (Penn's treaty with the Indians) had him ejected by process of law.

     Henry learned the trade of shoemaker, and was an industrious and skillful knight of the lapstone for several years.

     He was married in 1826, in Union county, to Miss Margaret Breon, daughter of George Breon, an early pioneer of Schuylkill county.

     In 1837 he removed to Clearfield county, and located about a mile south-west of Luthersburg. The aged citizen yet lives honored and respected by all. Of the thirteen children, four sons and nine girls, ten are living.

     Hon. G. B. Goodlander, a son of the above, was born on the 27th April, 1827, near Williamsport. He worked on his father's farm till eighteen year's of age, and then entered the shop of Miles Hartsock, at Curwensville, where he served three years' apprenticeship at wagon making. From 1848 to 1856, he managed a similar establishment of his own, at Luthersburg. Mr. G. was married in 1849 to Miss Sophia Jane Evans, daughter of Josiah Evans—who erected one of the first houses in Curwensville, and is yet living in the same house constructed so many years ago.

     Our subject wag Justice of the Peace for five years, and prior to this was a member of the Assembly in 1842-3.

     In 1859 he was elected County Treasurer, and held several other offices in the gift of the people. His most honorable office was, and is, that of Editor and Publisher of the "Clearfield Republican." In 1860 the paper was about one-fourth of its present size, and had only four hundred subscribers. At this time, be purchased it, put it on a sound financial basis, gradually enlarged its columns, gave a tone of no uncertain sound to its editorials, and made it decisively the organ of the Democratic party in this section of the State. With a large circulation, ably edited, it retains and increasess its hold upon the affections and opinions of the people of Clearfield and subjoining counties. A single look at its well filled columns is a better evidence of its standing than any words of ours can afford.
 

JUDGE JOSEPH B. McENALLY.
 

     The Clearfield bar has long enjoyed a high reputation, and its members have largely influenced the cause of not only the county, but state and national affairs. Among the able men who adorn the bar of this district, we find the name of Joseph B. McEnally.

     He was born at Fishing Creek, Columbia county, in 1825. His father, Peter MeEnally, was a Methodist minister, and, in the course of his itinerancy, was a circuit rider in Clearfield county at a very early day. He died on the Allegheny mountains, near Clearfield Bridge, in 1850.

     Joseph's early educational training was especially obtained at a grammar school in Carlisle, and an academy at Bedford. He prepared himself for a classical course, and in due time entered the Franklin and Marshall college, at Mercersburg. He remained there only a short time, and was then enrolled as a student at Dickinson college, from which he graduated in 1845.

     He then commenced the study of law, the last portion of the same being with Alexander Jordan, Esq., of Sunbury (afterwards a President Judge of the Lycoming district), and was admitted to practice at Sunbury, in 1849.

     He located in Clearfield in 1850, and at once entered into the active duties of the profession. For a few years he was District Attorney, gaining the respect of all by his energy and close attention to business. In the spring of 1868. Governor Geary appointed our subject judge of this district, to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Judge Lynn. Against his will, he was nominated, in the fall of 1868. by the Republicans, for the same position, and was defeated by Hon. C. A. Mayer, the present incumbent.

     He was married, in 1852, to Miss Amelia Wright, daughter of A. K. Wright, a well-known lumberman, afterwards associate judge.

     As an attorney, Judge McEnally is a strong, common-sense business man, who tries his cases not only in the light of precedents, but also in the wider spirit of reason and principle.
 

ELISHA FENTON.
 

     In the Half Moon Valley, Centre county, Pa., on the 14th day of November, 1796, was born Elisha Fenton, one of the surviving pioneers of Clearfield county. His father's name was Benjamin Fenton, and his mother's name, Rebecca Moore. His grandfather's name was James Fenton, who was one of the soldiers of the Revolution, and fought in the battle of Monmouth, June 28,1778, in which he had two brothers killed. He lived at that time in the State of New Jersey, not a great distance from where the battle was fought. On the day of the battle, his son, Benjamin Fenton, father of our subject, then a boy of nine years of age, hearing the firing of artillery, mistook it far distant thunder, and ran to the house where he found his mother weeping—she knew a battle was being fought and that her husband was in it. Benjamin Fenton removed with his family to Centre county about the year 1795. From thence he came to Clearfield county in the summer of 1803, and bought 140 acres of land from a man named Owen Aston, being a part of what was known as the Bell purchase, in Penn township. Here he cleared a few acres of land, sowed some wheat and brought his family out the following spring. This place is now known as the Kelley farm, between Lumber City and Curwensville. The only settlers then on the river were Paul Clover, near where the Susquehanna House, Curwensville, now stands—William Bloom, who lived above Beaver run, known afterward as the "Red House,"—Robert Creswell, at the mouth of Hamilton run, who afterward. died there, and family returned to Huntingdon—Thomas McClure, who lived at what is now known as the Attleman property—Abraham McClure, who lived next up the river—James McCracken, on the opposite side of the river—Arthur Bell, known as Squire Bell, whose settlement was where Noah Farewell lived a few years since, below Lumber City—then the Fentons--and next above on the river was John Ferguson, who came and settled about six weeks after the Fentons. Samuel Cochran (a colored man) soon after located a little farther up, and no other settlement was made above this point on the river until some years afterward. The family came to Clearfield county on pack-horses, and no bridges were across any of the streams on the route, except the Bald Eagle, at Milesburg, and the Moshannon, at Philipsburg. They brought along their sheep and cattle. Elisha Fenton had but little opportunity to obtain an education, yet he has been a student hie whole life, and on various subjects has been one of Clearfield county's best informed men. He first went to school to Elisha Moore, an uncle, who taught at Half Moon, Centre county, and his first teacher in Clearfield county was a man named Moore, who taught in that vicinity about the year 1805. Schools in those days were only taught occasionally—sometimes none would be held for a period of two years. As Mr. Fenton expressed it to the writer, "if a man came along that was good for nothing else, he was employed to teach school." One of the men who helped the Fentons to clear their first land was the notorious David Lewis, afterwards the highway robber, who was shot and captured at a shooting match on the Sinnemahoning, and died in the jail at Bellefonte from the effects of his wound. The desperado is described by Mr. Fenton as being "a sharp, keen fellow," and many years later, in a personal interview with Sheriff McGee, of Bellefonte, who made the capture with a pose of men, he learned all the incidents connected with the tragic event In the year 1814, our subject then being eighteen years of age, went to New Jersey and engaged in business with his uncle in a book store, where he remained for seven years. Here he began reading, acquiring a great taste for it, and became a constant student. Here also he came acquainted with his intended wife, Miss Ann Fanniman Bishop. In the year 1821 he returned to Clearfield county, but his mother being dead, he soon after went back to New Jersey and married. He returned with his wife and, for four or five years, lived on his father's farm. From here he removed to what was known as the Boone place (Where Squire Miller now lives,) where he remained for six years, and then settled down on his present homestead, where he has resided ever since. In the year 1873 he was so unfortunate as to lose his sight, but otherwise he enjoys an active mind and body for one of his age. His
 

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HISTORICAL SKETCH OF CLEARFIELD COUNTY, PENN'A.

only child was a daughter, who married Abraham Spencer, Esq., and with whom Mr. Fenton now resides, surrounded by his grand children. Only two men are now living who have been in Clearfield county longer than Mr. Fenton, namely: Grier Bell and Benjamin Bloom. For a number of years, and up to the time of losing his sight, he made regular reports to the Smithsonian Institute, at Washington, on meteorological, agricultural, and other subjects. These were of such a satisfactory and intelligent character that he afterwards received a highly complimentary letter from Prof. Henry, of the Department, and circulars from a large number of the learned and scientific institution in the country . He was brought up an orthodox Quaker, but for a number of years past has been a steadfast and exemplary member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and now enjoys the highest esteem by all who know him.
 

PHILIP DOTTS, ESQ.
 

     The early ancestors of the subject of this sketch came to America from Germany during the latter part of the last century. His father, Henry Dotts, was born in Montgomery county, Pa., in the year 1788. He entered the service of his country in the War of 1812, and served two years, being a member of the Chestnut Hill Rifle Company. For a time be was in camp below Philadelphia, the army being stationed there to prevent the British from coming to the city. He was in the battle of Baltimore, being with the Pennsylvania Volunteers spoken of in history as active participants in that struggle. The general defense of the city of Baltimore in that campaign was entrusted to the command of General Samuel Smith, of the Maryland militia, and General William H. Winder, of the United States Army; but the principal engagement, which was fought several miles below the city, on the 12th day of September, 1814, and in which the Pennsylvania volunteers took an active part, was under the command of Gen. Stricker. Mr. Dotts was familiar with the memorable circumstance of the killing of the British commander, General Ross, on that occasion, who was shot by the two brave Baltimore lads, Wells and McComas, and who gave up their own lives in return, pierced by the hail of bullets from the British soldiers. He entered the service as a corporal and was promoted to lieutenant, serving until the end of the war. After returning from the army he resumed farming, which was his principal vocation during life, and subsequently established the first shad fishery on the Schuylkill river, above Philadelphia, which he also carried on for some time. In the year 1834, he removed to Montgomery county, in this State, where he bought land and improved a farm. He was elected a member of the Legislature from this county, and served from the year 1843 to 1846. He was the father of fourteen children, twelve of whom are now living. He died at the village of Pennsburg, in the eightieth year of his age. His death was caused suddenly in the following manner:

     One morning the house of his daughter, with whom he was living, being on fire, he ran quickly with a bucket of water and, throwing the contents upon the fire, fell back dead. The physicians pronounced the cause a rush of blood to the heart, produced by the excitement. For many years he was identified with the Presbyterian Church as an up right member and a liberal patron—during a great portion of the time serving faithfully as an elder.

     Philip Dotts, Esq., was born at his father's residence on the Schuylkill, above Philadelphia, in the year 1816, Still standing on the bank of the river, about two miles above Philadelphia, and within the limits of the park belonging to the city, may yet be seen that small log house which was the scene of his birth and once his father's habitation, There it is, still preserved by the park authorities as one of the relics of the olden time, He received a good common school education, and when his father removed to Montgomery county, he was eighteen years of age. Remaining with his father until he arrived at the age of twenty-four, he then left home and returned to Philadelphia county, where he learned the trade of a miller, The mills at which he was employed were located at the mouth of the Wissahiccon creek, which empties into the Schuylkill about five miles above Philadelphia City. Here he worked for a period of eleven years, during which time he
married, and in the year 1851 he returned, with his family, to Montgomery county, where he purchased a mill property, He had a grist-mill, saw-mill, and an oil-mill, all of which he successfully operated, and carried on business to a considerable extent, He manufactured flour, and shipped principally to Philadelphia and Norristown, Continuing his business in Montgomery county for a period of ten years, he sold our and came to Clearfield in the year 1861, He settled on the tract of land which now comprises his finely improved farm near Glen Hope, in Beccaria township, where he has resided ever since, and devoted his attention to farming and lumbering, His first purchase was a tract of timber land consisting of about 500 acres, On this he settled, cleared up, and from the original forest made all the improvements which he now enjoys. Subsequently purchasing other tracts of timber lands, he continued to carry on the lumber business in all its branches, furnishing the market with logs, square timber and spars, But, at the time he came into the county, these valuable Clearfield timber lands had begun to raise in price, the lumber interest soon after became very active, and Mr, Dotts did not possess the same advantages in the business as these who had preceded him.

     Yet it is very seldom that men are found, who pursued both avocations of farming and lumbering, to have been as successful as Philip Dotts. In the lumber business he has been one of Clearfield county's most enterprising operators for the last fifteen or sixteen years, and his highly improved farm—its fine state of cultivation—its substantial improvements—not surpassed for durability and convenience by any in the county—fully attest that he has been equally successful in both. In 1876 he undertook, with commendable enterprise, and in honor Of Clearfield county, to exhibit, at the Centennial, a raft of spars of extraordinary size, but the floods of that year were not sufficient to run such large timber out of the small streams, and the desired object of his project failed, after considerable expense and labor. It was nearly two years afterwards before these fine specimens of spars were got through to market. He has reared a family of ten children, and he and his family are enjoying the bright summer of their lives with hosts of attached friends, A fine view of his residence and farm may be seen on another page of this work, He is highly esteemed for his integrity by all with whom he is in any way associated, and occupies an influential position throughout the county.
 

JOHN M. CHASE.
 

     THE subject of this sketch was born on the 11th day of March, 1820, in Cuyahoga county, Ohio, about eight miles distant from the city of Cleveland. His father, whose name was Benjamin Chase, came originally from Massachusetts, married in the state of New York, and settled in Ohio. While our subject was yet a child, being four years of age, his father lost his health and became an invalid. His mother then desiring to return to her friends in Broom county, New York, the family removed there in the year 1824, where his father soon after died. His mother being in limited circumstances, and having a family of five children, he left home at the early age of seven years, to make a living for himself. In the fall of 1833 he came to Clearfield county, and lived with his uncle, John Swan, who is elsewhere mentioned as one of the pioneers of the county. He made the journey on foot from Binghampton, N. Y., although yet only thirteen years of age. After remaining three years, he returned to his mother in New York, to whom he continued to render assistance until he arrived at the age of nineteen, when he decided to return to Clearfield county, and make this his permanent home. It was in the year 1839 when he came out the last time. He had made the trip to and from Binghampton, N. Y., three times on foot, and one of the noted features of the last one was that the shinplasters of those days were almost exclusively used, by the people on the route, for currency. About a year after his final settlement in Clearfield county, he sent for his mother and step-father. His mother had married again, but was still poor. He nobly performed his part as a dutiful son by bringing them out, and providing them with a home and the comforts of life until their death. In the year 1844, he engaged in the lumber business, which has been his principal occupation to the present time, and has been one of the most successful operators in the county. In the spring of 1845, he entered into partnership with John Patchin, Esq., then one of the leading lumbermen of the county, in the purchase of large tracts of timber land on Clearfield creek. The first purchase consisted of 1,700 acres, and was added to by other tracts subsequently, until the aggregate was several thousand acres. When their lands were afterward divided, John M. Chase had 3,000 acres as his portion. In the year 1864 he bought about 4,000 acres in partnership with Senator Wallace. At the present time he is the owner of about 6,000 acres, some of which are among the best timber lands on Clearfield creek, and he may now be said to be one of the most extensive owners of timber in the county. His lands are also good for farming purposes, and are generally underlaid with valuable veins of coal. He was married in the year 1845 to Miss Tobitha Williams, daughter of Wm. Williams, who is the subject of another sketch in this work, and has raised a family of nine children, all of whom are now living. For many years he has been an exemplary member of the Regular Baptist Church, for a considerable length of time being connected with the congregation at Ansonville, and in the year 1870 he was ordained a minister, and a church was organized in the vicinity in which he now resides, in Woodward township.
 

JASON KIRK.
 

     THOMAS and Jason Kirk, the present owners and occupants of the Kirk homestead, and Joseph and Asaph Kirk, also of Penn township, are lineal descendants of Timothy and Sarah Kirk, who were understood to be of Scotch parentage, if not themselves natives of that country.

     Thomas Kirk, son of the above-named Timothy and Sarah Kirk. died in 1815, and was buried on the bank of the river, near the site of Clearfield town, having removed to this county a few years previous. His wife's maiden name was Hannah Cadwallader. They had six sons, of whom Jason Kirk, the subject of this sketch, was the fourth. He came here from Half Moon township, Centre county (having removed thence from York county, Pa., in the year 1800), in the autumn of 1810, selected the site for his future residence, built a cabin, returned, and brought his family in the spring following.

     He was married, in 1805, to Mary Spencer, daughter of John and Susannah Spencer, of Centre county. They had eight sons and four daughters, of whom five sons and two daughters are now living, the above named Thomas, Jason, Joseph, and Asaph being of that number, He was among the first settlers of what is now Clearfield county, than a part of Centre, and with them suffered the many privations incident to a pioneer life, Diligent in business and honest in purpose, he labored for the support of a large family, clearing land and working at intervals at his trade—which was that of a stone mason—building foundations for barns and houses for the neighboring settlers as they came in, and as they became prepared for making such improvements.

     His wife died in 1827, which gave him increased responsibilities in rearing so large a family without the maternal care.

     He was an exemplary member of the religious society of Friends. Prompt and punctual in business intercourse, he won the esteem of those best acquainted with him, acquired a handsome competence, which enabled him often to render assistance to those who were in need, and calmly passed from earth life on the 22d of 4th month (April), 1868, in the 89th year of his age, having resided at the same place for fifty-seven years.

     An elder brother, John Kirk, also settled in Clearfield county (Brady township) at early day, where he died a few years prior to the death of Jason, Of him it was remarked, on the occasion of his funeral, by an old and respected citizen of the place, " We have just passed the last tribute of respect to the earthly remains of the 'noblest work of God '—an honest man."
 

MATHEW FORCEY.
 

     THE subject of this sketch was one of the pioneers of Clearfield county, He was born in the year 1807, near Wilmington, Delaware, and emigrated with his parents to this county when a child. His father, Thomas Forcey, was one of the first settlers near the present site of the town of Clearfield, his location being near where Richard Shaw's mill now stands, After Mathew Forcey grew up to manhood, the entire site of the town of Clearfield, as he often expressed himself in after life, could have been bought for the sum of two hundred dollars. The family removed to Bradford township while Mathew was yet a young man, and settled on the farm on which William Forcey now resides. Being the only son, he was entrusted by his father with the general management of the farm, and at an early age assumed considerable business responsibility, which he carried on successfully. He afterwards opened a country store and operated quite extensively in square timber—sending many rafts down the river to market. His extensive business led him into intimate relations with a large circle, with whom he enjoyed the utmost confidence. He was universally esteemed, by all who knew him, as one of the most industrious and enterprising citizens of Clearfield county at that time, and we believe we express the entire sentiment of his neighbors when we say he was a truly useful and worthy citizen.
 

CLARK BROWN
 

     Is of Irish descent. His father, Andrew (Irish descent), was born in Lancaster, in 1788. His mother, Sarah, was born in Ireland in 1790. She commenced to walk on board the ship bearing her parents to America.

     There were born to them William, James, Andrew, David, Clark, Samuel, Martha Jane, and Catharine. From Lancaster the family moved to Clearfield county, locating in Lawrence township in 1839.

     Clark was born in Lancaster county on the 6th of January, 1822. He married Eliza Dougherty on the 12th of November, 1850. Mrs. B. died on the 14th of May, 1873.

     He was again married on the 26th of January, 1875, to Mrs. Nancy Gaylor, widow of James Gaylor, of Clearfield.

     Mr. Brown was elected county auditor, in 1867, for the term of three years. In 1873 was elected county commissioner, and in 1875 was reelected to the same position. It is current that his is the only case of a re-election of commissioner.
 

HUGH RIDDLE.

     ONE of the pioneers of Burnside township was Mr. Hugh Riddle, who came to the township in the year 1823, but did not settle permanently until the following year. There were but few settlements in this part of the county, and Burnside township was included in what was known at that time as Chest township. The first settlement of Mr. Riddle was near where Mt. Zion Church now stands.

     Mr. H. Riddle was the father of nine children, who are all dead but the oldest, J. M. Riddle, who now resides near where his father first settled. Hugh Riddle died at the age of seventy-seven years, and was buried at Mt. Zion cemetery, where his wife and six of his children are also buried. Mr. J. M. Riddle, his oldest son, in common with the early settlers, had ten miles to go to mill, through the almost unbroken forest, with no better road than a mere path for a horse. He has been pursued by wolves, and encountered many difficulties. Some families of the early settlers would be in an almost suffering condition before they could go and return from the mills of those days. Such were the privations of the pioneer's life.
 

JOHN RORABAUGH, Sr.,
 

     ONE of the early settlers of Burnside township, was born at Fort Talpahamkin, Pa., in 1776, and was a resident of the State all his life. He came to Burnside township, in the year 1824, from Centre county. He raised a family of sixteen children, fourteen of whom were inmates of the father's house at one time. Mr. Rorabaugh took the first raft to market from Chest creek, and sold it at Lewisburg far $40. The country was almost a complete wilderness, so that a great portion of the land route back was a mere path. When Mr. Rorabaugh came to the county, Burnside, Bell, and Pike townships were included in Chest. Mr. Rorabaugh lived the time allotted to man, dying at the age of seventy-four years. He was buried at New Washington.
 

SAMUEL HOOVER
 

     WAS born in Union county, Pa,, December 12th, 1815, At the age of three years he removed, with his father's family, to Centre county, Pa,, settling on Brush Valley and Buffalo run, where the family remained for ten years, and then removed to what was then Bradford (but now Morris) township, in Clearfield county, They settled near where Morrisdale now stands, and commenced life in earnest in the then untamed forest.

     At the age of twenty-eight years Mr, Hoover married and removed to the tract of land which now comprises his farm. During the settlement of Mr. Hoover's father's family, many hardships and difficulties were experienced, The difficulty to get milling done was so great that they were sometimes compelled to subsist entirely on potatoes. Mr, Hoover's improvements stand to-day as a monument of the industry and enterprise of a well-to-do farmer, He is now sixty-two years of age, and is surrounded by an intelligent family of two sons and five daughters, Mr, Hoover and his family are contestant members of the M. E. Church.

     John Hoover was born in Centre county, Pa., July 12, 1823, He was married at the age of twenty-two years, and moved to his present improvements in 1854. Mr. Hoover is the father of five children-four sons and one daughter.

     George Hoover was born October 2d, 1811. He was married in 1837, and came to Centre county, Pa., from whence he removed to Morris township, He and his brother Jeremiah made a mile and a half of the Packersville pike. He moved to his present farm in 1839. Mr. Hoover raised a family of nine children, five sons and four daughters.
 

JACOB MAURER.
 

     Only son of Philip Maurer, was born in Lehigh county, Pa., in 1783. He married and lived with his wife several years, when she died, leaving two children, He married again, and removed with his family to Covington township, buying two hundred and twenty acres of forest land. The improvements in Covington township stand as a monument to-day of the industry and enterprise of such men as Messrs. Maurer, Reiter, Renoe, Schars, Picard, Rider, and others, Mr. Maurer was the father of eleven children—eight sons and three daughter. He died in 1849, at the age of sixty-six. His son Solomon (now a resident of Covington township) shows, by his industry, the enterprise characteristic of his father.
 

Page 19
HISTORICAL SKETCH OF CLEARFIELD COUNTY, PENN'A.

ELIAS HURD

     Came into Chest township in 1832, and settled and cleared land where Newburg borough now stands. Emigrating from Danville, Vt., his education was superior to most of the early settlers, and therefore his counsel and assistance were sought by all within his circle of acquaintances. He was charitable to a fault, and the needy never applied to him in vain for assistance. Mr. Hurd died at the age of seventy-five, leaving two songs, viz., H.H. and L.J. Hurd, who are still residents of Chest township, where the father first settled. His son H.H. Hurd has served as justice of the peace for fifteen years, and L.J. Hurd as postmaster of the borough, which takes its name from their father.
 

THOMAS EVANS

     Was the first pioneer of Chest township, coming there as early as the year 1821. He came here from Bellefonte, Centre county, a distance of fifty-five miles, on foot, carrying his personal effects, which consisted of his gun, ammunition, and sustenance, on his back. The nearest store was at Birmingham, a distance of thirty-five miles, where he would dispose of his game and fur for such articles as he needed. He lived there two years, when he married Nancy J. Sufferage, from Clearfield. He was killed by a falling tree in 1844, at the age of sixty-six.
 

SAMUEL MCEWEN

     Was one of the early pioneers, of Chest township, coming here from Centre county in 1823, settling one and a half miles from New Washington borough.
 

DAVID ROLAND

     Was one of the early pioneers of Chest township. He emigrated with his family, consisting of his wife and four children, from Huntington county, Pa., in 1824, and settled on what was known as the Thompson property until 1839. At that time the nearest neighbor was five miles away, and Mrs. Roland was, for a whole year, without seeing any one of her own sex. The settlers had to carry fire-arms, while attending church, to protect themselves from wild animals. They applied their tables with the game which abounded in the forest. Mr. Roland was a member of the Baptist Church. On arising one Sunday morning and looking out the window, he saw a fine deer. Being out of meat, he took down his gun and shot it, remarking to his wife that he considered it no harm to take the goods the gods provided.
 

WILLIAM BLOOM

     Was one of the first settlers of Clearfield county, coming from Centre county as early as 1802. He served in the Revolutionary War for a term of six years, under Washington, and was engaged in several of the battles. In the year 1810, a small mill was erected which was known as Maxwell’s – the first in the county that ground wheat and bolted flour. The Indians were quite numerous at that time, but they were very friendly, often rendering assistance to the settlers. Mr. Bloom’s grandfather built the first cabin at the mouth of Anderson creek. There was a settlement, prior to that time, about three miles up the river, among whom were the McCrackens, McClures, Ogdens, Bells, Halls, &c.
 

ANDREW LIDDLE,

     Son of James Liddle, was born in Tyrone county, Ireland, December 25th, 1820. At the age of thirteen he sailed from Dublin for Trinidad Island, taking passage in the brig John and Mary. After being out at sea two weeks the brig was shipwrecked, and put in at Liverpool for repairs, continuing their voyage two weeks after. She encountered many storms, one of which turned the brig over on her beam end; but the sails bursted and she righted and proceeded on her way. They came very near being driven on the rocks and dashed to pieces when within a stone’s throw of land. Mr. Liddle’s health not being good from the effects of the voyage and the climate of the island, he remained but one year, when he returned to his native country, via Liverpool, arriving there in 1835, where he remained until 1848. He then set sail for the United States in the ship Crayoll, a passenger vessel, landing at Philadelphia on the 13th of April, having been thirty-seven days at sea. He took up residence in Wilmington, Del., where he remained four years as a gardener. He then removed to the farm in Brady township on which he now lives. On the 9th of April, 1853, he married Miss Mary A. Fleming, of Donegal county, Ireland. He now owns a farm of three hundred and fifty acres, two hundred and fifty of which are cleared. Mr. Liddle is now fifty-seven years old, and has been the father of seven sons and four daughters, only seven of whom are now living.
 

JOHN POTTER,

     Eldest son of Joseph Potter, was born in Centre county, Pa., on the 27th day of April, 1807, and removed with his father’s family to Jefferson county, Pa., in the year 1821, being then fourteen years old. At the age of twenty-seven he married and removed to Brady township, Clearfield county, and settled on the tract of land which now compromises his farm in said township. At the time of Mr. Potter’s settlement, the country was almost a complete wilderness – only a few settlers were then in Brady township. The improvements consisted of small cabins and a few acres of ground partially cleared. Soon after he came here, the first store was established in Luthersburg, and the milling was done at the tread-mill, in Penn township. During the settlement of Mr. Potter’s father’s family farm in Jefferson county, many trials and difficulties were experienced. Having great difficulty in getting their grain ground, they were often compelled to resort to boiling grain, and preparing it for food in this manner, and sometimes were without bread for two or three months.
Game was abundant, and Mr. Potter was a very successful hunter – killing many bears and hundreds of deer. The wild beasts were so troublesome that it was very difficult to raise hogs, the bears being very destructive upon them. At one time, Mr. Potter was traveling through the woods with his little sister; he came upon the carcass of a deer that had been killed by a panther. His faithful dog soon found the ferocious beast, and treed it. Sending his sister back a distance of three miles for a gun, he undertook to keep the animal up the tree until the gun could be brought. At one time it came down and attacked the dog, but Mr. Potter struck it a powerful blow with a stick, which caused it to run and seek another tree, where Mr. Potter succeeded in keeping it until the arrival of the gun, when he shot it, wounding it, and finally killing it after a severe struggle. Mr. Potter certainly ran a great risk of his life in attacking so ferocious an animal with only a stick. The skin of the animal measured eleven feet from the top of the tail to the end of the nose.
Mr. Potter raised a family of nine children – three sons and six daughters. He worked very hard, and with great perseverance, to clear up and improve the forest, and prepare the way for the comforts of the rising generation. He put under a good state of cultivation about seventy-five acres of land. Mr. Potter is now a resident of Brady township, and enjoying very fair health and energy for one of his age, being now seventy-one years old. His son William, of Brady township, is the only son now living.
 

JOHN PENTZ, Esq.
 

     His ancestors were of German origin. His grandfather and father were born in York county, Pa. He was born in the same county, in the month of December, 1800. He removed to Clearfield county in the spring of 1837, and settled in Brady township, near Luthersburg. Like his ancestors, he was a farmer, and never thought to leave the quiet walks of agriculture for the noisy arena of politics. He was married in 1832, in York county, to Miss Elizabeth Knox, daughter of an old resident and prominent citizen of that section.
In 1842 hid health began to fail, and he died, after a long and lingering illness, on the fourth of September, 1842. His wife, now over seventy-two years of age, and six children, survive him. Of the latter, the best known is Andrew Pentz, the present high sheriff of Clearfield county. He was born in York county, on the 10th of October, 1835. “Raised on a farm,” he tells us, and in after life he engaged in the lumber business. He was elected sheriff of Clearfield county in the fall of 1876. He has proven himself to be a faithful and popular official. He was married in September, 1867, to Miss Catharine A. Norton, daughter of Luke and Ann Norton, of Middletown, Dauphin county.
 

REV. JAMES MCGEE

     The life of this worthy gentleman was so intimately connected with the hardships of a by-gone generation that, to properly appreciate it, one must be well posted as to the sparseness of population, the pioneering life of those early days, and the peculiar characteristics of a people whose “like we shall not soon look on again.” He was born in Centre county about 1790. He served his time as an apprentice in blacksmithing. In 1826 he removed to Clearfield county, and settled on a tract of land now owned by James and Henry McGee, in Bell township. After the work of clearing was well under way, he farmed to some extent, but dedicated his special attention to the lumber business.

     He built the first saw and grist-mill in Bell township, and was one of the noted shippers of lumber in that portion of the county. Previous to his removal to this country he had been, for many years, a member of the Methodist Episcopal connection. On the organization of the Protestant Methodist Church, he joined it, was licensed to exhort, and afterwards was duly licensed to preach. His labors were blessed, and everywhere he was received with the feelings of respect.
He was married in Centre county, near Curtin’s furnace, to Miss Mary Barnhart, daughter of Jacob Barnhart, an old settler of the Bald Eagle valley.
In Centre county he was at one time coroner and deputy-sheriff. He was in command of the party who captured the celebrated desperadoes, Lewis and Conly.
His death, about fifteen years ago, was greatly deplored by all, and the expression of grief was universal.
 

JACOB F. STEINER, Esq.

     Among the prominent, enterprising business men of Clearfield county who have been identified with the development of her industries and material resources, there are none who deserve a more extended or favorable notice at our hands than Jacob F. Steiner, Esq. He was born in Montgomery county, Pa., on the 25th day of August, 1828. His grandfather, whose name was John Steiner, emigrated to America from Wurtemberg, Germany, about the year 1792, and settled in Bucks county, where he resided until his death, in 1821. His father, whose name was also John Steiner, was born in Bucks county on the 17th day of January, 1799, and resided there until the year 1822, when he removed to Montgomery county. Here he settled on Perkiomen creek, near Zieglersville, where he built a small flouring mill in connection with his brother. The following year, on the 11th of May, 1823, he married Miss Christine Fulmer, of Bucks county, and the realities and responsibilities of life were began in his new home. Being compelled to rely upon his own resources, with no capital but his own energy and industry, his first enterprises were necessarily began in a small way. The first mill was a small structure of stone, but was enlarged and improved at different subsequent periods until it became one of the most important and extensive at that time in Montgomery county. He afterward constructed, in connection with it, an oil mill, and both these he successfully operated during all his life. He never removed from this spot, and carried on an extensive business until his death. His mills on the Perkiomen were located not more than half a mile below those of Philip Dotts, Esq., of Beccaria township, who was then a resident of Montgomery county, and who is elsewhere spoken of in this work. He reared a family of two children- one daughter and the subject of this sketch. The daughter married Elias Swartley, and died about ten years ago. Jacob F. Steiner is, therefore, the only representative of his father’s family now living. His father died on the 12th day of August, 1860, aged sixty-one years. In order to be practically educated and prepared for the active duties of life, our subject was sent by his father, when only twelve years of age, to the commercial house of Curwin, Stoddart & Bro., wholesale and retail dry goods merchants, of Philadelphia. This is one of the oldest and most reliable houses in the city, still doing business at the same place where they operated at that time, now being Nos. 450, 452, and 454, North Second street. Mr. Steiner was then a lad who could not speak a word of English, and was at first employed by the house more especially as an interpreter. He remained in their employ for a period of three years, during which time he had learned to speak good English, and was advanced to various higher positions in the establishment. Fort the first year he received no wages, and his father paid his boarding; but, being very acceptable to his employers, he was afterward liberally rewarded for one of his years. Throughout all the intervening period to the present time, Mr. Steiner has maintained a social intimacy with the members of this house, takes pleasure in paying them occasional visits, and at all times is cordially greeted as an esteemed friend and a welcome guest. After his return home his father sent him to school at Trappe, Montgomery county, an academy at that time under the direction and supervision of Prof. Henry S. Rodenbaugh, where he remained a diligent student for three years, and acquired a good education. At the age of eighteen he removed to Water street, Huntington county, where he engaged in the employ of his cousin, George H. Steiner, who had previously been doing business as a member of the firm of Moore & Steiner, and was then the surviving partner. He remained in that capacity until his marriage to Miss Elizabeth Harnish, which event took place on the 1st day of February, 1849. A few months subsequently he came to Clearfield county, and here began to carve out his career, which ultimately resulted in his prominence as one of her wide-awake citizens. He first purchased, of Keller, Harnish & Huyett, a tract of ninety-five acres, and during the same year another of four hundred and thirty-three acres of timber from the Hardman Philips estate. The original purchase was the Old Valentine Flegal property, near Philipsburg, which was the first improvement made in this part of Clearfield county. The first year he built a small house and barn, and in 1850 brought out his wife and began house-keeping. Like his father Mr. Steiner never moved after he became settled, and on this spot he resided and performed his part in the duties of life ever since. His beautiful home indicates, at once, the natural taste and culture of its owner, and his mills and general surroundings present one of the most desirable improvements in the county. His place is now known as Steiner Station, on the Tyrone and Clearfield Railroad.

     At the time he made his original purchase there was an old saw-mill on the property – one of the old-fashioned kind – which he re-modeled and operated. The lumber business was his principal vocation from the time that he first entered the county, and he has continued it ever since, proving one of the most energetic and successful of all those who have been engaged in this brand of Clearfield’s industries. At different times he purchased other tracts of land, and now owns 280 acres in Clearfield, and 1,020 acres in Centre county. The lands all adjoin on both sides of the Moshannon creek. Mr. Steiner’s farm contains about 132 acres that are cleared and in a good state of cultivation. He built his present residence, called Hillside Home, in the year 1867. In the year 1870 he bought what was known as the Heilman & Hesser timber lands, and took into partnership, in the transaction Messrs. Weiser & Bender, of York, Pa. The property cost them the sum of $85,000, the business connected with it was conducted under the firm name of Weiser, Steiner & Bender, and was known as the Beaver Run Saw-mills. During Mr. Steiner’s connection with this firm he had the principal management, built the mills, and started the business into operation. He sold his interest to the other members and retired from the firm in the spring of 1872. On the 21st day of May, of that year, he associated, in partnership with him, his son, Alton G. Steiner, who was on that day twenty-one years of age, and from that to the present time the lumber business has been carried on under the firm name of J.F. Steiner & Son. During the same year he constructed the present dam, and built the mills which are now among the best improvements on the Moshannon. The dam is 1,045 feet across the breast, 10 feet high, covers an area of over 60 acres of land, and affords a capacity of 102 horse power. The present full capacity of the mills will manufacture about 25,000 feet of lumber per day, and the average business about 18,000 feet per day. At the present time the lumber business is principally conducted by his son, and Mr. Steiner devotes his attention to farming, in which he takes great pleasure. He makes a specialty of carefully preparing and enriching his ground, obtaining the best of farm machinery, and carrying on the business of farming on the most modern and improved methods. Every fall since the year 1849 he has made it his custom to devote about two weeks to hunting deer. This has been his recreation. During all these years he has never missed a season, and always being a successful hunter, he take great delight in the excitement. The great secret of his success in life has been his exercise of proper sagacity, close application to business, and a rigid adherence to the principles of honorable dealing. He possesses a family of eight children, in whose education and accomplishment he has always taken a great interest. They now surround him at his home, enjoying the comforts of life, and, with hosts of attached friends, he now occupies a position of the highest esteem – widely known for his social qualities, and noted for his hospitality.
 

SAMUEL HEGARTY, Esq.

     After considerable research, we have been enabled to trace the ancestors of the subject of this sketch back to one James Edgar, who lived in England in the seventeenth century, and who, becoming dissatisfied with the government, removed to the country of Londonderry, Ireland. Here the family name became changed to Hegarty, whether through the local pronunciation by the natives of that part of Ireland, or through some other cause, is now unknown. This ancestor raised a family of several sons and daughters, one of whom was named Joseph Hegarty, who married at the age of twenty-two, and became the father of four sons, named David, Samuel, Robert, and Joseph, and three daughters, Isabella, Susanna, and Jane. These all, at different times, emigrated to America, except Jane. Samuel Hegarty, the second son (and grandfather of the subject of our sketch), was born in the county of Londonderry, Ireland, on the 13th of May, 1764, and at the age of twenty-five married a Miss Jane Whiteside. In the year 1808 he emigrated to America, landing on the shores after a long and stormy voyage of about three months. He at first landed at Philadel-
 

Page 20
HISTORICAL SKETCH OF CLEARFIELD COUNTY, PENN'A.

phia, from whence he proceeded to Mifflin county, Pa., and temporarily settled until a suitable place for a permanent location could be found. In the year 1811, he came to Clearfield county, accompanied by three of his sons, and selected a location at the mouth of Muddy run, in Beccaria township. Buying a tract of land here, he began an improvement. The first season he built a small log house and cleared some land. The next summer he made some additional improvements and moved out his family in the spring of 1813. Here he began life in the wilds of the forest, and cleared up a good farm. His principal business, during the balance of his life, was that of agriculture. His family consisted of seven sons and two daughters, one of the latter being born in America. Joseph, the eldest, died when a young man. Henry, Samuel, John, Robert, James, and William all grew up in Clearfield county, but none are now living save the latter two. James still resides in Beccaria township, and William in Geulich. The two daughters were named Mary and Jane. The former married Henry Whiteside and the latter William McCullough. The only settlers who preceded the Hegarty family in that part of Clearfield county were Edward Rickets, Thomas Branon, Joseph Leonard, and W.B. Alexander. The former made the first settlement between the mouth of Muddy run and where Glenhope now stands. The dense forest was then the habitation of innumerable wild animals. Deer especially were in great abundance. The Hegarty family were, therefore, among the early pioneers and identified with the first settlement of the county. The grandfather of our subject was a noted mathematician, and when crossing the ocean, was consulted by the officers of the vessel in their calculations of latitude and longitude. Skill in mathematics is a characteristic of the family. One of the first Presbyterian churches of the county was built at what is now known as Hegarty’s X Roads, in which Samuel Hegarty, being a zealous member, took a leading interest in founding, assisted by his sons, William McCullough, John Whiteside, William Cree, and others. This church was built in the year 1833. Having arrived at the age of nearly seventy-eight years, he died, after a short illness, on the 13th of February, 1842. His death was mourned by his family and a large circle of friends.

     John Hegarty, fourth son above mentioned and father of our subject, was born in the 8th day of October, 1797, and when his father emigrated from Ireland he was about eleven years old. In youth he received a fair education, principally from his father, and after he grew to manhood settled on the tract of land, in Beccaria township, which is now known as the X Roads farm. With the assistance of his father he bought this tract, in the year 1820, from a man named Hardman Philips. The tract consisted of one hundred and thirty acres, was then in its native wild state, and he at once began clearing and improving. His first building was a small log cabin, but he afterward built a log house of considerable size. On the 6th day of April, 1830, he married Miss Jane Alexander, daughter of W.B. Alexander, mentioned in the foregoing. He subsequently purchased three hundred acres in what is now Geulich township, and these two tracts comprised his estate. He continued to live at the X Roads and improve his far; but, losing his health, he died on the 31st of May, 1846, in the forty-ninth year of his age, leaving a family of four children, the oldest of whom is the subject of our sketch, who was then fourteen years of age.

     At the X Roads farm Samuel Hegarty, our subject, was born on the 7th day of March, 1832, and has resided there ever since. After his father’s death he remained with his mother, and assisted her in the management of the affairs of the family. Being anxious to attain learning, he was a close student during his boyhood, and afterward attended Tuscarora academy, in Juniata county, where he acquired a good education. Subsequently he taught several terms of school in Beccaria township, and one term in Shelby, Ohio. At the age of twenty-one, by his father’s will, he became heir to the farm at the X Roads. Not being partial to farming at that time, he leased the farm, but continued to give it such attention as to see that it received proper care. In the year 1856 he entered into the mercantile business, opening a store at the X Roads farm, and continued to carry on merchandizing, in connection with lumbering , until he increased them both into an extensive business. On the 17th day of November, 1857, he married the handsome Miss Josephine Bell, daughter of Grier Bell, elsewhere mentioned in the general history of Clearfield county. In the year 1865 he removed his store to the village of Madera, where he also purchased, and still owns, the valuable flouring saw-mills at that place. In the month of June, 1874, he retired from the mercantile business, but still continues to carry on lumbering. Formerly, he was largely engaged in logging, and rafted square timber quite extensively, but latterly has been, more especially, manufacturing at his mills at Madera. The last two years he has not sent a great quantity down the river, but has principally shipped his manufactured lumber to market by rail. He now owns about 2,000 acres, a large portion of which is timber and coal lands, and among the most valuable that are found in that vicinity. Some of them extend into Cambria county. His farm at the X Roads now consists of 316 acres. The magnificent improvements he has erected thereon, and the lands and other property he has acquired, are all the result of his own industry, save the one hundred and thirty acres he received by his father’s will. Possessing sound judgment, and giving close and strict attention to all business, he has been eminently successful in nearly all the enterprises he has undertaken. The Hegarty mansion, at the X Roads, is one of the finest residences in this portion of Pennsylvania. The towering edifice, with its elaborate architectural beauty, strikes the eye of the traveler with a most imposing and majestic appearance as far as it comes within the range of vision, and the structure reflects the greatest credit upon the culture and taste of its enterprising owner.

     At the death of his uncle, Samuel Hegarty, our subject, was chosen executor by the last will and testament, and faithfully fulfilled his trust in the adjustment and settlement of the extensive estate.

     When the “Madera Coal and Improvement Company” was organized, about the year 1865, Mr. Hegarty was chosen a member of the first board of directors, in which capacity he has remained ever since, and for several years past as the company’s secretary and treasurer. This company, which now owns large and valuable tracts of coal in this great coal field, graded the present railroad from Sterling to Ramey, and then transferred it to the Pennsylvania R.R. Co.

     In all business projects Mr. Hegarty has shown commendable enterprise – has preserved an untarnished name in all his transactions – and is one of those men who are of real value to a community.
 

SAMUEL FULTON,
 

     One of the first surveyors of Clearfield, was a native of Ireland. As early as 1802 he was sent with Cannan’s surveying party, to run a dividing line between the McConnell and Fisher lands, located on the waters of Chest creek. At this time he was but twenty years of age. This survey commenced at a point in what is now Cambria county, called “Scotch Hill,” and the first sign of settlement was a small clearing, where the orchard of Hon. James Ferguson now stands, after which quite a number of other improvements were passed. For several weeks after completing the survey Fulton was engaged in making re-surveys for Col Miles, which took him in the immediate neighborhood of all the settlements that had been made in the country.

     He was a practical and experienced surveyor, energetic and industrious, and few men did more than he towards the developing of the county, or has more industriously followed his calling. During the years of 1802, 3, 4, 5, and 6, he headed a number of surveying expeditions sent to the county. In 1807 he decided to make Clearfield county his home, having purchased some land in 1805. Elias Scofield had built a cabin and cleared some of the tract purchased by Fulton. In the spring of 1807 Fulton and his wife set out from Huntington county in a wagon for their new home over the mountains, and arrived at their destination in May, 1807.

     He was the first prothonotary of the county, and served as surveyor, deputy surveyor, treasurer, commissioner, and clerk to commissioners. Mr. Fulton had four sons: James, Moses, Washington P., and Thomas. His five daughters were married respectively to Archibald Shaw, Joseph Shaw, Richard Shaw, Jr., William Fullerton and Thompson Reed. The aged pioneer died in 1867, having seen the wilderness transformed into a prosperous county of over 20,000 population. We can well say, “Requiescat in pace.”
 

PETER S. WEBER
 

     In the first half of March, 1847, there was seen a small caravan of emigrant wagons slowly wending its way through Normandy, France, via the City of Paris, towards Havre de Grace. It arrived here, having traveled a distance of four hundred and sixty-five miles, on the 18th of March, 1847. Amongst others of this noble band, who were sick and tired of monarchies and despotisms, was J.J. Weber, father of our subject, with his entire family, four sons and an equal number of daughters, Peter being the youngest child in the family. They had left Winzeln, not far from the river Rhine, in the kingdom of Bavaria, where J.J. Weber was born in 1803, under the government of the first French Republic – that portion of Bavaria at the time in question belonged to France.

     His first promptings to go to America were as early as 1832, but his better half had no desire to leave Germany – her all. At last she consented, on the condition if her baby boy Peter S., who, in consequence of a predominating nervous temperament, was rather frail, should get physically stronger in the following early spring, and agreed to accompany him to the New World.

     Peter S., who was born on the 13th of May, 1845, in the birthplace of his father, began to improve in health sufficiently for his mother to fulfill her agreement.

     After their arrival at Havre de Grace, they remained three weeks, waiting for the well known but new sailing mail vessel, Iowa. Mr. Weber had contracted for passage on another ship bound for New Orleans, but on his arrival at Havre changed his plans, hence his waiting for the Iowa. On the 11th of April, 1847, she set sail for New York, and safely arrived on the 27th of May, with his entire family in excellent condition. He settled in Brady township, near Troutville, where he devoted himself to felling and destroying the stately pine with a view to farming.

     Our subject never cared much about felling trees and farming, as he seemed to be a natural born student, reading everything that would fall in his hands, and was then as now at the age of thirty-three, of sober and temperate habits. He eschewed the use of tobacco, as well as ardent spirits, and resolved to expend his spare money for books rather than pander to low and degrading appetites. In the course of time he was in possession of one of the largest if not the largest library in Brady township.

     He remained on the farm, more as a student than a plough boy, til 1862, when with reluctance he was apprenticed to a cobbler, to learn the arts and mysteries of a shoemaker. This “new departure” not being congenial he left his “boss” and entered another shoe shop at the county seat – this proving no more satisfactory than the first. He then engaged at a first class establishment at Luthersburg, where he was under special instruction.

     The arbitrary arrests made in Brady township in the winter of 1864-5, had a depressing influence upon business, and the shop closed. Feeling the need of an education, he attended a free school near Troutville for a few months. He then worked as a journeyman, making good wages, but as a sedentary life did not agree with him he left his trade, and went to school at Dayton, Armstrong county, where he attended the Union Male and Female Academy.

     He came home in the fall of 1866, and cast his first vote, it being for Hiester Clymer, the Democratic nominee for governor. On the eve before the election he made a neat and enthusiastic speech in the German language. His identification with the Democratic party dates from this period. During the winter of 1866-7 he taught a free school in Jefferson county. In the latter part of the summer of 1867 he instructed a select school at Troutville with marked success – many of his former schoolmates being his pupils.

     In the winter of 1867-8 he had charge of the first school in the borough of Big Run, Jefferson county, and gave general satisfaction. He was again requested to teach a select school at Troutville, which he did in the former part of the summer of 1868. His school, as before, was largely composed of old associates. His reputation as a teacher was well established, but knowing his deficiencies he entered the Keystone State Normal School, at Kutztown, Pa., in the latter part of the summer of 1868. Before the term ended he was tendered a clerkship in a general store at Luthersburg, which he entered in November, 1868, agreeing to remain one year. After business hours he could be seen “burning the midnight oil,” studying physiology, hygiene, and kindred sciences, with a view to enter the lecture field.

     In the spring of 1870 he took a trip to the interior of Ohio, and made for a novitiate, a decided hit as a public speaker. On his return he accepted an offer to manage a large general store at Big Run. In October, 1871, he went to New York to purchase an outfit, and commenced lecturing in eastern Pennsylvania, with varied success. The dread disease, small pox, was so prevalent in that section that he concluded to discontinue lecturing for the time being. He was now importuned to do for six months, being desirous of re-entering the field he had so lately abandoned.

     In the first week of August, 1872, he took the town of Troutville, (his home,) by surprise, by announcing a free course of three lectures. Few of the inhabitants of that little town even knew that he was a student of physical science, much less dreamed that he had a “career,” and had made his “mark” as a successful speaker on the platform graced as it had been by Profs. Fowler, Wells, Butler, and others. The lectures were delivered to the great satisfaction of a crowded house.

     He visited the oil regions of the state, but the political excitement was so great that he met with little success. He obtained a position as clerk in a fancy dry goods store in the Derrick building, Oil City, where he remained till December, 1872.

     In January, 1873, he started for Scranton, and again met with favor at the hands of a public audience ever ready to frown upon those who dare speak on a rostrum crowned with a host of brilliant men and women, who unite eloquence, learning, and humor. He visited seven states in his travels as a lecturer, winning the applause of the people wheresoever he went.

     During this trip he made the acquaintance of the lady who afterwards became his wife – Miss Cora Schleigh, daughter of Ex-Mayor Schleigh, of Hagerstown, Maryland, to whom he was married on the 18th of September, 1877. As to the merits of Mr. Weber as a lecturer we append the following: -

Strattanville, Pa., August 26th, 1872.
     The style of Prof. Weber is forcible ; his manners are amiable and winning, and he shows by every utterance that he is a true Christian gentleman, zealous for the cause of truth, and anxious for the welfare of the rising generation.
     He evidently feels the importance of his theme, and he labors with all the zeal of the true lover of science and of progress to inspire in his hearers also a love for that which so intimately concerns their temporal salvation.
Prof. A. Rittenhouse,
Principal of Union Classical Academy

     In November 1875, he was employed by L.P. Seley, the well known dry goods merchant of Reynoldsville. As a salesman he was as successful as a lecturer. In May, 1876, he came to Du Bois, and embarked in the real estate business with J.E. Long, the proprietor of Central Du Bois (Long’s addition). He was an energetic agent, and in a short time disposed of a large number of lots, and made this portion of the town the most populous, concentrated the business in a great proportion in that part, and gave it an impulse which has had a lasting effect in increasing its value as well as its inhabitants.

     He issued the Enterprise, a well edited paper, having a free circulation of over two thousand. This advocated the claims of Du Bois as a business centre, and inaugurated the movement for the formation of a new county, formed from parts of Jefferson and Clearfield, with Du Bois as its county seat. This consummation may be looked for in the immediate future. In June, 1877, he entered into partnership with his former employer, Mr. Seley, and engaged in the dry goods business under firm name of P.T. Weber & Co. Already their trade is large and increasing at a rapid rate. See illustration of interior view of store.
 

CALEB BAILEY
 

     Was born in Lycoming county, on the 27th of September, 1797. When Caleb was twelve years of age his father removed to Clearfield county, and located on a tract of land, (now owned by David Way,) about a mile and a half from the present site of Curwensville.

     At sixteen years of age, such was his reputation for honesty and industry, we find him carrying the mail from Bellefonte to Northumberland. His employer, at this time, was the noted mail contractor, Robert Stewart, of Bellefonte. After eighteen months’ experience with Mr. Stewart, he was engaged by William Rice, of Lewiston, as the post rider from Lewiston to Northumberland, via Bellefonte.

     The roads, or rather trails, were rough; the route was long, and a week was allowed to make a trip. He remained with Mr. Rice two years, and then re-entered the service of his former employer. His new line was from Bellefonte to Franklin, Venango county, via Clearfield county. The latter was almost an unbroken wilderness, and the lone cabin of the hardy pioneer was rarely seen by our trusty post-boy as he sought his lonely course over the mountains.

     This was the only opportunity the citizens of this section had for communication by mail with the outside world. Once each week his coming was looked for with far more interest than the performance of similar duties secures today. Oft times our brave courier went hungry, for regular meals were not on the bills of fare in those early days.

     In 1820, before the expiration of two years’ employment on this route, he settled in the woods, about two miles west of New Washington, and commenced the seemingly never-ending work of clearing. His tract contained three hundred and ninety-nine acres of timber, and the toil for preparing this land for cultivation would appear almost superhuman to any one save those reared in a similar rugged region.

     In 1826, having cleared twenty acres, he sold the land and removed to his present residence, in Union township. Here, with his son, Samuel M. Bailey, he enjoys the comforts of a happy old age. His faithful wife, Jemima, passed away at the ripe old age of eighty-two years. The old pioneer enjoys the respect and veneration of all who know him, and in his declining years cannot but feel that his life work has been well and faithfully performed.
 

JUDGE VINTSON B. HOLT
 

     Col. John Holt, the grandfather of the above, was born in Carlisle, in 1758. When only a mere boy he entered the Revolutionary army as a private, but, on account of his bravery, he was promoted from time to time, so that, on leaving the service, he had won the spurs of a colonel’s commission. He died at the age of seventy-four.
 

Page 21
HISTORICAL SKETCH OF CLEARFIELD COUNTY, PENN'A.
 

     His father, Thomas H., was born in Centre county about 1784. He was a farmer by profession, and removed to Clearfield county in 1819, where he died in 1867.

     Vintson was born on the 21st of August, 1810, on the same farm on which his father first saw the light. This tract of land was also in the possession of the Holt family as early as 1754.

     He was married, in 1832, to Miss Nancy Wilson, daughter of David Wilson, who settled in Clearfield county in 1828.

     In the early part of his career, Mr. Holt was a contractor and builder; but, preferring the more congenial calling of Agricola, he commenced to farm in Bradford township, about seven miles from the county seat.

     In the fall of 1876 he was elected associate judge of this county, and is now residing in Clearfield, attending to the trusts imposed upon him as an important judicial official.
 

JOHN ELINGER
 

     The subject of this sketch was one of the first settlers of Bloom township. He settled in the year 1836, and has been a resident of the township ever since. His father, George Ellinger, settled at Luthersburg, in Clearfield county, in the year 1822, raised a family of ten children, and was one of the early pioneers of the county. John Ellinger raised a family of eleven children, ten of whom are now living.
 

DAVID WILSON,
 

     Father of Samuel P. Wilson, Esq., ex-treasurer of Clearfield county, was born in Huntington county, Pa., in the year 1797, and came to Clearfield county about the year 1826, settling at first near the mouth of Wolf run, in Lawrence township, on the farm now owned by Judge Cloyd. After a residence here of about four years, he removed and settled in Bradford township, on the farm now owned by Judge Holt. His first purchase was a tract of one hundred and fifty acres, which he actively began clearing up and improving. While he paid some attention to lumbering, the principal portion of his time and efforts were devoted to the reliable pursuit of farming. Of the family which he raised – consisting of six sons and three daughters – all of the sons and one daughter yet survive him, and are residents of Clearfield county. He died in the year 1845, aged forty-eight years, and left behind the record of an estimable and worthy citizen.

     SAM’L P. WILSON, Esq., above mentioned, and son of David Wilson, now a resident of Bradford township, was born in the year 1822, and at the age of twenty-seven married Miss Hannah Kyler, daughter of Jacob Kyler, elsewhere spoken of in this work. A year previous he had purchased the tract of land now comprising his farm; at first purchasing ninety-seven acres, and subsequently adding to it until he acquired two hundred acres. This farm, it may be truthfully said, is now of the best improved and highest cultivated in the township, presents a fair index of the industry, perseverance and good taste of its owner, and the buildings and surroundings furnish one of the neatest embellishments contained in this work. At an early age for such a responsibility, Samuel P. Wilson was elected by his fellow-citizens to the office of justice of the peace, and has since filled, at different periods, all the various positions in the gift of the people of the township. In the year 1871 he was elected to the office of county treasurer, being chosen over his opponent at general election, John McGaughey, of the town of Clearfield, by a vote of 2,744 to 1,469. At the Democratic primaries of that year, Mr. Wilson received the largest vote ever cast for a candidate in Bradford township, which speaks volumes for the high estimation in which he was held by his neighbors. He took charge of the office in January, 1872, and filled the trust for two years, discharging his duties faithfully and honestly, and rendering satisfaction to the people in all parts of the county.
 

JACOB KYLER
 

     The subject of this sketch was born in Franklin county, Pa., in the year 1789, and removed with his father to Bellefonte, Centre county, where he is said to have built the fourth house that was erected in that place. In the year 1803 the family came to Clearfield county, and settled in what is now Morris township, near Philipsburg. Mr. Kyler purchased the tract of land comprising the farm in Bradford township, which is at present the home of his son Mark, where he devoted years of toil to clear up and improve, and provide comforts for his children. When he first settled, only one neighbor lived within a reasonable distance; the surroundings were an unbroken forest, inhabited by the bear, the wolf, the panther, and flocks of deer, and the two former were often so numerous as to be annoying to the settlers. Not unfrequently, was Mr. Kyler aroused from his slumbers in the night to go to the relief of his hogs, in consequence of their being attacked by bears. Deer was the chief reliance for summer meat, and sometimes even for the entire year, while the howling of wolves was a common occurrence. But, notwithstanding the hardships of the pioneers, Mr. Kyler always claimed that the people of those days enjoyed life better than their descendants. He lived to attain the age of eighty-four years, and the Clearfield Republican, in speaking of his death in 1873, said: “His burial attracted the largest number of people ever seen together in this vicinity. We are told that Mr. Kyler, at one time, was personally acquainted with every citizen in the county. He was a Democrat and neighbor who knew no guile, and for over sixty years led an active business and political life. As a politician he was very zealous and consistent, and squared his politics, as he did his business, by a true moral code.”

     JOHN W. KYLER, second son now living of Jacob Kyler, above mentioned, was born on the 11th day of July, 1823. In 1848 he married Miss Sophia Shirey, daughter of John Shirey. For a period of five years, he resided in Bradford township, and in [1853?] removed to his farm in Boggs township, where he at present resides surrounded with the comforts of substantial and convenient improvements, as a monument of his own industry. His farm, consisting of two hundred and eight acres, presents the appearance of one of the best in the township. He received a good common school education, and has frequently been chosen to fill the various township offices in the gift of his neighbors, who attest to his upright conduct in all the duties of a citizen.
 

JOHN B. KYLER
 

     JOHN KYLER was born on the 11th of August 1805, on the old state road, about half a mile west of Moshannon creek, Morris township, Clearfield county. He was the first child born to Leonard Kyler, who located here in 1803. John’s birth was the first that occurred in the settlement of the township by the whites.

     His father was born in Cumberland county, in July, 1767, and died March 1st, 1861. His mother was born in Chester county, in 1779, and died in 1869. John B. was married on the 25th day of November, 1830, to Miss Elizabeth Cooper, daughter of David Cooper, of Morris township. He is now the oldest original settler living in the township, and judging from his well preserved constitution, the date of his demise is far off.

     Mr. Kyler distinctly recollects when the first church and school-house were built in Morris township, and when the first pike was constructed – the latter circumstance creating as much interest as the building of the railroad at the present time. The lumber for the first buildings was brought from Bald Eagle, in Centre county, then a distance of thirty miles by the route then traveled through the forest.

     The early life of Mr. Kyler contains some incidents that will be of interest to the reader of the present day. At one time, he heard a great noise from one of his hogs in distress, and, directing his steps to the spot, he saw a large bear having hold of the hog upon the ground. Leveling his gun he shot the bear, which ran a short distance and dropped dead.

     During one summer he killed thirty-two deer, and an amusing incident occurs in connection with the skins of these deer. He had sold the skins to a man who frequently came into the neighborhood to preach to the settlers, and this individual had attempted to cheat him out of some of them in the transaction.

     While preaching the next sermon, at which Mr.Kyler was one of the listeners, he made an effort at eloquence, and, raising his eyes to the ceiling, remarked that he “saw a sign in the clouds that he was in the right way.” Mr. Kyler at once spoke out and asked him whether he “saw anything of his deer skins.” This had such a disastrous effect that he was scarcely able to finish his sermon, and he was never seen afterwards in that locality.
 

JOHN DRESSLER
 

     JOHN DRESSLER was born in Union county, Pa., on the 28th day of February in the year of 1794. He came to Clearfield county in the year 1841, and settled on the tract of land which now compromises the farm of Levi R. Dressler, in Union township-which farm was at that time a part of Brady township. At that time the county was quite a wilderness. The nearest settlement was the farm of John Brubaker, close to the present village of Rockton, about three and one-fourth miles distant. At the age of twenty he married Miss Elizabeth Gelnett, of Union county.

     He died in the year of 1856, at the age of sixty-two years. His family consisted of twelve children-five sons and seven daughters-seven of whom are now living. His son, David Dressler, a resident of Union township, has been a justice of the peace for thirty years, and was the first justice elected in Union township. His wife, who still survives him, is now eighty years old, and resides with her son, Levi R. Dressler, on the old homestead farm, in said township. Mr. Dressler was a member of the Lutheran Church, at Luthersburg, for a number of years. He cleared and improved about fifty acres of land – the tract he bought only having a few acres partially cleared at the time of his settlement.
 

JOHN W. HOLLOPETER
 

     JOHN W. HOLLOPETER, one of the early pioneers of Clearfield county, settled on the farm now owned by S.S. Hollopeter, Esq., about the year 1827 – coming from York county, Pa. He struck the first ax in making improvements on this farm, when the adjoining country was a complete wilderness.

     His only neighbors were Joseph Lyons and David Laborde, one mile distant, and John Laborde, who resided one and a half miles distant. Tibius Luther at that time resided where Luthersburg Church now stands. The population of the county was yet very small. Union and Brady townships were at that time one township, and only contained seven voters.

     Mr. Hollopeter has been a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church for many years. He and his wife became members of the church at the first meeting held in Brady township – three others uniting with the church at the same time, and they assisted in the organization of the first church in that township, now located at Luthersburg.

     At present he resides with his son-in-law, Mr. John Pentz, in Penn township, and is aged seventy-two years. He raised a family of six children – four sons and two daughters, only one of whom is dead. He worked industriously at his task of clearing the untamed forest, and improved by his own labor about sixty acres of land, preparing the way for the comfort of the rising generation. He built one of the first saw-mills on Sandy Creek – erecting it about the year 1851.

     MATTHIAS HOLLOPETER, brother of the foregoing, came to Clearfield county in the year 1829, residing with his brother John until the year 1836, when he married and settled on the farm where he now resides, in Union township. He was aged seventeen when he first came to the township – worked a portion of the time for his brother, and commenced to improve his own land also.

     He first purchased fifty acres of land for seventy-five dollars, and worked at the rate of eight dollars per month for the payment of the same. The other fifty acres cost him two dollars per acre. When he first came to it the county was a wilderness, and he, with his brother John, endured the many inconveniences and privations of the early settlers. He followed the business of carding and fulling a portion of his time, and after he began his settlement he worked early and late to improve his farm.
 

JOHN BRUBAKER
 

     JOHN BRUBAKER was born in Mifflin county, now Juniata county, Pa., on the 28th day of January, 1810. He came to Clearfield county in the year 1839 and settled on the tract of land which now comprises his farm, in Union township, near the village of Rockton.

     When he first settled here it was a part of Brady township, and but very few settlements were then in this locality. The nearest school-house at that time was at Luthersburg, and some of the settlers had to send their children more than four miles to school. John Brubaker built the first saw-mill that was erected in Union township, and shipped the first lumber which was sent to market from this township. He was one of the men who helped cut the path for the purpose of making the survey for the first road up Anderson Creek.

     In the year 1860, and at his own expense, he erected the Mennonite Church, which now stands on a portion of his farm. He has been the bishop of the church for about twenty years, and a consistent member ever since his arrival at manhood. His first purchase of land was one hundred acres, for which he paid three hundred and ten dollars, and subsequently he bought other lands adjoining, at various prices, until he accumulated about six hundred acres.

     His family consisted of nine children, seven of whom are now living. His sons, Daniel E., Jacob H., John A., and Joseph E., and daughters, Sarah and Susan, are now living in Union township. Susann is the wife of S. S. Hollopeter, Esq., and Sarah is the wife of Henry Hummel.

     Daniel E. Brubaker is at present engaged in the mercantile business in the village of Rockton, and has been in business for twenty-two years. Jacob H. is at present the postmaster of the village.
 

DAVID WELTY
 

     DAVID WELTY was born in Centre county, Pa., in the year 1807, and came to Clearfield county in the year 1832. He first settled on a tract of land about two miles north of Luthersburg, where he lived about three years, whence he removed to another tract of land almost adjacent to said village. He removed to the farm on which he now resides, in Union township, in the summer of 1855, where he has lived ever since.

     His first purchase of this tract of land consisted of one hundred and sixty acres, but subsequently he bought lands adjoining and tracts in the vicinity, until he acquired about five hundred acres. When he first settled the country was very wild, and he necessarily experienced many trials and difficulties.

     He was for many years a member of the Lutheran Church at Luthersburg, assisted to organize the St. John’s Lutheran Church at the village of Rockton, and was an active member of the committee whose duty it was to superintend the erection of the church, procure and provide funds, &c.

     He reared a family of twelve children – seven sons and five daughters – six of whom are now dead and six living. He cleared and improved about one hundred and fifty acres of land, and labored with great industry and perseverance to prepare the way for his children and their advancement and future welfare.
 

THE SPENCERS
 

     JOSEPH SPENCER, during the Revolutionary War, lived in Chester county, Pa. Here, in 1780, he was married to Nancy Tomkins. IN 1784, with two small children, they removed to Northumberland county, and settled near Chillisquaque (frozen duck) creek. In 1808, with three sons and three daughters, they settled on a tract of land (purchased from Benjamin Fenton, who had preceded them a few months,) containing four hundred and forty acres, situated between the present site of Pennville and the Susquehanna (crooked) river.

     As the three sons arrived at manhood, the father retained one hundred acres for himself, and gave each of them (Samuel, Joseph, and Jesse,) also, a similar amount. The balance was held in common.

     Samuel married Sarah Spencer, of Centre county; Joseph, Lydia Moore, daughter of James Moore, who settled in 1810 on the present site of Pennville; Jesse, Anna Moore, of the same family.
They erected a saw-mill on the forty acres near the Susquehanna, and operated it for several years. Joseph, in 1833, purchased the woolen and saw-mill, in what is now called Bridgeport, of John Draucker, who made the first improvements. The mills were operated at the time by Jacob Wilt and George Beaty. In 1839-40 Joseph erected a grist-mill at Bridgeport, on the south side of the pike. Samuel and Jesse also built a grist mill, near the site of the saw-mill, on the Susquehanna.

     Joseph M., son of Joseph, purchased the grist-mill property, and constructed a new mill, arranged in modern style, in place of the old mill. He is active in business at this time.
Joseph Spencer Sr., died at the age of eighty; his wife, ninety; Joseph Jr., seventy-three; Samuel, seventy-two; Jesse, eighty. The sisters, excepting the youngest, lived to an old age. In this connection, we would remark that the same burrs that were used in Henney’s mill, in 1808, near Clearfield (the second mill in that county), now do duty in Joseph M.’s mill, at Bridgeport.
 

JOHN LABORDE

     JOHN LABORDE was born in Lancaster county, pa., in the year 1784, and came to Clearfield county in the spring of 1828 – fifty years ago. He first settled in Brady township, on the farm known as the Thomas Carson place, where he lived for two years. He next removed to the tract of land (then covered with timber) which comprises the farm of William Welty, adjoining the village of Rockton, where he commenced an improvement. The country was then a vast forest, and his only neighbor living nearer than three miles was his brother David, who resided on the land where David Welty now lives. The next settler who came into the vicinity was John W. Hollopeter. The next improvement which was made was the grist-mill, on Anderson creek, erected by Jeremiah and Andrew Moore. Sometimes Mr. Laborde was compelled to go as far as Centre county to mill, nearly forty miles distant. At other times they ground their wheat in a coffee mill, and not unfrequently had to boil their grain for food. About that time, Jeremiah Moore, of Penn township, erected a mill at Pennville, which was operated by horse-power, and which accommodated the settlers for a number of years. The nearest store at that time was at Curwensville. The only tannery was a small affair, situated in Brady township, about four miles distant ; but which was insufficient to supply the people with leather, and some of the children were compelled to go without shoes during the winter. Mr. Laborde raised a
 

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HISTORICAL SKETCH OF CLEARFIELD COUNTY, PENN'A.
 

family of nine children, consisting of five sons and four daughters. Three of the sons – Jacob, Daniel and Christopher – are now living in Union township. At the time of Mr. Laborde’s settlement, wild animals, consisting of bears, panthers and wolves, were very numerous, and quite troublesome, often killing and destroying their hogs and sheep. Once, when Mr. Laborde was working in the field, a large black bear entered and attacked his hogs. He at once called his dogs and set them upon the bear, and a conflict was the result. The bear seized one of the dogs and commenced the hugging process peculiar to the animal. Mr. Laborde then got a large stick and struck bruin a heavy blow, which broke his back. This crippled the bear so that he was unable to escape, when Mr. Laborde got his gun and killed him. The skin of the animal measured six feet six inches long, and six feet wide. One day two of his children (his son Jacob and his little sister) came very close to a panther; the animal growled and showed his teeth, but, fortunately, did not attack them, and they fled to the house. Jacob at one time had a conflict with a panther as he was taking a yoke of oxen home. He avoided the animal by walking between the heads of the cattle, but the panther followed close by, showing its fierce eyes, which glowed like balls of fire. When he reached the house he ran in for his gone, but on coming out he found that the panther had disappeared. His son David was followed one night more than a mile through the woods be a panther. He picked up a large hand-spike, and, by swinging it around, kept it off until he reached a clearing, when it left him. At another time he killed a black bear of immense size, the skin of which measured seven feet six inches long, and seven feet wide.

     At another time he killed a very large panther. His sons David and Peter were very successful hunters. David killed many deer, and on one occasion had a desperate fight with a large buck which he had wounded. His dog, a faithful, well-trained animal, had seized the deer, but the buck, being very powerful, had pressed him against a log; then David came to the dog’s relief, and quite a struggle ensued, which lasted several minutes; finally he cut the animal’s throat with his knife.

     Once, in a week’s time, David and his brother Peter killed twenty-two deer, the former killing as many as four deer in one day, and on one occasion he killed two deer at one shot. He could only see one, but the ball, passing through one of them, entered the other, killing them both.

     Many other instances, relative to the dangers the family endured, and of their narrow escapes from wild beasts, could be related.
 

LEWIS A. BRADY
 

     LEWIS is a great-great-grandson of the noted Capt. Samuel Brady. The latter’s hunting exploits and encounters with the Indians extended over a long series of years, and are unequaled for audacity, skill, and successful accomplishment.

     Andrew J., the father of Lewis, was born in Mahoning township, Indiana county, in 1817. He was married to Miss Susannah C. Long, daughter of John Long, a noted hunter. Andrew was engaged in lumbering, and hearing of a better location in Jefferson county, he removed in 1853 to Port Barnet, in that county.

     Lewis was born near Georgeville, Indiana county, on the 6th of February, 1846. At Port Barnet he attended one of the common schools for several sessions, but the better portion of his education was obtained at home.

     In 1864 he attended the Western Reserve Seminary, at West Farmington, Ohio, and continued there three terms.

     We next find him engaged in the lumber trade, with headquarters at Brookville.

     He removed to Du Bois on the 27th of April, 1876. He was a clerk for J.E. Long, in his extensive hardware establishment, for one year, and then entered the house as a junior partner.

     Messrs, Long, Seley, and our subject, erected the two-story building known as the Enterprise Block.

     In this they have one of the largest hardware and stove stores in the county. See illustrations, inside view.

     Our subject is young, but we predict for him that he will soon make his mark.
 

LEMUEL BYERS
 

was born at a place known as Warrier’s Mark, Huntington county, Pa., on the 12th of February, 1809. His father, whose name was John Byers, one of the pioneers of Clearfield county, was born at Valley forge, in the year 1762, and died in the month of June, 1861, at the remarkable age of ninety-eight years and eleven months.

     His grandfather owned a farm at Valley Forge, on which General Washington quartered his army during the memorable winter of 1777. The fences and improvements of the farm were very much destroyed during the occupation of the army. John Byers, his father, was then a boy of fifteen years, and when the army left, he, with his team, was pressed to help haul the stores across the Schuylkill river. Often, in after life, he described the deplorable condition of the army during that winter. Hundreds of soldiers were barefooted in the deep snow, and man a time did he let a picket into the house to warm. He came to Clearfield county in the year 1820, settled on a tract of vacant land in Burnside township, made some improvements, and brought out his family in 1821. The tract is the same on which Lemuel Byers, our subject, now resides. Only one family had preceded him in this vicinity, being that of James Gallaher, father of James Gallaher, Esq., of New Washington. No roads, bridges, school-houses, or churches were in existence until a considerable time afterward. Janesville, a distance of twenty-one miles, as for a time their nearest mill. For a doctor or medicine, Birmingham, Huntington county, thirty-six miles distant, was the nearest point. When the streams were high, getting to mill was impossible, and at these times privations were endured little known and realized at the present day. Mr. Byers, our subject, says that the winter of 1828, when the streams were high during nearly the whole season, was the time in which they experienced the greatest hardship and suffering. They had plenty of grain, but they could not get it ground.

     The forest was alive with game and wild animals of all kinds. Deer and turkey were especially numerous, and these afforded the pioneers a good portion of their sustenance. If a deer was killed in winter and dragged home on the snow, the wolves wood soon be heard howling, and would follow the trail almost to the door. Upon one occasion, when our subject, who was yet a boy, and his brother, were out hunting, they saw a flock of eleven elk of very large size. His brother had the gun, but let them all pass without shooting.

     Lemuel Byers was married on the 18th day of March, 1838. The next year he began improving a one hundred acre tract of land which he bought from his father. He engaged in farming and lumbering, which he has followed through life. In the year 1859 he was burnt out, and the following year built his present residence, to which he removed, and has lived there ever since. He had purchased two hundred acres more from his father about five years previous. It was about 1841 when he took his first raft down the river, and has made square timber and spars more or less to the present time. The education he received was such as the log school-houses of those times afforded. He was tall, and the ceiling being very low, a few clap-boards had to be removed to make a place for him to stand up and spell.

     When he first took rafts down the river, he had to walk home the whole distance. The last time he made this trip, he walked home from Harrisburg in four days. He has had a family of five sons and four daughters. Four of the former and three of the latter are now living. One son was drowned in Chest creek when he was nineteen years of age.

     He now possesses one of the best improved farms in Burnside township. Fair and honest dealing has been his motto through life, and he enjoys the high regard of his neighbors for these sterling qualities.
 

JAMES REA
 

settled in Clearfield county about the year 1806, on the farm now owned by David Smith, in Knox township, being two years after the formation of the county. Residing there fourteen years, he removed and settled on the farms now owned by Thomas, James, and Robert Rea, in Jordan township. When he first settled in the county, there was neither a mill nor a store within its limits, and the face of the country was a vast wilderness, his nearest neighbors being settlers about seven miles distant, on the West Branch of the Susquehanna river, between where Curwensville and Lumber City are now located. Being one of the first of the early pioneers, his lot was to suffer the inconveniences and endure the hardships of those trying times. When he first settled, the road to Tyrone was only a narrow path through the dense forest, and in making his journey to this county he traveled on foot over the mountains, carrying forty pounds of wool upon his back. He was one of the famous hunters of those times, and many incidents are related of his early life – some of which are amusing, as well as interesting. It is said of him that, on one occasion, he killed four full grown bears before eating his breakfast in the morning. He worked industriously clearing up the forest, and improved about two hundred and eighty acres of land. He raised a family of eight children – six sons and two daughters, of whom his sons Samuel, Thomas, James and Robert are all that are now living.
 

JOHN SWAN
 

was born in the state of Vermont in the year 1784, and settled in what was then known as Beccaria township, on the Joseph Mattock tract, now being the farms owned by his sons, John and Henry Swan, in Jordan township, about one mile from the village of Ansonville. When he first located here there were but very few settlements – being only four settlers between this place and Tyrone, a distance of twenty-four miles. He endured the privations, and underwent the various hardships of the early pioneer, laboring hard to prepare the way for the comforts of the coming generation, by clearing and improving a large amount of land, being about two hundred and seventy-five acres. He raised a family of seven children – four sons and three daughters, the three sons and one daughter being all that are now living.
 

JAMES MCNEEL
 

settled about the year 1812, in what was then Beccaria township. He came to America from Ireland when about twenty-one years old, and was the first settler in what is now Jordan township – made the first improvement and built the first house. He improved about one hundred acres of land, owning a tract of three hundred acres, of which are the farms now owned by James, Joseph, and Isaac McNeel, and Taylor and Isaac McNeel, Jr. He raised a family of six sons and six daughters; was an acting justice of the peace of the township for about twenty-five years, and one of the constituent members of the Fruit Hill Presbyterians Church, of which he was an elder for a period of thirty or forty years. He died at the age of eighty-five.
 

ROBERT JOHNSTON,
 

one of the early settlers of Jordan township, settled therein about the year 1828, on the farm now owned by David Johnston. He came from Scotland, and after visiting several portions of Pennsylvania, selected this locality for his future home, and at once began active work to improve a farm, clearing, during his life, about ninety acres of land.

     He was one of the constituent members of the Fruit Hill Presbyterian Church, taking an active part in the organization of the same – struck the first ax in the tree for the erection of the old church building, and worked faithfully and zealously for its completion. He raised a family of nine children, six sons and three daughters, and died at the age of seventy-one years.

     At the time of his settlement the country was a continuous forest, and Mr. Johnston was one of those who experienced the hardships and trials of the early pioneers. Never faltering from a duty imposed upon him, he led an exemplary life, highly esteemed by his neighbors.
 

JAMES JOHNSTON
 

came to the country from Scotland about the year 1829, a year after his brother, and settled in Jordan township, on the farm of James R. Johnston. He was one of the active pioneers who undertook the laborious task of clearing up the untamed forest, preparing the soil for cultivation, and the improvement of the country for the advancement of civilization. He cleared and improved about fifty acres of land, and raised a family of two sons and two daughters. His death was unexpectedly occasioned in the following manner: While riding along the road one calm day a large tree suddenly fell upon him from the road-side – killing him and his horse instantly. The tree being large, both he and the horse were frightfully mangled, and the sad accident produced severe shock among all the people of the neighborhood. He was one of those who assisted to organize the Fruit Hill Presbyterian Church, of which he was an exemplary member, and his death was greatly regretted by all who knew him.
 

ROBERT PATTERSON
 

was brought to America from Ireland by his parents when an infant, and settled in Jordan township, then Beccaria, when he was aged twenty-five years. He was the ninth settler that came into the vicinity.

     A gentleman named Morgan, then living in Philadelphia, owning a large body of land in this locality, made a proposition to give fifty acres of land to each of the first nine settlers, and Mr. Patterson being the ninth person receiving the donation, came and settled on the land, and commenced to improve it. He also purchased fifty acres more of the same gentleman, and improved the farm now owned by Peter Patterson.

     He was one of the constituent members of the Fruit Hill Presbyterian Church, and was an elder from the day of its organization until his death. He raised a family of four sons and four daughters – his sons John and Joseph Patterson and daughter Jemima now being residents of Jordan township.

     He cleared about one hundred acres of the forest, enduring the difficulties and trials of the early settlers, and after faithfully performing his noble task of preparing the country for the enjoyment of his children and the rising generation, died at the ripe old age of seventy-eight years.
 

WILLIAM WILLIAMS
 

began a settlement in Jordan township on the farm now owned by John Williams, about the year 1827. When he first came to Clearfield county there were only three settlers within its limits – being Mathew Ogden, Arthur Bell, and Thomas McClure. His visit at that time was for the purpose of examining the country, and he was accompanied by Jesse Williams, Job Williams, and James Shehan.

     He returned to his residence in Centre county, where he remained until 1827, when he came back, and commenced his first settlement, removing his family two years after.

     The country being a complete wilderness, Mr. Williams was one of those who began the arduous task of clearing and improving under all the difficulties common to the pioneers and settlers of those times. He improved and brought into cultivation about one hundred and twenty acres of land, and raised a family of eleven children – five sons and six daughters. His son John Williams is now one of the respected citizens of Jordan, and three daughters are yet living in Clearfield county. For many years he was a member of the Zion Baptist Church, of Jordan township, a history of which is given in these pages.
 

L. M. CONDRIET
 

     The father of the subject of this sketch was born in France in the year 1805, where he remained until he was twenty-six years of age. He married at the age of twenty-four, and, after two years of toil, he found himself possessed of sufficient means to convey himself and family to America.

     He landed at New York in the spring of 1831, and came on at once to Bellefonte, Centre county, where he obtained employment in a blast furnace, making barely enough wages for the support of himself and family. When he arrived at Bellefonte he had but one dollar and twenty cents with which to commence business.

     After about one year he sought to better his condition, and came to Clearfield town, where he obtained employment at fifty cents per day, remaining for about two years.

     Many a man would have been discouraged by three years of fruitless toil, but his perseverance and good judgment finally carried him on the road to prosperity.

     He removed from Clearfield town to near where Frenchville is now located, being induced to do so by the offer of a Mr. Keating, who, having a large body of land, and wishing to form a settlement, offered twelve acres to each of the first twelve settlers. Mr. Condriet also bought fifty acres more, and commenced to clear up a farm, upon which he lived for about twenty-five years. He was a wagon-maker by trade, and followed that in connection with farming. At the time he settled (1834) there were but four other settlers in what is now Covington township, and the inconveniences and hardships that were endured can better be imagined than described.

     About 1859 he purchased a large tract of land on Sandy run – to which he removed, building a large flouring-mill, saw-mill and store-room – where he operated extensively and successfully until his death. He died in the fall of 1877, at the age of seventy-two years. He raised a family of seven sons and four daughters, of whom six sons and two daughters survive him. His estate amounted to about forty thousand dollars. The last tract of land he owned is now the property of the subject of our sketch.

     L. M. CONDRIET, our subject, was born May 10th, 1831, the same year his father arrived in America. His childhood days were spent in hard work, instead of the school-room. Hence he grew to manhood without the advantages of an education. But there are often men who acquire, by association and experience, all that has been neglected, from necessity, in their early life, and we find Mr. Condriet, fitted to fill any position in which his circumstances and surroundings may place him. He was married in 1853 to Miss Guenot, in his twenty-second year, but remained working for his father until he was twenty-three.

     He then commenced business for himself, with a good constitution and an indomitable will as his capital. He turned his attention to farming in the summer, and in the winter devoted his time to jobbing in timber, which he continued to do till in 1861, when he concluded to conduct his business on a different plan.

     Not having the money, he borrowed, and gave his obligation at ten
 

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HISTORICAL SKETCH OF CLEARFIELD COUNTY, PENN'A.
 

percent, to buy a tract of timber land, for which he paid ten dollars per acre. Meeting with the success his industry deserved, not long after he made a large purchase, at the mouth of Deer creek, from Judge Lamb, consisting of eight hundred acres, for which he paid twenty thousand dollars. The second important purchase was the Sherriff Pie property, for which he paid twenty-five thousand dollars. The third purchase was his father’s homestead, for which he paid sixteen thousand five hundred dollars. He has been engaged in the mercantile business since 1861. As an illustration of the extent of his business, he remarked that his profits in one year amounted to ten thousand dollars.

     At the present time he owns over four thousand acres of land, fifteen hundred of which are timber, and several finely improved farms. He is considered one of the largest, as well as one of the most successful, timber operators in the county. He is one of Clearfield’s self-made men, and has earned his prosperity by his natural talents, good foresight, and energy of purpose.
 

MAJ. MARTIN H. LUTHER
 

     MAJ. MARTIN H. LUTHER, the first son of Lebbeus and Elizabeth Luther, and one of eleven children, was born on the 31st of January, 1814, within three miles of Old Town (now called Clearfield), Centre county, Pa. What is now known as Clearfield county was then called Chincleclamoose township, Centre county. In 1819 his parents removed to Curwensville, and in 1820 they removed to the western part of the county, now known as Brady township, and settled on the present site of Luthersburg, clearing the fifth farm in Brady township, and building the first house in Luthersburg, then known as “Cream Hill” hotel. In 1820 the Cream Hill and Erie turnpike was made, and the only house between Luthersburg and Curwensville was a stone house on the top of Anderson Creek Hill, belonging to the widow Wrigly. Brady township, at that time, was an entire wilderness, and the only music of that day was the howl of the wolf and the scream of the panther. The cattle in those days were permitted to run in the woods, as there were no fields to pasture, and as soon as Martin was old enough it was his duty to bring the cows. Deer were so plenty that it was very common to see them feeding with the cattle. As soon as he was old enough to shoot “off hand,” he took his gun with him, and could kill all the venison the family needed through the summer months. Hunting was the general pastime of that day, and if he could not kill from two to four deer each day he hunted, he considered it poor luck. In 1824, when Jackson ran for president, after the count was finished on the evening of the election, young Martin, then ten years old, carried the returns of the election to Curwensville, through a Wilderness, in the night, a distance of thirteen miles, while wild beasts were prowling on every side.

     As there were no schools in Brady township, in 1825 his father sent him to school at Philipsburg, Centre county, where he attended six months, and in 1826 he was sent to school at Salona, Centre county. In 1827 the first school-house in Brady township was built at the place where Luthersburg now stands, where he received the remainder of his school education. In 1830 the town of Luthersburg was laid out, and in 1835 he was married to Miss Sarah M. Brisbin, of Nittany Valley, Centre county, and settled on and cleared the farm where he now resides, near Luthersburg, Clearfield county. He is now the oldest inhabitant of Luthersburg living, having resided there fifty-eight years, and the second oldest in Brady township. He is one of the most successful farmers in the county, and occupies a high place in the esteem of all who know him.
 

WILLIAM MAHAFFEY
 

     It is a pleasure in this brief memoir to speak of one who was so closely identified with Clearfield county from 1827 to 1859. Born in Lycoming county, January 8th, 1779, his schooling was more of the forest than of books, and the “bent of his mind” was early turned in the direction of lumbering, with farming as a necessary adjunct. In Lycoming he was married in 1806, to Nancy Bennett, and here six sons, John, Thomas, Robert, James, William, and Moses – the three former of whom now reside in Clearfield county – were born to them.

     In 1827 he purchased a tract of land, present site of Burnside, situated upon the Upper Susquehanna, and known as the McCall lands. Leaving his family in Lycoming he traversed the wilderness, and commenced a clearing – the first in that section of the country.

     On the 31st of August of the following year his loving consort died, and later in the fall he removed his children to his lone cabin, near the beautiful Susquehanna, which in the following year was supplanted by a substantial frame residence.

     In the fall of 1830 he married Elizabeth Torbit, of Lycoming county. In 1833, with his wife and two daughters, Elizabeth and Hannah, he returned to Lycoming county. Not long after his wife’s death, which occurred in 1849, he again removed to Clearfield county, and made his home with son John.

     On the 8th of August, 1859, his spirit took flight, and an eventful life of over eighty years’ duration was brought to a sudden close.

     ROBERT MAHAFFEY, son of William Mahaffey above mentioned, was born in Lycoming county, Pa., on the 4th of May, 1815. In the year 1828, when he was thirteen years of age, he came with his father to Clearfield county, and in 1833, when his father returned to Lycoming, he was left with two of his brothers at the place on the Upper Susquehanna.

     At this period of his career, then having just arrived at his eighteenth year, he began to grapple with the great problems of life and society, and laid the foundation for his futures success and prosperity. For the next seven years his principal avocation was sawing and manufacturing lumber.

     On the 25th day of February, 1841, he was married to Miss Mary McGee, daughter of Rev. James McGee, deceased. Soon after he made the purchase of the tract of land on the river, at the mouth of Chest creek, then known as the McClay lands, and now the site of his beautiful and comfortable homestead.

     Here he began to clear away the forest, and continued the business of lumbering, in which occupation he has been to the present day, one of the most prominent operators on the Upper Susquehanna. His first habitation was a cabin of round logs, but in eighteen months afterward he had erected and completed a hewed log house of larger dimensions, and which served as his abode for twenty-five years. It was then supplanted by his fine residence in which he now resides.

     His wife dying, leaving him three small children to his care – William, James, and Mary, now residents of Clearfield county – he again married, on the 19th day of October, 1847, to Miss Mary C. Johnston, daughter of George Johnston, deceased.

     They have reared a family of seven children – Robert F., Emery, Harry, Elizabeth S., Nannie, Alice, and Elsie, all of whom are now at home with their parents. By his diligent application and natural ability, Mr. Mahaffey has acquired skill and valuable experience in the various business and social relations of life, and well merits the success he has attained.

     Of the enterprising men throughout the region of the Upper Susquehanna, there are none more conspicuously identified with the business interests of that locality, and no one enjoys a greater share of the esteem of his neighbors.
 

PATRICK DAILY
 

     was born in the north province of the county of Armagh, Ireland, on the 29th day of September, 1803, where he remained until the 12th day of May, 1832. On that day he sailed for Liverpool, England, and on the 5th day of June, of the same year, he took passage for America, landing at New York on the 3rd of August, after a tedious voyage of sixty-three days.

     From New York he traveled westward, and proceeded until he reached the Grampian Hills, in Clearfield county, and in 1834 purchased one hundred acres of land, four miles west of Pennville. Here he first erected a log cabin, which is still standing on the old place, and began the work of improving a farm. On the 7th day of July, 1837, he was married to Miss Annie Johnson, a daughter of Samuel Johnson, Esq.

     They reared a family of seven children – four sons and three daughters, all of whom are living. Three of the sons are residing on farms adjoining the old home place, and the other in Jefferson county, Pa. One of the daughters resides at Brookville, Pa., one within the distance of a mile from the old home farm, and the other remains with her parents.

     In the task of improving his farm and preparing a comfortable home for himself and family, Mr. Daily worked with zeal and energy. By his industry and good financiering he was enabled to buy lands at different intervals until he acquired an aggregate of five hundred and fifty acres, of which fully one half is under good state of cultivation. Now, in the seventy-fifth year of his age, he is in the enjoyment of good health, is surrounded by the substantial comforts of life, and known by all as one of Clearfield’s honest and good citizens.
 

JAMES MOORE
 

     was born January 8th, 1760, in Sadsbury township, Chester county, Pa., and was the son of Andrew and Rebecca Moore. He married Lydia, daughter of Abraham and Anna Sharpless, in the year 1785, and settled at Sadsbury.

     He was a miller, but did not own property. In the year 1795 he removed with his family and settled in Half Moon, Centre county, Pa., where he owned and improved a small farm.

     He had eight children, namely: Abraham, Esther, Lydia, Anna, Jeremiah, Andrew, Rebecca, and James, who all grew to be men and women. He and his son Jeremiah, in the spring of 1810, crossed the Allegheny Mountains with their axes on their shoulders, made an improvement and built a cabin on a tract of land on which Pennville now stands – his daughter Lydia coming with them to keep house.

     The country was then comparatively a wilderness, except along the river, where there were a few settlers.

     Dr. Coleman had settled on an adjoining tract of land the year previous, and had some improvements made. He was a Scotchman, and gave the place the name Grampian Hills, saying that it very much resembled the Grampian Mountains of Scotland, and which name it has since retained.

     The great want of a saw and grist-mill being soon felt by the settlers, induced the subject of this sketch to erect a saw-mill in the year 1814, and in 1816 he built a grist-mill. The building was of logs, with one run of country stones, made from rock got on the farm of Jonathan Evans, near Curwensville, and coarse bolting cloth. This mill seemed to meet the wants of the settlers, who came a great distance to it.

     He was a consistent member of the Society of Friends, and trained up his family in orderly and industrious habits. They all married, and settled near him, except Abraham, his oldest son, who died in Half Moon, two years previous to their removal to Clearfield.

     He was the pioneer in the establishing of West Branch Meeting of Friends, and donated the land to the Friends Society for a meeting-house and burial-ground. A comfortable frame meeting-house was built thereon in 1823. James Moore departed this life on the 17th of September, 1834.

     His daughter Esther married Thomas Fenton, in the year 1818, and settled on land adjoining the Moore tract. Anna married Jesse Spencer, and Lydia married Joseph Spencer, in the year 1811. They settled on land, and made the first improvement in what is known as the Spencer neighborhood.

     Jeremiah married Susannah Shivery, in the year 1819, settled at the mill, soon after built a new grist and saw-mill, and laid out the village of Pennville. His wife died in 1826, and he married Sarah Evans, daughter of Jonathan Evans, in 1827.

     He applied steam power to his grist-mill in the year 1838, and ran it for many years, being the first mill run by steam in the county. He died in 1873.

     Andrew married Elizabeth Davis in the year 1822, and settled and cleared up the farm on which he is now living. He, with his brother Jeremiah, bought a tract of land in what is now Union township, and in the years 1830 and ’31 built a grist and saw-mill. The saw-mill has since been rebuilt, and the grist-mill has since been enlarged and repaired, but part of the new building now standing is the original mill, and is known as the Rockton Mills.

     Rebecca married Joseph Davis, and settled on the Caleb Davis lands in 1823. James married Jane Shivery, and settled on the northwest end of the Moore tract, in the year 1826. He was a surveyor and agent, and died in 1847.
 

JOHN STEWART, SR.
 

     JOHN STEWART, SR., was born in 1793, in the county of Londonderry, Ireland, and came to America in 1819, being then twenty-six years of age, bringing with him his wife, whom he married about four weeks previous to his departure. He landed in Baltimore, and came direct to Clearfield county. On his arrival he at once began work by the month to earn a livelihood for himself and family, which he continued for about eighteen months at the small compensation of eight dollars per month. During this time he paid the sum of one dollar per week for boarding his wife, which therefore left him but four dollars at the end of the month for his labor. He finally settled in the woods in Bradford township, in the year 1822, on a tract of land which now comprises the farm on which he now resides, and there began the task of preparing a permanent and comfortable home for himself and family. The first house was a round log cabin sixteen feet square, which was built by a man who had made a previous settlement on the land, and Mrs. Stewart purchased his improvements. After residing here about seven or eight years he purchased the land, consisting of two hundred and sixteen acres, and some years subsequently made purchases of other lands in the same township, one hundred and sixty acres of which adjoined the original tract. For these lands he paid from two dollars to two dollars and fifty cents per acre. When he first settled a dense and continuous forest surrounded him; there was then no church or school-house in Bradford township, and the people had many trials, difficulties and inconveniences that are little known and realized by the present generation. Mr. Stewart threshed his first wheat with a flail in the public road. About the year 1870 he left his farm to the care of his son, and removed to the town of Clearfield; but, his wife dying about three years afterward, he returned to the farm, where he at present resides with his son, John H. Stewart, being now eighty-five years of age. He has lived therefore in this vicinity for a period of over fifty years, and takes pleasure in the fact that he never had a law-suit with a neighbor, and never was a witness in court. For the last forty-five years he has been an exemplary member of the Presbyterian Church. He raised a family of five sons and three daughters, who grew up to usefulness in their portion of the duties of life. His sons, Daniel, Robert S., James L. and John H., are at present worthy and estimable citizens of Clearfield county; and one daughter, Mrs. Westley Shirey, at this time resides in Bradford township.
 

DANIEL STEWART,
 

     mentioned above, is the oldest of the sons now living, and was born in the year 1822. At the age of twenty-five years he married and settled on the farm in Bradford township on which he now resides, and to which he has devoted his years of labor until it presents one of the best improvements in the neighborhood. He has frequently been called upon by his neighbors to fulfill duties of the various township offices in their gift – has always performed the requirements of his trust with satisfaction, and no man in the vicinity enjoys greater respect or more esteem from his fellow citizens.
 

JAMES L. STEWART,
 

     the fourth son of John Stewart, and the third now living, received a liberal common school education, and at the age of thirty-one years married Elizabeth Kyler, daughter of George J. Kyler, of Bradford township. After marriage he first settled at Grahamton, but after residing here about two years, and subsequently on the farm now owned by Alexander Hoover, in Bradford township, he removed to his present home in Kylertown, in Morris township. From an early age his avocation has been principally in connection with the lumber business, being engaged in making square timber for rafts, and has made many trips down the river. The first spring he removed to Kylertown the people elected him to the office of overseer of the poor, and has since been called upon to serve them in all the different offices in the township, always filling his trust to their entire satisfaction. At the present time he is serving in the position of district treasurer, to which he has been elected the third successive term.
 

ROBERT S. STEWART
 

     ROBERT S. STEWART was born in 1826, and made his home with his father, in Bradford township, until he married. In Oct., 1847, he commenced making timber by the foot, receiving at that time one and one-quarter cents per foot. He was married on the 6th of Nov., 1851, and a few days after brought two hundred and seven acres of land from Josiah W. Smith, of Clearfield, adjoining his father’s homestead. Here he formed and made timber until May, 1856, when he removed to Grahamton. In June, 1862, he removed to Surveyor Run, where he now lives, and commenced doing business for Gillingham & Garrison, of Philadelphia. Since that time he has delivered one hundred and seventy-five rafts. During this time he has also put into market considerable timber of his own. In 1865 he commenced keeping a lumbering store, which he operated for eleven years. In 1870 he bought, in partnership with Gillingham & Garrison, fifteen hundred acres of timber land from James Irwin & Sons, started a saw-mill, and made rafts of lumber and timber. Two years after he bought the interests of his partners and has since purchased two other farms. His place is known as Gillingham P.O., and he has been postmaster since 1870. He is now actively operating in lumber, and for the last two years has kept eight men and their families employed. He enjoys the respect of all who know him, and integrity in business is his motto.
 

JOHN PATCHIN, ESQ.,
 

     was born on the borders of Lake George, in Warren county, New York, about sixteen miles from Ticonderoga, in the year 1789. Not possessing the advantages of an early education, his general knowledge and acquaintance with business was acquired by his energy and close application. The place at which he was born and lived during his early life, was called Sabbath Day Point, and took its name from an incident in the history of the war between the French and Indians and the Colonists – a battle being fought there on Sunday morning. His father owned the place, and lived there until he died,

Page 24
HISTORICAL SKETCH OF CLEARFIELD COUNTY, PENN'A.
 

at the age of ninety-four years. After he grew to manhood, he married a Miss Elizabeth B. Wright, and engaged in the lumber business. The timber on the borders of Lake George was principally pine and spruce, and logging was the general mode of operating. Mr. Patchin operated principally on Black Mountain, and had a log slide of his own construction – one and one-half miles in length – along the mountain side, by which his logs were conveyed down to the shore of the lake. But as timber began to get scarce in this locality, Mr. Patchin began to think of a new field of operation, and, after traveling over the country to a considerable extent, his attention was attracted by the magnificent pine forests of the upper Susquehanna, which, to his mind, presented advantages over any timber district he had visited. Accordingly, he came to Clearfield county in 1835, and purchased a large quantity of those fine timber tracts in Burnside township, and adopted this as his new field to carry on his adopted business. He bought the major portion of the land from a gentleman named Edward Shoemaker, an agent for eastern parties; and Messrs. A.B. Reed and Josiah Smith, of Clearfield, sold him a considerable quantity. The total amount of these purchases was about ten thousand acres, and the prices paid ranged from three to five dollars per acre. The highest he ever paid was twenty dollars.

     He was one of the first men of the county who had an extensive knowledge of the lumber business, having brought his experience with him, and was, therefore, a pioneer in this great branch of the county’s industries. He introduced the methods of preparing, hauling and rafting timber on the upper Susquehanna, and he at once became extensively engaged in making and rafting square timber and spars. The first year he sent rafts down the river was as early as 1836. His market, in those days, was New York City, and the timber brought from fourteen to fifteen cents per foot. At a later day he sent the greater portion to Philadelphia, Wilmington and Marietta. He never sold any of consequence at Lock Haven and Williamsport. He did not bring his family to Clearfield county until the year 1847, first locating them at Curwensville, where they remained until their removal to what is now known as Patchinville. His first building at this place was of round logs, one story high, twenty feet wide and forty feet long. This building was afterward increased to sixty feet in length, and was erected by his son Horace and John M. Chase, now of Woodward township, in the fall of 1840. One end of the building served for a store, and the other to live in and board the hands. He erected a comfortable frame house about the year 1848, in which the family lived for a number of years. After 2853 the lumber business was carried on under the firm name of John Patchin & Sons.

     At the time he came to Clearfield county his family consisted of six sons and two daughters. His sons, Samuel C., Horace, Aaron W., Jackson and George, still reside in the county, and Henry lives in the state of Iowa. Only one of the daughters is now living – Mrs. Wm. Walters, of Burnside township. The other married a Methodist minister, and died in 1860, aged seventy-four years. He possessed great energy of purpose, acquired a large experience in business, to which he devoted strict attention, and accustomed himself to grapple with the great problems of life under all circumstances.
 

HORACE PATCHIN
 

     HORACE PATCHIN was born Dec. 27th, 1818, at his father’s home on Lake George. In youth he received but a common school education, not attending school after he arrived at fourteen, and at this early age was a companion and assistant of his father in the lumber business. He came to Clearfield county in the fall of 1838, and actively engaged with his father in the management of the lumber business on the Upper Susquehanna. His routine was to come here in the fall, work during the winter, go down the river in the spring, and float the lumber around to New York, generally arriving there about the last of August or the first of September. At Port Deposit a “float” would be made up of twenty or thirty rafts, and he would have a crew of men under his charge, by whom the timber was floated around to the city. There his father would meet him and make sales of the lumber. In the fall of 1844 he went to Frenchville to take off a large lot of timber his father had bought there, and put it into market. He was engaged here eight years, during which time he married Miss Sarah A. Weaver, who lived in Nittany Valley, Centre county, Pa. In July, 1852, he removed to Curwensville, where he remained until November, 1853, when he brought his family to Patchinville. He then made improvements there, and built a house that was considered, at that time, the best residence in the upper part of the country. He engaged in business on his own account about the year 1858, and carried on merchandising in connection with lumbering. In February, 1870, he purchased the Irvin property at Burnside, and removed there in December of the same year. Here he made extensive improvements, built a new store and several dwellings, remodeled the flouring and saw-mills, and refitted them with new machinery. The flouring-mill is now one of the best the county affords. He now owns about one thousand four hundred acres, including a farm in Indiana county, mostly of good timber lands, and also a saw-mill on Beaver run. He carries on merchandising, milling and lumbering, and in the latter is one of the county’s most extensive operators.
 

AARON W. PATCHIN
 

     The subject of this sketch was born on the borders of Lake George, August 5th, 1824, and was, therefore, about eleven years of age when his father first came to Clearfield county. Like his brother, his education was limited within the scope that was then obtained in the common schools, and his present attainments are the result of his experience and practical application to business. He came to the upper Susquehanna in the fall of 1847, traveling the distance from Harrisburg to Curwensville by stage. He always lived with his father, took care of him in his declining years, and assisted him in all his business affairs until his death. He never started in business on his own account until after his father’s decease, and worked for him during all that time in the same relation as if he had been a minor. He was married on the 26th day of June, 1862, to Miss Elizabeth Barrett, of Indiana county. His father’s will gave him the title to about six thousand acres of land, and provided that he should pay to the other heirs the sum of $90,000. Of this amount of land, one thousand acres were situated in Indiana county, which he sold, and the balance of five thousand acres he still owns. These are all in Clearfield county, on the Susquehanna and Chest creek and their tributaries, and the majority contain excellent timber, on which no lumbering has yet been done. He is the largest owner of timber on the upper Susquehanna, and while he operates extensively in the lumber business, he is very cautious about cutting timber from his own lands. For about six years after his father’s death his brother Jackson was associated with him in the mercantile business at Patchinville, but the latter then removing to Burnside, he has since continued to carry on the business himself in connection with his lumbering. He has an excellent saw-mill, where he manufactures a considerable quantity of lumber, which he rafts and sends down the river along with his square timber and spars.
 

JACKSON PATCHIN
 

     The subject of this sketch was born at his father’s home on Lake George, April 7th, 1830. He received a fair common school education, and came to Clearfield county in the year 1844. He was then only a boy of fourteen, but he served as a clerk in his father’s store, and eventually kept the books for all his business. About the year 1853 he was taken in as a partner, and after that time the business was conducted under the firm name of John Patchin & Sons. After his father’s death, he and his brother Aaron continued the mercantile business in partnership. In 1869 he bought Aaron’s interest, and continued the business at Patchinville until 1871, when he sold out to Aaron and removed to Burnside. He was married on the 1st day of January, 1856, to Miss Mary Mahaffey, daughter of John Mahaffey, Eq. He now carries on a store in connection with lumbering in the village of Burnside – buys timber in the woods and rafts the river. He acquired his knowledge of business and book-keeping by his own application and practical experience.
 

GEORGE PATCHIN
 

     was born at the family residence on the borders of Lake George, on the 14th day of July, 1935, and was a lad of twelve years when he came to Clearfield county in 1847. He received such education as his opportunities in the common schools then afforded, and after his father’s death he attended Duff’s Commercial College at Pittsburgh. After his return from college he started in business for himself and, in common with the family, he made lumbering his avocation. His first purchase of timber land was from his brother Aaron, and consisted of four hundred and forty acres. He was married in the year 1867 to Miss Agnes Bates, and soon after bought from William Langdon the tract of land on which he now resides. A fine view of his residence will be found on another page of this work, and shows the character of the improvements he has made. He now has over seven hundred acres of land in all, continues to operate in square timber, and generally runs his rafts to Marietta and Port Deposit.
 

SHEFFIELD W. CORSON
 

     was born in Bradford county, Pa., on the 9th day of March, 1828, and is a lineal descendant, by his mother’s side, of Major Waldron, whose name is prominently associated with the early history of New Hampshire. His father, Oliver W. Corson, was born in that state in the year 1804, and died in 1834, when our subject was a child of six years of age. His grandfather, Benj. Corson, lived to the age of ninety-seven, but his father, being afflicted with hemorrhage of the lungs, died at this early age, and left a wife and three children, of whom our subject was the eldest. At his father’s death he was sent to live with an uncle in Connecticut, and from thence went to Springfield, Mass., where he attended school for a time. Being afflicted with white swelling, his physicians decided that a cure could only be effected by a change of location and climate. On this account his mother removed to Clearfield county, where she then had a brother, Mr. George Bennett, one of the first settlers of the Upper Susquehanna, and a neighbor of Wm. Mahaffey. Our subject was then twelve years old. His mother had left but $2.50 in money on their arrival, and they all had to earn a living by hard work. For about one year he had to use his crutches, but worked nonetheless. The first seven months he attended stock for Mr. Samuel McCuen, for which he received his board and a pair of shoes. The next seven months, he worked for a John Crumling, of Indiana county, receiving for the time the paltry sum of $2.50, and thought he was doing well. He bought a hog with the money, and gave it to his mother. In 1842 he worked for $4 per month, and in 1843 drove a team of four horses, principally on the road from Pittsburgh to Bellefonte for twenty cents per day as his wages, and out of this sum helped to keep his mother. In 1844 he began work for John Patchin, and continued in his employ at from ten to fifteen dollars per month. He rafted at 75 cents per day, and walked all the way home from Port Deposit, for a number of years being a pilot for rafts on the river. He was married in 1848, and from that time to 1863 he lumbered for the Patchins and others, by the job. After that time he engaged in the lumber business on his own account, first buying a tract of 106 acres, adjoining the village of Burnside, from William C. Irwin. He improved this as his means afforded, and in 1864 bought a tract of excellent timber from Aaron W. Patchin, from which he has since prepared and marketed a large amount of lumber. He purchased another tract of 400 acres from J. Blake Walters & Co., near the village of Burnside, of which 150 acres are now under a good state of cultivation. He kept his mother during her life-time, who, in her last days, became quite helpless. He still has a considerable quantity of good timber, and has accumulated his property and earned his livelihood by hard labor and perseverance.
 

SAMUEL JOHNSON
 

     In York county, Pa., on the 17th day of February, 1781, Samuel Johnson was born, where he remained until seventeen years of age, and then emigrated to Centre county, Pa. His father departed this life when our subject was very young, and he was deprived of the care and advice of a father. He learned the cabinet making trade with his stepfather, and commenced business for himself in Half Moon valley, Centre county, shortly after his arrival at that place, continuing his business until 1812, eight years after his marriage to Miss Hannah Fisher, which event took place on the 20th day of March, 1804. In 1812 he came to Clearfield county, and purchased and settled on a tract of land containing one hundred and fifty acres, being a part of the tract known as the Hopkin & Griffith lands, located on the Grampian Hills, one-fourth of a mile south of Pennville. He first built a round log house to live in, and then began to clear out the forest and improve his land, following farming as his occupation. He was noted as a great woodsman, taking delight in hunting game of different kinds. In 1824 he erected a larger and more comfortable dwelling. Their union was blessed with nine children: five sons – James, Elah, John, William F., and Garretson; four daughters – Elizabeth, Thirza, Nancy and Hannah. John, Hannah, and Mrs. Johnson, our subject’s wife, departed this life in 1824, and are buried in the Friend’s burying grounds near Pennville – the death and burial of the three being in one week, leaving Mr. Johnson and seven children to mourn their loss. This occurrence threw a still greater responsibility upon our subject, his children being without the maternal care which is required in rearing a family. During Mr. Johnson’s sojourn in Clearfield county he occupied the position of justice of the peace for many years, and served as county commissioner for one term. He was always active in school affairs, being a warm friend to education, and was said to be one of the best-read men in the county. He remained in this county until 1851, then he and his son Garretson moved to the state of Indiana, where they departed this life – Garretson in 1861, and our subject in 1863, he being in his eighty-second year. Two of the daughters moved to the state of Illinois – Elizabeth and Thirza. Nancy married Patrick Daily, and is living in Clearfield county.
 

JAMES JOHNSON,
 

     the eldest son of the foregoing, was born in Centre county, Pa., on the 10th day of July, 1806, where he remained until six years of age, and was then brought to Clearfield county by his parents. As there were but few terms of school taught during his minority, his school days were limited, being only about three months in all. His knowledge of books was obtained by study at home, and instructions from his father, and his business education was attained by practical experience. He stayed at home with his father until twenty-seven years of age, and then commenced business for himself, in company with his brother Elah. Their first purchase was one hundred and forty-three acres of land, a part of the tract known as the John Nicholson survey (No. 5,962), located on Bell’s run, one mile above its mouth, which they began improving. Their first improvement was a saw-mill, built about 1832-3, and their next building was a dwelling house, which is still standing, near the saw-mill.

     Their next purchases was one hundred and sixty-three acres, being a part of the Nichlin & Griffith tract (No. 5,935), which they also commenced clearing and improving – building a dwelling house and preparing for tilling the soil. They continued in business as partners for eleven years, when they made a division of their land, James taking the first purchase, and Elah the second. Our subject, James, continued improving his land by clearing away the forest, and made farming his occupation in connection with manufacturing lumber, making the latter business a decided success. He next bought fifty acres of land from Owens & McCracken, and then purchased three hundred acres from Gov. Wm. Bigler. He built a fine brick residence on his farm in 1861, in which he is now living. He erected a large woolen factory near his saw-mill on Bell’s run, in 1866. In connection with farming and lumbering he followed the manufacturing of all kinds of woolen goods, making the business a success for four years. His factory then burned down, and thus put an end to that business for ten months, during which time he erected another factory, had it in running order, and commenced that branch of his business again with renewed energy. He is still pursuing his three vocations, viz., farming, and manufacturing lumber and woolen goods. He was married to Miss Sarah Stugart, daughter of John Stugart, on the 21st day of April, 1835. They were the parents of nine children – six sons and three daughters: Wm. P., John S., David H., Matthew W., James A., Francis D., Hannah E., Eliza, and Elizabeth, all of whom are now living except Eliza, who died on the 2d day of February, 1848. The remaining eight are all living near their parents. Our subject has a Bible in his possession that was printed in 1749. It was owned by his grandfather, and given to his father in 1795.
 

ELAH JOHNSON,
 

     second son of Samuel Johnson, was born on the 24th day of June, 1811, on the farm now owned by Wm. F. Johnson, near Pennsville. As schools were scarce in his boyhood days, his education was obtained by the application of his mind to books at home, and the teaching of his father. He remained with his father until twenty-one years of age, when he commenced business in company with his brother James, and continued in partnership with him for eleven years. Then they made a division of property, Elah taking the tract he is now living on, in Greenwood township. He continued to improve his land, and at present has his farm under a good state of cultivation. He is also a millwright by trade, which he has been following in connection with farming. He was married to Miss Elizabeth Horn, daughter of Samuel Horn, of Clearfield county, on the 27the day of January, 1842. They were blessed with one daughter, who is still living. His wife departed this life on the 8th of December, 1848.

     He was again married, to Hannah G. Troy, daughter of Samuel Troy. Their union has been blessed with eleven children – seven sons and four daughters, all of whom are living, and are at home with their parents.
 

WILLIAM F. JOHNSON,
 

     the fourth son of Samuel Johnson, was born on the farm on which he is now living, near Pennville, Clearfield county, Pa., on the 8th day of November, 1815. He remained with his father until twenty-one years of age. There were but five terms of school taught in that neighborhood where our subject lived when a youth. These were kept in a house made of round logs, with a fire-place in one end, instead of a stove, as we now have, and an opening covered with greased paper for a window. The first term was taught by Ebenezer Winslow, a native of New York State; the second by Robison, a native of Ireland; the third by Dr. James Stark, of New York State; and the fourth by Dr. A. Schriber, of the same state, and the fifth by Da-
 

Page 25
HISTORICAL SKETCH OF CLEARFIELD COUNTY, PENN'A.
 

vid Hewitt, of Bradford county, each term consisting of three months. This being the extent of our subject’s opportunity at school, the principal part of his knowledge has, therefore, been obtained by home study and practical application in business.

     He is a miller by trade, which he commenced following at the age of twenty-one years, and pursued that vocation, in connection with farming, about thirty-two years. He then engaged in the mercantile business in Pennville, following that for five years. The remainder of his time he has been engaged in farming and manufacturing lumber of all kinds.

     In 1877, he, in company with Wm. Schwem, erected a large flouring mill in the village of Pennville, which is now running successfully. He was married to Miss Priscilla Evans, daughter of Jonathan Evans, of Clearfield county, on the 1st day of December, 1839. They had one daughter, Sarah Ann, who married Wm. Welty, of Clearfield county, and is now living in Union township. His wife was called from this world on the 10th day of December, 1875. He was again married to Mrs. Louisa Porter on the 25th of January, 1877. Mr. Johnson, has always been a warm friend and energetic worker in the cause of education. The Johnsons were among the first settlers in Clearfield county, and know something of pioneer life. They have been industrious and energetic citizens – such as are beneficial to a community – always straightforward in business, and now, in their advanced years, they are surrounded by the many comforts of life, highly esteemed and honored by all that know them.
 

LEVER FLEGAL,
 

     the owner and occupant of the beautiful farm shown elsewhere in the illustrations of this work, was born in Philipsburg, Centre county, Penna., on the 19th day of June, A.D., 1828. He is a man of sterling integrity and remarkable energy of purpose, and takes a special delight in owning and growing fine horses and cattle, cleaning out the hedges and ditches, pulling out stumps, and making the rough places smooth, so that Nature’s God may have glory in the works of the husbandman, and bring a blessing to the hands that toil, and to the brow and basket of him whose face sweats to fulfill the stern mandate of Eden’s lost home.

     His ancestors came originally from near the City of Worms, in Germany, and were identified with the most active co-workers of the great reformers, Martin Luther and Melancthon. Their descendants maintained the faith of the Reformation, and finally emigrated from the fatherland, and founded a home in the New World, near the City of Baltimore, in Maryland. Grandfather Valentine Flegal was born in Hagerstown, Maryland, on the 10th day of August, 1758, and when about forty years of age he settled in the Moshannon Valley, near Philipsburg, Centre county, Pa., upon the place now owned by Jacob F. Steiner, and known as Steiner Station, on the Tyrone and Clearfield R.R. The location was at that time but a wilderness, Mr. Flegal being the first settler in that part of Clearfield county.

     He had a family of eight children, four sons and four daughters. He lived at the same place until he died, at the age of eighty years, having been known as a man of more than ordinary ability. He received the honor of a duly licensed preacher of the Gospel, which was granted to him by the Conference held in Cumberland county, State of Pennsylvania, April 6th, 1827.


     The Rev. John Flegal, father of our subject, was born on the 31st day of March, 1796, and on the 30th day of November, 1820, he married Miss Ann Hoover, of Clearfield county, Pa., with whom he raised a family of ten children – four boys and six girls. Eight of their children are still living.

     Mrs. Flegal was a daughter of Martin Hoover, formerly from York county, Pa., whose wife was Miss Catharine Zinn, of Lancaster county, Pa. Her father, Mr. Hoover, was the ninth settler of Clearfield county, in 1801, but at that time both Clearfield and Centre counties were known as a part of Northumberland.

     He cleared and improved the lands now known as Major Nevling’s farm. Mr. Hoover died there in 1841, at the age of seventy-eight years, having served as the first member elected to the Legislature of the State from Clearfield county. His excellent and much lamented wife died at the same place in 1843, at the age of seventy-three years. This now brings us to the death of the Rev. John Flegal, which occurred in Brady township, Clearfield county, on the 18th day of April, 1870, aged seventy-four years.

     Lever Flegal’s boyhood was spent in the borough of Clearfield, where he obtained a good practical education, and was engaged for a number of years as a clerk. He married Miss Ellen Drauker on the 4th of December, 1855. After his marriage he engaged in the harness and saddler business in Luthersburg for several years, and there was elected treasurer of the county in1869. He discharged the responsibilities of his office with fidelity and satisfaction to the people.

     After his term of office expired, he engaged in the mercantile business, until the spring of 1875, and then removed with his family to his present farm, in Lawrence township, which he at once began to improve. He has had such fine success that this farm now presents an appearance not more than equaled by the best farms in the county. He has a family of four children – three daughters and an infant son, who now surround him in the enjoyments of life’s blessings.
 

JOHN DUBOIS
 

     The ancestors of Mr. DuBois, on his father’s side, were French, and located in the southeastern part of the state of New York, and upon the western extremity of Staten Island. Their coming to America dates from 1634, and their posterity numbers in its list many noted names in theology, law, arms, and business. They were members of the Reformed Church of France, and this fact, evidently, was the chief motive in seeking a home in the section so lately seized upon by the Dutch.

     He was born near Owega, Tioga county, N.Y., on the 3d day of March, 1809. His father, John DuBois, was a farmer, and bought timber lands and bought a saw-mill when the subject of this sketch was sixteen years old.

     His mother was a Miss Lucy Crocker, daughter of Ezekiel Crocker, one of the first settlers near Binghamton, N.Y., who moved there from Connecticut, with three of his sons and his daughter Lucy, when she was but eleven years old. Lucy took charge of the household duties, did the housework for her father and brothers, besides two hired men, for a year and a half, when the rest of the family joined them. She was a woman of indefatigable energy and decision of character. She attended the first house-warming, as it was then called, in Binghamton. The Indians were numerous, and constituted nearly the entire population.

     The farm was large, and the family equally so, as their table was surrounded by eight sons and two daughters. John, the subject of this sketch, was the second child. He and his brothers were taught to work early and late, in season and out of season, and to this rigid training, followed for a long series of years, may be attributed his success as a man of business.

     His education was obtained in the district schools, except one winter, when he attended the academy at Owego, N.Y. After he was twelve years old, much of his time was required to drive the oxen and horses on the barn floor, to tramp out wheat – no threshing machines being then in use.

     After he was fifteen years old but little time was allowed him for going to school, as his time was mostly occupied by farm duties and lumbering. His opportunities, however, were as good as his brothers’ and the neighboring boys’, and as good as his parents could afford with so large a family.

     The only money he and his elder brother were allowed to spend was what they made by trapping, and speculating with the money thus obtained. When their capital accumulated, their father would borrow it, and continued to do so until it amounted to twenty dollars; and, as the boys could not get back their money of him, they bought a cold of him, and paid him for keeping it until it grew up, and was put into service by their father, and becoming a very valuable horse, their father sold it, and pocketed the money.

     At the age of seventeen, John made his first trip down the North Branch of the Susquehanna river on a raft, in company with his father. At the age of nineteen he went as supercargo, and sold his lumber at Columbia, to the Messrs. Cooper (Quakers), at seventy-five cents per thousand more than any of his neighboring lumbermen. He is now of the opinion that it was an act of generosity on the part of the Messrs. Cooper, on account of his age and attention to business. From that time until he left his father, John took the entire charge of running and selling his lumber.

     At the age of twenty his father erected a saw-mill, two miles from Tioga Centre, and about four miles from the homestead farm. John and David (a younger brother) stocked the mill with logs in the winter, and hauled the lumber to the river and rafted it for going to market when the floods served. John went with the lumber, and David remained to labor upon the farm. Ezekiel, the older brother, carried on the business of shoe manufacturing.

     About the time John was of age, his father bought a farm at Tioga Centre, for which he was to pay six thousand dollars. He asked the three older sons, Ezekiel, John and David, to stay with him until it was paid for, promising to give it to them when the deed was made. When the property was paid for, the father forgot his promise, and had the deed made to himself. He built a store and dwelling house upon it, with a view of putting the three oldest sons in business. He settled with them, and allowed them a hundred dollars a year, clear of board and clothing. With their wages, he gave them money and personal property to the amount of three thousand dollars. Instead of giving them a deed of the farm, as promised, he leased them the farm to work on shares, and also the mill and timber lands – they to stock and saw the logs, and give him one-half of the lumber.

     With this lease the three brothers, and one sister to keep house for them, left the old hive, which had already grown too full. Their first business was to work the farm, and attend to the lumber business. In the meantime the building for the store was commenced and finished. The elder brother, Ezekiel, took the time to get him a wife. Unfortunately for the next, he never had, or never took, the time to do so. He now admits it to be the greatest error of his life, and advises all young men to avoid such a fatal mistake. The third son, David, died at the age of twenty-eight, unmarried. The farming and lumber manufacturing under the lease, turned out to be a hard bargain – the farm having previously been rented eleven years; consequently it was in very bad condition. That, together with the cold seasons of ’33 and ’34, made the crops so light they did not pay the expense of the labor in raising them. The lumber cut, being of the common quality, brought such low prices that it did not pay the cost of getting it to the market.

     After the store building was completed, an arrangement was made with a Mr. Light for the brothers to go into the mercantile business with him, he having had experience in the business, and also capital and credit equal with the three brothers. When the arrangement had concluded by the approbation of the father, the balance of what was due to the brother for wages, and the amount given to them making up the three thousand dollars, was advanced, and John and Mr. Light started to New York to lay in a stock of goods for the store. Light, having previously closed up a business of a former firm, took means to pay up all of the outstanding debts, and, as DuBois supposed, sufficient means to put in for purchasing his share of the goods to be purchased. When they arrived in the city, Light introduced DuBois to the different firms with whom he had been dealing, and settled up with and paid them all balances that were due, and made known to them the arrangements made, or to be made, between them. Light had about four hundred dollars, belonging to T. Gregg, to be invested in goods. After he had completed the settlement of his business, and was about to enter into purchasing goods for the new firm, he handed the package of money belonging to Gregg to DuBois, and left the hotel, saying he would be back in a few minutes. That was the last that was seen or known of him by any of his acquaintances or friends for four years. DuBois went to the different houses where he had been introduced by Light, and enquired after him, and found he had paid them all in full, but got no tidings of his whereabouts.

     Without any knowledge of the business, and under the extremely embarrassing circumstances, DuBois purchased such as stock of goods as he thought salable and returned home. He took the package of money to Mr. Gregg that had been entrusted to his care. After looking it over, Mr. Gregg said it was all there that he had sent.

     Four years after Mr. Light returned. He said he had enlisted on board of a whaling craft, and had made the four years’ voyage. His friends did not hear from him during the four years’ absence. He never gave DuBois a reason for doing as he did.

     The goods arrived, and, consequently, the charge of the store wholly fell upon John, and soon after a younger brother, Matthias, who had some experience in the business, and was carried on by the brothers during their co-partnership, for a term of five years.

     The failure to realize anything from the farm and mill on shares, under the lease, resulted in a new agreement, by which the sons were to have two-thirds of the lumber, and the right to manufacture logs of their own, on the mill, by paying fifty cents per thousand for the use of the mill. In the winter of 1835 John DuBois learned that an owner of land wished to sell a thousand acres, on which there was a large amount of poplar and some very fine pine timber, which, at that time, was very valuable.

     He hitched his horse to his buggy, and started to New York, via Montrose, Milford and Elizabethtown; from there to New York by steamer. He arrived in New York, purchased the tract of land for three thousand dollars, paid part, and got credit for the balance. His business done, he arose early next morning to take the first boat to Elizabethtown, and found about eight inches of snow on the pavement, and the snow still falling. He went to the steamboat wharf, but no boat arrived, as the storm prevented it from coming in. After waiting a long time he went to Jersey City, intending to go by rail from there, but found the railroad also blockaded by snow. He then returned to the city and waited.

     Late in the afternoon one of the Elizabethtown boats arrived, on which he took passage, arriving late in the evening at that city, the snow still falling. Early next morning he arose, and found the snow had fallen to the depth of two feet, and the wind was blowing a gale. Seeing the utter impossibility of traveling with a buggy, he put the harness and buffalo robe on his horse and started. He was three days going to Milford, and in no part of the distance was there a track in the road except from the farm houses to the barns. In many places the snow was drifted entirely over the fences. Many times each day he passed through snow drifts from four to ten feet deep. Through the town of Milford the track was nicely beaten, which induced him to stop over a day and build a jumper, which having accomplished, he started out in fine spirits, but he soon found that beyond the town no track was broken, except that made by a drove of cattle. The snow was four feet deep, and the cattle, walking Indian file, one after another, had made a nice path for the horse to walk in; but, as the jumper was constructed so that one runner followed the horse’s track, and the other on the unbeaten snow, two or three feet above the path, it was impossible to ride in it, as it ran more on its side than upon its runners. Consequently, he was obliged to walk that day in the path behind the jumper until nearly night, when he met two teams, being the first on the whole route, which had so broken the road that he was enabled to again mount the jumper, and go on his way rejoicing. After reaching Great Bend, he found the road well broken for the rest of the distance home.

     That was the heaviest single fall of snow, and the coldest winter, experienced by the oldest inhabitants in most sections of the distance through which he passed. The snow was fully four feet deep, and for forty days without thawing, on the sunny side of the buildings.

     Arriving at home, he at once set to work and cut a road about three miles to the thousand acre timber tract, and got in about four hundred thousand feet of lumber, which was sold at nineteen and twenty-nine dollars at Port Deposit. From that time on until all the valuable timber was taken off, the brothers made money rapidly.

     At the end of the five years they closed up their business with property and money to the value of fifteen thousand dollars. In dividing it up, Ezekiel took most of the real estate and personal property for his share, and John and David, constituting a new firm, located a lumbering establishment in Lycoming county, Pa., twenty miles from the city of Williamsport, on the W.P. and Elmira R.R. Their first purchase of timber lands there was made of James R. Wilson, of Jersey Shore, and their mill site of Joseph Keys. They commenced to build their mill and dam in October; finished the dam, and had the lower part of their mill frame raised, when there came a heavy flood and carried away the dam, which satisfied them that their location was impracticable. The brothers then returned to Tioga, where they finished three lumber matters, and, after taking the balance to market, they again returned to Lycoming county, purchased another mill site of John Read, of Trout Run, and built a mill and dam, which they completed and had ready to run in November of that year.

     During that year, a younger brother, Matthias, was taken into the firm. In 1848 David died, leaving the business in the hands of John and Matthias, they paying back to the family four thousand five hundred dollars.

     They did business there ten years, and bought, during that time, about eight thousand acres of land in that vicinity. They also bought and sold about one hundred acres of land in the city of Williamsport, and bought about thirty-two thousand acres in Clearfield county, Pa., and about eight hundred acres in Armstrong township, Lycoming county, the latter of which were improved farms, for the purpose of securing rights for the Susquehanna boom, and sites for saw-mills at its foot.

     They took one-half of the stock in the boom, and got a friend to purchase enough stock to give them a controlling interest. They were contractors and builders of the portion that consumed all of the capital stock; and, to make it practicable, invested seventeen thousand dollars of their own private funds. After David’s death Matthias married, and a residence was build on the Lycoming, where he kept house, and made a pleasant home for his brother John.

     They built a substantial residence on a full square in the city of Williamsport, and had it nicely furnished when Matthias’ family moved in, but before they were fully settled his health failed, so that he had to be removed, and he never came back. Matthias was the financier, and a man of superior judgment. The most unbounded confidence and affection existed between the brothers.

     The last balance sheet taken off by him showed a large balance in cash, bills receivable, and available personal property, over all debts against them. A year before the death of Matthias, a gentleman made an arrangement to take a small interest in the firm, and after his death this gentleman became a partner, and too the entire charge of the financial part of their business. He managed it so carelessly or dishonestly that DuBois saw the necessity of closing the co-partnership which he did by buying him out in 1863, since which time he has had no partner.
 

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HISTORICAL SKETCH OF CLEARFIELD COUNTY, PENN'A.
 

     Shortly after his brother’s death he built a large mill and quite a town, which is now called DuBois town, situated on the Susquehanna, above Williamsport, on the opposite side of the river. To stock his mill he commenced cutting and putting in logs from his lands in Clearfield county.

     He put his logs into a stream where two men of supposed ability, from the state of Maine, (where log-floating had been done for years,) were operating. They failed to get their logs out the first year, and only succeeded, the second year, in getting out a portion of what had not been lost by the ice-floods, while DuBois drove his logs from above where theirs were put in the stream, to the boom at Williamsport, in the space of nine days – the quickest drive ever made from that place.

     For a number of years he continued to stock and drive successfully, not only his own logs, but logs for other parties who stocked in the same stream.

     He met with great opposition by men running lumber down the streams, in rafts, and was persecuted by many vexatious suits in the courts, where he invariably succeeded against them, until they became so desperate they resorted to driving spikes and pieces of iron into his logs, which caused thousands of dollars damage to his business as well as to others engaged in the same business. In 1860 the business had so increased that the boom company, with their limited means and low rate of boomage, as construed by the courts and counsel, could not construct and enlarge the boom substantially to stop and hold the logs floated to it, in consequence of which the boom gave away, and about fifty million feet of logs went adrift, among which DuBois and his partner had four and a half million feet. The owners called a meeting to decide upon the best method of disposing of the logs, and finally decided to sell and bring back to the mills at Williamsport, all logs lying between the boom and Sunbury, and to drive the balance to tide water, and there build mills and manufacture them – each paying according to his proportionate loss. They commenced by letting a contract, or employing men to do so. Subscriptions were raised for means to commence, and a running drive was made to Harrisburg, but when a meeting was called to ascertain the probably amount lost by each firm or individual, a number who were supposed to have lost largely reported but a small amount. The consequence was that the whole arrangement was abandoned.

     There being owners at Lock Haven and others at Williamsport who could not agree to act together, and both parties concluding to go on the river and Chesapeake bay and sell their logs for what they could get, made it very certain that but little would be realized by them. DuBois’ interest being so great, he could not afford to suffer such a loss, and went to the Lock Haven party and bought them out, and agreed upon men to go on and measure the logs and report the amount, which proved to be over fourteen million feet. That gave him about one-third of the whole amount lost.

     The Williamsport lumbermen met and formed a committee to go on and dispose of the logs without DuBois to represent his interests. He told them that unless he was included in the committee they could not dispose of his logs. They finally consented to include him in the committee.

     The committee met to exchange views as to prices, and to fix their plans for operation. The views of the members generally were so low as to the value of the logs, that DuBois asked for a short time to go over some of the ground to see what he could get. They granted him the time and empowered him to sell.

     He made a sale of the logs lying between the Shamokin dam and Selin’s Grove (the section that was left, where the logs were not considered worth driving) at six dollars per thousand feet, which was from two to three times as much as any member estimated them worth, and was the best sale in the whole lot. No logs were sold as low as the highest estimate of any other member of the committee.

     DuBois and his partner bought of the committee all the logs that were in the Chesapeake bay, between Havre de Grace and the mouth of the Potapsco river, and finally all that were in the bay. DuBois then went to Havre de Grace, and made arrangements to gather and secure the logs.

     So much time had elapsed after the logs went into the bay, they were lying mostly along the beach, and many had been cut up. A number of the land owners along the shores objected to the owners of the logs taking measurements or allowing them to be removed. Notwithstanding these objections, DuBois chartered a steamboat and several sail scows, and went to work, gathering up all the logs he could with the means at hand, until he built a steam scow especially for the purpose, which enabled him to perform the work more rapidly and at a much less expense.

     In most cases he paid the owners of the shore such damages as they could agree upon, but a number of the large landholders refused to allow him to take the logs at all. Those he brought suit against in the U.S. Courts, and invariably recovered their value.

     In the meantime he entered into a lease with the commissioners of the borough of Havre de Grace, for a piece of land fronting on the bay, which gave him a fine harbor for his logs, and also a large vacant wharf bounding the upper side of the harbor, and affording facilities for an extensive lumber yard, and there he built his mill, and commenced sawing his logs in the fore part of October.

     In October, 1861, another large lot of logs escaped from the boom and went adrift down the river. DuBois was at Williamsport at that time, when the lumberman again sold him all the logs that went as far as Port Deposit, and finally those that had lodged along the river, as far up as Conestoga dam.

     The “South” being in rebellion at that time, and a large number of rebels in Maryland, rendered it very difficult to do business there, especially gathering logs along the shores. Many of the inhabitants said and believed that they were not bound by the laws of the United States.

     DuBois having had so much experience in gathering and securing logs on the bay, and disposing of them along the river, and knowing the danger of losses, urged the lumbermen to enter into an arrangement by which logs that went adrift could be disposed of without the delay necessary in calling meetings and appointing committees to attend to it, but could effect nothing with them.

     On the 17th of March, 1865, a flood occurred, the highest that was ever known on the Susquehanna and its branches, which carried a large quantity of logs past the booms and out on the shores of the streams so far that they could not be gotten back and driven to the booms that season, as there was no rise of the streams after the general flood had subsided. The consequence was, another meeting of the lumbermen was called to adopt a plan to dispose of the runaway logs.

     At that or a subsequent meeting it was decided by a majority of the lumbermen present to form a stock company, to be called “The Williamsport Transient Lumber Company,” and consisting of one hundred shares, the books to be opened for subscriptions at a meeting then appointed – none but stockholders to have the benefits of the company, and each share entitling the owner to a vote. When the meeting convened L.A. Ainsworth subscribed for fifty-five shares, which was all that was subscribed for, consequently that project failed.

     DuBois then proposed that the gathering and securing of the logs in the bay should be put up at auction, and award the contract to the lowest bidder, who should give approved security for the faithful performance of the contract, furnish the means for fulfilling it, and receive his pay at the end of each month, with the right to advertise and sell any logs not paid for in accordance with the contract.

     This proposition met with the same opposition by Herdic, who again carried the majority. DuBois then offered to bind himself in heavy bonds, with ample security, to make the necessary arrangements, and furnish fixtures at his own expense, and gather and secure the logs at a given price; or, if they thought the price too high, he would bid against any lumberman or number of them combined to do it, under the same restrictions, and let his interest go in with the rest and abide the decision. Herdic then came out and said, “it would not do to let DuBois have anything to do with it,” to which the majority again coincided with him, and let the job, leaving him out in the cold.

     The logs that were thrown out of the bed of streams above the booms, so far as to not allow them to be gotten in that season, in some cases were left until winter, and then put in, but a great effort was made to drive the balance in, and when the water got too low to drive, the parties doing that business continued hauling into the streams all below, where they were obliged to stop their rear. Having no water sufficient to drive the balance in, a large lot was left in the streams, where it was known that they must go away in the ice floods, when they could not be stopped in the booms.

     When cold weather set in, and the streams were frozen over, a meeting was again called, to decide how to secure the logs. Some of the lumbermen proposed to haul them out and bank them, and did so. Others left theirs where they were and took chances.

     DuBois proposed to let them all lie where they were, and make preparations to catch and secure them as they came into the tide water, and offered to make the necessary preparations at his own expense, and guarantee the cost of re-catching and securing them, should not exceed four dollars per thousand feet. To that they would not agree, and the result was the ice broke up in the river in the winter, and the ice and logs went out together.

     Some of the lumbermen, in company with DuBois, went to Havre de Grace, chartered a tug boat, and went down the bay, to ascertain what condition the logs were in, and the chances for securing them, and were clearly of the opinion that they could have been caught and secured at a moderate expense, had the necessary preparations been made, but it was evident that before they could then be made, the logs would be drifted so far down the bay, and the probability of the weather soon turning cold again, nothing was done. The most of the logs drifted so far that the owners realized nothing from them.

     At that time lumber was worth from two to three times as much as it was in 1860 and ’61; yet, with all the experiences in former losses, the majority of the lumbermen did not realize one-half from their losses as they did in those years.

     The business required so much personal attention from Mr. DuBois that he was obliged to trust his partner and book-keeper the financial part of his business at Williamsport.

     In the spring of 1861 the book-keeper wrote to him at Havre de Grace, that he could not keep the accounts correct, as shipments of lumber were not reported to him, except when he watched them personally, which was difficult, as it was done over two miles from the office; that notes of the firm were coming in to be paid, without any account to place them to; and that large amounts of money were being used by the partner, without being accounted for; and requested him to come to Williamsport immediately, and give it his personal attention.

     In accordance with this advice, he at once went to Williamsport, and sent a request to his partner to meet him at their office with his cash book and accounts, so that they could have all of the transactions of the firm on the books. He came to the office as requested, but, when asked for his cash book (which he had frequently told DuBois he kept, and could show up all money received and paid out, and all accounts and transactions of the firm’s business not on the firm’s books), he replied that he did not have any. DuBois told him what he said to him frequently on that subject, to which he replied, “that made no difference; he had no cash book, nor accounts of anything, but what were in his memory and on the books of the firm.” DuBois asked him if he could tell him what their liabilities were. He said he could, and went on to make his statement of them, which amounted to one hundred and thirty thousand dollars, all of which was placed upon the books. Not knowing what the liabilities might amount to, or what his partner would make them by giving the company’s notes without accounting for their proceeds, DuBois gave his partner six months in which to make up his accounts, with a distinct understanding that the company’s paper was not to be given outside of the office, and in the presence of the book-keeper, and to be placed right on the firm’s books, and all moneys received or paid out to be done through the office. During that season, a large amount of lumber was shipped to commission merchants in Baltimore and Philadelphia, aside from what was sold, of which no correct account could be had, and the debts not diminished.

     In the shipping season of 1862, DuBois having finished the mill at Havre de Grace, and having but a few logs to be gathered, had time to give some attention to the sales of lumber, which was being shipped principally by canal, and mostly shipped to Baltimore and Philadelphia, having to pass Havre de Grace, where he had established a lumber yard in connection with the mill, and where he was obliged to spend the most of his time. He instructed his book-keeper at Williamsport to notify him when any lumber was shipped to pass that point, which enabled him to intercept it there, and take it into the yard and dispose of it, which he did, and reduced the reported liabilities of the firm to seventy-five thousand dollars, besides paying nineteen thousand dollars not previously reported. During the fall and winter of 1862 and ’63, notes of the firm, given by his partner (not on the books nor accounted for by him) came in for payment. DuBois also received a letter from Edmund Miller, Esq., of Elmira, saying that he had endorsed the firm’s paper, given to the Tuttle & Brooks, of Elmira, for fifteen hundred dollars, and that he was threatened to be prosecuted unless it was paid at once. DuBois being at Havre de Grace, his book-keeper notified him of the facts, and he at once took funds and went to Elmira, and called upon Miller to ascertain the facts, there being no record on the firm’s books, and no report of such paper.

     Miller told him that the paper had the firm’s name in the partner’s handwriting, and he had endorsed it, supposing it to be all right. DuBois gave him the money and told him to take up the paper, and ascertain what it was given for. As near as could be ascertained, it was an old personal matter of the partner’s.

     DuBois took the notes, three in number, of five hundred dollars each, and returned to Williamsport. He asked his partner to meet him at the office, in company with their book-keeper. As requested, the partner met him at the office, where the three sat down at the desk with the books before them. The book-keeper brought forward a number of notes that had been paid, and, on referring to the books, found no account of them. DuBois then asked his partner if there was any other paper out that did not appear on the books, and he said there was. DuBois then told him to go on and make a full statement of the liabilities of the firm, and have them placed on the books, so they would know what they had to meet. He made a statement of liabilities to a large amount, and, among the rest, of a note to Tuttle & Brooks, of about five hundred dollars. When asked what it was given for, he said it grew out of some sawing they did for the firm. DuBois asked him then if he had reported all the liabilities to the firm. He said he had. DuBois then handed him the three five hundred dollar notes given to Tuttle & Brooks, and asked him if the signatures to them were genuine. He replied that they were. He was then asked if there was only one note of five hundred dollars, as represented, or three of five hundred dollars each. He made no answer, but picked up his hat and started to leave the office.

     DuBois called him back, and told him that they had better have a clear understanding of their affairs before he left the office, for he had the papers already made out to put the company’s business in the hands of a receiver, and dissolve the firm, unless an arrangement was made. He took off his hat and sat down at the desk again. After a short consultation, DuBois told him he would give him three days in which to make an offer to either sell out to him or buy him out. He accepted the proposition and left the office.

     At the expiration of three days he came forward with an offer to sell, but made no offer to buy. DuBois accepted his offer, and asked him to guarantee the debts not to exceed the amounts shown on the books. He said by adding six thousand dollars more he would give the guarantee. DuBois agreed to that, and, before the contract was drawn up, he made another exception of fourteen thousand dollars. The contract was finally closed with the guarantee that the firm’s debts should not exceed ninety-six thousand dollars, when DuBois went into the possession of all the firm’s real and personal property, and bound himself to pay the indebtedness to that amount. The books showed a large amount due to the firm, but, when they were settled, it was found that the most of the accounts were receipted in full by the late partner, and many of a very recent date.

     There was one account, on the Williamsport books, against a lumber buyer doing business between Williamsport and Sunbury, of about eighteen thousand dollars, and an account on the Lycoming mill books of over seventeen hundred dollars, against the same party. DuBois asked his partner especially about these accounts, being large in amount, when he told him to make out a bill, and forward it to him at once, and ask him to remit immediately. The bill was made out accordingly, and a remittance requested. It was answered promptly, saying, so far as it went, the account was correct, but he had two or three receipts on settlements in full, which led DuBois to ask him to send a statement of the account in full, which he did. Upon comparing it with the books, it was found that he had had eight canal boat loads of lumber which did not appear on the books, and receipts in full for the payment, for which no credits appeared on the books. The late partner had an accomplice, to count and ship the lumber, who would not report the shipments at the office unless the book-keeper found out, by other means, that the lumber had been shipped, and asked him for the account. This lumber stopping short of Havre de Grace enabled them to conceal their transactions. How much of the spoils the accomplice of his partner got, DuBois never knew, but the partner either, swore to a falsehood, or antedated a letter (which is most probable) produced in court by his accomplice, which compelled DuBois to pay him (his accomplice) six hundred dollars and costs of suit, for a year’s service he never rendered.

     The breaking out of the Rebellion, in 1861, caused an immense amount of travel over the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore R.R., its line crossing the Susquehanna river at Havre de Grace; and the only means of crossing it was by a steam ferry boat, which caused great delay and expense. This induced the railroad company to agitate the question of bridging the river, which had previously been commenced and abandoned on account of the great depth of the water, and no adequate means was then known by which to accomplish the object without going to great expense – the plan at that time being to lay the masonry for the piers under a diving bell. The bell was there, together with much of the machinery for doing the work, when DuBois went there.

     The agitation of the question of attempting to again accomplish the project set DuBois to thinking how it might be accomplished. It was not long before a plan suggested itself to him, which he knew to be feasible. He described it to some of his friends, confidentially, with the assertion that he intended to get it patented. In the spring of 1862 it was reported that the railroad company had decided to build the bridge. DuBois, having so much confidence in his plan of settling
 

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HISTORICAL SKETCH OF CLEARFIELD COUNTY, PENN'A.
 

the piers, went to the freight and ticket agent at Havre de Grace, to see if he would give him an introduction to the president, S.M. Felton, Esq., of the road, with the view of obtaining a contract for building the piers. The agent referred him to a Mr. Crossman, who had had charge of their bridges for a number of years, and who, he said, was well acquainted with the engineer, Mr. Parker, who was to build the bridge, as well as with the president. He met Crossman, who, on enquiry, told him that the company had decided to build the bridge. DuBois asked him what kind of piers they were going to build, and how they were going to set them. Crossman explained their plans. DuBois told him that he had matured a plan by which it could be done for a great deal less money, and make a much better job; and that, if he would get an interview for him with the president and engineer, and use his influence to get him the contract for doing the job, he would give him part of the profits and explain his plan, confidentially, to him, as he intended to get it patented. Crossman accepted the proposition, when DuBois explained his plan to him. He expressed his entire approval of it, and said he would obtain the interview at once, which he did. DuBois and Crossman left Wilmington on the same train to go to Philadelphia, to meet the president and engineer of the road by appointment, as stated by Crossman to DuBois. When the train reached Philadelphia, DuBois could not find Crossman, but found the president, Mr. Felton, and enquired if Mr. Crossman told him he had obtained an interview for him with his honor and Mr. Parker, the engineer. He then told DuBois that Parker lived at Thurlow, and would not be at the office until the arrival of the next train.

     Crossman had stopped off there and came on with him. He met DuBois, and went with him to Parker’s office, and introduced him to Parker, and left the office without naming the business on which DuBois had come. Parker asked him to take a seat, and, after a short conversation, asked him what his business was. DuBois told him that he supposed he knew, as he was informed by Mr. Crossman that he was there by the joint invitation of himself and the president, and then waited for Parker’s reply. After a short pause, Parker replied, “Well, sir, what is your business?” DuBois told him he was there as an applicant for a contract to build the piers for the bridge which he understood they were about to construct across the Susquehanna river. Parker asked him what kind of piers he would build. DuBois told him he did not come to suggest plans, but would build such as they wanted. Parker asked him if he ever built a bridge. He told him he had. He then asked him what kind of piers he built on. DuBois told him: common cribwork, filled with loose stones. Parker asked a great many questions about it, and finally said, “I will tell you what kind of piers I am going to build, and how I am going to put them down.”

     He went on to describe the plans that DuBois had described to Crossman, with the addition of screws or chains to lower them with. Their plan, as described to DuBois, was to prepare a foundation to set it upon, build a substantial pile wharf around it, a timber platform to build the pier upon, suspended and to be lowered by screws as the masonry was laid upon it.

     DuBois’ plan was to prepare the foundation to set it on, build a platform with a water-tight case upon it, the size and shape of the pier, to lay the masonry into, with piles driven to hold it to its place and guide it to its proper place on its foundation.

     After Parker had described his plans he asked DuBois what he thought of it. He told him that some parts of it were very good, and other superfluous, as a case would protect the masons while laying their work, the masonry would sink it on the foundation, and the piles guide it to its proper place.

     DuBois thinks that Parker had the sense enough to know that, but he had the screws with all their fixtures on hand to carry out the plan as described to DuBois by Crossman, and had to put them on as a blind, and did so in the erection of the first pier built, and came very near losing it with screws giving way on one side, which let that side down while the other was held, which threw the top over against the wharf – that being sufficiently strong to hold it until the other side was let down, preventing it from going over on its side, filling with water, and sinking.

     DuBois was satisfied that Crossman had divulged his plan to Parker and went to work and got out his patent immediately. As soon as he received it, he wrote to Mr. Fenton that he had obtained a patent for an improvement in building and setting piers, also for building and setting the bridge on them without the use of false works, and that he thought they would be beneficial to him in the construction of their bridge, and if he desired he would bring his patents and drawings over with a view to making arrangements to give him the benefit of their use.

     Felton invited him to come, which he did at once. He first handed Mr. Felton the patent for building and setting piers. He looked at it and said, “Oh! This is Mr. Parker’s plan.” DuBois called his attention to the time he was invited there by Crossman, his stopping off at Thurlow, that he had explained his plan confidentially to Crossman, and charge Crossman with divulging his plans to Parker and said that he was the inventor.

     Felton said he did not know how that was, but the plan was a good one, and they would like to have the use of it, and requested DuBois to call on Mr. Parker to negotiate with him for the use of it.

     Shortly after this, DuBois met Parker at Havre de Grace, and informed him what Mr. Felton had requested. Mr. Parker said: “Sir, if you have any business with me, I want you to approach me officially, or through your attorney, for I notify you never to approach me or speak to me again during your natural life.”

     DuBois told him if he would instruct him how to approach him officially he would do so. Parker asked him if he meant to insult him. DuBois told him he did not, and it was only at Mr. Felton’s urgent request that he addressed him at all. Parker afterwards swore to the foregoing fact in court, in the language as given above, and gave as a reason for doing so that he felt insulted and very much enraged. The court and jury could not see where there was any provocation given, and the probability is, it injured the cause he intended to benefit.

     Six months after the date of DuBois’ patent, Parker applied for a patent for the same thing, which was rejected, on the ground of DuBois’ patent. He then swore that he was the first inventor, and that DuBois got his surreptitiously by fraud.

     DuBois got an official notice of the fact, from the Patent Office and of the day and place appointed for taking Parker’s testimony. After the testimony was taken, DuBois gave Parker notice of the day and place where his testimony would be taken, as to the date of his invention, and proved by five very intelligent witnesses that it was six months prior to Parker’s , and afterwards, in court, one year.

     The testimony was all printed, and went to the Patent Office to decide whether Parker’s allegations were correct, and he entitled to a patent. The examiner decided that he was, on the ground of, as he alleged, abandonment, which was contrary to the law, the testimony, and custom of the Patent Office.

     DuBois carried it up to the board of examiners, and they, from the same printed testimony, said Parker should have a patent because he first put into practice, and a work of so much magnitude would have been lost to the public, had the railroad company, under whose employ he was, not done so.

     DuBois then carried it up to the commissioner of patents, and he decided that Parker should have a patent, but on writing out his decision, he said: “DuBois’ testimony shows him to be the prior investor by six months, and if there was no other evidence in the case, Parker could not get a patent, but from other evidence in the case, DuBois’ witnesses must be unintentionally mistaken in the time they fixed, and therefore Parker should have a patent.”

     DuBois then carried it to the Supreme Court, and Judge Carter affirmed the commissioner’s decision, and Parker got his patent. The railroad company went on and erected five piers of the bridge on the plan, and DuBois sued them in the Circuit Court of the United States, for infringing and damage for using the patent.

     Their allegation in their defense was – they were not infringing, and that they were the legal owners of the right, and that DuBois had obtained his patent surreptitiously through fraud.

     DuBois then by a number of witnesses proved his invention one year prior to Parker’s and obtained a verdict against the railroad company for ten thousand dollars, for the use of his patent in building two piers. The railroad company carried it to the Supreme Court, where the verdict was affirmed, and in writing out the decision they say: “The defendant alleges the plaintiff obtained his patent surreptitiously by fraud, but the evidence shows that the defendant obtained his patent surreptitiously by fraud.”

     On the granting of the verdict for the two piers, DuBois sued the railroad company for the use of his patent in building the remaining piers, and obtained a verdict for twenty-two thousand dollars, and since that time the company gave him one thousand dollars for the use of his patent for another pier in the same bridge.

     DuBois has a great deal of inventive genius. With all of his business to attend to, he has obtained a great number of patents for valuable improvements. He has now patents in the United States and Canada for working flooring, siding, mouldings, &c., by which four times as much material can be worked with the same labor and time, as can be by any machine now in use. Also patents on an iron lathe and planer tool, in the United States, Canada, England, Germany, Belgium, and France.

     He keeps very little of his property insured, and no doubt he has saved money by it, although he has lost by fire two saw-mills, several dwelling houses and shops, besides a large amount of lumber. At one fire he had lumber and fixtures burned to the amount of forty thousand dollars. From the best evidence it was set on fire by a locomotive. The railroad company at first refused to make any arrangement to settle it, and suit was commenced in court for the damage, but was amicably settled.

     When a boy he was very fond of fishing, but after he grew up to manhood he became a very successful hunter – often killing three deer in a day, and one day five, and only made five shots, and this without the aid of man, dogs, or any advantage but a tracking snow. He invariably hunted large game with his rifle, never using a shot gun but for birds and squirrels. He has killed a number of bears, catamounts, and wildcats. The following hunting adventure has been related by him:

     A Dr. Wilder, from Bradford county, and a brother Omir from Tioga, New York, came to have a hunt with him, on the Lycoming creek, nineteen miles from Williamsport. While there the snow fell about eight inches, which made elegant hunting for bears and deer. The two DuBoises and a man by the name of Nevel took a couple of dogs and went for bears. Wilder went by himself for deer, and killed two the first day. Nevel and the DuBoises were fortunate in starting the trail of four bears. They followed it, keeping the dogs with them in a dense windfall, until the dogs gave unmistakable signs of being near the game. They let the dogs loose, when they ran forward like a streak, and began to give tongue, which was evidence they were close on them.

     The hunters rushed through the brush and over the fallen timber in hot pursuit. The brush being covered with fresh snow, and their haste to be ahead, caused them to neglect the proper care to keep their guns dry; consequently, when they came where one of the dogs had one of the bears up a tree, none of their guns would go off. Mr. John DuBois, however, succeeded, after getting a dry cap on, in discharging one barrel of his rifle, and down came the bear, which fell into a stream where the water was about two feet deep. The dog pitched in for him and caught him as he was going out on the opposite shore. As there was none of the guns in condition to shoot him again, and the bear being too much for the dog, John pitched in and caught the bear by both hind legs, the right by his left hand and the left leg in his right hand, which brought the bear back against his legs, when DuBois elevated the rear end of the bear, to keep him from tearing his hands with his front claws. The dog having him by the back of the neck, and DuBois holding on by the heels, they kept him pretty well stretched out, but when in that position he would reach back with his fore paws and scratch the dog fearfully; when DuBois would elevate the bear’s rear end to relieve the dog, it would bring the bear against his legs, and put himself in a position to take the benefit of Cuffie’s paw.

     The brother, seeing the contest was still in favor of the bruin, jumped in and picked up a large stone, and when Cuffie was trying to reach his brother’s hand with his fore paws, brought his head in the right position for him to throw the stone down on the bear without endangering the dog. He did so, with such force that the bear was stunned; so they got his head under water, and when he came to he found he was in the land of spirits.

     They could hear the other dog a good way ahead, barking at a given point, which satisfied them he had another bear on a tree. They went to work and got the last loads out of their guns, and put fresh ones in, and started on the trail, John ahead, his brother next, and Nevel behind. On reaching the dog the brother first discovered the bear, which had seen them coming, and was making long strides down the tree, stern foremost. The brother wanted John to shoot the bear, but he said, “Let him come down and see the fight with the dogs.”

     When the bear got on the ground the dogs went for him. He was ready for them, and did as nice boxing as any pugilist. He took them right and left with his fore paws, and sent them rolling over and over for twenty feet, but the dogs were game, and they pitched in again as soon as they got to their feet. But Cuffie concluded he was safest on a tree, and was up out of their reach before they could catch him. Nor did he stop “getting” until he got clear up to the top of a very tall hemlock tree. Mr. John DuBois then drew up his rifle, and shot him so dead there was no fight in him when he landed on the ground; but there was plenty of fight in the dogs, and the hunters let them have full satisfaction.

     The foregoing is but one among the many incidents of his hunting exploits, now often rehearsed by him for the amusement of his friends, and particularly of the more youthful of his numerous relatives, when visiting at his hospitable mansion.

     After purchasing his partner’s interest in the business, DuBois sold the mill built by them at Williamsport, together with some other real estate and boom stock, for ninety-one thousand dollars, and very soon after build a large steam saw-mill, with a number of tenant houses, costing, altogether, over one hundred and twenty thousand dollars – with harbor fixtures for logs immediately below the main boom, which proved to be the best on the river. His mills there had a sawing capacity of about one hundred and fifty thousand feet in eleven hours.

     In the spring of 1873 DuBois began to improve his property in Clearfield county, the location of which, as well as some of its history, are shown by this atlas. At that time it was all a wilderness. The present site of the now thriving village of DuBois then contained only three houses – two farm-houses and a dwelling built originally for a blacksmith shop. Up to this time, he has build three steam saw-mills, one of which is the best in the United States for its capacity, which will average, in cutting inch lumber, about one hundred and twenty-five thousand feet per day of eleven hours, and could be made to cut double that amount with a selected lot of logs. The other two- one now abandoned – had a capacity of about forty thousand feet for eleven hours, but were large in size, and contained a large amount of other machinery for manufacturing shingles, packing-boxes, dressing lumber, framing-timber, &c., together with a large brick building for kiln drying lumber. The last of these mills was commenced in December last, and is 140 feet long by 52 feet wide, and is part now in full operation, and will soon be ready to turn out from three thousand to six thousand packing-boxes per day.

     Since the first day of May last he has commenced, and has now under roof, a brick building for a store and hotel, 50 x 100 feet, three stories high besides the basement, and attic in the mansard roof, which latter gives a set of sleeping rooms, and a hall eight feet wide, the whole length of the building.

     About the first of June he commenced his water works, for the supply of that needful element for the buildings in the place, and for the greater safety, of his mills and lumber yard, the reservoir of which, with a capacity of about five hundred thousand gallons, is located on an eminence one hundred feet above his lumber yard and mills. The water is already brought in pipes to the reservoir – a distance of about two miles – and from the reservoir he will lay six inch iron pipes all through his lumber yard, and to all of his buildings, and probably will have it all completed by the first of December next. He has now in his lumber yard over fifteen million feet of sawed lumber, with an ample stock of logs to supply the mills during the sawing season. He has, also, as the map of the village of DuBois will show, a foundry and machine shop, besides a number of dwelling houses and other buildings.

     He will clear over one hundred acres of land this season, and have a portion put in crops, and the balance plowed ready for the spring crops. In another year he will have the largest and best cleared farm in the county.

     All these improvements, and others now in progress not here enumerated, furnish work for and are the means of subsistence of more than three hundred and fifty men during the busy season, and for a very large portion of that number for the whole year. He has a scope of land on the creek bottom over half a mile wide, and nearly six miles long, very level, and of good soil. On the county map in this atlas will be seen the lands he owns in it, nearly, if not all, of which are underlaid with several veins of bituminous coal. Near his land are three collieries, now in operation, working five and a half and two and a half foot veins of the best quality of coal, separated only by a small vein of slate, measuring from one to eight inches in thickness.

     In 1876 he paid unseated taxes in the county to the amount of over twenty thousand dollars, and the present year about thirteen thousand dollars additional. The valuation on his lands for the past four years was entirely out of proportion to the valuation of lands adjoining, and he considers that a very unjust discrimination was made against him by the township and county officials, and for the last two years has appealed to the courts for redress. For the former excessive tax it is feared there will be no legal remedy. As an instance of the discrimination complained of, it is stated, as an indisputable fact, that improved farms on the creek bottoms, with good buildings on them, and in a fine state of cultivation, with the advantage of public roads running through them, were valued at seven to eight dollars per acre, while his hill lands, lying back of the farms, with no roads through them, and all the valuable timber taken off, were valued at from six to eleven dollars per acre, and on some of his lands, that had never produced a cent of income to the owners, he had to pay as high as one dollar and forty cents per acre in taxes.

     This unfortunate and unjust policy of the officials of this and other counties comprising the now limited area of the lumber regions of the
 

Page 28
HISTORICAL SKETCH OF CLEARFIELD COUNTY, PENN'A.
 

state, is rapidly hastening the cutting and destruction of the comparatively small remnant of the once noble forests of pine timber, as no land owner can afford to hold timber lands for the benefit of future generations while compelled to pay such outrageous taxes on property yielding no income until the timber is cut off, and owners are compelled to cut their timber to realize whatever they can to enable them to pay their taxes; whereas, if a more liberal and judicious policy was pursued by those in power, some of these noble groves of pine might be, is in such hands as those of Mr. DuBois, saved for the use of generations to come.

     The foregoing history (much of it taken down from his own lips) has been personally examined by Mr. DuBois, and is pronounced by him substantially correct in every particular.
 

L.M. COUDRIET
 

     The father of the subject of this sketch was born in France in the year 1805, where he remained until he was twenty-six years of age. He married at the age of twenty-four, and, after two years of toil, he found himself possessed of sufficient means to convey himself and family to America.

     He landed at New York in the spring of 1831, and came on at once to Bellefonte, Centre county, where he obtained employment in a blast furnace, making barely enough wages for the support of himself and family. When he arrived at Bellefonte he had but one dollar and twenty cents with which to commence business.

     After about one year he sought to better his condition, and came to Clearfield town, where he obtained employment at fifty cents per day, remaining for about two years.

     Many a man would have been discouraged by three years of fruitless toil, but his perseverance and good judgment finally carried him on the road to prosperity.

     He removed from Clearfield town to near where Frenchville is now located, being induced to do so by the offer of a Mr. Keating, who, having a large body of land, and wishing to form a settlement, offered twelve acres to each of the first twelve settlers. Mr. Coudriet also bought fifty acres more, and commenced to clear up a farm, upon which he lived for about twenty-five years. He was a wagon-maker by trade, and followed that in connection with farming. At the time he settled (1834), there were but four other settlers in what is now Covington township, and the inconveniences and hardships that were endured can better be imagined than described.

     About 1859 he purchased a large tract of land on Sandy Run – to which he removed, building a large flouring-mill, saw-mill and store-room – where he operated extensively and successfully until his death. He died in the fall of 1877, at the age of seventy-two years. He raised a family of seven sons and four daughters, of whom six sons and two daughters survive him. His estate amounted to about forty thousand dollars. The last tract of land he owned is now the property of the subject of our sketch.

     L. M. Coudriet, our subject, was born May 10th, 1831, the same year his father arrived in America. His childhood days were spent in hard work, instead of the school-room. Hence he grew to manhood without the advantages of an education. But there are often men who acquire, by association and experience, all that has been neglected, from necessity, in their early life, and we can find Mr. Coudriet fitted to fill any position in which his circumstances and surroundings may place him. He was married, in 1853, to Miss Guenot, in his twenty-second year, but remained working for his father until he was twenty-three.

     He then commenced business for himself, with a good constitution and an indomitable will as his capital. He turned his attention to farming in the summer, and in the winter devoted his time to jobbing in timber, which he continued to do till in 1861, when he concluded to conduct his business on a different plan.

     Not having the money, he borrowed, and gave his obligation at ten percent, to buy a tract of timber land, for which he paid ten dollars per acre. Meeting with the success his industry deserved, not long after he made a large purchase, at the mouth of Deer Creek, from Judge Lamb, consisting of eight hundred acres, for which he paid twenty thousand dollars. The second important purchase was the Sheriff Pie property, for which he paid twenty-five thousand dollars. The third purchase was his father’s homestead, for which he paid sixteen thousand five hundred dollars. He has been engaged in the mercantile business since 1861. As an illustration of the extent of his business, he remarked that his profits in one year amounted to ten thousand dollars.

     At the present time he owns over four thousand acres of land, fifteen hundred of which are timber, and several finely improved farms. He is considered one of the largest, as well as one of the most successful, timber operations in the county. He is one of Clearfield’s self-made men, and has earned his prosperity by his natural talents, good foresight, and energy of purpose.
 

HISTORICAL REMINISCENCE
CONTRIBUTED BY JOHN L. CUTTLE, ESQ.
 

     Robert Patterson, the father of Joseph, Robert, John, James, and four daughters, was the eighth settler in what is now known as Jordan township. He came to Clearfield before the county was stricken off, in 1800, and settled on the Spackman farm, about midway between the West Branch and Clearfield creek, on what is known as the Erie turnpike, and in 1818 removed to the farm in Jordan, now owned by Peter Patterson, a grandson. James Rea, James McNeal, James McKee, Thomas Jordan and John Carson preceded him. A man by the name of Monoghan, and another by the name of Oskell, made improvements on the farm owned by John Swan, and afterwards by his son Henry, near the location of Ansonville. William Dunlap and Peter Erhard settled about 1802 in the southern end of what is now Pike township, and Ignatius Thompson and Moses Norris were near neighbors in what is now the south end of Lawrence. Archibald Shaw settled about a mile southeast of the site of Clearfield borough, and Abraham Hess, Rudolph Litz, Peter Young, the Ardry family, George Shimel, George Wilson, Nimrod Derrick, Samuel Turner, Abram Goss, Valentine Flegal, John Crowell, Absalom Pearce, the Kyler family, and the Smeals were settled on the eastern side of the county, between Clearfield creek and the Moshannon. In this connection it is but right to mention two colored men – one, Caesar Potter, who had been a servant in General Potter’s family, in Centre county, came into what is now Bradford township, opened a farm, raised a family, and enjoyed the respect and esteem of his neighbors. Many of the aged men in the community will well recollect the quiet, gentle manners of the old man and his wife. Samuel Green settled on the farm, in Decatur township, now owned by John Crane, and was quite a noted character some fifty years ago. Not being able to buy a horse, he harnessed an ox, and for several years worked his farm with it. About the year 1818, an Irish gentleman, by name of Henry Cross, who had served as high sheriff of the county Down, Ireland, settled on the farm now owned by John M. Jordan, in sight of Beulah church, in Woodard township. Saw-mills were scarce in those days, and he had to go up Clearfield creek to get boards with which to build. He rafted them and wanted to get them to the mouth of Muddy run, from which point he had a road to his home. On his way down the creek he stuck on a gravel bar, with deep water on both sides, and, fearful of danger if he tried to wade the shore, he was meditating what course to pursue, when he spied a man walking up the bank of the stream, who, seeing the predicament the old gentleman was in, stripped for the occasion and waded in, helped to get the boards afloat once more, and aided him to reach his destination. That man was the Hon. R.W. Rawle, one of the first associate judges of the courts of Clearfield county. The old gentleman, who had seen and known the show and tinsel exhibited at the entrance of judges into assize towns of his own country, wrote to his friends in Ireland of the mode of traveling in Pennsylvania – alone and on horseback, and humane enough, at the cost of their personal comfort, to help their neighbors in distress – drawing a comparison which was not in the least detrimental to the American judge. The costume of the old gentleman (Cross), when going into company was the old, black, small clothes, and black silk stockings, with silver buckles to his shoes, and which style he continued during life.
 

ERRATA
FOR THE ARTICLE ON GEOLOGY OF CLEARFIELD COUNTY.
 

Page 13. – In the table of Palaeozoic Column, “Carnif’s Limestone” should be “Cornif’s Limestone.”
     In paragraph No. VIII., “Past Meridian” should be “Post Meridian.”

Page 14. – In the top paragraph of the first column, “sycopodacae” should be “lycopodacae.”
     In the third paragraph, “signites” of Australia should be “lignites.”
     In the first line under the heading “The Upheaval of the Coal Measures,” “Sawsentian” should be “Lawrentian;” and again, in the second paragraph following, the same correction should be made.
     In the alphabetical order of the coal beds, in the same column, D and D’ should be transposed.
Under the head “Iron Ores,” third column, “E.C. Bell” should be “F.C. Bell.”

 

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