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Page 80 JOHN DuBois
had visited forty years before and commenced an entirely new
enterprise, wherein he founded and became the father of the city of
DuBois.
From this time on the life of John DuBois up to the
time of his death is so interwoven with the history of the city.
ACTIVITIES OF JOHN DUBOIS
When John DuBois decided to develop his property west
of the summit in 1871, he found the same log house standing in which
he had lived with George Shaffer II on his first trip into the
wilderness. However, George Shaffer had "slept with his fathers"
many years before this second advent of Mr. DuBois, and he found the
place occupied by John Rumbarger. Mr. DuBois took up his residence
with John Rumbarger while carrying on the early development of his
new industry. No doubt Mr. Rumbarger got some information from Mr.
DuBois for the advertisement of his lots in July, 1872, wherein he
refers to improvements started by John DuBois, as well as his
advertisement in the papers in March, 1873.
Comparatively, a small part of Brady Township, had been
cleared and reduced to agricultural purposes at this time. That was
particularly true of that section lying north of the pike. The
nearest railroad for years had been Tyrone, and the merchandise for
the entire country west of Tyrone was hauled overland in wagons,
from that place, until the railroad was completed to Philipsburg in
1862. From 1862 the merchandise was hauled from that point up until
February in 1869 when the railroad had been completed and put in
operation from Philipsburg to Clearfield. The nearest railroad
station on the north was Olean, New York until the P. & E. Railroad
was built and then Ridgway became the shipping point on the north.
At the time of the building of the Low Grade Railroad,
supplies for the eastern contractors were hauled from Driftwood. For
the western division from Red Bank, and for the central division in
which DuBois was located, the supplies were hauled from Shawmut, a
branch of the Pennsylvania.
The Civil War had revolutionized the north, and the
close of the war was the beginning of a new era in the history of
central Pennsylvania. More than 250,00o men of the north had been
killed or crippled by this war, of which the counties of Clearfield,
Jefferson and Elk had contributed their quotas. And from this
section came the famous "Bucktail Regiment."
As in all wars; there had been destruction of property.
The south, prior to the war, had been the producer of cotton and
sugar, and after the war started, cotton from the southern states
became contraband, and of course the sugar plantations were largely
abandoned. In the course of the war the south had been so destroyed
that the agricultural productions from that section were nil.
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