Somerset County

While Judge Henry S. Picking was engaged in hotel-keeping, like every other landlord, he occasionally had some very queer customers. Once a stranger arrived, carrying a heavy bag, which he placed upon the bar, informing Mr. Picking that it contained nails. He stayed over night, and when he paid his bill in the morning the … Read more

Among the curious characters who used to travel the pike was a wagoner named John Carr, best known as “Devil” Carr, who was very much of a bully. Once, while driving over Laurel ridge, about a mile from Picking’s hotel, Carr met a peddler on a large flat rock, which covers the road for some … Read more

The most interesting spot in Addison township is the old graveyard at the Six Poplars, on the bottom-land of the Casselman river. There are fully one hundred graves in this old cemetery, and the names of the greater portion of those buried here are now lost in oblivion. Few of the headstones have inscriptions upon … Read more

William Oldham moved to Shade township in 1827. At that time every aspect of the surrounding country was exceedingly wild; there were no public roads; the nearest neighbor lived six miles distant; school and church were eight miles away. Mr. Oldham was an expert hunter and captured many bears and wolves. He once shot seven … Read more

The city of Germany, a paper town, was laid out by Dr. Samuel F. Conover, of Philadelphia, in 1810. Its site is about six miles northeast of Buckstown, in the Sand Spring school district, somewhere about the junction of the two streams that form the Beaver dam run. The locality is sometimes also referred to … Read more

Among the early settlers of Turkeyfoot were the Hannas, who located where Harnedsville now is. The last of the old stock, Maj. Alexander Hanna, died in 1881, aged seventy-nine. He was a noted character in his day. Of a bright intellect and remarkable physical strength, he performed deeds of almost superhuman power. He was a … Read more

Friday, October 1, 1875, news article:“A correspondent of the Pittsburg Leader writes that there is a very remarkable and curious freak of nature on the bank of the Castleman (Casselman) River, about two and a half miles above Confluence which is well worth the trouble of going to see. A short distance from the river … Read more