The township which completed the first trio, was Young, organized in 1826, and taken from Perry township. It was then quite large, embracing all the southeastern portion of the county. It was named for Judge Young, at that time president judge of the Westmoreland judicial district. The township is now bounded on the north by McCalmont, south by Indiana county, east by Belle township, and west by Perry. It is rectangular in form, six miles long by three wide - eighteen square miles, and contains 11,520 acres. The Mahoning Creek flows across the township from east to west, in a deep, wide valley in which Punxsutawney is situated. South from the creek the region is an upland plateau, the top of which is three hundred and fifty feet above the creek level, and is but little broken by ravines. The region north of the creek is, on the other hand, no less high, is much diversified by hill and vale - a fortunate topographical arrangement for the commercial interests of the township, as it makes access easy above water level to the large and valuable coal beds. The small tributary valleys of which there are four, trend southward, and are roughly parallel to one another. The most important of these is the Elk Run Valley.
Geology. - The Freeport Lower Coal is the one which gives value to Young township, and nearly all of the township is underlaid with it. The Freeport Upper Coal, though a bed of considerable thickness, yields much inferior coal. The coal trade of Young township is now second to none in the county, as will be seen from a report of the Wallston mines given elsewhere. The Freeport upper limestone is of very little account in Young township, showing but few exposures, and these of an impure character.
Early Settlers. - Among the olden time settlers of Young township, the Carmalts are prominent features. They were of Quaker extraction, and with the Gaskills infused into the early life of the south side of the county an element that was an important factor in the history of those days of early pioneer struggle.
Isaac P. Carmalt was born in Philadelphia in 1794. His father was a relative of William Penn, with whom his ancestors came from England on his second voyage to this country. His mother’s family was a prominent one in North Wales, where, it is said, "they owned an entire township." Isaac was a carpenter by trade, but tiring of city life, he started to look up a home in the then far West. In company with William Patterson, he left, Philadelphia in 1818, with a good team of horses and a Dearborn wagon, and in about three weeks arrived at their journey’s end, a place some twelve miles from Indianatown. His father, not hearing from him for some time, became anxious about him, and started, in company with a man named Harvey, to hunt him up. Harvey had his family with him, and the journey was a long and toilsome one. When near its end their wagon stuck in the bed of a creek. The horses gave two or three pulls, but failing to extricate it, balked, and no persuasion could induce them to proceed. Fortunately they had sent a messenger ahead to apprise Isaac of their coming, and he appeared on the scene with his servant, and at once went to work to help them out of their dilemma by unloading and prying the wagon out of the hole in which it was imbedded. He persuaded Mrs. Harvey, who weighed about one hundred and seventy-five pounds, to sit on his neck, with her feet on either side, and he, in this way, carried her to the shore. They soon had the wagon out and proceeded to his house, where they rested from their toilsome and perilous journey.
The following incidents, of Mr. Carmalt’s pioneer experience, as related in his own language, were published in Caldwell’s "Historical Atlas of Jefferson County:
"I had no grindstone, and so I concluded to go to Squire Bell’s, twelve miles distant (John Bell, who first settled in Perry township), borrow his mare, and go for a rock out of which I could make a grindstone. On my way back with the stone in one side of a bag and potatoes in the other, to balance, I became belated and so concluded to stay over night with the squire. It was a moonlight night, and as the mare approached a short turn in the path she began to snort. I looked up and beheld something sitting erect, about the size of a man, on one side of the path, and on approaching it had the appearance of two balls of fire. My horse instantly sprang, became uncontrollable, and away she went. Her colt was following after, and so I looked back to see what had become of it. As the colt passed, the animal screamed like a painter and leaped for it, but the colt barely escaped, and come on at a dead run. I soon reached Squire Bell’s, it being about midnight, opened the barn door, rushed the mare and colt in, fastened the door, and called to the squire for his son, John, the big dog, and the gun. The squire raised the window and said, ‘Carmalt, what’s the matter?’ I replied, ‘I want John, the big dog, and the gun to go back and catch some big animal.’ The old man laughed and said, ‘Carmalt, you must have been frightened by the fall of the limb of a tree. There is no big animal there.’ ‘I know there is,’ I said, ‘and I want John, the big dog, and the gun.’ The squire then called John. He brought his gun and called up the dog, and we started for the path, and near the place where I saw the animal, John said, ‘Carmalt, you make a noise like that you heard." I imitated the cry, and the animal answered. I called again and again, and each time there came the same scream from the animal. I said, ‘John, thee had better set the dog on it.’ John tried, but the dog refused to go. Then I said, ‘We’d better go back to the house as soon as we can if the dog won’t go.’ So we went to the house, and soon we were abed asleep. The next morning I left the mare and the stone, and started back on foot, as I was afraid that my colored man, whom I had left at the cabin, was out of provisions. I walked several miles and stopped at a house where they told me that some strange animal had driven in all their stock the night before. I told them that it was a painter. I again started and walked on through the woods till I got to another house, and, as it was about dark, I called in. After speaking a few words, I started out towards the road, or rather path, with a view to go home. The man went with me, and, as we were talking, we saw two objects at a distance, coming in the path. On a nearer approach I saw that they were two tall hunters, each six and a half feet high, with their guns, hunting apparatus, etc., and a big dog. They had coon skin caps on, with the tails projecting in front like plumes. They asked the man if they could stay over night with him, as they had their own provisions and beds, and their wives were coming on behind in the path. ‘We only want a place to sleep,’ they said. ‘You can stay. You are welcome. We never turn any one away,’ the man replied. As the women approached, I saw that they were on horseback, and the first one had a straw bed thrown over the horse, and the head-board hung on one side, and the foot-board on the other. She also had a large spinning-wheel in front of her, and a child before and behind. The second one was attired in the same manner, riding on a horse. Her spinning-wheel was a small one, and she, too, had a child before and one behind. They went into the house, and I concluded also to stay over night. Pretty soon a neighbor woman came running in and said, a woman’s cow’s entrails have been torn out, and the cow came home dragging them on the ground.’ The hunters listened to the story, and then one of them spoke and said, ‘There’s the fellow that will take him,’ pointing to the dog. At two o’clock the next morning the hunters and the dog were missing. They got on the animal’s trail during the day, but returned at night without him. The second day at two o’clock they started out again. They came on his track and followed it for some distance. All of a sudden the dog barked, and the panther leaped on him from a tree and escaped without injury. The hunters became very angry, and returned to the house again. They said, ‘We’ll have him if he is in the State, for he’s killed our dog.’ They asked the man if their families could stay a few days longer, and of course they received permission. The next morning they started out again at two o’clock, and traveled till noon. They sat down, ate their lunch, and as one was wiping his mouth with his hand, he looked up and saw the panther just in the act of springing on them. He never spoke a word, but drew up his gun, winked at his brother, aimed at the animal, both firing at the same time, and the balls passed each other in the animal’s heart. One of them called out, ‘Now we’ve got him! Now we’ve got him!’ They got out their knives, skinned him, and one of them wrapped the skin about his body, with the head hanging over his shoulder, and the hind parts and tail dragging behind. I still waited with anxiety for the panther and my colored man, and went again and again to the road to see if the hunters were coming. I soon saw them coming, one having a long tail dragging behind, and the head hanging on his shoulder. My friend and I cried, ‘They’ve got him! They’ve got him!’ That evening - a happy man - I started for home. On meeting my man, he threw his arms around my neck, and said, ‘I’m so glad to see you! I’se had nothing to eat for three days. I knows when you come with the gun you’d soon kill a deer, and we’d have a big feast.’ The next morning I killed a deer, and there was a general rejoicing."
On account of some dispute about his title Mr. Carmalt found he was likely to lose his improvement in Indiana county, and he removed to Punxsutawney in 1821 and bought a lot, but the following year he purchased the tract of land about a mile from Punxsutawney, in Young township, where he made his home, allowing a beautiful grove of pine trees to remain about his dwelling, and making the Carmalt place one of the most attractive in that section. His farm now belongs to the Rochester and Pittsburgh Mining Company, and Mr. Carmalt a short time ago took up his residence with his son in Philadelphia. He is ninety-three years of age.
In 1822 Miss Hannah P. Gaskill came to Jefferson county to visit her brother. C.C. Gaskill, where she met and made the acquaintance of Isaac P. Carmalt, to whom she was, married on the 1st of April, 1823, at the Friends’ meeting-house in Philadelphia. Mrs. Carmalt was born in Philadelphia in 1788, her father being a merchant, whose counting house was directly opposite that of Stephen Girard, with whom he was on the most intimate terms. She had received the best education that her native city then afforded, and her mind was of more than ordinary order, but she cast aside all the pleasures of belleship and the attractive and congenial society to befound in the city of Philadelphia, and became the wife of a Jefferson county pioneer, exchanging the gayety of the city for the wilderness, and from that time she was identified with the history of the county.
Some years after her marriage the settlement was visited by an epidemic which made sad inroads among the sparse population. Mrs. Carmalt, who was skilled in the medicaments then in use, and whose home was a dispensary for the sick and afflicted, with Mrs. Heath, wife of Judge Heath, and sister of Dr. Jenks, laying aside all fears of contagion, attended daily at the bedsides, of the sufferers, and to their care and nursing many of those prostrated by the disease, owed their lives. Mrs. Carmalt lived to a good old age, dying a few years ago.
Another of the pioneers of Young township was Obed Morris, who was born in Bucks county December 8, 1792. When he was a year old his family removed to Northampton county, where he remained twenty-four years, and where, in 1814, he married Mary Bowman. In 1820 he removed to Indiana county, settling near the present village of Covode. In 1824 he bought a tract of land within the present limits of Young township. Here he labored early and late, and by the strictest economy was able to pay for his land and add to it from time to time, until he had one of the largest and best cultivated farms in the township. He was a whole souled, public spirited citizen, a man of strong religious convictions, and temperate in all things. His wife died on the 2d of February, 1859. His family consisted of three sons and two daughters - James Madison, Elizabeth Bowman, Theodore, Charles R.B., Mary Barclay, Joseph Bowman and Moses A. Of these Theodore, Joseph and Moses are prominent and influential citizens of Young township. Mr. Morris died several years ago. His son, Theodore, resides on the old homestead.
Daniel Graffius was one, of the early settlers of Young township, to which he first came about 1818, and removed with his family from Huntingdon county in 1823. His descendants are among the best citizens of Jefferson county at the present day. His daughter, Mrs. Mary Caldwell, widow of Josiah Caldwell, now over eighty years of age, is probably the oldest citizen of the township. She is yet able to attend to her household duties and is in possession of all her mental faculties, and delights to talk of those early days when she found a home in the wilderness of Jefferson county.
The first lumber taken out in Young township was by Jesse Armstrong and William Neel, an account of which has already been given. The first coal was discovered by Obed Morris and John Hutchinson about 1820.
There is but one large saw-mill now in Young township, that owned and operated by the Rochester and Pittsburgh Mining Company at Adrian mines; its capacity is 20,000 per day.
There are two grist-mills in the township, that of James St. Clair, and P.W. Jenks’s mill, located on the Mahoning, about three and one-half miles below Punxsutawney. The stores are those of H.P. Brown & Co., and M.L. Smith, at Adrian and Walston. There is no licensed hotel in the township.
Young township is noted for its fine farms and excellent buildings. Among the best improved are those of John North’s estate, now owned by his sons - S.T. North, Joseph K. North, Thomas North - William Long, Theodore Morris, Joseph B. Morris, Robert Law, Irwin Simpson.
What has been said in regard to fruit culture in Perry township will apply to Young.
Number of Taxables, Population, and School Statistics. - The number of taxables in Young township in 1828 was 73; in 1829, 70; in 1831, 70; in 1835, 146; in 1842,271; in 1849, 399; in 1856,381; in 1863, 177; in 1880, 293; in 1886, 590.
The population, according to census of 1840, 1,321; 1850, 1,891 ; 1860, 776; 1870, 954; 1880, 909.
The number of acres seated in the township, according to the triennial assessment for 1886, 9,600; valuation, $74,300; average per acre, $7.74; houses and lots 233; valuation $23,990; one grist-mill, $800; 2,645 acres of mineral land; valuation $21,703; average value per acre, $8.20; number of horses, 184; value, $5,167; average value, $28.07; number of cows, 209; value, $2,284; average value, $10.93; occupations, 441; value, $10,975; average, $24.89; total valuation subject to county tax, $139,219; money at interest, $10,657.
The whole number of schools in Young township for the year ending June 30, 1886, was seven; number of months taught, five; male teachers, six; female, one; average salary of males, $34; female, $32; scholars, males, 239; females, 219; average attendance, 347; per cent. of attendance, 90; cost per month, 72 cents; number of mills levied for school purposes, 13; total amount of tax levied, $1,553.50; total expenditures, $1,648.49. There were eight schools during the winter of 1886.
Elections. - The first two elections held for the township of Young, after it was separated from Perry, as the returns appear in the office of the prothonotary, at Indiana, are as follows:
"Young township return for 1826. Constable, Joseph Long had 32 votes, Jno. Hum, 11 votes. Signed Philip Bowers, judge, etc.
"1827. - Young township. At an election held at the house of Elijah Heath, in Punxsutawney, on the 16th of March, 1827, the following persons received the number of votes, to wit:
"Constables, Joseph Long had 22 votes, Ohed Morris, 13; supervisors, Nathaniel Tindal, 29, Benoni Williams, 32; auditors, Andrew H. Bowman, 30, Josiah Caldwell, 27, Matthias Clawson, 24, Philip Bowers, 18; poor overseers, Frederick Rinehart, 15, Christian Rishel, 20; fence appraisers, Adam Long (cooper), 20, John Hum, 9. Signed, Frederick Rinehart, Joseph Long, Josiah Caldwell, judges, Mathus Clawson, A.H. Bowman, clerks."
At the election held February 15, 1887, the following township officers were elected:
Young township, north. - Justice of the peace, J.B. Morris; constable, Samuel Williams; supervisors, D.B. Hinton, Jos. W. Long; school directors, S.T. North, Morgan Lloyd; poor overseer, J.C. Smith; auditor, F.M. Bowman; judge of election, H.W. Moore; inspectors, A.J. Haymaker, John Weber; assessor, J.C. Smith; collector and treasurer, A.J. Smith ; town clerk,
F.M. Bowman. Young, south. - Judge of election, H.E. Clawson; inspectors, B. Zeigler, John Hutchinson.
The justices of the peace are Philip D. Wolf, and J.B. Morris. The members of the school board previously elected are, L.S. McQuown, W.C. Williams, D.B. Hintor, and M.L. Smith.
PUNXSUTAWNEY
Origin of the Name. - We quoted principally from tradition in the preparation of the chapter upon Indian history, and some of the statements therein made concerning the origin of the name of Punxsutawney, are disproved by the origin here given in the journal of Brother Ettewein, the Moravian missionary, who visited the place in 1772.
It has been claimed that the great Moravian missionary, Rev. John Heckweilder, spent "six weeks in the Indian town of Punxsutawney, where he was detained by some of his band having, smallpox," but this Mr. Jordon refutes, and says: "Among his (Heckweilder’s) papers, he has prepared a list of the journeys he made, with the number of miles (30,000) between 1762 and 1814, and I nowhere find any reference to his visit to Punxsutawney, directly but indirectly. He may have spent a day or so on the site of the town, where some few Indians yet resided in 1762. In writing his narrative, he refers to his visit in 1772, and states that thirty years before it was almost a deserted spot."
About the year 1765, the Moravian missionary, David Zeisberger, established the mission of Friedenshnetten, near the present town of Wyalusing, in Bradford county. This town, the name of which signifies "tents of peace," contained "thirteen Indian huts, and upwards of forty frame houses, shingled and provided with chimneys and windows." There was another mission about thirty miles above Friedenshnetten, "Tschechschequanink," or as it was translated, "where a great awakening had taken place." This latter mission was under the charge of Brother Roth. These missions prospered greatly, and much good was done among the Indians, until 1768, when the Six Nations by the treaty made that year, "sold the land from under their feet," and the missionaries encountered so much trouble from both the Indians and whites that, in 1772 the brethren decided to abandon these missions and remove to the new field which had been planted by the indefatigable Zeisberger, on the banks of the Ohio. They therefore started from Wyalusing on the 12th day of June, 1772, in number two hundred and forty-one souls, mostly Indians, of all ages, with their cattle and horses. Their destination was Friedenstadt,*near the present site of Beaver, Pa. They were under the guidance of Brothers Roth and Ettewein, and their course was from the North Branch across the Allegheny Mountains, by way of Bald Eagle to the Ohio River. Brother Roth conducted those who went by water, and Brother Ettewien those who traveled by land. In 1886 the Moravian, published at Bethlehem, gave the journal of Rev. John Ettewein, and we give the extracts from it of the progress of the party through the territory now comprised by southern Jefferson county, with the explanatory foot-notes in the Moravian, translated by Mr. Jordan.
"1772.
"Tuesday, July 14. - Reached Clearfield Creek, where the buffalos formerly cleared large tracts of undergrowth, so as to give them the appearance of cleared fields. Hence, the Indians called the creek ‘Clearfield.’ Here at night and next morning, to the great joy of the hungry, nine deer were shot. Whoever shoots a deer has for his private portion, the skin and inside; the meat he must bring into camp and deliver to the distributors. John and Cornelius acted in this capacity in our division. It proved advantageous for us not to keep so closely together, as we had at first designed; for if the number of families in a camp be large, one or two deer, when cut up, afford but a scanty meal to each individual. So it happened that scarce a day passed without there being a distribution of venison in the advance, the centre and the rear camp. (On the route there were one hundred and fifty deer and but three bears shot.) In this way our Heavenly Father provided for us; and I often prayed for our hunters, and returned thanks for their success.
"Thursday, July 16, . . . I journeyed on, with a few of the brethren, two miles in a falling rain, to the site of Chinklacamoose, where we found but three huts, and a few patches of Indian corn. The name signifies ‘No one tarries here willingly.’ It may, perhaps, be traced to the circumstance that some thirty years ago an Indian resided here as a hermit, upon a rock, who was wont to appear to the Indian hunters, in frightful shapes. Some of these, too, he killed, others he robbed of their skins; and this he did for many years. We moved on four miles, and were obliged to wade the West Branch three times, which is here like the Lehigh at Bethlehem, between the island and the mountain, rapid and full of ripples.
"Friday, July 17. - Advanced only four miles to a creek that comes down from the northwest.** Had a narrow and stony spot for our camp.
"Saturday, July 18. - Moved on without awaiting Roth and his division, who on account of the rain had remained in camp. To-day Shebosch lost a colt from the bite of a rattlesnake. Here we left the West Branch three miles to the Northwest, up the creek, crossing it five times. Here, too, the path went precipitately up the mountain, and four or five miles up and up to the summit - to a spring the headwaters of the Ohio.***Here I lifted up my heart in prayer as I looked westward, that the Son of Grace might rise over the heathen nations that dwell beyond the distant horizon.
"Sunday, July 19. - As yesterday, but two families kept with me, because of the rain, we had a quiet Sunday, but enough to do drying our effects. In the evening all joined me, but we could hold no service as the Ponkis were so excessively annoying that the cattle pressed toward and into our camp, to escape their persecutors in the smoke of the fires. This vermin is a plague to man and beast, both by day and night. But in the swamp through which we are now passing, their name is legion. Hence the Indians call it the Ponksutenink, i.e., the town of the Ponkis[*4). The word is equivalent to living dust and ashes, the vermin being so small as not to be seen, and their bite being hot as sparks of fire, or hot ashes. The brethren here related an Indian myth to-wit: That the aforecited Indian hermit and sorcerer, after having been for so many years a terror to all Indians, had been killed by one who had burned his bones, but the ashes he blew into the swamp, and they became living things, and hence the Ponkis.
"Monday, July 20. - After discoursing on the daily word - ‘The Lord our God be with us, may he not forsake us’ - we traveled on through the swamp, and after five miles crossed the path that leads from Frankstown[5*]to Goshgoshink, and two miles from that point encamped at a run. At 5 P.M., came Brethren Peter, Boaz, and Michael, with fourteen unbaptized Indians, from Lagundontenink, to meet us with four horses, and five bushels of Indian corn, also Nathaniel’s wife from Sheninga[6*]with a letter from Brother Jungmann. I thought had I but milk or meat, I would add rice, and prepare a supper for the new-comers. But two of them went to hunt, and in half an hour Michael brought in a deer to my fire. My eyes moistened with tears. Sister Esther hunted up the large camp kettle, and all had their fill of rice and venison, and were much pleased. That night and the following morning there were four deer shot by my company.
"Tuesday, July 21. - The rear division came up, and the destitute, viz., such as had lived solely upon meat and milk, were supplied each with one pint of Indian corn. We proceeded six miles to the first creek. In the evening a number of the brethren came to my fire, and we sat together right cheerful until midnight. Once when asleep I was awakened by the singing of the brethren who had gathered around the fire of the friends from Lagundontenink. It refreshed my inmost soul.
"Wednesday, July 22. - We journeyed on four miles, to the first fork [7*] where a small creek comes down from the mouth.
"Thursday July 23. - Also four miles to the second fork, to the creek, coming in from the south-east.[8*]As a number of us met here in good time we had a meeting. Cornelius’s brother-in-law stated that he was desirous of being the Lord’s; therefore he had left his friends so as to live with the brethren, and to hear of the Saviour.
"Friday, July 24. - The path soon left the creek, over valleys and heights. to a spring. Now we were out of the swamp, and free from the plague of the Ponkis. Also found huckleberries, which were very grateful. Our today’s station was five miles, and about so far we advanced on.
"Saturday, July 25. - On, which day we encamped at a Salt Lick, and kept Sunday some three miles from the large creek, which has so many curves, like a horseshoe, so that if one goes per canoe, when the water is high, four days are consumed in reaching the Ohio, whereas, by land, the point can be reached in one day.[9*]Our youngsters went to the creek to fish, and others to hunt; and at sunset they came in with two deer, and four strings of fish."
To prove farther that Punxsutawney was one of the Delaware towns, we quote from the narrative of Marie Le Roy and Barbara Leiningerrie [10*] Le Roy was born at Brondrut, in Switzerland. About five years ago she arrived with her parents in this country. They settled fifteen miles from Fort Schamockin. Half a mile from their plantation lived Barbara Leininger, with her parents, who came from Reuttingen about ten years ago.
"Early in the morning of the 16th of October, 1755, while Le Roy’s hired man went out to fetch the cows, he heard the Indians shooting six times. Soon after eight of them came to the house and killed Marie Le Roy’s father with tomahawks. Her brother defended himself powerfully for a time, but was, at last, overpowered. The Indians did not kill him, but took him prisoner, together with Marie Le Roy and a little girl who was staying with the family. Thereupon they plundered the homestead and set it on fire. Into this fire they put the body of the murdered father, feet foremost, until it was half consumed. The upper half was left lying on the ground with the two tomahawks with which they had killed him sticking in his head. Then they kindled another fire not far from the house. While sitting around it, a neighbor of Le Roy, named Bastian, happened to pass on horseback. He was immediately shot down and scalped.
"Two of the Indians now went to the house of Barbara Leininger, where they found her father, her brother, and her sister Regina. Her mother had gone to the mill. They demanded rum, but there was none in the house. Then they called for tobacco, which was given them. Having smoked a pipe, they said: ‘We are Allegheny Indians, and your enemies. You must all die.’ Thereupon they shot her father, tomahawked her brother, who was twenty years of age, took Barbara and her sister Regina prisoners, and conveyed them into the forest for about a mile. They there were soon joined by the other Indians, with Marie Le Roy and the little girl.
"Not long after the rest of the savages returned with six fresh scalps which they threw at the feet of the poor captives, saying that they had a good hunt that day.
"The next morning we were taken about two miles further into the forest, while the most of the Indians again went out to kill and plunder. Toward evening they returned with nine scalps and five prisoners.
"On the third day the whole band came together and divided the spoils. In addition to large quantities of provisions, they had taken fourteen horses and ten prisoners, namely, one man, one woman, five girls and three boys. We two girls, as also two of the horses, fell to the share of an Indian named Galasko.
"We traveled with our new master for two days. He was tolerably kind, and allowed us to ride all the way, while he and the rest of the Indians walked. Of this circumstance Barbara Leininger took advantage, and tried to escape. But she was almost immediately recaptured and condemned to be burned alive. The savages gave her a French Bible, which they had taken from Le Roy’s house, in order that she might prepare for death, and when she told them she could not understand it, they gave her a German Bible. Thereupon they made a large pile of wood, and set it on fire, intending to put her in the midst of it; but a young Indian begged so earnestly for her life that she was pardoned, after having promised not to attempt to escape again and stop her crying.
"The next day the whole troop was divided into two bands; the one marching in the direction of the Ohio, the other, in which we were with Galasko, to Jenkiklamuhs [11*],a Delaware town on the West Branch of the Susquehanna. There we staid ten days, and then proceeded to Puncksotownay [12*], or Eschentown. Marie Le Roy’s brother was forced to remain at Jenkiklamuhs.
"After having rested at Puncksotownay, we took our way to Kittanny. As this was to be the place of our permanent abode, we received our welcome according to Indian custom; it consisted of three blows each on the back. They were, however, administered with great mercy. Indeed we concluded that we were beaten merely in order to keep up an ancient usage, and not with the intention of injuring us. The month of December was the time of our arrival, and we remained at Kittanny until the month of September, 1756.
"The Indians gave us enough to do. We had to tan leather, make shoes, moccasins, to clear land, to plant corn, to cut down trees, and build huts, to wash and cook. The want of provisions caused us, however, the greatest suffering. During all the time we were at Kittanny we had neither lard nor salt, and sometimes we were forced to live on acorns, roots, grass and bark. There was nothing in the world to make this new sort of food palatable except hunger itself."
After being prisoners for over three years, these two girls, with two Englishmen, escaped, and after innumerable perils, succeeded in reaching Fort Duquesne, at Pittsburgh.
The Mahoning Creek, upon which Punxsutawney is situated, was called by the Indians, "Mohulbucteetam [13*], i.e., where canoes are abandoned, and is one of the historic streams of the country. The signification of the name proves what has already been said about the Indians ascending as far as Punxsutawney in their canoes, and then ‘proceeding across the mountain by the Chincklacamoose path on foot.
Some writers have claimed that the name Mahoning meant, in the Indian tongue, "dancing waters," and "fountain of the clouds;" but both these significations are erroneous. Mr. J.W. Jordan, of the Pennsylvania Historical Society, who is familiar with the Indian dialects, says: "The Delaware word Mahoni means a lick. This name was a very common one for rivers and places in the Delaware country, along which or where the surface of the ground was covered with saline deposits or efflorescence provincially, called licks, from the fact of deer, elk, and other animals frequenting them and licking the saltish earth. I may add the following, Mahoni is Delaware for a lick. Mahonitty signifies a diminutive lick, and Mahon - haine a stream flowing from or near a lick."
This proves, therefore, that the white settlers discarded the Indian name of the stream, " Mohulbucteetam," and merely retained the signification of the licks from where it had its source, which has become corrupted into Mahoning.
Early Settlers. - In 1818 Dr. John W. Jenks came to Punxsutawney and at once began to make preparations for a permanent settlement there, and for over thirty years was one of the most prominent citizens of the county. In 1820 he built, in connection with David Barclay, the mill on Elk Run. "His first house was a small log one built a little north of what was known as Farmer’s Alley," and he afterwards built a commodious residence where his son Phineas now resides. Dr. Jenks kept open house all those early years of his residence in Punxsutawney. Travelers from far and near made his house their stopping place. His hospitality was dispensed liberally, and without any compensation, and it was owing to this hospitality and generosity that he did not become a rich man. It was said of him, that while his house was the best patronized in the county in those early days, the only difference between it and the hotels was that the "Jenks House had no license, and made no charge."
Rev. David Barclay came with Dr. Jenks in the summer or fall of 1818, and selected the land upon which Punxsutawney is now located, for their future home. They then returned east for their families and were accompanied on their return to the wilderness by Nathaniel Tindle and family, and Elijah Heath. Dr. Jenks on his arrival left his wife and one child, David Barclay Jenks, at the house of Carpenter Winslow, while he got his own cabin ready for them to occupy. Mr. C.R. White, an aged citizen, of Covode, Indiana county, who came with his parents to this region in June, 1818, says:
"I went with my father, John White, to the place (where Dr. Jenks was building his house), and there were three persons besides Dr. Jenks, and they were raising the rafters on the roof of the house, the house had been raised a day or two before. There was Johnston Bailes, Dr. Jenks, and I think Daniel Graffius, a millwright, father and grandfather of the Graffiuses that live about there yet. The other man’s name I cannot remember. C.C. Gaskill and James E. Cooper came here in the year 1818, and Mr. Gaskill married Eliza Weaver, of Freeport, and Mr. Cooper married Molly Brady."
Mr. Gaskill had been sent by the Holland Land Company to act as their agent, in the disposal of their vast tracts of lands in Jefferson and adjoining counties. He settled in Punxsutawney in 1821, and his daughter, Cornelia, now the wife of Rev. John Graham, of the Erie Conference, was the first white female child born in the place. Phineas Jenks being the first child born there. Mr. Gaskill, remained in Punxsutawney until 1849, when, having sold the remainder of the Holland Lands that he had not disposed of to settlers, to an eastern company, he returned to his home in Philadelphia, and died at Cooper’s Point, N.J., opposite Philadelphia, in 1872.
Aunt Betsy Gray, as she is familiarly called, is probably the oldest living resident of Punxsutawney. She is eighty-seven years of age, and came to the town in 1825 from Westmoreland county, making the journey on horseback, and carrying her child, Fleming Caldwell.
Isaac P. Carmalt, John B. Henderson and John Hess, came to Punxsutawney in 1821. The former purchased a lot, but the following year purchased the property in Young township, where his history has already been given. Joseph Long settled in Punxsutawney in 1824. Then came William Campbell, Thomas McKee, John R. Reese, G.A. Mundorff, Ephraim Bair, William Davis, George Slaysman, James Torrence, John Drum, John C. Zeitler and others.
Joseph Long was born on the Rhine, at Radenloch, but had become a citizen of the United States in time to participate in the War of 1812, being commissioned an ensign by Governor Snyder, of Pennsylvania. In 1824 he removed from his home in Centre county, and settled in Punxsutawney, where he built a house on the southeast corner of the public square in 1825, occupied at present by Captain John T. Bell. In 1829 he purchased the Charles Barclay property on the site of the former St. Elmo Hotel, where he died on the 30th of November, 1832.
His son William, who is still a resident of Punxsutawney, was born in Centre county in 1816. In 1839 he was elected first lieutenant of a volunteer company called the Jefferson Rangers, and was commissioned by Governor Porter. In 1840 he was chosen captain of the company, which office he held for seven years. His company, which was in the Third Battalion, Second Brigade, Fifteenth Division of Pennsylvania Militia, offered their services to the government during the first engagements in the war with Mexico in 1846, but their offer was not accepted by the president, enough troops being already in the field. Mr. Long still resides in Punxsutawney.
James St. Clair located in Punxsutawney in 1831, and lived first in a house on the corner of Penn street, north of the public square In 1839 he kept the National Hotel, but removed from it to Brookville, upon being elected sheriff in 1849. After his term of office expired he returned to Punxsutawney and resumed hotel keeping, which he continued for fifteen years, when he removed to Bell township, residing there until the spring of 188o, when he removed to Young township, adjoining the borough of Punxsutawney, where he now resides. In 1848 he was elected one of the associate judges, and in 1851 he built his grist-mill, which he still operates. Mr. St. Clair is now in his seventy-eighth year, and is yet active and able to superintend his business. Mrs. St. Clair, née Margaret Mitchell, is but a year or two younger. Of their seven children, all are married, and all but one reside in the county. Robert, the oldest born, being a resident of Denver, the others, with the exception of the youngest daughter, Mrs. J.A. Scott, who resides in Brookville, live in Punxsutawney.
William Campbell and his twin brother, Robert, came from Williamsburg, Huntingdon county, in 1832, to Punxsutawney, and engaged in merchandising and lumbering. The first lumber they took out they ran to Pittsburgh, where they found the cholera so bad that they could not sell, and ran on to Cincinnati, where they found the same state of things. There being no sale for timber, Mr. Campbell rented a saw-mill and manufactured his timber into boards, which he sold before he returned home. In 1833 he brought his family to Punxsutawney, where he continued a prominent and useful citizen until his death, March 30, 1868. Mrs. Campbell, née Martha Slaysman, died October 12, 1873. Both were members of the Baptist church. Two of their sons, Thadeus and George, are prominent business men in Punxsutawney. William F., the other son, died August, 1887. Of the daughters, Mrs. Anna Altman and Mrs. Martha Stumph reside in Punxsutawney, Mrs. Amelia Murray in Gaskill township, Mrs. Margaret Little in Buffalo, N.Y., and Mrs. Sarah Smith in Brookville.
John Drum came to Punxsutawney in 1832. He was born in 18o6 in Westmoreland county, where he learned the trade of a carpenter. He was an excellent mechanic, and there are many mementoes of his handiwork in the buildings erected by him in Punxsutawney. He served as county commissioner in 1844 - 6, and as justice of the peace for fifteen years. Mr. Drum and his wife are both dead. Of their children, only two reside in Punxsutawney - Mrs. John Evans, and Mrs. R.C. Winslow.
The first church was erected in Punxsutawney, a few rods west of the present Baptist Church; it was built of hewed logs, and was used by the Presbyterians; it was also used for a school-house. The first school-house in the locality was built about 1822, of round logs, and was located near the site of T.P. Pantall’s residence.
Punxsutawney, though the oldest town in all this region of country, having received its name over two hundred years ago from the Indians who first dwelt along the banks of the Mohulbucteetam, and planted their corn in the "Indian bottom," and being also the first town laid out by the white man, its history as a "white man’s town," dating from 1821, when it was laid out by Rev. David Barclay, did not improve very fast, and was but a small town until the development of the rich coal fields in its vicinity, and the building of the Buffalo, Rochester and Pittsburgh railroad wakened it into life, and made it a town of importance as a coal center.
At the same time that he, laid out the town, Mr. Barclay donated the piot of ground known as the public square, in the center of the town, which he had farmed for several years, and thus made it ready for the use to which he designed it - a public park. The deed of gift was duly recorded in the office of the recorder of deeds of Indiana county, but for over sixty years this spot that was no doubt designed by the generous donor to be made a "thing of joy and beauty forever," received no attention from the citizens of the town, but was allowed to lie unfenced and uncared for, a pasture for the festive geese, and the spot where the traveling showman erected his tent, until within a year or two a fence has been erected, and trees planted, and a promise is thus held forth that the people of Punxsutawney will yet convert this spot to the use for which it was undoubtedly intended.
Fire in Punxsutawney. - On the night of October 9, 1886, Punxsutawney was visited by a disastrous fire which destroyed the best part of the business portion of the town. The most prominent losers were: I.S. Rosenberger, large brick block and store goods, $14,000; insurance, $6,800, Mrs. M.A. Reese, dwelling and barn; loss, $4,000; no insurance. Mrs. M.J. Stumph, millinery store; loss, $500. F. Hummell, National Hotel; loss, $20,000; insurance, $3,500. St. Elmo Hotel; loss, $20,000; insurance, $11,000. G.S. Campbell, groceries; loss, $600; no insurance. Mrs. John G. Graf, residence; loss, $2,500; insurance, $1,500. George M. Graf, furniture dealer; loss, $250. First National Bank, $600. Joseph Williard, household goods, $1,500; insurance, $500. Barr & Cromer, loss on hotel, furniture, etc., $12,000; insurance, $4,700. Dr. Joseph Shields, drug store, $1,000. Jacob Zeitler, two story brick block and residence, $5,000.
The Business of Punxsutawney. - The first store was started in Punxsutawney in 1820 by Charles R. Barclay, where the City Hotel now stands; the next by William Campbell, in 1832, who continued in the business of general merchandising for several years. The third store was started in 1836 or 1838 by John McCrea.
In 1832, according to Gordon’s Gazetteer of Pennsylvania, Punxsutawney contained fifteen dwellings, two taverns and a store.
Since those first small beginnings, merchandising has been conducted by various parties, and those operating the different business enterprises, in 1887, are recorded below, with the changes that have occurred from time to time in the respective firms.
Ephraim Bair, general store; commenced in spring of 1865; he owns the brick building, in which his store is located.
George W. Zeitler, general merchandise, from 1854 to 1879; now engaged in the grocery, flour and feed business.
I.S. Rosenberger has been in the general merchandising business for about twenty-two years.
North & Miller, general store; dealers in carpets, millinery, etc. This firm own a large brick building; their store, two rooms connected, one hundred and sixty feet in length; started April, 1883.
Johnson & Fink, general store; established December, 1886; own a large brick building.
Dr. Joseph Shields, drug store; also dealer in dry goods and groceries; established in 1864; owns building in which he does business.
N.D. Corey, dealer in dry goods, groceries, etc., established by Shields & Dinsmore in 1885, then Dinsmore purchased the interest of Shields, and in turn sold to N.D. Corey in 1886.
J.A. Weber, clothing store, established in the fall of 1881.
St. Elmo clothing store, owned by Loeb & Co.; M. Fishman, manager; established in 1882.
Greer Brothers, hardware store; established May, 1883.
F.J. Norton, general hardware store; established February, 1887.
E.N. Wherle, watchmaker and jeweler; established February, 1883.
W.M. Nickle, five cent store; established June, 1885; Miss Cora Campbell, manager.
J.A. Lowry, dealer in tinware and stoves; established April, 1882.
Dr. William Altman, drug store; established May, 1883.
Dr. W.F. Beyer& Bro., drug store; established April, 188o; owned by J.M. Beyer since 1883.
George S. Campbell, dealer in groceries and confectionery; established in 1879.
Mrs. M.J. Stumph, millinery store; established about 1882.
Jacob Zeitler, saddlery and harness; established about 1852.
James C. Shields, dealer in furniture. Furniture factory was started in 1873 by Morris & Shields, then W.A. Custer bought Morris’s interest and it was run by Custer & Shields, then by J.C. Shields, then L.P. Graff became a partner, and was run by Shields & Graff for a short time, and then J.C. Shields again became sole proprietor.
William Riddle, shoemaker.
North & Morris, clothing store; established in the spring of 1887.
B. Stumph, shoemaker; established about 1868.
D.W. Robinson, merchant tailor; established in 1870.
Miller & Swartz, merchant tailors; established 1886. Mr. A.B. Miller, of this firm, has been in the business in Punxsutawney for over thirty years.
Nancy A.Y. Hoover, millinery store; has been engaged in the business for about eighteen years.
Kate R. Laughlin, millinery; established in 1887.
Low’s music store; established spring of 1887.
Thomas Pantall, harness maker; established in 1882.
F.S. Thompson, Keystone Billiard Parlor; established October, 1885.
J.W. Brown, billiard parlor; established in 1885.
George A. Young, meat market; established about 1884. J.J. Young, meat market; established in the spring of 1881. Haag & Co., meat market, 1887.
John Lanzendorffer, watch maker and jeweler; established November, 1873.
W.J. Brillhart, jewelry store; established in 1887.
George Graf, dealer in furniture; established in 1884.
A.C. Robinson & Bro., marble works; established in 1875. This firm are also engaged in the undertaking business, having bought out J.C. Shields, who had been engaged in the business for fourteen years.
M. Cohn, boot and shoe store; established November, 1886.
E.H. Weiss, grocery and bakery; established September, 1882.
S.E. Wilson, wholesale liquor store; established April, 1886.
Joseph C. Gibson, feed store; established fall of 1886.
Frampton & Work, photographers; established, 1883. Mr. J.W. Green was engaged in the photography business from 1860, until his death.
A.N. McQuown, dealers in stoves and tinware; established in 1886.
J.T. Kelso, flour and feed store; established in 1887. W.F. Zeitler, flour and feed store.
William Ake, grocery.
C.K. McCartney, news depot and green grocery.
Samuel Ake, Acme Restaurant; started in 1886.
Rowe Brothers, saloon and restaurant; established in 1882.
Joseph McDonald, restaurant and billiard parlor; established in 1877 by James St. Clair, since which time it has changed hands several times. Mr. McDonald has been in possession since April, 1887.
Lanzendorffer & McLaughlin, restaurant; started May, 1887.
Harry North, barber shop, started in 1883 ; Frank Grosse, about 1874;
L.C. Smith, 1886; Charles R. Zeitler, 1886; Charles Bilduck, 1882.
John Cricks, livery stable; established about 1869; L.C. Myers, livery and sale stable, 1885; Rishel & Fackiner.
John Crawford, blacksmith, about 1862; John Walton, 1875; J.S. Drummond, 1885.
The town of Punxsutawney is supplied with natural gas by the Mahoning Gas and Heat Company, which was organized November 11, 1884, with the following stockholders: H.P. Malone, R.E. Thompson, E.D. Willis, A.C. Weill, of Bradford; John Q. Hoyt, New York; H.C. Campbell, of Punxsutawney. H.P. Malone is treasurer, and Christian Miller, of Punxsutawney, superintendent. The well from which the gas is supplied is situated in Canoe township, Indiana county, about four miles south of Punxsutawney, and about two and a half miles from the Jefferson county line.
Hotels - The first hotel was kept by Abram Weaver, who built a log house in which he entertained travelers as early as 1816, and where he got license to sell liquor in the thirties. This "hotel" stood just above where the drugstore of Dr. Shields is now located.
The Eagle Hotel was built by Elijah Heath, in the year 1824, and a brick addition built to it by Isaac Keck, who was ye landlord for many years. Hon. James St. Clair also owned and occupied this house in 1839 - 49. It is now known as the City Hotel, and is owned and occupied by John S. Barr, who has had the buildings refitted, repaired and remodeled.
The first building erected on the St. Elmo site, on the northwest corner of the public square, was built by Charles R. Barclay, in 1820 or 1821. It was purchased in 1829 by Joseph Long, who died there in 1832. It was then purchased by James Campbell, who first turned it into a hotel, calling it the Mahoning House. It then passed into the possession of Henry Jennings, and was known as the Jenning’s House, until his death, when George Kramer bought the property, and erected the large hotel known as the St. Elmo. It then became the property of B.K. Fisher, and was destroyed by fire, in June, 1879, who immediately rebuilt in the fall of 1880, completing it in the spring of 1881. In May, 1886, Mr. Fisher exchanged hotels with A.B. Barr and J.B. Cromer, of the American House, Brookville. He taking charge of the American, while Barr & Cromer assumed control of the St. Elmo. It was destroyed in the fire of October 9, 1886, and has not been rebuilt. Since which time the property has passed into the hands of the Mahoning Bank.
The National Hotel was built in 1851 by Ezra Root, for a boarding house. In 1853 John Gilpin purchased the property from Root, who built an addition to the house, and made it into a hotel. Since then its landlords have been Joseph Carr, Jacob Burkett, George Weiss, who in 1860 enlarged it, Jacob Herwick, James McHenry, James St. Clair. It is now owned and managed by Barr & Cromer, who purchased the property from John Foutz, in the fall of 1886, after they had been burned out in the St. Elmo Hotel.
The Washington Hotel was built by John Drum. Those who have had charge of this house since that time have been Henry Jennings, William Gillespie, Charles Pounds, Isaac Keck, Edwin H. Little and Peter Weaver. Frederick Hummell purchased the property in 1869, and about 1880 it was destroyed by fire, and rebuilt by Mr. Hummell, and was again destroyed in the great fire of October 9, 1886. Mr. Hummell is now erecting a large brick hotel building on the site of the ill-fated Washington House.
In 1858 J.P. Covert commenced keeping the Temperance House in Punxsutawney, which he continued for several years. Mr. Covert was one of the early settlers of Young township, having moved into the Morris settlement in 1822. He is now dead.
Statistics of Population, Assessments and Schools. - Punxsutawney was organized as a borough in 1849. The population by census of 1860, was 415; 1870, 553; 1880, 674. The number of taxables in 1856, were 108; 1863, 105; 1870, 245; 1880, 205; 1886, 380.
The triennial assessment for 1886 gives the number of acres seated as 40; valuation, $5,528; average per acre, $138; number of houses and lots, 259 valuation, $72,758; number of horses, 59; valuation, $2,010; average value, $34; number of cows, 40; valuation, $515; average value, $13; number of occupations, 232; valuation, $7,680; average, $33. Total valuation subject to county tax, $88,491 ; money at interest, $62,068.
The number of schools in Punxsutawney for the school year ending June 7, 186, were 4; term 6 months; number of male teachers, 2; females, 2; average salary of male teachers, $60; females, $32.50; number of male scholars, 115; females, 108; average number attending school, 172; average per cent., 88; cost per month, $1.05; number of mills levied for school purposes, 13; for building, 2. Total amount of tax levied for school and building purposes, $1,403.81.
Elections. - The first election held in Punxsutawney after it became a seperate election district, was on the 5th day of May, 1857, when the following persons were elected: Constable, William A. Dunlap; assessor, John Drum; school directors, James Torrence, Ephraim Bair; overseers of the poor, George Miller, Adam Keck.
The following comprise the elective officers of the borough for 1887: Justices of the peace, John T. Bell, John St. Clair; assessor, J.T. Kelso; high constable, A. Stockdale; councilmen, S.S. Hamilton, William B. Weiss; constable, H.H. McHenry; school directors, I.S. Rosenberger, A.B. Miller; tax collector, John Lang; auditors, H.F. Fishman, L.C. Myers; overseer of poor, J.M. Beyer; judge of election, W.C. Torrence; inspectors, John T. Mitchell, G.A. Weiss.
The members of the school previously elected are, J.B. Bair, S.C. Allison, J.M. Brewer, and W.W. Winslow.
CLAYVILLE
Jacob Hoover was the first white man to settle in what is now the village of Clayville. He was born in Hagerstown, Maryland, in 1793, and spent his early days in Baltimore. In 1814 or 1815 he came to the Mahoning Valley, and purchased land of the Holland Land Company, comprising what is now the village of Clayville. His land extended as far east as the residence of Captain Hastings, in Punxsutawney. He built his log cabin a little east of the Gillespie mill, and then, proceeded to build a story and a half log grist-mill 18x25, in which he used burrs of native stone. He afterwards erected a frame grist-mill 40x40, three stories high, with a carding-machine in the upper story. The old mill became the wheel-house, and there were two sets of burrs in use. He then built a saw-mill, on Mill Run, between his cabin and grist-mill. In 1840 he built a foundry, the first in the county, in Clayville, and in 1852, erected the large steam mill lately burned down, as the property of J.U. Gillespie.
For a long time after he settled at Clayville, Mr. Hoover "kept bachelor’s hall." His lonely cabin life being enlivened occasionally by visits from his younger sister, Nancy. In 1820 he married Nancy A., daughter of William and Jane Young, old residents of Armstrong (now Clarion county). Nine children, all girls, were born to them, of whom only three survive: Caroline, now Mrs. James E. Mitchell (first married to H.W. Mundorff, deceased); Nancy A.Y. Hoover, of Punxsutawney, and Mary Jane, wife of Gibson A. Mundorff, of Pittsburgh. Mr. Hoover led a busy life, farming, lumbering, and overseeing his mills. He was one of the best and most enterprising of the early settlers, and an earnest Christian, being one of the early Methodists of the county. He died in 1853, and his wife in 1851.
Clayville, which was made a borough in 1864, adjoins Punxsutawney on the west. It is the present terminus of the Rochester and Pittsburgh railroad.
In 1870 the population was 189, and the census of 188o gives 248. The number of taxables in 1870 was 47, in 1880, 85, and in 1886, 142.
The triennial assessment of 1886 gives the number of acres seated as 213 valuation, $7,436. Number of houses and lots, 120; valuation, $16,627, Number of horses, 16; value, $507; average value, $31.63. Number of cows, 28; valuation, $252; average value, $9.00. Number of occupations, 73; valuation, $2,088; average, $28.33. Total valuation subject to county tax, $26,910; money at interest, $32,999.
For the year ending June 7, 1886, Clayville had two schools. Average number of months taught, 5; one male teacher, salary $35; one female teacher, salary, $25; number of male scholars, 58; female, 52; average number attending school, 81; average per cent. of attendance, 73; cost per month, 60; number of mills levied for school purposes, 13 - for building purposes, 13 total amount of tax levied for school and building purposes, $592.68.
Elections. - The following is the entry on the election docket of the first election held in the borough of Clayville, June 6, 1864: Justices of the peace, William E. Gillespie, J.K. Coxson; constable, J.C. Pierce; judges of election, S.W. Depp, W.E. Gillespie; town council, J.K. Coxson, L.R. Davis, W.E. Gillespie, J.U. Gillespie, S.W. Depp, J.G. Wilson; auditors, W. Sperry, Peter Hettrick, William E. Gillespie; assessor, Thomas Rodgers; school directors, J.K. Coxson, J.C. Pierce, W. Sperry, Daniel Duncaster, Peter Hettrick, J.U. Gillespie; overseers of the poor, J.K. Coxson, J.U. Gillespie.
The result of the election held February 7, 1887, was as follows: Justice of the peace, W.W. Crisman; constable, W.C. Gillespie; burgess, W.S. Hughes; council, A.H. Murray and F. Crisman; school directors, Levi McGregor and W.B. Sutter; high constable, L.R. Davis; auditor, Clark Rodgers; assessor. W.S. Perry; collector, J.B. Sutter; judge of election, J.H. Spencer; inspectors, S.H. Parkhill and J.M. Sutter; poor overseer, Lev. McGregor.
The justice of the peace is W.T. Rodgers, and the school directors previously elected are J.M. Sutler, Joseph Spencer, George W. Porter, and R.J. Crissman.
Business of Clayville. - J.W. Parsons, general store; started in 1878 by James U. Gillespie, then Gillespie & Parsons; since February, 1886, Mr. Parsons has had the store in his own control.
J.F. Goheen, dealer in general merchandise; established March 5, 1886.
M.E. Wall, groceries; established February, 1887.
Isaac Rodgers, groceries.
Lindsay House, Michael Haley, proprietor. The house was built in 1866 by J.U. Gillespie, who sold it to Nicholas Phillips, who yet owns the property.
Planing-mill and factory built in 1887 by Elijah Kinsell.
Clayville wagon and carriage manufactory; first built and operated by Gillespie Brothers, but for the last sixteen years owned and operated by W.B. Sutter.
Planing. mill, J. & R.R. Evans; built by Joseph Collins, and since 1871 owned and operated by Messrs. Evans.
Cabinet shop built by J.B. Morris in 1867, and operated by Shields & Crissman, then McCormick & Crissman, and since 1883 by R.J. Crissman.
There are two brick-yards in Clayville, in which the brick are burned and dried by natural gas; one owned by W.P. Rodgers, established in 1873, and the other by James O.S. Spencer, established in 1875. They manufacture about 600,000 brick each, per year, and employ about ten men each.
James U. Gillespie is erecting a large steam flouring mill on the site of the old mill burned down in 1886, in which he will introduce all the modern improvements, roller process, etc. The building will be five stories high, and will do wholesale and custom work.
One of the main industries of Clayville is the foundry now owned and operated by George Porter. The principal work done in this establishment is the making and repairing of mining tools and machinery.
WALLSTON AND ADRIAN
Since the opening of the coal mines in Young township in 1883 by the Rochester and Pittsburgh Coal & Iron Company, two new towns have sprung up, as if by magic, in that township. Wallston, which is situated on the Buffalo, Rochester and Pittsburgh Railroad, about two miles east of Punxsutawney, was begun when the mines were first opened. It is now a town of two thousand inhabitants, containing two hundred houses (double blocks), one store, seven hundred coke ovens, two fan houses, two drifts and one slope. Mr. John McLeavy is the assistant manager at Wallston. Adrian, which is situated on Elk Run, is also about two miles from Punxsutawney, and was commenced in 1887, and now contains about five hundred of a population, fifty houses (double blocks), one store, four hundred and fifty coke ovens, one fan house, one drift and one slope.
* "The Annals of Friedenschnetten, on the Susquehanna, with John Ettewein’s Journal of the Removal of the Mission to Friedenstadt, 1765 and 1772," by John W. Jordan.
** Anderson’s Creek, in Clearfield county, which they struck at a point near the present Curwensville.
*** "Probably the source of the North Branch of the Mahoning, which rises in Brady township, Clearfield county, and empties into the Allegheny, in Armstrong county, ten miles above Kittanning."
[4*] Kept down the valley of the Mahoning, into Jefferson county. Punxsutawney is a village in Young township, Jefferson county. The swamp lies in Gaskill and Young townships.
[5*] Near Hollidaysburg. See Scull’s map of 1759, for this path.
[6*] Sheninga is a township in Lawrence county, just above Friedenstadt.
[7*] A branch of the Mahoning.
[8*] Query - The creek that comes in and up below Punxsutawney.
[9*] "The Mahoning, formed by the junction of the East and South Branch, which meets at Nicholsburg, in Indiana county. This route to the Allegheny was the same path taken by Post in 1758, when returning from his second visit to the Ohio Indians, in that year, and between Chinklacamoose and the Allegheny, over the same path traveled by Barbara Leininger, in 1755, when Chinklacamoose and Puncksatawney were villages." - Jordan.
[10*] Vol. 7, Pennsylvania Archives.
[11*] Chinklacamoose, on the site of the present town of Clearfield.
[12*] Punxsutawney, in Jefferson county.
[13*] Corrupted from Mochoolpakiton. - J.W. Jordan.
Source: Page(s) 504-525, History of Jefferson County by Kate M. Scott. Syracuse, N.Y., D. Mason & Co., 1888.
Contributed by Nathan Zipfel for use by the Jefferson County Genealogy Project (http://www.pa-roots.com/jefferson/)
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