32 T HE JOU R NAL

PURCHASE AT

THEMUSEUMH0P

(Jhique Gifts of Significance

contemporary crafts

Roesen note stationery

copper miniaturesdecorative tiles

authentic indian artifacts

jigsaw puzzles

postcards

historical literature

THE

b/JOURNALOFTHE

Lycoming County Historical Society

VOLUME Vll FALLNUM:BER TWO 1971

JOU R NAL MUSEUM S'TAFFof the

LY'COMING COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETYDirector John W. Strawbridge lll

Pwbtisbed Semi-Annaatl] in W' illiamsport, PennsyLva iaAdw Hist at ve Aide Jean Layton

Museum Office - 858 West Fourth Street

Telephone (Area Code 717) 326-3326

Exhibits Aide Anne Gstalder

Bztilding Cwstodiat} Ralph Wikstrom

BOARD OF TRUSTEES

CARL. H. SIMON, PRESIDENT

RALPH R. CRANMER, TREASURER

WALTER J. HEIMMICHAEL LAGANA

A. F. BEIGHLEY

W'n.I.IAM E. NICHOL.S, JR., ESQ.

ANDREW K. GRUGAN,CURRENT SOCIETY PRESIDENT MUSEUM VOLUNTEER STAFF

BOARD OFGOVERNORS Gewealo gist Mrs. Donald Carson

ANOREW K. GRUGAN, PRESIDED'r DR. SAMUn. LONG, 3RD. VICE PRES.

ED. J. DURRWACHTER, IST. VICE PRES. MRS. DONALD M. CARSON. SECRETARY

DR. LORING B. PRIEST, 2ND. VICE PRES. HAROI.D B. TAMI.OR, TREE.SURER

Regis ration Co r mit ee Miss June Foresman, ChairmanMiss Ethel ErtelMrs. Frederick SnellMrs. Fred Foresman

1970-1972 TERM 1971-1973 TERM F4.ne Arts Progfa7}} Committee Dr. June E. Baskin, ChairmanSamuel DornsifeMrs. John FischerMrs. Robert MaplesC. Robert SchultzAndrew K. Grugan

MR. D. M. CARSON

MRS. JOHN W. BITNERMR. SAMUEL J. DORNS]FEMR. WILLARD A. SCHELL

MRS. JOHN LINDEMUTH

MRS. ALLAN YOUNG, JR.MRS. MARGARET BALDWINMRS. NORMAN INGERSOLL

EX-OFFICIO BOARD MEMBERS OpeTatio? Z\ll seam Mrs. John Goodwillie, Coordinator

MRS. JOHN GOODWILLIE, REPRESENTATIVE,JUNIOR LEAGUE OF WILLIAMSPORT

PabticitT a7M Pzlblic Relations Charles E. Noyes

MR. MAX E. AMnGH - PRESIDENT

THE GREATER WILLIAMSPORT ARTS COUNCIL

C a arial DePartrLents'.Archaeology

James P. Bressler, ChairmanWillard SchellWilliam Turnbaugh

SOCIETY STAFF Archives a?M Records Miss Gladys Tozier, ChiefMiss Jean LittleMrs. Robert NevelMrs. 'John HollandMrs. Joseph Stewart

EXECUTIVE SECRETARY MRS. KATHRYN J. CHUTE

VOLUME VllNUMBER TWO

F.ALL1971 Edt&ca o Andrew K. Grugan

EDITOR;

MRS. EDITH L. WRIGHT

Fine Arts Dr. June E. Boskin

1%d s v Francis Maneval

Military History Dr. Samuel Wiersteiner

Extra Copies of The Journal Fif ty Cents Each Textiles Mrs. Norman Ingersoll

CONTENTS PxaE

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5

6

8

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11

13

16

17

23

26

28

29

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Membership Meeting Program for 1971-1972President's Letter

Museum Showcase: A Summary of Lycomin8o County Historyby James Bressler

In Memoriam -- Gibson G. Antes

In Memoriam -- Margaret B. Coryell

Dedication of Courthouse by Judge Charles F. Greevy

Early Settlers on the Loyalsock by Fred M. Rogers

The Ring of the Axe and Whit of the Saw by G.adds TozierPICTURE --T A VIRGIN ' FOREST OF PENNSYLVANIA

PI(:TURE LOYALSOCK CREEK. 1917Original drawing by J. Wesley Little

Piracy on the Pennsylvania Canal by Dr. Lewis E. TheismA Tour of the Schulze Mansion

A Sign of Old Times by Scott Schreiber

Prayer on an Indian GraveContents of Vol. 11, No. 10

GREETINGS FROM THE PRESIDENT'S DESK

As the President of your Society, I wish to address a few remarks to the member-

ship describing in brief some of the projects with which che Society is currently verymuch involved.

In particular I am thinking of a Historic Sites Survey which is in progress in the

county to determine a county-wide inventory of important historic locations and build-

ings. This survey is being funded through the Lycoming County Planning Commission,

and is spearheaded by the Ai:chitecture Committee of the Greater Williamsport Com-

munity Arts Council and other cooperating organizations.V

MEMBERSHIP MEETING PROGRAM Another item of interest to the members of the Society is the fact that in 1970the Tiadaghton Elm was seriously damaged in a storm. With the financial assistance of

the WiIJiamsporr Foundation, Inc., and under the supervision of our Past President,

Mr. Donald M. Carson, expert repairs are being made to the Elm in order to save it

for posterity.

1971-1972

September 11, 1971 (6:30 p.m. dinner, Lycova Grange Hall)

CHARLES E. NOYES, Executive Director and Secretary-Treasurer of rheKeystone Shortway Association, and HON. Z. H. CONFAIR, President of theKeystone Shortway Association,

:Progress along the Keystone Shorcway 'I would strongly urge members to visit the Museum periodically to examine the

many interesting temporary exhibits displayed there.

October 21, 22, and 23, 1971

Pennsylvani.a Historical Association annual convention co-hosted by LycomingCollege and the Lycoming County Historical Society ' '

Andrew K. Grugan, President

LYCOMING COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY

la list ot programs tof tbe remaitMer ot tbe 1.91\-\912 Tear Hill be sent>o all vrtembers tbe tbsp part ot October.)

COVER PICTURE---This. sculpture was done particularly for our lumbering gallery bySteven Collier of Muncy.

6 T HE JOU RNAL 7

MUSEUM SHOWCASE Battle of Bull Run it lost 52 killed and 57wounded, while at Antietam it lost 27 kil-led and 89 wounded. Its losses were insimilar pmportions at Fredericksburg, Chan-cellorsville, and Gettysburg. Lycoming Coun-rians were prominent in the famous "Buck-rail" i:egiment. In all, men fmm Lycomingserved in 33 regiments. They served solidlyin the cause of the Union

that a boom in the river was not ony proctical but essential if logs cut upstream andfloated on the river were to be caught andstored for large-scale operations. When theSusquehanna Boom Company under Perkinsfinally completed its gigantic pmject, 300million feet of logs could be scored at onelime. In spite of periodic flood ravages, theadvantages were so great that it served theappt oximately 25 mills that lined the riverbanks and mill ponds. Williamsport soonbecame a huge lumber mart.

Vase supplies of Williamsporc lumberwere used for the Civil War. Soon lumber-related industries as well sprang up in thecity to add to the growing importance ofWilliamsport as an industrial center.

By the time of the First World War, thegreater part of the forests was gone andche river cities on the West Branch had tolook elsewhere to maintain their prosperity.

A SUMMARY OF LYCOMING COUNTY HISTORY

(M%sewn Dbecto?s Note. 1% tbe coarse of ,preparing aw orienta lait exhibit tor tbeMztseztm, caPsuLizing tbe bzlman bis orT ot tbe Cozlnt], Mr. James Brewster ptodaced }beallowing SHw}7ml'T of cozlntT distort wbicl) Flat be ot valle to reaieri o{ this pzlbLica-

££o#. )0

THE INDIAN PERIOD LYCOMING COUNTY ISBORN

Incredibly, ninety-eight per cent of thehistory of man in the West Branch Valleybelongs to the American Indian. From theclose of the lash lce Age to che middle ofrhe 1700's, the Indian was always the hunt-er. Living in harmony with nature, withlust rhe tools that could be fashioned fmmnatural objects, he lef t behind only a fewindestructible relics which hint of hismeager existence. From the Paleo Indianhunter to the semi-agrarian village dweller,as the white man found him. we can tracehis history in changing types of weapons,domestic tools, pottery, and the kinds ofshelters he built.

What is now Lycoming County wasoriginally a part of the vast wilderness em-bracing aU of North Central Pennsylvania,lying north and west of Sunbury and knownas Northumberland County. Pressure tocreate a new county mounted as more set-tlers pored into the rich West Branch Val-ley. As early as 1786 a bill was pi:esenced[o the legislature to create a new center orgovernment, but not until 1795 was the ef-f ort successful due to much opposition fromthe mother county of Noi:thumberland. Thebuilding of the Williamson Road to theGenesee country helped swing the senti-ment.

GROWTH OF INDUSTRY

Because it was isolated beyond the mimicsof effective tmnsportation, early industriesof Williamsport were mostly for the con-venience of its immediate inhabitants. Butwith the coming of the canal in 1833 andthe railroads around 1839, expensive com-mel:ce was at last practical. The first ironfoundry was started by John B. Hall in1832. He made many of the componentsfor sawmills and the canal. He importedrhe first steam engine ever used here. Earlymanufactures centered largely in producingmachinery for the growing lumber industry.The Valley Iron Works was established in1865 to make steam engines for export aswell as for local use. Machinists and mach-inery repair shops were popular from 1850[o 1890.

In 1850 Williamsport had a populationof 1615. By 1860 it had jumped to 5,664,largely reflecting the dynamic spirit ofPeter Herdic. who seems to have dominatedrhe industrial growth of his day. It was lar-gely through his leadership and thad of afen ' others that the great lumber industrydeveloped on the scale it did. Lumber wasrhe story of Williamsport to the extent theeby 1880 the city became known as the lum-bering capital of the world.

INTO THE 'l'WENTIETH CENTURY

At the dawn of the twentieth centurymany of the industries mar were to becomerhe lifeblood of Lycoming County's prosperity were already established. The wealththat lumber had brought could not be sus-tained. and the river towns had to lookelsewhere if they were to grow and prosper.

A major industry, AVCO Corporation,had its roots in the Demorest Manufacturing Company, which was scarred in 1845by Madame Demorest for the manufactureof sewing machines. The factory was builtin 1889 to make not only sewing machinesbut bicycles and opera chairs. Later thisf acton:y became Lycoming Motors, and itis world-famous for its excellent product

E. Keeled Co. was established in 1864 byJ. Heathecore and Co. Irs best known pro-duct line is Keeled boilers, which also enjoyan international i:eputation

To John A. Otto goes the credit forestablishing the fii:sc furniture factory inWilliamsport in 1859. Williamsport haslong since become famous for the productionof fine furniture, a natural by-product ofthe lumber industry.

Williamsporr Wire Rope, now a divisionof Bethlehem Steel Co., traces its history[o 1886 when it was incorporated under tht 'name of Morrison Patent Wire Rope Co.,Ltd., by the Van Dusen's, Mr. Morrison, and

THE COLONIAL PERIODThe new Lycoming County embraced a

vast territory of 12,000 square miles out ofwhich 16 counties have since been sub-divided. It took in all of north central Penn-sylvania from Luzerne County to the Alle-gheny River.

After a bitrei: rivalry between Jaysburg,Chen the most settled part of the WestBranch, and William Hepburn and MichaelRoss (owners of most of the land that isnow Williamsport) the county seat of gov-ernment was finally given to WiIJiamsporr.Under the stimulus of monetary values thatwould acct:ue if the county seat could be lo-cated east of Lycoming Creek, Michael Rosslaid out 111 acres of his land in 302 lots.Thus Williamsport was born.

Northward expansion into the hinterlandof Pennsylvania following the close of theFrench and Indian War brought white set-tlers into the rich bottomlands of the WestBranch Valley. The typical pioneer washardy and self-reliant, surviving only by hisbrawn and ingenuity. First the land wascleared for farming. Barns and cabins werebuilt from felled trees. Isolated in thewilderness with only the river and Indiantrails to connect him with the outside world,rhe Erst Lycoming settler lived off the landand hunted for most of his meat.

In less than a decade he was to face hismost severe trial. Repeated incursions byrhe British and Indians from the notch reduced all his efforts to ashes. All but for-

gotten now are the nutnerous murders onrhe Loyalsock and Lycoming Creeks and onrhe river flats that were Lycoming's contri-bution to the cause of freedom. Withoutadequate weapons for defense, these hardypioneers nevertheless stood foursquare toguard the backdoor to the Pennsylvaniasettlements. It was because of men like thesemat freedom prevailed.

THELUMBERINDUSTRY

LYCOMING COUNTYIN THE CIVIL WAR

Put together the far-sighted ingenuity ofone Major James H. Perkins, the dynamicspirit for promotion of Peter Herdic, analmost unlimited stand of trees on the Sus-quehanna watershed, and a young nation'sneed for lumber, and you have all theingredients for an explosive industrialenterprise. The result was the rise of a richyoung city almost overnight.

Mills had been springing up along theriver franc in rhe late 1830's but it re-mained for Major Perkins to demonsti:ate

The war between the states aroused muchpatriotic excitement in Lycoming County.The Woodward guards, an artillery unit,was formed in 1856 and was one of the firstthree regiments to go into service. Theeleventh regiment, in which the first com-panies served, achieved an enviable recordand suffered severe losses. At the second

8 THE JOU RNAL

a Mr. Jones. In 1888 it was reorganized asrhe Williamsport Wire Rope Co., at whichlime J. Henry Cochran became associatedwith the firm. Its products have been usedin many of the world's most impressive en-gineering proj ects.

Lycoming Rubber Co., established in1882, was once a major industry in Wil-liamsporr. It was well known for the qualifyof sporting shoes it produced

The Heruy Distin Manufacturing Co.chartered in 1888, was a well-known maker

of band instruments.In 1882 another world-famous institution.

GRIT, America's most famous family news-paper, was born. Founded by ReverendHenry M. Wolf as a Sunday paper, it hasgrown steadily into America's leadingweekly paper.

The Williamsport Academy, erected in1814, after a long and crying period ofdevelopment eventually became DickinsonSeminary and later Lycoming College.

DEDICATION OF COURTHOUSE

Saturday, May 1, 1971

(Speech by Judge Charles F. Greedy)

Lycoming County's history is a proud one,and today, clay 1, 1791, is a very special dayin that history--a history that dates back[o April 13, 1795, when the chen governorof Pennsylvania, Thomas Mifflin, approveda bill which ci:eared Lycoming County. Thefollowing day, April 14, 1795, the first Ly-coming County officials received their oathsof office. From log cabin tavern and othertemporary quarters in Jaysbui:g and Wil-liamsport to this beautiful modern structureis the interesting story of our community'sgrowth and development, as reflected inits several courthouses and sites. This de-

tailed history is contained in the April,1971, issue of the Lycoming County His-torical Society's Journal.

1 /94] -- ''It is the opinion of thegrand jury that court officials give seriousconsideration and thought to the erection ola new and modern courthouse.

/.5 ye.zri Za/ef -- ]9.56 -- "A new courthouse be erected as soon as possible.

29-59 ''We all agree that a new lndefficient courthouse is badly needed. It isthe only answer to the crowded, antiquated,inadequate building that the county nowpossesses. We recommend thad the countycommissioners and the courts of LycomingCounty take immediate steps co correct thissituation.'

.4Wemortan:

GIBSON G. ANTESFf e yezff go -- /966 -- ''We find that

the reports of the prior grand juries that anew courthouse be constructed are entirelyjustified

The numerous recommendations by grandjuries, of county oMcials and citizens, andindependent oHicial surveys, did not go un-heeded. ]n ]936 an eight-story city-countybuilding was proposed. These plans werenot approved.

We honor the memory of Gibson G. Antes who died April 19, 1971. He waselected President of the Lycoming County Historical Society in 1957 and served until19S9. For many years he was one of the most active and concerned members of cheSociety. His wealth of information on the early history of WiJliamsporr was mostvaluable.

In 1804 Lycoming County's first realcourthouse was erected on this site and itwas reputed to be the finest in the Com-monwealth outside Philadelphia. Within 50years, however, population and business in-crease made it apparent that the buildingcould no longed: fulfill its purpose, and inche spring of 1861 the second courthouseon this site was completed. After 75 years,further development of rhe county, increaseof court services and of population broughta demand for a lai:ger building. The popu-lation tripled--in 1861 the population ofLycoming County was 39,463. By the 1940census it had grown to 93,633, by 1960 ta109,360, and by the 1970 census it isii3,296.

A native of Nisbet and a lifelong resident of Lycoming County, he was descendedfrom West Branch Valley pioneers. His great-great-greer grandfather was Col. JohnHenry Antes who served in the American Revolution and built Fort Antes, oppositepresent day Jersey Shot:e, in 1778 as a defense against Indian and Tory invasion.

We shall miss the reminiscences of Gibson Antes which so often added a bit ofhumor and zest to our programs.

In 1939 articles of incorporation weregranted to the Lycoming County CourtHouse Authority. As a result ol their find-ings a Philadelphia architect was hired,and plans were submitted for a new court-house, with retail stores on the first floor.The court did not approve these plans

The Second World War delayed plan-ning until 1948, when a Harrisburg "firmn'as retained, with a Federal grant, to drawup plans for a new courthouse. The design,submitted the same year, was for a 7-storybuilding but was not acted on by the Com-missioners.

MARGARET BINGHAM CORYELL Responsibilities tripled. By State mandatetnany obligations, duties, and new depart-ments were added. These taxed the alreadycrowded conditions and made it necessary[o rent a number of outside offices

An inherent interest in every aspect of community life and a background of majorfamily activity in local h-istory both factors pointed coward Miss Margaret BinghamCoryell's longtime support of the Lycoming County His:orical Society

Her fund of local information was invaluable. She was always ready with assistanceand/or with pertinent advice towards the solution of the Society's never ending flowol problems.

These conditions were recognized bygrand juries for over 30 years, and theyunanimously recommended that somethinghad to be done to relieve the congested con-ditions, and almost without exception, therecommendations were made that a newcourthouse be built.

In 1955 a public survey was made thatshowed that over 90 percent of the civicleaders favored expansion of county f acili-ries by (1) construction of a new court-house; (2) a new city-county building; or(3) an addition to the then existing court-house. As a result, in 1956, the LycomingCounty Court House Authority regained a

Miss Coryell's activities in support of the Historical Society covered a considerablespan of years; and although failing health in recent years limited her physical acoivity,she retained her interest and was always prepared [o assist in at least a passive fashion.

W'e shall long miss our friend "Margaret Bingham. Quoting from Grand Jui:y Reports

10 THE JOURNAL 11

second Harrisburg architect and plans werepresented, but the then board of countycommissioners decided not to proceed atchat time.

Today, May 1, Law Day, 1971, is a mostappropi:lace day for this dedication cere-mony. The theme this year is ''ChannelChange Through Law and Reason." Al-though speaking more directly to the vasttechnical and social changes, in our humansociety, this theme winds its way into ourthinking this morning.

EARLY ENGLISH SE'TTLERS ON THE LOYALSOCK

(.Extracts ro?tl a paper compiled a M delivered b] Fred M. Rogers ot Forks lite Deidre

tbe LJc07tling Count) Historical Society on FebrlfarT \6, 'L928. )Further surveys were made and plans con-

sidered, and it was found that the buildinghaving been in five major floods that itwas not feasible, or in the interest of goodgovernment, to remodel or put on an addi-tion or annex; and the vei:y important deci-sion was made late in 1967 that a newbuilding be erected on this site and that alocal firm of architects be retained to sub-mit p-ans. The plans were carefully drawn,considered, accepted and adopted, bids ask-ed for and accepted. Demolition of theCourthouse that sei:ved for 108 years be-gan Monday, May 12, 1969; and two weekslater, Monday, May 26, 1969, ground-break-ing ceremonies were held, and today westand in awe of the fruition of those plansafter many years of waiting.

The early English settlements on theLoyalsock date back to 1794 when the sec-tion was a vast wilderness. Dr. JosephPriestley, a noted Englishman, owned alarge number of traces of land on theLoyalsock and its tributaries. Upon his de-cease, his son, Joseph, Jr., together withother members of the family, came into pos-session of his lands in che Loyalsock region,as his direct heirs at law.

slate. This road started at Muncy and passedover the mountains by way of Huntersville,Highland Lake, Hillsgrove, Elk Creek, Lin-coln Falls, Kings Creek, Eldredsville, andthence over the mountains to Momoeton. Itwas at Eldredsville where the h-sr posrofhcewas established in the Loyalsock section

Another road that pmved to be of greatbenefit to the early settlers was built in 1810,about the time the Rogers woolen mill wasbuilt at Forksville. This road was fromForks to the Edkin f arm on Muncy Creek,and it was over this road that the old dyekettle was brought when the factory wasbuilt and equipped with machinery. Ma-terials and supplies were transported byhorses and wagons, or sleds, from Phila-delphia to Forks.

These roads hit the high and low levelsof the section through which they werebuilt, and were very rugged. MI. Montgom-ery, who carried the erst mail on horsebackfrom Muncy to Towanda, when asked aboutrhe roads remarked, "I traveled throughone mud hole nine miles long and haveanother one to go through that is longer.

As we have seen, the decision to remedyche multitude of courthouse problems, ofspace, facilities, and functional use, wasnot an easy one, or one of a quick nature todecide. Only after years of thinking andplanning and an ever-changing army ofcounty oHicials was the final go-ahead givenand the responsibility assumed to con-struct a new court house..

Samuel Wallis, of Muncy, had purchaseda number of tracts of land on the Loyalsockfor Colonization purposes, some of whichwere later sold to Joseph Priestley. Jr., whowas the moving spirit for the first perm-anent English settlements in what is nowSullivan County.

Joseph Priestley, John Vaughn, and otherEnglishmen had planned an English colony,as the English settlers were coming to Penn-sylvania in large numbers at that time. Theproject was soon abandoned by most ofthose early settlers, except for Mr. Priestley,who owned and controlled lands that hadbelonged to his father in addition to thosehe had purchased from Samuel WallisThese lands along the Loyalsock and icstributaries now comprise Elkland, Forks:Fox, and Hillsgrove townships in SullivanCounty.

Today we stand before this beautifulbuilding, the newest product of the 175rears of Lycoming County's history. Eachand every citizen of Lycoming County, pasoand present, has had and continues to havethe dominant voice in the construction ofthis building and joins me in this dedica-tion.

As the January, 1971, Grand Jury noted"For over 30 years Grand Juries have

recommended the erection of a new andmodern courthouse for Lycoming County.Today this recommendation is a living real-ity." They further noted that they wereespecially pleased at the convenience of

having all the county row oMces, agencies,and bureaus under one roof for the first timein Lycoming County history '', and conclud-ed, "We Grand Jurors are unanimous in ourpraise that the new Courthouse is a structureof which all residents of Lycoming Countycan be justly proud."

With deep and solemn pride, with fervorand devotion, we, on this first day of May,1971, dedicate this Courthouse to all thepeople of Lycoming County, and throughthem to the Commonwealth of Pennsylva-nia and the nation.

May God's grace and direction flowthrough all those who will use and serve inthis Courthouse in Ehe many, many yearsahead.

EARL.Y SETTLERS

Joseph Priestley sent William Molyneuxand Powell Bii:d to settle on the loyalsockin 1794. They made a clearing and built ahouse about a mile and a half above theforks of the Big and Little Loyalsock, atwhat is known as Millview. Mr. Molyneuxthen returned to England for his family.

John Warren came on fr om Northumber-land to the settlement at Forks, in the springof 1795, and took possession of the Moly-neux house until he could build his houseon rhe tract he had purchased from Mr.Priestley and which joined the Molyneux

Powell Bird built his house on land ad-joining the Warren tract in 1795.

The Rogers family was a great factor indeveloping Forks and vicinity. SamuelRogers came to America from Barmley,

tract

EaRLy ROADS

NEW GENERATION OF M.EN ENGAGED IN LUMBERING These first settlements on the Loyalsockand vicinity were i:eached by wham wasknown as the Carson Road, which wasbuilt in 1793 by Samuel Wallis over whichto transport the supplies to the surveyors,who were locating rhe land which MrWallis had purchased from the state. Thisroad extended from Muncy to the summit ofthe Allegheny Mountains, thence to theLoyalsock at Hillsgrove and up the 'Sock[o Forks.

Starting about 1850, a new generation ofmen was engaged in lumbering. Their hey-day came after the Civil War; and perhapsthey were still fighting that war as theyplundered the luxuriant forests, laying aboutthem with sharp axes. Their songs are sim-ilar to those of the canalers, one song speaksof their work, another of their favoritesport, drinking:

We're the bullies on the jobWe've got [o earn our pay

The barroom roars and glasses crash,Blood stains the dirty floor;Each wood-hick has his fill of funTill the dawn comes through the door.

From "Song and Verse of LycomingCounty and Nearby Areas", wi:itten byElizabeth Hall, December, 1965.Swing the axe, and pull the saw,

All through a twelve hour day;Another important road. which was open-

ed in 1800 was the Genessee Road takingthe early settlers through central Pennsyl-vania [o the southern part of New York

12 THE JOU RNAL 13

England, in 1801. Hle was married to AnnGaunt in England, and at the time of hisarrival in Philadelphia there were ten child-ren living, four having died in England, andfour were born af ter the family came toAmerica.

Eagles Mere section, came to the Loyalsockearly in 1800, and settled on land which hisfather had purchased from Mr. Priestley in1799. Mr. Little married Elizabeth HolmesTheir family consisted of nine children,most of whom settled in the vicinity ofForks.

THE RING OF THE AXE AND WHIR O,F THE SAW

The archives of the Lycoming CountyHistorical Museum contain photographs andrecords which illustrate scenes ot the lum-ber industry, so let us turn back to thatglowing period when Williamsport wascared the lumber capital of the woi:ld,when timber turned to gold in rhe pocketsof its adventurous citizens.

[o the ground in a great fire. By 1798 therewere several sawmills in che vicinity, usedmostly in the construction of houses. Theywere built along streams a id powered bywater. With the lumber from these mills,improvements of timber frames, clapboards,board floors, and shaved shingles could bemade to the houses.

Mr. Rogers lived with his son Samuel ona farm near Philadelphia until 1802 whenhe came to Forks and purchased one hund-red and twenty-four acres of land on theLoyalsock, where the village of Forksvilleis now located, from Mr. Priestley

John Little, son of Theophilus, located ona portion of his father's f arm where he builda sawmill and cut and ranted his lumberdown the Loyalsock for a number of years.

The village of Hillsgrove was locatedby John Hill about 1789. He had purchaseda large tract of land on the west side of theLoyalsock, which was then surveyed and pat-ented in 1794. It is said chat his grandson,John H. Rogers. was the originator of thepostage stamp.

Other early settlers of the Loyalsockwhose genealogies have been recorded wererhe Green family who came to Hillsgroveabout 1810, the John Down family whosettled in the Elkland area about 1800. theJohn King family who also settled in Elk-land township, and the John Brown familywho settled below Forksville.

In 1768 the Proprietary Government ofPennsylvania purchased land from the In-dians ot the Six Nations, opening territorytor settlement which contained the pre-sent Lycoming County. The Land Olticewas besieged by persons hoping to buy 2 or300 acres. Samuel Wallis came at that time,attempting to acquire as much as he could.Some came and squatted on a portion thadpleased them. Traveling by canoe, horses,or on foot, they ari:ived fmm Maryland,Delaware, the lower counties of Pennsyl-vania, New York, and the New Englandstates. They found immense virgin forestsreaching in all directions. This was the for-est primeval, a vast wilderness to be con-quered. They proceeded to cut down frees[o clear the land and build their crude logcabins, and in the process burned great ti:eeslust to get rid of them. Forest fines occur-red in the Spring and Fall. They either diedout Ol: the min put them out.

The ''Big Water Mill," build in 1838 onrhe south side by a Philadelphia company:which failed in a few years, was bought byJ. H. Perkins. It used water for power andhad four up-and down saws called "EnglishGales.

Mr. Rogers and his son, Jonathan, built acabin below the cemetery at Forksville, andmoved his family into the cabin in thespring of L802. This was the first dwellingin what is now known as Forksville Williamsport became a trading center

with its convenient water t:ransportatlon,and grew slowly for a number of years. De-velopment of the lumber business gave thedown a boost. The early water mills con-verted to steam. Logs could be Hoaced tamills and wafted from there to distant mar-kets. From 1850 to 1860 the number of saw-mills increased greatly, and from 1843 [o1863 progress in the lumbering industrywas i:apid. Some prominent names of theLime were John Charles Dodge:. John Du-bois, Fletcher Coleman, White, Lentz &White, and the Goodyear Lumber CompanyIn 1854 Peter Herdic came to Williamsporcwhen it had about 2000 inhabitants and be-came active in the business of the town. By1860 Pennsylvania ranked lust of all thestates in lumber production, and from 1862[o 1894 lumber was king. The peak year was1873 when more than jly2 million logswere cut from the mountain slopes in oneyear

The West Branch of the SusquehannaRiver is 200 miles long, and traverses thewildest and most mountainous part of thestate. It drains a large watershed with all itstributaries: the Loyalsock, Lycoming, Pine,Larry's, Muncy; and, farther up, rhe Sinne-mahoning with its three main branches--First Fork, Driftwood, and Bennetts

The valley abounded in a magnificentgrowth of pine, hemlock, and hardwoodsThe trees covered the ground so thickly thatit became known as the "Black Forest ''--dark even on the funniest days. Neatly allche trees felled in the early days were white

The Rogers brothers decided to build af actory on che Loyalsock. They first built asawmill and then a woolen factory. Thisgave employment to many settlers.

The Rogers brothers contracted with thegovernment to furnish kelsey cloth for thearmy in the War of 1812, and severalreams of horses were employed in transport-ing the f abrics to Philadelphia and b;ing-

ing back the raw material and supplies tothe settlers. The round trip took six weeks.

The woolen factory continued in success-ful opemrion until 1816 when a flood inthe loyalsock wiped it out. A second woolenmill was build by Jonathan Rogers in 1826on land pui:chased fi:om his father. Mr.Rogers operated the factory until his de-cease in 1830.

Most of these early settlers were frommanufacturing centers of England ind wereaccustomed to living entirely different livesfrom what they were compelled to facewhen they reached the rugged, cold wilder-ness of the Loyalsock. I'he forests were ex-tremely hard to contend with. The mightyvirgin trees were heavy to handle in everyway, and the settlers were not accustomed[o lumbering and contending against suchodds as they found in the forests of theLoyalsock. A constant menace to the set-tlers were the panther, wolf, and bobcat,and many narrow escapes were related bythe settlers.

Many settlers built along the lovely Sus-quehanna River. The earliest industry wasrhe grist mill where the pioneers took theirgrain to be ground into meal. The fii:sr suchmill established near Williamsport was in1773 by Andrew Culberrson. In 1792 Rol-and H.all built a small mill four miles fromrhe mouth of Lycoming Ci:eek. Sometimeprevious to 1795 Michael Ross becameowner of about 600 acres near the river, in-cluding the land on which Williamsport isnow situated. James Russell and wife boughta portion of the Ross tract, and erected abuilding of logs two feet thick, located onthe north side of Third Street, at the cor-ner of Mulbei:ry. They opened Russell Innin 1796. Subsequently, hlr. Russell died andJoseph Dumm married his widow. The Innthen became known as the Dumm House.Arie Dumm was born there in 1807. Thisbuilding stood until 1871 when it burned

Another purchase of land from JosephPriestley, Jr., was made by Edward J. Eid-red, a native of England, who located atEldredsville in 1800. Here he built a housefor entertaining travelers on the GenesseeRoad A memo made in November. 1801.seated that "two hundred travelers, mostly

horsemen, passed by since June last.

Theophilus Little, Jr., pioneer of the

~Tbc twtl account ot bis lzarratiue ma] bee(d in tile archives at tk)e museum. Tbe

geneclLogies of these eatlT fazplities at tbeLoValsock have been recorded b] tbe Gene-alogist, Z\trs. Dol? Carson.)

DO YOU KNOW ?

Do you know the origin of the name:CROMAR"? it is a combination of the

names of the two families who foundedthe company (Crooks ar)d Dittmar)

14 THE JOURNAL 15

pine. The white pine belt ran diagonallyacross the state from northeast to southwest.The quality stand was confined to the WestBranch valley of the Susquehanna, and wasvaluable because of its size and texture. Thegiant white pine trees measured 130 to 200feet tall. and from 2 to 6 feet in diamete.The lowermost branch was often 100 feetabove the ground. The forest generallyaveraged 100,000 feet to an acre of land.

sight to see the spans go out.'

Other kinds of timber floated down theriver. Trees shaped in rectangular fashionby hewing four sides were called ''squaretimbers". They were cut as long as the treeswould permit, and run [o market in rafts

'Then o'er the water came a cry,

Ihe shout of mftsmen on their way.'(Tonkin)

in early Spring to about July 1. Then, sapconditions prevented stripping

At one time rafting was the chief modeof getting timber [o market on the Susque-hanna. Ihe first commercial raft to go downthe West Branch was in 1796. There wererafting divisions on the river:

were constructed at School House Pointabove Hillsgrove. They had runners on thebottom to pass easily over obstacles in thebed of the scream, and were generally madeof hemlock and pine as the hardwoods weretoo heavy. Usually as many as a hundredraf ts were launched from up the 'Sock nearForksville and Hillsgrove, and from otherpoints lower down. The 35-mile run tookfrom early dawn to dark with danger spots[o pass, such as Figgles' Turn, Biddle's Dam,Old Watch, and The Yellow Jackets

Board rafts, as well as log mats, werefloated down the Susquehanna. Made of 12to 15 ''platforms", of an overall length of100 feed, each platform consisted of 25 or 30layers of boards. Cabins or tents were usual-ly erected on them, and immense oars wereplaced in the front and rear to guide them.By 1900 very few rafts were going downrhe river. The last known raft f:looted downrhe West Branch in the Spring of 1912

Rafting crews varied from 2 to 10 men,usually having a pilot at the front oar whowas in charge of running the raft. He knewrhe river channel, every current, rock, andbend in the river. Generally there wereoarsmen for helpers and two steersmen whomanaged the heavy oar at the back of theraf t. Women occasionally substituted forraftsmen, especially during rhe Civil Waryears. Courage was needed to steer clumsyrafts on dark nights to avoid large rocks,rapids, bridges, dams, and changes in theriver channel. Collisions occurred. lives werelose, and rafts destroyed. A raftsman some-times made as many as seventeen trips ina year, during the Spring and early Sum-mer. After delivering the rafts, the menhad to walk back. It was the quickest: cheapest, and almost the only way [o travel. Mencould outwalk a horse and take short cutsover the mountains

Div. l--Clearfield to Lock HavenDiv. 2--Lock Haven to Columbia. or

Marietta

Div. 3--Marietta to Port Deposit, orTidewater.

The most highly developed use of theSusquehanna pine was in che production ofsparc, or masts, for the f amid fast-sailingclipper ships. Because of the length andstrength of these spans, they were the prideof every skipper. They were called "e;portspars", many being exported to shipyards inEngland. A No. I spar was required to bestraight, round, free from large knots, 92feet or more in length, and not less than 18inches in diameter at the top end. The barkhad to be peeled off cleanly.

Strong hickory poles were lashed acrossthe ends of the timbers and f ascened withU-shaped ash, or white oak, bows, andtightened with wooden pegs. Trees cut intoshort pieces wel:e called "saw-logs" andfloated down in "drives". Pieces oi timberof any kind, size, or length were calledsticks". Men who worked in Belting out

che timber were called "wood hicks

Rafts wel:e made of logs, and lumbersawed from logs, by mils sttuared near theplaces where the trees were cut. The or-dinary raft was 150 to 200 leer long. Inearly days, the longest raff was 3Z0 feet, andLhe longest piece of timber: 115 feed. Thegeneral width was 24 ieee, this being thegreatest width allowed by the chutes throughwhich the rafts had to pass. After comingthrough the Lock Haven chut-:, rafts randouble through the chute and dam at Sun-burn, and were not separated till they reach-ed Shamokin Dam which was a single chute,the same as Lock Haven. From then onthey ran double to Marietta. As many as2000 rafts floated down the West Branchon high flood water each Spring, 20 to 70thousand feet of lumber to each raft. totalling possibly 100 million board feed. In1853 square white pine timber said at Mari-etta at 5c or 6c a cubic foot. and 1873 at 26cper cubic food. About 20,0000 men were en-gaged in che rafting industry during theshort Spring season.

As protection against sleet. snow, andpiercing winds, rafts-men dressed in heavyred-checked woolen shirts, fur caps, pantscoated with pine pitch, and high-toppedboots, not of the laced variety until later.Their caulked boots required up [o 116steel spikes per pair. Raftsmei were a

strong, hardy, carefree, rollicking lot. Fre-quently they tied up for the night atWilliamsport, and for a while pi:ai:ticallyowned the town. There were time; when asmany as a hundred rafts would be anchoredalong the river banks. Bootlegging wasvery profitable. Men rowed out to passingrafts with a jug of whiskey, to sell as awhole or by the drink. They did a land-oHicebusiness.

Spans were delivered to rafting landingson the river; the top ends were loaded ona bobsled which was dragged to the land-ing by 3 to 8 teams of oxen or draft horsesover mads of snow and ice. In the Springsparc were ranted on the high water:, withlash poles laid across fmm one side of theraft [o the other and tied with tough hick-ory withes. Nine or ten spurs formed a raftThey were floated down to Marietta: themarket place. Williamsport was never araft-buying town.

Rafts, with a cabin built on them toboard the men, were called "shanty raftsRaftsmen had the right to shop at night andtie up at anybody's land. A man called thesnubbed", holding a strong manila rope

fastened to the raf t at one end, would jumpashore and snub the rope around a tree,often running along the bank to catch asecond or third rope to bring a huge:. un-wieldy raft out of a swift current into theriver bank. In later years, spurs were transpoi:ted by railroad

Later with exhaustion of the white pinegrowth, the forests were cleared of hemlock.which became valuable. Pine and hemlockwere not the only species to be rafred ordriven. White oak was in demand. but thelimited supply prevented it from reachingrhe height attained by white pine in worldcommerce.

DIARY QUOTATION

'Mar. 7. 1885. River filled with ice.Plenty of ice and snow all along theriver. lce 20 feet high in places.

'Apr. 8, 1885. River i:using. Logsrunning quite freely. Saw 25 rafts onthe river from Lock Haven to KeatingMet an old man today who said thad in1857, on the 14th and 15th of April,there fel14 feed of snow. and on the19th and 20th 2 feet more. It brokedown many buildings.

After the Civil War lumber was trans-ported by canal and railroad. During theyears from 1869 to 1871 the canal carriedmore lumber than the railroad. Then its usedeclined. After 1881 the railroads carriedmost of the lumber, it being a speedier andcheaper way

A demand arose for bark for the tanbarkindustry. First the oak trees in the earlydays, and then the hemlock, were strippedof their bark for the tanneries. whichit to tan hides. The men on this workwere called "bark peelers". A criminal wasteof timber resulted lust for the sale of thebark. The stripped trees were left in thewoods to rot. Hemlock could be cut only

QUOTATIONSFROM MY FATHER'S DIARY

May 11, 1885. Vinyard Run. The spatsare finished and they went out tonightFifteen spans on nine cars to Philadelphia,and five more [o New York. It was a grand

Ark rafts could be accommodated on thelarger screams like the Loyalsock. Many

Log driving was the start of mass produc-tion. \When woodsmen began pushing theirlogs into the river, these free-floating logs

16 T HE JO U RNAL 17

d

if LOYALSOCK CREEK, 1 91 7

Original Drawing by J. Wesley Little

A VIRGIN FOREST OF PENNSYLVANIA

18 T HE JOURNAL 19

caused much damage by bumping into therafts. Enmity and trouble developed be-tween raftsmen and log drivers. About 1857each group was lighting for its rights. Rafts-men stealthily drove spikes deep inca bank-ed logs. When the logs hit the saws in themills, destruction and even death resultedfrom flying metal and wood. Log ddt'erscountered by canying guns. Finally a lawwas passed forbidding anyone to "ironlogs. Some raftsmen continued rafting, bucmany adopted the new way of lumberingand became log drivers.

timber. When a prospective purchase wasbeing considered, he was sent to a tract,equipped with compass, a month's supplyof provisions, thousands of round tin tags,and nails lol: fastening tags to trees. Whenrhe tree was estimated, he tagged it so as toavoid doing it a second time

logs in the woods over winter. ness. To help slow the logs, Peter Herdicbuilt a dam near Culbertson's Raffles. con-sisting of three rows of oak piles, dmw-bolted together, and sheeted with plank. Thelower ends had steel points to penetraterhe bottom of the river.

Another way of moving logs was by theslide. Logs were hewed to form a longtrough or chute from the top of the moun-tain down to the water's edge. It was oiledor iced to carry the logs easily and swift-ly. Spikes were inserted to retard the fasomovement, but logs of ten jumped the speed-way on their wild ride.

Certain bmnd marks were adopted byrhe owners and stamped on the end of thelog by a branding sledge. This mark wasput on the log when cut in the woods, afacsimile was registered in the ofhce of thecompany and in that of the prothonotary.The logs belonging to each manufacturercould thus be identified when the work of'rafting out" and sorting was in progress.

Different methods were used for trans-porting logs. White pine and hemlock werelight wood and would float. Some floatedfully 300 miles from the source of rhe riverabove Clearfield and Cherry Tree all theway to Chesapeake Bay. Floating, or "driv-ing", began with high water in the SpringSplash dams, by releasing wager at intervals,helped push the logs along. Drivers, dressedin thick woolen clothes and high-topped,Eaulked shoes, chased logs and bmke upjams, using a peavey or cant hook. Log jamsextended from two to six miles, exel:ring atremendous weight of logs and dimmed-upwater. ]t took a skillful man to find the keylog and release it. Drivers entered the down-stream side of the jam pi:ying logs apartWhen the key log snapped loose and thejam broke, the drivers were right in thecenter of a whirling mass of logs and water.Sometimes dynamics was used, but this re-sulted in losing much timber. Men andhorses followed the drive -- sometimeshorses with men on their backs swimmingin log choked, icy streams, or the menboldly i:iding the logs themselves. A logger was sometimes drowned or crushed, butthe work went on.

The father of the log boom was MajorJames Pei:kins, who had come to Williams-port in 1845 and purchased the Big WaterMiH. His consuuction of a boom revolu-tionized the lumber industry and made Wil-liamsport f amour in all lumbering statesand countries. A line of large cribs, com-posed of heavy square logs, placed about50 feet apart, were sunk in the river. Thecribs were filled with tons of huge rocks[o keep them in place. A chain of logs wasfastened between the cribs. To resist floodsand hold the logs required great strengthin the piers and boom sticks. These boomsticks of white pine ran between the cribsthe full length of the boom. At the boom'slower end was a double gate where thetimber could be picked out and scaled whenfloated out of the boom for the prospectiveowners.

An ingenious method was a cableway,erec-red in 1888, and used by the Glen Un-ion Lumber Co., Glen Union, Pa., from1888 to 1914, to convey lumber and pmpsacross the Susquehanna River to the Penn-sylvania Railroad tracks on the notch side.Towers, built of heavy timbers 65 feet high,were erected on each side of the river. Twosteel wire cables, 850 feel long, weredrawn over the towers and anchored at eachend. The large carriage, which carried a 20ton load of logs, was placed on the cablesand operated by a "pulling line" with ahoisting engine on the north side of theriver

Misc hardwood trees could be cut in theFail and Winter. Tbe chopping of trees WRS

generally over by January or the middle ofFebruary. Then the choppers left the woods.As many as 4,000 would be in the woodsfor a period of about five months. Theyground their own axes at night on theirown time. The lumberman's two-bladedaxe was made by the local blacksmith in theearly days. One blade was ground thin to akeen sharp edge. The other was left thick,with a bevel of about lly2 inch gi:ound to asharp edge, for trimming branches. In lateryears the saw was used almost exclusively[o fell the trees. After the logs were all cutand banked on the scream, when high watercame they were rolled into it by pike poles,or cant hooks. and the ''drive" started forthe river and boom.

Lumber crews went into the woods inthe late summer and fall, staying in greatcamps of 60 to 100 men or more. 'thecamps were first made of logs and la-ger were constructed of cheap slabs as tem-porary buildings. The first floor containedthe kitchen and dining lobby; the secondfloor was one large bunk room, with asmaller room for the boss. The exhaustedmen often crawled into their bunks withmeir wet, cold clothes on, but they didnot suffer rheumatism or colds. Food con-sisted chiefly of bread, meat, potatoes, beans,fish, and soups.

Before booms were constructed, logs sim-ply floated down the river and had to bewatched. Something was needed to stop themfor the mills. The first dams were merelystones and brush piled on riffles, extendingdiagonally across the river. One was at Cul-bertson's Raffles, near the site of the BigWater Mill. An early method of securing logswas by means of small boats fastened togeth-er to form rafts. To prevent logs escapingduring night, large fires were built alongthe banks of the river and on flatboats anchoked midstream. Men had to be sca.cloned

at several points to catch the logs as theycame sliding swif oly out of the eery black-

After the temporary boom was built in1849 at a point in the river known asthe ''Long Reach", a seven-mile stretchof deep water and slow current, the logsfloated freely fmm up-river till they i:eachedthe boom. 'rhe flood of that year subjectedthis structure to a severe test, but it with-stood the stress well enough to convincelumbermen that an improved boom shouldbe built. It was reinforced in 1855.

Hear the rumbling, mumbling, glumbling of the logs . . groaning, moaning,down the flooded creek they came.'

( Tonkin )

A timber estimator could travel over atract and calculate quite accurately theamount of lumber it would produce. An-other method was for expert scalers to de-termine correctly the number of log feet ineach log after the trees were cut. A jobberwas one who cut logs at an agreed price per1,000 feet. Lumberjacks felled the trees:cut them to the proper size, and piled thelogs on nearby skidways or along streams.In later years, a stand of timber, or a standof trees of a certain size, would be boughtoutright, leaving the title to soil and mineralrights to the owner of the land.

When fully developed, the boom stretch-ed diagonally six miles co Linden and wasable to hold three million feet of logs atone time. When the boom was full, .logswel:e packed solid by pressure [o the bot-tom of the river, thirty-five feet thick, andheld there until time came to stare up themills. The average annual expense of keep-ing the boom in repair was $40,000. ChristHaier was the last of the superintendents ofthe Susquehanna Boom, and ies last use v/asin1909 to receive a drive out of PineCreek.

Weighty hardwoods, such as oak andmaple, were hauled all the way to the millsby a team of four to eight oxen yoked toa bobsled. The sled was low, easy to placelarge loads on, and had a narrow trackwhich could negotiate mountain trails. Ox-en and horses could draw a very large loadover roads of snow and ice. In the winterthey often hauled day and night, the trailsbeing illuminated by torches. They left no

D. L. Paddock. a timber cruiser for SilasBillings (lumber and timber king of PineCreek) had an unique way of estimating

Fresh impetus was given the lumber busi-ness after the boom was erected. The CivilWar created a demand and prices were highA sheer boom was built, slanting down-

20 T HE JO U RNAL 21

stream, on the other side of the river, de-signed to sheer the logs over into the mainboom. Booms were erected at Lock Haven,Jersey Shore, Shamokin Dam, and variousother places. Peter Herdic, Mahlon Fisher,and John G. Reading bought the log boomfrom Major James Perkins and others in1857, and increased the tolls from 75c to$li.25 a thousand ker. The profits wereenormous.

An improvement was the Sash Saw, atoothed strip of steel screeched in a sash orframe. It had an up-and-down movementand was used in mills powered by water.

The first steam sawmill, built by PeterTinsman in 1852 on the river bank atWilliamsporr, was an important innovationWith that came the Circular Saw. a thinround blade mounted on a shaft driven bybelting or gearing, operated by water wheelor steam engine.

field, Cameron, Elk, and a portion of Pottercontributed logs [o the growth of the lumberindustry in Williamsporr

In 1872 a labor dispute occurs:ed, whichwas given the name of the "Sawdust War 'At this time the county had 75 sawmillsemploying about 3,000 men. The mills op-erated from twelve to fourteen hours a dayThe season was short, and it was impoi:cant[o clean up the work of sawing before thenext winter. That year a branch of a nation-wide labor: political organization was estab-lished in Williamsport. They met at Ben-der's Hall on Market Street. There weremeetings, parades, and rioting. Most millsclosed. The local militia was called out. Thelumbermen camped in front of the CourtHouse and then in Herdic's Grove. Themain objective of the men was to obtainshorter hours. . Their slogan was "A ten-hourday or no sawdust." The leaders werejailed, but later pardoned, and the men re-turned to work after some concessions hadbeen made by the employers.

fled all the way across the river and setthe woods afire in two places. Burntabout 3 million feet of lumber. The loss

was $50,000, but it was fully insured."

The floods also caused disastrous losses

In 1860 the spring flood broke the boomat Williamsport and 50 million feet oflumber were carried down the river.

In the boom, logs belonging to each firmwere easily identified by their brand marks.Men who sorted the logs were called "boomrats''. They selected the logs for the ownersand put them in floats to be towed [o cer-tain points. The logs were then jackedinto the various millponds by machinery.Water pirates sometimes chipped off thebranded ends and sold the logs.

Many mill owners joined with the firmof Brown, Clark, and Howe in contractingfor the removal of logs from che river, tobank the logs. A steam mill, known as ajack mill", picked the logs up an incline

and down into a basin. They were pulledout of the wager and stored above {he levelof high water. Banking was begun early inNovember and finished sometime in mid-January. Then the mill firms sent men toscale the logs and count the number of eachfirm's logs by the brand. By March the millowners were ready [o have their logs putback in the river and ranted to cher respec-tive mills. The men were often waist-deepin icy water, and icicles still remained onehe horses' legs and tails when they werestabled at night.

Construction of the boom stimulated thebuilding of many large mills near Williams-port for che manufacture of lumber. Theycontained expensive machinery and cameto be recognized as the bess equipped inrhe United States. Great houses lined 4thStreet, containing fine woods, marble, leadedglass, and imported fixtures. It was a beau-tiful street. called Millionaire's Row, thefirst to be paved with wood.

In 1861 the flood was almost as damag-ing. The boom at Lock Haven broke, re-leasing a heavy mass of logs which camedown and broke the Williamsporr boomThe loss was great.

In 1865 the boom broke and 50 millionfeet of logs ware lost.

The Muley saw was used extensively inthe smaller: Williamsport mills because ofthe great reduction in weight of parts. Inthis arrangement, the ends of the saw wereattached to two light cmssheads oppositeeach other. The cutting was accomplishedentirely by a downward motion. It wascapable of turning ouc 6,000 feet per day.All of these saws could cut only one boardat a time.

Diary entries:

'Apr. 14, 1876. Went down to theriver this morning; found there is a 13or 14 foot flood now and still risingat the rate of 3 inches in 20 minutes.There was such a fog I could not seefar. Saw the Old Steamboat go up theriver to see about the boom.

The Gang saw, which followed, had six oreight uprigh-t saws set in a square slidingframe. They wel:e spaced the width of theboard desired to be sawed. Thus a whole logcould be cut in one opemtion.

Many fires occurred in the lumber yards.Here are some eyewitness accounts from adiary:

Apr. 28, 1876. Just at bedtime thefire dai:m sounded. The fire was start-ed at Herdic and Maynard's mill. Themill was saved buc a good deal of thelumber burnt up. They had a loss ofabout $125,000, and insurance of$67,000.'

The Band saw. finest of all. revolutionizedrhe lumber business all over the world. Itwas an endless, flexible steel band revolvingaround two broad-faced wheels. one aboverhe other, the logs being fed in a travelingcaniage edgewise to it. A single band sawcould cut logs of large diameter. It wascapable of sawing as high as 30 million feedof boards a year.

Tune 18, 1876. River rose 9 inchesin 29 minutes. Dodge & Co. have theirmen out trying to secure their logs. Itis an 18 foot flood by the bridge markEverything secure here. The drives willbe apt to come in on this flood."

'June 8, 1877. Flood in the riverlogs coming in fast. The Lock Havenboom filled in 10 hours. Quick time.'May 7, 1876. Large fire in town

in the Beaver Mill lumber yard. Theyhad to send for fire companies fromLock Haven. Milton. and WatsontownBurnt 12 million feet of lumber. Greatloss. Insurance of $119,900 which ispretty heavy insurance.'

'Oct. 15, 1876. Heard the cry of'Fired ' Hastened down and saw theflames south of Dodge's Mill in a rowof board piles. The flames were veryhot as the wood was dry. We could feelthe head clear across the pond. It didnot take long for the flames to catchin the rest of the piles. The fire en-gines could do nothing as they couldnot get near the flames. It was so hotthey could not stand it. Sparks were cai:-

About 2000 men wel:e employed in man-ufacturing lumber for an eight-month per-iod. The largest and strongest men were theFilers". They placed the heavy planks in

an orderly pile. All the men worked from6 a.m. to 6 p.m. and received $2.00 a day. Asmany as 30 sawmills, great and small, in thelumber district of Williamsport lined bothsides of the river from Jaysburg and Du-Boistown to the Loyalsock. The names of afew, picked at random, are: Coleman, Weed,Payne and Cochran, Emery and Reading,Munson, Maynard and Co., Merriman, Shawand Merrill. At one time Dodge Mills con-verted 300 million feet of logs to buildingmaterial, thus topping world records insawmills. The counties of Clinton, Clear-

The great floods of 1889 and 1894caused severe damage and loss. The Wil-liamsport boom broke each time. In thegreat flood of 1889, which attained aheight of 33 feet I inch, 300 million feetof lumber were released. Thousands andthousands of logs wer-e carried down toChesapeake Bay and the ocean. More thanhalf was recovered as the men worked topick up the logs strewn along the shoresof the river and its islands. Years latersome of the white pine logs floated ashorein the British Isles. Mills were wreckedand some manufacturers were ruined. Dam-age to the lumber industry alone was esti-mated at four million dollars.

One of the earliest devices in manufactur-ing lumber was the Pit Saw, a two-handledcrosscut saw. This operation was performedby two men sawing a log placed over a pit,rhe top sawyer standing above the log, thebottom one below it

22 T HE JOU RNAL 23

Here are a few interesting figures land. Noc many jobs were available. Muchof this land was bought by the Common-wealth of Pennsylvania and reforested. To-day you will find 110 different varietiesof trees in the state forests. which have anannual capacity of many millions of treesro yield an income

Forest roads and trails have been con-structed, fire observation stations built.game refuges, hunting preserves, and recrea-tion parks established. Floods have beenmoderated by these forests. All of which isof great value to present and future generations in conservation of our natural resources.

PIRACY ON THE PENN'SYLVANIA CANALIn 1876 woodsmen were bearded.

In 1896 they had drooping mustaches.In 1916 the woodsies were clean shav-

en.

The long-horned oxen of the 1870'swere gone by 1886

Horses were out of the picture by1920.

By Dr. Lewis E. Theirs

How pictures lead us astmy, especiallyman-made pictures like that ridiculous paint-ing of Washington crossing the Delawarein a little footboat, and that other pictureChat shows us a double row of log cabinsat Plymouth. Washington crossed the Del-aware in a Durham boat. like the rest ofhis army. Than was a boat sixty feet long,eight feel wide, and capable of carrying awhole company of soldiers. The ice was thethinnest of sheet ice, only a fraction of aninch thick, and not several ker thick asshown in the painting. As for log cabins,early Plymouth never: saw one. They wel:ea Pennsylvania creation. And so we gecincorrect ideas.

driven back from the frontier. Many neverreturned. Indian dept:edation continued. Soit was not until a few years before 1800mat local settlement began in real earnest.Land speculators were another delaying fac-tor. Buying land in gi:eat parcels, the spec-ulator aimed to dispose of his holdings inone great sale, if possible, and so reap aquick profit and get out. This hindered the=livision of the land into small parcels forgenuine settlers. Thus, for one reasorl oranother, we came to the canal days in astill almost primitive condition. And sorhe region was ideal for crimes of violence.

Log-loading machines replaced horses andman power. Narrow gauge railroads grad-ually penetrated into every hollow, andlater trucks were supplanting the railroadsin transporting lumber.

From 1916 to 1920 timber operationswere in second growth Stands. The pickof the trees had been taken out. That glor-rious stand of white pine was all cut down,mill smoke drifted afar. and the echo ofcaulked boots faded away.

After more than 200 years of lumber-ing,rh.is vast wooded area had been reduceddisastrously. When the lumber business diedout about 1891 and the mills closed, own-ers deserted thousands of acres of timberless

Those days of the lumbering era whichseem glamorous to us now, but were dif-ficult, tough, and dangerous, are long ov-er; but J daresay the people were happy.They worked hard, built a fine city alonga beautiful rivet:, and made the name ofWilliamsport known throughout the worldas the Queen Lumber CiW.

Gladys Tozier, Archivist1970

Furthermore, the building of the canalhad brought into the area great numbersof characters of the mughest sort. They camein the main, to work. They got jobs and dugrhe canal, but they were rough beyond be-lief. It was a day when men showed theirprowess by doing battle, so these men foughtas individual-s and in gangs. Strife was tothem as natural as existence. Unfortunately,many of them were so attmcted to the coun-tryside chat they remained after the canalwas completed. Some became boatmen.Some continued as laborers. Some startedsmall businesses. And some became pirates.

In a way, the Pennsylvania Canal musthave been as attractive to pirates as wasrhe Spanish Main to those earlier pirates ofrhe sea. For here were rich cargoes to belooted. There had never been anything likeit before. A conestoga wagon, with a fewEons of goods, had previously been aboutEhe bigger prize obtainable. But here werecanal boars, loaded with booty--vast quan-tities of it. Even if the cargo were some-thing unartracrive, like coal or lumber, nev-ertheless the captain of a canal boat hadmoney enough to make it worthwhile to rabhim. He had to carry cash to pay canalrolls, buy provisions, pay wages, and so on

The very construction of the canal faci-litated robbery. When a sea pirate triedto rob another ship, he had first to catchChat ship, then board it. And usually asailing vessel had quite a crew to defend itA canal boat ci:ew consisted of the captain,

For much the same reason, I suspect, wehave f allacious ideas about the Pennsylva-nia Canal in its early days. The pictures ofidyllic, quiet, delightful stretches of thecanal tell us nothing as to the deaths anddangers and crime on that artificial water-way. Yet these things constitute a part of thetrue history of the Pennsylvania Canal.

We all know that frontier life was a hard,desperate struggle. Only hardy and toughpersons could endure it. Boating on theearly canal was a pioneering experience inan absolu-rely new field, and was no dif-ferent from pioneering elsewhere. Intended[o connect towns and cities far apart, thecanal necessarily had to traverse great sti:et-ched of country char were almost as wild asvirgin territory. As this artificial waterwaypursued i-ts way through the mountains andforests of the new country, it traversed wideareas where crime could flourish and crim-inals live almost undisturbed. Desperatemen took full advantage of this situation

CHRISTMAS, 1 872, FIRE

One of the most tragic events in the his-tory of Williamsport occurred in New-berry in 1872 when a church floor collapsed.Thirteen people died and thirty-eight wereseriously injured

It was at the Second Baptist Church atthe corner of Arch and Boyd Streets tracthe church floor crashed onto the floor be-low during a Christmas entertainment onChristmas night. Without warning therecame a peculiar tremor and a quiveringof timbers. Oil lamps kindled fires severallimes, but they were extinguished by theheroic work of John Carson, William Har-per, and George Foster, who did much tocontrol and put out the fires. The Volun-

teer Fii:e Company was having its annualChristmas dance.

A f armed's team was hitched to a bob-sled across from the church. A man un-hitched one of the horses and startedon horseback for Williamsport. The doc-tor's horse and sleigh were standing infi:ont of his house already hitched. Theman and the doctor started at once for thescene. The man forgot his horse, whichwandered around town for two days.

The canal in this immediate region wascompleted about 1834. It had been severalyears in the building. The West Branchregion, first opened for settlement as lace as1769, had been sadly held back in its de-velopment. First, there were Indian war-fares. Then came the Revolutior} which pro-duced the terrifying W amine massacre,the Great Runaway, and the second Run-away. Thus all of the inhabitants were

News of the fii:e spread fast, and manygathered to lift people out of windows andcarry out others and aid as they could.

l

24 T HE JOU RNALEhe bowsman. and the mule driver, who wasusually a lad of seven to [en years. Theycould put up li-tele opposition to a gang.But the thing thad most facilitated robberyon the canal was the vast number of lowbridges that spanned it. When a farmer hadland trac lay on both sides of the canal, hehad to have a bridge thad would enable himto pass from a field on one side of the ca-nal to a field on the other side. so therewere hundreds of these bridges. They werelust high enough to allow a canal boar topass safely underneath. The phrase "lowbridge" comes to us from canal days. Themule driver had to call out when he ap-proached a bridge so that the men on theboat would notice it and not be knockedoverboard by the bridge. So low were thesebridges that a person could with perfect safe-ty drop from a bridge to the deck of a passing boat. Thus robbers would drop on aboar, sit passive until the craft reached somesecluded bit of woodland or mountain:. thenbeat the crew to death. and rob both themand the craft. It was an ideal setup forcrime.

This was a mixture of rum and molasses. Itsold for three or four cents a glass. BoaE-men drank it endlessly. They could hardlyavoid doing so. At every canal basin anddock. and in some cases even at locks. drinkscould be had. Also, there were floatingsaloons.

so bi:ural that ohey seemed to take delightin mutilating, bearing, and even killingvictims. It seems incredi.ble.

in a slatternly home, on a farm that seemed[o have aLI sorts of livestock. A viciousgander was part of the outfit. Every timea boat passed, this gander would rush atthe little mule driver, hissing, biting, andflapping at him. One young driver wasgreatly afraid of this vicious bird. On oneoccasion. when his boat drew near to thef arm in question, he determined to geE evenwith that bird. He took a long, strong cord,fixed a strong fishhook on it, and baitedthe hook wish corn. As usual, the gandermade a rush at him. The boy ran, buc drop-ped the baited hook behind him. The pui:-suing gander paused and gobbled up checorn. The little mule driver f&n on, and thehooked gander necessarily followed. Theslatrernly housewife came out and cried,'Don't run, little boy. He won't hurd you.'

But the little boy ran on, towing the gan-der until he was around a curve and outol sigh'c of the housewife. Then he slitrhe gander's thi:oat and that night therewas a feast on the canal boat.

The canal, of course, passed throughcountless f arms. Here robbery was easy asf armers were more or less defenseless. Canal-side fruit trees, henhouses, gardens, andso on, were easy prey. Further, for manyyears af tel: the canal was opened, boats mntwenty-four hours a day. Thus, in the middleof the night, there was nothing to preventa light-fingered boatman from helping him-self to whatever he f ancied. The farmer wassound asleep.

One consequence of this was that ali theevil in men came out. They fought endlessly. Canal banles were savage aff airs indeedAnything wen-t. Fingers and ears were bit-ten off; eyes were gouged out; men werekicked brutally in body and fac:. Any manwho fell during a fight might be beaten al-most to death by his victorious opponent.Fighting went on almost continuously. Oneboat crew fought another. One individualbattled a second. Canal boat bullies were al-ways picking quarrels in order to have an(Wportunity to exhibit their prowess. Manya man was killed in these senseless battles,and the number of injured and maimed wasamazing. If two boars approached a lock atthe same time, the crews fought [o winfirst passage through the lock. If a canalboat managed to overtake and pass anotherboat. a battle was the inevitable result. Last-ing hatreds resulted from such battles. Oneboat crew held a grudge against anothercrew; and they fought every time they camenear each other.

Orchards were robbed. Rail fences disap-peared with appalling rapidity lor chescnuErails made the sese of firewood for cabinshoves. It is said that many f armers wholived beside the canal made a practice ofplanting three extra rows of sweet cornalong the canal because they knew that theboatmen would strip about that numberof rows during che corn season. Otherwisetheir own supplies would have been sadlydepleted. Henhouses near the canal suf-fered sadly. Nothing was easier than for aboatman to step ashore, run ahead (canalboats averaged about three miles an hour),rifle a henhouse, and overtake his boat.

Thefts of the sort mentioned. however,although they were criminal, were leahyof li(tle importance. The ching that mat-tered was the constant recurrence of rob-bery, often accompanied by brutal assaultsand even murder.

Photographs of the canal give us che impression of its peaceful beauty. With regard[o photographs, we should remember thatrhe very first pictures of human faces madeby sunshine in the U.S. were no( produceduntil about 1840. And photography, thanis the manuf acture and general use of sensi-tized films, did not become common untilperhaps 1876. That was almost half a cen-tury after they began to dig canals in Amenica. In a half century nature makes amazingchanges in landscape. There were probablynever any really accurate pictures of ourcanal in its earliest days. These mac wehave seen were necessarily taken years afterthe canal was dug. Nature:. meantime, hadsmoothed up the rough areas and made thatlovely landscape that seems typical of thecanal. No doubt the canal, as dug, was arough affair like the merc that dug it

At the docks where boats might have[o wait for days before they could be loaded,terrific battles occurred. Almost always themen were inflamed by drink. Many of themwere naturally pugnacious. Again and againthey were sneered at, egged on by wily com-rades who wanted [o be amused by a goodfight. For one reason or another, idleboatmen were always fighting.

Thee:e is one stop:y of a robber boatmanwho got the surprise of his life when hewas attempting lust such a nocturnal errand.He slipped into rhe henhouse nearest thecanal and was greeted by the most outland-ish racket he had ever heard. The wilyfarmer had put his watchdog guinea hensin that house. His scher polHuy were safein a shed far from -the canal. Naturally, thadboatman got out as fast as he could beforea charge of shot came whistling after him

On one occasion when a powerful boat-man was beset by a gang of ten robbers, hejumped to a spot where only one ot twomen could get at him at the same time. Asthey rushed toward him he bead Chem downsavagely. He kicked them away. He flungahem against one another. He smashedtheir faces with terrific blows of his fists.One after another. his attackers were dis-abled. Finally he emerged from the fraytriumphant, buc he himself was a terriblybattered individual.Perhaps all of this will give us some idea

of the rough, tough, brutal, almost barbarousdays of the early canal. It goes without say-ing that such rough characters were moreChan willing [o acquire property by theft.Once they started to commit a mbbery,they stopped at nothing. Murder was com-monplace with them

Still anc(her story concerns a boatmanwho was chasing a fat hen along the tow-parh. The farmwife ran out and began toupbraid him for trying to steal her hen.Madam," said the boatman, his tongue

in his cheek, ''l wouldn't think of stealingyour hen. This is one we had on the deck.It got away and I am Frying to get i't backThereupon the credulous farmwife assistedthe boatman to catch her own fat hen.

Such an outcome was of course mostunusual. More often the man attacked waslef t sadly maimed and battered, if not evendead. In one instance, a gang dropped on aboar just before it reached a dam. Whenthe boat gor to the deep pan of the dam,the thugs demanded the captain's money.He said he had none. Thereupon, the piratesbeat him savagely. The captain's small sonrushed into the cabin, picked up a loadedshotgun, aimed at che leader of the gang,and fired. The charge blew the man's head

However. there was much besides isolatedand rugged landscape to promote crimeThere was whiskey. In those days men drankit as freely as today they drink water. Whis-key sold for as little as a fip a half-pint, af ip being 6% cents. And than deadly stuffmat we call applejack sold for 25 cents agallon. A favorite drink was ''black strap.

Thefts along the canal differed as theydo elsewhere. There were sneak thieves. whowanted [o ger something by stealth. Therewere boatmen who stopped at nothing inmeir efforts to steal. And there were some

Near the lower end of the canal, atHavre de Grace, lived a slacternly family

26 THE JOU RNAL 27

off. The gang drew back. Instantly thecaptain dived into the canal. His small sonwriggled through a small stern window andalso dropped into the water. Father andson both got to shore safely.

One of the roughest sections of the canalwas the Schuylkill division, where much

coal was shipped to market in canal boats.There canal robbers traveled in packs, at-tacking anything that appeared easy to cap-ture. These organized pirates created a reignof terror throughout that entire region. Theybecame known as rhe Schuy]ki]] Rangers.

room" or "gentlemen's room" is reachedthrough a wide open doorway. It was herethat the men traditionally retired for theirafter-dinner brandy and cigars, leaving theladies to their coffee. tea. and social chat-ter. To the right of the entrance the roomfocuses on a large brick fireplace. Thisfireplace, like all of the others remainingin the home, still operates and is used toaugment the central heating system whichrhe Governor and other inhabitants of thehouse never enjoyed!

door is locked with a black iron lock ofa type known as ''mousetrap" style, andit holds the original handmade key.

If you enter the hallway through thismagnificent door, in front of you can beseen the beautiful win ding staircase thatspirals up to the second and third floorsof the mansion. Hand-carved and elegantlysimple in design, the cherry staircase bor-ders the wide stairs and spacious landings.The hall and the staircase (like every roomin the home) are carpeted in handsome oldjeweled-toned Oriental floor covering MissEck told us that her father. noted for thequail-cy of his farm crops, bought the car-peting for these stairs and hallways by "barraring," that is by exchanging grain, vege-tables, and dairy products from his farm topay for the merchandise. Tbe quality ofthe carpeting was so elegant:. she said, thaneven at that time(more than a half-cen-tury ago) it required two years to pay fortt

A TOUR OF THE SCHULZE MANSION

tResearcbed b] Jack Schrader and Sbatu? Scbreck tor tbe Ann al History Fai Exhibitat tbe State ]anio liistoriat} conueltt ot} at PittsbHrgb, Pa. April \l, \91\)

]l: must be remembered that these fii:e-places, so numerous in old homes, were notdecorative pieces as they are today. Theyserved as the only means of hearing thehuge, rambling structures, and they werelarge because of their functional performince and were not show pieces.

In this I.oom we found two other Ecksisters, who were cozily tucked in rockingchairs, waiting to greet their Junior His-torian guests. They pointed with pride torhe excellent oil painting that covered thewall above the fireplace. They told us itwas painted by their great-aunt, Mrs. Mur-phy, who then lived at Bath, New York.The talented Mrs. Murphy, they told us,went into the wooded dell that was nearher home in Bach and daily worked tocomplete the canvas. The painting showsa serenely flowing brook wandering downthrough trees, with safe sunlight filteringonto grassy banks. The brook gently cur-ves around the rocks in the creek bed,and so cleverly has the artist captured itsflow that i-t deceives the eye and seemsto "follow" you no matter where you standin the room.

This lovely old Colonial-style mansion issituated only 100 yards from a busy super-highway in Mon'coursville, Pa. Built be-tween 1832 and 1834 by former GovernorJohn A. Schulze when he came to this areato retire after his governmental service, thehouse reflects the crab tsmanship and leis-urely style of living of that time.

The sturdy double Chimneys on eitherend of the hou-se serve the mul-tiple fire-places inside, and graceful half-fan windowson the eaves of the home affirm its periodaichi-lecture. The side entrance opens intothe present kitchen of the mansion, andche entryway has rhe traditional 9-over-6windows. The porch is a later addition, dat-ng back perhaps half a century.

For the past sixty-two years the SchulzeMansion has been home for two generationsof Eck's, the present owners. Our hostess,Miss Maple Eck, graciously met us at {hcdoor, and took us through the house. Herfamily pride and genuine love of the his-toric landmark showed in every word.

sale, made the revisions in order to accom-modate more conveniently the needs of alarge and growing family. However, thenew owners were sufficiently aware of oheneed to retain original measurements andform in period architecture so that none ofthe dimensions of the structure were chan-ged, and only the partitions and room usagewere modified and revised To the right, against the wall that flanks

rhe entry to the twin living rooms, standsI piece of furniture that belonged to rheoriginal occupant--the Governor Schulzedesk. The handmade desk, with its slopingpine and poplar front, is the oldest desk olits type in Lycoming County, accord-ing toMiss Eck. She said the desk stood neglectedin the third floor attic af the house withone leg damaged. Their f ether cheerfullyindulged his daughter's request thad she bepermitted to have one piece of furniturefor her very own, and the daughter selectedthe Governor's desk. It was accordinglysent off to Mr. Manley, an outstandingwoodwoi:king artisan at that time in Wil-liamsport, and he painstakingly repaired cheleg and restored the fine old desk to itsoriginal condition.

We move into the twin sitting room sec-tion of the house that runs the full lengthof the house, fran,t to rear, along the rightof the entryway. Here again fireplaces arerhe focal points of the rooms. Althoughthere is a subtle separation of the tworooms, the eye follows the straight and flow-ing line of the area through the wide squarearch. Over the twin fireplaces, reaching fromrhe mantle to the ceiling, are two hugeland;scopes, painted by the late Emily Es-chenbach.

One wall of the kitchen, which leads torhe rear entrance, holds the original pinefloor-to-ceiling cupboards. Here, also, on theopposite waU, one finds the ''back stairsto the [wo upper stories originally intended,no doubt, for use of the hired help in theGovernor's country home. Tucked along onewall is a modern convenience the Gover-nor's era never knew--a "Porta-Life." whichis a moving chair that can be used for in-valid or aging residents of the family

'Fhe large dining room is reached throughan open doorway from the kitchen, andhere the home's colonial-type architecturebegins to assert itself. Soaring 14-foot ceil-ings, handsomely carved woodwork (appar-ently of cherry), and thick, massive doorsare to be seen. A magnificent multi-tieredcrystal chandelier which came from the oldHeylmun house in Williamspor t, hangs overa banquet-sized dining room table. A hand-some oil painting, depicting the profession-ally-executed barns and stables, hangs overa server. Unfortunately, the largest of thesebeautiful structures was destroyed by firein 1932

Passing into the dining room again, wego through anther big open doorway andcome into the GREAT HALL. It is thishall which unmistakably stamps rhe SchulzeMansion as colonial. It is wide and highceilinged, and runs from the front to therear of the house, with rooms opening offeither fidel in this hall certain things de-mand the visitor's attention. All of themare hallmarks of the original mansion's con-struction, and all have been restored orlovingly preserved by rhe Eck family. Thedoorway is a massive, magnificent co]onia]doorway, surrounded by a colored full-fanwinds)w set with leaded stained glass. The

The big kitchen of the present home or-iginally served as a secondary mom. Themansion ki-tchen was located in an adjacentout-kitchen area. which was closed offw hen the remodeling was effected. Afchoughwainscoating covers it now, the original 14-foot fireplace of native stone is intact, withcooking cranes, iron kettles, and handmadeandirons.

The Eck family forebears, who boughtthe beautiful old house and handsome barnsand outbuildings from the Mahaffie Estatewhen that property was sold at a Sheriff's

Adjoining rhe dining room, towards thefront of the house, the traditional "sitting

28 T HE JOU RNAL 29

Throughout the house many excellent oilpaintings and fine prince confirm Miss Ma-ple Eck's backgmund as a public school artteacher for more than 45 years until herretirement.

this one carries rhe marks of its period ofconstruction. Hluge hand-hewn beams ofoak and white pine support the upper stor-ies. The massive foundation stones are hand-

cut and expertly fi-tted. The main portionof the cellar holds the remains of a largefireplace. The secondary, or "root," cellarhas a handsome vaulted arch of brick. whichis so super)bly designed and built that itcould have stood in the living room of thehouse--yet its only function in the darknessof the cellar is to give suport to the massivefireplaces on the floor above. Two othercellar units are intact, too, which servedrhe original occupants, and the Eck f emily,for such purposes as Scoring winter produce,canned fruits, jams, vegetables, and jellies,and even flower bulbs from the gardensThe floors are dirt.

A PRAYER ON AN INDIAN GRAVE

Picture Rocks, Pennsylvania

Climbing the stairs, we pause on the firstlanding by a leaded glass window to ad-mire the view that takes in the spacioushall and the fine door with its fan-archwindow. The top of the stairs opens ontoa spacious area, large enough to accommo-date a comfortable sitting room, and pro-viding entrance to the hall that leads to oheopposite side of the house.

Anaong the rills from the Muncy HillsBy the creek among che stones

For ere they were wed, the maid lay deadAnd their love had no tomorrow

You may find the grave of an Indian bmveThe Chieftain, ''Rest-Your Bones'

And sti]] is told the legend oldOf Jove so tenderly true

As bowed with grief their loyal chiefHeard the braves and squaws intoning

The funer'al rite on his wedding night,He wished they would cease their

droning

To him in his grief how great a reliefIf never a word were spoken.

But the Great Spit:it knew so He took himtoo.

A lover whose heart was broken.

Than it floats in rhyme on floods of timeLike a biroquet black canoe

To the right of the main hall are themaster bedrooms. In each of these there isa fine old fireplace, and each room haswindows overlooking the rear lawns andgardens.

On Muncy shore in the days of yoreLived "Laughing Eyes," an Indian maid.

And wherever she came a lovelit flameIn the hearts of her lovers played.

And they courted her with gifts of furAnd deerskins for a cover;

On the day we toured the mansion firemen were pumping out flooded cellarsin nearby areas, but the original architectand master builders who engineered theSchulte mansion had done their job so wellthat every'ching was dry as bone and ap-peared ready to support the mansion as aLycoming County landmark for at least an-other century!

The h'allway also leads to three othersleeping rooms. All of them are sufficient-ly large, according to Miss Eck, that evenher parents and their large family neverhad to use the third floor of the house.

For ''Laughing Eyes" was bough-t as a prizeBy many an ardent lover.

With solemn rites, 'ere the end of night,They buried the Chief and his flower.

What becker place for two of their raceThan this beautiful leafy bower?

Then che pale face came with his shredsof fame:

But list to the prayer of the story --

'Disturb noc the grave of rhe maid and herbrave

As you hope yourself for glory.

Before we conclude our tour. lec's lookat the basement. It may seem strange tomention a basement in a mansion tour, but Chief ''Rest-Your-Bones" with his manly

tonesAttuned to loving power

Had wooed and won as the days panned onThis beautiful Indian flower.

A SIGN OF OLD TIMES But why do we, why must it be,Than our joy is mixed with sorrow?

By Scott Schreiber

A blacksmith of Williainsport, G. F.Morse, once owned a shop behind his home.After his death in 1965 the blacksm-ith shopwas bought by a local car dealer, Larry }ler-ron, West Third Street: for use as a store-room. On the front of the shop hung afairly (sic) weather-ed sign. lc had beenthere for 49 years. It read "G. F. Morse --Horseshoes---(;eneral Repairing." The signwas removed with the permission of theowner in Apr.il, 1970, and transported torhe Lycoming County Historical Museum.It was restored during ohe summer with my

help so that it could be put on exhibit inlate September.

The sign can now be seen by the citizensof WilliamsporE and Lycoming County inrhe Industrial Section of the Museum.

FROM THE "MORN I NG STANDARD ''

APRIL 23, 1868

Ed. }qote: Scots is a staden} at Stevens]wnior High School wbo bas taken a greatinterest in tbe Masewp} it w s dwe solelyFO bis e#orts tba tbe Maseam acq%bred tbesign described above.

Yesterday we observed a party engagedin removing the i:emains of the dead buriedin the cemetery on Pine Street. But fewmore graves remain to be opened and whenthat is done we hope to see aJI traces ofche old graveyard removed and a park orsquat:e substituted.

(Subsequently the plot was known asRoss Park until City Hall was built. Whenexcavating for City Hall more skeletonswere unearthed. They were put in a casketand buried in Ease Wi[dwood with a largegranite block marking the grave. )

30 T HE JOU RNAL 31

VOL.ll, NO.10 PU BLIC SALE

Shortly after sending the material for Vol. Vll, No. 1, to che printer, it was learnedVol. 11, No. 10, was published in the Winter:-Spring of 196S-66. Mrs. Adam of theAdam Print Shop in Montgomery gave us two copies of this issue, one of which wasgiven to Gladys Tozier for the Archives and rhe other was kept in the Soaiecy's oHice.Xerox copies of the following articles painted in Vol. 11, No. 10, can be purchased ata cost of 10c a page.

O-F

L O G S !

WHITE PINE, YELLOW PINE, HEMLOCK, CHERRY,

OAK, AND OTHER HARDWOOD

ART[CLES FROM THE LYCOMIN'G GAZET'].E of Nov. 4, 1829 The Stray Log Comm.ittee of the Lumberman's Exchange.of W'illiamsport, Pa., will sell at Public Sale, at theCOURT HOUSE, in Williamsport. Pa., on

SAVED BY A CLOCK by Dr. Charles M. Steese

ROSE VALLEY AND ROSE STREETS ARE BOTH NAMESAKES OFJOHN ROSE by Carlton Fink. THURSDAY. JUNE 27th. 1 889.

LETTER FROM JOHN PENN TO GENERAL GAGE, dared Dec. 31, 1763 AT I O O'CLOCK A.M

APPLICATION FROM PINE(:REEK RESIDENTS FOR ESTABLISHINGA STORE TO ACCOMMODATE THE INDIANS WITH GOODS INBARTER -- to Gov. Thomas Mifnin, dated Nov. 22, 1793

All the logs that have escaped the booms at Williams-port and passed down the Susquehanna River, and nowlying in said river and on the islands and shores fromGreen's Dam down to and in the Chesapeake Bay andits tributaries, divided into sections, as followsSERVICE UPON THE HOME FRONT by Clark B. Kahler

BILLY KILPATRICK -- as heard on the News of Williamsport on WRAK,May 1, 1965, by Everett Rubendall.

Section 1. From Green's Dam to Highspireat 14,000,000 feet, more or less.

estimated

THE COST OF FREEDOM -- an address delivered before the LycomingHistorical Society on August 12, 1965, by Frederick L. Ram, Jr.

Section 2. From Highspire to Columbia Dam, estimated at 14.000,000 feet. more or less.

Section 3. From Columbia Dam to Safe Harbor. esbmated at 3,200,000 feet, more or less. etc.

Any party purchasing a section of logs in the Bay isentitled to take up any logs afloat in the Bay oppositesection purchased by him or them

HYMNS COMPOSED I N W I LLIAMS.PORT

Williamsport can be justly pi:oud ofseveral hymns composed in our town. About1880, Rev. .John H. Hopkins wrote thewords and music of the Christmas hymn,'We Three Kings of Orient Are". Perhaps

a trifle less familiar is the hymn '' Whenthe Roll is Called Up Yonder", by JamesM. Black; but another of his compositionstakes a back seat to none: his ''When the

Saints Are Marching In". With new wordsand fast clipped tempo, it has become aspirited march, a f avarice of Dixieland, andis even heard across the nation during foot-ball season, for it is a f avorite of highschool bands, too. (Mary Landon Russell,A History ot tbe M.asia ot Williamsport, Pa.,page 149.)

Terms and condi'tions willbe made known on day of sale

J. HENRY COCHRAN. ChairmanStray Log Committee Lumberman's

Exchange

(This is an extract from a typical broadside from the lumber era, and theoriginal can be seen on exhibit in our Museum.)

32 T H E JOU R NAL

PURCHASE AT

THEMUSEUMH0P

Ul:pique Gifts of Significance

contemporary crafts

Roesen note stationery

copper miniaturesdecorative tiles

authentic indian artifacts

jigsaw puzzles

postcards

historical literature

THE

JOURNALOFTHE

County Historical Society

FALL1971

Lycoming

VOLUME VllNUMBER TWO