Local History: Chapter XV: Borough of NORTHUMBERLAND: Bell's History of 
Northumberland Co PA

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Transcribed from Bell's History of Northumberland County Pennsylvania

CHAPTER XV.

                         NORTHUMBERLAND.
 
                           CHAPTER XV.
                         Pages 515 -545.


THE TOWN PLAT - EARLY HISTORY - PROMINENT EARLY RESIDENTS - EARLY
MERCHANTS AND HOTELS - THE POSTOFFICE - BRIDGES, CANALS, AND RAILWAYS -
BOROUGH ORGANIZATION AND GOVERNMENT - INDUSTRIAL ACTIVITY - SCHOOLS -
LOCAL JOURNALISM - SECRET AND OTHER SOCIETIES - CHURCHES - CEMETERIES.

	 THE borough of Northumberland occupies an elevated terrace 
immediately within the forks of the Susquehanna river. During the first 
settlement of the surrounding region, this locality was widely known as 
"the Point;" its advantages as a town site were early apparent, and 
before the close of the colonial period it had become a place of 
considerable local importance. From the termination of the Revolutionary 
war until the close of the century its growth was more rapid than that 
of any other town in the upper Susquehanna valley, and for many years 
thereafter it occupied a leading position, financially and socially, 
among the towns of Northumberland county. Although its former prestige 
in these respects is now only a matter of history, the borough continues 
to possess many of the elements of prosperity and progress; several 
important industrial establishments are in operation, and a fair amount 
of business is transacted through local channels, while the religious 
and educational interests of the community are well sustained. By the 
census of 1890 the population was two thousand seven hundred forty-four.

                        THE TOWN PLAT.

	 The town plat comprises four tracts of land, of which the 
respective original titles were completed in the following order: 
"Sarah's Delight" (two hundred acres), was patented to Sarah Lowdon, 
July 7, 1770; "Nottingham" (five hundred acres), to Richard Peters, 
September 14, 1772; "Townside"(five hundred acres), to Richard Peters, 
September 16, 1772; and "Essex" (two hundred acres), to Esther 
Patterson, January 7, 1775. The town was originally laid out in 1772 by 
John Lowdon and William Patterson. Within the next three years, however, 
the title to the four tracts in question became vested in Reuben Haines, 
a wealthy brewer of Philadelphia and the owner of large landed interests 
in this part of the State. He enlarged the plot and recorded a general 
plan of Lowdon and Patterson's town, with his own addition, in Deed Book 
B, p. 273, April 24, 1781. It was again recorded, May 10, 1808, by John 
Boyd in Book C, p. 368.  
	 
	END OF PAGE 515 
	
	 Regularity is a distinguishing feature of the plat.  The streets 
running east and west are North Way, Water, Front, Second, Third, 
Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh and Eighth, intersected at right angles by 
West Way, Duke, Queen, King, Orange, and Hanover, with alleys at regular 
intervals.  The streets are of uniform width, except that King is 
somewhat broader than the others; in it there is a wide open space 
between Front and Second, intended for a market place. The plan is 
accompanied by a declaration, acknowledged before Chief Justice McKean, 
in which Haines states that he had come into possession of certain 
tracts of land "in the forks of Susquehanna," part of which had been 
"laid out in small lots for a town by William Patterson, John Lowdon, 
and myself," following which is an enumeration of the streets and 
alleys, with the statement that they should thereafter be "open public 
roads or highways," "for the benefit and advantage of the inhabitants of 
the said town and all other persons making use of the same."
	Upon the death of Reuben Haines his estate was inherited by his 
four children: Casper Wistar; Josiah; Reuben, and Catherine. Reuben, Jr. 
died a few years later, bequeathing his interest in the town to his 
brothers and sister, who executed deeds of partition among themselves.
	Notwithstanding the unequivocal character of Haines's declaration, 
it appears that some of the streets were not opened for public use at 
that time nor for some years afterward. At August sessions, 1807, of the 
county court of quarter sessions, upon the report of Joseph Priestley, 
John Cowden, John Bull, John Frick, and Thomas Grant, who had been 
appointed in the previous year to take the question into consideration, 
North Way, Water, Front, Second, Third, Duke, Queen, Orange, and Hanover 
streets were declared public highways and ordered opened for public use.
	
                                 EARLY HISTORY.

	 Robert Martin was the first permanent settler at the site of 
Northumberland.  He was originally from New Jersey, and had attempted to 
make a settlement at Wyoming under Pennsylvania title, but this design 
was frustrated by the opposition of the Connecticut colonists of that 
locality. Thence he came to "the Point;" after the purchase of 1768 was 
consummated his house forthwith became the rendezvous of surveyors, 
speculators, and adventurers to the newly opened region of the West 
Branch, and by virtue of previous acquaintance with the country he at 
once became a prominent character. He was a member of the Provincial 
Conference of 1776, of the Constitutional Convention of that year, and 
of the Assembly several years subsequently. The exact location of his 
first residence is not known, but it was the first evidence of 
civilization within the forks of the Susquehanna in Northumberland 
county, and for several years the only house at the site of 
Northumberland.
	William Hoffman and Philip Frick arrived at Northumberland on the 
	 
	END OF PAGE 516 
	
1st of June, 1772. They were from Lancaster, and came up the Susquehanna 
in a canoe. Frick had formed the design of building a brewery, and 
Hoffman, who was a carpenter by occupation, accompanied him to perform 
or superintend the work of its erection. A log house was accordingly 
constructed, on Market street opposite the Burr House, now the site of a 
brick building erected in 1835-36 by John Leisenring, and there Frick 
made his residence. What progress he made in the brewing business can 
not be ascertained. On the opposite side of the street Hoffman erected a 
log house at the site of the Burr House, to which he brought his wife 
immediately after its completion. There he dug the first well in the 
borough, and planted the first fruit trees; of the latter there were 
two, an apple and a pear tree, both of which were brought from 
Lancaster. Under careful husbandry they flourished; the pear tree still 
bears fruit, after the lapse of more than a century, which is sufficient 
evidence of the good judgment of Hoffman in its selection. The apple 
tree was of an early bearing variety; its fruit was a large size and 
yellow color and matured in August. The first birth of a white child at 
"the Point" is said to have been that of Elizabeth, daughter of William 
Hoffman, and occurred at this log house. During the year immediately 
following his settlement here he was busily engaged in the construction 
of houses for those who arrived later. It is not known that he was 
actively engaged in the Revolutionary struggle, but a brother, from 
Frederick, Maryland, was a batteau-man in Sullivan's expedition. He 
continued to reside at Northumberland until his death, in 1821, and was 
interred in the graveyard in the rear of the Lutheran church. Three sons 
survived him: William, who moved to Elmira, New York, and died there at 
an advanced age; Joseph, and Jacob, carpenters and pump-makers by trade; 
and three daughters: Elizabeth, the eldest of the family, who married a 
Mr. Brown and moved to Elmira; Mary, who married Thomas Everard, and 
Deborah, who married Richardson Huzzey.
	Some very interesting particulars regarding the town in 1775 may be 
gleaned from the journal of Rev. Philip V. Fithian, a Presbyterian 
clergyman who made a missionary journey through the West Branch valley 
in that year. He arrived at Northumberland on Saturday, July 1, 1775, 
and notes in his journal under that date the numbers of canoes, boats, 
etc., plying about; as the result of his first impressions of the place 
he says: "In short, this town in a few years, without doubt, will be 
grand and busy." He held his first services on Sunday, July 2d, and 
mentions among those by whom they were attended William Cooke, sheriff 
of the county; "Mr. Martin, a gentleman who came lately from Jersey;" 
John Barker, a lawyer; John Scull, deputy surveyor; and the wife, 
daughters, and niece of Colonel Samuel Hunter, the commanding officer at 
Fort Augusta. Reuben Haines, proprietor of the town, then resided here, 
and showed Mr. Fithian the lot he intended to give the Presbyterian 
congregation. He left on the following 
	 
	END OF PAGE 517 
	
Thursday, but returned again on Monday, July 17th. On this occasion he 
mentions having called at Martin's to see the papers, and hearing Dr. 
William Plunket and several other gentlemen discuss the aspect of 
political affairs. He was also a member of a huckleberry party, of whom 
the ladies were "Mrs. Boyd, a matron, Mrs. Martin, Mrs. McCartney, Miss 
Carothers, Miss Martin, Miss Lusk, and a strange young woman, Miss 
Manning." They ascended the Blue Hill, and he speaks of the prospect 
from that elevation in glowing terms. A plot of the town accompanies the 
journal, showing a row of houses along the North Branch and another 
along the West Branch, with none in the center.
	During the Revolution the town was practically abandoned. The 
"Great Runaway" virtually depopulated the region to the north, and, with 
no defensive barrier between them and the enemy, the people sought 
refuge at Sunbury and points farther down the river. The place was again 
occupied in 1784 and 1785, and the return of the former inhabitants of 
the West Branch valley with large additions to the population was 
followed by an era of growth and prosperity. In 1796 there were nearly a 
hundred houses in the town.
	Northumberland was seriously considered as the location of the 
county seat in 1772, and disputed land title appears to have been the 
principal reason why it was not selected.  When a change of the State 
capital from Lancaster was first agitated, the claims of the northern 
and central portions of the State were urged in behalf of 
Northumberland, which would have been chosen but for the opposition of 
the member from Northumberland county at a decisive moment. Thus, on two 
different occasions, has the place narrowly escaped having greatness 
thrust upon it.
	No conflagration of general and widespread destructiveness has ever 
visited Northumberland; many of the houses are therefore of the 
substantial type of architecture that prevailed several generations ago, 
and among those whose appearance indicates age it would be difficult to 
determine which is to be given recognized precedence. An old house on 
North Way, now leased by the borough authorities for the purposes of a 
poor house, is generally regarded as the oldest, but there is not 
sufficient evidence of the fact to form a positive conclusion. In the 
early part of the century it was used as a hotel. The stone house on 
North Way at the corner of Wheatley alley is also a landmark of 
undoubted antiquity. It was occupied at the beginning of the century by 
James Hiatt, who died on the 2d of March, 1815, at the age of sixty, and 
is buried in the old Presbyterian burial ground.
	The house erected by Rev. Joseph Priestley on North Way is perhaps 
the most interesting of the surviving specimens of eighteenth century 
architecture. It was begun in 1795 and finished in 1797, under the 
immediate supervision of the Doctor's wife. The main building is two 
stories high, with one-story extensions at either end, that on the east 
was occupied by 
	 
	END OF PAGE 518 
	
the Doctor as a library and laboratory, while the other was used for 
domestic purposes. The house throughout is exceptionally convenient in 
all its arrangements, large apartments, wide halls, and dressing rooms 
in connection with the different apartments on the second floor being 
among the distinguishing features. On the roof there was an observatory, 
which long since disappeared. The original color was white. The 
Priestley family were succeeded in the occupancy and ownership by Judge 
Chapman, who resided here during his judicial incumbency and until the 
close of his life. It was subsequently the residence of Charles Kay, son 
of the Rev. James Kay, who amassed a fortune in Philadelphia as one of 
the founders of the well known publishing house of Kay & Brothers.
	At an early period in the present century there stood a market 
house on the square in Market or King street. It was built in the style 
common at that day. The local artillery company met for review on the 
square in the rear.
	
                      PROMINENT EARLY RESIDENTS.

	 In a list of the taxables of Turbut township prior to 1775 each of 
the following persons is accredited with a house and lot: Hawkins Boone, 
John Boyd, John Carothers (tanner), John Chattam (blacksmith), John De 
France, Thomas Dean, John Freeman, William Forster, Philip Frig, William 
Hoffman, Robert King, William Kennersley, Cornelius Lamerson, Aaron 
Levy, William McKinn, Robert Martin, Peter Martin, and John McAdams. As 
Northumberland was then the only town in Turbut township, it is fair to 
presume that this list includes the names of its principal inhabitants 
at that time.
	Captain John Boyd was born in Chester county, Pennsylvania, 
February 22, 1750, and became a resident of Northumberland in 1778. On 
the 16th of October, 1776, he was commissioned as second lieutenant in 
the Twelfth Pennsylvania regiment, and subsequently promoted first 
lieutenant; in July, 1778, he was transferred to the Third regiment, in 
which he became captain lieutenant. He was a member of the "forlorn 
hope" that inaugurated the assault upon Stony Point in 1779. Retiring 
from his regiment, January 1, 1781, he took command of a company of 
rangers in Bedford county, and was taken prisoner at the Raystown branch 
of Juniata while crossing the Allegheny mountains. After spending a year 
in Canada under duress he was exchanged and returned to Northumberland, 
where he spent the remainder of his life. Among the civil positions with 
which he was honored were those of member of the Supreme Executive 
Council, register and recorder of Northumberland county, and inspector 
of internal revenue under President Washington. He died on the 13th of 
February, 1831. His brother, Lieutenant William Boyd, of the Twelfth 
regiment, was killed at the battle of Brandywine, September 11, 1777. 
Another brother, Lieutenant Thomas Boyd, was killed by the Indians, 
September 12, 1779, in Sullivan's campaign.
	 
	END OF PAGE 519 
	
	Lieutenant John Carothers was commissioned as an officer in the 
Twelfth Pennsylvania regiment, October 16, 1776, and killed at 
Germantown, October 4, 1777. He left a widow, who died in 1785, and one 
son.
	Lieutenant Robert King was commissioned as an officer in the 
Twelfth regiment, October 4, 1776, and transferred to the Third, July 1, 
1778. In the autumn of the latter year he returned to the county, and 
was a member of Hartley's expedition to Tioga. In 1840 he resided in 
Mifflin township, Lycoming county, at the advanced age of eighty-eight.
	Colonel John Bull, a native of Providence township, Montgomery 
county, first appears in the military history of the State as captain in 
command of Fort Allen (now Weissport, Carbon county) in June, 1758, and 
accompanied Forbes's expedition to Fort Duquesne later in the same year. 
In 1775 he was appointed colonel of the First Pennsylvania battalion, 
but resigned, January 20,1776. At the organization of the Board of War, 
March 14, 1777, he was one of its constituent members, and on the 16th 
of July, 1777, he was appointed adjutant general of the State. He 
superintended the construction of the batteries at Billingsport in 1778, 
put down the chevaux de frize in the Delaware in 1779, and was 
commissary of purchases at Philadelphia in 1780. He resided at the 
present site of Norristown, the county seat of Montgomery county, and 
was in affluent circumstances until the destruction of his property by 
the British. At the close of the Revolution he located at 
Northumberland, where he died on the 9th of August, 1824, at the age of 
ninety-three. He was a candidate for the legislature in 1802, but was 
defeated by Simon Snyder; in 1808 he was the Federalist candidate for 
Congress in the district of which Northumberland county formed part, but 
was again defeated. In 1803, 1804, and 1805 he was elected to the 
Assembly.
	Colonel Bernard Hubley was commissioned as first lieutenant in the 
German regiment, August 15, 1776, and promoted captain, February 24, 
1778. While his regiment was stationed in Northumberland county he was 
in command of Fort Rice and Fort Jenkins for a time; at the close of the 
war he located at Northumberland and engaged in the brewing business. He 
was commissioned as county lieutenant, December 21, 1789, and was also 
connected with the local militia in various other official capacities. 
The first volume of his History of the Revolution was published at 
Northumberland in 1807. He died in 1808.
	Lawrence Campbell, the first burgess of Northumberland, was a 
native of Ireland. He immigrated to Pennsylvania in 1784, located at 
Northumberland in 1792, and died at that place, November 8, 1834, at the 
age of sixty-eight years, several months after the conclusion of his 
sixth term as burgess.
	Rev. Joseph Priestley,* whose residence at Northumberland has 
probably 
________________________________________________________________________
	*This sketch is derived from the "Memoirs of Dr. Joseph Priestley 
to the year 1795, written by himself; with a continuation, to the time 
of his decease, by his son, Joseph Priestley;" printed by John Binns at 
Northumberland in 1805.
	 
	END OF PAGE 520 
	
given to the place a wider celebrity than any other circumstance in 
connection with its history, was born at Fieldhead, near Leeds, 
Yorkshire, England, March 13, 1733. His early education was obtained 
under the tuition of Reverends Hague and Kirby, and at the age of 
sixteen he had acquired a fair knowledge of Latin, Greek, and Hebrew. In 
September, 1752, he went to the academy of Daventry, where he spent 
three years, entering the ministry as assistant to the Rev. Mr. Meadows, 
of Needham Market, Suffolk, at the conclusion of his academic course. 
There he remained three years; during this period his first published 
work, "The Doctrine of the Atonement," was issued. The following three 
years, 1758-61, were spent at Nantwick, where he wrote an English 
grammar and "Observations on the Character and Reasoning of the Apostle 
Paul" From 1761 to 1767 he taught elocution, logic, Hebrew, and the 
civil law in an academy at Warrington. During this connection he met 
Benjamin Franklin at London, and, as the result of this association, 
began a series of experiments in electricity.
	In September, 1767, he removed to Leeds, having accepted an 
invitation to take charge of Millhall chapel. Here the first of his 
controversial treatises was written; he also published an "Essay on 
Government," "A familiar Introduction to the Study of Electricity," a 
"Chart of History," etc., etc. His house adjoined a brewery, and 
observations of fixed air produced in the process of fermentation led to 
a series of experiments upon the nature of the atmosphere, ultimately 
resulting in that discovery with which his name will always be 
associated. He began these experiments with but limited knowledge of 
chemistry, but this apparent disadvantage undoubtedly contributed 
largely to his success, as he was thus thrown entirely upon his own 
resources and led to devise new apparatus and modes of operation. His 
first publication on the subject of air appeared in 1772; it was a small 
pamphlet on the method of impregnating water with fixed air. In the 
previous year he had already procured good air from saltpetre; he had 
ascertained the use of agitation and of vegetation, as the means 
employed by nature in purifying the atmosphere for the support of animal 
life, and that air vitiated by animal respiration was a pabulum to 
vegetable life; he had procured factitious air in a much greater variety 
of ways than had been known before, and he had been in the habit of 
substituting quicksilver in lieu of water in many of his experiments. Of 
these discoveries he gave an account in his paper before the Royal 
Society in 1772, which deservedly obtained the honor of the Copley 
medal. In this paper he announced the discovery of nitrous air; he 
showed the use of a burning lens in pneumatic experiments; he related 
the discovery and properties of marine acid air; he added much to the 
little theretofore known of air generated by animal putrefaction and 
vegetable fermentation, and determined many facts relating to the 
diminution and deterioration of air by the combustion of charcoal and 
the calcination of metals. It was not until June or July, 1774, that he 
made the full discovery of deph-
	 
	END OF PAGE 521 
	
logisticated* air, which he procured from precipitate per se, and from 
red lead. He announced this discovery publicly at the table of M. 
Lavosier at Paris in October, 1774, and about the same time repeated his 
experiments before the scientific chemists of Paris.
	In a sketch of this nature it is impossible to pursue his 
subsequent investigations; enough has been said to show that in the 
brief space of two years he announced to the world more facts of real 
importance and wide application in pneumatic chemistry than all his 
predecessors had previously made known.  His attention was called to the 
subject purely by the accident of his proximity to a brew-house at 
Leeds, where he had ample opportunity to observe and determine the 
properties of fixed air; one experiment led to another,  ultimately 
resulting in the discoveries upon which his philosophical reputation is 
principally founded.
	After a residence of six years at Leeds, he entered the service of 
the Earl of Shelburne, with whom he traveled in Europe. In 1780 he 
became pastor of a dissenting congregation at Birmingham, where, in 
1789, he became involved in a controversy regarding the "test act;" his 
expressed approval of the French Revolution provoked a violent attack 
from Burke in Parliament, and, to such an extent had his political views 
aroused the hostility of the Birmingham populace, that, on the 14th of 
July, 1791, his residence was burned by a mob. This called forth a 
number of addresses, among which were several invitations to become a 
member of the French Convention. During the next three years he resided 
at London and Hackney, but, finding the hostility of his enemies 
unabated, he decided to leave England, and embarked for America on the 
7th of April, 1794. The considerations that induced his location at 
Northumberland are thus stated in his "Memoirs:"-

	At the time of my leaving England, my son, in conjunction with Mr. 
Cooper and other English emigrants, had a scheme for a large settlement 
for the friends of liberty in general near the head of the Susquehanna 
in Pennsylvania. And taking it for granted that it would be carried into 
effect, after landing at New York I went to Philadelphia, and thence to 
Northumberland, a town the nearest to the proposed settlement, thinking 
to reside there until some progress had been made in it. The settlement 
was given up; but being here, and my wife and myself liking the place, I 
have determined to take up my residence here, though subject to many 
disadvantages. Philadelphia was excessively expensive, and this 
comparatively a cheap place; and my sons, settling in the neighborhood, 
will be less exposed to temptation and more likely to form habits of 
sobriety and industry. They will also be settled at much less expense 
than in or near a large town. We hope, after some time, to be joined by 
a few of our friends from England, that a readier communication may be 
opened with Philadelphia, and that the place will improve and become 
more eligible in other respects.

	In the spring of 1795 he began the construction of a house suitable 
to his requirements and pursuits; it was completed in 1797, and still 
stands in a 
__________________________________________________________________
	*This term was introduced to scientific nomenclature by Priestly; 
"dephlogisticated air" is oxygen gas.
	 
	END OF PAGE 522 
	Page 523 contains a portrait of William Elliot 
	Page 524 is blank.
	
good state of preservation on North Way, with a lawn sloping to the 
canal. Here he resumed his experiments and studies. He was offered the 
professorship of chemistry in the University of Pennsylvania, but 
declined, although he delivered two courses of lectures in Philadelphia. 
He corresponded with Presidents Jefferson and Adams, and, although a 
voluminous writer on political economy, never participated actively in 
civil affairs in this country, of which he never became a naturalized 
citizen. In religious belief he was a Unitarian, and established at 
Northumberland the oldest church of that denomination in central 
Pennsylvania; he was also active in promoting the educational interests 
of the community and was one of the founders of the old Northumberland 
Academy, the first school of advanced grade in this part of the State. 
The last years of his life were free from the controversy and care that 
entered so largely into his experience, and thus he died, in peace and 
quietness, on the 6th of February, 1804. His remains are interred in the 
Northumberland cemetery.
	The centennial anniversary of the discovery of oxygen was 
celebrated at Northumberland in June, 1874, by a meeting of about fifty 
of the most prominent scientists of the United States and Canada. David 
Taggart delivered the address of welcome, and Professor Chandler, of 
Columbia College, New York, presided. Appropriate memorial exercises and 
scientific addresses were the features of the program. Cablegrams were 
interchanged with the Priestley Memorial Committee of Birmingham. This 
convention and the demonstrations of a similar nature in England 
attracted wide attention.
	Of Frederick Antes, William Cooke, William Wilson, Thomas Cooper, 
and Seth Chapman, all of whom were judges in the county courts and 
resided at Northumberland, extended mention is made in this work in the 
chapter on the Bench and Bar, where sketches of early resident lawyers 
also appear. The early physicians - Doctors Allison, Young, Lathey, 
Jackson, and Rodrigue - receive corresponding mention in the chapter on 
the Medical Profession.
	
                       EARLY MERCHANTS AND HOTELS.

	 A map of the Susquehanna river, drawn in 1701 by Isaac Taylor, 
surveyor of Chester county, locates J. Letort's store at the site of 
Northumberland. He was a French trader, and probably carried on a 
thriving business with the Indians in the exchange of such commodities 
as a savage population could assimilate for peltries, etc. This was 
doubtless the initial commercial venture of the West Branch valley.
	No definite particulars have been learned regarding merchandising 
at Northumberland before the Revolutionary war. When the population 
returned after the close of that struggle the first merchants were 
probably William Wilson and John Boyd. Josiah Haines, Dr. Benjamin F. 
Young, Peter Faulkner, Hepburn & Cowden, James Towar & Company, William 
McClelland, and Robert Irwin were prominent merchants prior to 1800. 
Wil-
	 
	END OF PAGE 525 
	
son and Boyd continued in partnership until April 10, 1802. In the 
Gazette of January 1, 1794, Peter Faulkner informs the public that he 
has just received a consignment of goods from Philadelphia, for which 
grain would be taken at market prices; he offers seven pence per bushel 
for ashes, and twenty shillings per hundred-weight for "black salts." In 
the issue of the same paper for April 16, 1794, Hepburn & Cowden offer a 
reward of fifty dollars for the apprehension of certain "malicious, evil 
disposed persons," who, on the 30th of March previously, had rolled 
upwards of one hundred bushels of salt, one wagon, and one cart from 
their landing into the river, and cut loose a boat. This firm dissolved 
partnership, June 4, 1794, both continuing business individually.  Some 
idea of the mercantile business at that date may be obtained from the 
following enumeration of articles advertised in the Gazette in 1801:-

	Superfine, second, and coarse cloth, mixed, plain, striped, and 
white cassimeres, striped, plain, blue, and brown nankeens, chintzes, 
calicoes, ging-mufflins, and dimities of all kinds, large and small 
umbrellas, velvets, thickset and fancy cords, satin, lustrings, 
Persians, and Sarsonets, calimancoes, moureens, taboeens, and durants, 
Irish linens, checks, and bed ticks, iron and copper tea kettles, German 
and cradling scythes, sugars, coffee, and tea of almost all kinds, 
sherry, madiera, and port wines, Jamaica spirits, French brandy, with a 
few barrels of old whiskey, best Spanish and American cigars, with a 
number of other articles.

	James Hepburn, by whom this advertisement was inserted, conducted 
business at a log building on the corner of North Way and Duke street. 
He died on the 4th of January, 1817, in the seventieth year of his age.
	John Cowden, who served as postmaster of Northumberland from 1795 
until his death, January 12, 1837, was engaged in merchandising nearly 
the whole of that time. His business establishment passed to William 
Forsyth in 1835; the latter was succeeded in 1844 by his son, William T. 
Forsyth, who continued in business until 1884.
	Samuel McClintock and John Guier were also among the merchants of 
Cowden's day.  The former resided on Water street just above Queen, and 
one of his sons is a prominent lawyer at Wilkesbarre; the store of the 
latter was at the intersection of Water and Queen streets.
	Ephraim P Shannon, son of Samuel Shannon, who settled at 
Northumberland prior to 1800, was a native of this place and for some 
years one of its prominent business men. His store was at the corner of 
Queen and Front streets, where he erected the brick building afterward 
incorporated in the Van Kirk house. He was born, February 4, 1797, and 
died, August 27, 1851.
	Daniel Brautigam, a native of Philadelphia, where he was born, 
March 30, 1788, was in business for some years, individually or in 
Partnership with others, at a stone building on the northeast side of 
Queen street between Water and Front, now occupied by Straub's feed 
store. He was appointed prothonotary of Northumberland county, January 
29, 1836, and filled that position until February 5, 1839. He died, 
March 10, 1863.
	 
	END OF PAGE 526 
	
	Clyde & Porter was the caption of a well known business firm about 
the period from 1825 to 1840.  William Clyde, senior member, was a 
native of Ireland, and a chair-maker by trade, pursuing that avocation 
in partnership with his brother Thomas at a log house still standing on 
Queen street between Front and Second.  Thomas died, July 21, 1822, at 
the age of fifty-one years. Porter was the nephew of William Clyde. 
Their business was transacted in the brick building at the corner of 
Front and Market streets where Miss Lyon now resides.  William Clyde 
died, April 7,1841, at the age of sixty-five years.
	John Hannah, an Irishman, a bachelor, and a man of comparative 
wealth, had a store on Front street near the corner of Market, and owned 
a series of buildings extending from the site of the Methodist Episcopal 
church to Wheatley's alley.  He died on the 20th of August, 1832, at the 
age of eighty-three.
	The First Hotel was that of Robert Martin, previously mentioned, 
which was probably conducted until or during the Revolution. At the 
beginning of this century the leading hotel was that of Peter Jones, a 
building at the corner of Wheatley's alley on North Way now used as the 
borough poor house.  Jones was born, May 30, 1747, and died, March 5, 
1826; prior to the latter event, however, he was succeeded by William 
Forsyth, who was proprietor in 1822. David Taggart conducted a hotel in 
a two-story brick building at the site of Morgan's shoe store on Queen 
street, where he died, May 17, 1812, after which it was continued by his 
widow many years.  The Washington House, on the corner of Market and 
Water streets, has borne its present designation longer than any other 
of the present hotels.  John Shreiner built the brick part of the 
building in 1812, and James Lee, a well known character, was proprietor 
many years.  Henry Wolfinger, John Cake, and Mrs. Burr are remembered as 
proprietors of the Cross Keys, at the corner of Market and Front, and 
John Cake and John G. Wells at the Black Horse, which occupied the site 
of the Methodist church.  The Van Kirk House received its name from 
Joseph Van Kirk, the first proprietor, and the Whitmer House was 
established by George Eckert.
	
                            THE POSTOFFICE.

	 The first postoffice in Northumberland county was established at 
Northumberland in 1795; postmasters have been commissioned in the 
following order: John Cowden, November 13, 1795; William Forsyth, 
January 26, 1837; Daniel Weimer, August 16, 1841; John W. Miles, 
November 24, 1844; Catharine G. Boyd, May 8, 1849; Margaret Weimer, 
November 11, l850, Charles F. Little, May 5, 1853; Jacob Ulp, July 26, 
1853; Jacob Leisenring, January 14, 1858; Jacob Paul, February 5, 1858; 
William Weimer, April 4, 1861; Josephine R. Weimer, January 30, 1877; 
John C. Forsyth, September 8, 1885; Luther L. Haas, January 27, 1890.
	 
	END OF PAGE 527 
	
                       BRIDGES, CANALS, AND RAILWAYS.

	 The Northumberland Bridge Company was the first incorporated in 
Pennsylvania for the erection of a bridge across the Susquehanna. The 
necessary preliminary legislation was secured, March 25, 1809, 
authorizing the Governor  "to incorporate a company for the purpose of 
making and erecting a bridge and road over the Northeast Branch of the 
river Susquehanna in the county of Northumberland, from the public 
highway opposite the plantation of Thomas Grant to Shamokin island, 
through the public highway of Shamokin island to the shore opposite 
Northumberland, and from thence to the town of Northumberland."  The 
responsibilities of the enterprise were intrusted to a number of 
commissioners, of whom Jacob Dentler, Joseph Priestley, John Boyd, James 
Hepburn, John P. De Gruchy, and George Kremer assumed the active work of 
soliciting financial support, and subscription books were opened at 
Philadelphia and Northumberland.  On the 30th of March, 1811, a 
supplement to the act of 1809 was so amended as to empower the Governor 
to incorporate the company as soon as public subscriptions to the amount 
of sixteen hundred shares had been subscribed, and Messrs. Dentler, 
Priestley, Boyd, Hepburn, De Gruchy, and Kremer, with Simon Gratz, John 
Vaughan, and Henry Toland, their colleagues, having certified this 
result to the Governor, the company was formally incorporated, October 
19, 1811, and a subscription of fifty thousand dollars was forthwith 
received from the State.  The first election for officers occurred at 
the house of David Taggart in Northumberland on the 23d of November, 
1811, between the hours of eleven A. M. and five P. M., at which the 
following officers were elected: president, John P. De Gruchy, six 
hundred twenty-three votes; managers: Charles Hall, six hundred twenty-
three votes; David Taggart, six hundred eighteen votes: John Cowden, six 
hundred eleven votes; Jacob Dentler, six hundred ten votes; James 
Hepburn, five hundred twenty eight votes; George Kremer, four hundred 
thirty-eight votes; treasurer, John Boyd, six hundred twenty votes; 
clerk, John Cooper, five hundred sixty-six votes.
	President De Gruchy had already had some correspondence with the 
officers of the Mohawk, Schenectady, and Schoharie bridge companies, in 
New York State, and the Trenton Bridge Company, of New Jersey, regarding 
bridge construction; this correspondence was submitted to the managers 
at a meeting held in Sunbury, November 27, 1811, at which the contract 
was awarded Theodore Burr for the sum of eighty thousand dollars.  His 
only competitor was Robert Mills, of Philadelphia, who submitted a plan 
and proposals, while Mr. Burr was present in person to explain the 
method of construction of which he was the originator.  The agreement 
was concluded, November 29, 1811.  The articles specify three piers 
between Northumberland and Shamokin island and four between that island 
and the Sunbury side, each to be twenty feet above low water mark to the 
foot of the arches, 
	 
	END OF PAGE 528 
	
twenty feet wide at the bottom and eighteen at the foot of the arches, 
and carried up eight feet between the arches; four abutments, thirty-two 
feet wide and ten feet thick, supported by wing walls five feet thick at 
the bottom and half that thick at the top; a superstructure, consisting 
of arches, chords, truss-braces, braces, king-posts, etc., thirty feet 
wide from "out to out" of the arches and thirty-one feet ten inches by 
similar measurement from the king-posts, with two carriage-ways eleven 
feet six inches wide and a footway four feet ten inches wide between 
them; and two toll houses eighteen by twenty-four feet. The work was to 
be commenced in March, 1812, and completed on the 31st of December, 
1813; but if the company should not succeed in securing the State 
appropriation agreeably to its wishes, the contractor was to have an 
extension of one year. The act of April 2, 1811 authorized the Governor 
to subscribe fifty thousand dollars, one half payable when the piers and 
abutments were completed, the other half when the super-structure was 
raised; but the management desired to complete that part of the bridge 
between Northumberland and the island before undertaking the remainder, 
and memorialized the legislature to make a corresponding change in the 
manner of bestowing the appropriation. A further supplement, granting 
the change proposed, was accordingly passed, February 3, 1812. This 
provided that twelve thousand five hundred dollars should be payable 
when the piers and abutments between Northumberland and the island has 
been constructed, a like sum when the superstructure between these 
points was raised, and the same amounts as the remainder of the work 
progressed. The effect of this was to confirm that part of the agreement 
with Mr. Burr which stipulated that the bridge should be completed on 
the 31st of December, 1813.
	The work of construction was begun on the 4th of June, 1812, when 
the foundation of the abutment at Northumberland was laid; that of the 
abutment at the island on the Northumberland side was laid the same 
month; of the central pier, July 8th; of the pier next the island, 
August 18th; and of the pier next the Northumberland side, September 
14th. On the 7th of October, 1812, Mr. De Gruchy informed the Governor 
that these two abutments and three piers were nearly completed, and 
requested the appointment of a commission, agreeably to the law, to 
examine them and report whether they were so constructed as to entitle 
the company to call upon the State for a proportional amount of its 
subscription. Bethuel Vincent, Thomas Pollock, and Jacob Lechner were 
accordingly appointed; they made an examination on the 3d of November 
following, and submitted a report highly complimentary to the company 
and the contractor. All the arches on the Northumberland side were up, 
on Tuesday afternoon, August 31, 1813, and on the 8th of December Mr. De 
Gruchy requested the appointment of viewers for this part of the 
superstructure.  Bethuel Vincent, Thomas Pollock, and James Geddis were 
appointed, and on Saturday, December 25, 1813, they met with the 
officers of  
	 
	END OF PAGE 529 
	
the company, Messrs. De Gruchy, Kremer, Albright, Dentler, Cowden, 
Hepburn, and Boyd, and crossed the bridge from Northumberland to the 
island, preceded by the five-horse team of Jacob Dentler, one of the 
managers, driven by Solomon Dentler, his son, and containing as many 
persons as could find room in it. After crossing the bridge it returned 
to the Northumberland side, amid the acclamations of a number of 
spectators. The commissioners reported to the Governor that the work had 
been done "in a masterly and workmanlike manner."  The foundation of the 
abutment on the Sunbury side was laid, October 29,1812, and the pier 
nearest that side was partially constructed in the same year. The 
foundation of the central pier was laid on the 10th of August, 1813, and 
with its completion on the 29th of September the stone work of the 
bridge was finished. Mr. De Gruchy had filed an application for viewers 
on the 4th of September; Messrs. Vincent, Pollock, and Lechner were 
appointed, and returned a favorable report. Under date of September 9, 
1814, the Governor was informed that this part of the superstructure had 
been raised, and on the 2d of December it was examined by Messrs. 
Vincent, Pollock, and Geddis, who reported favorably. As thus completed 
the western part of the bridge was eight hundred forty-eight feet, six 
inches in length; the eastern part, nine hundred seventy-six feet, six 
inches; the abutments, five hundred feet; the roadway across Shamokin 
island, seventeen hundred forty-nine feet - a total length, including 
frame-work, roadway, and approaches, of forty-three hundred seventy-four 
feet. The plan originally decided upon had been variously modified; the 
principal change was that made on the 7th of October, 1812, when it was 
decided to erect three piers instead of four on the eastern side. The 
floor, or "deck," was elevated forty-one feet above low water mark, and 
the footway was raised four feet above the carriage way. The exterior 
was painted.
	The following schedule of tolls was adopted at a meeting of the 
managers, September 10, 1814: for every carriage of whatever 
description, used for the purposes of trade and agriculture, with four 
wheels and drawn by six horses, one dollar twenty-five cents, with a 
scale varying with the number of horses to the minimum of thirty-one and 
one fourth cents for one horse; four-wheeled vehicles of pleasure, drawn 
by four horses, one dollar twenty-five cents, with a reduction of 
twenty-five cents for each horse; two-wheeled wagons, drawn by two 
horses, fifty cents - by one horse, twenty-five cents; a chair or other 
two-wheeled vehicle of pleasure, twenty-five cents for each horse; a 
four-horse sleigh, fifty cents; a one-horse sleigh, or horse and rider, 
eighteen and three fourths cents; a horse without a rider, twelve and 
one half cents; foot passengers and horned cattle were charged six and 
one fourth cents for each individual; sheep or swine, two cents; two 
oxen, to be estimated equal to one horse; with a proportionately greater 
charge for carriages of burthen laden with more than two tons weight. 
The first toll collector was John Shreiner, appointed by the president 
in pursuance of a resolution passed 
	
	END OF PAGE 530
	
by the directors, November 17, 1814; toll was first collected on the 
21st of November, 1814, but only at the Northumberland side for some 
time. Owing to inconvenience caused by a scarcity of small change, it 
was resolved, at a meeting of the board on the 2d of December, to issue 
printed notes of the denominations of fifty, twenty-five, twelve and one 
half, and six and one fourth cents, and of one dollar, in the name of 
the company signed by the president and countersigned by the treasurer. 
Shreiner was only appointed temporarily; the first persons regularly 
appointed as toll collectors were John Kendig, for the Sunbury side, and 
John Gordon, for the Northumberland side, selected on the 16th of 
December, 1814.
	Although thus opened for travel in 1814, the bridge was not 
actually completed until 1818. After making the contract with the 
managers, Burr entered into similar agreements with bridge companies at 
Harrisburg and McCall's Ferry, "and, as if these had not been more than 
sufficient to give employment to an active and ambitions mind," in the 
language of a report of the president and managers to the legislature in 
1822, "he made a fourth contract, for building the bridge thirty miles 
above us at Berwick." The report then states how Burr became involved, 
and being unable to pay for materials or labor, the company assumed his 
obligations, receiving as collateral security ten thousand dollars' 
worth of stock which had been issued to him in part payment on his 
contract. Gurdon Hewitt, Jr., was clerk, and Thomas Brown, foreman, in 
charge of the work, during Burr's frequent and protracted absences at 
other points, and it was through the former that the disbursements of 
the board were principally made. The amounts advanced Mr. Burr over and 
above the eighty thousand dollars specified in his contract ultimately 
aggregated six thousand dollars. Ineffectual efforts were made to settle 
this account at various times; this was finally consummated in 1824, 
with Silas Marsh, administrator of Burr's estate, who transferred the 
four hundred shares of stock held by Burr to the company, and was 
released from all obligations incurred by him. The net receipts from 
tolls had been devoted for some time to the extinguishment of this debt, 
and when the stock had been transferred to the company it was 
immediately cancelled, thus reducing the capitalization from ninety to 
eighty thousand dollars.
	The receipts during the first year amounted to three thousand one 
hundred eighty dollars, thirty-two cents; a dividend of three per cent 
was accordingly declared. For some years the company was not prosperous 
financially, owing to a variety of disadvantages attending the 
collection of tolls and damage sustained by its property. In 1839-40 
that part of the superstructure between Northumberland and the island 
was rebuilt, having been destroyed by a flood. In 1846 several spans 
east of the island were blown down by a hurricane, two of which landed 
in the river without sustaining serious injury and were rebuilt with the 
original materials. On the 17th of March, 1875, the entire eastern end 
and one span of the western end were carried 
	
	END OF PAGE 531 
	
away by an ice flood. The span at the western end was immediately 
rebuilt, and a ferry temporarily established on the other side of the 
island, where the present bridge was erected in 1876.
	The following is a list of presidents of the company since its 
organization: John P. De Gruchy, 1811-29; James Hepburn, 1830-38; John 
B. Boyd, 1839-44; Daniel Brautigam, 1845-58; John Taggart, 1858-77; 
David Taggart, 1877-87; James Taggart, elected December 4, 1888, present 
incumbent.
	The West Branch Bridge was erected in pursuance of a joint 
resolution of the Senate and House of Representatives, approved by the 
Governor on the 31st of March, 1828, authorizing the board of canal 
commissioners, if it should be deemed expedient, to construct a turnpike 
bridge and towing path at the mouth of the West Branch near 
Northumberland.  The principal contractors for its construction were 
Reuben Fields, Randall Wilcox, and Lemuel B. Stoughton, and the work was 
completed about the year 1831. This structure has also suffered from 
floods at various times.   In June, 1890, four spans were carried away, 
leaving but one at each end, so that the present bridge is practically 
new.  It has two carriage ways, and a "towing path" used in transporting 
canal boats across the river.
	The North and West Branch Canals conferred a degree of importance 
upon Northumberland of which their present condition scarcely affords a 
suggestion.  These formed part of the great system of internal 
improvements projected and executed by the State; during the progress of 
their construction they gave employment to large numbers of men and 
placed considerable money in circulation, and after their completion 
local business received a quickened impetus. The packet boat appeared as 
the competitor of the stage coach, and the canal boat superseded the 
river craft of former days; and, as the terminus of three divisions of 
the canal, Northumberland was in a position to derive a large share of 
the advantages it gave to commercial intercourse in this part of the 
State. To what extent this was the case is shown by the fact that for 
many years the only bank in the county was conducted here. But with the 
advent of railroads the canals gradually lost their former importance, 
and have ceased to be a factor of any consequence in sustaining local 
interests.
	Railways.- The Philadelphia and Erie railroad was opened to 
Northumberland on Monday, September 24, 1855, when passenger travel was 
established between this place and Williamsport. The Susquehanna river 
bridge was erected in the following autumn, and the first train to 
Sunbury passed over it, January 7, 1856.
	The Lackawanna and Bloomsburg railroad was opened to passenger 
travel, May 31, 1860, and the first train arrived at Northumberland at 
forty minutes past nine o'clock on the morning of that day. 
	The Shamokin, Sunbury and Lewisburg railroad (Philadelphia and 
Reading) was opened in 1883.  
	
	END OF PAGE 532 
	
The Sunbury and Northumberland street railway was opened to travel in 
1890.
	
                    BOROUGH ORGANIZATION AND GOVERNMENT.

	 The borough of Northumberland was incorporated on the 16th of 
January, 1828, by act of the legislature, from territory formerly 
comprised in Point township.
	By the terms of this act, Ephraim P. Shannon, John Taggart, and 
William Forsyth were appointed to superintend the first election of 
borough officers, which was held at the house of John Leisenring on 
Monday, April 6, 1829, resulting in the choice of the following persons: 
burgess, Lawrence Campbell; council: John Porter, William Forsyth, John 
G. Wells, John Taggart, James Gaston, Joseph R. Priestley, James 
Hepburn; high constable, Thomas Waples; constable, William H. Ross; 
overseers of the poor: John B. Boyd, John Leisenring; supervisors: 
Samuel Cox, John Shreiner, Jr. 
	The following is a list of burgesses since the incorporation of the 
borough: 1829-34, Lawrence Campbell; 1835-37, Henry Gossler; 1838, 
William B. Mendenhall; 1839-41, A. L. Dieffenbacher; 1842, William B. 
Mendenhall; 1843, Conrad Wenck; 1844, William B. Mendenhall; 1845-49, 
George Everard; 1850, Barney Christy; 1851-56, George Everard; 1857, 
William H. Waples; 1858-61, Cornelius B. Smith; 1862-65, Francis Renner; 
1866-67, John Wheatley; 1868, William H. Morgan; 1869-70, Cornelius B. 
Smith; 1871-72, A. H. Voris; 1873, Thaddeus G. Morgan; 1874-76, John C. 
Forsyth; 1877, David M. Evans; 1878, William B. Stoner; 1879-80, Joseph 
H. Everard; 1881, Alfred Hawley; 1882, Harris W. Burg; 1883, John E. 
Colt; 1884, William A. Starick; 1885, John P. Dauberman 1886 Cyrus 
Brouse; 1887, John P. Dauberman; 1888-89, Cyrus Brouse; 1890-91, W. 
Oscar Landback.
	
                      INDUSTRIAL ACTIVITY.

	 John P. De Gruchy established a distillery at Northumberland about 
the close of the last century, which, during the period of its 
operation, was one of the most important and extensive industries of the 
place. It was a brick and frame building, situated about half a square 
above the river bridge on the south side of North Way. There were also 
large frame sheds for the hogs and cattle that were fed on the refuse, 
damaged stocks, etc., a cooper shop, and a boat yard. At the latter arks 
and other varieties of river craft were made, in which the product was 
shipped to Columbia, Baltimore, and other points. The proprietor resided 
in a large brick and frame house on North Way opposite the distillery. 
He was also actively associated with various other business enterprises. 
Mr. De Gruchy was from England, where he had been engaged in business 
and failed; he was more successful in this country, however, and after a 
time was enabled to liquidate all the claims of 
	
	END OF PAGE 533 
	
his former creditors. He died at Northumberland, February 1, 1830, in 
the sixty-sixth year of his age.
	A brewery, doubtless the first of any importance at Northumberland, 
was operated as early as 1800 by Bernard Hubley. It was situated on 
Market street, and comprised malt, brew, still, and mill houses, a malt 
kiln with a capacity of forty bushels, and brew "coppers" large enough 
to hold twenty barrels. The establishments of this nature also included 
that of John Taggart, a red frame building at the Queen street crossing 
of the canal, which originally occupied ground through which the canal 
passes; William T. Boyd's, a brick building ninety by twenty-two feet, 
at the corner of Queen street and North Way; Levi Hibbert's, on West Way 
between Water and Front streets, and Edward Lyon's, at the corner of 
Market and Front.
	At a later date William McCay erected a stone distillery on Queen 
street, an exceptional feature of which was a wind-mill of the style 
then in vogue, by which water was pumped from a deep well on the 
premises.
	Four tanneries constituted the manufacturing facilities in that 
respect. That of Thomas Bonham was on Queen street at the corner of 
Fourth; the other three, owned, respectively, by John Hepburn, Jacob 
Urban, and John Shreiner, were removed and the North Branch canal was 
opened through the ground they formerly occupied.
	If the opening of the canal caused the suspension of the tanning 
industry, it gave rise to another of equal or greater importance - that 
of boat-building. The first boatyard was established by Charles Storer, 
on ground formerly occupied by De Gruchy's distillery. He was succeeded 
by John Dunham and William T. Boyd. Robert Lesher and John Hummel were 
engaged in boat-building on the West Branch canal between Front and 
Second streets, John Lloyd on the North Branch at the Pennsylvania 
railroad bridge, and Joseph Johnson and Samuel Elliott above the canal 
terminus of Orange street.
	Miscellaneous industries included the pottery of John Leisenring, 
on Queen street opposite the Lutheran church; Robert McCay's, William 
Leisenring's, and Joseph Hair's hat factories, among the most important 
in this section of the State at the time; John S. Carter's, William and 
Thomas Clyde's, and John Frick's chair-making shops; Frederick 
Burkenbine's brick yard,, on Duke street between Fourth and Fifth; and 
the shops of Alexander Colt, blacksmith, William R. Clelland, cabinet 
maker, Hunter Pardoe and James Gaston, wagon makers.
	In 1828 David Rogers, inventor of a patent scale beam, came to 
Northumberland from the State of New York. Ephraim P. Shannon became 
interested in the invention, and advanced capital for the erection and 
equipment of a small foundry.  The business was inaugurated with fair 
prospects of success, but personal misfortune overtook Mr. Rogers and 
obliged him to relinquish the enterprise, which was soon afterward 
discontinued by Mr. Shannon.
	
	END OF PAGE 534 
	
	The Northumberland Agricultural Works were established in 1853 by 
A. H. Stone, the present proprietor, and comprise a one-story brick 
building at the corner of Water and Duke streets. Tread-power threshing 
machines are manufactured.
	The Lumber Mill between West Way and the canal in the northern part 
of the borough, although no longer operated, was at one time an 
important local manufacturing establishment. It was erected in 1867 by 
Chamberlain, Frick & Company; this firm became insolvent in 1884, and 
the mill was operated by Edgar Holt as assignee until the following 
year, when he became proprietor. A larger amount of work was done in the 
season of 1889 than at any time in the previous history of the mill, 
owing to the fact that the lumber industry on the upper waters of the 
Susquehanna was temporarily suspended on account of damage sustained by 
the flood of that year. Forty operatives were employed, and bill lumber 
for railroad, ship building, and other special purposes was manufactured 
to the amount of forty thousand feet per day.
	The Iron Industry.- The Northumberland Iron and Nail Works, Van 
Alen & Company, proprietors, were established in 1866 by T. O. Van Alen, 
A. H. Voris, and George M. Leslie. In 1872 Mr. Van Alen purchased the 
interest of A. H. Voris, and in 1886 that of George M. Leslie. The mill 
at first contained but five puddling furnaces, one coal heating furnace, 
and fifteen nail machines; it now comprises ten puddling furnaces, one 
thirty-ton Smith's gas heating furnace, and fifty-three nail machines, 
and has a capacity to make one hundred fifty thousand kegs of cut iron 
and steel nails per year. The buildings consist of a mill about sixty- 
five by three hundred fifty feet, and a foundry, machine, and cooper 
shop thirty by seventy feet. One hundred sixty operatives are employed.
	Taggarts & Howell, manufacturers of muck-bar and skelp iron, steel 
and iron nails, are the successors of C. A. Godcharles & Company, by 
whom the works were established in 1884. Upon the dissolution of that 
firm in 1888 the plant was purchased by M. H. Taggart, from whom it 
passed to the present proprietors on the 1st of October, 1889. The 
building is two hundred fifty feet in length, with two wings, one 
hundred eighty by eighty and two hundred by eighty feet, respectively; 
the plant comprises ten double puddling furnaces, two heating furnaces, 
and ninety-five nail machines, which afford a daily capacity of eight 
hundred kegs of nails. Two hundred operatives are employed.
	The blast furnace on the line of the Lackawanna railroad at the 
eastern limits of the borough was built by a Mr. Marsh, of Lewisburg, 
but has never been operated with the exception of a brief period.
	The Northumberland Car Works were erected in 1872 by a company of 
which A. C. Simpson was the first president and William T. Forsyth the 
first treasurer, and occupied a location near the North Branch at the 
outskirts of the borough. In 1874 the plant was purchased at sheriff's 
sale by 
	
	END OF PAGE 535 
	
C. A. Godcharles & Company; after protracted litigation the buildings 
were removed, and now constitute part of the nail mill of Taggarts & 
Howell.
	Flour Mills.- Charles Houghton's flour mill at the corner of Fifth 
street and West Way was erected some years since, but is not operated at 
this time (1890). A. O. Van Alen's flour mill, built in 1890, is 
situated at the corner of West Way and Fourth street.
	
                               SCHOOLS.

	 The following particulars regarding the early schools of 
Northumberland were contributed to the "Report of the Superintendent of 
Public Instruction for 1877" by John F. Wolfinger, of Milton:-

	In 1798, or thereabouts, the first school house at this point, a 
log structure, thirty by thirty feet in size and one story high, was 
built on the corner of Wheatley and Park alleys, in the northern part of 
the town, and so was called the "Wheatley school house" or "Alley school 
house," in after years. Among the families who sent their children to 
this school, we have the names of Cowden, Forsyth, Frick, Hepburn, 
Priestley, Shannon, and Wheatley. The name of the first teacher and his 
successors are unknown. But in 1814, George Bowdery taught there, and he 
was succeeded by William Leathern and James Aiken. In 1802, or 
thereabout, the second school house, also a log structure, twenty-four 
by thirty feet in size, was built in the southeastern part of the town. 
Its first teacher was a Mr. Wiley, and his successors were the Rev. 
William Christie, George Bowdery, Mr. Train, James Forest, Edward 
Chapman, Rev. William H. Smith, and John Bear. The writer of this sketch 
was one of Forest's scholars, and the families that then sent children 
to this school bore the names of Albright, Boyd, Campbell, Chapman, 
(Chappell, Crutchley, De Gruchy, Gaskins, Jackson, Lee, Leighon, Lloyd, 
McClintock, Morris, Newberry, Norbury, Waples, Waters, Weitner, Wilson, 
and Zeitler. In 1819 Samuel Kirkham, the author of " Kirkham's English 
Grammar," taught school for one or two quarters in the Northumberland 
"town hall," being the second story of the town's "market house," that 
stood in the center of the square, immediately in front of the present 
residence of Dr. Joseph Priestley. In this "hall," now gone, the writer 
went to Kirkham's school, who (Kirkham) boarded with the writer's 
father, Henry Wolfinger, who then kept tavern in the brick house now 
occupied by Doctor Priestley.
	In 1803, "The Northumberland Academy," an ornamental two-story 
brick building, was built on the corner of West Way mid Second streets, 
on the west side of the town, mainly through the efforts of the 
celebrated Dr. Joseph Priestley, the English chemist and philosopher, 
who had some years before emigrated from England, and made this town of 
Northumberland his last earthly home. The Rev. William Christie, a 
Unitarian clergyman, was the first principal of this academy, and his 
successors were the Rev. Isaac Grier, his son, Robert C. Grier 
(afterward a lawyer and one of the judges of the Supreme court of the 
United States), the Rev. Robert F. N. Smith, and Rev. Elijah D. Plumb. 
Among the scholars of this old academy, now gone, we find the names of 
William B. Sprague, James Thompson, William Montgomery, Charles G. 
Donnel, Abraham S. Wilson, George A. Frick, and George A. Snyder (a son 
of Governor Simon Snyder), all of whom became men of note in different 
departments of life.

	Thomas Cooper was prominently connected with the educational 
interests of the town at the beginning of this century. Rev. William 
Christie, formerly of Winchester, Virginia, was induced to locate at 
Northumberland 
	
	END OF PAGE 506 
	
largely through his efforts and those of Doctor Priestley, and opened 
his first school at this place on the 6th of July, 1801, at the 
residence of Mr. Cooper. The latter gentleman also formulated the 
petition to the legislature for an appropriation in aid of the academy. 
This document recites that four thousand dollars had been expended upon 
the building; that the sum of one thousand eighty- three dollars was due 
the treasurer, four hundred dollars had been advanced by James Hepburn, 
and an equal sum was due the workmen employed upon the building; and 
that Rev. Joseph Priestley had offered to donate his library of four 
thousand volumes to the institution upon certain conditions with which 
the legislature was asked to comply. Jesse Moore was then a 
Representative from Northumberland county, and through his support an 
appropriation of two thousand dollars was secured.
	On the 25th of February, 1792, Reuben Haines executed a conveyance 
to James Hepburn, James Davidson, and William Cooke, "trustees of Union 
school," for lot No. 59, on the east side of Market street near Third, 
at the nominal consideration of five shillings. In 1801-02, Thomas 
Whittaker taught the "Union school." This may have been one of the 
school buildings referred to by Mr. Wolfinger.
	The public school system was adopted in 1834, and for some years 
thereafter the schools were conducted at small buildings in different 
parts of the borough. The present substantial and commodious building on 
Second street between Market and Orange is a brick structure one hundred 
by sixty-four feet in dimensions, with six apartments on the first floor 
and three main rooms with two recitation rooms on the second floor. The 
work of construction was begun in 1870, and the board at that time was 
composed of Charles B. Renninger, W. H. Leighon, D. M. Brautigam, John 
H. Vincent, J. C. Chestney, and J. O. Tracy; the completed building was 
opened in January, 1872, with the following corps of teachers: 
principal, B. F. Hughes; assistant principal, C. M. Lesher; secondary 
grades: Miss D. L. Huzzey and Miss S. J. Gossler; primary grades: Miss 
Fannie Housel and Miss Leisenring.
	
                          LOCAL JOURNALISM.

	 The Sunbury and Northumberland Gazette was established in 1792 by 
Andrew Kennedy and continued as late as 1817. It was the first newspaper 
in Northumberland county. In 1802 John Binns started the Republican 
Argus, in the publication of which he was succeeded by Matthew and 
Andrew C. Huston. George Sweney published the Columbia Gazette in 1813, 
and in 1818 Rev. Robert F. N. Smith edited the Religious Museum. 
Alexander Hughes and others published the Northumberland Union in 183-, 
and after its suspension there was no local paper until 1872, when the 
Public Press was established by C. W. Gutelius, the present proprietor.
	
                       SECRET AND OTHER SOCIETIES.

	 The following secret and other societies were organized or 
instituted at the respective dates: Northumberland Lodge, No. 196, 
I.O.O.F., August 17, 1846; Eureka Lodge, No. 404, F. & A.M. February 3, 
1868; Chillisquaque Tribe, No. 152, I.O.R.M., 1872; Onward Lodge, No. 
179, K. of P., August 26, 1879; Captain James Taggart Post, No. 350, 
G.A.R., June 20, 1883; John Brautigam Camp, No. 51, S. of V., September 
13, 1883; Washington Camp, No. 374, P.O.S. of A., November 21 1888; 
Pilgrims' Conclave, No. 30, S.P.K., December 19, 1887.
	
                               CHURCHES.

	 First Presbyterian Church.- The earliest record of Presbyterian 
services at Northumberland is that contained in the journal of Philip V. 
Fithian, a licentiate, who made a missionary tour through the frontier 
counties of Pennsylvania in the summer of 1775.  On Sunday, the 2d of 
July, he held services at the house of Laughlin McCartney, and on 
Thursday, July 20th, at the house of Mr. Chattam on North Way.
	Whether an organization had been formed at that early date can not 
be satisfactorily determined; but there was a large and influential 
Presbyterian element in the community, and it is not improbable that the 
formal election of elders may have occurred. On the 31st of May, 1787, 
seventeen members of the Northumberland church, eight from Sunbury, and 
forty-eight from Buffalo, on behalf of their respective congregations, 
united in a call to the Rev. Hugh Morrison, who was accordingly 
installed; a clause in this call - "having never in these parts had the 
stated administration of the Gospel ordinances" - establishes 
conclusively the fact that Mr. Morrison was their first regular pastor. 
Under his administration it is supposed that the first church edifice 
was erected; this was a log structure located near the site of the 
present town hall on Market street. Rev. Isaac Grier, S. T. D., who died 
at Northumberland on the 22d of August, 1814, was Mr. Morrison's 
successor; he was followed by Reverends Robert F. N. Smith, William R. 
Ashmead, William R. Smith, Wheelock S. Stone, and William R. Smith, all 
of whom included Sunbury and Northumberland and possibly the churches of 
Shamokin and Hollowing Run in the field of their labor.
	In 1838 a division in the church occurred, the new organization 
taking the present name with Rev. John Patton as first pastor. It was 
popularly known as the "new school," while the other received the 
corresponding designation of "old school."  The former erected the 
present brick edifice on Queen street in 1840-44; the brick structure on 
Market street now occupied as a town hall was built by the "old school" 
and used as a place of worship until 1870, after which it was diverted 
to its present purposes. In September, 1870, the two branches united; 
Rev. A. D. Moore, pastor of the "new school" 
	
	END OF PAGE 538 
	
congregation, continued in charge of the resulting organization, for 
which a new session was elected. The present pastor is Rev. J. D. 
Fitzgerald.
	The Sunday school was organized on the first Sunday of April, 1816, 
by Misses Mary Jenkins and Sarah Boyd. For some years it was conducted 
in a log school house on Wheatley alley between Front and Second 
streets.
	Methodist Episcopal Church.- The Northumberland circuit, embracing 
the entire West Branch valley and extensive contiguous territory, was 
formed on the 6th of May, 1791, at a meeting of the Methodist Episcopal 
conference at Baltimore, Maryland. Reverends Richard Parrott and Lewis 
Browning were appointed to this field in 1791, but if there was an 
organized society at Northumberland at that date, no records relating to 
it are known to be extant. The places of worship were probably private 
houses, school houses, and possibly the old market house. By a 
conveyance executed on the 10th of June, 1819, Samuel Shannon and 
Margaret his wife deeded to Abraham Dawson, Christian Heck, Eli Diemer, 
and Jacob R. Shepherd, of Northumberland, and John Macpherson, of East 
Buffalo township, Union county, Pennsylvania, as trustees, a lot of 
ground on the east side of Third street between Market and Orange, at 
the nominal consideration of one dollar and upon condition that they 
should "erect and build or cause to be erected and built thereon a house 
or place of worship for the use of the Methodist Episcopal church." A 
frame structure was accordingly constructed, and served as a church 
building until 1856, when the present brick edifice at the corner of 
Market and Front streets was erected during the pastorate of Rev. Joseph 
A. Ross and under the supervision of a building committee composed of 
Conrad Wenck, Joseph Johnson, and James Scott. The dedication occurred 
on the 23d of November in that year. It was extensively repaired in 1867 
and reopened on the 17th of November in that year. The commodious 
parsonage, which occupied an adjoining lot, was built in 1889.
	Northumberland became a station in 1865, and has had the following 
pastors since that date: 1865-66, Henry G. Dill; 1867, W. H. Dill; 1868-
69, J. F. Ockerman; 1870-72, B. F. Stevens; 1873-75, James Hunter; 1876-
77, G. Warren; 1878-80, Martin L. Drum; 1881-82, E. T. Swartz; 1883, 
William C. Hesser; 1883-85, James Hunter; l886-87, Bartholomew P. King; 
1888-90, Joseph D. W. Deavor, present incumbent.
	Unitarian Church.- The doctrines of this church were first 
disseminated in central Pennsylvania by Rev. Joseph Priestley, who 
preached at Northumberland in a log school house near his residence on 
North Way.  Rev. William Christie was the next resident Unitarian 
clergyman, but the first regular pastor was probably the Rev. James Kay, 
who preached at Northumberland from 1822 until his death in the autumn 
of 1847. A union church building that occupied the site of the present 
Lutheran edifice was the place of worship for some years. In 1834, at a 
nominal consideration, John Taggart and Hannah his wife executed a deed 
to Daniel M. Brautigam, Joseph R. Priestley, 
	
	END OF PAGE 539 
	
Charles Gale, John Leighon, Hugh Bellas, Christopher Woods, James 
Gaston, and John Taggart for the ground on the east side of Second 
street between Market and Orange upon which the present brick Unitarian 
church is situated. Reverends Weston, McDaniel, Lathrop, Porter, 
Billings, Lane, Boarse, Catlin, and others succeeded Mr. Kay as pastor; 
since 1878 services have been regularly continued by the ladies of the 
congregation, who have also sustained a Sunday school.
	St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church.- The lot upon which the 
church edifice is situated was donated by John Lowdon and William 
Patterson on the 27th of August, 1772, but no building for religious 
worship was erected thereon until 1817. The brick for this structure 
were made by Frederick Burkenbine, and laid by Levi Myers and Charles 
Maus; John Richtstine was architect and foreman of the carpenter work; 
the building committee consisted of Jacob Dentler and John Leighou for 
the Lutheran congregation, J. S. Haines and John P. De Gruchy, 
Episcopalians, and Jacob Urban, Reformed. The corner-stone was laid, 
July 6, 1817, and the dedication occurred, August 30, 1818, in which 
services the Reverend Hendel, a Reformed minister of Lebanon, Rev. J. P. 
Shindel, a Lutheran minister of Sunbury, Rev. Robert F. N. Smith, the 
Presbyterian minister of Northumberland, and Reverend Schnee, a Lutheran 
minister of Pittsburgh, participated Rev. J. P. Shindel was the first 
Lutheran and Rev. Martin Bruner the first Reformed pastor after the 
erection of the church edifice.
	About 1820 Rev. Elijah D. Plumb, an Episcopal minister, began to 
hold regular services, and continued until his death a few years later. 
Rev. J. P. Shindel continued as Lutheran pastor until 1823, at which 
time the church became financially embarrassed. Appeals were made 
through Henry Renninger for immediate relief, but a sufficient amount to 
liquidate the debt of three hundred eighty-five dollars six cents, still 
due Mr. Richtstine for work on the church building, was not furnished. 
Suit was brought by Mr. Richtstine, as the result of which a levy was 
made on the church property, February 1, 1823. The sale took place on 
the 16th of June following, when the property was purchased by Hugh 
Bellas, attorney for the church and a Unitarian in faith, who paid the 
debt and deeded the building to the different denominations to be used 
by them for religious worship three fourths of the time, retaining a one 
fourth interest for the Unitarian congregation. In 1834 money was 
collected by the trustees of the Lutheran and Reformed congregations, 
and half of the lot, then owned by William A. Lloyd, was purchased, thus 
securing the church property for these congregations. They jointly 
called the Rev. E. Meyer, a Reformed minister of Danville, who served 
both congregations in 1839. Upon his resignation both appear to have 
disbanded.
	During the year 1847. Rev. R. Weiser reorganized the Lutheran 
element with the following officers: John Leisenring and Henry Wenck, 
trusrees; 
	
	END OF PAGE 540 
	Page 541 contains a portrait of D. Heim
	Page 542 is blank.
	
John Diehl and Henry Wenck, elders, and Samuel Williard and Michael 
Barnhart, deacons. The reorganization took place in the market house on 
account of the dilapidated condition of the church building. Mr. Weiser 
preached occasionally, but the congregation was destitute of regular 
pastoral ministration until 1848, when Rev. M. J. Alleman took charge 
and remained until 1850; he continued as a supply, however, until July, 
1852. Under his administration the house of worship was repaired, the 
Reformed congregation disposing of their lot, on the northeast corner of 
Queen and Fourth streets, in order to secure means for their portion of 
the necessary expense. Rev. P. Born, D. D., was called as the next 
Lutheran pastor and entered upon his duties, August 1, 1858, at which 
time the remnant of the Reformed congregation united with the Lutherans. 
From that date until 1871 this church formed part of the Sunbury charge, 
and was served by the following ministers: Reverends P. Born, D. D., P. 
Rizer, M. Rhodes, D. D., and G. W. Hemperley; since 1871 it has 
constituted a separate charge, and the pastoral succession has been as 
follows: Rev. E. E. Berry, 1871 to April 1, 1876; E. B. Killinger, 
September, 1876, to August, 1884; J. A. Koser, January 1, 1885, to July 
31, 1888, and A. N. Warner, the present incumbent, who assumed charge on 
the 1st of December, 1888.
	The present church edifice, a substantial brick structure, was 
erected at a cost of eleven thousand dollars in pursuance of 
congregational action taken at a meeting on the 18th of November, 1877. 
The church numbers two hundred eighty communicant members; the Sunday 
school has a numerical strength of three hundred, and is superintended 
by Dr. J. W. Sheets.
	St. Mark's Protestant Episcopal Church.- Regarding the early 
families of Episcopal faith at Northumberland definite information is 
exceedingly meager. It seems probable that they were connected with 
Christ church at Milton, which was represented in the diocesan 
convention of 1794 by Bernard Hubley, an ex-Revolutionary officer and a 
man of prominence in military and business affairs at Northumberland. 
John P. De Gruchy and J. S. Haines, as Episcopalians, were members of 
the committee under which the union church was built in 1817-18, and 
after its completion a parish appears to have been organized under the 
name of St. John's with Rev. Elijah D. Plumb as rector. It seems more 
probable, however, that no organization was effected until 1847, when 
the present frame church building at the corner of Market and Second 
streets was erected. The parish was incorporated, August 17, 1860, upon 
petition of Henry Haas, Joseph Priestley, John Hilbert, John F. Kapp, 
George Merrick, Amos E. Kapp, M. J. D. Withington, and C. F. Little. 
From 1847 to 1870 it was connected with the Sunbury parish, and the 
succession of rectors was as follows: Rev. B. Wistar Morris, 1847-50; 
William B. Musgrave, 1850-51; William W. Montgomery, 1852-55; J. W. 
Gougler, 1856-59; Theophilus Riley, 1859; Lewis Gibson, 1860-66, and 
Charles H. Vandyne, 1867-69. Reverend Moore became the resident rector 
in 
	
	END OF PAGE 543 
	
1870; he was succeeded in 1872 by Rev. Charles G. Adams, who resigned in 
1875.  Since that date the parish has been vacant, although services 
have been occasionally rendered by the rector in charge of St. Matthew's 
at Sunbury. The church edifice was remodeled during Mr. Adams's 
administration.
	The Baptist Church was organized, July 7, 1842, as the result of a 
revival conducted by Reverends C. H. Hewit and Jesse Saxton; the 
constituent members were John Budd, Mary M. Budd, Sarah Garrison, 
William Reed, Rachel Reed, Catharine Miles, Ann Burke, Charity Burke, 
William Leighon, Augustus Leighon, Charles Morgan, Jesse Smith, Jacob 
Deatz, Brooks Epley, Washington Newbury, John Erlston, Mrs. Susan Deatz, 
Mary Smith, Elizabeth Smith, Margaret Smith, Susanna Smith, Susan Deatz, 
Elizabeth Erlston, Jane Hullihen, Ann Lesher, Mary Morgan, Deborah 
Wallace, Sophia Huff, Susanna Stamm, Elizabeth Dill, Harriet Waters, 
Sarah Watts, Susanna Newberry, Samuel Deatz, and Mary Ann Hullihen. The 
succession of pastors and supplies has been as follows:  Reverends C. H. 
Hewit, A. J. Hay, F. Bower, A. B. Still, J. Green Miles, George J. 
Brensinger, Caleb Davidson, Howard Malcom, Mr. Frear, George W. Folwell, 
Mr. Mitson, J. E. Lagebeer, A. L. More, A. C. Wheat, D. Williams, B. B. 
Henshey, W. J. Hunter, R. B. McDaniel, J. L. Miller, D. Trites, G. A. 
Peltz, L. W. Zeigler, George F. McNair, J. P. Tustin, and J. H. Haslam. 
Prior to the organization regular services were first held in 1822 by 
Rev. Henry Clark.
	Two lots at the corner of Queen and Second streets were deeded by 
Reuben Haines on the 29th of October, 1792, to Samuel Miles and Theodore 
Shields, trustees appointed by the Baptist church of Second street, 
Philadelphia, on the 5th of July, 1784. The first church building 
erected thereon was a one-story brick structure; it was superseded in 
1870, during the pastorate of Rev. J. Green Miles, by the present 
substantial brick edifice.
	
                              CEMETERIES

	 The cemeteries of Northumberland possess great historic interest. 
Lots were reserved at the founding of the town for the various religious 
denominations, and these were early used for burial purposes.  That of 
the Presbyterians is the largest in extent; among those interred here is 
Robert Crownover (born, December 7, 1755; died, October 29, 1846), the 
well known Revolutionary guide and scout; Joseph Haines (born, August 
15,, died, May 14, 1795), evidently a connection of the family by which 
the town plot was once owned, is buried in the rear of the Lutheran 
church; and many old families are here represented, while the number of 
mounds at which there is no legible tombstone attests the fact that 
interments were made in these burial grounds at an early period in the 
history of the West Branch valley. At the present time, the Catholic 
cemetery alone is inclosed and cared for it is to be regretted that 
public indifference has permitted the desecration of these hallowed 
spots.
	
	END OF PAGE 544 
	
	The Northumberland Cemetery Company was incorporated on the 26th of 
March, 1853; the corporators were Joseph R. Priestley, Daniel M. 
Brautigam, William H. Waples, Amos E. Kapp, William Forsyth, John 
Taggart, James Taggart, and Jesse C. Horton. The grounds, comprising 
twenty acres in the northeastern part of the borough, were laid out by 
Dr. R. B. McKay. The first president of the company was Joseph R. 
Priestley, the first vice-president, Jacob Leisenring, and first 
secretary and treasurer, Daniel M. Brautigam. The first board of 
managers, elected on the 6th of January, was composed of Joseph R. 
Priestley, Daniel M. Brautigam, Amos E. Kapp, Jesse C. Horton, William 
H. Waples, William T. Forsyth. and Jacob Leisenring. 
	
	END OF Chapter XV.