High Knob
Near Hillsgrove, PA
Gilbert W. Clarke Looking Out On the Mountains
Seven Counties are
Visible on a Clear Day
November 1988
Photo by Mike Clarke, His Son
Here further up the mountain slope
Than there was ever any hope,
My father built, enclosed a spring,
Strung chains of wall round everything,
Subdued the growth of earth to grass,
And brought our various lives to pass.
A dozen girls and boys we were.
The mountain seemed to like the stir,
And made of us a little while--
With always something in her smile.
Today she wouldn't know our name.
(No girl's, of course, has stayed the same.)
The mountain pushed us off her knees.
And now her lap is full of trees.
Robert Frost
1928
Dedication
Recognizing his sterling worth, the
friends he has made and kept through four score years of neighborly kindness to
Sullivan County’s homes, schools, churches, welfare projects, fraternities,
industries and to friends in joy and sorrow; this volume is affectionately
dedicated to the unselfish labor of
HON. BAYARD T.
MARTIN
Editor and Publish, Judge, Public
Servant, Churchman, Mason, Lion, Chamber of Commerce Leader, and brother in the
Universal Fraternity, the Fatherhood of God and the Brotherhood of Man.
Foreword
This volume is the cooperative effort of many authors. Its purpose is fourfold: to record the
history of Sullivan; to honor the sons and daughters who served in the armed
forces of all wars; to recognize the labors of citizens in public office and to
give belated recognition to all those who, without laud or fanfare, have
unselfishly devoted themselves to the promotion of business, industry,
churches, schools and other community enterprises of the county.
Between the lines, the reader may find etchings and masterpieces visible
only to himself. As the canvas of memory unrolls, it will present a massive
mural, depicting the ten thousand time ten thousand natural wonders of Sullivan
County, commonly known as the Heart of the Keystone State.
Friends in far distant places, denied the pleasure of breathing our
health, giving air and sharing the heart-warming hospitality of the heaven
blessed region, may scan these pages with mutual interest. Reflected from them is the true love of home
and kindred that finds its counterpart in all sections of our good land. For many, these pages may re-create home
scenes and family ties now shattered by the relentless march of time.
The discovery
of the “Sylvan Eden” is shrouded in mystery. It is reasonably presumed that it
remained part of the vast unexplored wilderness for perhaps two hundred
years. After the advent of the first
white men in Pennsylvania, title to this land was constantly disputed by wild
birds and beasts native to the region and roving bands of wild men; the
evidence of their presence indicates that there were a few temporary Indian
camping sites in what is now Sullivan County.
The finding of human skeletons, crude implements of war and domestic
life used by these early settlers, the arrow and spearheads, flint knife blades
and other relics found in recent years seem to make these conclusions at least
plausible.
A former resident, John
Snell Morgan, born and bred in Hillsgrove and descendant of a long line of
Snells, writes interestingly of Indians along the Sock; unearthing many
interesting facts. John quotes the
record of an Indian village occupied by Delawares, located near the mouth of
the Sock by the name of Ots-ton-wa-kin.
This village with all its people perished in 1748-- victims of a twin
disaster; smallpox and famine. Relics found after the lapse of two centuries
prove that warpaths converged here and imagination conjures prehistoric scenes
of blood and thunder. Camp sites of
size, but because of their isolation, of little importance existed where the
village of Hillsgrove stands and Indian habitations were located on both banks
of Elk Creek and on all farms in the Hillsgrove Valley also at Forksville and
Millview. Incomplete records indicate
that they were occupied in succession by the Susquehannas, Delawares, and
Iroquois.
The first white
settler in Sullivan County, in the year 1786, located his cabin near the mouth
of Ogdonia Creek on the site of an Indian camp ground then recently
vacated. This man, Dan Ogdens, a Tory,
left no permanent impression except the name of the Creek Ogdonia.
The late Fred C.
Rogers, Esq. of Forksville, recalls tradition handed down by generations of his
ancestors of visits by Indian vagrants who were always well received, fed and
blanketed down on the floor of the settlers’ cabins.
The first attempts to
explore and survey much of Sullivan County lands was made in 1793 to 1803 by
agents and surveyors of the French Royalists, who seemed to have sensed the
ultimate failure of this to create here a new France. When after ten years, the French settlers returned to their
native land, many areas were found unrecorded or claimed by speculators in
forest lands and resold to pioneer settlers, George Streby, in his excellent “History of Sullivan County”, published
in 1903, wrote fine biographies of most of these pioneers and their
families. Many of them and their
descendents have vanished from local life and are of interest to this record
only as ancestors of present residents.
Students of woodcraft
can easily imagine the hardship endured by early settlers in this primeval
forest; no roads, few streams navigable for canoes, small streams choked with
fallen timber and underbrush, narrow valleys filled with thickets of hemlock
and laurel, deep gorges, swamps and high mountains combined to impede their
progress. Providing food surely was a
problem since it could come only from the spontaneous productions of earth and
wild fish, fowl and game. All had to be
taken at the expenditure of labor and skill.
To the endurance and
perseverance of these ancestors and to the seven generations following them, we
of today enjoy, as our heritage, the blessings our bountiful land provides, and
the inherited traits of industry, thrift and initiative plainly marked by the
progress made in developing our natural resources.
Strangers in far away
places could ask former residents, prone to boast of this land of abundance in
health, beauty, sport, adventure and opportunity to grow basic food. “Where is this Utopia located?” this exile from home could well and
truthfully answer; “It is the heart of Pennsylvania. Wholly within its
boundaries are 434 sq. miles; 277,760 acres of Paradise with a valley altitude
of 800 feet above sea level that climbs to 2600 feet in its endless
mountains. A land of crystal streams,
superb vistas and an azure sky. The terrain crossed by paved highways and
crisscrossed by black top roads. The
land of hospitable homes, excellent hotels, motels, and commodious inns. A big outdoors where the active may find
thrills in the exciting chase of everything from ducks to bucks and the pensive
may relax, dream and drift. Here the
seriously minded can find the Great Architect of the Universe in the marvel and
wonder of his handiwork. This is
Sullivan County. To the permanent
resident, home; to the wanderer, a mystic valley of dreams and memories.”
SCENIC SULLIVAN
COUNTY
To search and set
order, the ten thousand times ten thousand natural beauties of Sullivan County
would require a lifetime of research, a million dollar expense account and a
battery of photographers. The net
result--a hundred volumes, too wordy to be of use.
There are
comparatively few locations where nature has bestowed her loveliness which have
taken to themselves names, worthy of record, in the memory of their
admirers. These names could become
landmarks on a scenic map, guiding tourists and natives to a better
understanding of mothers nature’s smiling moods. But once over the county line by any of the highways leading to
the heart of Pennsylvania, the tourist is so thrilled with the beauty of space
and sky, forest and farm, and the seasonal tints and shades, that names of
particular places are lost in the wonder of it all. Names are still of use in guiding the traveler on his way and
telling the historic value of the scene.
Let us follow the
course of the Loyalsock Creek and wonder, as other have done to the past. “What is the meaning of the name?” Out of the dim distance comes the memory of
a teacher telling his pupils in school that it is a contraction of an Indian
word meaning “Mad Water”;--who knows?
Its winding branches, Painter Den, Lopez, Pigeon, Santees, Rocky and
Marsh Creeks forming the extreme eastern watershed., come together near Lopez
and start the Big Sock rolling on its way; picking up the waters of Glass,
Birch and Mill Creek, with the waters of Lake Mokoma, Shanersburg and Rusty Run
before joining the North Fork or Little Sock at Forksville. This sister stream rises near the northeast
county line above Dushore, bringing in the waters of Black Lick and several
unnamed runs. All help to make the Big
Sock bigger and more beautiful as it sweeps on majestically for fifteen miles
to the county line, carrying the added power of Joe’s Run, Elk Creek, King’s Creek, Hoagland Branch, Slab Run,
Mill Creek, Huckles Run, Dry Run, Kettle Creek, Ogdonia and Rock Run, finally
loosing itself in the bosom of the Susquehanna at Montoursville. Muncy Creek drains the southwestern section,
being fed by Elk Run, Long Brook, and the outlet to Eagles Mere Lake and its
branches--Bully and Mosey Runs, Big Run and Elk Lick Run.
Mehoopany and Kitchen
Creek touch the southeastern boundary and take their share of Sullivan’s waters
which keep alive 75,000 acres of unspoiled forest. Through uncounted years the streams have dug into the endless Allegheny Mountains. They have added inches in ages to the width
of the valleys and altitude to the summits, working by a master plan to
beautify the vast mural as a whole without forming uncouth shapes and
monstrosities such as are found in the Dakota Badlands or in Colorado’s Garden
of the Gods. These streams abound in
trout, bass and other game fish, making them an “angler’s paradise” amid a
succession of deeps and shallows, of eddys and waterfalls, the beauty of which
is beyond description.
Endless mountains are
named but identifying them by locality is difficult because they blend so
perfectly that is hard to determine where one leaves off and the other
begins. Big North Mountain stands
alone, winning for itself an individuality.
Hunters find deer, bear, and smaller game in larger numbers than in any
comparable area east of the Rocky Mountain.
The Keystone State
cooperates with her citizens living in Pennsylvania’s Heart by creating
vacation areas that, once visited, call the tourist back many times with his
invited guests to share the delights of valleys, streams and mountains. The various attractions are so diversified
and so near that several can be visited on a weekend and all covered leisurely
in a season.
Without sparing
expense or saving distance, highways are routed to include these scenic wonders
and the Department of Forests and Waters ministers to the comforts of guests
without added cost. In this connection,
the Sonestown-LaPorte Highway was extended by the State Secretary of Highways, Paul E. Wright, to include Wrights
View at an added cost of $50,000. On
this broad, safe pavement thousands pause annually in breath-taking awe to
study this ten league picture--Lake Mokoma, and the altitude at LaPorte, the
smallest and highest courthouse and the prison with the least number of
inmates. At LaPorte the most unique legal document in America can be seen, a
square mile of land deeded to God Almighty.
Over a smooth upgrade
highway, sheltered by dense forest growth and beautified by maidenhair fern,
the ghost of God’s Country, a celestial city now off the map, may be
visited. Eagles Mere, in the past an
exclusive resort of wealth and culture, now opens its arms and welcomes the
overnight tourists and the season visitor with the same genial hospitality. Natural attractions are so numerous and yet
so rare in beauty that time is required to fully appreciate their value. Many can be visited only by forest paths. A summer season is needed to do full justice
to Eagles Mere. The chief attraction is
the Lake of the Eagles, a glacier-formed pothole, three fourths of a mile long
and one third of a mile wide. It has no
visible inlet and is sixty feet deep filled with ever-changing water, so pure
that fish do not live in it and no underwater vegetation thrives. Here all water sports--bathing, swimming and
boating in summer; skating and skiing in winter, and at one time they had a
toboggan slide across the thick ice of the lake. There is also a place for children to play in safety in the
crystal sands or the shallow waves.
Leaving the beaches and coming back to each boat landing, one finds
himself walking on a wide safe forest path two miles in length and bordered by
mountain laurel and rhododendron. The
most amusing and exciting feature of this floral ramble is the fate man’s
squeeze, a narrow defile between giant boulders. Other forest paths marked by arrows--red, green, white and blue,
lead to beauty spots and the Wenonah Trail which follows the waters of the lake
down the mountain and to three waterfalls of unsurpassed beauty and a
fairy-like mossy glen. The Wenonah
Trail can be traversed only on foot and is an all-day excursion, calling for
rough clothing and stout shoes.
Wenonah Falls
Near
Eagles Mere, PA
Undated Old Postcard
Issued by Ye Sweet Shop
Contributed by Scott Tilden
Source: eBay Auction in February 2011
Motorists may leave
Eagles Mere by several routes, all picturesque beyond the average power of
description. The skyline trail down the
mountain to Muncy Valley skirts a gigantic bowl of forest and farms brings
travelers to the Keystone Observatory. Here an eye-filling view into ten counties
must be seen to be appreciated.
Keystone Observatory
Route 42 Between
Eagles Mere and Muncy Valley
2141 Feet Above Sea Level
Airline View of 90 Miles with Radial view of 450 Miles
Built in the 1930s
Issued by Dexter Press
Contributed
by Scott W. Tilden
Source: An Old RPPC Post Card Mailed from Wyalusing PA in 1939
From an eBay Auction in January 2014
The Rock Run Road leads to a natural scenic
marvel, Ticklish Rock. Few tourists and
visitors dare approach this boulder, which has rocked for ages on its perilous
perch. Still, in the Sullivan
Highlands, motorists may take the black top road north to World’s End. This place of former isolation has been
transformed by the State Recreational Department into a grotto of grandeur,
filled with mystery trails into realms where cares and troubles end; here
humans join the fish in the invigorating waters of the Loyalsock and to find in
spirit the real fountain of youth.
Let us stop to learn
something of this State Park with its intriguing name “World’s End”. Its name, its history, its purpose, its
care.
The origin of the
name is in doubt. Tradition tells that
travelers overlooking the steep sides of the valley from an abandoned road, now
a trail sensed the danger of sliding over the brink and exclaimed that it would
be the “end of the world”. Another story
is that when surveyors were locating a road up the Sock in 1820, coming to the
natural bridge abutment formed where the swimming pool is now located, they
looked across the swollen stream and remarked that they had come to the
“world’s end”. Much controversy arose
when highbrows in the Geographic Board attributed the formation of the valley
to glacier action, stating that at this point the mass ceased whirling and that
the name “whirl’s end” was more appropriate.
Present residents of the county discarded this theory, stating their
doubts as to whether pioneer settlers had any knowledge of glaciers.
Old maps made from surveys made by U. Bind in 1887 called the place “World’s End”. After long-drawn arguments the Geographic
Board surrendered gracefully and the name “World’s End State Forest Park” was
accepted. The present name is popular
and a drawing card with visitors to the State Park
Editor's Note:Here is what the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources had to say in 2015 about the
controversial periodic naming of the park as "Whirls End". A map from 1872 called the area Worlds End.
An article from July 20, 1935, by W.S. Swingler, Assistant District Forester of Wyoming State Forest, now
Loyalsock State Forest, addressed the topic. He noted that some people called it Worlds End, others
Whirl’s Glen, and still others Whirls End. The first name arose from the topography of the place.
Seven mountain ranges converge on the point and one does receive the sensation of being at the
ultimate ends of the earth. The proponents of the second name base their claim upon the whirlpool
in the Loyalsock Creek and the third name was probably a contraction of the other two.
Since the whirlpool largely disappeared, it was decided that the name Worlds End would be the
most appropriate. Hence, the name Worlds End State Forest Park. In 1936, a letter campaign caused
the park name to be changed to Whirls End. Another letter campaign forced the matter to be brought
to the former State Geographic Board, which supervised the official naming of places. The name was
changed back to Worlds End in 1943.
Editor's Note: Here are three 1941 postcards that give us a good
impression of what Whirls End *, as it was still called then,
looked at the
time:
Historically, the
Park idea came with the depression in 1932 when C.C.C. camps were located in
the area. Their work disclosed the
possibility of locating a state park here under the supervision of Wm.
Swingler, district forester at that time, and John Annable, first forest
ranger. District foresters are men of
talent and trained in scientific branches of their calling. All forest rangers and park superintendents
are graduates of the Great School of Nature and lovers of their work in the big
outdoors. District rangers and park
superintendents are on the same level of authority. The World’s End State
Park and Loyal Sock Canyon Vista are the largest recreation areas in Sullivan
County. The management is under
supervision of the Dept. of Forest and Waters, with district offices in
Bloomsburg, Pa. The park was opened
to the public as a recreation area in 1934 and grew in popularity with each
succeeding season. The total for the
1952 season beginning April 1 and ending December 15, end of hunting season totaled by count of car capacity 80,000,
and this does not include moonlight excursions and evening picnics of which no
count is made of cars. Weekends and
holidays attendance of 8,000 people is not unusual, always more than the parks
can accommodate. Undeveloped facilities
can and, no doubt, will supply this need in the future. The attractions
include swimming, rustic cabins, camping, picnic tables and fireplaces with
wood provided. Hiking over well-marked
trails, one leading to the overlook, where from an elevation of 2.200 feet the
Loyal Sock Canyon Vista stretches in the near distance, give thrills that pen
or brush cannot imitate. It can be noted that
all facilities of the park are free to all visitors; the few necessary
restriction are seldom abused. Sullivan County’s
citizens are justly proud of two lasting memorials modestly placed where three
men toiled with hands and brain to give pleasure and inspiration to thousands
of natives and visiting friends who are inspired by the visible results of
their labor. No tribute, however
eloquently spoken, could add to the truth recorded on the bronze plaques
permanently set in native boulders in Workd’s End Forest State Park and on High
Knob; no word picture can portray the silent grandeur of these two recreation
areas, to the development of which these two men gave the best years of their
lives. THE WORLD’S END MEMORIAL 1866 - 1932 A. Lincoln Cox--first
Sullivan County game protector--conservationist--nature
lover--philosopher--created respect for game laws--developed desire for
conservation of natural resources--was a friend to all who knew him. 1878 - 1940 John Annables--first
Sullivan County forest ranger. His
untiring efforts are reflected in the development of World’s End Park. His work as a forest ranger and
conservationist bear tribute to his memory.
Both men were faithful and trustworthy servants of the public; by
nature, lovers of wild life and forests and firmly believed in their
conservation. This tablet was erected
and dedicated to their memory October 15, 1941 by their many friends. Eleven miles down
this enchanting valley we turn left passing the Dry Run area--no, not passing,
we will pause long enough to view the picnic spot that frequently receives the
overflow of visitors to World’s End.
Here, too, are conveniences, but without attendants. It was formerly the
site of a C.C.C. camp and is on the direct road to High Knob where we will
presently stand. By a gentle grade,
without changing gears, we drive to the top of the mountain--top of the world,
it seems, --and stand on High Knob.
Greet billows of mountains roll silently across the deep green of forest
below us. Here the Maker of the
firmament meets his people face to face and none can stand on this eminence and
doubt His eternal presence. In truth this
is the mountain top of scenic Sullivan’s highlands. The charm of these
vacation areas lies in the fact that the beauties are natural and are kept as
Nature made them. Look! Here is another memorial. THE
HIGH KNOB MEMORIAL In memory of Sumner
Frances McCarty, First Forest Ranger 1930 to 1950, Wyoming and Sullivan County
State Forests. Lover of out doors;
philosopher; friend; faithful public servant.
Erected by the host of friends July 15, 1951. John Annables and
Sumner McCarty were cousins and life long friends. Their bodies lie with their kindred in the quiet Friends Cemetery
near the place where they were born.
Sumner McCarty loved High Knob.
John Annables regarded World’s End State Park as a house by the side of life’s
road. Both memorials are placed amid
scenes they loved. Under
the wide and starry sky Deep in their graves they lie. Nobly they wrought, nor feared they
to die, But laid themselves down with a will. This be our prayer for lives as
such: Lowly and loving, may we be as much; Lofty in aim; common in touch, And home at the end by the hill. Everything seen after
this, if taken the same day, would be an anticlimax. Fortunately, there will be tourists cabins for overnight and
later days to visit Mill Creek Glen and numerous western Sullivan cataracts,
Lincoln Falls among them. The north road from Shunk to Eldredsville, past Fox
Township, Piatt, Elk Lake and Camp Brule brings scenes that are like a
condensed Far West. The Elklands and
Forks townships residents are both hospitable and courteous to tourists. The several roads to Dushore are all scenic
but around Mildred and Bernice the barren coal lands and cut over timber wastes
make a somber contrast to the foregoing grandeur. A longer drive may
include Lake Ganoga, 2267 feet above sea level. It is the highest lake east of the Mississippi. If we continue to Ricketts Glen, just north
across the county line, we realize, having seen Sullivan County, north, east,
south and west, that it well deserves the name it has often been called, the
Switzerland of America. This, friend and
neighbor, is your invitation to share the joy of good things in Sullivan County
with its permanent residents, all of whom are deeply appreciative and
reverently thankful for the acres of diamonds of health and happiness to be
found in their own back yards. HISTORICAL
OUTLINE OF PENNSYLVANIA’S SULLIVAN COUNTY By Mildred Lundy Nestled among the
mountains of northeastern Pennsylvania there lies 458 square miles of fertile
rolling fields, large green forests and breathtaking scenery, dotted here and
there with sparkling lakes, swift-funning streams and well-kept farm
buildings. This area, which is known as
Sullivan County, lies 1500 to 2500 feet above the sea between the north and
west branches of the Susquehanna River. The first settlers to
come into the “highlands” that was to become Sullivan County were Daniel Ogden
and James Ecroyd. They settled at the
present site of Hillsgrove in 1785, about sixty years before the county was organized. John Hill settled in the same region four
years later. Soon a number of others
began to migrate to the same area. A
few of these were Colonel Hepburn, Captain William Gray, Colonel Cooke, T.
Cooper, Robert Martin, Brady, Boyd and Haines.
There is an unproven story that an early attempt to settle in the wilds
of Sullivan County was made by a group of French Royalists who had escaped to
America during the French Revolution and bought 200,000 acres of land, 100,000
of which were along the banks of the Loyalsock, but the project was abandoned
when the French Revolution was ended and the Frenchmen returned to their own
country. In the early 1790’s
much land comprising the county was bought from the government by Samuel Wallis
of Muncy and Joseph Priestley, the discoverer of oxygen. After his father’s death Joseph Priestly,
Jr. bought some more of the land from Wallis.
He sent William Molyneaux, Powell Bird and John Warren to the Forks of
the Loyalsock in 1794 where they founded the first permanent settlement in the
county, called Millview. In 1794
Charles Walstoncraft bought the rest of Samuel Wallis’ land and later the same
year sold 10,217 acres located on top of a mountain and including a lake to George
Lewis of Philadelphia. The first effort to
organize the county, which failed, was made in 1820 when George Lewis, Edward
J. Eldred, William King and William Molyneaux, assisted by Joseph Priestley,
Jr., led a campaign to have a bill enacted by the state legislature which would
have included the county in all of its present territory and part of Lycoming
County. It was to be called Lewis
County, and the county seat was to have been Mount Lewis, the present Eagles
Mere. Finally, on March 15, 1847, by
act of the state legislature Sullivan County was organized from part of
Shrewsbury Township, Lycoming County.
The county was named for Charles C. Sullivan, a state senator from
Butler County, not for General Sullivan who fought the Indians, as many people
believe. At the present time there are
nine townships, only four small boroughs and many small, almost tiny, towns
which are scattered throughout the county. Shrewsbury Township,
one of the original five townships, was organized in 1803, by an act of the
Lycoming County Court. It was named for
a town in New Jersey that had been the original home of the Lewis and Bennett
families. In 1803 George Lewis
bought 30,000 acres located in Shrewsbury Township. Included in this tract was a clear, sparkling lake perched on the
very top of a mountain. It was first
called Lewis Lake and is now Eagles Mere Lake.
George Lewis built a glass works in 1808 beside Lewis Lake because of
the quantities of white sand available there.
The glass works was bought by John J. Adams in 1831, who, in turn,
leased it to Thomas Wells and Edward Grundy Lyon. It changed ownership several times after that until it was closed
in 1845 because of a lack of adequate transportation for the product. The borough of Lewis Lake was incorporated
by Shrewsbury Township April 20, 1899. Later the name was changed to Eagles
Mere, which means “lake of the eagles”, because of its location on the top of a
mountain. It is now a large and
beautiful resort in summer and a ghost town in winter, with only a few
permanent year-round resident families. Elkland township was
set off from Shrewsbury Township in 1804 by the Lycoming County Court and was
named for the many elk found in the region by the earlier settlers. It was in this region that Joseph Priestley,
Jr. settled and James Ecroyd built a grist mill in 1800. The Township contains several small towns,
one of the largest being Estella, but no boroughs. The first settler in
the present Cherry Township was Amos Ellis in 1816. Two years later Andrew Shiner built a sawmill on Birch Creek and
settled at what is now Sugar Hill. The
next few years brought John Lopez, Samuel Dill, William Colley, William Potter,
Charles Scott and the Hicks brothers, all to Sugar Hill. In May 1824, Cherry
Township was organized by the Court of Lycoming County. It was taken from the eastern end of
Shrewsbury Township and was supposed to have been named for the abundance of
wild cherry trees found throughout the area.
It comprises an area of 36,000 acres and lies in the northern part of
the county. Cherry Township has the
distinction of being the wealthiest township in the county, with its
agricultural output exceeding all other products. Nearly all of the coal found in the county is located in this
township. It has one borough and several
towns within its borders. Dushore, the largest
borough in the county was first settled by John Mosier in 1825. He owned most of the land upon which the
town now stands, This settlement was
first called Moshier Hollow and later Jackson Hollow until Josiah Jackson named
it Dushore, a corrupted form of its real founder’s name Aristide Aubert
Dupetit-Thouars, exile from the French Revolution. Dushore was incorporated from Cherry Township in 1859 by the Sullivan
County Court. Mildred and Bernice, two
small towns in the township, are separated only by a tiny stream and are
considered by the people as being practically one. Bernice is a mining town which was built by the railroad and
named in honor of Mrs. Bernice Jackson, one of the leading women of the
section. Satterfield, formerly Dohm’s
Summit, was named for John Satterfield of Buffalo, N. Y. and is a very small
today, though it was once much larger.
There are many other named hamlets becoming smaller and smaller with the
passage of time. Forks Township was
organized in 1832 by the Lycoming County Court and was named for the forks of
the Big Loyalsock and the Little Loyalsock, which are within its borders. It was in this territory that an Indian
fighter, Captain Brown settled in 1789, and Priestley sent his three settlers
to found Millview in 1800. Forks
Township, economically, is agricultural and has few towns, the three largest
being Millville, Campbellville and Vought’s Corners. Forksville, one of
the four boroughs of the county, is located in the township. The first permanent residents of Forksville
were William Molyneaux, John Warren and Powell Bird in 1800. In 1810 the Rogers brothers built a woolen
mill here. Forksville continued to grow and was incorporated from Forks Township
December 22, 1880 by the Lycoming County Court. The borough received its name from the fact that it is located at
the forks of the two Loyalsock Creeks.
For several years it was the shipping center for the glass which was
manufactured at Lewis Lake and other products manufactured in the Loyalsock
Valley. It is one of the two oldest
towns in the county. David Richart,
Colonel Derr and Nathan Howell on a hunting trip in 1808, found a fertile
valley at the base of North Mountain.
They returned with their families and were the first settlers in the
present Davidson Township. Located in the southeastern section of the county,
Davidson was organized in 1833 by the Lycoming County Court and was named for
Thomas Asher Davidson of Jersey Shore, an associate judge of the court. This township contains some of the most
beautiful scenery found in Pennsylvania.
Once the center of a large tanning industry, it is now important in
agriculture and lumbering. Fox Township,
organized in September 1939 by the Lycoming County Court, was the first settled
in 1800 by Phineas Bond. In 1803 Joseph
Hoagland came to the same region. It
was named for Samuel M. Fox of Philadelphia, a descendent of George Fox,
founder of the sect of Quakers, the faith to which most of the earliest
settlers belonged. Fox Township is
agricultural and has only two towns of any size. Those are Shunk and Wheelerville. The first settlers in
Hillsgrove Township were Daniel Ogden, 1786, and James Ecroyd. It was organized in 1847 from Shrewsbury
Township, Lycoming County, as Plunketts Creek until 1856 when it was named for
John Hill, one of the earliest settlers in the county. It contains one fairly small town,
Hillsgrove. Hugh Bellas, of
Sunbury, made the first attempt to settle permanently in what is now Colley Township, at Shady Nook in 1813. By 1823 the Housewarts and Lees had settled
there too, and it became known as Lee Settlement. Colley Township was organized
in 1849 by the court of Sullivan
County and was named for William Colley, one of the pioneer settlers. It was settled mainly by the Germans and
therefore, most of its residents today are of German descent. Colley Township raises much grain and is a
lumbering center. Lopez, in Colley
Township was named for John R. Lopez, a contractor. It was originally called Tar Bridge and was first settled in 1886
by J. S. Hoffa who built a sawmill at the site. Ricketts, another small town in the township was started in 1891
and is divided by the county line. Laporte Township was
organized in 1850, when the new county seat was located within its
borders. It was formed from parts of
Cherry, Davidson and Shrewsbury Townships.
It was named after the county seat which was in turn named for John
Laporte, who as a surveyor general of the state used his influence to have the
county organized and to have the county seat at its present site. Laporte borough was
incorporated in 1853, and the earliest settlers at the site were German,
Michael Meylert, in 1850, laid out a plan for LaPorte and gave the land for the
town, It is the smallest county seat in the Commonwealth and the only one which
does not publish a newspaper. Lake
Mokoma *, surrounded by summer cottages,
is within the town limits.
* Editor's Note: The Lake Mokoma Boat Company took over ownership of the Lake in 1908. Most of
the original 33 stockholders were friends and neighbors of the purchaser, Charles Pennock of Kennett Square, PA. The Company publicized the
Lake in an attempt to sell land, but only sold 12 lots between 1909 and 1926. Despite that, the Company launched a new 50 foot motor boat,
the Clinton Lloyd, and successfully operated the Lake enterprise for 18 years until 1926. On November 16, 1926, as a result of
heavy rains and melting snow, a 35 foot breach was created in the earthen dam holding in the lake. The Lake was not in service during 1927 and 1928,
effectively bringing the Lake Mokoma Company to an end. You can find many additional online resources describing the subsequent history of the Lake, In 2015, the Lake was onwed by the
Lake Mokoma Association. The Township also has
several small towns and settlements including Celestia, a square mile of land
settled in 1864 by a religious group who were awaiting the end of the
world. Peter Armstrong, who owned the
land deeded it to God when he dies, but God didn’t pay his taxes so the land
was sold by the county to Peter Armstrong’s descendants. As we see it Sullivan
County, though small, is rich in historical background. It also has much undeveloped wealth. At the present time it is an agricultural
county with lumbering the second most important product. There is an abundance of hardwood even now,
though lumbering has been a major industry for nearly a century. In the 1860’s there were several tanneries
in the county but these passed out in the 1920’s and only their memory and an
occasional stone wall remains. There are only 21
industrial establishments in the county, the larger ones being Weldon Textile,
the shoe factory, milk plant, and reel factory. Collectively, these 21 industries employ only 555 people. There is a small amount of free-burning
anthracite coal mined in the county.
Geologists say there are veins of copper and other ore running
underneath the county. There is also a
possibility of the presence of oil, and though nothing was found, there was a
well drilled in 1951. The county has one
newspaper, the Sullivan Review, published by B. T. Martin in Dushore. It was founded in 1878 by A. B. Bowman. The state owns 75,000
acres of land in the county, used as both game refuge and tourists spots. The scenery found in Sullivan County is
unsurpassed, with such scenic wonders as Canyon Vista, Ticklish Rock, North
Mountain, High Knob and Celestia to prove the point. Yes, Sullivan County
may be small, but it is mighty and will become mightier as it is developed by
the modern, pioneer-spirited inhabitants. ________________________________________________________________________ Bibliography Brugler, Milton A. (ed.) Sullivan
County Endless Mountains, Williamsport: Grit Publishing
Co., 1928 Egle, William Henry The History of Pennsylvania, Boston:
Pub. 1936 Godcharles, Fredrick A.
Chronicles of Central Pennsylvania, Harrisburg: Lewis Historical
Publishing Co. 1944 Ingham, Thomas J. History of Sullivan County, Harrisburg:
Lewis Publishing Co. 1899 Meginnes, John F. History of Sullivan County, (No Date
Found) Original Manuscript Streby, George, History of Sullivan County, Dushore:
Sun Gazette Printing Co., 1903 ________________________________________________________________________ DAME NATURE
GAVE HER BLESSING Pioneers of Sullivan
County were agriculturally minded. They
came into this region with little of the world’s goods; worked on government
contracts, building roads that followed Indian trails, receiving half their
wages in government land which sold at $2.00 a acre. Large tracts had previously been sold to French Royalists and
reverted to federal ownerships when abandoned.
Small down payments were made on large tracts; the balance to be paid
seems to have been no handicap to German, English, and Irish pioneers. The mingling of their blood produced a class
of citizens--patriotic, sturdy, upright and honest. The fertile lands of
the valleys produced, under primitive cultivation, food for their families and
their small flocks and herds. The
pine-clad hills gave winter employment in the cutting and sawing of
lumber. Mountain streams gave power to
rudely constructed saw and grist mills.
The sale of the surplus products of field and forest was used in payment
of debts to the state. Thus, permanent
title was acquired and held through the years by their descendants. It is a far cry from
the days of the home-forged sickle, scythe and wooden rake, ox-drawn plows and
sledges, mattocks, spades and crude hoes; flintlock muskets, candles, spinning
wheels and hand looms, knitting needles and goose quill pens with which our
forefathers laid the foundations the hard way for steam shovels, bulldozers,
tractors, mechanical planters, bailers, combines, milking machines and
creameries, electric fences, plumbing and modern conveniences in our homes,
automobiles, paved highways, centralized high schools, and community churches
of today and the vanished giant industries of lumbering, tanning and mining of
yesterday. The story of this
century-and-a-half of progress from tomahawks to television is written into the
history of America’s greatness, and no section abounds with more romance of
labor and sacrifice to their fellow man than was contributed by Sullivan County’s
sons of the soil. Her grass roots
citizenry are and, of need, always will be the cornerstone of national solidity
and the living spring, the source of human progress. Kinship with land has ever bred in humanity a natural sense of
liberty, independence, tolerance, faith and reverence that gives to agriculture
and animal husbandry a dignity that lifts men and women so employed to the high
plane of nature’s noblemen. With pride in their
achievements we list the results of their labor in food products and raw
material for the present year. Tabulated facts would
make dry reading if the record of brain and brawn expended in human toil and
the resulting happiness to five hundred and thirty farm families in Sullivan
County did not add luster to every item recorded by the Pennsylvania Department
of Agriculture. “The average size of
the farm cultivated is 142.1 acres; totaling 75,313 acres in production. Value of crops in 1950 was $8,195,070,
averaging $108.90 per acre.” These
figures taken from the 1950 census report do not include the new source of
income from two hundred acres of peas grown as an experiment by twenty-five
progressive farmers--the average yield, one and one-fourth tons per acre. Grain and fruit crops
listed are corn, wheat, oats, barley, rye, buckwheat, potatoes, hay and apples,
with no estimate of vegetables, pears, plums, peaches, cherries, berries of all
kinds-- wild and cultivated, and grapes; all adding to the food supply and
finding a ready market. Flowers are not grown
commercially but are cultivated by every farm and home owner in the county and
are a great source of pride,
Wildflowers are protected by sane conservation laws. Animal husbandry
accounts for 7,400 cattle and calves valued at $1,361,600. Of these 4,550 are milk cows valued at
$1,105,650, or about $243 a head. Swine---1080 value $ 28,510 each $26.00 Sheep---1470 “ 27,200 “ 18.50
Chickens---72,900 “ 128,460 “
1.06 Milk Production “ 1,084,160 25,271,840 lbs. Eggs---763,180
dozen “ 294,470 doz.
.40 Wool---8780 lbs. “ 4,130 lb.
.48 Honey---21,080
lbs. “ 4,850 “ .24 If these entries
represented net profits from Sullivan County farms, our forests would banish
and every inch of land would be grabbed by fortune hunters invading our soil in
numbers exceeding the western gold rush days.
However, the expense of productions and distribution, fertilizer and
every rising taxes, the cost of new farm machinery and gasoline, reduce profit
materially though enough is left to provide conveniences and luxuries of which
the pioneers preceding us never dreamed.
These modern aids include electricity and electrical appliances,
telephones, radio and television, running water and bathrooms, heating systems
in our home and all kinds of farm machinery--442 cars, 187 trucks, 270
tractors, 156 gasoline engines. Comparatively few
horses are in use on farms and in lumbering.
The equipment needed for their use is fast becoming museum pieces. Writers of history are prone to hark back to
the good old days and compare pas and present values. In this effort, it seems more practical to let the past bury its
dead and enjoy the hospitality of present makers of history; bringing to the
printed page, evidence of debts owed, not to the past alone but to present and
future pioneers facing unknown adventures in a rapidly changing world. We find in the new
construction of farm and home buildings, modern and improved lines, but in the
substantially built homes inherited, little exterior change. The interiors
blend into the new order but the home atmosphere of neighborly kindness has
neither needed nor experienced any noticeable change. In labor and sacrifice contributed to the common good, freely
given by all our citizens, the farm families give until it hurts; neither
receiving or expecting public acclaim for their service. Leaders in the varied
activities fostered by agriculture and its branches are numerous. In fact, nearly every farmer is a specialist
in his line--ready and willing to aid neighbors with knowledge gained by
experience. Several, outstanding in
their service both to agriculture and the general public, merit honorable
mention far beyond local limits. The late Horatio
Alger would have enjoyed writing the story of a recent pioneer family in
Sullivan County, whose exploits in accidentally developing a business
enterprise that succeeded far beyond their fondest dreams would bring him face
to face with an experience in which truth is stranger than fiction. Noticing on the
outskirts of Dushore Borough, a collection of neat and orderly buildings,
painted green, and flanked by streets of outdoor runs and sheds, and seeing
thousands of pure white hens active upon a two acre plot, motorists comment
upon the size and scope of this industrial plant and would doubt the true
statement that in the space of eighteen years this plant and modern dwelling
are from a flock of twelve back yard hens and the perseverance of a determined
wife and mother to provide a living for her family, her husband having met with
a serious and nearly fatal accident under a fall of rock in the Forksville coal
mines. A long year of pain and suffering and slow regaining of health prevented
his return to his former job and kept the Souto family on the trail of their
success. Mr. Souto laughs away the
memory of the soul-trying days of adversity, Mrs. Souto refers to this period
in her life in terms of “The Egg and I.” In 1920, while in his
teens, Manuel Souto, a Spanish youth, left his native land for Cuba where he
labored for four years. He then went to
New York, landing in 1924. Hearing that
laborers were needed in the Pennsylvania hard coal mines, he came to Jessup,
Pa., where he met and married Miss Frances Shenuski of Throop, whose parents
came from Lithuania. The Soutos came to
Dutch Mountain and later to Forksville, where the accident occurred December
17, 1934, soon after they had purchased their modes home and two acres of land
in Dushore and before the birth of their eldest son. Meager compensation
insurance and the twelve hens, five of which were kept in incubation, was their
sole income. In 1947, a small incubator
was purchased for $69. This equipment
has grown into a plant of 15,000 capacity, with air-conditioned buildings housing
3300 egg produces. Fifty thousand
broilers are sold annually from twelve to fourteen thousand are available at
all times. The big wooden buildings
were constructed from salvaged lumber from unused breakers and empty miner’s
homes at Bernice. Mr. and Mrs. Souto
doing the carpentry, with no outside labor used, the family caring for every
detail and with neighbors willing and eager to clean the building for the
valuable fertilizer which is never allowed to accumulate. Cost of fuel for the
central heating plant is $6,000 per year and daily cost of grain is over $100. The hatching machinery and brooder equipment
cost more than $25.000. The plant is under
regular Federal inspection and is given high rating for sanitation and
efficiency. Asked for a estimate
of the value of the plant, Mr. And Mrs. Souto replied “It is not for sale.
Perhaps if we ever grow old, we may sell”.
Their youthful appearance and enjoyment of the music of their talented
sons would place the infirmities of age for them a long way in the future. Mr. Souto is a Thirty-Second Degree Mason,
an enthusiastic member of the Chamber of Commerce and proud of his American
citizenship. The family, by the
warm-hearted courtesy and friendliness have won a high place in community life. The adverse criticism
hurled against government bureaus in many section of our country, citing the
political patronage they create, may be justly merited, but in Sullivan County
the honest efforts of citizens employed by state and federal projects are a
source of pride to the men and women so employed, and to citizens and strangers
who profit from the work they do so well. Pride in their locality and the fact
that their jobs mean security for their families may help, but mutual respect
and faith in the motive of those who labor and those in authority builds morale
and gets things done. Leading the list of
citizens bringing agricultural interests to the high position occupied by local
tillers of the soil through the years are the farm agents and their office
workers. Under the name of the Farm Bureau, this service started in the Fall of
1917. The foundation was built on an
organization known as the Sullivan County Agricultural Society which fostered
the Sullivan County Fair and with groups of interested farm families held
farmer’s instituted and small agricultural meetings in cooperation with the
Farmers Alliance and the patrons of Husbandry through three decades. The Bureau met opposition from a group of
citizens who evidently placed a wrong conception upon its motives. Under the sponsorship of the Pennsylvania
State College, a group of farm leaders and their wives raised funds for
emergency use, and an office was established at Dushore in 1918; for its
maintenance the County Commissioners allotted the sum of $50,00 monthly. Paul Korb was appointed by State College as the first Farm Agent, serving
until 1920. He was succeeded by Raymond
Waltz, who was called to a bigger and better paying position in 1924. The service has grown in popularity and
use. Eugene Hamill assumed leadership
and the Bureau name was changed to Agricultural Extension Association. In 1927, J. Walter Learn accepted the
appointment and established his home in Dushore, giving eleven years of
undivided attention and service to a cause which was his ideal. His foresight and energy made the Association indispensable to all citizens of
Sullivan County and removed the last opposition. A talented musician, he endeared himself to the youth by helping
whenever their bands needed his assistance.
His service is remembered and his untimely death in 1948 mourned by all
who knew his sterling worth. It can
well be said of him: Gone, but not forgotten. His worthy successor,
W. H. Gregory, vocational agricultural teacher in the Sonestown High School,
later instructor in the G. I. Agricultural Training Program, was already known
and respected before assuming the duties and responsibilities to which he
became heir. Carrying forward the
policies of his predecessor and introducing improvements, under his management
the office as part of the Pennsylvania State College Extension Service, has won
the confidence of all branches of agriculture as a teaching service; in
demonstrating better ways of doing things on farms; better varieties of seeds;
of fertilizers; and better farm practices in general, with instruction by
specialists from State college. The
service has changed the county life from dependence on manufacturing to a just
appreciation of agricultural pursuits as the leading dependable industry of the
county. In recent years
notable progress has resulted in the grassland type of farming necessary to the
rapidly growing dairy industry, --scientific application of methods in rotation
of pasturage and better quality of hay, grass and legumes. The Extension Service
enters all phases of farm life particularly in the breed and breeding of dairy
and beef cattle, both natural and artificial.
Also the care, adjustments and use of farm machinery, in which dealers
cooperate. The over-all
extension program includes Home Economics.
This valuable service grew from small beginnings in 1922 when Mrs.
Blanche Coit from State College spent alternate weeks in the Extension office
in Dushore. Her work was not connected with High School programs. She reached her pupils through
demonstrations and meetings with youth through 4-H Clubs and adult rural groups
of women. Since she left in 1935, an
extension representative has been available at all times. It is stressed that the entire extension
program is education in which rural dwellers are encouraged to help themselves
through organization and cooperation.
The kind greeting and cheerful service of office assistants through the
years has contributed to the efficiency of the service. The following well remembered names merit
recognition in records of Extension achievements: HOME ECONOMICS
EXTENSION REPRESENTATIVES
Miss Mary K Rissinger
1935-1941
Miss Geraldine Cornish
1941-1944
Miss June Mertz 1944-1947
Miss Mary Metzer
1947-1949
Miss Mary Musser
1949-1952
Miss Josephine DeRaymond 1952-
OFFICE SECRETARIES:
Agnes Carroll Saxer 1920-1928
Madelyn Foley 1928-1929
Mildred Murphy Marshall
1929- Aiding the State’s
assistance to agriculture and animal husbandry, the Federal government provides
the equally valuable services of the Agricultural Conservation Association with
a central office in Dushore of which George Bahl is the chairman of the county
committee. Other members: Frank Rohe,
Vice-Chairman, and Foster Myers. Members of this
committee are elected annually.
Fertilizers and seed are purchased in bulk and distributed to members at
cost. Assistance is given in marketing
produce and in planning acreage of vital crops with reliable information as to
the general needs to balance supply and demand. SULLIVAN COUNTY
POTATOES Three prosperous
farmers with three decades of patient application to their chosen ambition,
plus foresight and business ability, have turned the bane of life for former
farm boys into a blessing. Many
wanderers from the farm trace their desertion to a losing battle with weeds and
bugs-- their weapon of defense a dull hoe in a stony “tater patch. Perhaps they never dreamed of machines
conquering this drudgery or the ease and speed with which future farm boys
would accomplish that which to them was impossible. The winning of this victory by these three leaders, with the cooperation
of neighboring growers on a lesser scale, has brought to the county an envied
reputation among potato growers in adjourning states. Our hardy ancestors,
sons of Old Erin, driven out of Ireland by successive failures of potato crops
in the 1820’s, brought their crude mattocks and hoes with them and soon proved
that the red shale soil of Cherry and Forks townships was naturally adapted to
raising their staff of life. The thought of
raising more potatoes than were needed
for home use and to supply local markets was not considered until the turbulent
twenties. In 1926, Mr. Frank Rhoe,
after years of research, decided to raise certified seed under Government
inspection and guidance. To the KP
peeling endless quantities of spuds, the housewife peeved by high prices and
the die-hards joined to their idols of doing things on the farm and hard way,
this plan meant nothing. To the State
Department of Agriculture it meant three exhaustive inspections of the growing
crop and a final inspection of the gathered produce with check and recheck of
conditions under which it would be stored.
To Mr. Rhoe it meant ready sale of his crop at fifty cents more per
bushel than the price of commercial potatoes, with the added pleasure of
knowing that his efforts had raised the standard of quality and increased the
yield of growers using his seed.
Starting with one acre that produced 300 bushels, the project grew to
twenty acres that over a period of twenty-six years produced an average yield
of 6,000 bushels per year. Honors came in the
form of ribbons won and certificates of merit by the State Agricultural
Department and the State Potato Growers’ Association with more orders for his
produce than could be filled. On the
sidelines since 1948, Mr. Rhoe still manages his farm though living in his
beautiful home in Dushore. A director
of the First National Bank, he interests himself in his neighbors’ financial
welfare and in the fine herd of whitefaces that are his pride and joy. Reminiscing, Mr. Rhoe
paid a glowing tribute to his colleagues with whom he has cooperated through
the years calling attention to their integrity and the independence with which
each follows his chosen lines, to the successful accomplishment of their goal. Mr. David Vought of
Forks Township places his faith in land adaptability and the quality of
fertilizer and seed. Ten thousand
bushels of top grade marketable potatoes are his average yield. Mr. Kinnery Conners
of Dushore owns and tills four farms in Cherry Township raising diversified
crops. His specialty is commercially
grown potatoes. He finds pleasure in
breaking up ground, weed-grown and neglected for years, and raising thereon bumper
crops, thus changing a liability into an asset. Twelve thousand bushels are produced by Mr. Conners annually. The equipment,
machinery, chemicals, storage, bags, crates, seed and fertilizer indispensable
to potato raising on a large scale total $20,000.00, not including labor,
incidental expenses and the ever-increasing tax on everything needed. These handicaps make the success of these
pioneers outstanding and worthy to be recorded in local archives. The machinery that
makes this dream a reality, and a conservative estimate of their value as
listed by M. Rhoe, includes: Tractor $2,000; Planter $800; Sprayer $2,000; Cultivator $350; Cutting
machine $125; Graders $800; Digger $900; Truck $2,000; Tractor plows, harrows,
manure spreaders and incidental use of machinery used in general farming are an
added expense, making potato growing a gamble that gives zest to the venture
and satisfaction to results attained. SULLIVAN COUNTY
FAIR Ninety-nine years
have passed since 1854, the year the
first fair was held at Forksville, where the M. E. Church now stands. The record of this fact was made in the
nineties by the late Jacob L. Snyder, who attended the first fair and noted few
horses but many pairs of oxen on or near the grounds. Tests of skill and strength of oxen and their drivers were the
main attraction. Cash premiums were
paid and twenty-five cents admission was charged. The exhibits consisted of maple products, sugar and molasses,
grain products, dried fruit and berries, home-made butter and cheese, and
hand-woven garments of wool and flax.
Few, if any, farm animals were exhibited. The second fair was moved to
Millview on what is now the Molyneux Norten farm; and the third was at
Eldredsville, on what was then the Mullen farm, now owned by J. Lyman Snyder. Drinking and fighting
were features of early fairs. Old
grudges were settled or renewed and new ones formed. Law enforcement just wasn’t in the good old days! From 1858 to 1883 no
definite records are available, but references were made to a fair held at
Laporte and a surplus of $60.00 left in the treasury. There is also
reference to the removal of the fair from Forksville and a loss of
$300.00. An ancient poster advertising
a fair at Forksville in 1878 is treasured by J. R. Molyneux.
The Sullivan County
Agricultural Society with twenty members was chartered in 1883. Fairs were held in Huckles Grove until the
present fair grounds was purchased in 1891.
Through the years public speakers have been featured and two
Pennsylvania Governors, Patterson and Beaver have made official visits. The Centennial of the
first three permanent settlements in the County was held in 1894, with the Hon.
Thos. J. Ingham as orator. Attendants
at the fair raided their attics and appeared in clothing of 1790. A replica of a pioneer cabin was filled to
overflowing with family relics, since purchased by dealers in antiques. The farm machinery, the parlor organs, the
heavy Clydesdale stallions and big red Durham bulls; the road horses hitched to
two wheeled sulkies and to surreys “with the fringe on top”; the over-sized
farm wives with their balloon sleeves; the baby shows, cane stands, rural
police with blue ribbon badges and armed with ball bats, and one hundred other
sights and possessions common in 1894, would appear as curios, having only
sentimental value in the motor age of 1953. Thus the history of
the fair is brought up to date with the statement that constant improvement in
moral and cultural standards has been the goal of the promoters. This is reflected in the success attained,
both socially and financially, but the real history is written in the memories
of Sullivan County’s son and daughters, young and older grown! PUBLIC
ASSISTANCE IN SULLIVAN COUNTY The history of
mankind has been a struggle against want and hunger, a striving for security
and for the better things of life. Many
have succeeded in attaining their goals, others have fallen short. Always there have been those who, because of
age, illness or incapacity, have been unable to obtain through their own
efforts even the bare necessities such as food, clothing and shelter. Through the years the methods and extent of
carrying out provisions for aid to these people have changed and developed in
accordance with changing conditions. The firs public
provision for poor relief in Pennsylvania was contained in the “Duke Laws if
1776”. From that time until the
present, Pennsylvania has always had some provision for the care of the
poor. Early poor laws were
characterized by an attitude of harshness toward those who were dependent on
public aid, since it was generally felt that poverty was due to shiftlessness
or unwillingness to work. Toward the
end of the nineteenth century this attitude began to change, as it was
generally recognized that all relied recipients were not idle dissolute
persons. Private charities were
organized which stressed efficiency and service and led the way toward a more
humanitarian approach to the problems of dependency. In 1932, the State
Emergency Relief Board was established to administer a program of unemployment
relief. At first relief was distributed
in the form of commodities or commodity orders which were redeemable at stores
for a specified amount, This method
proved unsatisfactory and in 1936, relief in kind was abandoned and system of
cash relief, based on a family’s budgetary deficiency was established. In 1932. The State
Government established a unified public assistance program administered by a
State Department and 67 County Boards of Public Assistance in Pennsylvania. The office of the Sullivan County Board of
Assistance was set up in The First National Bank Building, LaPorte, Pa. On
February 28th, 1938, where it remained until 1946 when it was moved
to Dushore. Five different types
of assistance are administered by the Sullivan County Board of Assistance under
this program: Old Age Assistance is
granted to persons 65 years of age or older, whose income and resources do not
enable them to meet their ordinary living expenses. General Assistance is
granted to persons or families under 65 years of age, usually because of
unemployment or temporary illness, A person must be a citizen of the United
States to receive general assistance although this does not apply to other
types of assistance. Blind pension is
granted to persons over 21 years of age whose vision is less than 10/200 and
whose total resources do not exceed $5,000.
This is the only pension program administered in which need is not
necessarily a factor. Aid to Dependent
Children is granted to widows or widowers with children under 18 years of age
who are attending school or to families where the mother or father is
incapacitated. Aid to Disabled is
given to persons between the ages of 21 and 65 who have a permanent or total
disability. In addition to a cash
assistance allowance, all persons who are receiving any type of assistance are
eligible for medical, nursing, dental and pharmaceutical care. In Sullivan County,
as of May 1952, 329 persons were receiving some type of assistance. This is 4.9 percent of the population of the
county. The staff of the
Sullivan County Board of Assistance is composed of Miss Grace Nottingham,
Executive Director; Mrs. Millicent Stackhouse and Mrs. Twila Gephart, Senior
Visitors; and Mrs. Sarah Meehan, Stenographer. Members of the County
Boards of Assistance are appointed by the Governor with the advice and consent
of 2/3 of the members of the Senate.
Under the direction of the County Board, and supervised by the State
Office, the Executive Director administers the public assistance program
through his county staff, for whose supervision and development he is
responsible. The Executive Director is appointed by the County Board from a
Civil Service list and is subject to the same rules and regulations as apply to
his staff, who are also under Civil Service. The Sullivan County
Assistance Board is composed of Mr. Frank J. Bendinsky, Chairman; Miss Ann
Yarosh, Mrs. Susan Morgan, Mrs. Marie Kanally, Mrs. Sue Dailey and Mr. Vell C.
Holcombe. HERE REST OUR
DEAD To the returned
prodigal or the permanent resident of Sullivan County, no place is more sacred
than the quiet churchyard where sleep the men and women who were our
ancestors. No field of research yields
truer data than names and dates carved on tombstones. No word picture of
pioneer life would be complete without reference to the last resting place of
our forefathers. Modern life has so
unified Sullivan County that it is now one neighborhood, to which every village
and township contributes to the general welfare. The only public property that is a local responsibility and
an individual shrine is the cemetery. The care we give to these consecrated plots
is proof of our belief in immortality and faith in neighbors and friends to
protect our last resting place from the ravages of time. A few of these sacred areas, once loved and
cherished, are brush grown and forgotten.
It is the purpose of this chapter to give them historic recognition and
perhaps to inspire public-spirited citizens to bring about their restoration. According to record,
the first white man to be given burial in Sullivan, was Charles Felix Rui
Boulogne, agent and business manager of the French Settlement at the
Asylum. He was swept from his horse and
drowned while attempting to ford the flood-swollen Sock, July 19, 1796. Around his lonely grave the present
Hillsgrove cemetery grew. The Fair Mount
Cemetery of Forksville is located within the borough limits and is an outgrowth
of the Rogers family burying ground.
Samuel Rogers, who settled at Forksville is buried here. His death is recorded, on a fine granite
monument that was evidently placed many years later, as occurring in 1828. Of the several bearing his name who were
born in Sullivan County, only three people are alive. This cemetery was incorporated under the present name in 1887
when sections were added and many lots sold for $5.00, considered a fair price
at the time. Perpetual care was
instituted in 1897 but fails to provide sufficient income for present
needs. Improvements and labor are being
donated which leaves little to be desired and wins approving comments from
relatives from far places who frequently visit the graves of their ancestors;
many having no descendants living in Sullivan County. Prominent among
historic names are the Randalls, father and son, noted country doctors; Black,
Ostler, Glidewell, Brown, Benfield, Collins, Snyder, Huckel, Whitely, Lancaster,
Pardoes, Smith, Snell, Wright, Fleeming, Little, Miller, Clarke, Shafer,
Schanbacher, Glockner, Boyles, Bennett, Burgess, Mullan, McCarty, Norten.
Plotts, Jennings, Voght, Faucett and Vargeson. Fox Township has four
cemeteries at Shunk having perpetual care under Cemetery Association Plan
Management. These are a credit to
neighborly cooperation and speak eloquently of the affection cherished for
departed ancestors. The Friends Cemetery
is near the site of one of the first meeting houses built of logs in 1818, and
since early Quakers did favor monuments, the graves are marked by fieldstones
without inscription. The Williams
family plot joined the Old Friends Cemetery with no fence between. The earliest monument date is that of Perus
Williams, second generation of pioneers--1851.
Reliable information places the first burial in the Friends section as
that of Amos Hoagland. He was killed by
a falling tree in 1820. Early burials
were restricted to members of the Friends Society and the Williams families but
neighborly sympathy in times of bereavement broke these barriers which may have
caused the Brown Cemetery, located on the other side of the public road, and
the Shattuck burial ground within hailing distance and now known as the West
Hill Cemetery, to be used. This plot
was donated by Ebeit Shattuck who emigrated from Holland in 1851 and was owner
of 700 acres of land. He reserved
twelve lots of equal size for his
twelve children and there are now few unoccupied graves remaining. In fact, everyone buried in the cemetery is
related, by blood or marriage, to the Shattuck or Porter families. Family names in all
four cemeteries are: Williams, Shuttuck, Porter, Cott, Caseman, Morgan, Walker,
Rightmier, Fanning, Campbell, Brenchley, Salisbury, Wright, Dickerson,
Hoagland, Warren, Kilmer and Wilcox. The Porter Cemetery,
two and a half miles northwest, contains about twenty graves and may be the
oldest burying ground in the Township.
Dr. John Wilcox served in the Revolutionary war and is buried here. Memorial records list thirty-one soldier
burials in Fox Township,: Revolutionary War, 1; Civil War, 23; First World War,
3; Second World War, 1. The Estella Cemetery,
on a southern slop near the High School, shows evidences of neglect with sunken
graves, Comparatively new, but without
organized care, there is room for improvement.
Pioneer members of the Bird family are buried here. Like all Sullivan County burial places
descendants find homes in far away places and forget hometown memories. The last burial here occurred in 1949. The new Quaker or
Friends Cemetery hidden in back of the only Old Friends Meeting House, located
near Piatt in Sullivan County, is characteristic of the people buried
there. It came into use with the building
of the Meeting House in 1883. The
elders seem to have conceded to the younger element the privilege of placing
headstones in the cemetery, and every
grave is marked with a simple granite monument--solid and lasting. The stones are not over twenty inches high.
No tree, bush or flower is seen within the enclosure, grass clipped and graves
in alignment that suggests the order and silence prevailing at the regular
Sunday meditations within the Meeting House, that still are called occasionally
by visiting elders. Family names in the
cemetery are: McCarty, Anabell, Pardoe, Sheels, Hesse, Hoagland, Caseman, Cott
and Rogers, pioneers of the 1840’s whose ancestors sleep in unmarked and
forgotten graves in the older cemeteries at Shunk and Eldersville. The cemetery brings
to memory the words spoken in pioneer days by an early saint of the Friends’
Society, Ellen Roberts McCarty. Asked
by a visiting elder as to whether the poor of the community were given due
consideration, she replied, “Ours is a land blessed with everything
needed. We have no poor among us.” Along the highway on
a shelf of level land overlooking wide Indian meadows once pasture of elk but
for a century and a half under cultivation, the modern and well kept Millview
Cemetery is located. Within a large
enclosure surrounded by a low fence over-run with a growth of myrtle and
dewberry vines, the gates locked with poison ivy, is the Warren Cemetery to
which no new graves have been added since 1900. Here sleeps John Warren, original owner of the lands surrounding
the cemetery in 1795, and builder of one of the three log cabins that sheltered
the entire population of Millview in 1800.
Monument bearing the earliest date, 1855. Family names in both
cemeteries are duplicated in all Western Sullivan cemeteries and include:
Molyneux, Bird, Warren, McCarty, Barnes, Battin, Brackman, McIntyre, Clarke,
Hunsinger, Wilkenson, Wenck, Wright, Reifsnyder and Kilmer. Isolated on a steep
hillside near the home of Mr. And Mrs. John Norten at Millview is the Molyneux
Cemetery, abandoned for the past 70 years, myrtle and moss grown with leaning
or fallen monuments. One marble block,
scarred by time, stands proudly on its base of large field stones and is
visible from the highway. On moonlight
nights deer are frequently seen feeding around it. The inscription reads: William Molyneux, native of England and
first settler in Sullivan County, 1794.
Born 1761, died 1848. Near it is
the grave of Rebecca Bird Molyneux wife of his son; first white child born in
Sullivan County. Modernizing or attempt
at restoration of this sacred spot would seem out of place. Time and decay add to its beauty and
emphasize its antiquity. Why pioneer families
should have chosen to bury their dead on hillsides is an unanswered
question. Pioneer Powel Bird is buried
in a narrow tract of land of this nature near the present home of Mr. And Mrs.
Bernard Shaffer and near the site of his primitive cabin built in 1795. His grave is in a group marked by native
stones; none are carved, making identification impossible. The Bird Cemetery contains forty marked
graves of his descendants by blood or marriage including the names of Bird,
Reinbolt, Norten, Kilmer, Biddle, and Gibbs.
An evergreen windbreak on one side of the plot contains red and white
pine, spruce and hemlock trees seventy feet tall, indicating that the land has
been used as a cemetery for more than a century. One grave has been added within the last ten years. Endowed with a fund
by Judge Richard Bedford in 1884, the Elkland Cemetery located near the
Wesleyan M. E. Church is one of the cleanest and best -cared-for cemeteries in
the county. Accurate records of
its age are not available, but several graves marked by native stone markers--one
bearing the inscription “John Grange died 1818”--would indicate that it has
been a local burying ground for more than 130 years. Graves of members of
the Hart family are dated 1859; two Wright graves 1833-34. Other pioneer names in large groups are:
Norten, Lucke, Warburton, Faucett, Wenck, Baumunk, Mourean, Dieffenbauch,
McCarty, Lee, Hottenstein, Wilcox, Frey and Chambers. Located in Elkland
Township near J. Lyman Snyder’s farm, the Mullen-Pardo Cemetery grew around the
grave of pioneer Charles Mullen, buried in 1843, and native stone markers of
members of his family who preceded him in death. Sixty graves record names of early families of the Mullen-Pardo
families and relatives by marriage, including Nichols, Streby, Brenchley,
Everett, Frey, McIlwane, McCarty. The
grave of Chars. Grange, died in service in 1862 is marked by a soldier flag
placed for the last Memorial Day, Hoagland, Harvey and Nichols are names that
appear. The pioneer Mullen name is
spelled” Mellon.” The following
singular epitaph was found on an infant’s grave; “Shall I wait till He comes,”
said my darling? “Not long did I wait until needed in Heaven.” Tradition credit’s a
ghostly visitor from this cemetery appearing in local stores and purchasing his
favorite brand of chewing tobacco long after his death. The last burial
occurred in 1947, and though the plots receive care from interested relatives
occasionally, it seems fated to be forgotten by the next generation. Noticeable are the
graves of Chas. Orlando Mullen, killed in a hunting accident in 1888, and John
Mullen, age 92, and his good wife Selena Woodhead Mullen, 90, native of
England, who though she gave 19 children to the Mullen name, of whom 13 grew to
maturity, always remained loyal to English royalty. Sheltering the
cemetery are sugar maple trees four feet in diameter and a triple group growing
from one stump that measures 30 feet in circumference. The Webster Cemetery,
thirty feet square, is located along the highway on land owned by Raleigh
Beinlich, and is enclosed by a high iron fence placed by the late Harry Webster
30 years ago. Judging from the six
monuments and other graves, unmarked, Jonathan and Harriet Webster may have
buried two sons, soldiers of the rebellion and planned a place for their own
interment. Dates on the
monuments would indicate that the cemetery is less than 100 years old. There is
but one Webster descendant living in the county, Ezra Webster, living near
Forksville. Flags are placed on the
graves but there is no indication of any care for many years, although a burial
occurred here ten years ago. Perhaps the least
visited and hardest to find abandoned cemetery in the county is the Bryan-Brown
Cemetery located across the Sock on the southern end of the Charley Bryan farm,
on ground once covered by the back water of the big splash dam that has been a
memory for the past fifty years. Harold Gardner’s
interest in local history prompted him to carry a gun, provide the writer of this
sketch with wading pants and a hoe as protection against snakes and wade the
Sock in an effort to locate this city of the dead. This is the only way this cemetery can be visited. In a plot 30 by 30 feet, enclosed by a dry
stone wall still in good condition, ten graves (eight adults and two children)
are plainly marked by headstones of red slate.
One, dimly visible, informed us that S. Bryan aged 79, died in
1841. This one marble headstone marks
the grave of Margaret Black, age 29, died in 1852. The labor involved in gathering stone and building the wall
proves loving care on the part of friends a century past. Older residents
warned us that the place is regarded as a snake pit. We found neither snakes, ghosts or tradition haunting the cemetery,
but plenty of signs of wild life. A
large bear left unmistakable signs of his occupancy during the previous
night--his bed plainly marked by crushed ferns. Cornstalks and gnawed ears of corn in the still water told of the
presence of coon, mink, or beaver, and fresh tracks at the water’s edge proved
that deer had recently departed. The Bear Mountain
Cemetery was visited the same day, located in a pasture some distance from the
highway; this burial place is hard to find. Marked by white marble monument
recently placed, the graves of pioneer Samuel Norten and his wife, Catherine
Bryan, dominate the spot but do not inspire descendants to clear the cemetery
of brush and trees. There is no
evidence that an interment occurred here in the past twenty years. Two marked graves of
the Wicks family tell why their once prosperous farms are vacant and brush
grown. They left no posterity. The German Cemetery
on the same plot occupied by the German Reformed Church in Elkland Township,
until recent years brush grown and neglected, now shows evidence of better
care, with new monuments, grading and shrubbery. Early German families, settling a century ago, rest here. Names include: Hugo, Hines, Caseman,
Beimlick, Herman, and Baumank. The Woodhead family
evidently started the Bethel Cemetery more than a century past, and the Bethel
Schoolhouse, used as a church alternately by two Methodist denominations, has
added slowly to its growth until it contains more than one hundred marked
graves, and the recognized potter’s field of the County. This first recorded
burial occurred in 1850. Perpetual
care, supported by the county plan would benefit this burying ground if
adopted. Near this resting place of our
ancestors are ruins of the first Woodhead cabin, built about 1860. The site is
covered with a luxuriant growth of lilacs. Many of the usual
pioneer names are met here: McCarty, Beadford, Kay, Whiteley, Snell, Barnes,
Woodhead, Chapiman, Black, Avery, Biddle, Miller, Bacorn, Beinlich, Kilmer,
Keeney, Wright, Shaffer, Rightmier, Glidewell, and Hatch. The Warburton Hill
Cemetery in Forks Township was evidently the burial place of the pioneer
Warburton families many years before neighbors were permitted to bury their
dead here. Recent grading and a new red
shale drive around the entire plot, with new fence and landscaping with new
shrubbery make it very attractive. Old
moss-grown field stone markers with carving gone leave doubt as to the exact
age. The earliest date on granite is
1850. Family groups include
Warburton, Reinbold, Shaffer, Sherman, Bird, Grange, Streby, Vough, Molyneux,
Greek, Connors, Driscoll, Kahnie, Payne, Tomblison, Ferrell, Bartlow, Rumsey,
Robbins, Clarke, Mathews and Hottenstein. Beautiful Mountain
Ash Cemetery at LaPorte is sheltered in winter and secluded in summer by a
hedge of tall arbor-vitae trees. Exact
records of its age are not available.
The oldest monument bears the date 1861. Funds were invested several years ago to provide perpetual care but
this plan is outmoded by changing conditions.
The cemetery is usually mowed and cleaned for Memorial Day by interested
citizens. Forgotten by absent kindred,
pioneer families are buried here with substantial monuments which defy the
ravages of time. Among them are
Meylert, Fleschhart, Ingham, Dunham, Wrede, Miller, Clark, Mason, Stormont,
Keeler, Crossley, Spencer, Crocker, Grimm, Smith, Gavitt, Hellsman, Saxon,
Heim, Gumble, Low, Lauer, Rose, and Ganesel families. Soldiers’ graves of all wars are marked and a U.S. marker is
placed at the grave of Mollie Keeler, Spanish American War Nurse. Back in 1894, when
Tannery Town LaPorte was a thriving community and a goodly number of Catholic
families were identified with the business and professional life on the hill, a
beautiful mission church was built and a self-supporting congregation
established. Today tannery town
has vanished into the limbo of forgotten things, with only eight families left
to bear the financial responsibility of the Parish. The building is deteriorating and most of the Sacred heart
Cemetery is abandoned. A few plots near
the church are given care, some by relatives from distant places but out in the
wood the few monuments are moss grown and forgotten. That unforeseen
conditions would bring this result in 58 years was not imagined by the
founders. We, of today, can follow the
same star of hope, believing that our sires labored not in vain; that the
beauty of this sacred edifice will be restored and the consecrated ground again
become the resting place of the dead. Obeying the kind
invitation of Howard Gunther, a new-found friend and “brother of the brush”, to
make an exploration in his jeep into the forgotten lands of Sullivan County, we
found ourselves somewhere in the vicinity of Ringdale on a trail marked “to the
Irish Settlement”, over which we traveled for several hours and met no sign of
human habitation although animal life was abundant. Deer, in the spotted stage, looked at the bounding jeep and
quickly sought shelter in the brush. In the tree-grown
section of his wild region, a square of land (paced 75 feet on either side)
where strands of wire gave evidence that it had been enclosed perhaps forty
years past, fieldstones set in rows proclaimed the place an abandoned
cemetery. Several stones carried
carvings, The only one that could be
traced informed us that the adult buried here died in 1840. Inquiry gained us no further information as
to what pioneer families used this forgotten land as a burial ground and no
unresting spirits haunted the place so that, to date, it remains in the realm
of the unknown. Perhaps an aged
resident reading these lines may reconstruct this desolation, restoring the
brush-grown and abandoned farms to their former fertility and recreating the
rural life once abounding here; the history of which has become a mystery. Once owned by the
late Senator Sones, the foundation of a mill and pond as well as a few decayed
piles of square sticks that in 1900 were expected to become broom handles may
help dissolve the mist. Bayard t. Martin,
sage of Sullivan County statistics, dissolved the mist with information that
the lost cemetery was the burying ground of the Hunsinger family less than a
century past, and the abandoned farms were owned and successfully operated
within his memory by the Walls, LaVelle, Philburn, Smith. Harrison, Cavanaugh,
Devanney and Kernan families all with many offspring. Their sons walked to
work in the LaPorte Tannery. These
family groups, in early Spring, Summer, and late Fall, walked barefoot to the
Dushore line, washed their feet at a watering trough and donned their shoes to
attend Mass at St. Basil’s Church. These hardy ancestors
knew and respected the demands of economy, but none were hungry or cold. By the expenditure of human labor, the
forest gave fuel and the fields yielded food.
The streams provided fish for fast days. Sheep grew needed wool, and Irish settlers’ wives could weave and
knit. Local talent provided music for
dancing and the log schoolhouse trained the youth to master the three R’s. From this abandoned
section known as the Commons have sprung men and women we can be proud to claim
as our friends. Near the golf course,
a long mile from Eagles Mere Borough on land that is part of the tract
purchased by Theophulus Little in 1799 and part of the pioneer founder’s home
site, is located the Eagles Mere Cemetery.
Here the Little family dead are buried.
This well cared for cemetery has grown slowly in the last century and a
half. It is the last resting place of
soldiers of all wars. A fine granite
monument attests to the fact that Theophulus Little was a soldier of the
Revolutionary War and died in 1825.
Many field stone markers in the older section indicate that the cemetery
was a burial place proceeding this date.
Family monuments in the new section carry dates in the 1850’s. Forty family groups are represented many
name and dates proving that the departed lived to a good old age in this healthy
environment. The cemetery , less than
half filled will care for the section’s needs for perhaps another century. Family groups, their descendants lost to the
locality, perpetuate the names of Andrews, Bender, Bennett, Brink, Bigger,
Booth, Christman, Dunham, Danley, Edkin, Fiester, Green, Houseknicht, Herman,
Hurst, Haywood, Inghams, Kisinger, Litson, Moyer, Morgan, McCarty, Madison,
Peale, Reeder, Rider, Reese, Saunders, Smith, Tucker, Woods, Worthington and
Watts. The Cherry Valley
Cemetery, one mile from Nordmont is a memorial attesting to the love cherished
for the departed and pride in an historic landmark made and kept beautiful by
the united efforts of present and former residents. Memorial Services are conducted annually on the Sunday nearest
Memorial Day in which the local Post of the American Legion joins with several
hundred friends; many motoring from other states or sending money for the
purpose of decorating every grave. Perpetual Care
together with voluntary labor, the awe-inspiring view and the service held in
the primitive setting of the old church modernized by a loud speaker, make the
occasion ideal for silent meditation or the renewing of friendships. Names on the
monuments make the cemetery an archive of local history suggesting the
unwritten story of early settlement and later development of the
community. These include: Sperry 1835,
Hiddleson 1857, Keeler 1861. Other family groups
with substantial monuments are: Arms, Boston, Botsford, Bundridge, Bogart, Covert,
Carsdale, Cox, Cook, Converse, Cary, Chementoni, Deitz, Durkee. Edgar, Fiester,
Foust, Faurman, Hunter, Haines, Houseknecht, Hampton, Hess, Harvey, Hallstead,
Heilig, Gritman, Gorman, Glidewell, Golder, Green, Gansel, Jones, Kaige,
Kohonsparger, Kilgus, King, Laird, Little, Land, Lease, Latourette, Miller,
Morris, Mastellar, Martin, McCellan, May, Peters, Pennington, Peterman,
Phillips, Picciari, Reese, Rider, Reichart, Robbins, Sick, Snyder, Smith,
Sparrow, Sinclare, Small, Stanley, Traugh, White, Weslay and Yenger. The beautiful S
shaped valley of Muncy Creek sheltered from storms the village named for the
Sones family that one hundred years ago owned nearly all the land. Today it seems to be caught in an eddy in
the stream of progress. Once the scene of lumbering and railroad
activity the town thrived. Today the
only noticeable activity is in the Sullivan Highlands Schools. Here two cemeteries
provide rest for the dead and revive memories of history made in the
valley. Substantial monuments,
representing the style prevailing in the years when placed give evidence of the
social standing of families in the community who are now forgotten, their
descendants having long since moved to places unknown. Dates in the old
Sonestone Cemeteries near which the M. E. Church was later built, indicates
that burial of soldiers of the Sones name killed in the Civil War was the
reason for providing this community burial place, Completely filled fifty years ago, a new one was planned in an ideal
location on a hill where it can be seen from the highway and all sections of
the valley. The monuments in both
cemeteries bear the same family names including Anderson, Arms, Avery, Andrews,
Armstrong, Atwell, Bogart, Breitmeier, Burk, Bump Buck, Bender, Bosley,
Boatman, Brink, Briggs, Christ, Campbell, Cordeman, Converse, Cook, Carey,
Carrigg, Corsen, Christman, Crawford, Davis, Dewald, Darling, Eddy, Edgar,
Eberline, Frester, Ferrell, Gritman, Gansel, Glidewell, Gower, Hoffer, Haus,
Hertz, Hacker, Hazen, Hummer,
Horn, Houseknecht, Hall, Hill, Hess, Johnson, Keeler, Kiess, Layton, Long,
Laird, Loveless, Lockwood, Little, Lorah, Magargle, Miller, Morrison,
Mastellar, Mencerm, Myers, Menniger, McGary, McBride, Moy, Pinton, Phillips,
Robbins, Rea, Rodamel, Richart, Rolleson, Reed, Rinier, Speery, Shroup,
Shaffer, Sones, Sellers, Sherwood, Simonds, Swank, Snyder, Stackhouse, Starr,
Steinback, Taylor, Walborn, Watts, Whitacre, Wells, Wilson, Warburton. Human interest
stories are buried in three graves of the old cemetery, graves of a child, a
woman and a man. The child was the ten
year old son of L. R. Bump of Muncy Valley, builder of the tannery, and was a
victim of older boys carelessness. The plot of ground is enclosed by an iron
fence protecting the bones too frail for life to spare. The second grave holds the remains of Miss
Mary McClain, Civil War nurse, an indomitable crusader for temperance, she
lived as nearly blameless a life as was ever known in those parts but her grave
is unmarked. Unmarked, also is that of the man. He was a murderer and was hanged. His old mother, Mary Jane
Pinton, brought the body home and after a public funeral at the home they had
shared, had him buried near the southern fence. On a hillside, near
the Methodist Church in Muncy Valley, sheltered by large trees and dank with
dense growth of myrtle vines, is one of the smallest cemeteries in the
County. Once enclosed with a white
picket fence but neglected, are three lonely graves. Here rest the bodies of two Remsnyder brothers, 15 and 17 years
old at the time of their deaths in 1897.
They died the same day of diphtheria during an epidemic in Muncy Valley at the time. Two white marble
stones, raided to their memory, are fallen and the inscriptions covered with moss. Public funeral was
denied them, presumably as a health measure.
Two years later, their grandmother died and obeying her last request,
she was buried with her boys. This historic
incident brings a sense of thankfulness for advances in medical science and
sanitary laws which bring protection and relief to sufferers from this once
dreaded malady which fifty years ago proved fatal in three cases out of four. In an isolated
locality on the George Cawley farm on Edkin Hill in Shrewbury Township, the
Edkin Hill Cemetery--last resting place of perhaps one hundred members of
pioneer settlers’ families in Shrewbury Township--is hidden in a pasture. The plot is about 120
feet square, fenced with wire. Changes
in the highway make visits to this cemetery difficult. The neglected condition proves lack of
interest on the part of descendants living in distant places, and a generation
has passed since the last interment was made here. The monuments range from moss covered fieldstone, on which
carving is still visible to expensive granite of the time they were placed. Family names with
earliest dates of death include: Bennett 1831, Taylor 1865, Frester 1878, Edkin
1836, Hall 1890, Harding 1894, Spencer 1905, Roach 1909. These dates prove the
age of the plat as a cemetery exceeds 121 years. Four cemeteries each
a short distance from Dushore, mark the last resting place of Sullivan County
forefathers. The first is the old
Thresher Cemetery consecrated by the grave on his father’s farm of the first
member of the family buried in the county. Friends and neighbors were welcomed
here in times of bereavement and given permission to bury their dead. With the building of the church in 1853, the
name was changed to Zion Cemetery and today many graves and modest monuments
cover the hillside in orderly rows with the names of families who were members
of the Lutheran Church predominating.
The same names appear in the Fairview Cemetery three miles away on the
opposite hill, and in the old Peace Cemetery just of the LaPorte Road. The Fairview
Cemetery, located on Bahrs Hill, contains several monuments that, in size and
beauty, would not be duplicated in city cemeteries serving many times the
population of Dushore and vicinity. The
Scouten monument, raised by the late attorney and Mrs. John Scouten, is the
base for a life-like statue, in classic pose, of their deceased daughter. Monuments keep in memory names of the
ancestors of Schaad, M. E. Herman, M. D. Defanbach, Younkin, Hoag, Kingsley, Weaver,
Robbins, Kline, Bahr, Dyer, Johnson, Tubach, Steff, Persun, McHenry, Schrump,
Zaner, Scureman, Erle, Hartzig, Carpenter, Eavens, Smith, Abrams, Beneville,
Kast, Pomeroy, Vaughn, Cook, Hunsinger, Line, Hellsman, Wheatey, Thompson,
Jackson, Wagner, Wadell, Deegan, Reeser, Cox, and Albert families. The exact date of the
first burial cannot be determined. Monuments in the older section were placed
by the Bahr family in 1853. The
enclosed Jackson plot has a stately monument marking the grave of State Senator
George D. Jackson which is dated 1879.
There is no descendants of many of the prominent families of long ago
left in the county. Perpetual care was
set up many years ago on the basis of wages prevailing at the time and is found
insufficient for present demands but volunteer labor, especially on the part of
the custodian Mr. Kast, make of this place of tender memories a shrine of which
Dushore neighbors are justly proud. If the flight of
years could travel in reverse, bringing a missionary pastor, Rev. Carl Ludwig
Eile, back to the little log church which was the scene of his prayers and
privations in 1839, he would be astounded to see the old building covered with
imitation brick, pattern covered glass in the windows and two hundred forty monuments
glistening in the moonlight; standing in lines like soldiers on parade. The log church called Friedens (Peace) built
in 1825 by volunteer labor, was a neighborly project on which Catholic and
Protestant shared the labor and all faiths used the building. The Pease Cemetery became the resting place
of the dead of German extraction and branches of the Lutheran faith. Many of the epitaphs are in German Script. Seven generations of Dushore and Cherry
Township dead are buried here. The monument to the
memory of Casper King, dated 1833, marks the first burial. Family groups include: Barth, Reinbold, Shaffer, Smith, Jacoby,
Dohn, Saxer, Herst, Yonkin, Watson, Rhoe, Ring, Koller, King, Hunsinger,
Shrimp, Kraus, Heipel, Sick, Gravfley, Mawder, Hartzig, Snyder, Foust, Bodie,
Friess, Rennimpade, Huffmaster, Kshinka, Pipper, Long, Kester, Stahl, Deschler,
Walburn, Cable, Weisbrod, Heiver, Epler, Eemig, Sazman, Fulmer, Ershenlaub,
Karge and Zaner. Ground for the cemetery was donated by two friends of Catholic
faith named Thall and Litzelswope, in the year 1819. High on a sun-kissed
hill near the abandoned weather, beaten Quinn School House in Cherry Township
along the old North Turnpike, a cemetery is located that is seldom visited by
older residents and is forgotten by the rising generation, though honored names
of Sullivan County’s best history making families sleep here. Gleaming white marble
marks the last resting place of Martins 1827,
Wells 1854, Moshier 1859, Stanfords 1852, Meyers 1863, Quinn 1869,
Benjamin 1867, Wilcox 1872, Hoffman 1895, and Fairchilds 1878. In another section of
the free ten acres, given by one Caldwallader (a non-resident of whom little is
remembered except that he gave the land for a school and a cemetery), another
group of Sullivan’s citizens sleep covered by a thick pall of forgetfulness in
unmarked graves, unwept, unhonored and unsung. Here lie the poor who have been
buried at public expense in eastern Sullivan County for the past on hundred and
twenty-five years. This condition grew
like a fungus upon our community’s family tree and seems to attest that in
death men are not free and equal. While
the dead past continues to bury its dead, may we of today give to our forgotten
relatives the passing tribute of a sigh. Two cemeteries at
Mildred have grown slowly around the Catholic and Trinity Lutheran
Churches. Each shows care and attention
by custodians though funds are lacking for this service. Monuments indicate that the Lutheran
Cemetery was started in 1906. Three
soldiers’ graves are marked with flags annually. The Bernice Cemetery
grew around the Presbyterian Church and, like the congregation, has suffered
neglect because of industrial conditions. The earliest date on
monuments place the start of the cemetery in 1886. A few plots are cared for by kin of the departed which includes
men killed in and about the mines. Here
is a wonderful opportunity for ten public spirited citizens, with the necessary
tools, to give two hours of labor, clean up the cemetery and change a public
responsibility from an eye sore to a place of beauty. Expense of care for soldiers’ graves could be secured from the
County. It is hoped that this
suggestion, made with the motive of helpfulness, will be received in the spirit
in which it is offered. Family names on
monuments are: Allen, Austin, Bircher, Brackett, Benjamin, Cook, Collins,
Ferrell, Hood, Hay, Hatton, Hibbard, Johnson, Kichloe, Kimble, Newel, Palmer,
Post, Pedro, Paniche (the scrip on this monument is in Italian), Ramsey, Ross,
Strope, Spence, Snyder, Shields, Thayre, Van Horn, Watson, Webb, Williams. Along a dirt road,
recently rutted by truckloads of logs, Paul Dyer steered his car to the site of
the old Seaman Hotel, near Lopez. The
original building burned long ago. The
replacement is occupied as a farm home by the present owner, a
Russian-American, not too proficient in handling the American language, Here, on an elevation overlooking the Sock
and nestled in a sheltered nook, is a cemetery unique in many features. Enclosed by a high stone wall and completely
sheltered by the branches of virgin pine trees, some with trunks measuring 4
ft. 6 in. in diameter, Mr. Dyer paced the interior and found that it measured
24 x 24 ft. or 576 sq ft. Twelve graves
within the enclosure are marked, the first, Titus V. Ellis 1793-1822; the last,
Alexander Green 1847-1900. Here a
painter or poet could be inspired to create a masterpiece or a tired hunter
find rest and shelter among the kindly spirits sleeping in this quiet spot. Lopez, planned to be
a short lived town, gave little thought to the future. Families came with a wish to make money
rather than homes and those who died in the attempt were taken to the place
from whence they came for burial. This
may account for the lack of pride in the appearance of their cemeteries. The United Brethren
Evangelical Cemetery grew slowly around the church of this faith. Since the first burial in 1897, there are
now eighty graves, many unknown or forgotten.
A recent survey predicts that the church will be closed permanently in
the near future and the cemetery
abandoned. Soldiers’ graves are
decorated by the Veterans of Foreign Wars in all cemeteries. Nearby is a Greek Catholic Church and
cemetery in about the same neglected condition and with about the same hope for
survival. Across the valley is a
Russian Orthodox Cemetery which is filled and a new one rapidly filing a mile
farther out on Jackson Hill. These show
signs of better care. Located near the
Evangelical Church at Colley Corners, the Colley Cemetery is the only rural
cemetery in Colley Township. The
earliest date of death recorded is on a monument on the Moffet family group
marked 1844. The cemetery has perpetual
care. All burials in the original plot
are free. Space is rapidly filling. Private plots are purchased on three sides
giving plenty of room for expansion. A Lutheran and a
Catholic cemetery in Wilmot Township are located within a short distance of
each other where the dead of these faiths are buried.
Twenty-three veterans’ graves are marked with flags and decorated every
Memorial Day. The list includes: Civil
War, 16; Spanish American War, 2; World War I, 2; World War II, 2; Civil War, 1 Confederate Veteran. Family groups: Adams,
Beach, Brown, Barnhart, Bates, Baker, Decker, Douglas, Dean, Deffenbacher,
Earl, Foot, Girven, Golf, Goldsmith, Henley, Hunsinger, Kolb, Kennedy, Kneller,
Lanback, Mosier, Moffatt, Mace, Morningstar, Martin, Neuber, Oliver, Prichard,
Potter, Pender, Pond, Reeser, Ross, Steel, Scouten, Shaffer, Sutton, Santee,
Smith, Thrasher and White. Nearly every Township
has somewhere on its farms a lone, or a small group of graves, This could result from inherent love the
pioneer held for the first land he ever owned or the hope that the land would
become the permanent possession of this family through centuries to come. Agriculturally minded, few of the settlers
dreamed that development of resources would result in migration by their
posterity to distant places or manufacturing and transportation win them from
the land. These graves, like the
settlers sleeping here, are forgotten by all except the few in every community
who seek to keep alive records of past achievements or failures to be used by
those coming after us as guide posts pointing to detours where life’s road is
difficult and full speed ahead where the way to success seems plainly marked. Not in the records of
the silent dead, but rather in the progress of their posterity which their
love, labor and sacrifice made for us, we inherit their unfinished tasks. Commending them to the care of our Father,
God, in Whose providence there is no death, we bid the pioneers of yesteryear a
fond adieu in the beautiful words of Edwin Markham: “I am through with the years that were I am quits I am through with the dead and old. They are mines worked out; I have
delved into their pits And saved their grains of gold. I turn to the future for wine and
bread; I have hidden the past adieu, I laugh and salute the years ahead; Come on! I am waiting for you.” OUR VOLUNTEER
FIRE COMPANIES Fire controlled and
at work generating light, heat and power is a basic necessity to
civilization. Rampant, it becomes man’s
deadly enemy challenging our best efforts aided by research and modern machines
to protect us from its ravages. Bitter
experience through the ages has taught us, the hard way, that organized effort
efficiently trained and directed is the most practical method of prevention and
protection. To this end public spirited
citizens offer their time, labor, and sacrifice to fire fighting organizations
serving without pay and paying for the privilege of serving, risking life and
limb in the performance of duty with fidelity equal to citizens soldiers
trained in all other branches of the national defense. In the ‘good old
days’ this was accompanied with fuss and feathers gaudy uniforms, silver
bugles, over-sized helmets, gaily decorated galloping horses matched for color
and speed and resplendent in silver mounted harness drawing silver plated
engines emitting smoke and cinders that was just another fire hazards. Entertaining a
firemen’s convention, with perhaps forty visiting companies, was a doubtful
blessing to a city. Rude conduct and lax enforcement of law and order with the
influx of undesirable persons from the lower grades of humanity served to give
the visitors black eyes literally and figuratively and the city police plenty
of work. Fire Company membership
carried club privileges, fraternal ties and political preferment. Since the turn of the century all this is
changed, the pomp and parade is gone. The purpose of this
article is to bring public appreciation to the eight organized volunteer fire
companies in Sullivan County, civic minded citizens who take responsibility for
our protection from fire and flood seriously and aid in every worthwhile
project for community benefit, giving freely of labor and material. Each company protects
its allotted area and when called gives aid to companies within a radius of
forty miles. They raise funds by their own efforts to buy equipment and
supplies, usually by public entertainment. The combined efforts of these
organizations have built community centers on land they purchased and fire
fighting equipment with a total
replacement value of $200,000 and is covered by insurance on which the premiums
are paid annually. Records show that
Dushore was first to organize, having a company of sorts to assist its bucket
brigade as long ago as 1888. B. T.
Martin, then a lad of fourteen, was a member. Somewhere along the
years a toy pumper was owned and wrecked by over zealous operators but of this
incident record sayeth not. At this early date residents and business men gave
little encouragement to insurance or protection but on July 11, 1892 Dushore
Fire Company No. 1 was legally launched with the stated purpose “To protect
property within the Borough of Dushore”. Guaranteeing public confidence and
support the following substantial business and professional men were elected to
membership: Fred Newel, Fred P. Vincent, Geo. T. Deegan, Frank C. Woliver,
Garrett E. Donahue, Leonard J. Deegan, Ernest Chalmers, A. H. Garey, Frank
Donehue, Fred Weis, Asa D. McHenry, D. A. Wagner, Frank H. Farrell, Joseph
Middendorph, John H. Cronin, Bayard T. Martin, Wm. Landback, Ed McConnon, John
D. Reeser, Samuel Cole, Edward Carl, Clement Champion, Wm. Obrian, Frank T. Mainard,
Fred Rogers, Chas. W. Croll, Chas. Lawrence, Roe Bigger, Edward Hope, Wm.
Drake, and Victor Hugo. The honorary
membership included M. D. Swarts, John Utz, Sr., J. H. Yonkin, C. R. Hulbert,
B. M. Salvara, B. S. Collins, Jerry Deegan, Joseph Cook, J. V. Rittenbury, Dr. M. E. Herman, J. H.
Lawrence, F. B. Pomeroy, A. H. Zaner and Dr. Wm. Wardell. First officers were
President, Fred Newel; Vice-President, Fred Weliver, Secretary, George T.
Deegan; Treasurer, M. D. Swarts; Foreman, Garrett Donehue. The company moved
slowly for several years using buckets, chemicals and small hose carts, the
membership dwindled until only fourteen remained. In 1903, with completion of the water system, the need of a
strong organization became apparent and the following names were added: Fred E.
Hoffa, J. H. Thayre, V. B. Holcombe, A. F. Hesse, William Dieffenbach, Dr. P.
G. Biddle, George W. Jackson, John J. Coyle, C. A. Bahr, John L. Hileman, B. F.
Crawsley, J. E. Reese Killgore, Charles Lauer, Samuel Cole, J. D. Reeser, B. T.
Martin, John Hamer, Dr. W. F. Randall, J. S. Harrington, James Oneill, J. H.
Cronan, Oscar Hammond, O. E. Musselman, Robert Hoag, Henry Obert, Sr., J. B.
Cocoran, Chauncey Cunningham, Thomas W. Carroll, Charles Heaverly, Thomas Coyle,
Thomas Brogan, William McHenry, P. P. Martin, John Cadden, J. E. Harney and
Julius P. Bahl. The Dushore Fire
Company No. 1 was chartered May 6, 1908.
Officers at the time were: President, Fred E. Hoffa; Secretary, O. E.
Musselman. Active members included John Hemberry, F. O. Fulmer, Henry Black, J.
G. Black, Austin Streby, John Scher, Jr., C. A. Bahr, B. M. Silvara, B. T. Martin, V. B. Holcombe, Henry Obert,
B. T. Crosley, Thomas Brogan, Oscar Hammond, John Morrison, Harland McCarty, J.
D. Reeser, Charles Weed, X. A. Kaier,
Fred Glover, Michael Oneil, Walter Hoffa, Zack Cole. The present Fire
House was built in 1907 on land to which the only title held by the company is
squatter sovereignty. The first motor equipment purchased was a Model T. Ford
truck, used to carry hose. The new
modern pumper was purchased May 11, 1927 and the Ford was traded in as part
payment on the cost of $4750. The Ford
was returned to the company as a donation.
A new Ford V8 was purchased in 1941.
The first pumper was sold to the Lopez Fire Company and replaced with an
ultra modern American LaFrance in 1945.
This pumper was equipped with lighting plant, four wheel drive, and
auxiliary pumper to be used when hydrants are not available. Dushore owns the
only resuscitator and artificial respirator in the County, purchased in 1940
together with two large oxygen tanks at a cost of $535.00. It has been called into service several
times for victims of drowning and is frequently used as an emergency oxygen
tent, No charge is made for its use but
sizable checks have bee received from friends as an offering of thanks for its
benefit, Pharmacist Robert Diltz was
largely responsible for its purchase and superintends its operation. At the annual banquet held February 12, 1953,
B. T. Martin and John Hileman were awarded jewels for fifty years of continuous
service.
For meritorious service rendered through the years the names of four
deceased members, P. F. Crowsley, V. B. Holcombe, Floyd Kast and Sam Cole were
cited, together with M. B. Obert, Richard Holcombe, Henry Obert, V. C.
Holcombe, William Kast, William Gilmore, Andrew McDonald and John Hamer. The officers and members for 1953 are:
President, M. B. Obert; Vice President, John Hamer; Secretary, Joseph Frawley:
Treasurer, Paul Rush; 1st Ass’t. Fire Chief, Richard Holcombe; 2nd
Ass’t. Fire Chief, E. T. Foley; Financial Secretary, William F. Kast; Fire
Chief, Robert McDonald, Louis Bahr, Curtis Baumunk John A, Boyle, Gerald Cain,
Steve Charnitski, A. Lincoln Cox, John Cox, James Deegan, Eugene Dempsey, James
Dempsey, Robert Ditz, Dan Donovan, Peter Donovan, Walter Dunn, William Farrell,
Joseph M. Farrell, Eugene Farrell, Duane Fiocca, Eugene Foley, Joseph Frawley,
Donald Fries, James Gallagher, Jack Gerrity, William Gilmore, William R.
Gilmore, John Gilmore, Donald Green, Oscar M. Hammond, H. B. Hartzig, M. J.
Harrington, Ed Harrington, Ralph Henninger, John L. Hileman, Richard Hileman,
John H. Hileman, Albert J. Hoag, Vell C. Holcombe, Dick Holcombe, Tom Homer, Harley Hunsinger, W. F. Kast,
William E. Kast, Chas. Kschinka, Jerome Lane, J. R. Lentz, B. J.
Litzelman, Joe Lynch, B. T. Martin, Kelton Meehan, D. Reese Meehan, Donald
Miller, Leslie Miller, F. C. Moshier, Joseph Murphy, Gerald Murray, Andrew
McDonald, Robert McDonald, Leo McMahon, H. L. Obert, Henry E. Obert, Bernard
Obert, Joseph F. Obert, Ralph Obert, Richard Obert, Robert F. Obert, M. B.
Obert, George Pearson, Glen Plotts, Harold Plastow, George Peterson, William
Pollack, Karl E. Raub, Charles Raub,
Paul Rush, Charles Rush, Jack Rush, Donald Sayman, Dr. T. J. Saul, W. P. Sick,
James Sick, Francis Smith, John Smith, A. F. Snyder, Albert Snyder, Floyd
Steafather, Gale Steafather, Myles Steafather, H. C. Thomas, Joseph Trasco,
Gordon Trubach, Don Waples, John White, Gale Worthington, John Yonkin, Arthur
A. Yonkin, William Zaner, A. J. Zangara.
The list of past and present member of Dushore Fire Company No. 1
presents the ‘who’s who’ in Dushore since 1892. Each name gives opportunity for memories of incidents amusing or
tragic, with sixty years of service in a field which includes all of Sullivan
and parts of adjoining counties. The
organization is out of debt and still young in strength and spirit.
In 1899 Forksville Borough purchased an unique piece of fire equipment
and organized a one-man fire department to direct volunteers in its use, It cost $300 and was expected to supplement
the efforts of the bucket brigade. It
consisted of a toy pumper and a few yards of hose. The four wheels were of hickory wood twenty inches high, with
iron rims, This red and gold fire
engine was rushed to fires at break-neck speed by four husky volunteers who
also manned the double action handles of the pump which drew water from a well
or stream and threw a small stream for a distance of about twenty feet until
the water supply was exhausted. All
motive power was by leg action and elbow grease.
At a hotel fire in 1906 (off the record) a large quantity of whiskey was
salvaged down the throats of the firemen. Ladies of the W.C.T.U. extinguished the blaze. Fifty years have come and gone and after a
bath and trial work out this spry old lass won a trophy at the Laporte
Centennial, the oldest piece of fire fighting machinery capable of emergency
use in central Pennsylvania. The present modernly trained and equipped
volunteer department was incorporated in 1941.
They are housed in a new cement block fire house which is also a social
center, built at a cost of $6,000. The
cost was reduced by volunteer labor and material gifts. An up to date pumper purchased from war
surplus, three thousand yards of hose, chemicals and accessories bring the
total assets to $14,000, on which $13,000 insurance is carried. Present officers are: President, William
Whiteman; Vice Present, Gaylord McCarty; Secretary, Vernon Hatch; Treasurer,
Milo Baumonk; Fire Chief, Gerald Rosback.
Way back in the ‘gay nineties’ when Hillsgrove was a thriving village,
the Hoyt Bros. Tanning Co. laid water lines, built hydrant houses, and with a stationary
pumper supplied fire protection, thus reducing their insurance cost, All this was sold for junk when the tannery
was dismantled in 1922. Twenty-four
years later, in 1926, the Hillsgrove Volunteer Fire Company was incorporated
with fifty members, fifteen charter members and six life members. This company is in a healthy condition with
all debts paid. Total value of assets
is $13,000. Several fires have been
fought successfully in their area and aid given when called. The fire company cares for the church
grounds and cemetery and sponsors the Annual Old Home Day as a public service.
Officers are: President, Norman Rinker; Vice President, Gleason Lewis;
Secretary, Dwight Lewis; Treasurer, Ray Kanelly; Fire Chief, E. E. Renninger.
The LaPorte Volunteer Fire Company was organized in 1946. They purchased the pumper from the Borough
Council for $1100; assets listed for insurance purpose total $10,000. Through the years before the company was
organized fires were uncontrolled and insurance rates high, but since their
organization all fires have been extinguished and adjourning buildings
protected. Officers for 1953 are as follows: President, Donald Worthington;
Vice President, John Hollabuk; Secretary, Harry Mauck; Treasurer, Harrold
Benniger; Fire Chief, Duane Shultz.
The Weldon-Lopez Volunteer Fire Company was organized in 1947 and has a
membership of sixty-five with fifty members still active. Their equipment is housed and meetings held,
rent free, in the Veterans of Foreign Wars Hall. A fire truck was purchased from war surplus with 3000 yards of
hose, at a cost of $1050 and later a large pumper was bought for $1500. The ordinal cost of this good as new pumper
was $16,000 and could not be duplicated for $24,000. A portable pumper used to empty flooded cellars is in frequent
use at no charge. All financial
obligations are met promptly and company morale is excellent. The Annual Fair and Old Home Day is a source
of pleasure to both present and former residents and a social and financial
benefit to the Fire Company. Present officers are: President, Paul Comara; Vice
President, Andrew Matychak; Secretary, Clair Johnson; Treasurer, Morris Kellog;
Fire Chief, Edwin Cole. The Ber-Mil Volunteer
Fire Company, organized and incorporated in 1948, owns its Fire House which is
a combined Company Headquarters and Community Center. It is a two story building 40 x 50 feet and is equipped with
kitchen and dining service. The
auditorium is used by United Mine Workers and several community organizations. The lot was purchased in 1949 and cost
$1000. Much volunteer labor and donated
material aided in its construction. The
incorporation assets were listed as four hydrants and $200 in cash. The fire truck was purchased May 8, 1949
from the Shavetown Fire Department for $5000.
A Marine pumper was included and is used when hydrants are not
available. Recent donations are 300
feet of hose and several uniforms from Endicott-Johnson and $250 in cash from
the Keystone Shoe Co. The membership
was 70 when organized and grew rapidly to 110.
Insurance of $8000 is carried on the property and replacement value
would exceed $15,000. Three schools have
been conducted by the state Fire Prevention Dept. of Public Instruction,
Tuition free, this training added to interest of the members. Plans call for
the purchase of an ultra modern fire engine in the near future. Present officers are: President, Morris
Hoffman; Vice President, Ben Engle; Secretary, Erland L. Prozzi; Financial
Secretary, Joseph Chiplis; Treasure, Joe Kelly; Fire Chief, James Christina. The Muncy Valley Fire
Company was organized in January 1952 with a membership of 130. Their pumper was awarded first prize at the
LaPorte Centennial as the newest and most modern, having a fog making
attachment for use on gasoline fires,
Two and a half acres of land were purchased for $1000. Two lots have since been sold for $1500.
Enough land was retained for a parking lot and new Fire House and Community
Center now under construction. The
building is 40 x 80 feet and is of cement block construction, waxed cement
floor and wood roof made non-inflammable by the latest methods. All labor and material used is donated,
including trees in the forest. Members
cut the trees, cart them to the mills and convert them into lumber without
cost. Elaborate plans are formed for
laying the cornerstone with Mrs. Emma Hesse handling the trowel. For an expenditure of $700 a $7000 building will result from the
brain and brawn of Americans having faith in one another and full credit will
be shown in the carefully kept records of Charles Moran, bookkeeper; George
Upman, Supt. Of Wood Construction and Harold George, Supt. of Masonry. Present officers of
the Company are President, H. W. Bender; Vice President, Ted Hill, Secretary,
Myron Schugh; Financial Secretary, B. H. Laurenson; Fire Chief, E. M.
Houseknicht; First Assistant, Robert E. Eberlin; Second Assistant, Dale Meyers. The Eagles Mere
Company, founded in October 1902, has rendered valuable service through the
years to the Borough and outlying districts, always working with the Council in
the purchase of equipment, Membership
comprises business men and home owners who are conscious of the value of the Company
in protecting property and lowering insurance rates and funds for maintenance
are subscribed willingly. Completion of
the water line in 1901 and the need of fire protection becoming apparent a
meeting was called in the Dunham home by Capt. E. S. Chase, with E. V. Ingham,
Chairman and Raymond Kehrer, Secretary in
attendance. Also present were; J. W.
Aumiller, A. R. Lisson, William Fletcher,
N. E. Brink, C. E. Dunham, Ed Stevens, W. J. Taylor, Claude Brink,
Alvice Dunham, Charles McCarty, C. J. Brink, John Brink, F. C. Dunham, G. W.
Montgomery, C. Dunham, Leo Brink, Clarence Brink Wm. Anderson, George Donnley,
E. S. Worthington. The equipment
consisted of a hose carriage, ladder truck and twenty gallon chemical engine
which was later declared unsatisfactory and sold. Records of Company activity were kept by Secretary R. D. Kehrer
from 1902 until the reorganization in 1940.
The first motorized truck purchased
was a Ford truck with ladders,
In 1941 the Fire House and Town Hall was completed with volunteer labor
at thirty cents an hour and a modern pumper bought from war surplus. Total
assets are valued at $15,000. Present officers are: President, Carl Bigger;
Vice President, C. L. McCarty, Secretary, P. S. Houseknicht; Fire Chief, C. L.
McCarty. Residents of Sullivan
County are proud and appreciative of their efficient Volunteer Fire Companies
and give them hearty support and cooperation.
Whirls End State Park
Forksville, PA 1941
Photos Contributed by Scott W. Tilden
Originals Auctioned on eBay in July 2012
The back of the first card carried this information: "Genuine Curteich Chicago 'C.T. American Art' Post Card" and had
a rectangular area assigned for the placement of a one cent stamp. The second card
had "Whitman's Phototypes, Canton, Pa." imprinted on the back. Finally,
The third card was titled ""High Knob" , and was produced by the Pennsylvania State Publicity Commission.
The back of the card had a brief description of the site and mentioned that "Whirls End" was
a "C.C.C. project". The notation
"Silvercraft - Made by Dexter Press, Pearl River, N.Y." was also imprinted on the back.
* Editor's Note: You can learn more about the origins of Lake Mokoma at the Wikipedia entry for
Lake Mokoma. Here are some photos and comments on the
ownership of the Lake over time:
Camp Mokoma Campers
LaPorte, PA
Two musicians on right, one holding a trumpet
Card Postmarked August 25, 1909
Contributed by Scott W. Tilden
Source: eBay Auction of an old RPPC postcard in January 2012
The Mokoma Inn
LaPorte, PA
Old Postcard Dated 1936
Hotel was Built in 1899
Contributed by Scott W. Tilden
Source: eBay Auction in November 2011
Original Stock Certificate
Lake Mokoma Boat Company
Owned by W. C. Mason 1911
Signed by Francis W. Meylert of Laporte, Pa. as Secretary, and Ink Stamped by Ellery Ingham as President
Photo Contributed by Scott W. Tilden
Original auctioned on eBay in March 2015
Agricultural Society Exhibit
Sullivan County Fair
September 16-18, 1884
Entry Ticket held by Victoria Lusch *
Photo by Scott W. TIlden:
Original Auctioned on eBay in November 2011
* Editor's Note: Victoria Lusch (1859-19480 was a local school teacher.
You can learn more about the Lusch
family at The Lusch family of Sullivan County.
Because of the fact that no records were kept and no plans made for perpetual
care, many graves are unmarked. The
original plot, given by pioneer John Hill, was free and burials without plan of
order. Private plots were purchased
surrounding the original plot on two sides and the owners keep these in
order. In recent years the Volunteer
Fire Company has made the cemetery the object of care and attention. Within the memory of older residents are
marble slabs marking the graves of John Hill and his wife who died in
1841. In a row across the plot sleep
many of his descendants: the Sadler, Davis, Rogers and Craven families. Two rows are given to the McBride family. A
section to the Biddle and Speaker families, the Lewis and Huckel facilities,
the Boyles and Jackson families, the Darby, Greene, Moulthroup, Peck and
Golough families, the Harrison, Dunlap, Brey, Huffsmith and Dutter
families. Few of their descendants are
left with sufficient interest to help bring order out of what is rapidly
becoming chaos. This is the only
cemetery in Hillsgrove Township.