HISTORY

OF THE

C O U N T I ES

OF

LEHIGH AND CARBON,

IN  THE

COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA.

BY

ALFRED MATHEWS AND AUSTIN N. HUNGERFORD.

ILLUSTRATED

PHILADELPHIA:

EVERTS & RICHARDS.

1884.

PRESS OF J. S. LIPPINCOTT & CO., PHILADELPHlA.

Beaver Meadow

Weatherly

CHAPTER 12

Banks Township

pp. 711 - 717

BANKS Township was erected from Lausanne in 1841 (before the organization of Carbon County), and named after Judge Banks, then on the bench in Northampton County. The first official information obtained of the erection of the township is in the assessment-rolls of Northampton County for 1842, and is as follows:

"Northampton County, ss.

"Commissioners' Office.

"To A. B. Longshore,

"Assessor of Banks township (formerly part of Lausanne), Greeting:

We herewith transmit to you the last assessment of Lausanne township, and with the assistance of the assessor of said Lausanne township, you are to transcribe from it all such inhabitants, their professions, and property which now reside within your limits as they respectfully stand rated...

" Given under our hand and the seal of office this 7th day of April, 1842.

"John Santee,

"John Lentz, Coms."

Banks Township is about ten miles in length east and west, and about two miles in width. Its territory comprises the top of Spring Mountain, and is from fourteen hundred to sixteen hundred feet abovetide-water. Beaver Creek rises near Jeansville, in the northern line of the township, and flows easterly in a sluggish stream till it reaches Hazel Creek, in the edge of Lausanne township, from which junction its descent is very rapid. Hazel Creek rises in the northeast part of the township, flows southerly, and joins Beaver. From this junction it is called Hazel, or Black Creek.

The railroads now in the township are the Beaver Meadow Division, and the Philadelphia and Reading, which passes across the western end of the township through Yorktown, and affords larger facilities for shipments to the Yorktown and Audenried collieries.

The population as given by the census of 1880 is four thousand and nineteen.

The following is from the first assessment-roll of Banks township on record at Mauch Chunk, the county-seat of Carbon County, and is dated 1843:

"To the Commissioners of Northampton County.

"Gentlemen,--

"The following is a statement of the amount, description, and value of the real and personal property, etc., made taxable in Banks township for 1843, and also the number of taxable inhabitants of said township, viz.:

Number of taxable inhabitants 260

Value Tax.

Amount of valuation on real estate, horses, and cattle $112,694 $225.38

" Tax on excess of professions, etc 23.00

" Valuation on carriages 435 4.35

" Valuation of furniture 500 2.50

" Tax on watches 1.00

" Money at interest 130 .39

$256.62

"N. R. Penrose, Assessor."

The Beaver Meadow Railroad and Coal Company was assessed on nine hundred and twenty acres of land at sixty-two thousand dollars, thirty-four houses, saw-mill, and carriage.

Thomas Bond, blacksmith

Jonas Beltz, engineer

William Bruce, gentleman

Henry Brenckman, brewer

H. B. Berryhill, clerk

A. G. Brodhead, real estate (non-resident)

Nathan Beach, three hundred and eighty-six acres (non-resident)

Charles Brittan, carpenter

Abraham Cool, carpenter

W. H. Cool, merchant

A. D. Cool, clerk

Thomas Daniels, Richard Davis, carpenters

G. H. & James Dougherty, saddlers

Patrick Delany, tailor

James Alexander, John Atkinson, and James Early, shoemakers

Joseph Engle, cabinet-maker

James Farrow, blacksmith

James Garrahan, carpenter

Daniel Gason, preacher

James Gowen, real estate (non-resident)

Charles Hanes, carpenter

James and Aaron Hamburger, butchers

Jonas Harz, real estate (non-resident)

Robert Harrison, cabinetmaker

Henry Hoover, blacksmith

Philip Hoffacker, machinist

Oakley O. Hampton, innkeeper

Richard Jones, engineer

Philip Jenkins, blacksmith

Walter Jones, engineer

B. D. Jacques, carpenter

Robert Jefferson, machinist

R. M. Kinsey, patternmaker

James Lewis, engineer

Henry Long, carpenter (three hundred and ninety acres)

Enos Leidy, superintendent

A. B. Longshore, doctor

F. E. Louthrop, Barnard and Thomas McClane, gentlemen

William McClane, superintendent

Lawrence Murry, carpenter

W. W. McGuiger, school-teacher

W. R. McKean, contractor

Reuben Miller, carpenter

Samuel Owens, engineer

Robert Preston, carpenter

N. R. Penrose, justice of the peace

A. W. Pratt, clerk

Fenton Quigley, innkeeper

John Quigley, engineer

Jacob Shafer, blacksmith

R. M. Stansbury, doctor

Stafford Coal Company, two hundred and twenty- eight acres and tavern-house

Henry Tency, butcher

Jacob & Thomas Hopkins, contractors

A. H. Van Cleve, contractor

C. G. Vanlage, clerk

Joseph Whitworth, clerk

Benjamin Williams, blacksmith

William H. Wilson, innkeeper and real estate

Jesse Wilson, innkeeper

Samuel M. Wilson, constable.

The remainder of the taxables were laborers and miners.

HISTORY OF THE COAL OPERATIONS IN BANKS.

--Coal was discovered in the township before 1812. The title to the land was claimed by Nathan Beach, of Salem, on the Susquehanna, who opened the mine in 1813. Coal was taken by the Lehigh and Susquehanna turnpike (Easton and Berwick) to Berwick and Bloomsburg, and used for blacksmithing. Subsequent to 1826 it was hauled to the Landing Tavern, on the Lehigh, and sent to Philadelphia in arks, where it was sold for eight dollars per ton. The title to the land was contested and suit brought in the winter of 1829-30, when Mr. Beach won the suit, and sold five hundred acres to Judge Joseph Barnes, of Philadelphia. The Beaver Meadow Railroad and Coal Company, soon after their organization, purchased two hundred acres of land, since known as the Beaver Meadow Mines, which they operated until 1841, when they were leased to A. H. Van Cleve & Co. (composed of A. H. Van Cleve, James McKean, and Charles Von Tagen). They were worked by this firm about five years, then leased to William Milnes & Co., and operated till about 1847, when Milnes & Co. leased the Spring Mountain Coal-Mines at Jeansville. The mines were then leased to Hamberger & Co., and operated till the freshets of 1850, since which time they were abandoned, until 1881, when they were leased to Cox Brothers & Co., who are now working them. When the Beaver Meadow Railroad was merged with the Lehigh Valley Railroad the mines came under the control of that railroad, in whose possession they now are.

STAFFORD COAL COMPANY

--This company was incorporated March 3, 1838, with a capital of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars, by Charles S. Cox for the Stafford Coal Company, he being the owner of the land, which adjoined the Beaver Meadow Company's land on the east and north. A slope was sunk about one hundred and forty yards, when the perpendicular rock was struck, and it was abandoned for the time. The company, by their charter, had power to hold not to exceed two thousand acres of land, and to build a railroad to connect with Beaver Meadow or Hazleton Railroad. July 26, 1841, time was extended to build its railroad to Sept. 1, 1846. No road was built.

A slope was opened some years ago by Jonas Reese, which was soon after abandoned. Cox Brothers & Co., in the year 1883, retimbered it, and are now drilling. At the depth of seventy-one feet a vein of coal was struck five feet in thickness. Drilling is still going on in the hope of finding a thicker vein.

SPRING MOUNTAIN COAL COMPANY

--This company was chartered May 21, 1864. Coal was first discovered in this immediate region by James D. Gallup, who was connected with the Beaver Meadow Railroad. The property was once owned by Joseph H. Newbold, and was bought for about twenty thousand dollars by Joseph Jeanes and others, of Philadelphia. By this company it was let, in 1847, to William Milnes, at a rental of twenty-five cents per ton of coal shipped. The colliery was soon in operation, and in 1855 the company received forty thousand dollars rental. Mr. Milnes' lease was for twenty years, and about one and a half million tons of coal was shipped by him during that period. Since that time the mines have been operated by the Spring Mountain Coal Company.

The tract of land on which W. T. Carter & Co. are now operating at Leviston, also known as Colerain and Carter's, was owned many years ago by Altar & Stevens, of Philadelphia, who leased it to Rich & Cleaver, and later to Ratcliff & Johnson, whose lease ran out in 1862. Altar & Stevens then leased to William Carter & Son, who operated it two years, and then purchased the property. The interest of William Carter was later sold to Charles F. Shroener, and was continued by this firm until 1877, when William T. Carter purchased Shoener's interest, and now has entire control. About 1873 a stripping was commenced by William T. Carter & Co., about a mile west of Beaver Meadow. The underlying vein of coal is about fourteen feet thick. The coal is run to the breaker, and from there shipped to Readington to the furnaces of the company, and to Packer, Knowlton & Co., of Perth Amboy and South Amboy, N. J. An average of one hundred and ten cases per day is shipped from the two mines.

LEHIGH AND WILKESBARRE COAL COMPANY.

--The mines of this company are at Tresckow and at Audenried. At the latter place the mines are all in Luzerne County, and the offices in Carbon County. The German Pennsylvania Coal Company commenced operations on the site of the present works at this place in the year 1851. They sunk a slope, built a breaker, tavern, store, and several dwellings. This they worked for several years, and sold to Samuel Bonnell, Jr., of New York City, who worked the mines for two years, and sold to the Honey Brook Coal Company, which was incorporated April 23, 1864, by whom they were worked till Feb. 1, 1874, when the company was merged in the Lehigh and Wilkes-Barre Coal Company, who now own it. Three slopes are used. The present breaker was erected in 1866.

YORKTOWN COLLIERIES.

--The tract of two hundred and two acres on which the collieries of George H. Myers & Co. are located belonged many years ago to Christian Kunkle. Mr. N. P. Hosach, of New York, employed men to make an examination on the property for coal, and becoming convinced that coal was there in quantity, he purchased the property for thirty thousand dollars. After a few years he became involved, and a company was formed called "The New York and Lehigh Coal Company," who still own the property. In the summer of 1855 it was leased for ten years to James Taggart. He sunk the first slope on the Big Vein on the site of No. 1 Breaker, and shipped the first coal in April, 1856, by the Beaver Meadow Railroad to the Lehigh Valley Railroad. This slope was "drowned out" in 1860, and was not pumped out and ready again for work until 1864, when work was resumed.

Another slope on the Big Vein, called No. 2, was opened in 1858. The coal was drawn to No. 1 Breaker. This slope was mined to the end of the lease. Upon this termination the New York and Lehigh Coal Company, in whose hands the property then was, leased the mines to George K. Smith & Co. for ten years. Mr. Smith had charge of the mines, and in 1867 was shot in his own house. Mr. Thomas Hull, one of the company, continued the mines under the lease till January, 1868, when he became embarrassed, and gave up his lease. Slopes Nos. 3 and 4, on the Big Vein, were sunk by Thomas Hull & Co. Its coal was drawn to No. 1 Breaker. The property was leased for ten years by A. L. Mumper & Co. in 1868. Under this firm Slopes Nos. 5 and 6 were sunk. Breaker No. 5 was built in 1869, burned down and rebuilt in 1877. Breaker No. 6 was built in 1875. Slope No. 6 is on the Wharton vein.

In 1878 a lease for fifteen years was made to Thomas, John & Co. Mr. John died in September, 1880, and Mr. George H. Myers being the only one of the firm then living, the firm was reorganized by him, with George, John, and Thomas Dougherty as partners, under the firm-name of George H. Myers & Co., by whom it is still run. The shipments are about one hundred and fifty thousand tons yearly. Store and dwellings were built by J. Taggart. Thomas Hull & Co. built blocks of houses and the present company store.

In 1872 mines were opened by John Morton and E. N. Enbody, on land owned by the Lehigh Valley Railroad Company and Cox Bros., located about a mile northwest from Beaver Meadow, near the county line. They sold their interest soon after to E. B. Ely & Co., of New York. This company built a large breaker. They were not very successful and closed the lease of the Cox land, and continued work on the Lehigh Valley Railroad land until the expiration of the lease in 1881. Cox Bros. then leased the Lehigh Valley Railroad Company's land, and are now working both mines. A saw-mill and six blocks were erected.

The laborers are mostly Hungarians, and number about three hundred. The mines are in Carbon County and the works are in Luzerne County.

SCHOOLS IN BANKS TOWNSHIP.

--The schools are entirely in connection with the mining towns, and number fourteen. There are two at Beaver Meadow, three at Colerain, or Leviston, three at Tresckow, four at Audenried, and two at Jeansville. They are under the control of the board of school directors, six in number.

The following is a list of the school directors of the township since the erection of Carbon County:

1844.--James Yarrow, George Jenkins, Charles Haines, A. W. Pratt, P. G. Gensell.

1845.--A. W. Pratt, Aaron Howey, Thomas B. Daniels.

1846.--Oakley O. Hampton, Stephen Smith.

1847.--James Lewis, Patrick McHugh.

1848.--A. B. Longshore, T. B. Daniels.

1849.--John Rodrock, W. McCulloch.

1850.--J. O. Cleaver, John Henry.

1851.--Thomas B. Daniels, O. O. Hampton, William H. Cool, Philip Hoffecker.

1852.--William H. Cool, Jenkin Reynolds, John Rothrock, John W. Righter, George Brader.

1853.--J. Garrihan, M. Smith.

1854.--Charles Ried, William H. Cool.

1855.--George Brader, Thomas Daniel, Stephen Smith, Charles Brittain.

1856.--George Johnson, James Early, James McCloskey.

1857.-- John Shindel, A. J. Moyer.

1858.--J. B. Longshore, Patrick McHugh.

1859.--S. W. Hudson, Michael Smith.

1860.--Jacob Dilinnger, Patrick Turney, J. S. Haynes.

1861.--A. J. Laudabaum, Henry Sheffer.

1862.--James A. Meyers, Patrick McHugh, Henry Sheffer.

1863.--Marcus McDonnell, Michael McCornick.

1884.--A. J. Lauderbaum, Jenkins Reynolds.

1865.--J. B. Longshore, W. D. Folwer, John Trevaske.

1866.--A. Dimmick, Jonah Reese.

1867.--James Washhburn, James Francis.

1868.--J. K. McCollum, John Travaske, Henry Shaffer.

1869.--Charles Murry, Daniel Brisbin.

1870.--James Wear, James Theudem, Michael Smith, William E. Bevan.

1871.--No record.

1872.--Daniel Brisbin, C. J. Murray.

1873.--Patrick Conahan, J. J. Gallagher.

1874.--W. E. Bevan, Richard Hughs.

1875.--Martin C. Birley, Henry C. Sinfkin.

1876.--J. J. Gallagher, Patrick Conahan.

1877.--Bernard Gilded, John McGeady, C. J. Murray.

1878.--Richard Williams, Jr., Bernard Gilded.

1879.--William Coyle, Hugh Sheridan.

1880.--R. Hughs, J. F. Hardcastle, George Spencer, Hugh Ferney.

1881.--Bernard Coyle, George Spencer.

1882.--John Martin, Edward Garrihan.

1883.--Hugh Ferney, John Boyle.

JUSTICES OF THE PEACE.

--Following is a list of the justices of the peace from 1845 to the present:

H. W. Curley, March, 1845.

Jacob Horn, March, 1846.

Aaron Hamburger, March, 1850.

Jacob Horn, March, 1851.

Reuben Miller, Thomas L. Boileau, March, 1852.

William H. Trescott, March, 1856.

A. J. Laudenbeam, J. P. Shindel, March, 1857.

William B. Wilson, March, 1858.

John B. Longshore, Herman Hamburger, March, 1864.

Michael Kelly, March, 1867.

Otto Hoeffner, John B. Longshore, March, 1869.

John B. Longshore, October, 1869.

E. S. Heintzelman, October, 1870.

Thomas Mallery, March, 1872.

William E. Bevan, March, 1873.

James Washburn, March, 1874.

Hugh McGarvey, March, 1876.

Charles Butler, March, 1877.

E. S. Heintzelman, Daniel Romig, Jr., March, 1880.

J. B. Longshore, R. E. Donaughey, March, 1881.

Richard Williams, Sr., Hugh McGarvey, March, 1882.

Edward Kimlin, March, 1883.

BEAVER MEADOW.

--This village is situated on the Beaver Meadow Division of the Lehigh Valley Railroad, about six miles from Weatherly. It lies about fourteen hundred feet above tide-water, and takes its name from Beaver Creek, which flows past it, and on which it is said beaver dams were found when the land was located. Its prosperity was assured for a time by the shipment of coal, the building of the Beaver Meadow Railroad in 1832, and the establishment of their shops at the place. Upon the removal of theses latter, in 1842, the interests of the village somewhat declined, but the coal-mines still gave life to the place. It now contains seven stores, a post office, two churches (Methodist and Presbyterian), two school-houses, Odd-Fellows' hall, and station of the Beaver Meadow Division of the Lehigh Valley Railroad. The old turnpike is abandoned, and a road leads from the village across the Spring Mountain to the Quakake Valley, where it connects with the road from Quakake to Tamaqua. Many of the miners at Colerain live at Beaver Meadow. The population of the village, as given by the census of 1880, is five hundred and two.

The tract on which the village was located was warranted in 1787 to Paddy and Mary Keene, and later came into possession of Nathan Beach, who sold five hundred acres to Judge Joseph Barnes, of Philadelphia, in 1830. The turnpike from Easton to Berwick on the Susquehanna, known also as the Lehigh and Susquehanna turnpike, ran through the tract. In 1804 a log house was built upon the site and kept as a tavern (by whom is not known). On the 10th of April, 1826, William H. Wilson removed with his family to the place, and became the landlord of the tavern. There was a toll-gate at the foot of the mountain, kept by a man by the name of "Green." At that time, also, a man by the name of Bevelheimer lived where now Leviston stands. There was no other house here at the time. A little later James Lamison came in and built a house, which, in 1831, he kept as a tavern. In that year Miss Hetty Hinkel, still living, removed to the place. In the year 1833, N. R. Penrose, now living at the age of eighty-three years, came to Beaver Meadow as the agent of the property of Judge Barnes. He built near the site of the log tavern a large frame building, now owned by William Carter. Upon its completion it was occupied by William H. Wilson as a tavern, and by James Gowan (father of Franklin B. Gowan) who bought it, as a store. Mr. Wilson kept the tavern at this place about three years, and in 1837 built nearly opposite a tavern known as Wilson's Hotel, which he kept for twenty years. It was then kept a year by Mr. Woodring; by William B. Wilson (a son of William H.) for two years; later by Henry Kepner, Michael Wilhelm, and others, until 1878, when it was discontinued, and is now occupied as a store. The only hotel now in the village is kept by Mrs. J. Husson.

N. R. Penrose was appointed justice of the peace of Lausanne township in 1834, the next year after his settlement, and served about twelve years. He has been a resident since that time, and actively engaged in business for many years. He was with the engineering party who made the first survey for the railroad through the section. In the year 1855 he erected about two and a half miles east of Beaver Meadow, a powder-mill, which was operated until 1866, when it was blown up and abandoned. A mile and a half farther northeast William H. Cool, about the same time, built a powder-mill; it was also blown up and abandoned.

In 1848, N. R. Penrose erected a foundry at Beaver Meadow, which he conducted a year or two and sold to S. W. and B. W. Hudson, who carried it on till 1859, when S. W. Hudson sold his interest to his brother, B. W. Hudson, who continued till 1865, and sold to --- Wainwright. He very soon after sold to J. C. Hayden & Co., of Jeansville, who, in 1868, tore it down and removed it to Jeansville, in connection with other business of a similar nature. The Hudsons, while in business, made the bridge bolts and other iron-work for the Mahanoy Division of the Lehigh Valley Railroad, then building through the Quakake Valley.

The Beaver Meadow Railroad Company erected machine-, blacksmith-, and car-shops at Beaver Meadow. Hopkin Thomas was the master-mechanic at first, and while the shops were at his place a ten-wheel locomotive (probably the first built in this country), named the "Nonpareil," was constructed here. Capt. George Jenkins was the first superintendent. He was succeeded by James D. Gallop, and he, in 1838, by A. H. Van Cleve. The shops were removed from Beaver Meadow to Weatherly about 1840.

The oldest settlers now living in Beaver Meadow are as follows, with the years in which they settled:

Mrs. S. B. McClane, 1826

Miss Hetty Hinkel, 1831

N. R. Penrose, 1833

Charles Brittain, 1836

John B. Tweedle, 1837

Miss James Farrow, 1837

Henry Schmouch, 1838.

BEAVER MEADOW POST-OFFICE.

--The first post-office was established at the place about 1830, and kept by William H. Wilson at his tavern. He was succeeded in 1839 by A. G. Brodhead, who officiated till 1840, when William H. Wilson was again appointed, and was succeeded respectively by Dr. Ashbel B. Longshore and Thomas Hooven. The latter retained the position till 1861, when Mrs. L. B. McClane, a daughter of William H. Wilson, the first postmaster, was appointed, who still holds the position.

SCHOOLS.

--The first school in the place was started about the year 1835, and was kept by Miss Lydia Bidlack in what was formerly used as a blacksmith shop, and stood on a back street in the rear of the present post-office. Thomas McCurly later taught many years. Two school-houses are now in the village, which are well filled. Mr. John Martyn is the resident director.

CHURCHES.

--The Presbyterian Church which stands at the head of the street was built largely through the influence of A. H. Van Cleef, about 1838 or 1839, and the society became quite numerous. The removal of the shops affected it, and it declined. There is no congregation of this denomination here at present. The building has been used many years by the Methodists, and now by the German Reformed congregation, who are supplied occasionally from Hazleton.

A Methodist congregation was organized many years ago, and worshiped in the Presbyterian Church edifice. In 1874 the society erected the present house of worship, which was dedicated in October of that year. The pastor at that time was the Rev. J. P. Moore. The present pastor is Rev. J. W. Buckley. A Sunday school with two hundred pupils, under the superintendence of John Martyn, is connected with the church, which has a membership of forty-five.

BEAVER MEADOW LODGE, NO. 62, I. O. OF O. F.

--This lodge was instituted July 13, 1839, and incorporated at the August term of court, 1849. Their meetings were first held in a building which stood on the lot now owned, by Joshua Gates. Here they remained about five years, when they erected a hall on the site of the present building, which stood until its destruction by fire about 1878. Soon after, the present large and commodious hall was erected, two stories in height, at a cost of a trifle over two thousand dollars. The lower story is used for public purposes and the upper for a lodge-room. The present number of members is about seventy. The present officers are James Wear, Noble Grand; William H. Watkins, Secretary.

YORKTOWN AND AUDENRIED

These towns, adjoining each other, are mining towns that lie in the western end of Banks township. Yorktown is on the northern line of the county, adjoining Luzerne County, and a part of Audenried is located in Schuylkill County.

They are entirely the outgrowth of the mining companies' operations near them, and have a population of one thousand and thirty-nine. Audenried was named from Lewis Audenried, a coal operator in Philadelphia. A post-office was established in 1860, and on the 15th of October, 1860, Samuel Martyn received a commission as postmaster. The office was opened in the store of the Honey Brook Coal Company, and has been kept in the same building to the present. The postmasters, with the dates of commission from that time, are here given: Isaac K. McCollum, Feb. 25, 1862; Miss Mary E. Lazarus, March 2, 1865; Miss Martha J. Lazarus, May 14, 1869; Miss Kate Koons, Dec. 14, 1871. The latter is still in possession of the office.

On the 10th of July, 1871, a stock company was organized as the Hosack Hall Association, for the purpose of erecting a public hall. A lot was donated by the New York and Lehigh Coal Company. A capital stock of seven thousand five hundred dollars was expended in the erection of the present commodious hall, which bears the name of Hosack Hall.

The place contains five churches,--a Presbyterian, Catholic, Methodist, Welsh Baptist, and Welsh Independent Congregational.

PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.

--About the year 1870 the Rev. Daniel Durrelle was sent to this section as a missionary of the Presbyterian Board of Missions. Through his influence a congregation was gathered, and services were held for a time in the Methodist Church. The present church was built in 1872, the corner-stone having been laid September 8th in the year, while still under the pastoral charge of the Rev. Daniel Durrelle. He was succeeded by the Rev. Jesse Shafer, and he by the Rev. William McNair, the present pastor.

ST. PATRICK'S CHURCH.

--Prior to 1873 the Catholics of this place worshiped in Frenchtown. In 1868 a new diocese was created, and the church at Frenchtown was in the new diocese (Scranton), and this place was still in the diocese of Philadelphia. This change brough about a desire on the part of Catholics in Audenried and Yorktown to build a church of their own. A lot was donated by Hosack & Co., of New York, for that purpose, and in 1870 a parsonage was erected, at a cost of six thousand dollars. A church edifice was commenced in the spring of 1873, the corner-stone being laid in June of that year. It was completed and dedicated Nov. 14, 1875, Archbishop Wood performing the dedicatory service, and Bishop Lynch, of South Carolina, preaching the sermon. The church has been under the pastoral care of Rev. T. J. Warren from 1869. The Catholic population within the charge of this church numbers fifteen hundred.

THE WELSH BAPTIST CHURCH.

--The first preacher after the division of the Baptist and Congregational Churches was the Rev. Samuel Thomas. He was succeeded by the Revs. D. Roslyn Davis and T. D. Evans, who is now the pastor. The church has a membership of one hundred and eight. The church edifice was erected in 1872, at a cost of twenty-five hundred dollars, and in 1883 improvements were added to the amount of eleven hundred dollars.

METHODIST CHURCH.

--The Methodists of this region were for many years under the charge of ministers from the Cunningham District. In 1869 a church was erected. The Revs. Bird, Hoge, and James B. Cuddy were among those who preached prior to that time. The following ministers have had charge of the Audenried and Jeansville Churches from 1869 to the present: Revs. E. W. Schwartz, Alem Britten, M. L. Drum, J. W. Leckie, George Warren, W. A. Clippinger, and W. C. Hesser, the present pastor. The Audenried Church has a membership of forty-five.

A hotel was opened at Audenried in 1861 by Augustus Williams. He was succeeded by --- Rothrock, F. D. Fruit, and N. D. Fowler, who went out in 1875, since which time it has been kept as a boarding house, and is now by Mrs. Mary Dimmick.

JEANSVILLE.

--This village is situated on the north border of Banks township, and mostly in Luzerne County. The property was once owned by Joseph H. Newbold, and was bought by Joseph Jeanes, of Philadelphia, after whom it is named. It is a village of about fifteen hundred inhabitants, and has grown up to its present size since 1847, at which time the coal operations commenced. The population by the census of 1880 is four hundred and forty-one.

TRESCKOW.

--This village is the result of the mining operations commenced by the German Pennsylvania Coal Company in 1851. A tavern, store, school-house, and dwellings were built by them, and the village increased as the mines were developed, and now has a population of six hundred and seventy-six by the census of 1880. The property is now owned by the Lehigh and Wilkesbarre Coal Company.

LEVISTON, COLERAIN, AND COOLSTOWN

…are a cluster of hamlets now owned by William T. Carter, who is conducting the mines in that vicinity. The population of the settlement is eight hundred and six, and in the census of 1880 is stated as belonging to the Beaver Meadow Mines Village.

CHAPTER XXVI. Page 780 - 781

BOROUGH OF WEATHERLY.

By Dr. J. B. Tweedle

THE borough of Weatherly is located on the banks of the Black Creek, and on the line of the Lehigh Valley Railroad, about fourteen miles northwest of Mauch Chunk. The place was originally called Black Creek from the color of the water in the stream on which it is situated. (The color of the water was attributed to vegetable origin, as the headwaters of the stream came from dense hemlock swamps.) When the first post-office was established here the name was changed to Weatherly, named after a Mr. Weatherly (one of the directors of the Beaver Meadow Company), a watch- and clock-maker by trade, who, some of the old citizens say, promised to present the place with a town-clock in recognition of the honor conferred upon him by the bestowal of the name, but which promise has never yet been fulfilled.

The ground upon which the town is built was originally owned by Samuel S. Barber and John Romick, Sr., who held warrantee deeds. Their object in purchasing the land was to carry on lumbering and farming, as it was heavily timbered and a pretty good soil.

The first settlement was on the Romick tract. Benjamin Romick built a sawmill and house on the west side of the Black Creek, opposite the present Lehigh Valley Depot. He put in charge of this mill a man by the name of Featherbee. In the year 1826 be moved to this place with his family. A stable was fitted up, and Featherbee and his family moved in there, and Romick in the house, which stood where the store on the west side now stands. The first lumber sawed in this mill was for the building of a schoolhouse and church in which was later known as the Turnpike District, at the Spring Mountain Hotel. Shortly after Romick bad moved here a Mr. Scheckler with a large family of boys came to the east side of the creek and built a log house near the site of the present East Weatherly school-house. These boys worked at the mills and in the woods. Soon after 1830, Mr. Romick built a larger house on the lower side of his other house, and opened it as a tavern. The surveyors and engineers who laid charge of the survey of the Beaver Meadow Railroad made this house their stopping place. John Lomison, who later married the daughter of Benjamin Romick, was one of this party, and here met his future wife. This tavern was kept by Mr. Romick until the sale to the Beaver Meadow Company and its removal to Quakake Valley.

Asa Packer had purchased part of the Barber tract, and about 1835-36, John Smith came to the place to take charge of clearing his land. A mill was built by them about a mile below Black Creek Junction. A store was started by them at Black Creek (now Weatherly, below the Gilbert House), which is now used as a stove- and tin-store. A tavern was soon opened by Mr. Tubbs, in a building on the site of the Gilbert House.

Samuel Ingham, who was president of the Beaver Meadow Railroad and Coal Company, with others, had conceived the idea of manufacturing patent locks at this place, and built a frame building in which to carry on the work. Upon the removal of the Beaver Meadow shops from Beaver Meadow to this place the project was given up, and the building was used for the machine-shops for the company.

In 1843, A. H. Van Cleve & Co. opened a store at the site of the present store of W. W. Blakeslee.

The soil here is mostly red shale, and the surface of the country is very uneven ; in fact, there is scarcely a level street in the borough. The borough is bounded on the north by the Spring Mountain, east by Brushy Hollow Creek, south by the Broad Mountain and west by Packer township line. Up to the present time no minerals have been discovered within the borough limits, and, judging from the appearance of the surface, there are none here. In the eastern part there is an immense bed of sand and river stones, which would indicate that it was once the bed of an immense lake, fed by the Lehigh River or some other stream, and which has broken through the Broad Mountain at Penn Haven, leaving the bed dry. The principal stream of water in the borough is the Black Creek, which is a continuation of the Hazle Creek from Hazle Creek bridge to Black Creek Junction, where it joins the Quakake, and takes that name, which it retains till it empties into the Lehigh River at Penn Haven.

The place consisted of but a few small houses until the Beaver Meadow Railroad was completed to this point, and it was found necessary, in order to overcome what was considered at that time a very heavy grade, to construct two inclined planes, each about half a mile in length, making this the stopping-point for the engines that took the coal from here to Mauch Chunk. The road continued from the head of the planes to Beaver Meadow, where the company had their coal mines, and at first located their machine shops and foundry. But they soon found that it was too inconvenient, and such hard work to get their engines up the planes for repairs that they decided to move the shops to Weatherly, which was done about the year 1840, and gave the town a permanent existence. Tile shops were not very extensive, and the building of a locomotive in those days was considered quite an important event. The existence of the place depends entirely upon the shops located here, which have grown, under the present able management of Master-Mechanic Philip Hoffecker, from a small concern turning out one small engine a year to a capacity of completing at least one a month, and that of the heaviest, strongest, and fastest class made in the country.

The Beaver Meadow Division of the Lehigh Valley Railroad, of which Weatherly is the centre, has been under the able management of Hon.. A. G. Brodhead as superintendent almost since its existence. The shops were first under the charge of Hopkin Thomas as master-mechanic, who was succeeded by the present manager, Philip Hoffecker. The car-shops have undergone the same change-from an old, rickety shed to a capacity of making all kinds of cars, and building at least twenty-five new cars and repairing two hundred old and broken ones per week. They employ two hundred hands, and have been under the able management of Daniel Rouse, assisted by his son, E. G. Rouse, since their existence, and are considered second to none in the possession of the company.

The only manufacturing in the borough of Weatherly is carried on by the Lehigh Valley Railroad Company. In 1839 it was decided by the Beaver Meadow Railroad and Coal Company to move their shops to Black Creek (now Weatherly), and in 1840 the first car-shops were built at the foot of the inclined plane. These were used till swept away by the freshet of 1850, and rebuilt the same year. In 1855 the company built a car-shop (thirty by seventy feet) on the site of the present location, and the next year removed the old shops to the new one and added them to it. These shops were used from that time till they were totally destroyed by fire, which occurred on the morning of July 8, 1880. New frame buildings were commenced in August, the same year, and completed during the year 1881.

The car-shops are sixty by two hundred and fifty feet; blacksmith-shop, bolt- and engine-room, sixty by one hundred and seventy-six feet, containing twenty fires; stone boiler-house, eighteen by thirty-six feet, with brick stack fifty feet in height. An average of two hundred men are employed in these shops. In 1883 one hundred and seventy-five coal cars were manufactured, forty-five thousand nine hundred cars repaired, and much other work. Daniel Rouse is superintendent.

In 1839, Ingham & Co. built a frame building on the west side of Black Creek, opposite the present depot, for the purpose of manufacturing patent locks. Upon the decision of the Beaver Meadow Railroad and Coal Company to remove to Black Creek (now Weatherly), they purchased this building and moved the machine shops into it, where they remained till the completion of the new shops, in 1869. In 1866 the present roundhouse was built, having tracks for sixteen locomotives. The stone machine-shops were commenced in 1867, and completed in 1869. They are one hundred and fifty by two hundred and fifty feet in dimensions. There are in the employ of the company, at the machine shops and on the road, four hundred and twenty-five men. Five locomotives were built in 1883.

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Rev. July 2010