Page:Historical and Biographical Annals of Columbia and Montour Counties, Pennsylvania, Containing a Concise History of the Two Counties and a Genealogical and Biographical Record of Representative Families.pdf/283

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page needs to be proofread.

244

COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES

Tom m y bought six wool hats, and they found such ready sale in the vicinity that the father embarked in the business o f supplying the neighbors with goods and thus originated the first store. Conrad Kream er w as his successor, and the first postmaster of the village. E van Thom as, son o f Evan the pioneer, opened the first blacksmith shop«and later the first hotel, which w as afterw ard run by Andrew Hazlctt and A . K . Smith. Jam es N. Miller, late sheriff o f Montour county, was successively storekeeper, tanner and hotel pro­ prietor in Jerseytown, before 1867. T he present hotel is ojKratcd by S . D. Rim by, who took charge in 1886, and obtained his license in 1893. T he tannery here w as opened in 1827 by Jacob M cCollum; his son Hugh succeeded him m 1856, and twenty years later E . V. M c­ Collum became proprietor. The last lo operate it was W arren McCollum, who sold out in 1903 to the M illville Tanning Company. In 1 8 ^ Jerseytow n consisted of the tan­ nery, two stores, forty houses, a church and a schoolhouse. It has scarcely gained in size since that date. T h e present stores are kept by William E . K rcam cr and H arvey L . Ginglcs, tne latter being also the postmaster. The Susquehanna, Bloomsbui^ & Berwick railroad, now the Pennsylvania, runs through the town, but has not seemingly increased the ]iopulation to any appreciable extent. The gristm ill at Jerseytow n w as built ^ Samuel Farnsworth in 1877. and sold to R . G. Greenly in later years. M rs. R . G . Greenly, widow of the late operator, has leased the mill to Rohm Brothers, who now run it. T he mill is three stories high. 45 by 55 feet, operated by steam, and can produce forlv barrels o f wheat flour and thirty barrels o f buckwheat flour a day. It is strictly modem in its interior rquipment. Mathias Appleman for a time ran a distil­ ler)' in Jerseytow n. the only one in the town­ ship. hut it soon passed into the realm o f for­ gotten things. One of the early industries in the township, outside o f Jerseytown, was the sawm ill, chopmiil and fulling mill o f Jam es M asters, later operated by his son, David M asters, built in 17 9 1 on the upper part o f Spruce run. F o r a time this w as the only carding and fulling mill north o f Danville. T he sawmill here w as operated as late as 1880.

ville, two and a half miles from the form er place and one mile from the latter, an Episco­ pal church, the parish name o f w hkh seems to have vanished from the recollection of the oldest citizen as early as 1880. It w as known a s Christ Church, Derry township, N orth­ umberland county, and after the erection o f Columbia county came into the township o f Madison. T h e road since then has been changed, so that the site of the old church and the wccd-fillcd cemetery is now ( 19 ( 4 ) on the farm o f T h on u s Mordan. T he site was do­ nated to K ev. Caleb Hopkins, Jaco b Sw isher and M athias Appleman, trustees of the church, bv H enry Kitchen, S r., many years after the church had been built, but no deed for the land was ever executed. The subscription paper was made out to Jolm Funston and M athias Appleman and w as in pounds, shillings and pence, the current money o f those days. T he subscribers included: l^ w rcn ce Miller, W il­ liam Kitchen. E ven Tliom as, Jacob llcn d crshott, Daniel W elivcr, Isaac Ilcndersbott, William L aird, Jacob Bodinc, J r ., Joseph Haynes, Daniel Dildine, J r ., Samuel M arr (o r M ann), Henry Kitchen, J r .. Valentine C hris­ tian, Richard Demott, Je sse Ilendershott, John Thomas, J r ., Joseph Kitchen, Jam es Dunnarr, H enry Kitchen, S r., Edw ard Rorke, Thom as Rorkc, John Funston, Ebeneazer D avis. John Hanna, Valentine Woollcver, David W oollcver, Nathanil Kinney, W illiam M iller, John Allen, Michael Johnston, Joseph W illiams, John F. W ollcvor, Hugh wVtson, Peter Kinney, J r ., John Philips, William Snider. John Som m ers. Joseph Robison, Joseph Handeword, Joseph Magtll, Jacob Diline, John Moody, Jo h n Ila^'ncs, John Wilson, E lija h M iller, Philip Philips, Phinehas Barber, Peter Ijib ou r, W il­ liam Brottain. Mathias W oodley. Sam uel W ooliver, J r .. John C ox. Joseph I lodage, R ich ­ ard Kithchcn, John Frochcy, Jacob Rordcnc, J r ., Peter Kinney, John Bacman, John Kitchen, John Seed, Ellexander Watson, Samuel K itch ­ en, A lex Stew art. On the flyleaf of the sub­ scription book the name o f Jacob Rordcne. J r ., was corrected to Jacob Bowdine, J r .. and an ­ other name, William Pagg, added. A page of the book w as torn out, so tlu t the complete list will probably never be known. A ll of the names are given a s spelled, some of the m em ­ bers of the same families apparently differing as to the correct w ay. T h e total amount o f sul»criptions is not known, neither is the total co llect^, but with w h ato 'cr sum it m ay have RBLtCtOUS been the trustees, John Funston and Ja c o b Between the years 1793 and 1800 there w as lu n g s, entered into an agreement, dated Dec. built on the old road from Jerseytow n to M ill­ 24. 1796, with John Lee and Jesse H cnder-