CHAPTER 12
Banks Township
Covering pages 711 to 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 above…
…tide-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, innskeeper; 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 postoffice, 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 Lam-ison 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,
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 pur-pose 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
--- Roth-
rock, 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.
END
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From
The History of the Counties of Lehigh & Carbon, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania,
By
Alfred Mathews & Austin N. Hungerford
Published in Philadelphia, Pa., in 1884
Transcribed from the original in July, 2002 by
Vincent
E Summers
[3X-great-grandson of David Weatherly Sr., namesake of the town of Weatherly]
Web page by
July 2002