CHAPTER XXI.
Penn Forest Township
Pages
754 to 757
Including sections on:
This section
of country was part of that great district north of the Blue Ridge which,
prior to 1768, was known as "Towamensing," meaning "the wilderness." In that year it was divided, and Towamensing
township embraced all territory in Northampton County east of Lehigh River, and
thirty-six miles north of the Blue Ridge.
After the Revolution the territory now comprising part of Monroe County
and the townships of Penn Forest and Kidder was erected into Tobyhanna1 township. Early in the year 1842, while the township
of Tobyhanna was a part of Monroe County, it was divided, and all that portion
of territory now Penn Forest and Kidder townships was erected into a township
called " Penn Forest." The
next year (1843), upon the erection of Carbon County, it became a part thereof,
and in 1849 the north part was set off as Kidder township.
It
is bounded on the west by the Lehigh River, on the south by Franklin and
Towamensing townships, on the east by Monroe County, and on the north by the
township of Kidder.
It is watered by tributaries of the Lehigh, —Muddy Run, Drake, Stony, and Bear Creeks. These rise in the east part of the township and flow westerly, and join the Lehigh. Wild Creek and its tributaries, Tar Run and White Oak Run, in the south part of the township, flow southeasterly, and pass out near the southeast corner.
Early Roads. —Many years before the township was settled a State road was laid out, passing through its limits from Emmetsburg to White Haven. The first action in reference to roads in this county was at the first term of court, in December, 1843, at which time a petition was presented for a road from a road leading from Weissport to the Monroe County line to a point on the Lehigh River opposite Penn Haven. George Fegley at this time had a store at this place on the river. This petition was granted and the road laid out. Later a portion was abandoned, but part of it is yet in use.
Settlement of Penn Forest. —The territory now embraced in this township in 1835 was a wilderness of pine and hemlock forest, and is yet known as Pine Swamp. About this time the timber attracted the attention of lumbermen, and the tracts which had been warranted to others were bought up by lumber companies, that were formed for the purpose of erecting mills and cutting and man-ufacturing lumber. Mills were built at available sites on the streams, tenements were erected for the laborers, and the work commenced. Years elapsed, and the timber was mostly cut off. Fires in the woods destroyed many of the mills, some of which were rebuilt, and others not. The companies sold the denuded lands to other parties and disappeared. The settlements around these mills often contained a store, tavern, and school-house. There is given below an abstract from the assessment-roll of Penn Forest in 1843,—the names of corporations and persons owning large tracts of land, mills, and occupations of others not laborers. The statement here given comprises what is now Penn Forest and Kidder townships.
There are one hundred and forty-four persons assessed for county, sixty-one for State, purposes, and sixty-four for unseated lands. Fann Black, 400 acres; Peter Burger & Co., 1800 acres and a saw-mill; Butz, Meckes & Co., 1200 acres, tenements, and saw-mill; Joshua Bullock, gentleman; Jonathan Fell, 1017 acres, three saw-mills, and tenement; Thomas Craig, 400 acres, two saw-mills, and tenements; Christman, Craig & Co., 1200 acres and saw-mill; Anthony Christman, saw-mill; Christman, Stemler, Serfass & Co., 400 acres and saw-mill; Jost Dreisbach, 953 acres, tenements; Jonas Dreisbach, 111 acres; Aaron Dreisbach, 60 acres; Taylor & Co., 1200 acres; W. Edinger, 1400 acres, tavern, saw-mill, tenements; Fish, Green & Co., 1317 acres; George Fegley, merchant and tenements; Gower, Serfass & Co., 600 acres, sawmill, and tenements; Abram Good & Co., sawmill; J. H. Hillman, gentleman; John Hawk, 700 acres and saw-mill; Daniel Hawk, 400 acres and sawmill; Henry Kenholt & Co., sawmill; Charlotte Meckes, 400 acres and saw-mill; Owen Hume & Co., …
1 The township was named Tobvhanna from the creek of that name which flowed through it. It is a corruption of the Indian word Topibanne, which signifies a stream whose banks are fringed with alders.
…
400 acres and saw-mill; Samuel D. Strike & Co., 1200 acres; Charles Scott,
two saw-mills; Reuben Serfass & Co., 100 acres, saw-mill, and tenements;
Joseph Serfass & Co., 600 acres and tenements; Frederick Sutter, innkeeper;
John Smith, 400 acres, saw-mill; Jacob Steiner, 1300 acres and saw-mill; John
Serfass & Co., 600 acres and saw-mill; Samuel Lywell, 573 acres, two
saw-mills, and tenements; O. H. Taylor, gentleman; Warner & Taylor, 864
acres; Robert S. Trego, 1028 acres and saw-mill; Taylor & Brock, 1308
acres; Mahlon K. Taylor & Co., 6394 acres, one store; George Weaver, 2200
acres, two saw-mills, and tenements; Warner & Co., double saw-mill and 30
acres; I. & S. Gould & Co., 1196 acres and two sawmills; Gould, Taylor
& Co., 3664 acres and saw-mill; Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company,
1266 acres; Jacob Brutzman, George Crosley, Samuel Hiller, Thomas Krom, William
Johnson, David Kline, Michael Knerr, Ebenezer Ladle, Isaac Sepps, and Safford
Willard, lawyers; Andrew Decker, Andrew McKreal, lock-tenders; Robert Alberton,
James Harkins, and Jacob West, mechanics; Francis Gabrio, master-mechanic.
Peter Berger & Co.,
who owned eighteen hundred acres of timber land, built a saw-mill on Mud Run,
about a mile below Adam Meckes. They
had been carrying on operations from about 1840, continued till about 1860, and
sold to Christian and William Kramer, who sold to Jacob Frey. It is now owned by Frank Gowen.
Butz,
Meckes & Co. owned twelve hundred acres, and erected a mill on Stony Creek,
about three miles above its mouth. They
ran the mill eight or ten years, and sold to Strouss & Miksell, of
Easton. It was burned down about 1860,
and not rebuilt.
Jonathan
Fell, who owned one thousand and seventeen acres, built a double mill at the
mouth of Bear Creek. This mill was run
until about 1862. It was also burned down.
The timber was exhausted. The
land is now owned by Caspar Nepp.
Joshua Bullock lived at this place, and had entire charge of the mills.
Thomas
Craig, who owned four hundred acres, built one mill on Drake Creek, about two
miles from the mouth. He sold to
Charles Smith, who still owns it.
Thomas Craig, Jr., built a mill later at the mouth of Stony Creek, which
was burned down. It is now owned by
Adam Christman.
Christman, Stemler,
Serfass & Co. owned four hundred acres of land on Stony Creek, where Enos
Koch now lives. The mill was built
previous to their purchase by John Moyer.
Enos Koch bought two hundred and twenty-six acres of the property, and
continued the operation of the mill, rebuilding it in fall of 1883. He opened a tavern in 1848 in the old house,
and in 1860 built the present house.
William
Edinger owned fourteen hundred acres on the old State road from Emmetsburg to
White Haven. Here, before 1840, he
built a tavern and owned a sawmill.
The mill was built by Conrad Dotter on Joli Spring Run. It passed from Edinger to Meckes &
Fragle. The mill was burned, and the
parties built another on Mud Run, near Albrightsville, which is now owned by
Daniel Christman.
Gowen,
Serfass & Co. owned six hundred acres at the head of Drake's Creek, and
they built there a mill and tenement-house about 1840, and continued operations
until about 1860. Lewis Gowen, one of
the partners, purchased the whole previous to 1860. He sold to John Gowen & Timothy Frable. It is now owned by Adam Christman.
John
Serfass & Co. owned six hundred acres on Pine Run, a tributary of Big
Creek, on which they erected a saw-mill.
It was sold later to Robert Weiss and Reuben Serfass. It is now owned by Frabie Serfass.
William
Serfass and Adam Kunkle owned a tract of land on Pinder Creek, about a mile and
a half from the mouth. They sold to
Lawfer, Kresge & Poneir, who built a mill on Mud Run, above the mouth of
Pender Creek. They sold to Young &
Sellers. The property is now owned by
John Eckert and wife. The lower mill is
now used.
Samuel
Heller built a mill on Stony Creek, below Adam Christman. It is now owned by Adam Christman.
Frederick
and Jacob Brotzman owned a large tract of land where this settlement now is, and
built on Mud Run two saw-mills about 1836.
They became embarrassed, and the property was sold to George Weaver, who
owned in 1843 two thousand two hundred acres.
He sold, in 1850, to Aquilla Albright and —— Vansickle. They built another saw-mill about a mile
below.
A
store was kept here at one time by Aquilla Albright.
The
mills are not now standing. This place
was called by Albright Albrightsville, and the settlement across the stream has
taken the name.
The
following statement is from the assessment-roll of the township in 1882, and
gives the names of persons now owning mills and distilleries:
August
Behrens, saw- and paling-mill.
Daniel
Christman, saw-mill.
Thomas
Craig, saw-mill.
Christman
& Freyman, saw-mill.
Henry
Deppe, saw-mill.
Reuben
Gregory, saw-mill.
William
Getz, saw-mill.
Frank
Gowen, saw-mill.
Enos
Koch, saw-mill.
Abram
Meckes, saw-mill.
Samuel
Meckes, saw-mill.
Philip
Meckes, saw-mill.
Frank
Serfass, saw-mill.
Charles
Smith, saw- and paling-mill.
Craig
& Christman, shingle-mill.
PAGE
766.
Paul
Donner, turning-mill.
About
the year 1861, Samuel Donner commenced the distillation of wintergreen. Since that time a number of distilleries have
been started for that purpose and the distillation of oil from the birch. The names are here given of those who now
own and operate distilleries in the township: Catharine Andrews, Jacob
Bartholomew, Charles Christman, William Button, Paul Donner (two), Paul Frey,
Jacob Kunkle, Enos Koch, Samuel Meckes, Philip Meckes, Reuben Meckes, William
Oliver, J. J. Smith (two), Peter Serfass, Robert Serfass, Benjamin Serfass,
Lydia Schoeb.
Hotels, Emanuel Kibler
and Enos Koch.
Grist-mill, Henry Deppe.
There
are but seven persons in the township who are assessed distinctively as
farmers. They are as follows: George
Christman, Charles Christman, Adolph Henning, Josiah G. Harlan, Francis Lyer,
and Henry Tracy.
The population of the township, by the census of 1880, is six hundred and fifty-three.
About
the same time the last tavern was opened George Fegley built a dwelling and a
store, which last he kept. About 1850 he opened a tavern, kept his store, and built
several dwellings. The place was opposite Penn Haven, and the Lehigh Canal
passed here. Quite a business grew up here, and in a few years the settlement
contained, in addition to the tavern-stand, a store and warehouse, a
carpenter-shop, blacksmith-shop, boat-yard, stabling, with accommodations for
one hundred and fifty horses, and twelve dwellings, and the place bid fair to
become a considerable village. The great freshet of 1862 (January) swept the
buildings all away or destroyed them, and nothing of consequence has been
rebuilt there.
In
1848, Enos Koch, who had a saw-mill on Stony Creek, opened his house as a
tavern, and has continued to keep a public-house to the present time. A new house (the present one) was erected in
1860.
About
the year 1850, Adam Meckes, who owned a mill property on Mud Run, at what is
now Meckesville, started a tavern, which he kept fifteen or twenty years. None is kept there at present.
The school at Drake's Creek was discontinued, and
was again held in the years 1878-79.
There are now five districts in which schools are regularly held.
Stony
Creek, 43 pupils; Bear Creek, 22 pupils; Wild Kettle Creek, 15 pupils;
Meckesville, 35 pupils; and Albrightsville, 16 pupils. The old school-house at
Albrightsville is no longer in use, and a new one built by Kidder township is
used. New school-houses were built at
the following places in the years given, with cost of each; Stony Creek, 1869,
$475; Meckesville, 1870, $343.75; Wild Kettle Creek, 1881, $276; Bear Creek,
1881, $275. The directors for 1883 are
Enos Kochard, Henry Sinedecker, Philip Shock, and W. V. R. Ash.
The
following is a list of the school directors of the township since the erection
of Carbon County:
1844.—James
W. Searles, A. B. Dreisbach.
1845.—Joseph
Serfass, Frederick Sutton.
1846.—John
Kelsey, J. W. Searles.
1847.—Abraham
Good, Lewis Billings.
1848.—Samuel
A. Cook, Caleb Rowles.
1849.—J. B. Dreisbach, Lewis Gowen, Adam Meckes, A.
E. Albright, Andrew McNeal, Daniel Lichtenwallner.
1850.—Enos
Koch, John Decker.
1851.—Henry
Garman, William Snyder, William Serfass.
1852.—George
Fegley, George Kissel.
1853.—Adam
Meckes, William Serfass, John Gowen, John Berkley, Enos Koch.
1854.—Morris
Evans, Charles A. Getzinger.
1855.—J.
N. Umphread, George Fegley.
1856.—Lewis
Gowen, John Gowen, Jeremiah Gangwere, Adam Meckes.
1857.—George
H. Weiss, Enos Koch.
1858.—Charles
Smith, John Hote.
1859.—Butler
Cortwright, Cornelius Ziegenfuss.
1860—No
record.
1861.—Enos
Koch, Charles Smith, John Hote, Samuel Hawk, S. W. Meckes.
1862.—A.
Christman, B. Cortwright.
1863.—Samuel
Hawk, John Hote.
1864.—Enos
Koch, Charles Smith.
1865.—Adam
Christman, Butler Cortwright.
1866.—Enos
Koch, Charles Smith.
1867.—Adam
Meckes, John Haide.
1868.—Enos
Koch, David Snyder.
1869.—Adam
Christman, Charles Smith.
1870.—John
Hade, Adam Rouch.
1871.—Enos
Koch, David Snyder.
1872.—Enos
Koch, David Snyder.
1873.—Tie
vote on Adam Christman, Chr. Smith, Francis Sieger.
1874.—John
Hote, Philip Schoch.
1875.—David
Snyder, Henry Linedecker.
1876.—A.
D. Christman, Charles Smith, Henry Deppe.
1877.—Philip
Schoch, Henry Deppe.
1878.—None.
1879.—Enos
Koch, Henry Linedecker.
1880.—Philip
Shoch, Henry Deppe.
1881.—A.
D. Christman, Charles Smith.
1882.—Philip
Shoch, W. V. Rash.
1883.—Enos
Koch, Henry Linedecker.
Stephen Gould, March, 1844.
John Kelsey, March, 1845.
Jost Dreisbach, March, 1847.
Enos Koch, March, 1848 (declined).
Henry Garmer, March, 1849.
Andrew McNeal, March, 1850.
A. B. Dreisbach, March, 1851.
Isaac Harleman, March, 1851.
Andrew Decker, March, 1852.
Samuel Siewell, March, 1853.
Robert Maxwell, March, 1853.
Adam Christman, March, 1855.
Lewis Hawk, March, 1856.
George H. Weiss, March, 1857.
Jacob Weiss, March, 1858.
Samuel Hawk, March, 1859.
Adam Christman, March, 1860.
Cornelius Ziegenfuss, March, 1860; March, 1862.
Adam
Christman, March, 1865.
John
Eberle, March, 1868.
Enos
Koch, October, 1869 (declined).
Adam
Christman, October, 1869.
Levi
Kurtner, March, 1872.
Adam
Christman, March, 1875.
A. D. Christman, March, 1880.
Charles J. Tidd, March, 1880.
J. J. Smith, March, 1881.
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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 April 2003
By
Stephen E. Fritz
Web page by
May 2003