CHAPTER XXVI.
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 head-waters 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 saw-mill 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 he 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 school-house and church in what was later known as the Turnpike
District, at the Spring Mountain Hotel.
Shortly after Romick had 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 had 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 his 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 the 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 side 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 on the site of the present store
of W. W. Blakslee. 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. The 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-six feet; blacksmith-shop, bolt- and engine-room, forty 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.
The
town was a part of Lausanne township until 1863, when it was made a
borough. It then contained about five
hundred inhabitants, with one church and two schools. At present the place supports five churches, --a Presbyterian,
Methodist, German Reformed, Lutheran,
and Catholic, with a fair prospect of establishing an Episcopal.
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.
--The first church service of this denomination was held in the year 1838, by the Rev. Daniel Gaston, who resided at Beaver Meadow. In 1841 the first schoolhouse was built and used for services. Mr. Gaston served here until 1844. In 1845, Rev.. J. G. Moore was installed as pastor, officiating until 1848. He was succeeded by Rev. David Harbison. In 1852 the present church building was commenced. In 1852, Rev. John Baker took charge, and in 1853, October 9th, the church was dedicated. In 1854, Rev. J. W. Porter was in charge for a while, then in the same year Rev. John Armstrong took charge, and remained until 1859, when the church was regularly organized as the First Presbyterian Church of Weatherly. Rev. John Darrah took charge and was pastor until 1861. From 1861 to 1864, Rev. Armstrong officiated. During 1864, Rev. John Johnson filled the pulpit. In 1865, Rev. James M. Soloman took charge. December, 1865, Rev. Daniel Deruyelle became pastor. In the fall of 1867 the building was remodeled and used by the Presbyterians alone.
Previous to this other denominations
had worshiped in it. About this time
the Methodist Church was completed, and that denomination used their own
building. In 1871, Rev. Daniel Deruelle
resigned, and Rev. William Webster was installed, and served until 1875, when
Rev. J. M. Wilson took charge until February, 1878. The church was then supplied by ministers sent by the Presbytery
until 1881, when Rev. J. P. Moffat, the present pastor, took charge. The society owns a fine church building, a
large parsonage, all paid for, and is out of debt. The members number about one hundred and twenty-five.
ST. NICHOLAS CATHOLIC CHURCH.
--The corner-stone of this church was laid Oct. 25, 1874, Rev. E. V. McElhone, pastor. The building, completed in 1875 and paid for, lost five thousand dollars. Rev. McElhone remained in charge until 1878, when he was succeeded by Rev. Hugh McManus, who was in charge until 1882, when the present pastor, B. J. Conway, was appointed. Rev. Conway is taking steps toward the erection of a parsonage near the church. A cemetery has been opened near the church. The Catholic population of the borough numbers about three hundred and seventy-five.
THE LUTHERAN CHURCH
was built in 1876. It was supplied by
Rev. P. T. Hennigan and Rev. Broegel until 1883, when the Rev. Louis Smith
became its pastor. The present
membership is about forty-five.
THE REFORMED CHURCH
was built in 1875, at a cost of three thousand five hundred dollars.
The first pastor was Rev. J. Fuendling.
He was followed by the Rev. M. H. Mishler, who served about four years,
and was succeeded by the present pastor, Rev. A. M. Masonheimer. The present membership is about one hundred.
HOTELS.
--The first license for a
tavern in what is now the borough of Weatherly was granted to Benjamin Romick
about 1831. He kept on the west side
till about 1835-36. Next, William Tubbs
opened a tavern on the site of the Gilbert House. He was succeeded in 1843 by Charles Gilbert, who kept the tavern
till about 1848, and was followed by Charles H. Williams, who remained till his
removal to Rockport in 1857. It has
been kept since by Joseph Fields, J. S. Keiser, Lewis Drumber, George Keiser,
and P. H. Stofflet, the present proprietor.
The Carbon House was
built in 1850-51 by Joseph W. Leadenham, who kept it from that time to 1865,
when he sold it to Thomas Dunn, from whom it passed successively to Peter
Kline, William Kamerzel, and James F. Purcell, who is the present landlord and
proprietor.
The house now known as the Packer House was built in 1856 by Aaron Grimes as a dwelling. It came into possession of Levi Hartz in 1868, who fitted it up as a hotel, and has kept it as such from that time. The Verzi House, forty by forty feet, two stories in height, with a mansard roof, was built by Joseph Verzi in 1882, and opened soon after its completion by the proprietor, who still keeps it.
SCHOOLS.
--The first school-house
was erected in 1841, near the site of the present school-house. This was moved to the property of Charles
Gilbert, who made a store-house of it, and which is still used as such. A new school-house was built on the site in
1855, about twenty-five by thirty feet in dimensions, and two stories
high. William Prescott built it, at a
cost of seven hundred dollars, exclusive of the foundation,--completed, it cost
one thousand dollars. This served its
purpose, and was torn down to make way for the present building, which was
erected in 1869 (costing six thousand dollars), and is still used. In 1883 a frame building, forty by seventy
feet, was erected for school purposes, at a cost of five thousand five hundred
dollars, fitted with all modern improvements and school furniture. This is situated in West Weatherly, on the
west side of Black Creek. Professor
William H. Rauch is principal of all the schools.
The school directors have
been as follows:
1851.--Joseph Stetler,
Daniel Miles.
1852.--R. D. Stiles,
Charles Gilbert.
1853.--Charles H.
Williams, Philip Hoffecker.
1854.--James Lewis,
Samuel Hoover.
1855.--R. D. Stiles,
Thomas Harleman.
1856.--John Smith, C. H.
Williams, Jonas Koons.
1857.--James Lewis,
Charles Gilbert, N. Houser.
1858.--R. D. Stiles,
Samuel Harleman.
1859.--Samuel Hoover, W.
W. Blakslee, Thomas Harleman.
1860.--James Lewis,
Daniel Rouse, Daniel McDonnell.
1861.--W. W. Blakslee,
John Hoover.
1862.--John Smith, P. S.
McDermott, Peter Kline.
1863.--H. B. Berryhill,
Daniel Rouse.
1864.--No record.
1865.--(Borough of
Weatherly.)
1866.--W. W. Blakslee, J.
P. Buch.
1867.--Amos Derr, Daniel
Rouse.
1868.--Daniel Dourell,
Philip Hoffecker.
1869.--Valentine Smith,
Samuel Harleman.
1870.--Samuel Croll, M.
W. Kelly.
1872.--Samuel Harleman,
S. E. Schoonover.
1873.--Nathan Houser, B.
Kingle.
1874.--Daniel Rouse, C.
H. Dewitt.
1875.--Ephraim William,
John Hines.
1876.--L. F. Wagner,
Samuel Croll, Samuel Harleman.
1877.--W. W. Buch, E. R.
Enbody.
1878.--H. B. Hoffecker,
George W. Lentz.
1879.--J. G. Eadie, J. W.
Hunter, H. S. Rinker.
1880.--G. W. Miller,
Jacob Miller, Levi F. Wagner.
1881.--Samuel Croll, C.
H. Dewitt.
1882.--H. S. Rinker, L.
H. Latham.
1883.--J. C. Streeter, C.
J. Hoffman, Daniel Washburn.
The civil list of the
borough of Weatherly is as follows:
1866.--Daniel Rouse.
1867.--Lewis Kingle.
1868.--William C.
Kamerer.
1869.--Nicholas Hauser.
1870.--J. W. Hunter.
1872.--J. G. Eadie.
1873.--Levi Hartz.
1874.--Lewis Kingle.
1875.--Joseph D. Meyers.
1876.--W. W. Buch.
1877.--Robert Dunlap.
1878.--Sheldon Bodwell.
1879.--Edward Faust.
1880.--William Vandyke.
1881.--Adam Hutshafer.
1882.--E. C. Wilson.
1883.--John
Hoover.
COUNCIL.
1866.--Samuel Hoover,
Nicholas Houser.
1867.--Samuel Gangwere,
Edward Harleman.
1868.--Levi Hartz, John
Brong.
1869.--D. C. Stiles.
1870.--George Garter.
1872.--Robert Tait, Edwin
Harleman.
1873.--John Hines, Adam
Ulshafer.
1874.--Joseph Buch,
Daniel Fleckman.
1875.--Levi Wagner,
George hartz.
1876.--Samuel Croll, W.
W. Blakslee.
1877.--C. A. Buch,
William Vandyke, Sheldon Bodwell.
1878.--Horace Peters,
Henry Fisher.
1879.--Prosper Warz,
Jerry Stout, George Saylor.
1880.--John Meiser, Griff
Bachman.
1881.--A. Hoble, S.
Stewart.
1882.--E. G. Rouse,
Thomas Young.
1883.--Samuel Gangwere,
D. S. Wagner.
JUSTICES OF THE PEACE.
The first justice of the
peace elected after the organization of the borough was John Watson, Esq.,
1865. The next one was William
Kemerzel, 1867; after him came Dr. J. B. Tweedle, elected in 1870; next came
Lewis Kinkle, 1872; then J. W. Hunter, two terms, and in office at present;
also G. H. Jones, two terms, and in office.
PHYSICIANS.
--The first regular
physician that located here was Flemington Webster, a graduate of Jefferson Medical College, about 1857, although the
place had been visited by Dr. A. B. Longshore, of Hazleton, Dr. R. Leonard, of
Mauch Chunk, and Dr. J. B. Longshore, of Beaver Meadow. Webster left in the spring of 1865, when Dr.
J. B. Tweedle, who, having served his term of enlistment in the army of three
years and some months, attended a final course at the College of Physicians and
Surgeons of New York City (it being the medical department of Columbia College,
of the State of New York), and graduating from there, located at Weatherly in
the spring of 1865, and has been in continuous practice here ever since, having
been the railroad surgeon for the Lehigh Valley Company for eighteen years.
Dr.
P. H. Latham, of the Baltimore College, located here in 1879, and has been here
since that time. Dr. C. I. Hoffman, a
graduate of Jefferson College of 1870, located here in January, 1882, and is
here yet.
Dr.
C. J. Stamm, a graduate of Vermont Medical College, has just located here
(December, 1883).
On
account of the dangerous employment of the workmen here there are a great many
accidents, and consequently quite a number of surgical cases.
LODGES.
--The first lodge
instituted here was Ancient Order of Druids, organized in 1865, but not in
existence at present. Next came the
Honora Council, No. 120, O. of U. A. M., organized Jan. 30, 1867, and is also
out of existence.
Then
followed Sons of Temperance, Weatherly Division, No. 35, organized March 2,
1867; is not in existence at present.
Next
came the Lodi Lodge, No. 80, K. of P., organized May 26, 1868. Present membership, about seventy.
Then
the Mountain Temple, No. 58, Temple of Honor, organized March 1, 1869, which is
not in existence.
Next
came the Lodge I. O. of O. F., No. 691, organized Nov. 16, 1869, and now has
about seventy members.
Then
the Onoko Tribe, No. 235, I. O. of R. M., the 30th Sun of the Hot Moon, G. S.
D. 386; has now about fifty members.
Then the Washington Camp, No. 179, P. O. S. of A., was organized Dec.
21, 1872. It now has nearly one hundred
members.
Next
the Keiser Karl Lodge, No. 346, Order of Harugari, was organized April 29,
1872, now having about forty members.
The
Carbon Lodge, No. 1740, Knights of Honor, was organized Aug. 7, 1880, and now
has about forty members.
And,
lastly, the Grand Army of the Republic, Col. James Miller Post, No. 273,
organized Aug. 11, 1882, and at present has about forty members.
POST-OFFICE.
--The first post-office
was established in Weatherly in 1848, with R. D. Stiles as postmaster, who
served eight years, till 1856, when Charles H. Williams was appointed, who
served one year. From 1857 to 1865,
John Smith served. He was followed by
Reuben Horn, who served till 1868. From
1868 to 1869, Jeremiah Kistler served.
He was followed by the present postmaster, Samuel Harleman.
MISCELLANEOUS.
--A late industry is the
whortle-berry business, carried on by Mr. Charles Cassler. During the summer of 1883, Mr. Cassler shipped
four thousand six hundred and ninety-three bushels, making sixty-two car-loads.
The
shipment of sand is rapidly increasing.
In 1883 one thousand tons were shipped, and one firm expects to ship
three thousand tons this year.
END
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From
The History of the
Counties of Lehigh & Carbon, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania,
By
Published
in Philadelphia, Pa., in 1884
Transcribed
from the original in the July, 2002 by
Vincent
E Summers
[3X-great-grandson of David Weatherly Sr., namesake of the town of Weatherly]
Web
page by
August
2002