Historic Old Houses |
In Historic Bellefonte
From a Paper, by Miss Mary Hunter Linn, Read Before
the Womans’ Club of Bellefonte, on Monday Evening
March 28, 1932.
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"Chicago, Conveation Champion of 1932
tine brothers who, in 1815, with
The most casual observer of a re-,
their mother, Ann Bond Valentine,
lief map of Pennsylvania will not at |
once the broad range of the Alle-
ny mountains running in a north- pi
gheny 'lop's premature death, caused by a
'fall of earth in one of his mine
easterly direction from about the
riddle of the Maryland border. This
great barrier of not one mountain,
but many, divides the central and
western part of the State from a
southeastern district of scattered
hills.
In this rolling country, at least
until 1730, were settled most of the
immigrants who came into Pennsyl-
vania. But soon the same spirit
which had brought their fathers and | part
grandfathers, in many cases them-
selves, in “fearful voyage” across the
Atlantic urged them to leave the fer-
tile lowlands they had cultivated and
go further inland. In the great Cum-
berland valley they came face to
face with the mountain barrier and
the greater number of them took
the path of least resistance into
Vi and the Carolinas.
Later, especially after the Indian
land purchases of 1758 and 1768,
many of those “giants in the earth”
set themselves to conquer the moun-
tain wilderness and up the rivers and
creeks they came, along streams
whose waters had long before broken
their way through the mountains.
Naturally the land along the rivers
and larger creeks was taken up first
and there we find the older towns.
In what is now Centre county, the
eastern agricultural part, nearer to
the West Branch, and Bald Eagle
valley heard the cheerful ring of the
surveyor's axe and the merry shouts
-of advancing settlers” long before
the Revolution. Aaronsburg is older,
than Bellefonte.
It was not until the very early
1790's that the rich ore fields of Nit-
“tany valley became an attraction to’
the ironmasters in the lowland
-gounties. Col. Samuel Miles and Col.
John Patton. from Philadelphia
county in 1701, and Philip Benner,
from Chester county in 1793, (two of
them urged, I am , by their iron-
loving Welsh hlood), blazed their
way into the very heart of the pres-
ent county. In the following year,
1794, John Dunlon came from Hope-
well township, Cumberland county,
with the same end in view.
Miles, Patton and Miles erected
‘Centre furnace, the first blast fur-
nace in the county, and Philip Ben-
ner the first forge at Rock Iron-
works,
__ John Dunlop came to the ne -
hood of Bellefonte. The A
his father, Col. James Dunlop, and
brother-in-law, James Harris
., Son of John Harris, founder of
town, joined him, Col. Dunlop
been in the iron business before
ais
had
Revolution, in which he had a
iant mili career, and later
rendered distinguished civil servi
Ain Cumberland ron ol cs
In 1776, he, in tnershi
John Dunlop and Col. Miles, an
interests in Centre county were al-
ways represented by his sons, Joseph
and John) Thuilt Harmony Forge
_where John McCoy now lives, near
Milesburg, called Harmony because
it united the rival interests of the
Suniops and Miles. Part of the Me-
use was buil
‘owners in 1793. t by the, Miles
In 1795 Col. Dunlop a
- Harris laid out a Ses a My
-fith Gibbon werrantee application of
1769. There isa well preserved tradi-
‘tion in the Harris family that in the
“year of the founding, Tallyrand, the
- renowned French statesman, then a
‘refugee in this country, with his
host, Col. John Patton, came down
from Centre Furnace and dined with
‘the Harrises. Mrs. Harris, daughter
“of the older founder and wife of the
2 younger, took their guests to see the
Great Spring which must have had
much to do with the choice of a town
site. From an exclamation of the
Frenchman on see it, Mrs. Harris
named the new lage Bellefonte.
This tradition of Talleyrand's visit
to Bellefonte seems to be verified by
his Memoirs (not published until
1892). He alludes to a visit to the
interior of Pernsvivania and to a
letter of introduction, given him by
Hon. Samuel Mendenhall, to “Col.
- John Patton in the country.” The
spring at that time must have been
indescribably beautiful in its heavily
‘wooded surroundings. Near the spring
‘was the Indian 1 , as we chil-
dren used to call it, when as a great
treat we were allowed to go down
and play on it, and Spring creek
winding around to receive the over-
flow, and, beyond, Halfmoon hill and
the mountains,
There is a tragic story which has
its ending in the Indian mound, and
also illustrates. of the
early settlers. Be the laying cut
the town William Lamb had built
- saw mill where the Gamble mill now
stands. Witness: Lamb street. In the
‘ severe winter of 1787-88 Daniel Turn-
‘er, living where Roopsburg now is,
‘left for Clearfield county to hunt
and trap. His family ran out of pro-
visions and his wife came to Lamb's
to borrow some meal. Going back
she took a different path. The chil-
«dren started to meet her on the usual
‘one. ‘They got bewildered and spent
the night on the hills, the boys tak-
ing off their coats to cover the
younger children. When it was light
they could not wake the two young-
est, and the flakes of snow
~govered their little bodies. They were
buried on the side of the mound.
Th first house built in the town
was that of Col. Dunlop, on the
north-east corner of High and Spring
- streets. Tn it was held the first court
of Centre county, the Sess-
jons of November, . Colonel
Dunlop died in 1821. 1827 the
and lot were conveyed to
e Valentine, one of the Valen-
came from Chester county. The You
their coming, John -
banks near the town, had robbed the
| county of a very energetic iron mas-
ter,
The Valentines at first leased and,
in 1821, bought John Dunlop's iron
property. To the house on High
street George Valentine added the
wash house in the reat of the kitch-
en and the lower side of the front
of the house. The entire house
| was of the native limestone as were
also the large spring house and the
stable where the office now
gtands. The Valentines were in pos-
session of the property until its late
conversion to business uses by the
White brothers. James Harris, the
other founder, erected, in the out-
skirts of the town, on the banks of
Spring creek, a large comfortable
stone house. It stood in a grove of
beautiful trees, with Halfmoon hill
for a background, and was called
«“Marlbrook” from the stream which
wound its way through the grounds,
‘and on whose banks the deer were
frequently seen in the early mornings
and late evenings. In 1829, shortly
after the death of ames Harris, the
place was sold to Valentines and
Thomas.
William A. Thomas first lived’
there. He fitted out the house very
handsomely. The mahogany doors he
brought from the old Walnut Street
theatre in Philadelphia. The con-
science of the “plain friend” he was,
troubled him in such a hause and in
a few years Abram Valentine, anoth-
er member of the firm, a friend also, |
but perhaps not quite as “plain” a
Thomas
Chicago Stadium in which the
Inset—Melvin A. Traylor, membe
HICAGO has jumped into a long
lead over other cities in the race
for winning convention assign-
ments, and particularly the two great
assemblages of Democrats and Repub-
licans in June puts Chicago well in the
lead and gives the “Windy City” an
opportunity to stage these colorful
affairs as a curtain raiser to the “Cen-
tury of Progress” which will be a head-
line attraction in 1933. Already the
convention pot is boiling merrily as
committees of prominent business men
are organizing to receive thousands of
visitors in Chicago during June.
One of the leaders who has helped
.0 bring the blue ribbon convention
assignments to Chicago is Melvin A.
Traylor, president of the First National
| Rabbits are plentiful
ture, hunters say.
tional and international fame In
finance and business by his distin-
guished service in Chicago, Texas and
throughout the Middle West. He was
one of the delegation headed by E. N.
Hurley and Mayor Cermak of Chicago
who went to Washington ‘and clinched
their bid for the National Democratic
Convention with a fund of $200,000.
Chicago has exceptional facilities
for entertaining both Republican and
Democratic conventions within a sin-
gle month, Already the engineers are
at work wii: blue prints to arrange the
interior of the huge Chicago Stadium
where both conventions will be held.
The assembling of both ~onventions
promises to be a great spectacle, for
the arena where delegates will be
seated will accommodate between
|
a [to two billions of American money |
owever, Liphart broke the pros
West Haven, Conn. 3-15-32 | Perity bubble by aniowche oo
To the Editor of The Democratic that it is quite difficult to get suc
Watchman, a permit.
Sir, In fact, he said, only nurseryme
| The New York papers of
| evening carry several columns giv-
|ing an account of a scathing indict-
ment of the manner in which close
| have permits, and then they ar
| granted only when the nurseryma
or fruit grower proves that rabbit
are damaging his trees or plants.
has been recklessly loaned in foreign | Rabbits sold to the State will b
"countries, as just delivered in the used to restock game reservations
| Senate by Senator Hiram Johnson, mee
{of California. These loans were
| mostly made while the gullible folk |
| of this ocean bound, continent cov-
| ering country were singing the lull-|
{aby of “prosperity” and “keeping
(cool with Coolidge," —in fact at-
| tending to pretty much anybody's
land everybody's business except
‘their own. The loans enumerated
have in a very short time shrunk in|
| value nearly one billion dollars. It|
| all makes a “sordid” story as John-
son says, and his sharp criticism of |
the haste and carelessness of the
| bankers making these often silly |
“gilt edge” (this is a favorite ex- |
| pression of Republican candidates for |
office in Centre county) loans, bears
careful reading. |
The last time I chanced to hear,
Mr. Johnson speak In the Senate he:
made a strong plea for an appropri-:
.alion for a certain agricultural ex-
periment station at Rome, Italy.
I'his idea of American dollars going
ANTED — fifty dol-
lars! The more tke
committee figured, the
more apparent the need
had | proprietors, may have helped a little, | se Cookson, stonemason (Centre Dem-
one, took the house. Mr.
then bought from Mrs. Elizabeth
Simpson, daughter of Colonel Dun-
lop, the stone house and grounds on
Bank and a business man with a flair
for tackling big jobs. Mr, Traylor, a
native of Kentucky, has achieved na-
8,000 and 10,000. Circling the arena
are 16,000 seats where guests and visi- | be subjected to this foul abuse.”
tors may be accommodated. | Then Williams got up
| the banks of the creek, a little dis- |
| tance below the Lamb street bridge, =————— — —
| a property still owned by one of his navigation. Surely a town inhabited
| descendants. In the times of all these by men of such generosity, enter-
families as “Marlbrook” or “Willow- prise and invention deserved the
| bank,” as it was called later, was a | honor.
| place of great hospitality, |
fore 1800, probably in 1797, !took concrete form, in an |
{John Dunlop built the house naw | indenture made June , between |
| known as Criders stone building. He the proprietors and their wives, on
sold it in 1811 to Thomas Burnside one part, and Andrew Gregg, Wil-
|for $3500. Judge Burnside lived liam Swanzy and Robert Boggs,
| there until his death in 1851. He was | trustees for the new county,
one of the able lawyers who for | Centre. on the other. This ndeniture
many years made the Centre county | describes a tract called “Innocence,”
bar rank second tonone in the state, on part whereof has been laid out
outside of Philadelphia. Twice ap- the town of Bellefonte,” and grants
pointed President Judge, he was | to the trustees half of the proceeds
commissioned Justice of the Supreme from the sale of the part not yet
Court of Pennsylvania which office out in town lots, of the unsold
he held when he died. of said town, as well as of the
Next in point of time William Fet- A
rikin, a Scotchman, coming fom
Cailisle in 1795, a man of m
political ability in Cumberland coun-
ty, built on corner of and y
Spring streets (Decker Garage). He keeping of public records.”
was the first merchant in the town. original plat they had pro-
His sons were all men of note and vided lots for the Presbyterian
ability living in several counties of church, the academy and the grave-
central Pennsylvania. In 1797 Adam Yard.
McKee built a tavern where the At once more rapid growth set in.
house of Dr. Dale now stands. Also, Roland Curtin, Semior, an Irishman,
in 1797, John Hall, who had come who in his student days had barely
for “building a
, and other buildings
|
The generosity of the proprietors |
used | lot); Isaac Williams.
from Delaware at the solicitation of escaped the guillitine in revolution
Mr. Harris, built a house and the | ary Paris, came from Milesburg and
first blacksmith shop on the lot now opened the town's second store where
in possession of Mrs. Harry Yeager. ' Hazel and Company now are. In the
He made the iron gates at the old residence, in 1815, was born his son,
entrance to the cemetery. | Andrew Gregg Curtin, to become in
In the same year Alexander Diven 1860 the great “War Governor."
built a house ciose up to the Dunlop | George Hazel's dining room and the
property at the corner of High and | room above, with their great thick |
Spring, now the Ott house, and it pro- Walls, are a part of that house.
bably has a great deal of that re-| In 1801 there were resident in
maining. Later “Honest John Blanch- | Bellefonte besides those whese names |
ard” another of the powerful law- We have already mentioned: William
yers of the famous bar, came from Alexander, hatter (later had a tavesn |
Vermont, in 1815, married one of on site of the Elk's Home, and in
Evan Miles’ daughters and added the 1809 one on the Garman House site); |
Conrad Kyler, Weaver; John McCord |
part now C. F. Tate's residence and |
shop. It was then a plastered house. later resided Corner of Lamb and
Spring in the Albert Schad proper
Edmund Blanchard, son of John, tore Sp - |
out the plastered stone front ana ty's; George McKee, tanner (the
built the present front of Hummels- Casebeer lot); Samuel Patterson;
town stone. | Williath Rite: sadn} George Wil-
John G. Lowry came from Done- liams, carpenter; raham Lee, |
gal, Lancaster county as early as Isaac Lee; John McKee, shoemaker;
1795. He married a daughter of Rich- | Jeshur Miles, cabinet maker, (site
ard Miles and built the Walter Cohen Of Mrs. Showers’ boarding house) |
house. He came here, as an account- | And John Miles, lawyer.
ant for the Dunlops, held various In the first decade several lawyers
offices and in 1828, when the finances | Who had qualified at the first ses-
were in the worst kind of a condi- sion of court, became residents, name-
tion, he accepted the position of ly: Johnathan Walker from North-
county treasurer and put the fina- | wmberlard, Charles Huston from Wil-
cial credit beyond scandal. He and !liamsport, Robert T. Stewart from
Joseph Williams, who came before Dauphin county, and David Irvine.
1797, were in the first session of the | Thomas Burnside came in 1804.
Presbyterian church. Where the The first of the medical profession
house of the latter was located, has | in the town, Dr. William Harris, a
not yet been ascertained. | British subject from Nova Scotia
A post office was established in and a kinsman of the younger found-
1798. To that time the address
Bellefonters was Northumberland. came in 1807 and shortly afterwards,
There was not a rapid selling of Dr. Constans Curtin who built the
lots until after the organization of Stone house torn down a few
the county and the location of the #go for the erection of the J. 0.
public buildings in the town in 1800. Heverly building.
It was a hotly argued question The assessment iist of 1808 gives
whether Milesburg, on its level, low | us, in addition to those we have al-
lying land at the head of navigation | ready mentioned: Adam Beamer,
on Bald Eagle creek, and not hilly tavern; (where the B. and B. store
Bellefonte, though it did have the is. He was succeeded by Benjamin
Great Spring, was not the proper Lucas in 1809; William Beatty, store-
for the county seat. The liber- | keeper, single; Charles Cadwallader, |
ality and ay of the founders | storekeeper, (the Richelieu); Patrick
who gave bond to the Governor of Cambridge, storekeeper, (Residence
the State for lands to be delivered | probably at corner of Howard and
to the town saved the day. | Spring, now the residence of Miss
If tradition proves worthy ag | Parker, William Kerr, shoemeker,
a trick, surely not played by the staid | (the late Mrs. Jacob Smith's lot.) Jes-
| Some Bellefonte “rooters” attached ocrat lot); Thomas Hall, blacksmith,
|a team to a flatboat, loaded with single; Philip Grove, wagonmaker,
furniture borrowed from a conve-| (Miss Benner's house); Daniel Ham-
nient house, and dragged the boat mer, tailor; Robert Hutchinson, car-
up Spring creek to Bellefonte. Then | penter; Robert McClenahan, store-
a messenger was hurried to Lancas- keeper, (First Nat. Bank); William
ter, where the ature was sit- | McClure, Elizabeth McKee, (Dr.
ting, with an affidavit that the first | Dale's lot, probably widow of Adam
boat of the season had arrived in| and mother of John at that time keep-
Bellefonte, thereby making Belle- | ing tavern there); Jeremiah Minnin,
| fonte and not the head of | tailor, (part of Garman lot); Elisha |
'had 803 inhabitants, nineteen of
| of welfare, has shown a similar ten-
of | er, died in 1806. Dr. Daniel Dobbins pa
ma , Should call & somewhat deliberate or |
sme === | gven slouching attitude and walked
Moore, (W. 1. Floming's lot); Ben- over to Johnsons desk demanding an
jamin Patton, tavern keeper, (First apology for those remarks. This
National Bank lot); Israel Penning- Johnson rather gracefully gave 1
ton, tavern keeper, (Brockerhoff should say. Johmison, who is a well
housé lot); William Petit, millwright, set man, and an extremely lucid,
(built and lived in the house mow even a born “orath,” was in nowise
owned by Mrs. Clayton Brown); Wil-' blatant in his reply; por did he even
liam Riddle, (D. R. Foreman's lot, suggest that he could three
listed No. 1 in the town plat); John such men as Williams, despite the
Pierce, tanner; William , near to menacing attitude of the lat-
forge hammer (now N. B. 8 er's ter.
lot); Dr. Thomas Wallace (father-in-' The whole incident seemed little
law of James M. Petrikin, lawyer and above opera bouffe to me. All my
artist); William Welch, shoemaker; life I have been amazed at the light
Rev, H. R. Wilson, (minister of the hearted manner in which every-
Lick Run and Bellefonte churches); where throughout the country 1
John Wilson (in Dr. Brockerhoff’s lative bodies incessantly vote away
tenant house on Spting: strect ‘and tax monies, and keep the States and
Cherry allepy: H Williams, the Nation forever in debt. The
mason, (Bellefonte Trust Company theory is even advanced
| that States, municipali and na-
Hamilton Humes came from Lan- tions are not safe unless in debt,
caster county in 1809 and rented Thus is what Tolstoi has called “the
James Smith's grist mill, (now the ever-deluded workingman” bedeviled
Brough pumping station, formerly forever. Debt, Debt, Bonds, more
Gamble’s Mill.) He later built the Bonds, interest ever resting on the
Conrad House (Temple Court) and working man's chest as he sleeps.
the stone house and store, the Allison That's not civilization! It's where
Apartments and the Shaffer store Hell begins. And when to it all the
in the Keystone Gazette building. bankers begin to fumble with the
hn Rankin a store in liquid capital it all becomes torture.
in bought from Wouldn't it be better to trust a few |
; lan a lot with build- singed Democrats for a little while? |
ings on the corner of Allegheny Vv respectfully,
street and Pike alley and built for -
a hotel a large stone house, sold in|
1844 to H. N. McAllister, a most able . S—————
Jswyes; fo A dwelling house. It is WHO WILL BE POSTMASTER
now the block owned by Mrs. Robert
G. H. Hayes. AT STATE COLLEGE?
In the census of 1810 the town oe term of post-master George
whom were free negroes. | Get, tate College, having ex-
| pired the Department has
(To be Continued in an early issue.) [Lit that a Civil Service ied a
TY, ‘tion be held to determine whether
MENTAL HOSPITALS ‘he or someone else will be his suc-
MUST MEET DEMAND | cessor.
As the population of the Common- | To be eligible for the examination,
wealth continues to increase, » {30 applicant must be a Citizen of the
tion of the state 20d cousty mental United States, must reside within
hospitals, supervised by the bureau the delivery of this post office,
of mental health of the department have so resided mit
dency. Better facilities for care, di-
agnosis and treatment of mental ill-
ness, conducive toward greater con-
fidence in the institutions, undoubt-
edly has also contributed in a meas-
ure to the larger number of patients.
The general unem situa-
tion throughout the has made
it more difficult to arrange for re-
covery or sufficiently restored men-
tal patients to leave the institutions,
due to unsatisfactory home situa-
tions, poverty, and lack of employ-
ment opportunities. There have been
an increased number of appeals for
relief from maintenance charges for
tients. Applicants will not be required to
State and county hospitals for assemble in an examination room for
mental diseases for the month of
January, 1932, housed a total of 26,-
817 patients as against 25,889 for
the same month in 1931, and 25,118
in 1930. There were 617 patients ad-
mitted during last January while
446 were discharged. The ulation the ability, and
of state institutions for the feeble »
minded has from 5105 in 1930 | Character of each applicant, and will
to 9755 in January, 1932.
(out to “roam” (the pun I picked up became. They couldn’t turn
in the far West!) did nt at al in the Aid Soci books
please Senator John Sharp Williams, 1m the ety’s
of Mississippi, who aimed at him the, |: with a $50 deficit.
, most stinging sarcasm. Johnson in. '
‘turn seemed a bit heckled, and as It was Mrs. Miles who
he said, “did not see why he should solved the problem. “We'll
. »
in what 1! raise the money!” she de-
COLDS, S\NGEfs, Sheakens
WILSON'S SRoes
DROPS
of Honey, Horehound Menthol . . .
Good
A SPECIALTY
at the
WATCHMAN OFFICE
the pont I re
Employers,
This Interests Yo
The Workman's
INHERIT, Nothing will be permitted to ap-| It will be to interest to
CE your
ax HERIPAN pear in the evidence which | consult us before placing your
Mie. + 3 Ey, am Bl dt 5 affilia i
us ve say,
any excuse this time? TE ar Pas anion JOHN ¥. GRAY & S08
Rastus—Deed Jedge. It ain't State College Bellefonte
mah fault, Jedge; it's de fault ob The office pays an annual salary
mah ancestors—mah high up ances- of $3,500. The last day for receiving
tors. | applications will be April 12.
Judge—How so, Rastus i :
Rastus—Well, Jedge, mah ances-| .. oon Jose is serious, ap- MODERN WOMEN
tors came over in de Mayflower, an plying the do wiry a x : NEED Sr, pn pain as
evah since Ah was born Ah has an
uncontrollable desire foh Plymouth sulphur solution is a tim
Rocks.
Give the trees a thorough
say State College entomologists.
y practice,
drenching,
—Read the Watchman and get all
the news.
—Get your job work done here |
rE Edie
II: