Bellefonte, Pa, April 8, 1982.
HISTORIC OLD HOUSES
IN HISTORIC BELLEFONTE
From a Paper by Miss Mary Hunter Linn, read
betore Lhe
Woman 3 Lub ut belictonce, on
Marcn 28, 1952.
(Concluded From Last Week)
In 1824 Alfred Armstrong came |
from Carlisle to be principal of the
Academy. His reminiscences, given
in an address when he came pack
fifty years later, furnish a very good
pen picture of the town in its early
youth. I wish you could read it in
its entirety as 1t is given in Linn's
History of Centre County, His de-|
scription of the individual men, wo-|
men and young people whom he lov- |
ed and admired, and in whom he
was able to inspire a great devotion,
is charming. It is in the town that
we are interested and I am going to
quote his first paragraph.
“How well I remember the appear-
ance of the old town as it was on
the day of my arrival in it. The
Academy, then a single, old-fashioned
stone building reared on an emi-
nence in the west. Bellefonte could
then, in her infancy, boast of but
few public edifices, and they were
erected in simple, yet substantial ar-
chitecture, and with a view rather
to utility than ornament and show.
The old stone court house then stood,
as it does now, on the east side of
the town, the same out of which has
been reared in modern times, your
present elegant structure, rivaling |
in beauty and convenience any other
of the kind in the State. Two church
buildings then adorned the town.
They were both small stone edifices.
“The Presbyterian on the northwest,
the other, the Methodist, on the
north terminus of the hill on the
east. ‘The Catholic church, a fine,
substantial stone building on the
south side of the town, was erected,
I think, some years after the time
of which I now speak. These were |
the first and only public edifices in
the place, a beautiful and appro |
ate tribute of respect to law, educa- |
tion and religion, in their regard for |
which the staid inhabitants of that
.old town were Lehind no other peo- |
ple. The private residences were ali |
with a single exception, I
think, of one old frame house stand- |
‘ing on the Benner property near the |
center of the town.” |
Note the omnipresence of stone in|
‘this description. The first settlers at |
once realized the practicability of us- |
ing the native limestone for building |
their permanent houses. With the |
memory of the stone houses they had !
Jeft in the lower counties they set
to work on the new ones, making |
them, in many cases, of the
old ones and not one whit inferior
in design and workmanship, though |
hey were to be wrought out in the
Wi
were
-
i
woods of the State. |
th slight variations the houses
built on one of two plans: A!
single rectangular house with the |
hall on one side, usually with a back |
building, or the double house with
the hail in the center. Our house is |
3 Sood example of the first kind and |
Humes’ house of the second. All
the houses mentioned in the first
part of this paper, as built before
1810, were built of stone. It was not
a complete list and many houses
were added in the years following,
especially in the second decade. Some
of these are still showing the faces
of their youth, some are so obscured
by additions of other materials that
their original structure is entirely
forgotten, and others have disappear-
ed entirely. I can count thirty-
five houses, in the town and its out-
skirts, easily recognized as the old
stone houses. We have spoken of the
three houses on the corner of High
and Spring streets. There was a
fourth one of stone, where the
Farmer's National Bank now stands,
a “Center Hall” house owned by the
Presbyterian minister, Rev, James
Linn, who married a daughter of
James Harris. Both sides of High |
street were well built up very early.
On the north side the stone houses
are still standing, changed but eas-
ily reco . Between the Diamond
and Bishop street the only original |
is the Clevenstine store and resi- |
dence. On Bishop street we have the |
Brant House built ‘by Bond Valen-
tine in 1828. Between this and the
‘McClure house are distinctly seen
stone houses and some obscured. On
Spring street are the Academy group
and Mrs. Brown's house, and in
«dition ito those already mentioned,
‘the Widdowson house. Further east
on Howard street are the Bower
house, the several buildings on the H.
P. Harris property and the Ameri-
can Legion home. The houses on
Allegheny street, from Howard to
Pike Alley, including the Humes and
Andrews houses, are all very old and
form a solid section of old Bellefonte
soon to be broken into.
On East High street are N. B,
Spangler’s house, the original Mason-
ic hall, with the little house in the
rear so lately vacated by Miss Ar-
mor; the Heverly-Hoffer a pany,
of which, until 1867, formed
the old county jail. Also we have
the houses scattered in the outer
range of the town, the stone house
on Willowbank street, between the
railroad and the mill race, Burnham,
the Forge house, the porch house
near the spring, and the Beaver
farm. Mr. Armstrong mentions the
old frame house on the Benner prop-
erty, as “The next year.” In 1825
a new building material appears.
Philip Benner, for his son, Matlack,
built the present house of bricks,
which, tradition says, were brought
from Philadelphia. He also built the
brick hotel called the Pennsylvania
hotel where the Brockerhoff house
now stands.
In 1888 Patrick Cambridge built
Dr. Brockerhoff's residence. ‘The
Montgomery house, which is plaster-
ed brick, H. P. Schaeffer's store, the
old McQuistion house, on West high
street, were built about that time.
Just after brick was introduced to the!
disastrous fire of 1864.
Mr. Armstrong's memory was a
little at fault when he could not recall
other frame buildings. For instance,
the Macmanus house, lately so well
restored by Forrest Tanner. About
that time, or a little later, Robert
Hays built for a residence, in the
neighborhood of his tannery, the
| Meek house. Later were built many
good houses of all kinds of mater-
jals as the town stretched out inall
directions. On Allegheny street Ed-
ward Graham built the present Ole-
wine house, Thompson Milliken, the
Talleyrand, and Linn Street, in the
woods beyond the Red Lion hotel,
(Mrs. Hastings’ property), was reach-
ed in the '50's.
My first plan in writing this sketch
was to give some of the details of a
few old houses built before 1850 and
the personalities who gave them life
through the years, for Bellefonte is
| just as rich in its memories of hu-
man life as it is in its old houses,
so that you could walk along the
street and look on these old houses |
as individuals. In digging up facts I
have come upon, in court house rec-
ords, in histories and biographies.
in newspaper files, and last but not
least, in family traditions, such a
wealth of material that, piecing to-
gether at this time has been 1mpos-
sible. There is much about all the
houses that ought to be recorded. It
can be done by taking groups of
| houses at one sitting,
telling the
story of a neighborhood. This will be
attempted very soon, probably by
different individuals. If present mem-
bers of families who lived in Belle-
fonte before 1860 would write down
the traditions some of them have it
’
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§ 53
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three cents ounce
tion thereof on letters; two-cents for
post cards, single, and four cents for
post cards, double. Similar rates ap-
ply for Canada and Newfoundland.
All other foreign countries require
the following postage rate: Letters,
for the first ounce or fraction, five
cents: letters, for each additional
ounce or fraction, three cents; single
post cards, three cents; double post
cards, six cents.
—Opening the Nittany Lion spring
sports program, the Penn State base-
pall team will play its first game of
the season tomorrow, Saturday,
meeting St. Francis College at State
College. The Lion tossers have been
held back by weather conditions
which prevented outdoor practice,
and will take the field virtually un-
tried in team play. This year's con-
test is the second between the two
institutions, a single game being
played in 1930. Last year a scheduled
contest was cancelled because of
rain.
——— A ——————
Japan recently examined 10,000,
000 primary school children and
found 22 per cent feeble-minded,
The average man weighs 13 per
cent more than the average woman,
but her heart weighs 22 per cent
more.
———————— A ———————
“Give a sentence using the word
‘bewitches’.”
“Go ahead. I'll bewitches in a min-
ute.” —Judge.
would be a great help in telling a
story of the old town woven around
its houses.
over tender throats and chins
create that pink glow on
tenance after a massage.
Under the new law, practicing
to
to-
al |
Any barber or would-be barber not
holding the certificate must pay $5
to obtain his license.
Any applicant must have studied
the occupation for two years either
under a practicing barber or in a
| per cent were mortgaged for between
recognized barber school or must’
have practiced in another State for
two years.
Public examinations are held in
March, June, September and Decem-
ber in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh,
Scranton, Harrisburg and Erie by
the board.
Passage of the new barber's act
and approval of the Governor ends a
20-year fight by its backers. In 1914
| cent of
are not yet available for later years,
relatively fewer farms are free of
debt now than four yars ago. In this
connection, it is pointed out, the
Bureau of Census reports that 58 per
cent of the farms operated by their
owners in 1930 were free of mort-
gaged debt compared with nearly 63
per cent in 1920. |
Twenty-five per cent of the mort- |
gaged farms in 1931 were mortgaged
up to 25 per cent of their value; 37:3
25 and 50 per cent of their value; 22
per vent were mortgaged for between
50 and 75 per cent of their value; 10
per cent between 75 and 100 per cent
of their value, and 5 per cent were
mortgaged for more than 100 per
their value. Approximately
42 per cent of all owner farms were |
reported by the 1930 census as mort- |
gaged |
Th favorable mortgage |
e most
| debt situation was in the New Eng-
|1and States, where more than 80 per
the code was passed by the Legisla-
ture, only to be vetoed by the Gov-'
ernor,
THE TRAGEDY IN DETAIL
Deacon Callahan had taken his 1g a medicine that works on the blad-
wife to the races. Just as the horses
were lined up for the next heat she
leaned over nervously and asked
him for a safety pin while grabbing
frantically at something that seem-
ed to be slipping around her knees.
Just then someone nearby shouted
“They're off!” and Mrs. Callahan
fainted,
Yes, this happened years ago.
—————— A ———
|
|
——Subscribe for the Watchman. |
cent of the mortgaged farms covered |
by the survey were mortgagd for less
than 50 per cent of their value.
Bladder Physic
A
der as caster oil on the bowels. Drives |
out impurities and excess acids that |
cause irritation which results in getting |
up nights, frequent desire, burning, leg |
pains and backache. Get a 25c test box |
of BU-KETS, (5 gr. Tablets) the pleas-
ant bladder physic from any druggist.
After four days if not relieved go back
and get your money. You will feel better
after this cleansing and you get your
regular sleep. Sold by C. M. Parrish,
druggist.
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thermostatic control . . . New rear
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spark control . . . Down-draft carbu-
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3 1/16 inches. Stroke, 3 3/4 inches
: : : Piston displacement, 221 cubic
inches . . . 90-degree counterbalanced
crankshaft ; . ; Large, effective fully
A GREAT NEW CAR AT AN UNUSUALLY LOW PRICE
{tan p—_
mm IV 1
PL LL
90.-degree V-type, 65.horse-power Engine +» Vibrationless
. Bore,
enclosed four-wheel brakes . . . Distinc-
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caps . . . Handsome V-type radiator . . .
Graceful new roof line and slanting
windshield of clear polished plate safety
glass... Single-bar bumpers, chromium
plated . . . Low, drop center frame. . .
Mechanically operated pump drawing
fuel from fourteen-gallon gasoline tank
in rear . . . Choke on instrument panel
——
RP edt
|
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Roadster . . . $460 Coupe . . . . $490 De Luxe Roadster $500 De Luxe Tudor $550
Phaeton . .. 495 Sport Coupe . . 535 DeLuxe Phaeton 545 DeLuxe Coupe 575
Tudor Sedan . 500 Fordor Sedan . 590 ; Cabriolet . . . 610
(F. 0. B. Detroit, plus freight and delivery. Bumpers and spave tive extra. Economical terms through Authorized Ford Finance Plans of Universal Credit Co.)
THE NEW FORD EIGHT De Luxe Tudor Sedan
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Cowl ventilation . . . Adjustable driver's
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or Bedford Cord upholstery in all de
luxe closed types.
THE NEW FORD FOUR-CYLINDER CAR
An improved Ford four-cylinder, 50-horse-power
engine, operating with new smoothness, is avail
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corresponding V-8 prices listed below.
De Luxe Fordor . $645
Victoria . . . . 600
Convertible Sedan 650
of
gasiiy wie Our Best
ATTORNEYS-AT-LAW
KLINE WOODRING. at
Law, hoy NG. --Alarnay R
all courts. Office, room 18 Crider's
EDY JOHN! y— at
niin By Sn
trusted to his care. ob
Hight street on
M. KEICHLINE. lan
. and Justice of the Peace,
. business will
- 49-5
—Attorney at
RUNKLE.—Attorney at Law.
and Ger-
Crider’'s Bacall,
—
R. R. L. CAPERS.
OSTEOPATH.
State Coll
66-11 Holmes Bl
Bellefonte
Crider's Ex.
D. CASEBEER, ometrist.—!
tered and Toy by the RE
examined, glasses fitted. Sat-
VA B. ROAN, Optometrist, Licensed
by the State Board. State Collega,
every day uxgept Saturday,
fonte, in the Garbrick building
the Court House, Wednesday
from 2 to 8 p. m. and Saturdays 9. a.m.
to 4:00 p. m. Bell Phone. 68-40
Fire Insurance
AT A
20% Reduction
|76-3 J. M. KEICHLINE, Agent.
i
Bellefonte, Pa.
IRA D. GARMAN
JEWELER
1420 Chestnut Street
PHILADELPHIA
Have Your Diamonds Reset in Platinum
74-27-tf Exelusive Emblem Jowelfy
——
FEEDS!
We have taken on the line eof
Purina Feeds
We alo dlrry the line of
Wayne Feeds
per 100 Iba.
Wagner's 16% Dairy Feed - 125
W ner’s 0% Dairy Feed - id
8 -
Washers Dig Meal - - + - 180
Wagner's Egg - = = 17
Wagner's Scratch Feed- - 130
Wagner's ck Feed - - - 1.80
Wagner's ck Starter and
Grower with Cod Liver Oil 2.10
Wagner's Horse Feed- - 125
Wagner's Winter Bran - - 1.00
Wagner's Winter Middlings - 1.20
Wagner's Standard Chop - - L120
Blatchford Calf Meal 25lbs - 1.25
Wayne Calf Meal Per H - - 3.50
Wayne Egg Mask =~ - - - 2.10
Oil Meal ng: - - - 200
Cotton Seed 43%- - - 1.40
Soy Bean Meal- - - 1.60
Gluten Feed- - - - 1.40
Fine Ground Alfalfa Meal - 2.25
| Meat Scrap 45% - = = = 200
| Tankage- - - - 2.75
| Fish Meal- - . 2.75
| Fine Stock Salt - - - - 100
Oyster Shell - - - - = 100
Let us grind your Corn and Oats
and make up your Dairy Feed, with
Cotton Seed Oil Meal, Gluten,
Alfalfa, Midds and
We will make delivery ontwo ton
orders.
All accounts must be paid in 30
days. Interest charged over that
time.
If you want bread and
good
C.Y. Wagner & Co.
BELLEFONTE, PA.
Caldwell & Son
Bellefonte, Pa.
Plumbing
and Heating
Vapor....Steam
By Hot Water
Pipeless Furnaces
Full Line of Pipe and Fit-
tings and Mill Supplies
All Sizes of Terra Cotta
Pipe and Fittings
ESTIMATES
SLIM had