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CENTENNIAL
7 # xz ee
| PRICE PRICE
| 5 CENTS. | Sos |
lo ol o.. 77 of
Eo - SOMERSET, PA., MONDAY, JUNE 24. 1895.
SALUTATORY. by Samuel 8S. Benson, at a ot of about | THE TOWN OF SOMERSET. of this place, unless it be a watering SOMERSET COUNTY'S FIRST SETTLER. I The Town of Rockwood.
In making my bow to the public as
editor and business manager of the
CENTENNIAL VEDETTE, it may be in or-
der to state the objects of this publi-
cation, which can be briefly done, as
follows:
To work for the success of the cele-
bration of Somerset county’s 100th an-
niversary ; to acquaint the general pub-
lic with numerous facts pertaining to
our county’s history, iis great resources,
etc, to offer business men, mechanics
and professional men an excellent op-
portunity to advertise their business,
as the CexrtexNiaL Veperre will be
read Ly a large number of people that
will not be reached in any other way
at this time.
Herein I also wish to thank the good
people of Somerset and other localities
for their hearty co-operation in mak-
ing this paper a financial success, which
without their liberal advertising pat-
ronage could not have been attained.
4% Thanking you, kind friends and pat-
rons, I am yours for the success of the
big celebration and our county’s future
prosperity. Very respectfully,
P. L.. LivexGoob.
THE COUNTY OF SOMERSET.
Some of Her Past History. Her
Resources, Industries, Schools,
Population, Ete.
In point of area, Somerset county
ranks sixth in the great commonwealth
A gf which it forms a part. It contains
,102 square miles, or 755,280 acres of
Isnd. It is bounded on the north by
Cambria county, on the east by Bed-
ford, on the south by the state of Mary-
land and on the west by Fayette and
¢ Westmoreland counties. From the
] year 1758, that part of the present coun-
ty of Somerset lying east of the Alle-
gheny mountain — Allegheny, North-
2 ampton, Southampton, Larimer and
Greenville townships—formed part of
v Cumberland county, and from 1768 un-
“il 1771 all of the region embraced by
‘Bomerset county to-day was called
Jamberland county. During the twen-
Ly-four years succeeding March 9th,
A771, the lands now within Somerset
4A sotinty constituted part of the county
‘of Bedford. By an act of the State
Legislature approved April 17th, 1795,
Bedford county was divided at:d Som-
“erset county was ushered into exist-
ence.
~The taxes collected in 1795 in Broth-
~ ersvalley, Turkeyfoot, Quemahoning,
Milford, Elk Lick and Stonycreek, the
\ six townships which composed the orig-
inal county of Somerset, were paid into
the treasury of Bedford county. Gov-
ernor Thomas Mifflin appointed as offi-
cers of the new county, James Wells,
Abraham Cable and Ebenezer Griffith
associate judges, and Josiah Espy pro-
¢ thonotary, register and recorder, clerk
of courts, ete., whose commissions were
dated April 17, 1795. Other county of-
- ficers were not sworn in until af-
ter their electon and appointment in
i October of that year. They were:
{\Thomas Kennedy, sheriff ; John Fletch-
‘er, John Read and John Leech, county
commissioners; Abraham Morrison,
- county treasurer, and Devid King coro-
ner.
~. The town of Somerse# which prior to
R795 was known as Brunerstown, was
chosen as the county-seat of Somerset
county on September 12th, 1795. The
county commissioners first met for the
transaction of business on October 26th
of the same year. :
By an act passed in the year 1800 a
portion of Londenderry township, Bed-
ford county, was annexed to the coun-
ty of Somerset, and on March 26th,
1804, an act was passed erecting Cam-
bria county from parts of Huntingdon,
Somerset and Bedford, thus changing
¢ the county of Somerset to its present
' size and form.
On * October 29th, 1795, the county
commissioners entered into a contract
# 7jith Josiah Espy and John Campbell
“for the construction of a temporary
“goal” to be completed on or before
February 15th, 1796. On the same day
the commissioners also rented a room
from Jacobo and Henry Schneider for
the use of the county. It was probably
in this room that the first term of court
was held, and at a rental of $30 per
Ryear the same room was used for pub-
lic purposes until the completion of the
first’ court house, which transpired
seven years after the county’s organi-
zation.
© April 17th, 1798; Robert Spencer, of
Bedford, took a contract to build a
court house in Somerset for $5600 and
SL completed the structure in 1802.
"The contract for building the first
ham Miller, October 7th, 1802. The
“huilding cost $3,329 and was finished in
308.
The present court house was erected
building a county jail was awarded to
John Mong for $6,599. This structure
was used until a few years ago, when
it was replaced by the present jail.
RESOURCES, INDUSTRIES, ETC.
Somerset county, while rich in min-
eral wealth and valuable tracts of tim-
ber, was withal a strictly agricultural
county for many years. Gradually,
however, the value of her minerals be-
came manifest, and to-day this county
holds an important position among the
mining and lumbering regions of the
state. Somerset county is rich in bitu-
minous coal, fire clay, limestone, pot-
ters’ clay, ete. Oil is ‘also believed to
exist in paying quantities in the coun-
ty, aithough this is a source of wealth
that up to this time comparatively lit-
tle effort has been made to develop.
Many indications of oil have been dis-
covered, however, and there is little
doubt that Somerset county will in due
time become an important oil field.
Iron ore exists in the county, but not
to a great !xtent. Several iron fur-
naces were operated successfully in
this county many years ago, but they
have long since been abandoned, owing
to the encroachments of much larger
iron works situated in localities more
favored for this industry.
The most extensive manufacturing
establishments in Somerset county are
a large steam tannery at Confluence,
fire brick works east of Meyersdale
and the Standard Extract Works at
Salisbury, where tanic acid is manu-
factured from chestnut wood, sumac
leaves, rock oak and hemlock bark.
The county has excellent resources for
manufacturing, and capitalits have rare
opportunities for profitable investment.
Her agricultural resources have also
steadily increased, and while much of
her territory is made up of rugged
mountain land, there are also numer-
ous ferrile valleys and scores of very
valuable farms within her domain. So,
even in agriculture, old Somerset coun-
ty occupies no mean position among
the counties of the state. Stock breed-
ing is given considerable attention by
many of our farmers, and in this con-
nection it may be in order to state that
the largest steer exhibited at’ the Cen-
tennial exposition at Philadelphia, in
1876, was the prodact of a Somerset
county farm. This gigantic animal,
which weighed 4,740 pounds, was raised
by Samuel Barclay, of Jefferson town-
ship.
The manufacture of maple sugar is
an important industry in this county,
and for fine dairy prodacts old Somer-
set has always held an enviable and
important position. Somerset county
butter, formerly marketed as Glades
butter, has a wide reputation for its
purity and excellence.
POPULATION,
The population of Somerset county
is principally of German extraction,
although the descendants of English,
Irish and other desirable nationalities
are also quite numerous. Only a very
small portion of her population is for-
eign born. Somerset county has a citi-
zenship that she may well feel proud
of. Her sons are a hardy race, hon-
est, industrious, law-abiding and
manly. Her daughters are women of
brave hearts and noble traits of charac-
ter, and as good cooks, have a reputa-
tion that extends far and wide. Som-
erset county is well supplied with geod
schools, churches, newspapers and all
that pertains to an intelligent, pros-
perous and happy people.
Somerset county has produced some
great men, and a large number of
prominent people that are to be found
in nearly every state of the Union. The
population of the county numbered
87,317 in 1890, and at present numbers
about 45,000.
The Pittsburg division of the Balti-
more and Ohio railroad traverses the
southern portion of the county, run-
ning east and west. At Rockwood an
important branch of this railway runs
northward through Somerset to Johns-
town. This branch is known as the
Somerset and Cambria railroad. The
main stem of the B. & O. in Somerset
county also has three other branches,
viz: The Berlin branch, running from
Garrett to Berlin, the Salisbury branch,
running from Salisbury Junction to
Salisbury, and the Confluence & Oak-
land branch, running from Confluence
to Manor lands, Garrett county, Mary-
land.
2 a
A large number of Somerset county
people that emigrated to the far west,
many years ago, will be in attendance
at the county centennial.
{ celebration will afford an excellent op-
| portunity to renew old acquaintances
| and memories of by-gone days. It will
| be a sort of reunion for thousands of
| people. |
$16,000. The structure was completed |
in 1852.
April 28th, 1856, the contract for
This great |
| Its Past and Present.—A Live Coun-
ty-Seat of a Great County.
Somerset was laid cut as a town in
September, 1795, at which time it was
declared the county-seat of Somerset
county and has since remained so. On
rated as a borough.
The town has suffered from three
great fires. The first one occurred Oc-
tober 16th, 1833, and was very disas-
trous, almost wiping the town from ex-
istence. The second great fire occur-
red May 9th, 1872. This fire wiped out
the central and wealthy part of the
community and entailed a loss of about
one million dollars. It was a fearful
conflagration, and only those yet living
can adequately describe the awful ter-
rors of that May day. The third great
fire occured on May 6th, 1876, and
while not so disastrous as the fire of
1872, was sufficiently so as to cause
great loss and distress.
Since 1872 the town has enjoyed con-
tinued and substantial prosperity. Since
1880 the place has been growing in
wealth and population in a most grati-
fying manner. The population of the
town in 1880 was 1,197. In 1890 it had
grown to 1,713, an increase of nearly 50
per cent. Presuming upon the same per
cent of increase since 1890, the popula-
tion now is about 2,200. So far as we
are able to ascertain, the borough lim-
its have never been enlarged since the
town was first incorporated. Conse-
quently, the town has overflowed the
borough limits and the streets in all
directions run into the township. The
munincipal limits should be enlarged,
say to one mile each way from the
square. This would then but include
the legitimate limits of the town and
the population would be 2,500 in round
figures.
In substantial wealth, in business
prosperity, and in fact in everything
that goes to make up a thoroughly up-
to-date county-seat, Somerset is fully
up to any town in this broad common-
wealth of equal population. Within
the last five years city airs and style
have been rapidly assumed, and the
town’s people are enjoying many of the
luxuries of city life and advancing civ-
ilization. Within the time specified
two first-class National banks have
been established and are now very
prosperous institutions. During the
last few years whilst the finances of the
country were in a bad way and banks
were breaking by the score, and dire
distress was present in hundreds of
communities in “Uncle Sam’s” domain,
these banks firmly withstood the shock
of the wave of disaster, and Somerset,
as a community, scarcely knew any-
thing of the prevailing hard times.
January 18th, 1892, the Somerset Elec-
tric Light, Heat and Power Company
was incorporated. This company is
composed entirely of home capitalists
and it has given to the citizens of Som-
erset an electri¢ light plant second to
none in the state. The company has
lately enlarged its plant so that it is
now able to supply arc and incandes-
cent lights to a population of 5,000
people. The enlargement is at an ex-
pense of $10,000 and the total invest-
ment is $30,000. All of its machinery,
wire, pole lines and other appliances
are of the very latest patents and de-
signs. The town is much indebted to
the enterprising and liberal stockhold-
ers of the light company in risking so
large an amount of their limited means
in giving to the community such a de-
lightful light service.
Next to the light company comes the
Municipal Water-works. These works
are the property of the borough and
have been put in successful operation
within the last two years. The system
is first-class in all respects and gives
entire satisfaction. The town is sup-
plied with an abundance of excellent
water, and for fire protection the press-
ure is all that can be desired. Two
good fire companies have been organ-
repitition of the disasters of 1833, 1872
and 1876. The water-works, completed,
cost the town $25,000, and a better in-
vestment never was made by any com-
munity.
Closely following the organization of
the two National banks, the Electric
Light Co. and building of water-works
comes the erection of the Hotel Van-
near. This elegant modern hotel, with
be a credit to any city. Besides, we
have the commodious Semerset House
with its beautiful grounds, the Com-
mercial Hotel, a large and well kept
three-story brick public house, also the
March 5th, 1804, the town was incorpo-,
ized and our citizens no longer dread a.
place, to rival our hotel accommoda-
tions.
Somerset is substantially and com-
pactly built. Its elegant private resi-
dences and its numerous first-class
business blocks are of brick. Good pave-
ments and well kept private grounds
are prominent features. The popula-
tion is almost exclusively American. It
is a question whether there is a town
in the United States of equal popula-
tion that has so few foreigners within
its borders. Whilst there are no mil-
lionaires in the place, it is a remarkable
fact that there are no abjectly poor.
Pauperisin * is unknown and distress
from lack of necessaries of life occurs
with the utmost rarity. Rags and tat-
ters and dirty faces are seldom seen on
our streets. Strangers and summer
visitors have frequently remarked up-
on the absence of all objectionable pop-
ulation. Walk the streets of the town
as you will, at any time, and you will
see nothing but the evidences of a well
fed, well clad, happy and intelligent
people.
Besides the VeprTrE, the town is pub-
lishing within its limits three very good
weekly papers. Good schools and fine
churches are well known fixtures. The
business of «the town is largely com-
mercial. To its enterprising, wide-
awake merchants the place owes in a
very marked degree its prosperity and
growth. Large and well appointed
store rooms, great stocks of merchan-
dise, alert, brisk and keenly alive mer-
chants combine to command an exten-
sive trade. The mercantile business
extends beyond the county and state
lines.
Somerset is situated on an elevated
plateau midway between the Allegheny
and Laurel Hill mountains. It is the
highest county-seat in the state. Dur-
ing the summer months it receives
many visitors, tourists, pleasure and
health-seekers. Its climate is a health-
giving and invigorating one. Its popu-
lation being almost exclusively Amer-
ican, is highly cultured, intelligent and
hospitable. As a most delightful and
desirable place of residence it has few
superiors. There is not a vacant house
or store room in the town. It offers
sabstantsd oppo tunitizs for legitimate
business ventures and its people always
extend a welcome to those desiring to
settle and to do business in the com-
munity. Fess.
The Town of Meyersdale.
The first plot of this town was made
in 1844, when Jacob Olinger caused
thirty lots to be laid but. Later on Mr.
Olinger and his heirs made other ad-
ditions to the town, as did also Peter
Meyers, Daniel, U. M. and William
Beachly. The village was known as
Meyers’ Mills until 1872, when the
Olinger and Beachly plots were incor-
porated as a borough under the name
of Dale City. This was about the time
the railroad through this section was
completed, or shortly thereafter. In
1874 the borough limits were extend ed
so as to include the Meyers plot and
the name of the town was then changed
to Meyersdale. The first house within
the borough limits was erected by An-
drew Barntrager about 1780. The first
store in the place was kept by Peter
and William Meyers. The first hotel
was erected in 1848, by James Me-
Gruire.
Since the completion of the railroad,
the town has had a rapid growth. It is
no longer the insignificant hamlet of
Meyers’ Mills, but'is now Meyersdale,
the metropolis of Somerset county,
having a slightly larger population than
Somerset, the county-seat. The town
is substantially built, and its Main
street being handsomely paved with
brick, gives it quite a city-like appear-
ance. Mevyersdale also has a fine elec-
trie light plant and water works, it be-
ing the first town in the county to put
in modern improvements of this kind.
Among its numerous stores, that ef
J. H. Pfahler and 8. C. Hartley are en-
titled to special mention. Mr. Pfahler
conducts a large exclusive grocery and
Mr. Hartley a fine dry goods establish-
ment. Either one of these stores would
|
|
| that these
| West End Hotel, which is right up to |
the times. Somerset always
good hotel town and we can now chal-
| lenge any town in the state of the siz»
was
a |
I*to is that
|
be a credit to any town of 5,000 inhabi-
tants. Meyersdale lacks nothing that
constitutes a good town. It has an ex-
cellent class of people and is a thor-
oughly up-to-date community.
In one respect, at least, Somerset
leads the United States and probably
the whole world. Here is what the
its electric light service, electric bells, | Chambers & McKee Glass Company of
passenger elevator, plate glass fronts, | Jeannette, Pa., write to C. S. Vannear,
waterservice, elegant rooms, ete., would | proprietor of Hotel Vannear: “The
chipped plate glass will go forward on
Thursday of this week. In this in-
stance it may be well for you to know
are the largest lights of
plate glass that have ever been chipped,
|
not only in the United States,but we |
think in the world.” The glass referred |
between Mr. Vannear’s dining-rooms.
used in the large sliding doors |
{| vestige of
An Interesting Sketeh From the
Pen of a Citizen Well Posted on
the County’s Early History.
* Francis Phillippi was one of the early
pioneer settlers who settled in the Mil-
ford settlement at a very early day.
While he was by no means the first of
these early settlers to locate there, we
believe it may fairly be held that to
him belongs the distinction of having
been the first white man who ever pen-
etrated into the territory of what is
now Somerset county who afterwards
became an actual settler therein.
According to well authenticated tra-
dition, he was along with Braddock’s
unfortunate expedition to Fort Du-
quesne (Pittsburg) in 17556 and was a
participant in the scenes of that disas-
trous July day when Braddock’s army
was practically annihilated by the
French and Indians on Braddock’s his-
toric field.
Seeing that the day was lost and that
it was every man for himself who ever
expected to get out of this affair with
his life, it is said that he unhooked a
horse from a wagon, mounted him and
forced his way through the savage
horde that was engaged in this indis-
criminate slaughter, receiving a bullet
in his leg from their fire. He was pur-
sued for some distance by the Indians
but finally got clear of them.
When beyond immediate danger he
rode on during the remaining part of
the day and all through the night, as
fast as he could make his way through
the woods.
At the start there was notime to think
whither he was flying, and at night he
could not tell his course. All he could
do was to get as far away from the
bloody field as possible.
Morning found him far away in an
unknown wilderness, his horse ex-
hausted and himself without food.
He now set his face toward the ris-
ing sun and bore on all day. But as
his horse and himself were both feeble
from their long journey and want of
food, his progress was very slow and he
was compelled to halt and rest for the
night.
The morning found him in bad con-
dition for his journey. The horse, by
reason of over-exertion, was scarcely
able to move and himself in but little
better condition.
He therefore abandoned his horse on
the western side of Laurel Hill and
started on his journey on foot. The
great problem with him was the matter
of subsistence. True, he had brought
off his gun, but for it he had only a sin-
gle charge of ammunition. For ten
days he subsisted on berries. Of game
he saw some, but with only a single
charge he realized that he must make
a sure shot; he could take no risk.
Crossing Laurel Hill and descending
into the valley, he reached Laurel Hill
creek near where the Clay pike now
crosses that stream.
Somewhere in this vicinity he had
the good fortune to come upon a deer
that wae lying in the grass within a
few feet of him, and was fartunate
enough to shoot it dead with his only
charge of powder and ball. As the
blood flowed from the wound, he ap-
plied his lips and drank the blood to
appease his raging hunger. Having ap-
peased his hunger, he took as much of
the meat as he could well carry and
continued his journey and
reached the eastern settlements.
In passing through the country his
attention was attracted by the beauti-
ful region of country, with its fine open
glades, in the vicinity where the village
of Ne .. Centerville is now located. The
desirableness of the country through
which he had passed appears to have
made a lasting impression on his mind,
one never to be forgotten, and years af-
terwards he came back and became a
settler here. The lands which he took
up were somewhere near New Center-
ville.
He is said to have been a large-heart-
ed and libef \l-minded man and a good
citizen. I descendents are still to
be found i} he neighborhood.
The cem
one of the!
ty. Itisd
other anywhere in the county of Som-
erset in which so many fine monuments
are to be seen. It is said that the
ground for this beautiful cemetery was
donated for that purpose by Mr.
Phillippi; yet, within it, in an obscure
part of it, lie the mortal remains of its
donor, with nothing but a rough stone
without inscription of any sort to mark
his grave. If this be true as to his
having donated this ground, then we
ost beautiful in the coun-
feel like quoting what another has al- |
ready written on the sam( subject years |
the |
ago: “What a commefitary on
gratitude of the present generation,” in
this, the finest
monumental cemetery
in the county, to allow the grave of its |
donor to remain unmarked until every
t hl 1 1
it will be I
finally |
ry at New Centerville is |
: |
yttul whether there is an- |
Rockwood, situated at the junction
of the Baltimore and Ohio and the
Somerset and Cambria railroads, is
distinctively the railroad center of
Somerset county. This town, while
much younger than some of the other
leading towns of the county,is a very
thrifty, enterprising and fast-growing
borough. Its business interests are
constantly increasing in extent and
importance. Its buildings are nearly
all new and the town presents a thor-
oughly modern appearance.
Rockwood was laid out in 1857 by
Philip Wolfersberger. The first house
within the borough limits was built by
P. & D. Wolfersberger, in 1856. it was
a two-story frame building used jointly
as a residence and store room. The
postotlice at this place was established
in 1868 and the first postmaster was F.
B. Long. The railroad depot was built
in 1871. The first school-house in the
place was erected in 1858, and the first
term of school within its walls was
taught by S. A. Will, now an attorney of
Pittsburg.
Rockwood was first known as Shaff’s
Bridge, later as Mineral Point, and
finally, after mwech agitation, the name
Rockwood was adopted. Hon. E. D.
Miller, P. 8. Wolfersherger and B. S.
Harrington are said to have been the
chief instruments in bringing about the
change.
In 1890 the town had a population of
5563 and at present has probably no
less 800 inhabitants. The town is still
growing and is also putting on metro-
politan airs. Within the past year an
electric light plant has been put in,
which is something out of the ordinary
for a town of its size, and it goes to
show that Rockwood is a close rival of
some of the larger towns and that they
must look well to their laurels.
About all of its leading business men
are advertisers in the CENTENNIAL Vi.
perTE, and nothing too good can be
said of them. They are numbered
among the county’s most prosperous
and reliable people and are fully up to
the times in all respects.
Rockwood has the best of school and
church facilities, and as a desirable
community in which to live is hard to
excel. Her people are espec ally noted
for their hospitality and courtesy to
strangers. In this respect the town
has no superiors and few equals.
The railroads, of course, are the
main agents in building up and sus-
taining Rockwood, and its excellent
railroad facilities constitute an import-
ant inducement to persons desiring to
reside in a town with good train ac-
commodations.
ee
The ““Vedette” Advertisers.
We will say right here that the wide-
awake and up-to-date firms whose ad-
vertisements appear in the CENTENNIAL
Veperre are to be relied upon as the peo-
ple to do business with in their several
localities. Our readers can rely upon
it that all of our advertisers are thor-
oughly Yeliable persons—people who
will treat you squarely and liberally,
and who, if they have a good thing, will
share it with their customers. The
merchants and other business people
whose advertisements appear in this
paper represent the very cream of the
trade in their respective lines, and our
advertisements representing the me-
chanical arts, legal and medical pro-
| fession. ete., are all from persons
possessing superior ability in their re-
spective avocations. In fact we can
say nothing too good for our advertis-
ers, and would spacé permit, we would
be pleased to give each of them a sepa-
rate and extensive personal write-ap.
You can’t go wrong in pat ronizing Ve-
DETTE advertisers, for all of them are
| 1beral, pleasant, first-class people to
| with. We specially request our
| deal
| readers to read every advertisement in
| this paper, for in them will be found
| many things of interest and profit to
| the reader. Besides, it will give you a
| better acquaintance with some of the
best people in the world.
{
c -
Our Ex-Congressmen.
| The town of Somerset has more liv-
| than any other
| town or city in this congressional dis-
trict. Johnstown, Altoona and Bedford
are not “in it” with Somerset in this
respect. The list consists of W. H.
| Koontz, Edward Scull and A. H. (lof-
| froth. And more than this, it is a fact
| that Somerset has
| Congress since the formation
| government tnan any other town or
| city in this congressional district. As
Virginia is the mother of presidents, so
ing ex-congressmen
sent more men to
of the
| is. Somerset the mother of congress-
| men.
-
Business men who do not advertise
are supposed to be dead. In looking
over the advertising columns of this
paper it will be seen that there are
very few dead bu ymer-
’