Page:Historical and Biographical Annals of Columbia and Montour Counties, Pennsylvania, Containing a Concise History of the Two Counties and a Genealogical and Biographical Record of Representative Families.pdf/114

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COLUM BIA A N D M ONTOUR COUNTIES

R oaringcreek by the act o f 18 50 w as subse<|uently made perm anent, the restored portion l^ in g named Scott. T h is w as found to con­ flict with a township north of the river, then under the advisem ent of the court, and a month later the name of the southern township w as changed to I..ocust. Scott township w as form ed the same ye ar at the sam e session o f court, from the township o f Bloom, which had become too unwieldy fo r the election commissioners. A petition w as laid before the court in 1855 stating that the township o f Locust w as from tw elve to fourteen m iles long and from eight

to ten miles w ide, and that the southern end w as chiefly a mining district, while the north­ ern end w as devoted to farm ing, and asking fo r the form ation o f a new township from part o f it. T h e com m issioners reported favorab ly, the court confirmed the report, and the new township w as named Conyngham, a fte r the ju d g e o f that date. F in ally, to complete the division o f Colum­ bia county, the township o f O evelan d was form ed from lu K u st in 1893, and named after the president who had ju st been elected on the Dem ocratic ticket.

CH A PTER XI C O L U M B IA C O U N T Y A F T E R T h e ye ar 18 50 fixed the date of the new dis])cnsatton fo r Columbia county and the birth o f M ontour county. A t that date the population o f Columbia w as 17,700. From then until the present ye ar o f 19 14 Columbia county has steadily gained in population and pros|)crity. Although the townships and some of the sm aller towns have lost som ewhat, this is only due to the m odem tendency to concen­ trate in the places o f greatest size and attrac­ tions. H ow ever, it is believed that the coming years w ill show another exodus to the land and g ive to this county the agricultural stim u­ lus which is all that is needed to m ake it an earthly lulcn. T h e population o f Columbia in i86o. accord­ ing to governm ent census figures, w as 25,0 6 5: in 18 70 it w as 28.766: 1880, 3 2 ,4 39; 1890. 3 6 ,8 3 2; 1900, 39 .896: 19 10 . 4 8 ,4 ^ . T he to u l area of the county is a little over fo u r hundred square miles. COI.UMBI.N COCNTV COURTHOUSE

T he first courthouse, which w as used d u r­ ing the time that this county also included the territory' o f M ontour county, is described in the annals of the latter county in another >art o f this volume, as its history has alw ays >ccn a part of the history o f D anville and it w as Inter again used fo r the business of the new county o f Montour. One of the argum ents of the opponents of the removal of the county seat from Danville to Bloom sburg w as that the cost of the erec­ tion of the necessary public buildings would lie

18 50

a severe burden upon the Bloom sburg people. T h e act rem oving the county scat provided that within three years thereafter the citizens o f Bloom sburg should erect at their own ex­ pense suitable buildings o f brick o r stone of the most approved plans, and that the old pub­ lic grounds and buildings at D anville should be disposed o f, to pay the original subscribers thereto, the surplus, i f any, to revert to the county treasury. T h e Bloom sburg people met all these argu­ ments with the o ffe r to donate the ground and erect the buildings at their own expense, and in carryin g out these engagements they acted in no niggardly spirit. W illiam M cK elvey and Daniel Sn yder w ere the prime m overs in this matter, and as soon a s the question o f re­ m oval w as settled entered actively upon the w ork o f erecting the courthouse and Jail. E lish a H. Biggs, who had made a liberal sub­ scription to tnc fund fo r erection, bought the lot opposite the "E x ch a n g e H otel," which he at that time owned, and offered this as the site of the courthouse. W illiam Robison, who owned the lot 011 the upper side, also donated sufficient land, so that a lte r the alleys on each side were laid out the building site contained about ninety feet front. M r. S n y d e r contribute<l two lots fronting on Center street, and extending back to the upper line of the court­ house lot, fo r a ja il site, which w as accepted. A t this time the Presbyterian Church w as plan­ ning fo r a new house o f worship, and Rev. D. J. W aller, S r., went to E*hi!adelphia to secure approved plans fo r the two structures. These plans were flr.awn by Napoleon I.c Brun,