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/252

 COLUMBIA A N D M ONTOUR COUNTIES which he and h is estate were involved— singu­ lar because h is bank investment, which was com paratively sm all, su rvived, while his per­ sonal business with its allied industries crashed down to ruin and oblivion. Shortly a fte r he entered Congress M r. M c­ Henry organized the People’s Department Store. T h e whole countryside subscribed to stock in the coqioration, which had announced novel ideas in m erchandising goods and trad­ ing with custom ers. T h is venture stimulated the w holesale and retail business in Benton to a m arked degree and the community derived inestimable benefit in dealing at the store, be­ cause of the unusual trading facilities offered —that o f trading in stock and produce for household and personal necessities. Some three hundred stockholders became associated with M r. M cH en ry in the enterprise, which at its inception w as apparently to be successful. The shortcom ings o f M r. M cH en ry’s ju d g ­ ment, so evident in later y e a rs, w ere soon to be dem onstrated in the adm inistration o f this co-operative business. H e had chosen an ex­ ecutive f o r the store who stocked it with a quantity o f unsalable goods and who w as waste­ ful and e xtra v a g a n t in his supervision. T he consequent deficit grew each year until the big fire o f i p i o wiped the store out o f existence, and the in su ran ce salvage barely paid the out­ standing obligations, leaving the stockholders without sto re, stock or money. Su rrou n d in g the many buildings of the d is­ tilling plant w ere hundreds o f broad acres o f fertile fa rm in g lands which had been put to agricultural usage by the M cH cnrys fo r scores of years. T h ese lands had been farm ed in a primitive m anner, according to the theory o f John G. M cH e n ry, who through his interest in G range m atters and because o f Ins nativity had given the subject o f agriculture serious consideration. .Among the many pursuits o f his environm ent that o f fan n in g appealed to him g re atly, and lie w as anxious to get back to the soil an d dem onstrate in a sm all w ay that scientific methods, technical treatment and modern cultivation would prevail against the old-fashioned manner o f farm ing. H e put his ideas in effect modestly, by engaging a highly recommended State College graduate. A t the beginning of the experim ent M r. M cH enr)' exercised considerable jurisdiction over the work o f h is expert. T h e outcome of the e x ­ periment w as an enlargement o f his plans and the organization of the “ Pioneer F a rm s," a company w hich purchased m any farm s in B en ­ ton and ncichboring communities. G reat ac­ tivity ensued. T he various tracts m aking up

213

the l a ^ c holdings were worked from a purely scicntihc standpoint. A great orchard o f 30,OCX) peach trees w as planted, buildings fo r the in­ cubating and breeding o f poultry on a large scale erected, and investments in utilities tlu t would sim plify and aid intensive fam iin g were consummated. T h e fam e of the "P io n eer F arm s” spread throughout the State. Because o f its unusual size, the vigor with which the proposition had been developed and the modern methods employed in its maintenance, its broad acres provided a M ecca fo r the purely curious, the interested or the envious. In September. 19 12, the first whim per o f financial em barrass­ ment o r the company w as bruited about, through the difficulty m meeting the payroll of the twoscore or so men employed about the variou s units o f its holdings. T h e illness o f M r. M cH en ry, which had come to be regarded by that time as serious, prevented any actual co-operation on his part to relieve the string­ ency, and m atters rapidly drew to a crisis. In Ju ly. 19 ( 2, insistent rum ors of the insolvency of the K ohr M cH en ry D istilling Com pany, tlu parent concern, and one from which the side issues sprung, w ere prevalent. T h ey were cir culated with alarm ing persistency, though few believed that they w ere true. D uring that month Congressm an M cH enry came and went in b is usual fashion, and about the last public function that he attended w as the Democratic N ational Convention at Baltim ore, which nom­ inated W ooflrow W ilson to the presidency of the U nitcil States. Upon his return to B en ­ ton his friends were shocked at his appear­ ance. H e spent a few moments in h is office, and w as taken to bis home “ on the hill.” I^ t c r he entered a sanitarium in N ew Y o rk State, recovering sufficiently to be able to go to A t ­ lantic C ity, from which place he went to the M ercy hospital in Pliiladclplua and then was taken to his home in Benton to die. M eanw hile his a ffa irs in Benton were get­ ting into a deplorable shape. T h e first official notification that substantiated the rum ors which had hccn current came from the Columbia County N ational Bank, which announced that a receiver w as alw ul to lie appointed fo r the R o h r M cH en ry D istilling Com pany and stated that the bank w as in no w ay involved. T he crash in the a ffa irs of the great concern cam e tw o or three d ays later, when receivers were appointed by Ju d g e W itm er in the U nited States court at Sunbury. T h e “ Fionccr F a rm s” toppled and then went under. A fa v ­ ored employee of the distilling company held a note given by the fan n in g corporation fo r lands that they Iiad assumed. Becom ing