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/253

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COLUM BIA A N D M O NTOUR COUNTIES

frightened at the receivership u f the distillm g com pany, this employee foreclosed on his paper and an attachment w as placed upon the g o ^ S and chattels of the farm s, whose treasury w as already weakened hy the continued with­ draw als made fo r development. In the interim between the receivership u f the distilling com­ pany and the sh eriff's sale o f farm ing property M r. M cH en ry returned to Benton. Ih e most contradictory rum ors were circulated regard­ ing his condition. W ord w as |>assed from lip to lip, one moment that he w as going to get well, and the next the rum or that he w as about to die w as prevalent. O n the d ay of the public sale of the fa n iis property, hundreds o f friends and neighbors gathered on the scene. T hey had to pass his home, and a few close intimates called upon him. T h at night Jo h n G. M cH cjiry passed aw ay. M any believe that it w as the shock of the forced sale (hat killed him— the crum bling o f a cherished institution. H is body w as laid to rest with im pressive ceremonies in the presence o f a mulcitude, whose voices fo r Uie nonce were stilled from criticism and hushed in sorrow over the departure o f a beloved friend. M any o f M r. M cH en ry’s Congressional colleagues were present and the little Benton cemetery w as thronged with a large concourse o f peo­ ple, many o f wliom had b c a i the recipients o f innumerable acts o f friendship which he had extended in an unassum ing way. A fte r a short interval cliaos ensued. C red­ itors of the variou s enterprises, many o f which are not mentioned herein, descended upon the estate. T h e Benton Electric Light, H eat & T ow er Com pany defaulted payment o f inter­ est on bonds and collap sed; (he Sentinel P rin t­ er)’, o f Illoom sbui^, went into the hands o f a rece iv e r; the H um m er & Y o rk s Lum ber Com ­ pany, o f E lk G rove, declared itself insolvent; action fo r an accounting in a guardianship which the dcccascil held w as brought throug i the c o u rts; form er business associates su f­ fered through their indorsement o f paper and were forced to meet the obligations by public sale o f properties; his estate became involved in a maze o f legal tangle, and almost every­ thing with which lie w as connected Iwcamc a financial wreck and w as forccil to the wall. T h e R o h r M cH en ry D istilling Com p.my has never resumed pro .with which M r. M cH en ry w as connected. The structure cost alx>ut $^o,ooo and w as a modem and supposedly ncar-hreproof building. In n were stored 17,000 barrels o f ripened or par­ tially ripened whiskey, and but one was saved T he burning of the M cH cnr)’ warehouse was the second o f a series o f disasters caused br fire from which the town o f Benton has saffered. On J u ly 4, 19 10, a careless celebrant discharjged the rom an candle that started a lire which destroyed in a few hours thirty-eight residences and stores and forty-eight bams .Among the burned buildings w ere (he post of­ fice. hank, “ E xch an ge H otel,” People's Depart­ ment Store. O dd I'ellow s hall, and a number o f sm aller placc.s o f business. T h e toss was almost $300,000. with but little insurance. Fires follou cd each other with unceasing regularit}’. T h ey w ere alw ays o f m ysterious origin. One took place in 1 9 1 3 which caused universal sor­ row throughout the community and county. It destroyed the iK-autiful Presbyterian church, (he g ift o f M r. M cH en ry to the congregation in m em ory o f his mother, and one of the finest edifices o f w orship in the county. Traces of inccndLirisni were plainly evident, and the State fire iimrshal w as summoned to investi­ gate the case. T he loss from this fire w a s o w $20,000. T h e large planing mill o f R. T. Smith and Son in the sam e y e a r felt a prey to a midnight fire. It w as about the on ly industry left to the com m unity, and a feeling o f deep gk>om per­ vaded Benton until its public-spirited citizens made possible the continuance of the business by subscribing to its stock and paying for itbv' working on the construction o f a new plant and furnishing (he essential supplies. A nother conflagration later destroyed the shirt factory and adjoining dwellings. T h is scries o f fires had an effect on the growth of the town which it w ill take years to efface. T h e first to rebuild w as the hank, the next the planing mill, then the shirt factorv. atid now the church is being rebuilt on the old site. O ther store buildings a re taking the places of the burned ones and the town is en­ deavoring to recover from those almost over­ whelm ing disasters. Industrial and Com m ercial W ith the advent of the Bloom sburg & Sul­ livan railroad, in 1887, Benton showed marked