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/263

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COLUM BIA AND M ONTOUR COUNTIES

cated near the fe rry and w as taught by Solo­ mon F e d e ric i; another w as at Lim e R id g e; and another, on H iram Schw eppcnheiser's land, w as taught by Jo h n Dietterich. T h e first schoolhouse at Centrcvillc w as erected in 18 10. destroyed by fire a fte r a few years and rebuilt at the low er end of the village. Solom on N eyhard, father o f Sam uel N eyhard, the surveyor, died in 1879, aged ««ghtv years, the oldest member of the first school toard. In 18 7 5 the G ran gers erected a halt near Fow lcrvillc, and fitting the low er floor up fo r a school employed P ro fe sso r Lockard to teach it. T h is school w as continued until the public school near there w as built.

T h e number o f schools in this township in 19 14 is ten, and the attendants a re 252 s c a l­ ars. T h e L im e R idge school is taught by G. R. H artm an, E. R. K lin e and Ja n e Shuman. T h e school directors o f Centre township a r c : E. E. L o w, J. J. D avis, C. H. Creasy, J. H. S itler, M. I. W titm ire. POPULATION

T h e population o f Centre township in 1850 w as 1 .0 1 9; in i860 it w as 1,3 6 0; in 18 7 0 .1,3 2 0; in 1880, 1,2 5 6 : in 1890. 1 . 1 9 5; in 1900, 1,189: in 19 10. 1.2 33.

CH A PTER XXII L O C U S T A N D C L E V E L A N D T O W N S H IP S Locust township w as form ed by an order of the court in 1842 fro m the southern part o f C ataw issa township, and embraced at that time all o f w hat is now Locust, Cleveland and Conyngham townships. It w as at first named Scott, but a s one of the townships on the north of the river already bore that name it w as in a month changed to Locust. T h e call of the northern boundary o f Locust at the time o f its form ation w as from a black oak tree in the tine o f R oaringcreek township by various courses and distances to the mouth of M u sser's run on the line o f Northum berland county. Fro m the territory o f Locust township the township o f Cleveland w as form ed in 1893, being named from the president who had just been elected. T h e early history of these two townships is so intermingled that it w ill be necessary to treat them in one sketch. T h e Purchase Lin e o f 176 8 is alm ost iden­ tical with the southern boundaries of these townships, and earliest land w arrants were issued in the follow ing year. It w as not till 1785, how ever, that the Q uakers cam e from the settlements o f E x e te r. M aiden-creek and Reading, in B e rk s county, to this section o f Colum bia county. T h e names o f many of these first settlers are lost, a s they were averse to self-advertising and left little in the w ay o f records. A m ong those who are now in the townships are the Siddons, Bonsalls, W hite­ heads, H ughes, L ees, W illiam s, M illards and Starrs. O ne of the first a rriv a ls in this section w as

A lexan d er M cA u ley, a fte r whom the mounu in in B eaver township is named. H e first settled in B eaver valley in 1 7 7 1. In 1783 be cam e through the section now comprising Locust and Cleveland townships in search of some strayed horses. H e w as last seen at a house near R oaring creek. From that date no definite trace o f him has been found. In 1808 a number o f silve r buttons and twenty Spanish silver dollars w ere found in a deqi ravine near B e ar G ap, Northumberland county, which are supposed to have been his property, although no bones w ere discos'ered at the spot. H is daughter, Jean n ie McAuley. w as the first bride in Ixicust township, in 1794. her husband licing A lexan d er M ears, son of Sam uel M ears, an old settler of the town* ship. INDUSTRIES— SLABTOWN

In 1789 .Samuel Chcrrington, a millwright of M ill G rove, R oaringcreek township, erected a mill fo r T hom as L in villc on the site o f Slab­ town. A fte r he began to saw lum ber for the neighbors a number o f “ shacks” w ere built of the slabs, thus causing the resultant village to gain the nam e o f “ Slab tow n ." which it has alw ays since retained. L in villc sold a part of his land to A n d rew T ro n e, who built himself thereon a log house ju st previous to the erec­ tion of the mill. H ere he opened a tavern, which he ran until 1804 and then sold to John Y eag e r. Y e a g e r carried on the tavern for m any years, also having a prim itive post office, consisting o f a box on a post. H e w as ap­