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/287

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COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES

(erly conference of the church lo erect a house o f worship. John W. Shuman donated the ground and in October, 18 8 1, the work w as begun. The building, a frame, w as dedicated in 1882, Rev. C . L . Benscoter being pastor at the time. H is successors were Revs. John W. Horning and J . K . D cavcr. T he present ^ s * tor, R ev. J . W . M cA lam cv, resides at MiminvtDc, being also pastor of the church at that place.

was abandoned fo r the new one beside it the school w as removed to the rejected building, which was fitted up for the purpose and used until the establishment of the public school system. Daniel K rist w as another of the teach­ ers in this school. During the year 1886 five teachers were employed in the schools o f this township at an average salary o f $30 per month. A t present there are six schools in the township, attended by 1 1 4 scholars. T h e rest of the statistics SCHOOLS regarding these schools may be found in the chapter on schools of the county. T he present When (his township was included in the school directors a r e : B. R . Vetter, M iles J . limits o f Catawissa the school children were Fisher, D. W . Huntzleman, F . A . Shuman, S. compelled to attend the “ springhouse” school I. Goodman. in the western part o f that township. About POPULATION the year 1820 a school w as opened by Jacob Gensel in George Flem ing's carding mill on Scotch run, southeast o f Mainville. In 1824 T h e population o f Main township in 1850 John W atts opened a school in a l<^ building w as 5 8 1 : in i860, 5 2 9; in 1870, 6 0 1; in i8 to, near the Fisher church. When tl« t church 6 2 6; in 1890. 5 9 5; in 1900, 6 5 2; in 19 10 . 567.

CHAPTER XXX M I F F L I N T O W N S H IP — M I F F L I N V I L L E T h is township w as erected in 1799, during the last term o f Thom as Mifflin, one of the signers of the Constitution of the United States, and governor o f Pennsylvania from 1788 to 1799. It w as one of the two divisions of the county o f Columbia at the date o f its formation, and w as reduced to its present di­ mensions by the erection o f Main and Beaver townships m 1844 and 1 ^ 5. T he northern boundai7 o f this township is the Susquehanna, and the crest o f Nescopeck mountain on the south forms a long and complete natural bar­ rier between this and Beaver township. T he date of the first settlement o f this sec­ tion cannot be accurately determ ined; there were some families here in 1779, which w as murdered by (he Indians, their more for­ tunate neighbors fleeing across the river to Fort Jenkins for safety. The last Indian trag­ edy in this section occurred in 178 5, when a fam ilv o f three w as murdered on the ‘‘Mifflin flats.' T heir names have never been ascer­ tained. Among the first settlers o f this township was Nicholas Angle (or E n gle), who located on Tcn-m ile run. southwest of the present town o f Mifflinville. T h is run obtained its name from the fact that it m arks the tcn-mile post

on the hill road to Catawissa. Paul G ruver made a settlement at the same time near the base o f Ncscopeck mountain, and in the same neighborhood Thom as Aten and Jaco b Schwep^ n h e ise r also located. T he latter built the first sawm ill in the township on a branch of Tcn-mile run. On the ridge above this stream were the Crcasys, the Kirkendalls and John and David Brown. John Brow n, in 1793, located in the valley of the creek on a tract o f four hundred acres, purchased by his father fo r $ 1 2 an acre. T his tract included the site of the present gristm ill and the Frym ire and Snyder farm s. Other old fam ilies in this sec­ tion, who came here some time later, were the Koder, Bowman, K cm, Hartzell, Mostcllcr. Zimmerman and Mensingcr families, most of whom were from Berks county. INDUSTRIES

T he second oldest gristm ill in the county w as huilt soon a fte r the W yom ing massacre by John Brown, great-grandfather o f J. C. Brow n, postmaster o f Bloomsburg from 1902 to 19 14. T he mill was operated by a long line o f Brow ns — John. Samuel, W illiam. F re as and John. The present owner is P. A. Fcttcrolf. T his