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/430

 COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES sions. and« (or so small a TOpulalioii/ a l a r ^ amount o f mcrchandtstng. There w as scarcay a germ of the manufactunn^ interest which has grown to be o f such vase importance since that day. About 18 17, on M arket street, near Fine, W illiam Mann nunufactured nails in a primitive way by hand. The bars or hoops of nail iron were cut by a machine worked by a treadle with the foot, and by a second opera­ tion the heads of the nails were formed by a blow or two with a ham m er; by unremitting industr>% 1 suppose a workman could produce a s many nails in a month as one can now, by the aid o f nuchincry, in a single day. And this simple* modest manufacture was the pre­ cursor of the immense iron manufactures of the present time, which has eanied for the place a high reputation excelled by few in that industrial pursuit, and it has been the cause of the rapid increase of the population of the place, so that it now more than equals a ll the residue of the county. “ The nucleus of the settlement, around which the accretion o f population was subscucntly gathered, was American, originating uring the last two decades of the last cen­ tury by emigration from southeastern Penn­ sylvania, southern N ew Jersey, Sunbury and Northumberland. T o these were added, from time to time, European emigrants— chiefly (icrm ans, Hritish. Irish and Sw iss, a few French and Dutch, possibly some Danes and Swedes. O f British emigrants up to that date I do not recollect a single Welshman, although they soon a fte r became a most im­ portant element o f population employed in the iron manufacture. These apparently dis­ cordant elements soon yielded to the potent attraction of association, so that early in the present century the homogeneity of the young and vigorous comnnmity w as assured. Seldom did any people enjoy a more happy harmony. T h is uniformity extended boih to religion and politics. They derived their revealed iheolog)* from the Bible, as expounded by the followers o f Calvin and K n o x; thcir monil theology from the Presbyterian pulpit, the Westminster catechism, and, to no inconsiderable extent, from Milton’s ‘ Paradise which was rcceivetl as a commentary by some, as a sup­ plement by others. With what awe they read

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Providence, foreknowledge, will, and fate; Fixed fate, free w ill. (ofe1<now1cdge absolute.

“ ‘ Runyan’s Pilgrim ’s Progress' was also a w ork o f great authority. T he libraries were very limited; neither Aristotle, nor Pliny, nor Buffon were in dem and; but ‘- ts o p ’s Fables,’

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’Weems’ L ife o f W ashington,' 'Cook’s V oy­ ages,’ and ’R iley’s N arrative’ were among the most popular books fo r miscellaneous read­ ing. ‘Shakespeare's Plays* were placed on the index expurgatorius by some, and few advo­ cated their general use. The venerable Dr. Nott, who was president o f Union College for the unprecedented term o f sixty-two years, used to say to the students: 'I f you want to get a knowledge of the world and human nature, read the B ib le; but if you will read any other bocks, read flom er and Shakespeare. 'I*hey come nearer Moses and Paul than any others I am acquainted with.’ 'F o x ’s Book o f M ar­ tyrs' was esteemed a much more suitable book (or youthful readers than the great English Im rd; they were also allowed that most capti­ vating o f boys* books, ’ Robinson Crusoe.* “ A ll were not Calvinists; yet, under the wise and judicious pastorate o f that good and faithful shcplicrd, Rev. John B. Patterson, ever honored fo r his blameless life and un­ ostentatious piety, they were kept within one fold and one baptism until the close o f his long ministr>*. H e was occasionally aided by pastors from neighboring towns. I can now recall the nanKS o f Rev. Messrs. Dunham, William Smith, Nicholas Patterson, Isaac (rfier, John Br)'son, and Hood. “ The Rev. William B . Montgomery and his w ife, nee Jan e Robinson, of the Presbyterian Church, the devoted missionaries to the Osage Indians, had recently departed for Union .Sta­ tion, the scene of their labors, which then seemed to us tenfold more remote than Japan docs now. and took a kmgcr time in journey­ ing thither. F o r more than thirty years they latiorcd there, under great privations, until they both fell victims to epidemic cholera. “ F o r a number o f years the followers of W esley increased in number, and through the zeal and labors o f WilUam Woods, William Hartman, WilUam W hitaker, of the village. Ju d ge Jacob Gearhart, o f Rush township, and others, a church w as established ,about 18 15. It was supplied by itinerant preachers. O f these, I can now only recall ihe name of Rev O eo ^ c Dawson. There %vas a local preacher, Simons by name, who occasionally exhorted and pfcachc<l at his own house, on Market near Church street. I well remember the ap­ pearance of these devoted itinerant preachers in thcir journeys around the circuit, with their jaded horses, their portmanteau and umbrella tied on lichind their saddle, and hat covered with oil cloth to protect it from the storms, and thcir extrem ely plain gnrb, such as I saw Ixirenzo Dow wear at a subsequent date.