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/447

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COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES

rv<le<licatc<l in that year. A t present there is no regular pastor here, the pulpit being sup­ plied at i r r i ^ l a r inter’als. W ashingtonvillc Methodist Church was built in 1852. and rebuilt and redcdicatcd in 1889. T he pastors changed almost every year in this denomination, so many of the names of the form er pastors o f this church arc not on record. Som e o f those known a r c; Revs. .Albert H. Albertson, Milton L. H ess, Edwaixl Jackson, J. E. Basslcr and Thom as M. Phillips. 'Flic present pastor is Rev. L. A. Rem ley, the membership is eighty, and the value of the church is $3,900.

SCHOOLS

T he combined schoolhouse and church men­ tioned above was the tirst institution o f team ­ ing in this township. Columbia Sem in ary was a private school at W ashingtonville. caught fo r some years by D. M. Barber, between 1838 and 1850. T he school directors o f W ashingtonvillc a r c : B. S. Dicffenbacher, Joseph B. Seid el, U eoigc W. M iller. Hiram P. Cotner, A. L. Heddens. T h e school directors o f D erry township a r c : (»corgc P . Coiner. A . E . Seidel, C h arles E . Shires. Jo h n Hoffman. W illiam Ixibach.

C H A P T E R X IV L I 1S P :rT V T O W N S H IP It is thought that Col. Thom as Straw bridge, originally o f Clicster county, Pa., w as anwng (he first settlers in the tcrriton,' which is now known as Liberty township. H e w as a vet­ eran of the Kevolutionary w ar and among his neighbors bore a reputation fo r conspicuous bravery and a h i ^ order o f citirenshij). He arrivc«l shortly a fte r his m arriage to M argaret Monlgom ery, a sister o f Gen. W illiam Mont­ gom ery. who removed to Danville at about the same time as his brother-in-law. Colonel Straw bridgc established a taimcry* in the township, the first in this section of the State. .Another fam ily chose this vicinity as a home. The M cW illiam s purchaseeriy w as located where M ooresburg now stancls. T he fam ily consisted o f Koliert M cW illiam s, his three sons. Hugh. John and Robert, and one daughter, Jan e, who had m arried Rolicrt Curr)'. in Ireland. O ne of the sons. Hugh, w as killed by the Indians in 1775. Rolwrt C u rry also met death at the hands of the treacherous redskins. Jan e C u rry, who was lK>m Feb. 8, 177 3, w as the first while child bom In this section of the country, between the north and west branches of the Susquehanna. One of the earliest records of the township is the deed which tran sfers 329^5 acres o f land from the Penns. T his |>arcel w as located northwest o f M oorcslm ig. T he title was changesl again in i8of». when it was purchased by Robert Finney, who improved it and re­ sided there until he died, in 1839. Finney became known throughout this section becadsc

o f numerous eccentricities and stead fast pcnuriousness. H e renuineil a bachelor to the d ay o f his death .nnd w as noted fo r oddity in attire, maimer, speech and habits. H e paid fo r (he big farm by threshing wheat w ith an old fiail. a handmade affair, a lon^ hickory pole, cut and bent, with the regulation hea^* end to sc|>arate the kernels from the chaff. Tradition says that he resided in an old out­ building on the place, and in severe weather offered the com fort o f his living quarters to such beasts of the field as he owned. T h e slor>‘ is told that while eccentric, m iserly, and holding him.sclf aloof, the old fellow, on the coldest winter ilay. would take him self to Dan­ ville and bring back am ifu ls o f straw to make com fortable his kinc. T he Billm eyers were notable arrivals in the locality. From the very beginning of their residence here they were known as frugal, sincere and simple (>eople, enterjirising and pros[>erous. T he first sawm ill in the region was erected hy John Sicim m n, who chose a site h alf a mile from (he Billm eyer homestca<l, on Chillisquaque creek. T he building w as erected in 18 12 . and later he added a turning lathe. In 1 8 12 Jo h n .Auten bulk another sawm ill, liclow there, and two years later he adde<l a gristm ill. T lic lumber for the gristm ill and fo r his home was worked up in his first cstabli.<hment. .A more modem mill ill due course replaced (be sawm ill, tmt the hand o f time has long effaced the grist­ mill. Jolm Wilson purchased land near the Bill-

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