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/448

 COLUMBIA AXD MONTOUR COUNTIES m cycrf. H is property comprised 175 acres, which he worked until declining years and death removed him from the sphere of activity. ie o r g e Wagner, a weaver, located m the township, and industriously supplied the in* habitants with the materials used in the wear­ ing apparel of the times. Other settlers were Jam e s and John McMahan, noted Revolutionar>' soldiers; and John and Peter Simington. who fought in the W ar o f 18 12.

This village was laid out in t8o6 and was uamc4l in honor o f (he Moore fam ily, who first settled here. The area of the town plat w as thirteen acres, and the first building was the hom cwhich Stephen Moore built. Stephen w as 11 descendant o f one o f three brothers. Joh n . JosepI) and Andrew Moore, who accom­ panied* William Penn 011 the good ship “ W el­ com e.” which arrived at American shores in 1762. They were members of the Society of Kricm ls. and Stephen w as a grandson o f John, one o f those adventurous argonauts. l i e died at his home Jan. 20. 18 13. T he Mooresburg pottery was established in 1857. I'h e last owner was J. F. A ck, in 1901. T he Mooresburg gristm ill is operated by P^phraim Bower, and is fitted with itK»dcrn machinery and run by steam. The hotel here is kept by Richard B. Latshaw. W. G. Ford runs a store and the (> t 05 office, and B . W . Jam es is another storckccjicr. L1BKRTV PUR N AC 6

T his was the third charcoal furnace built in the county, and was the work o f John Trego, an old-time ironmakcr, who erected it in the summer o f 1839 fo r Rurd Patterson & Co., o f Pottsville. It w as first leased by Jam es and William T rt^o. who ran it till 18 4 1. the product licing aliout twenty-eight ton> o f iron per week. In 18 4 1 it w*as leased by the M aus Brothers, who did not make a success of the works, and in 1844 it w as altcrc<l to use anthracite by Lieb & Trego, and fo r a time produce<l a good grade o f iron. Rut the competition of the Danville furnaces and the exhaustion of the nearby ore beds made its suspcn.sion imperative about 1850. h is now only a ruin o f stone. RELIGIOUS

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part of the county, w as established in 1773 and joined with W arrior Run CTiurch under the care o f Rev. John Bryson. A fte r the withdraw'al o f that iiastor many of the fam i­ lies moved aw ay and the church gradually dc* dined. T he first church building was a log one, and the second, a frame, was built in the early fifties. In 1886 it was served by Rev. H. (1. Finney, from Mooresburg. A t present it has been abandoned. Mooresburg Presbyterian Church was organizc<l in 1829. the pastors serving here being supplies from other churches near. The present pastor is Rev. R . P. Howe. T he first church was o f stone, built in 1834. 3 5 by 48 feet, the building commiitee being John Hop­ per. Robert Adams and Abner Moore. The present church was built in 1907 and is o f brick. T he Methodi.st G iu rch at Mooresburg was built in 1834 o f stone, the building committee being John Douty, Jonathan Ridiel, Robert Alexander and Conrad DiefTenbacher. In 1882 the church was entirely rebuilt. The congregation is served by pastors in the Dan* ville osite it, across the road. It is served occasionally from Danville. Center Lutheran Church is located in the southwest end of the township, and w*as built in 1885. T he cemcter)* beside it is o f much greater age. Rev. Paul H aynus, o f Dcwart, .Vorthum ^rland county, is the pastor. Cen­ ter school house is located beside it. SC1I00I.S

Old Center stone school w as built in 1823 and stoo<l as a landmark until 1872, when it was destroyed by inccndiaiy fire. T he ground on which ic was built was given jointly by Jam es Strawbridgc ,ind others. Jam es Aiken am] Jam es I.affcfly were the first teachers there. There are eight schoolhouscs tn this town­ ship, all of them on old sites. The school directors fo r 19 14 a re : W. A. Comelison, Ftlw'ard H. Robinson, Frank S. Hartman, William C. Stam cr, Christopher Springer. A P t S e IIRfDOR

Chillisquaauc Presbyterian CTiurch, the old­ One of the county works o f benefit to the est o f that aenomination in the northwestern public is the fine reinforced concrete bridge