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/452

 COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES it by a dcq> g o im, making an ideal location for the causeway. T h is spot is a ]x>pular resort fo r picnic parties and anglers. 1*his section was settled soon after the Cata­ w issa valley w as populated. In 1783 John C leaver, a member of the Society o f rriends fro m Chester county, came here while on a v isit to friends at Catawissa and decided to buy land on the north side of the Susquehanna. H e was deterred from this by the great flood o f that year* whkh covered the kinds he had selected, so he took instead a tract on the hills west o f Roaring creek, near its mouth, on the south side of the river. Me brought his fam ily here the following year, built a home, and the third year erected a mill on the bank of the creek. He built the dam on a rock ledge a>K)ut h alf a mile above the mouth of the crc<^* anchoring the woodwork to the rocks by means o f iron hoh%. When this dam was replaced in 1 9 1 1 by a concrete one the old work w as still in a good state o f preservation. T his mill passed into the hands o f W elling­ ton Cleaver a fte r the death o f his father, lesse. and is now in the possession o f Henry K . Bohner. The old building is still in use, but a modem turbine wheel has rep1ace<1 the old wooden overshot one. The concrete dam is one of the best examples of (his class of w*ork in the county, while the forebay has also been cone ret e<l for a short snacc between the edge of the hill and the mill. The old millrace. blasted from the solid rock, needed no r q w ir s or improvemem. One turbine o f 35 horsepower operates the machinery, and the addition o f other turbines could develop over 1 25 horsepower. T he mill is fittc<l with mod­ e m roller process machiner)* and the output is twenty-five barrels o f flour daily. T he mast important industr)* in this section, a s well as in the county, was the Roaring Creek Furnace, which to a great extent contributed t o the development of the iron works o f Dan­ ville. .Ml that remains of the old plant now is the heap o f slag, which many of the

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summer visitors think is part of the natural rock formation, so completely has the story of the old furnace passed from memoiy. Another industry of the past w as the saw ­ mill o f R. Davison, at the mouth o f IJttle Roaring crcck, now abandoned. The grist­ mill o f Jacob Swank* in the western edge of the township, on the same creek, about the center of the territory, is now ow*ncd by Peter S. Cromlcy. aEllGIOUS The flrst church in this township was the Methodist, built in 1856 almost in the center of the township. There is also an old ceme­ tery opposite, one of the oldest in the south­ ern part of the county. 'Fhe church ts sup­ plied from Klysburg, .xorthumberland county. Rev. T. F. Ripple is the present supply. Vought's Church cornerstone w as laid Aug. 15. 1857, the building committee being: John Voughi, Thomas P. Vastinc, Peter ought, and Jcssc Wciklc. Valentine Vouglit was the builder. It was owned by the Lutheran denomination. On Nov. 3. 1907, the corner­ stone of the present church was laid, and Sept. 27, 1908, it was dedicate<l. Rev. J. V. Shan­ non was then and is now the pastor. The last building committee consisted o f : II. H. Swank, J. M. Vought. J. W. Vastinc, Isaiah Vought. John Klingman, P. S. Crossley. SCHOOLS

T licre are two school districts in this town­ ship, o f which the population is but souls, and the same numlier o f schools. T he first schoolhouse was built before the Methodist church, and was for a time used also for religious serx’ices. The present schools arc all new buildings. T he school directors fo r 19 14 a re : Isaac Adam s, H enry E. Bohner, William H. Fahringcr. d irislo p h er Vought, W alter Vought.

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