Part 15

St. John’s Protestant Episcopal Church faces Center Square, has memorial altar, white marble, with Caen stone reredos, and windows made by Maitland Armstrong & Company; First Lutheran Church, one square east of Center, corner of High and Bedford Streets; Italian Renaissance; yellow brick, black and white trimmings; built, 1900; J. A. Dempwolf, architect, York, Pennsylvania. The second Presbyterian Church, corner of Hanover and Pomfret Streets; Gothic; built, 1869, has memorial window over door, Moorish design; and fine fretwork choir rail. St. Patrick’s Catholic Church; east Pomfret Street, has rose window of Tiffany glass; and other windows from Munich; also memorial marble altar.

Ashland Cemetery, York Street, nearly a mile east from Center, contains bronze statue, “Angel and Child,” made by Lamb & Co., in James W. Bosler’s lot. The “Old Grave Yard,” three squares from Center, on east South Street, contains Mollie Pitcher’s grave and monument; bronze portrait figure standing, on granite pedestal, with bronze reliefs of battle scenes extended on both sides; sculptor, J. R. Schweizer, Philadelphia; a Civil War cannon is in front; old English and German carvings from the year 1700 are in this cemetery. At Mount Rock, five miles west of Carlisle, is the Ionic Monument, in memory of Governor Ritner from 1835-39; erected by the state in 1902; architect, J. W. Ely, Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania.

THE INDIAN SCHOOL, one mile northeast from Center, was formerly a military post, buildings were destroyed by Fitz Hugh Lee in 1863, excepting the old guard house, built by the Hessian prisoners during the Revolution, in 1777; this was the original “West Point” for the training of officers and artisans, and for the manufacture of arms and munitions. In 1776, and throughout the War, anthracite coal was taken down the Susquehanna River from the Wyoming mines to the armory at Carlisle, said to have been the first shipment of anthracite coal in this country; there are now about twenty-five or thirty buildings, brick, of varied architecture, on twenty-five acres of ground; gateway, Georgian, M. I. Kast, architect, built, 1910; native Indian art is on exhibition in the Leupp studio. George Washington joined the army of 15,000 men, as Commander in Chief, at Carlisle, for suppression of the Whiskey Insurrection in 1794; he was the guest of Ephraim Blaine; the army was located on the opposite side of the town from the military post.

The Civic Club of Carlisle is placing classic art prints in the public-school buildings. Interesting colonial houses: residence of Ephraim Blaine, built, 1795, now law office and dwelling of Edward Stiles, built, 1815; of Stephen Duncan, built, 1815, used by the Fraternity of Owls; and that of Isaac B. Parker, built, 1820, the home of the Elks.

In 1762, Richard Peters of Philadelphia obtained a patent for 388 acres of land at Boiling Springs, and executed a deed to John S. Rigby & Co., for twenty-nine acres on which they had already commenced the erection of a blast furnace, they bought two ore banks at the foot of South Mountain, and soon after added 1614 acres of land, and called the property “Carlisle Iron Works”; it passed through several ownerships, until, in 1792, Michael Ege became sole owner; the furnace produced twelve to fifteen tons of metal a week, mostly pig iron, but they also cast stoves, fire backs, and hollow ware. William Denning, in 1776, made two wrought iron cannon in Mount Holly Gap, about six miles south of Carlisle, the first ever made; one in use at the Battle of Brandywine was captured by the British and deposited finally in the Tower of London; the British Government offered a large sum of money and an annuity to William Denning, to instruct them how to make wrought iron cannon, but he refused; he died in 1830, age ninety-three, at his home near Newville, his monument there, given by the state, shows a square marble base surmounted by a cannon. Pine Grove Furnace was built on Mountain Creek, halfway between Carlisle and Gettysburg, the recorded ownership dates from a proprietary grant in 1762 for 450 acres on Mountain Creek to Thomas Pope; it is now part of the State Forestry reservation.

VII

NORTHAMPTON COUNTY

Formed March 11, 1752; named by Thomas Penn; prior to the Revolution comprised all the northeast section of Pennsylvania; chief industries, Bethlehem Iron and Steel Works, where 15,000 men are employed day and night; silk mills, graphite works, and other manufactories. Here were Washington’s storehouses along the Delaware River, with supplies for all branches of the army; a point of attack by the British battling between West Point and Trenton, buildings are still in evidence. The famous backwoods rifles used by two thousand Pennsylvanians against the British at Boston were made here.

County seat, EASTON, founded by Thomas Penn, 1751; at “The Forks of the Delaware, where the water is deep and smooth,” population 33,813. In center of the public square is the monument to soldiers of this county in the Civil War, on site of the old Northampton court house that stood for a hundred years; on its threshold was promulgated the Declaration of Independence, the same day as in Philadelphia; the old court house bell, that rang out then, is still doing public service. The first flag, combining stars and stripes, as an emblem of a new nation, was made here, showing thirteen eight pointed stars and thirteen stripes in the field, this flag is said to be the one now in the Easton Public Library, deposited in 1821, after being used in the War of 1812; in a special room of the

library is the private collection of Samuel Sitgreaves, with rare volumes of American history. Next to Sitgreaves’ office was the home and shop of Henry Derringer, a gunmaker of the Revolution, whose son invented the Derringer pistol. On the public square, Light Horse Harry Lee, from Virginia, recruited his troop of Pennsylvania Germans, and horses. Valuable papers and moneys belonging to the state and national government were placed in the custody of Robert Levers, during British occupancy of Philadelphia.

The old Union Church, now the Reformed, on North Third Street, stone, colonial, built, 1775-76, was used as a hospital in the Revolution; this is the principal residential street, and entrance to LAFAYETTE COLLEGE, founded, 1832, by James Madison Porter, Secretary of War; has interesting collection of portraits of Lafayette, in oil and black and white, also valuable old engravings; on the campus is statue of Lafayette, by Daniel Chester French, given by Morris L. Clothier, Esq. In the New Century Art Club, New and Porter Streets, lectures on art and exhibitions are given. A bridge leads across the Delaware to Phillipsburg, New Jersey, first wooden bridge built, 1797; north of the bridge is Riverside Park, leading to North Delaware Road and the Delaware Water Gap; the Wind Gap has precipitous sides; very beautiful scenery is on the River Road.

In July, 1782, Washington came from Bethlehem to Easton. BETHLEHEM, in Lehigh County, is the seat of government of the Moravian economy, from Moravia in Bohemia, in the western hemisphere, dating back to 1740; these pioneers belonged to the Church of the Brethren, organized in 1457 by followers of John Huss about forty years after he had been burned at the stake for conscience’ sake; the little church was revived in Saxony in 1722; to this church Count Nicholas L. Zinzendorf granted an asylum on his own estate; the count visited the Brethren here in 1741. On July 25, 1782, Washington, with Colonel Trumbull and Major Welker, stayed overnight at the Sun Inn; Brother Ettwein and others of the Fraternity called to pay their respects; the Sun Inn was built in 1761, Peter Warbas the first host; the suite occupied by General Washington and his wife is still shown to visitors. During the Revolution the Moravian settlement experienced many horrors and discomforts of war; the tramp of armed men through its quiet streets began in July, 1775; in December most of the houses were taken for hospitals, being on the main route of travel from the eastern states; many distinguished soldiers were here, Greene, Knox, Gates, Stirling, Sullivan, Schuyler, von Steuben, De Kalb, Pulaski, de Chastelleux, also Samuel and John Adams, Hancock, Laurens, Livingston, Boudinot, Reed, Rittenhouse, Gerard; in autumn of 1777, Lafayette, under careful nursing of a Moravian sister, Liesel Beckel, rapidly recovered from a wound received in the Battle of Brandywine. General hospital of the Continental Army was here, 1776-78.

The Moravian Church, plain and dignified architecture, after a German model, is full of sunlight within, contains Moravian archives and Schussele’s large oil painting, “Power of the Gospel,” showing Zeisberger preaching to the Indians; the organ and vocal music is exceptionally fine. The Moravian College and Seminary for young women includes instruction in housekeeping; moral training is a particular feature. The Widows’ house, built, 1768, endowed by John Jordan, Jr., Philadelphia, for widows and daughters of Moravian ministers and other women who have served the church. The Sisters’ house, formerly first Brethren’s house, was used for home of unmarried women of advanced age; now a boarding house. Second Brothers’ house, where unmarried men could live and still gain independent support, is now “Colonial Hall,” a part of the Seminary. Corpse house still stands with its weeping willow tree; because of the small rooms of the houses, the body was taken from the home to the corpse house for three days; the trombone choir announced a death from the church steeple by a particular choral that designated whether it was for man, woman, or child; at the burial the trombone choir met the procession at the cemetery gate and took part in the service at the grave; in the Moravian burial ground are graves of many Indians, among them that of Uncas, in Cooper’s “Last of the Mohicans,” inscription, “In memory of Tschoop, a Mohican Indian, who, in holy baptism, April 16th, 1742, received the name of John, one of the first fruits of the mission at Wycomico, whereby he became a distinguished teacher among his nation. He departed this life in full assurance of faith at Bethlehem, August 27, 1746.” The graves are in rows, sisters and brothers separate, with small stone markers. Bethlehem had the second waterworks system in the United States, 1760.

A covered wooden bridge over one hundred years old, to be replaced by modern structure, crosses the Lehigh River to SOUTH BETHLEHEM, Northampton County, seat of Lehigh University, built, 1866; in 1865, Asa Packer gave $500,000 for founding a free technical college for boys in South Bethlehem, largest single benefaction any American college had received up to this time; this was the beginning of Lehigh University, opened the following year; later a classical department was opened at Mr. Packer’s direction, who gave the University $1,500,000 during his life, and left it by will another $1,500,000, to ease the struggle upwards of boys with whose ambitions he sympathized; this University is particularly noted for its course in engineering, with the Fritz Engineering Laboratory, endowed with over $1,000,000; there are also a gymnasium with swimming pool, and a stadium.

The BACH FESTIVAL, announced by the trombone players from the tower of Lehigh University Chapel, has been held annually since 1911, first performance was in 1888. In 1780, the settlement had an orchestra, said to be the first in America, flutes, horns, viols, and trombones were permanent factors in their church music, which undoubtedly led up to the present development; frequently referred to as the American Bayreuth; a quartet of trombones summoning the people, as do the trumpets in Germany; in 1901, the Christmas Oratorio was given in its entirety, first in America; they have also given the Passion, and the Mass in B Minor; J. Frederick Wolle, pupil of Rheinberger, organist of the Lutheran Church, has charge of the music; choir consists of 200 voices, natives of Bethlehem, excepting leading soloists; the orchestra and instrumental soloists vary, the Philadelphia Orchestra has played here. Location of Bethlehem is scenically quite as beautiful as Eisenach in the Thuringian forest, where the famous Wartburg, with memories of Tannhaeuser, Bach, and Luther attract thousands of tourists and pilgrims. In NAZARETH are old stockaded forts of the Indian wars, where were maintained 365 settlers from beyond the mountains, now used by the Moravian Historical Society for their collection of relics, curios, and portraits of noted Indians. Whitfield house, built, 1755, old English, contains Moravian Historical Collection; Nazareth Hall, built, 1748, was school for young men. At Boulton, near Nazareth, is Benjamin West’s first tragic painting, “Death of Socrates.”

VIII

BERKS COUNTY

Formed March 11, 1752; reduced to present limits, 1811; named for Berkshire, England, where Penn family had large estates; has broad, fertile plains and valleys, intermingled with rough hills and mountains containing mineral wealth in iron. First settlers were Germans, and Friends from England, 1704-12, among whom was George Boone, ancestor of Daniel Boone of Kentucky, who was born here, in Exeter Township, 1735. Mordecai Lincoln, great-great-grandfather of Abraham Lincoln, also lived in Exeter Township; he owned one thousand acres of land, had interest in iron forges; and built a small stone house in 1733, that now forms one end of the present homestead, which remained in the Lincoln family until 1912; the Lincoln men of Berks County were all men of note, several holding public positions; one, Abraham, married Anna Boone; he died, 1806.

In 1729, Conrad Weiser came over with Germans from the Palatinate and settled near Womelsdorf, where he is buried in the family burial ground; marked by boulder; his granddaughter was married to the “Patriarch” Henry Melchoir Muhlenberg; farm and burial ground of Conrad Weiser, purchased by the Burks County Historical Society, is to be maintained as a Memorial Park. The Dutch came in 1730; their descendants still reside on their ancestral estates; they named the river, flowing through the county, Schuylkill (hidden creek); Indian name was Manai-unk. When war was declared between England and France, the French found the Indians eager to join them against the British, and after Braddock’s defeat at Fort Duquesne in 1755, they devastated these peaceful settlers, by fire and slaughter, until 1778, when they were driven beyond the Alleghenies. This region has become famous for wine making; vines are grown on Mount Penn, Neversink, and the Alsace Mountain slopes; over fifty years ago, George L. Reiniger left the fertile vineyards of Wurtemberg and settled here, where the soil, scenery, and environment seemed so much like the fatherland; these vineyards are now used for the cultivation of dahlias.

READING, county seat; population 107,784; was laid out in 1748 by agents of Richard and Thomas Penn; named for Reading, in Berkshire, England. Courthouse on Penn Common, Fifth and Penn Streets, built, 1762; present building in 1840, on north Sixth Street; colonial with Ionic porch; cupola eighty-four feet above the roof. In the park are equestrian statue of General David McMurtrie Gregg, by H. Augustus Lukeman, New York; the Firemen’s Monument; “The First Defenders”; and Frederick Lauer, all designed and made by P. F. Eisenbrown, Sons & Company, Reading; the bronze statue of President McKinley, reliefs and eagles, was designed by Edward L. A. Pausch, Buffalo, New York. Prison, Penn Street and Perkiomen Avenue, red sandstone, castellated Gothic, built, 1846; architect, John Haviland. A two story building, northeast corner of Fifth Street and Penn Square, was built in 1764 for a tavern; Washington stayed here in

1794, en route to join troops against the Whiskey Rebellion; now Farmers’ Bank; it is marked as the oldest building in town. The Hessian camp ground, southwest of Reading, is also marked.

Trinity Church, most important Lutheran Church in this country, is a fine example of Georgian architecture, northwest corner of Sixth and Washington Streets; was built, 1791. Christ Protestant Episcopal Cathedral, Gothic, brownstone; built in 1864; architect, Potter, New York; has good windows. The Reading Museum and Art Gallery, Eighth and Washington Streets, has a good collection of paintings, representing foreign and American artists, including sixty paintings given by Mrs. William Littleton Savage, as memorial to her parents, Mr. and Mrs. George DeBenneville Keim, and other works of art and natural history; it is open free to the public. The Historical Society of Berks County, 38 North Fourth Street, has a good historical collection. Among the notable artists who have lived in Reading are Christopher H. Shearer, represented in permanent collection at Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia; Benjamin F. Austrian, noted still-life painter, born here, 1870; James A. Benade, landscape; F. D. Devlan, animal painter and cartoonist; during the Civil War he furnished many cartoons for Frank Leslie’s illustrated newspaper; George Seiling, mural decorator, born in Bavaria, 1818, his paintings are in St. James’ Church, “The Transfiguration,” and Calvary Church, “Christ Bearing the Cross.” Calvary Reformed Church has stone mosaic decoration in chancel by H. Hanley Parker.

Charles Evans Cemetery, acquired by gift in 1864, has Gothic gateway, dark sandstone; made in 1847; architects, Calver & Hall, Philadelphia; the chapel is brownstone, Gothic, built, 1854; architect, John M. Gries, who was a major in the Union Army, killed in battle of “Fair Oaks”; here is the Soldiers and Sailors Monument, with bronze tablets; erected, 1889.

Reading was the resort of many fugitives families from Philadelphia while British were there in the winter of 1776-77, and became the scene of much gayety. General Mifflin, afterwards governor, had his country seat at Cumru, three miles southeast of Reading, now used as the County Almshouse and Hospital buildings. In the different wars of this country Berks County men were among the first to offer their services; the Ringgold Light Artillery, Captain James McKnight, is said to have been the first company that reported at Harrisburg in response to President Lincoln’s Proclamation in 1861, and was one of five Pennsylvania companies to arrive first at Washington in defense of the Capital.

At KUTZTOWN, settled by Germans in 1733, is the Keystone State Normal School, originally MAXATAWNY Seminary, but since 1866, the Normal School, enlarged after most improved models of school architecture. Four miles distant is VIRGINSVILLE; here is a natural curiosity, the “Crystal Cave,” of vast dimensions, with crystal formations in every shape and color; it is lighted by electricity. BOYERTOWN, with two large academies, and BIRDSBORO, with fine churches and residences, are noted for their iron furnaces. HAMBURG is the home of the Berks County State Sanatorium No. 3 for tuberculosis; Spanish architecture. Berks County has several picturesque old bridges, the oldest, with one arch, stone, built in 1822, spans the Wyomissing Creek at its mouth, opposite Reading. Thirteen other stone arch bridges, the longest, over Maiden Creek, four arches, built in 1854; and twenty-five wooden covered bridges, are decided artistic assets.

Historic iron furnaces in Berks County are at BIRDSBORO, Hay Creek Forges, built, 1740, by William Bird on land obtained by warrant and survey; he also erected Hopewell Furnace in 1759, and the Berkshire Furnace in Heidelberg about 1760; his son, Mark Bird, inherited the property, and built Spring Forge and Gibraltar Forge; in 1796, John Louis Barde became the owner; his daughter was married to Matthew Brooke, who subsequently purchased the property, which has become an extensive iron works. COLEBROOKDALE, famous as the seat of the first blast furnace in Pennsylvania, was on Iron Stone Creek, named for the Colebrookdale furnace, in Shropshire, England; it was founded by Thomas Rutter and Thomas Potts in 1720: in 1724, the output was forty-eight tons of pig iron per annum, each ton valued at £5; this was the first furnace to cast pots, kettles, and other hollow ware by the use of sand moulds; it had a long and prosperous career. HOPEWELL, a cold blast, one stack furnace, employed one hundred and seventy men and boys, the iron ore was obtained from the Hopewell mine, about two miles away, water from Hopewell Creek formed the motive power; a dam was constructed a quarter of a mile above the furnace and conveyed by a race to the big water wheel; the property covered 5163 acres, chiefly woodland; stoves were cast here with much detailed design, marked with the name of Bird; also cannon for the Revolutionary Army; Hopewell furnace, although idle for many years, is not dismantled, and the village street of iron-workers’ homes is much the same as it must have been in early times.

OLEY FORGE, south of the little hamlet called Oley Churches, and about ten miles from the confluence of the Manatawny and Schuylkill rivers, was organized by John Ross in 1744, and was in active operation for one hundred and twenty years. In 1760, a valuable deposit of iron ore was found in Oley Township, and in 1765 Dietrich Welcker erected OLEY FURNACE, near the mountain; it was owned by General Daniel Udree during the Revolution. PINE FORGE was among the earliest of those erected in the Manatawny district, on land conveyed by William Penn to Thomas Rutter; the original patent is in possession of the Rutter family. There is every evidence that the group of early forges and furnaces had a general interchange in their business affairs, as the owners of the plants were almost identical; William Bird, in 1733, was cutting wood for the use of Pine Forge, at two shillings ninepence a day. Ten years later we find him renting one-eighth of Pine Forge at £40 per annum.

The management of the old forges was patriarchal in its character; grist mill, sawmill, and the village store were all under control of the company, and the records of the old forges and furnaces are filled with human interests of an earlier day. WINDSOR FURNACE,

on Furnace Creek, under shadow of the Blue Mountains, besides making pig iron and the usual hollow ware cast in colonial times, was noted for remarkable artistic work under the management of Jones, Keim & Co.; one casting, being a copy of Leonardo da Vinci’s “Last Supper,” is now in possession of the Philadelphia Exchange.

IX

BEDFORD COUNTY

Formed March 9, 1771; named by Governor John Penn, in 1776, from fort of this name in the county. Is widely known for its mineral springs. When first established it embraced entire southwest part of the province. Mean altitude 1100-1200 feet above sea level; in northwest at Blue Knob, near Blair and Cambria County line, is highest elevation in Pennsylvania, 3136 feet above sea level. Surface is broken by parallel ranges of mountains, with narrow, beautiful valleys, in a high state of cultivation. Chief industries are farming, stock raising, and apple growing. It is said that the most important fields of bituminous coal in Pennsylvania are largely in the northeast of this County known as “The Broad Top Coal Fields.” Population Scotch-Irish, German, and English.