THE b/JOURNAL OFTHE Lycoming County Historical Society VOLUMEXVlll SPRING NUMBERONE 1982 JOURNAL ofthe LYCOMING COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY Pub/shed Semzbnnua/ZJ zn Wz//zamsPorf, PenmyZzianz2z Museum Office - 858 West Fourth Street Telephone (Area Code 717) 326-3326 BOARDOFTRUSTEES RALPH R.CRANMER WI LLIAM E. NICHOLS A.F.BEIGHLEY LEGALCOUNSELOR HARRY H.KING CLARENCE R. MUTCHLER JOHN L.BRUCH,JR. CURRENT SOCIETY PRESIDENT BOARDOFGOVERNORS DR. CLARENCE R. MUTCHLER, H'eszden£ JOHN E. PERSON,111. .7rd robeH'azdezlf JAMES P. BRESSLER, /sf }'zce H'es. EVERETT W. RUBEN[)ALL, Secrefaz.y DR. LORING B. PRIEST, 2nd rz'ce .f'resident JAMES WEAR, Treasurer 1981- 1983 1982- 1984 MRS.NORMANS.INGERSOLL MRS.JOHN W. BITNER MRS. EDITH WRIGHT OK.SAMUELJ.DOKNsirz JACK KISBERG ROBERT SMINK EDWARD J. DURRWACHTER RICHARDMIX EX-OFFICIO BOARD MEMBERS MRS. DAWN KEEPER JUNIOR LEAGUE OF WILLIAMSPORT ROGER SHIPLEY, I)fiBS/DENT THE GREATERWILLIAMSPORT COMMUNITY ARTS COUNCIL KENNETHE.CARL HISTORICAL SOCIETY RETIRING PRESIDENT HISTORICALSOCIETYSTAFF MRS. RICKS MAIETTA, EXECUTIVE SECRETARY VOLUMEXVlll SPRING NUMBERONE 1982 MUSEUMSTAFF CONTENTS D{TectoT Andrew K. Grugan Gq't Shop Manager B Tout DivectoT Gloria Z. Grugan MUSEUMVOLUNTEERSTAFF Registration Committee MissJune Foresman, Chairperson Mrs. Stanley Bassett Miss Ethel Ertel Page Mrs. Frederick Snell Greetings From the President's Desk 4 OPeraZzan Mweum Andrew K. Grugan Early Episodesin Williamsport's History 5 Publicis) and Public Relations Andrew K. Grugan 75th Anniversary Contributors 17 Genevat Restovatfon Mr. and Mrs. Emlin S. Massey History of the U. S. S. Lycoming (APA-155) 18 Sarah Burrows Coryell Hays Collection 21 CuTatoTtal Departments. 26 Genera/ Curator Andrew K. Grugan Minutes of the First Meeting .4Tchaeo !o g) James P. Bressler, Chairman William Tumbaugh Karen Rickey Ricki Maietta A rchives and Records Miss Gladys Tozier, Chief Miss Jean Little Miss Phyllis Briel Education Andrew K. Grugan Fzlze,4 rts Dr. June E. Barkin IndulstTiat Exhibits Francis Maneval MzneraZs Lewis Harper COVER PHOTO: Our cover picture is of Colonel Herbert Russell Textiles Mrs. Norman Ingersoll Laird, first secretary and founder of the Lycoming County Historical Society. Please read more about Colonel Laird in Paul Gilmore's Mrs. Edith Wright Early Episodesin Williamsport's History" printed in this Journal. Mrs. Patricia Lockspeiser John Sloan Memorial Collection Gloria Z. Grugan 4 5 GREETINGS FROM THE PRESIDENT'S DESK EARLY EPISODES IN WILLIAMSPORT'S HISTORY b) Pant G£tmoTe I'his speech was presented to the Historical Socket) at {ts Annual Dinner Meeting {n Wav'rensdtLe on APTi1 14, 1982 Dear Members Fasten your seat beltsl It should interest us, this evening, We look back now upon our year of celebration of the 75th Anniver- that Lycoming County was created sary of the Lycoming County Historical Society with a sense of satisfac- We're going to take a wide-ranging exactly 187 yearsago - on April 13, 1795. tion in the accomplishmentsand with hopefor the future. flight, tonight, through 185 yearn ci It originally encompassed12,500 square The programs - "Sheep Rock Shelter '' presented by the North Williamsport's history. miles - one-fourth of the land surface of Central Chapter of the Society for Pennsylvania Archaeology; "William Pennsylvania. Subsequently,all or por- Penn and the Sooth Birthday of Pennsylvania" presented by our Director, Describedin tourist literature as the tions of 17 countieshave been carved Andrew Grugan; "Christmas Music" presentedby Mary Landon Russell, 'QueenCity of the WestBranch", and out of it. Yet, with 1,215 square miles, Doris Heller Teufel and Kay Huffman; "History of Valentines" by our known throughout the United States it is still the largest county in Pennsyl- Director; the musical program of the Chamber Singers; ''Early Episodes during its lumbering era as the ''fastest vania; larger than Rhode Island and in Williamsport's History" by Paul Gilmore; and "From the Forksto the growing small city in America", Wil- only slightly smaller than Delaware. Forests the Story of the West Branch Canal" by Richard Mix - were liamsport has acquired a fascinating his- outstanding and very well attended. tory which deservesoccasional retelling The original boundariesof William- During the year of celebration, as you know, the Societyand Museum sport were the river on the south; received the Pennsylvania Travel Industry Award for Excellence. Some of the episodeswe will talk about are well documented. Others will approximately Little League Boulevard As of May 26, special contributions for the anniversaryyear cele- on the north; East and AcademyStreets bration, in responseto the appeal sent out by the Board of Governors. be hearsay - folklore - and have been on the east; West and Hepburn Streets have been made by 105 members and totaled $9,345.00. The names of gleaned from articles read during more on the west. The Hepburn farm extend- thosewho contributed $25.00 or more by this date are listed elsewherein than 40 years of local newspaper work ed westwardfrom the town's boundary this Journal. Those who contribute after May 26 will be listed in the to present-day Susquehanna Street; and Fall Journal. These and other contributions made during the year will Williamsport has come a long way the colonel was openly accused of serving help the Societymeet increasing costsand maintain its excellent service. since the sunny afternoon ofjuly 4, 1796. personal interests when he won the Our hope for the future rests in your continued active interest in the county seat for Williamsport. Society and its programs, your efforts to bring in new membersand That day MichaelRoss held an ox your generoussupport financially. roast on his riverfront farm and offered We wish to expressappreciation to the Board of Governorsand the at auction the 300 town lots into which Quite naturally, Williamsport has Board of Trustees for their direction and guidance, to the staff for their he had sub-divided his I I I -acre property. changed since it was founded. So has excellent and faithful service and to the many volunteers who give hours Thus, Williamsport got its start. ' ' everything else. and hours of time and effort. We regret to announce that Mr. Joseph Zebrowski found it necessary New-born, it was less populated than In a day when we can drive to Phila- [o resign his position with the Society and Museum as of May 30th. We either Jaysburg, on the west side of delphia in less than four hours at legal miss his valuable services. Lycoming Creek, or upriver Dunnstown. speed,or fly there in 25 minutes,no one Pleasenote that a copy of Paul Gilmore's address"Early Episodesin But it gained a sudden importance when wants to push a wheelbarrow those 200 Williamsport's History" is printed elsewherein this Journal. it was chosen the county seat of newly- miles. Yet. the Germanforebears of formed Lycoming County. someof us did exactlythat at the dawn of the 19th century when they transport It owesthis political prefermentto ed their meager possessionsfrom the the influenceof Col. William Hepburn port of Philadelphia to Blooming Grove Sincerely a defender of the West Branch G'ontier and RoseValley. during the Revolution. When he be- came a state senator, he persuadedthe No one wants to abandon today's Dr. ClarenceR. Mutchler General Assembly to cut Lycoming off super-highways and go back to using President from NorthumberlandCounty. Then Culbertson's foot-path over Bald Eagle he maneuvered the selection of William Mountain. Nor will we give up today's sport as the county seat by persuading motor bus for the stagecoach which, in Rossto set aside free town lots for a 1809, required 14 hours to get from court house and jail. Neither Jaysburg Williamsport to Northumberland in good nor Dunnstown could match this gener- weather - and uncomfortably longer if osity. roads were snowbound or deep in mud. 6 7 We could not feed today'spopula- choose,but on a Sundayin 1824,eight one of their sancturaries. Abraham tian as a lumberingcenter. Here'sthe tion, if we were still cradling wheat by Negroes attempting to cross the Susque- Updegraff and Tunison Coryell, promin- story: hand; nor could we clothe it, if we relied hanna in torrential rain became con- ent businessmen, aided them openly. alone on the spinning wheelsof our fused, lost their bearings,and sevenof Fugitives found concealment in Nigger Major James H. Perkins, an exper- great - great - grandmothers! them drowned Hollow, north of the city, during the ienced lumberman from Maine, came to day, and at night were hurried across Williamsport in 1845. He quicklyrecog This is not to say thoseold waysand This wasthe way of life in original the hills to the Williamsport and Elmira nized that the gentle drop in the river old tools should be forgotten. Discard- and early Williamsport. It wasa crude Railroad. Knownfriends on that line above Williamsport was ideal for im- ed, yes;but not forgotten. frontier hamlet in 1796. would get them to Elmira, and thence pounding logs, thus making the oper- to Canada. ation of saw-mills profitable. So he built The Culbertson Path; the stage At the outbreak of the American the famous Susquehanna Boom in 1849. coach of .JamesCummings, drawn by six Revolution, 20 years earlier, Indian all- But back to slave-owner John Rose. horses;the grain cradlesmade by ies of the British has laid wastethis same He was the father-in-law of Robert C. It wasa seriesof sunkencribs and SamuelBall at BallsMills, north of land with torch and tomahawk. Indeed. Greer, a justice of the U.S. Supreme piers placed diagonally across the river Williamsport; and the spinning wheels it was considered an outpost of white Court and a son of the Rev. Isaac from the north to the south bank. They of long ago all these things have passed civilization into the 19th century. Grier, early Presbyterian preacher and were 252 in number; measured 20 x 50 away because their usefulness expired.