Wednesday, March 19, 2025

The Grave Of Pvt. Etzweiler 1780

This solitary grave sits at the edge of a farmers field along Brouse Road in Mifflinburg

The stone reads:

GEORGE ETZWEILER
who as killed by the 
INDIANS
May 26th 1780
At Jacob Grosclung Mill
Near Brush Valley Narrows
in what is now Buffaloe
Township Union County

Erected by G. Alfred Schoch
Middleburg, September 10 1888

In 1939, the Selinsgrove Times Tribune ran a column that nicely encapsulates the story, as it is recorded in a number of history books.  It does not, however, explain why Schoch placed the grave marker 100 years after the event. 
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Historic Pilgrimage 
As recounted in the Selinsgrove Times Tribune, 1939

Frederic Antes Godcharles, historian, of Milton, visited Yesteryear last week, told a story of Indian activities in and around New Berlin, that have given interest to another of those historic pilgrimages in which some of us take such delight. 

Map Of the Brush Valley Narrows - The Heberling Mill, Under the S, is the location of the French Jacob Mill

At the end of Brush Valley Narrows, Union county, about one-half mile southeast of the Forest House is the location of what was known as French Jacob's Mill. The land has long been in the possession of the Wohlheiter family. There in the spring of 1780 occurred a massacre known in history as the Massacre of French Jacob's Mill. The mill was built in 1776 by Jacob Groshong, or "French Jacob," as he was called by his neighbors. Groshong's nickname, "French Jacob" is still preserved in that section in connection with a large spring a short distance above the Forest House. In 1787 he was assessed in his nickname instead of his proper name. 

 Marker Located at: N 40° 58.889 W 077° 03.960
Reads:
"Near this spot JACOB GROZING erected a grist mill in 1776, which was used as a place of refuge by the settlers during the Indian troubles, here on May 16 1780.  A patrol of Revolutionary Soldiers was attacked by a band of Delaware Indians.  The dour following men were killed:
John Forrester Jr
George Etzweiler
James Chambers
Samul McLoughlin"

On May 16, 1780, a patrol of Continental soldiers was on duty as a garrison at the mill, and was attacked by a party of Indians. Four of the garrison were killed and several wounded. Those killed were John Foster, James Chambers, George Etzweiler, and Samuel McLaughlin.

The story is that the soldiers were swimming in the mill race, having just returned from a patrol of the neighborhood and were confident no Indians were in that neighborhood. Christian Shively, who lived near the mill, heard the firing while threshing grain in his field. He immediately hid his wife and two small children near the creek. He then rolled some logs into Penn's Creek and tied them to the raft. In this way they floated down the stream to Beatty's, where New BerIin is now located.

In the Annals of Buffalo Valley, Philip Pontius relates that his father also heard the signal, unhitched his horse and made a circuit thru the woods, gun in hand, to the mill. He related how one man named William Fisher narrowly escaped. He was running to the mill during the attack. Just as he reached the door his foot slipped on a wet board and he fell into the door. The bullet intended for him struck into the building on a line where his head would have been had he not fallen.

"John Foster was an uncle of Captain John Foster, of Mifflinburg, and a brother of the old Major Thomas Foster. James Chambers was the son of Robert Chambers. "George Etzweiler, Junior, left a widow, Mary. George Etzweiler, a son of the one killed, kept hotel at McKee's Half Falls, as late as 1812. William Fisher was the grandfather of James Crossgrove and Sheriff John Crossgrove, and resided in Limestone, where James Crossgrove lately resided.

William Gill told me he heard old Mrs. Overmeter say that the e people who were killed, were brought over to the place adjoining Philip Seebold's residence, above New Berlin, and were buried in the old graveyard on the bluff at the creek, where Dry Run comes in, nearly opposite where Tuscarpa Run enters Penn's Creek, on the Snyder county side. (Philip Seebold said, in 1872, that George Etzweiler was buried on Jacob Cook's place, now Peter Slear's, in Limestone township.) Here old John Trester and the first settlers were buried. The graveyard, probably the oldest in the county, was not used after 1791, when the people commenced burying in New Berlin. It belonged to Thomas Barber, who was killed in 1792, by the timbers of an old barn falling on him...."



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B is the French Jacob Mill Marker
A is the Etzweiler Grave Marker

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Hon. G. Alfred Schoch 1843-1917, Middleburg Pa
He was president of the First National bank, and President of the Board of Mangers of the Main Shoe Company. His death certificate listed his occupation as "capitalist"
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French Jacob by Bruce Teeple

One joy you get from reading historical materials is in finding the unique stories that breathe life back into long-dead characters. Enough bizarre tales about “French Jacob” Groshong fortunately survive to help us understand how one person made decisions on the Susquehanna frontier. 

We usually see French Jacob’s name associated with the 1780 Native attack at his mill north of Mifflinburg. Earlier life events, however, gave him a wide spread reputation for more than just grinding grain and sawing timbers.

 While the family name was originally “Grosjean” (or “Big John”), pronunciation along the borderlands of France and Germany follows its own bilingual logic. It was here that French Jacob was born in 1725. At the age of 26, he arrived in Philadelphia, bought several hundred acres in the Millersburg area two years later, and erected a mill. 

Stone milling is more than an “art, trade and mystery.” Millers not only had to adjust the milling process to temperature and humidity fluctuations; they needed excellent political and social skills, for the mill was the center of community life. Farmers went to mills to have their grains ground into flour or distilled into the more profitable whiskey. Waiting in line gave them the chance to get the news, discuss and vote on the issues, or buy lumber if the miller also operated a sawmill. Success required a trustworthy, engaging personality able to handle competition effectively.

 It didn’t take long for French Jacob to seek a commercial advantage by demonstrating his supernatural powers. A wave of his hand was said to control snakes and bears. His “magic words” reportedly cured disease and turned unruly children into wild animals. When a forest fire raced down Berry Mountain (near Millersburg), French Jacob drew a line in the dirt and reassured his neighbors that the fire would go no farther. Any attempts to fight it, he warned, would break the spell. Another story, about French Jacob’s secret silver mine, swirled around the valley. Neighbors swore that whenever he needed money, they saw him wait for the right phase of the moon, utter an incantation, walk into the mountain, and then return with a silver bar. 

On the eve of the American Revolution, French Jacob moved his milling operations from Millersburg, 50 miles north and west to Buffalo Township. He is listed among the inhabitants of Buffalo Township in April 1780: “Groshong, Jacob, grist-mill.” Losing a lawsuit over the site’s ownership, though, led him to relocate his mill down the road in 1783-84. He added a sawmill in 1785.

 But people no longer fell for the old gimmicks. Shrewdness and efficiency were replacing monopoly and sorcery as sustainable marketing strategies. Increasing populations, more competition and promises of opportunity always forced French Jacob farther west

. Records indicate that French Jacob Groshong worked in Centre County for a few years in the early 1790s. His name disappears from the Buffalo Township taxables list and his mill is assessed to Enoch Thomas in 1794. After that, the stories become less clear. Conflicting accounts say he died either in Kentucky in 1800 or in Missouri in 1826. As 19th century historian William Egle summed up this unusual life: "He knew whatever was to be known, and much more than he knew he'd own.”




Monday, March 17, 2025

"Hungry Sam" - Columbia County's Champion Eater

Samuel L. "Hungry Sam" Miller
1859-1936

Sam was best known for his ability to eat incredible quantities of food in one sitting.

Samuel Lloyd Miller was born August 3, 1857 in  Schuylkill County, the  eldest of six children born to William and Lydia R. Miller

Sam worked a variety of jobs, in a variety of towns, including Wagon Driver, Laborer for AC&F, and night watchman at the Watsontown Door and Sash Company.  He frequently took employment as a farm laborer.   

And nearly as frequently, he engaged in wagers over how much food he could consume.

1911


 'HUNGRY SAM" GIVES ADDRESS TO SKEPTICS
The Morning Press, March 4 1915
 Still Ready to Do Some Eating Stunts, and Recalls Past History

 "Hungry Sam" Miller, who has been sojourning in Greenwood, Benton, Beach Haven, Berwick, Buckhorn, Dutch Hill and Jerseytown, was in town yesterday on his way to Strawberry Ridge from Berwick, where he has been indulging in stories of his I past. 
 Sam gets THE PRESS each day and he views with scorn these amateur come to his attention. 58 years of eating efforts that once. in a while age he is still in mighty good eating trim.

 With the question as to that which he counted his best eating performance 'Hungry Sam" replied: "About the best was in 1897 when I was working for William Yost in York State. Yost lived five miles from Waterloo and Waterloo is three miles from Fayette.  This was at Fayette where  on a bet of $25.00 I ate 144 fried eggs in two and a half hours. And I can do it again too. 

When I was up in  New York State, I ate an eighteen pound turkey. It was an 'old socker.' I picked it to the bones and didn't allow a scrap to get away. The fellows that lost the money made me suck the bones.

Then down at Shamokin Dam back in 1883 I ate thirteen pounds of fried  eels with my lunch. I  did lots of eating down there in 1883 and 1884.  That seems a good while back, don't it? There was more money in sight then than there is now"

 Sam is open for engagements. Address Samuel Miller, Strawberry Ridge.

From 1918 to 1921, during the war, Sam took a break from his gastronomic feats.
In 1921, while living on a farm 10 miles from Sunbury, he walked into town and announced his "fast" was over.

In 1924, Sam was working as a night watchman at the Watsontown Door and Sash Company, when three unidentified men attacked him.  Sam was able to draw his revolver and fire, and believed he wounded one of the men.



1928



In a 1932 article, Sam bemoans aging, saying he hopes to die soon, while he still has the money to bury himself.  "Sometimes I wake as early as 4 and 5 o'clock, ", Sam Said, "But I don't get up, because I'd only be in the way, and anyhow, it's better that I should get more sleep now than when I was younger."


Sam died December 7th 1936, in Danville State Hospital


Death Puts End To Gastronomic Feats Of Miller
 "Hungry Sam" Expired At Age of 79 After Three Years' Illness FEATS OF EATING WERE WIDELY KNOWN
 Bale of Hay at One Meal, 18 Pound Ham at Another Among His Records 

"Hungry Sam" Miller has come to the end of the gastronomic trail. Seventy-nine years of age, the man whose feats in breaking up chicken waffle suppers, eating whole hams and eating a dozen or two pies at one sitting were the talk of the countryside more than two decades ago, died Monday evening in the Danville State Hospital, where he had been ill for the past three years. 

Though a native of Schuylkill County, most of his life was spent in the Jerseytown and Dutch Hill sections, although late in life he worked for some years at Watsontown and resided for two years with his brother, Adam, in Berwick. His death occurred 7:50 Monday night from complications. 

"Hungry Sam" came by his nickname honestly, and defended it with zeal for years.He was quick to accept either a challenge or a wager based on his ability to eat, and he drew no fine lines.

 He was the nemesis of chicken and waffle suppers when they advertised "all you can eat for fifty cents," and more than one committee shuddered when they saw him walk into a church supper of that nature just when things were getting nicely organized.  But 'Hungry Sam" was never much given to that sort of thing. 

Ordinarily a small eater, he could gorge when the occasion warranted, and whenever there was a wager up or some other would-be eating champion appeared on the horizon, he was ready for action. One of his most remarkable feats was eating a bale of hay. That was done on a wager and was accomplished by the simple medium of burning the hay and eating the ashes.

 For some years, "Hungry Sam" was an attraction at numerous picnics, and there were times when an opponent could be found for him. Oysters by the hundreds were merely a snack for him on occasions, while on others he could make a meal on a couple of dozen pies. Once he confided to a reporter that he thought his greatest achievement was a an eighteen pound ham at one sitting. 

Working out on an order of fried eggs one night, "Hungry Sam" got away with 144, and on another occasion he consumed seventy -odd eggs shells and all. He was in his hey-dey in the years just before the world war, and after that he did comparatively little competitive eating. His life was spent as a farm hand, and never once was an employer heard to complain that "Hungry Sam" had eaten him out of house and home. He often remarked that he ate less than an ordinary man except when he really had some reason to try, Then his capacity was almost unlimited.

 He is survived by two brothers, Adam and Montgomery, of Berwick, and a sister, Mrs. Annie Edwards, also of Berwick. Funeral services will be held at 2 P. M. Thursday at the home of his brother, Adam, on Second Avenue,  Berwick, with burial in Roselawn cemetery.




Mary Catherine Faux - Witness to McKinley's Assassination, & Molly Maguire Executions

 
Mary Catheriner Faux 1857-1942
Bloomsburg resident who witnessed both McKinley's assassination, and the hanging of 3 Molly Maguires in Columbia county.

 Recalls When She Fed Three Condemned Men
 Woman Also Stood Ready To Shake Hands with McKinley At Assassination 
From The Bloomsburg Morning Press, February 22 1940
[this story was ran many different years, beginning as early as 1936]

Miss Mary Faux, now eighty-three, and a resident of Light Street, is one of the few still living who witnessed the execution of the Molly Maguires March 25, 1878.

 It was an experience she will never forget although she places it second to one at Buffalo, N. Y., where President William McKinley was assassinated at the Pan-American Exposition as Miss Faux stood not four feet away and was next in line to shake his hand. 

An illustration of the Murder Of Alexander Rae, the crime  which Hester, Tulley, and McHugh were executed for.

In the days of the Mollies Miss Faux, then a girl of twenty-one, was employed to assist the wife of the sheriff, Mrs. J. W. Hoffman and on the day of the execution of Pat Hester, Tulley and McHugh she, Mrs. Hoffman and three other women whose names Miss Faux no longer recalls stood in the cells the Mollies had occupied but a short time before and from a window watched the executions. 

The women were not more than twenty feet from where the three condemned stood on the scaffold.

The Noose used to hang Hester

 No one ever knew just who was the executioner. "Three men, each blindfolded, grabbed for one of the three ropes and pulled. They nor any one else ever knew who pulled the ropes that took lives of the Mollies.

 "I was afraid to remain at the jail after that. I left the next day. Soon afterward the present jail was opened and I was there for a time helping Mrs. Hoffman clean house, but I was never regularly employed after the execution

County Jail, Bloomsburg Pa  - Built in 1878, this was the "new jail" referred to by Miss Faux.
It would not have been where the Mollies were kept.

 Wanted Hanging Delayed

 "I can see Pat Hester yet walking into the jail yard, the crucifix in one hand and his felt hat in the other. When he got on the scaffold he bowed to those in the jail yard.

 "He declared even then that the hemp hadn't been grown yet that would hang him.' He was confident a reprieve would come and wanted the execution delayed twenty minutes. Tully held up pretty well and so did McHugh.

"They came to the jail in February, 1877, and were held there for over a year. I used to carry their meals to the iron gate where one of the coal and iron police, assigned to guard them, would take the food and give it to  the prisoners.

 "I remember one time: I got mad at Hester and told him that when the time came for his execution I would be glad of it. 

the Hood Worn By Hester
As Modeled for a 1940 newspaper

"They were first sentenced to be hanged in September, 1877, but an appeal to a higher court delayed the time. When they read the death warrant to McHugh and ended with 'and he is to be hanged by the neck until he is dead,' McHugh cried out "for God's sake, is that all.'

The Courthouse where 3 Molly Maguires were tried in Columbia County
The Columbia County Historical Society has the chairs the jurors used in that trial.

 No Turkey for Hester

 For the Thanksgiving that Hester was in jail, then located at  the site of the present high school play ground, Mrs. Hester brought him a large roasted turkey. Sheriff Hoffman, fearing it might be poisoned or contain something the prisoner should not have, refused to allow him to eat it. 

Mrs. Hester, Miss Faux recalled, "was a nice looking woman with black hair and eyes. Pat's hair and, eyes were also black but each one their three daughters had blue eyes and red hair. Mrs. and the girls used "to Visit Pat but they were never Hester, allowed to touch him.  All the girls I believe, were school teachers. One of them was married and her husband had been executed the June preceding the date when her father was hanged.


 "Tully had married a widow. She came to see him at times but I never saw the stepchildren there. I cannot recall of any one ever coming to see McHugh.

Display shared at the Sullivan County History Buffs Presentation , March 2025

Kelly Threatened Her Life 

"Kelly the Bum, you remember he turned state's evidence to save himself, was a trusty around the jail. One day Sheriff and Mrs. Hoffman were away and they left me money to purchase some beef to cook for the guards.

 "I gave Kelly the money and told him to go buy the beef. He didn't come back for some time and I sent one of the guards for him and he located Kelly at Stoner's Hotel, that was where Moyer Brothers drug store now stands." 

"Kelly was drunk. He denied he had ever been given any money to purchase the meat. When I insisted he had he got out a knife, declared he would cut my throat and chased me around the jail yard. I ran into the room used by the police and they got the knife away from him. I told the sheriff that if he ever let Kelly loose again I would leave."

 There were only four cells in the old jail. Three to four prisoners would be kept in one cell when that was necessary. The three Mollies were kept together. 

Three times a day a loaf of bread would be sent to their cell. Each prisoner would get a cup of molasses.  In the morning they would get coffee and in the evening tea.  No sugar or milk was provided.  Sometimes the prisoners would get soup at noon, but not often.  The usually meal was bread and molasses. 

"Kelly the Bum was releases either immediately after the  or the hanging or the next day.  I don't remember which.  I do remember that he often cried and said he had no place to go.

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See more photos of the McKinley Funeral Train as it passed through the Susquehanna Valley

An earlier article, in 1936,  gives Miss Faux's  account of viewing the McKinley assassination:

"... Miss Faux thinks that by far the greater is that odd chain of events which placed her, within four feet of President McKinley when he shot. 

She can tell many interesting stories about Pat Hester, Tulley and McHugh but there is neither the spark in her eye nor the eagerness in speech as when she is telling of that cowardly attack upon the President almost thirty-five years ago. 

"I was no farther away from him than that fellow," indicating a Morning Press photographer four feet away, "when President McKinley was shot. It was September 6th, 1901. I was with a Mrs. Walp from Shickshinny, whom I had met on the grounds.

 "The President stood just outside of the Temple of Music. There were many behind us who also wished to greet him. He was bending over talking to a pretty little girl. Then the assassin stepped forward, extended his left hand which was covered by a handkerchief and fired the shot which mortally wounded the President.

"He fell back into the arms of a man and a colored man, a big one, grabbed the assassin.  If he had not l am sure that the police on the ground would have killed him immediately. I can tell you though he wasn't very carefully handled. I shall never forget that."

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Mary Catherine Faux was born in Luzerne county on  June 25th 1857, the daughter of Jacob and Lydia Jane [Smith] Faux.  The family moved to Columbia County Pa when Mary Catherine was just 3 years old. Mary remained in Columbia County for the rest of her life, buried in the lightstreet cemetery in 1942.

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MOLLIE MAGUIRES HANGED.
The New York Times,  March 26, 1878

THREE OF THEM DIE TOGETHER.

HESTER, M'HUGH, AND TULLY SUFFER THE PENALTY OF THE LAW AT BLOOMSBURG – A GREAT CROWD PRESENT- THE LAST HOURS OF THE DOOMED MEN – THE TRAGEDY QUICKLY ACCOMPLISHED – TULLY'S CONFESSION – A BOY KILLED BY THE FALLING OF A SHED NEAR THE GALLOWS.

Special Dispatch to the New-York Times.

            Bloomsburg, March 21. – Three of the Mollie Maguires who murdered Mining Superintendent Rea for his money, nearly 10 years ago, were hanged at this place to-day.  They were Patrick Hester, Peter McHugh, and Patrick Tully, all Irish Catholics, all middle-aged men, and all richly deserving of the halters that encircled their necks this morning.

            The day was made a holiday in all the country round.  The morning trains running into Bloomsburg were filled with crowds of laughing, joking countrymen, such as may be seen about the Fourth of July times.  The bar-rooms of the town were like bee-hives, and whisky ran freely from every faucet.  It was many times said that every male citizen of Columbia County was here, but this was an exaggeration, for several were sick in bed, and couldn't come.  There arrived before 9 o'clock this morning, in steam cars, stages, and every kind of farm vehicle known in Pennsylvania, not less than 3,000 persons, and the town looked like Long Branch on a race-day.  The main street was lined on both sides with wagons and carriages, and the sidewalks were almost impassable.

            The walled yard back of the jail is very small, not more than 40 feet square, and Sheriff Hoffman was compelled to limit the number of spectators.  He had about 200 tickets printed, and the blanks were filled up by one of the County Commissioners in a dusky vault beneath the Court-house.  The doors of this subterranean room were besieged by hundreds of persons, all anxious to see the death of the Mollies.  There were not less than 500 applications for admission tickets, and 300 had to be refused.  Every man whose uncle was a second cousin to the Sheriff's step-brother by marriage was on hand early for a pass, and every rural politician in the county was offended if he was refused one.

            No one was admitted to the cells of the condemned men this morning except their immediate relatives.  They very wisely declined to say anything to reporters, and spent much of the time between day-light and death in devotional exercises.  At 6:30 o'clock a mass was begun in McHugh's cell, on the lower floor of the prison, the officiating clergymen being Fathers Koch, of Shamokin, and Schlutter, of Danville.  There were present, besides the priests, the three condemned men, Hester's wife, three daughters, and two sons-in-laws, a nephew of McHugh, and several of the Coal and Iron Police.  The mass lasted from 6:30 to 8:30, and then each of the prisoners went to his cell and ate a light lunch.  After this they were all shaved.  At 10 o'clock Hester's wife and daughters bade him a last good-bye, and Tully and McHugh shook hands with their friends for the last time.

            Ten o'clock was the hour fixed for the admission of spectators to the jail yard.  About 30 of the Reading Railroad Company's Coal and Iron Police were stationed around the outside of the jail, to preserve order.  It had been intended to have a military company, but yesterday the Sheriff decided that it would be injudicious, and the Militiamen who attended were indignant at not being allowed to keep at bay a dangerous crowd of about 200 boys that sat on the neighboring fences.  The jail is a very old building, and was once a dwelling-house.  It will fall down in a few years, but not before the handsome new prison building here is completed.  It is reached by a long and narrow lane leading from the main street, and is surrounded by rickety and unsightly sheds.  The lane, in the upper part, was packed with ticket-holders early in the day, and the roofs of the sheds were black with boys and loungers.  The spectators were permitted to crowd their way in, promptly at 10 o'clock.  Nine-tenths of them were elderly farmers who helped elect the Democratic Sheriff, and must have a pass at all hazards.  They thirsted for gore, and what they couldn't get out of the gallows they drew from brown bottles.  After they had crowded through the low, narrow corridor of the Columbia Country Jail, they reached the jail yard, which is surrounded by a yellow stone wall about 30 feet high, and for the first time, saw the gallows. 

            This gallows is a sort of family machine.  It was built by Carbon County, and strangled several Mollie Maguires there.  It is to go back to Mauch Chunk to-morrow to hang Thomas Fisher on Thursday.  It is made to come to pieces, and goes galloping about the country dropping off Mollies wherever it strikes.  It was sent over here on Friday, and was stored in the jail cellar.  On Saturday the ropes and straps came, and then the machine was put up in the middle of the jail-yard, every petty prisoner in the jail being transferred to the town lock-up, while the carpenters were working at it.  It is a new style of scaffold, cross beams run in every direction at the top, and the two trap-doors are held in place till the proper moment by a combination lever.  It is large enough to hang five men at a time, not comfortably perhaps, but thoroughly, and it resembles nothing so much as an old fashioned hay-press.  It is built entirely of oak, very solid, and does its work well, having a fall of between four and five feet.

            With about 200 persons inside the jail-yard, and several hundred more on the outside making a great deal of noise, the prisoners were brought out to die.  They had all partaken of the Catholic communion.  Each was preceded by a priest, and each carried a crucifix, holding it in both hands.

            Peter McHugh, the smallest of the three prisoners, was the first.  He was accompanied by Rev. Father Koch, of Shamokin, who several years ago was instrumental in having Hester sent to prison for making a disturbance at a funeral.  McHugh was dressed in a shabby suit of black, and looked careworn and anxious.  He showed no signs of weakness, however, and carried his large wooden crucifix firmly in both hands.

            Patrick Hester, the largest and the most intelligent looking of the men was the next.  He was accompanied by Rev. Father McGovern.  He wore a handsome black suit, and was better dressed in general, than either of his companions.  The small white plaster crucifix in his hands he carried steadily, and walked up the gallows steps as if he had no concern as to his fate.

            Patrick Tully was the last to mount the scaffold.  He wore a blue coat and vest, and a pair of jeans pantaloons, and carried a large bronze crucifix.  He was also a large man, but smaller than Hester.  Rev. Father Schlutter, of Danville, walked by his side.  All of the priests were dressed in long black robes, partially concealed by light white garments reaching below the waist.

            As the doomed men stood for a moment on the platform listening to the last words of the priests, Tully began to tremble slightly, but he soon recovered his self-possession.  The men were not pinioned in any way, and Hester reached up with his right hand and coolly rested part of his weight upon one of the upper beams of the gallows.  As they raised their heads to listen to the priests, it was first noticeable that none of them wore collars. 

            They looked fit subjects for the gallows.  Every one of them was a brutal and dangerous looking man.  Hester, very large and powerful, was more refined in feature than either of the others, but he looked like a man to be avoided on a dark night.  The expression on his face was solemn and troubled, but he bore up very bravely.  His fat face was marked in many places with large blue scars- - a wound with a piece of fresh coal invariably leaving a blue mark.  His forehead, particularly, was spotted with blue.  He looked much too large and heavy for the slender rope that dangled be the side of his head.  Tully at the last looked stolid and indifferent.  His face was devoid of expression.  McHugh looked a little frightened, but stood up firm and brave.

            Each of the prisoners bade good-bye to all the priests who handed them the crucifixes for a last kiss.  Then McHugh made a speech of about a minute's length, in a voice so low that even the Sheriff, who stood on the platform within a foot of the speaker, could not hear him, and his voice was utterly inaudible off the platform.  Hester followed him with a few words in an equally low voice, declaring his innocence.  Then Tully, also in a very low voice, said a few words on religion, and then shook hands with the Sheriff.  Two Deputy Sheriffs handcuffed the prisoners' hands behind them, and put two heavy black straps around their legs, one above, and the other below the knees.  While the deputies were at this work, the faces of several women were seen peering eagerly out of one of the lower windows of the jail, and they retained this eligible position throughout the scene that made many hardy men shrink back in dismay.

            Another deputy pulled a great white bag over the head of each prisoner, the ropes having been adjusted.  Hester and Tully stood upon the eastern trap door, and McHugh, alone upon the western.  The scaffold was quickly cleared, and before anybody was expecting it there was a crash.  The platform fell, and the three men were dangling in the air.  Not one of them was instantly killed.  Not one of their necks was broken, but all died by strangulation, and at very nearly the same time, in from 11 to 12 minutes after the falling of the drop.  The exact time was in doubt for, three doctors being the time keepers, there were of course three opinions on the subject.  Tully and McHugh died without a struggle, hanging limp and lifeless.  Hester did not struggle, but breathed very hard for some minutes, his huge breast expanding many inches, and his shoulders bending toward each other at the back, wrinkling his close fitting coat.

            The crash of the falling platform was distinctly heard outside the jail-yard, and the crowd beyond the walls sent up a howl, that lasted throughout the dying moments of the prisoners.  But the triple tragedy inside was soon to be followed by a violent death outside the jail walls.  More than 50 persons had climbed to the roof of a large coal and wood shed, on the eastern side of the yard wall.  The roof was not nearly high enough to enable them to see over the wall, but it brought them a little nearer the gallows, and it had its attractions.  While the doctors were counting the pulse-beats of the rapidly-dying men, this shed have way with a crash, and the crash was followed by a prolonged yell from the crowd.  Of the many men and boys on the roof all escaped without serious injury, except a little fellow named Harry Williamson who was so badly injured that he died a few minutes afterward.

            It was 11:07 when the drop fell.  The rope around Hester's neck kept its position, the knot being behind the left ear, but on both Tully and McHugh the knot slipped to the back of the neck.  The undertaker brought in three coffins, and at about 11:30 McHugh was cut down and carried to his coffin.  Tully was taken down next, and Hester last, his great weight making it necessary to carry the coffin directly under the rope.  The thing but strong cord, about half an inch thick, left a livid mark and a deep indentation on all their throats.  When the taking down of the bodies was begun the crowd in the jail-yard pressed up closely around the scaffold, hardly leaving the undertaker's men room to do their work.  When all was over a side door in the yard was opened and the public were admitted to see the scaffold and the bodies.  Not less than 1,000 persons availed themselves of the opportunity.  McHugh's and Hester's coffins were at once taken to the railroad depot for transportation to Kingston, thence to Wilkes-barre, the hearse being followed by several hundred persons.  A great crowd met the bodies, soon afterward, at the Kingston depot.

            Last Tuesday night, after the prisoners had abandoned all hope, Patrick Tully gave the following confession to George E. Elwell, on of his counsel, stipulating that it should not be given to the public until after his death:

            "I was born in Ireland on Dec. 17, 1830.  County of Cavan, Parish of Drughn.  I emigrated to Scotland in 1854, and came to this country in 1863.  I lived in Reading a while, and in Glen Carbon, Schuylkill County.  I went to Centralia in this county in the Fall of 1865.  I moved about a good bit, and there are a good many things that I do not care to say anything about.  I know there are many people who will believe what I am going to say is true, and there are others who will say it is false; but I am done with this world now, and have to answer only to the Almighty, and I will tell nothing but the truth.  Concerning this crime, I can't say that I am innocent.  I cannot say that any of the party is innocent.  You can make Patrick Hester innocent if you like, but he was there.  He was there all the night at Tom Donohue's saloon, and he gave his pistol to Kelley, and he was at the toll-gate that morning.  Kelly swore to some lies about the circumstances of the Rea murder, but most that he said was true.  Neither Hester nor McHugh told me to do the deed.  What I did was done of my own accord.  But Hester was Bodymaster, and McHugh was County Delegate, and if they had said the thing shouldn't be done they could have stopped it.  It was not so much the Ancient Order of Hibernians, as it was whisky that me into it.  If I had followed my early teachings I never would have got into this trouble.  When the trial first began I would have pleaded guilty, but I had no lawyer, and no money to pay one, and I didn't know what to do, so I pleaded not guilty, as the others did, when I knew it was a lie.  I would have made a statement long ago, but I was with the other two, and had no chance.  I never had a chance to talk to you alone or I would have told you this before; but I couldn't do it in the cell with the other two.  On the trial some of the witnesses against us swore false, but most of what Kelly said was true.  He could have sworn to a good deal more, but I guess he didn't mind it at the time.  I do say that Tom Donohue is innocent of this crime.  He knew nothing about it.  Most of the evidence for our defense was false, and many of the witnesses were paid for their evidence. *  *  *  I knew of a man who would swear that I sat up with him when he had a broken leg the night before Rea was murdered.  But when you asked me during the trial whether I had any witnesses, I would not tell you of this man because I knew it was two nights before the murder that I sat up with him, and I was not going to bring him here to swear to a lie, even to save my neck.  I do not make this statement out of spite toward any one, or to injure any one's memory, but simply because I truly repent of my crime, and will not die with a lie on my lips.  This statement is given by me, of my own accord to George E. Elwell, one of my counsel, and written down by him at my request this 19th day of March, 1878, to be published after my death.

                                                                                    PATRICK TULLY.

            In the place indicated by stars is a place indicating several other persons in the Rea murder, and this part of the confession is to be kept private for some time, in the hope that the guilty men may be arrested.

            After the hanging, there was a scramble in the jail yard for pieces of the rope with which the men were strangle, and when the demand began to exceed the supply in large ratio the plaiting was opened and only pieces of single strand were given.  Many Columbia County homes are happy tonight over the possession of these precious relics.

            The scaffold was taken down immediately after the hanging and will be sent back to Mauch Chunk tomorrow.  Thomas Fisher is to be hanged on it there Thursday.
========================


Into Eternity.
THREE MOLLIES SWUNG FROM THE GALLOWS.
Execution of Hester, Tully and McHugh in Bloomsburg.
The Williamsport Sun and Lycoming Democrat, March 27th 1878 

            Bloomsburg March 25—

            Hester, Tully and McHugh, the three Molly Maguires convicted of the murder of Alexander Rea, were executed in the prison yard at seven minutes after 11 o'clock this morning.  Neither of the men made a public confession.

THE GALLOWS.

            The gallows used for the occasion was brought from Mauch Chunk, where it had previously done service in the execution of the Mollies at that place last summer.  It was erected in the prison yard in full view from the windows of the cells of the condemned men.

WHO THEY WERE.

            Hester leaves a wife and four daughters, two unmarried, with absolutely no provision for their future.  He was possessed of some property at the time of his arrest, but it has been so covered with liabilities for counsel fees and the printing of the evidence in his case that it has been swallowed up.  Nominally he leaves a house in Mount Carmel, where used to be tax collector, supervisor and school director, and another in Locust Gap, where he formerly kept a hotel.  He was 53 years old, was born in Roscommon, Ireland, and came to this country in 1848.  He weighs 220 pounds.  Last night all his daughters were with him, weeping and bewailing his fate, but he remained calm.  To-day his wife and youngest daughter have been in his cell much of the time, and when they departed they seemed overwhelmed with grief.  He averred his innocence to the last.

            Pat Tully was born in the county Cavan, Ireland, is 47 years old, and came to this country in 1863.  He married a widow name M'Cullough who had five children, and she says he was "a good man" to her and "loved the children like they was his own."  His little step son, four years old, slept with him on Saturday night, and his parting with him to-day was very affecting.

            Peter McHugh was a native of Donegal, Ireland.  He was single and his only near relation in this country was a brother who is in Texas.  A cousin here paid him occasional visits.

ON THE SCAFFOLD.

            The condemned men were attended to the scaffold by Fathers Schlutter, McGovern and Koch.  The later is the Shamokin priest who sent Hester to the penitentiary five years ago.  He attended by special request of the Hesters.  It is said that three years ago he told Hester that he had better confess his crimes, make his peace with God, and then be hanged before he sinned any more.

            After the execution the bodies of McHugh and Tully were taken to Wilkesbarre for interment, and that of Hester to Locust Gap, where it will be waked to-night, after which it will probable be buried at Shamokin.

THE TOWN.

            Bloomsburg is crowded with people from a distance, many hundreds being miners, but owing to the excellent precautionary measures of the authorities good order prevailed throughout.

THE STORY OF THE MURDER.

            [Alexander Rea, a mining superintendent, was a peaceable and inoffensive man, but naturally fearless, for in the pursuance of his duty in a lawless region he was never armed.  He had a wife and six children, and was considered an estimable gentleman.  About 9:30 o'clock on the morning of October 17, 1868, Mr. Rea was riding in his buggy in the highway in Conyngham township, Columbia county, in the direction of the Coal Ridge Improvement Company's colliery, and when near a roadside spring where had been erected a rude watering trough, he was fired upon and killed.  The excitement ran high.  Pat. Hester, Pat. Tully, and Peter McHugh were arrested, with others for the murder.  Finally the 9th of August last was to have seen their swinging off, but the inevitable writ of error came in the way, and hanging day was put off until to-day.]
           





Friday, March 14, 2025

The 1865 Flood In Williamsport, Pennsylvania

 
March 17th, 1865

The "West Branch Bulletin" gives very full  particulars of the flood Williamsport:

It says "as the clear morning light of Friday  appeared, there was one vast expanse of water in the upper part of town, extending from the Canal and, in some places from Third street, to the South Bank of the river.

 The waters were irresistible, and came down one seething, foaming, rushing tide, higher higher with every hour.


 Three spans the Williamsport (wagon) bridge were swept away about 6 o'clock in the morning,  and as it was swept down the rapid current span of the railroad bridge went with it.

The flood broke over all temporary embankments, the canal was full, and Pine street below Third was a scene of wild confusion, the waters came rushing through to Black Horse alley." 

The editor of the "Bulletin" gives the following picture as seen from the cupola of the West Branch Foundry:

"Logs, it seemed countless in numbers, were flowing down with the rapid current. A barn, all "right side up," is seen among them, which strikes, the remaining span of the bridge on the Williamsport side, and away they float, leaving nothing but the bare abutments standing. The remains lodged in the lower part of the town, and were left "high and dry" after the waters had abated. 

Here comes a house with chimney' standing. It has, evidently, come from "up the river," and looks, in its erect position, as if the family might be comfortably "keeping house"' and cooking as they traveled. All at once comes a crash. It has struck the Railroad bridge and becomes wreck. Chairs, tables, beds, bedsteads, clothing, and all the treasured articles of household use are revealed and soon swallowed up in the whirlpool which swallows everything in its way.


 A barn comes next. As it tilts over and the roof comes off, out springs ten or a dozen chickens to take their chances in the "wild waste of waters." Thus it is all day: Houses, barns, logs, log houses and barns, huge trees, wrecks of bridges, parts of mills, huge piles of lumber, just as they had been piled at the mill, floating along as if made for that very purpose, until some impediment meets them and they scatter, broadcast in the flood.

The water at its highest was twenty-eight feet two inches above low water, being four feet one inch above the flood of 1847.

 It is estimated that fully nine tenths of Williamsport was flooded, so as to fill the cellars, and a large portion had water on the first floor. The injury to the saw mills has been very great, and immense amounts of timber and lumber have been lost.

 Some idea of the loss, from the interruption of business, may be formed, by the fact that it is estimated that 60,000,000 feet less lumber will be manufactured at Williamsport this season than heretofore. 

The canal has suffered severely. The aqueduct at the mouth of Lycoming Creek is racked and tilted over, and the abutments much damaged by floating timber. Above the aqueduct no vestige of a canal is visible -both tow-path and heel-path having been swept away. It will take a long time to repair the damages.


 We have received no exchanges from Lock Haven since the flood, but a correspondent of the "New York Tribune" gives a sad account of the ravages of the flood at that place. Among other things he Horses, cows and hogs could be seen swimming for life or floating dead through the streets.


Side-walks, fences, trees, logs, timber, icebergs, and drift of, every description, covered the streets and gardens. It is difficult to estimate in money, the damage done to the town itself--probably $20,000 will cover the loss; but to the lumbermen who live in it, and to the business dependent upon them, it must be counted by hundreds of thousands.


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"Williamsport wire bridge, half gone ; toll bridge, all gone; railroad bridge, five spans gone and balance badly injured.  The principal part of Williamsport was flooded as far back as the railroad, and boats were used in the street in front of the Court House. " - The Lewisburg Chronicle




Notes on the former floods on the Susquehanna
West Branch Bulletin
April 15th 1865