 Montandon, Pennyslvania Sometimes referred to as "East Lewisburg", and one time named Cameronia "Between the years 1828 and 1834 the ground upon which the town stands was used for a race course by the Foresman brothers, who were great horsemen. Horses were brought from adjoining counties, and the inhabitants from far and near would congregate at this place to witness the races" - Bell's History Of Northubmerland County . =========== Headlines & Stories ============== When A Duel Was Fought In Montandon - The Binns & Stewart Duel of 1805 ============ Photos & Assorted Historical Notes ================= |
A View Of Main Street, Montandon Pa
"The ground upon which this village stands was first owned by an English pioneer, Foresman by name; the first house in the immediate vicinity was erected in 1825 at the place where the road leading from
Lewisburg to Danville is crossed by that from Milton to Sunbury, by Benjamin Foresman, a grandson of the first settler. This structure is still standing, just without the limits of the town plat, and is
occupied by Hugh Martin, one of the oldest citizens of the place. It was in this house that the first hotel was established by Joseph Foresman in 1832 and continued by him until 1855; it was known as
"Foresman's Hotel" or "The Sodom Tavern" The house was kept open for the accommodation of the public until the property was purchased by Mr. Martin. " -Bell
"In 1840, Peter Waldron, a blacksmith from Lancaster County, located a short distance to the south of the Foresman building on the Sunbury and Milton road. The next improvement was a shoemaker shop, which was established by a Mr. Colby in 1848. The first justice of the peace in the community was Thomas Pardee, who filled that office for many years. " - Bell
Churchville - The Town That The Canal Didn't Build
The above plans were for the town that is now Montandon, but it never materialized
"The first effort to establish a town was made by Francis and Jeremiah Church about the time the Pennsylvania canal was completed. The plan, which is on record in the county archives at Sunbury, exhibits a town plat between the canal and river, south of the Lewisburg crosscut, with Front street, Cherry alley, Jackson street, Montgomery, Church, Sarah's, Locust, and Dusty alleys and Wilson street parallel with the canal and river, intersected by Market and Green streets. The width of market is given as seventy-five feet, of Front and Jackson as sixty feet, and of Green, fifty-five feet. One hundred sixty lots are represented as having been laid out. This effort to establish a town no doubt indicated considerable enterprise on the part of the projectors, but the place failed to materialize. owing in all probability to the fact that the country was not so thickly settled at that time as to require an
intermediate trading point between Milton and Northumberland. " - Bell
The West Branch of the Canal Ran from Sunbury to Lock Haven
See more about the canal here:
Additionally, Lewisburg had a "cross cut" canal built, to connect to the West Branch Canal. The Cross cut crossed from Lewisburg to Montandon.
Lewisburg Junction - The Railroad Stop That Became The Town Of Montandon
"Upon the completion of the Philadelphia and Erie and the Lewisburg and Tyrone railroads the attempt to found a town was repeated under more favorable auspices. Up to this time the country was a farming district exclusively, with no other industries than the blacksmith and shoemaker
shops mentioned in connection with the early settlement. In l861 P. Hackenberg bought of Cameron & Wall a lot lying to the east of the railroad and south of the Lewisburg and Danville road, upon which he
erected a house and established therein the first store of the place in connection with the hotel business. In the same year, through the influence of Mr. Hackenberg, the first post office of the town was established with himself as postmaster. It was named Cameronia in honor of the Cameron family. " - Bell
When President McKinley's Funeral Train Passed Through
When the Liberty Bell Passed Through
When The King & Queen Of England Passed Through
1875 Map Of Montandon Pa
From the 1875 Map of Northumberland County Pa
"At this time the north side of the Lewisburg and Danville road belonged to the John Caul estate, and that to the south to Edward and Benjamin Hummel. In 1865 Lewis O. Hunner purchased a portion of the John Caul estate lying on tire east side of the Philadelphia and Erie railroad. In the same year the land belonging to Edward and Benjamin Hummel was purchased by John A. J. and Robert M. Cummings. Under the joint auspices of Messrs. Cummings and Hunner a town plat was surveyed
in March, 1866, by David Rockefeller. The streets running east and west beginning at the northern extremity of the plat are Center, Main, the Lewisburg and Danville road, Cummings, and Chillisquaque. Those intersecting these and running north and south are Railroad and Northumberland, Railroad being the farther west. " - Bell
When Montandon Had A Hotel That May have been A Speakeasy
One of the first buildings in Montandon
"There were two houses here at that time. The first, built by Edward and Benjamin Hummel for use as a farm house, was purchased by John A. J. and Robert M. Cummings with the land they bought in 1865, and stands in relation to the above mentioned plan on the south side of Main near Railroad street. The second house erected is the hotel built by P. Hackenberg in 1861 on the southeast corner of Main and Railroad streets. In 1865 this building came into the possession of C. E. Hartman, who extended it to its present size and continued the hotel business for some time. This house has been used for the accommodation of the public since 1861, and is the only hotel in the town. The first house built
after the survey of the town plat was that erected by Dr. N. C. Purdy, on the north side of Main street
mid-way between Railroad and Northumberland streets. " - Bell
The Montandon Post Office & General Store, 1948
Inside the General Store In Montandon Pa
Owing to the inconvenience caused by mail and express matter addressed to Cameronia going to Cameron county, the postoffice designation was changed to Montandon in 1867 through the influence of John A. J. and Robert M. Cummings, the name being suggested by the former. Circumstances have not favored the rapid expansion of the town, but by gradual growth it has attained a population of three hundred fifty, with three stores, one hotel, two churches, and shops of the various mechanics. " - Bell's History Of Northumberland County, Published in 1891
Most of us think of Brady, a revolutionary war veteran killed by Indians, as a Muncy resident, but he lived in this location "outside of Milton" longer than any other residence in his lifetime. A Delaware Indian Chief gave the invocation in his native language, at the dedication of this monument in September 1928. Read More about the John Brady Monument here:
https://susquehannavalley.blogspot.com/2019/06/the-john-brady-monument-in-montandon-pa.html
Built around 1815, the Sodom Schoolhouse, sometimes called the Octagonal Schoolhouse, was constructed by Scotch-Irish settlers and precedes the Pennsylvania's Common School Act of 1834.
Read More about it here:
The Montandon Speedway
1913 Sandborn Fire Map
(Found on the Lewisburg Map)
Shows the D.M. Nesbitt Box Co
==========
More Stories & History From Local Towns
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READ MORE
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READ MORE
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S.G. Frey & Company, Montanron PA
Listed on Ebay as a photo of a "park near Montandon"
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Bell's History Of Northumberland County
CHAPTER XXVI.
CHILLISQUAQUE TOWNSHIP.
AREA AND TOPOGRAPHY - ERECTION AND SUBDIVISION - PIONEER INDUSTRIES -
POTTSGROVE - MONTANDON - SODOM - CHILLISQUAQUE - SCHOOLS - CHURCHES.
Bell's History Of Northumberland County
CHAPTER XXVI.
CHILLISQUAQUE TOWNSHIP.
AREA AND TOPOGRAPHY - ERECTION AND SUBDIVISION - PIONEER INDUSTRIES -
POTTSGROVE - MONTANDON - SODOM - CHILLISQUAQUE - SCHOOLS - CHURCHES.
========================
CHILLISQUAQUE creek drains nearly the whole of that part of Northumberland county situated between Montour ridge and Limestone
ridge, with a general southwesterly course from the Montour county line
to its junction with the West Branch. This region, one of the most
fertile and populous agricultural districts in the county, forms the
township of Chillisquaque; it is traversed by the Philadelphia and Erie
and Catawissa railroads, and has several villages of importance in
addition to its advantages as a farming section.
The present area of Chillisquaque township was originally embraced
in Turbut, erected, April 9, 1772. At February sessions, 1775, Mahoning
was formed from the southern part of Turbut, with Chillisquaque creek as
a mutual boundary. Point was erected from Mahoning at February term,
1786, thus leaving to the latter a narrow triangular territory; and at
the following May term the township of Chillisquaque was formed from the
contiguous portions of Mahoning and Turbut, with the following
boundaries.
Beginning at the corner of Point township on the top of Montour's
hill nearly opposite the nine- mile tree, and to extend from thence to
Joseph Wilson's on the north side of Chillisquaque creek, from thence to
the top of the Limestone ridge to the house occupied by Neal Davis on
Colonel Francis's land, from thence a straight course to the West Branch
of Susquehanna.
In 1813 this township was attached to Columbia county, of which it
formed a part until 1815; it was then reannexed to Northumberland, but
in the following year a considerable part of its territory was again
attached to Columbia and now forms part of Montour.
The following is a list of the taxable inhabitants of Chillisquaque
township in 1783, when it included Liberty township, Montour county, in
addition to its present area: John Alexander, William Anderson, William
Allen, Daniel Bates, John Blair, John Blair, Jr., Samuel Blair, Joseph
Biggars, David Carson, Johnston Cheney, Adam Clark, John Clark, James
Carscaddon, James Carscaddon, Jr., John Carscaddon, William Carscaddon,
Charles Cochran, James Cochran, John Cochran, Widow Campbell, John
Curry, John Cheney, James Dunlap, John Donaldson, James Davidson,
Thomas Davidson, James Donaldson, Andrew Davis, Benjamin Elliott, John
Funston, Jesse Funston, William Fisher, Robert Finney, John Gillespie,
Robert Giffin, Widow Gillespie, Paul Geddis, Hugh Gowan, John Galloway,
John Gray, John Hunter, William Haslet, Stephen Horn, Adam Hempleman,
Thomas Hewitt, Francis Huston, Thomas Hammer, John Hannah, Samuel
Harper, George Irwin, Samuel Irwin, Leonard Kelley, Neul McMullen,
Charles McCoy, William Mulligan, Richard Mayhew, William Murray, Patrick
McNinch, John Martin, George Morrison, John McMahan, John Murray, David
McCartney, John McMahan, James McMahan, Robert McWilliams, Hugh McBride,
Alexander Miller, James Murray, James Neal, Stephen Oliver, Samuel Oaks,
Thomas Palmer, Hance Potts, Thomas Rodgers, Martin Reece, James
Robinson, William Reed, David Reynolds, James Reynolds. Robert Reynolds,
Archibald Sweney, John Seely, David Scott, David Stedman, William
Stedman, James Stedman, Baltzer Stake, James Stadden, John Shaw, Thomas
Strawbridge, Jacob Shipman, Jacob Teeple, George Teeple, John Tate,
Isaac Wilson, Nathaniel Wilson, Joseph Wilson, John Wilson, Leonard
Wilkins, Joseph Wilson, Samuel Wynn, Benjamin Wynn, James Woodside,
David Wilkins.
John Alexander was assessed with one servant, to serve two years;
Alexander Miller, with one servant, to serve one year; and Thomas
Strawbridge, with one negro, who were the only property of that
description. The largest amount of property assessed to any one
individual was five hundred seventeen pounds, in the name of Thomas
Palmer; James Stedman followed, with four hundred twenty-seven pounds,
and Thomas Strawbridge with three hundred one.
John Brady was born in 1733, son of Hugh and Jane (Young) Brady,
who settled in the Cumberland valley near Shippensburg in 1750. His
military career began in the French and Indian war. On the 19th of
July, 1763, he was commissioned as captain in Colonel Clayton's
battalion of the Pennsylvania regiment, and served under Colonel Bouquet
in 1764. In 1768 he settled at Standing Stone (Huntingdon), but, having
obtained a tract of land on the West Branch opposite Lewisburg in
consideration of his military services, he removed thither in 1769, and
was thus one of the earliest as he was also one of the most prominent
pioneers of Northumberland county. In
August 1772, he was foreman of the first jury impanelled after the
organization of the county. On the 14th of October, 1776, he was
commissioned as captain in the Twelfth Pennsylvania regiment, with which
he served in the campaigns in New Jersey and Pennsylvania until the 1st
of July, 1778. when the Twelfth was incorporated with the Third. He was
then ordered home by General Washington to assist in the defense of the
West Branch valley; he had previously removed his family to Muncy and
fortified his house (which became a rendezvous for the inhabitants and
was known as Fort Brady), and was killed by the Indians while making a
reconnaissance in that vicinity, April 11, 1779. He married Mary
Quigley, and they were the parents of thirteen children: Samuel, whose
skill and success as a captain of rangers is celebrated in the annals of
border warfare; James, who died at Sunbury from wounds received in a
skirmish with the Indians; William; John, sheriff of Northumberland
county, 1794-97; Mary, who married Captain William Gray, of Sunbury;
William P., a pioneer and prominent citizen of Indiana county,
Pennsylvania; Hugh, major general in the United States Army; Jane;
Robert; Agnes; Hannah, who married Captain Robert Gray, of Sunbury;
Joseph, and Liberty, who married William Dewart, of Sunbury.
INDUSTRIES.
Three distilleries were returned by the assessment of 1758, owned,
respectively by William Allen, Jesse Funston, and Archibald Sweney, and
assessed at the uniform rate of three pounds. Thomas Strawbridge owned
a tan-yard, evidently of far greater importance than either of the
distilleries, as it is returned at twenty pounds. Thomas Palmer had a
grist and saw mill to which no valuation is attached, which omission is
sufficiently explained by the word "useless" inclosed in parentheses
after it by the assessor. This mill was probably situated on
Chillisquaque creek about half a mile from its mouth, where a ripple in
the stream marks the location of an old dam and the course of the mill-
race is still discernible. Palmer's mill is referred to in some of the
very early records of the county, and it was probably the first mill on
Chillisquaque creek.
Chillisquaque Mill's, on the south bank of Chillisquaque creek a
quarter of a mile from its mouth and about the same distance from the
line of Point township, were originally erected in 1791 by William
Wilson, whose partner for some years was John Boyd; the former
subsequently became associate judge of Northumberland county and the
latter register and recorder, while both were prominent in business and
political affairs. The building was constructed of stone, and stood
immediately in the rear of the present structure, after the erection of
which it was used as a plaster mill. The present mill is a five-story
frame building, equipped with roller process apparatus; the present
proprietor is A. F. Otlinger, and among his predecessors during the last
half-century have been Messrs. Andrews, Burger, Daniel and David
Heiser, Joseph and Norman Butler, Raser, and Vincent.
The Pottsgrove Steam Flour Mill was removed from Limestone run,
Turbut Township, and rebuilt at Pottsgrove by William Follmer, Michael
Rissel, and James Smith, and after being successfully operated for some
time, was destroyed by fire several years since.
D. M. Nesbit's Planing Mill, on the bank of the West Branch at the
crossing of the Lewisburg and Tyrone railroad, was established by
Dieffenderfer & Driesbach, and has been successfully operated by
Dieffenderfer & Candor, the East Lewisburg Manufacturing Company, and
the present proprietor. School furniture was manufactured to a
considerable extent at one time, but the product is now confined to
general planing mill work.
Dodge & Company's Steam Saw Mills at Chillisquaque were operated
quite extensively for a short time some years since, but the timber in
that locality having been exhausted, the plant was removed elsewhere.
Cold Spring Creamery, situated one mile south of Montandon near the
Philadelphia and Erie railroad, was built by C. F. Butler and opened on
the 14th of April, 1890. It is a three-story building twenty-four by
thirty-six feet with several projections and a basement, and is fitted
with machinery capable of making eight hundred pounds of butter per day.
In connection with the creamery Mr. Butler has a chopping mill, spoke
and handle factory, and a hydraulic cider press. The power is derived
from a twenty-five horse-power engine.
POTTSGROVE.
This village is situated four miles southeast of Milton, where the
road leading from Milton to Danville is crossed by that leading from
Northumberland to Washingtonville. It is also located near the
Catawissa branch of the Philadelphia and Reading railroad. Two
churches, a public school building, several stores, the shops of several
mechanics, and a population of about a hundred people constitute the
town at present. The land on which it stands was first owned by William
Reed, who came to this section during the Revolutionary war and erected
the first house in this locality, about a quarter of a mile south of
Pottsgrove on the Northumberland and Washingtonville road. He was the
first justice of the peace in this part of the county, having been
commissioned by Governor Mifflin.
The first house in the village was erected by James Reed, a son of
William Reed, in l784, with Alexander Reed as carpenter. In this house
James Reed established the first hotel in 18l8, known as "Travelers'
Inn." Here the first postoffice was also established, in 1821, with
James Reed as first postmaster. The old hotel building is still
standing, and is at present occupied by William Reed, a son of James
Reed, who is the oldest resident of this part of the county.
The first industry was a tannery, built near the present limit of
the village by a Mr. Shoemaker, who immigrated from Berks county in
1810. This tannery was in operation till some five years ago, when it was destroyed
by fire. In 1820 the first blacksmith shop was opened by David Perry,
who was for many years the "village blacksmith" of Pottsgrove. The
first weaver was Hans Potts, from whom the place derives its name.
The first store was established in 1832 by the firm of Sproll &
Park, who did business five years. when they dissolved partnership and
James Reed started a store in connection with his hotel and postoffice.
After his death the business of storekeeping was not conducted for some
years. In 1881 L. J. Beaver built the present store room on the
southwest corner of the crossroads, and established therein a general
mercantile trade. In 1880 B. M. Beaver established a coal and grain
market in connection with a steam grist mill, which business he
conducted for some time. His successor was a Mr. Blue, who did a
successful business until May, 1890, when the establishment burned and
operations ceased.
Pottsgrove Lodge, No. 623, I.O.O.F., was chartered on the 21st of
March, 1890
MONTANDON.
The ground upon which this village stands was first owned by an
English pioneer, Foresman by name; the first house in the immediate
vicinity was erected in 1825 at the place where the road leading from
Lewisburg to Danville is crossed by that from Milton to Sunbury, by
Benjamin Foresman, a grandson of the first settler. This structure is
still standing, just without the limits of the town plat, and is
occupied by Hugh Martin, one of the oldest citizens of the place. It
was in this house that the first hotel was established by Joseph
Foresman in 1832 and continued by him until 1855; it was known as
"Foresman's Hotel" or "The Sodom Tavern" The house was kept open for the
accommodation of the public until the property was purchased by Mr.
Martin.
Between the years 1828 and 1834 the ground upon which the town
stands was used for a race course by the Foresman brothers, who were
great horsemen. Horses were brought from adjoining counties, and the
inhabitants from far and near would congregate at this place to witness
the races.
In 1840, Peter Waldron, a blacksmith from Lancaster County, located
a short distance to the south of the Foresman building on the Sunbury
and Milton road. The next improvement was a shoemaker shop, which was
established by a Mr. Colby in 1848. The first justice of the peace in
the community was Thomas Pardee, who filled that office for many years.
The first effort to establish a town was made by Francis and
Jeremiah Church about the time the Pennsylvania canal was completed.
The plan, which is on record in the county archives at Sunbury, exhibits
a town plat between the canal and river, south of the Lewisburg
crosscut, with Front street, Cherry alley, Jackson street, Montgomery,
Church, Sarah's, Locust, and Dusty alleys and Wilson street parallel with the canal and river,
intersected by Market and Green streets. The width of market is given
as seventy-five feet, of Front and Jackson as sixty feet, and of Green,
fifty-five feet. One hundred sixty lots are represented as having been
laid out. This effort to establish a town no doubt indicated
considerable enterprise on the part of the projectors, but the place
failed to materialize. owing in all probability to the fact that the
country was not so thickly settled at that time as to require an
intermediate trading point between Milton and Northumberland.
Upon the completion of the Philadelphia and Erie and the Lewisburg
and Tyrone railroads the attempt to found a town was repeated under more
favorable auspices. Up to this time the country was a farming district
exclusively, with no other industries than the blacksmith and shoemaker
shops mentioned in connection with the early settlement. In l861 P.
Hackenberg bought of Cameron & Wall a lot lying to the east of the
railroad and south of the Lewisburg and Danville road, upon which he
erected a house and established therein the first store of the place in
connection with the hotel business. In the same year, through the
influence of Mr. Hackenberg, the first post office of the town was
established with himself as postmaster. It was named Cameronia in honor
of the Cameron family.
At this time the north side of the Lewisburg and Danville road
belonged to the John Caul estate, and that to the south to Edward and
Benjamin Hummel. In 1865 Lewis O. Hunner purchased a portion of the John
Caul estate lying on tire east side of the Philadelphia and Erie
railroad. In the same year the land belonging to Edward and Benjamin
Hummel was purchased by John A. J. and Robert M. Cummings. Under the
joint auspices of Messrs. Cummings and Hunner a town plat was surveyed
in March, 1866, by David Rockefeller. The streets running east and west
beginning at the northern extremity of the plat are Center, Main, the
Lewisburg and Danville road, Cummings, and Chillisquaque. Those
intersecting these and running north and south are Railroad and
Northumberland, Railroad being the farther west.
There were two houses here at that time. The first, built by
Edward and Benjamin Hummel for use as a farm house, was purchased by
John A. J. and Robert M. Cummings with the land they bought in 1865, and
stands in relation to the above mentioned plan on the south side of Main
near Railroad street. The second house erected is the hotel built by P.
Hackenberg in 1861 on the southeast corner of Main and Railroad streets.
In 1865 this building came into the possession of C. E. Hartman, who
extended it to its present size and continued the hotel business for
some time. This house has been used for the accommodation of the public
since 1861, and is the only hotel in the town. The first house built
after the survey of the town plat was that erected by Dr. N. C. Purdy, on the north side of Main street
mid-way between Railroad and Northumberland streets.
Owing to the inconvenience caused by mail and express matter
addressed to Cameronia going to Cameron county, the postoffice
designation was changed to Montandon in 1867 through the influence of
John A. J. and Robert M. Cummings, the name being suggested by the
former. Circumstances have not favored the rapid expansion of the town,
but by gradual growth it has attained a population of three hundred
fifty, with three stores, one hotel, two churches, and shops of the
various mechanics.
SODOM.
Sodom consists of a small group of houses situated one mile east of
Montandon where the Montandon and Lewisburg road is crossed by that
leading from Northumberland to Milton. The first person to locate here
was in all probability Lot Carson, from whom the place received its
name; he kept a hotel at the crossroads for the accommodation of the
stage coaches, and lost his life by falling into a well while under the
influence of liquor. A quaint old school house of peculiar shape is
situated in the vicinity; it was erected in 1814 as a place of worship.
CHILLISQUAQUE.
The post-village of this name is situated in the extreme
southwestern part of Chillisquaque township. At the earliest period in
its history it was a trading point on the old Northumberland and Milton
road; later it became a shipping point on the canal, and at the present
time, Otlinger's mill, the store of J. E. K. Schwenk, and the shops and
residences of various local mechanics constitute the village. Kapp's
station, on the Philadelphia and Erie railroad, is located in the
vicinity, and affords convenient access.
SCHOOLS.
The public school system was adopted in 1834, and has been
creditably sustained to the present time.
The Pottsgrove Academy was established in 1875 by a local stock
company; it has been successfully conducted, affording good facilities
for the pursuit of studies beyond the grade of the public school
curriculum.
CHURCHES.
Chillisquaque Presbyterian Church was organized about the year
1773. The burial ground, one of the oldest in central Pennsylvania, is
situated a mile and a half northeast of Pottsgrove in Montour county.
Three church buildings have been erected at that point. The first, a
wooden structure, was burned by the Indians during the Revolutionary
period. The second was likewise a log structure as originally built,
but in 1789-90 it was extensively altered and plastered within and given a pebble-dash without.
The present brick building was erected in 1853. The removal of the
place of worship to Pottsgrove was decided upon in 1889 and in 1889-91
the church edifice at that point, a two-story stone structure fifty
feet square, was built under the supervision of a committee composed of
Joseph K. Murray, William McMahan, Gilbert Voris, William Voris, and H.
M. Emerick, M. D. The pastoral succession has been as follows: Rev. John
Bryson, 1790-1840; Daniel M. Barber, 1840-59; Charles H. Park, 1859-75;
H. G. Finney. l875-87; J. O. George, 1887-89, and Abbott L. R. Waite,
the present incumbent, who was installed on the 27th of February, 1890.
Montandon Baptist Church.- The first meeting for the organization
of a Baptist congregation at this place was held in the house of Mrs.
McGinley some time during the year 1864. A Sunday school was organized
and held in the Philadelphia and Erie railroad depot for some time,
after which worship was successively conducted in the school house in a
small room above the brick store room now occupied by Connor & Company.
And in an old store room which stood along the railroad. The lot upon
which the church building stands was purchased October 17, 1868. Rev.
George J. Brensinger, a student at Lewisburg, was pastor at the time of
its erection in 1870. Previous to 1882 the congregation was a mission,
but during that year it was organized as a regular Baptist church, with
L. W. Frymire, J. H. Winghert, Abraham Fairchild, Peter H. Beaver, John
Garber, Edward Hummel, and Joseph Keyser as the first trustees. A
charter was obtained, December 23, 1885, and a deed for the church
property previously held by the Lewisburg Baptist church, was
transferred to the Montandon organization, March 23, 1886. The
following is a list of pastors who have served the congregation since
its organization in 1882: Reverends Thomas Howard, J. Watres, J. A.
Kouroldon, Mr. Bagshaw, Mr. Farlie, Mr. Hanson, J. Sagebeer, R. B.
McDaniel, and Mr. Fields.
Montandon Methodist Episcopal Church was organized in 1809 with
John Andrews as its first class leader. Among the first families
connected with the congregation were the Andrews, Cummings, Butlers,
Autens, Parks, Kingsburys, and Bakers. Until 1874 they worshipped in
private houses, in the school building, and in the Baptist church. In
1873 under the ministration of Rev. A. P. Wharton, the question of
erecting a church edifice was agitated. In 1874 the building was begun
with W. M. Auten, John A. J. Cummings, T. T. Baker, H. S. Park, and W.
H. Cool as building committee. The corner-stone was laid, June 20,
1874, and the building was dedicated on the 22d of November in the same
year. The following is a list of pastors who have served the
congregation in chronological order Rev. A. P. Wharton, 1873-76; John
Vrooman, 1876-78; H. F. Caves, 1878-79; B. H. Crever, 1879-81; A. E.
Taylor, 1881-83; D. H. Shields 1883-85; J. H. Mortimer, 1885-87; J. W.
Feight, 1887-90.
The Evangelical Association is represented by one organization in
Chillisquaque township, formed in December, 1871. A Methodist church
building at Sodom was purchased, rebuilt in the northwestern part of the
township, and dedicated in 1872 during the administration of Rev. A. H.
Irvin. Among his successors as pastor have been Reverends Henry B.
Hertzler, Adam W. Schenberger, S. P. Remer, Henry A. Stoke, J. A. Irvin,
and C. W. Finkbinder
Pottsgrove Evangelical Lutheran Church was formed in 1882 from a
membership formerly connected with the Center Lutheran church of Montour
county. The first council consisted of the following laymen: Jonathan
Rishel and M. Mull, elders; Isaiah C. Rishel, J. A. Kremer, S. Miller
Boyer, and D. W. Messersmith, deacons. The corner-stone of the church
edifice was laid on the 9th of October, 1881, Rev. J. A. Flickinger
officiating. It is a plain brick structure about forty-four by sixty
feet in dimensions, surmounted by a belfry, and is situated upon the
most commanding site in the village. The present pastor, Rev. G. E.
Faber, assumed charge, March 1, 1889, and was installed on the 14th of
July following, Reverends F. H. Leisenring and M. L. Shindel
officiating. The origin of the Sunday school was contemporaneous with
that of the church; J. B. Kremer was the first superintendent.
Chillisquaque Union Chapel, a frame building erected on land given
by Mrs. Charles S. Wolfe, was completed in 1890, and is the place of
worship for a flourishing union Sunday school conducted by theological
students from Bucknell University, Lewisburg. It is situated on the
road leading from Milton to Montandon.
END OF CHAPTER XXVI.
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