Local History Part 1

The holidays of early times were of church origin. They were Christmas, Good Friday, Easter, Ascension Day and Whitsunday and were kept as holy days. Three of those were followed by days of frolic or days of pleasure and recreation, namely Christmas, Easter Monday and Whitmonday and they were the seasons for games, for shooting matches, for military exercises, for visiting, for fishing and hunting. New Year's Day was kept as a day of frolic and well-wishing. The day was ushered in by the firing of all sorts and conditions of guns and flint locks. A small party began at midnight and went from farmhouse to farmhouse, greeting the occupants by reciting a German poem or two, in keeping in sentiment with the day which was followed by a volley of blank charges. This was followed by a luncheon hurriedly prepared by the housewife and usually consisted of sweets with hard cider of spirits when the men folk would join the party and be off to the next house.

Shrove Tuesday, though not kept as a holiday, was celebrated by ministering to the pleasures of the palate. This is the day preceding Lent and is known as "Fastnacht Kuche." The word is a corruption of "Fast Nacht" meaning "fasting night" because it is the eve of the Lenten season.

Good Friday week was usually expected to be cold and raw as a sign of divine displeasure. Maundy or Green Thursday was observed by eating something green as a salad, usually dandelion, to keep good health during the following year. Good Friday was observed as a holiday and if an opportunity offered, our good ancestors would attend church services.

Next in importance to the Christmas holidays, especially to the young, was Eastertide, since Easter, like Christmas, pandered to the inner man and brought eggs in abundance, as Christmas brings cakes and candies.

Associated with Easter was a mythical creature, a four-footed animal that laid eggs, the "Oashter Haas." The evening before Easter the children placed their hats and caps in corners, under chairs or table, as nests for the accommodation of the Easter Rabbit. Early at the dawn of Easter morning, all the hat owners inspected the nests of their placing, and in each found several or perhaps a half dozen eggs of colors such as hens never lay. The mysterious rabbit had been in the house during the night but no trace of him could be found in the morning. In the kitchen, however, the older children sometimes found a strange concoction of onion peelings or red wood or other dye stuff, in a crock or kettle which was discovered as the mixture in which the Easter eggs were boiled and colored.

Easter breakfast still consists of eggs -- fried, boiled, poached or concocted into an omelet -- the eggs used for the occasion being usually those gathered on Good Friday.

It was the practice then to gamble by one boy hitting the small end of an egg with that of another. The egg that was cracked was handed over to the one whose egg had the harder shell. The practice was called "picking for keep." Guinea hens' eggs were in great demand as having a hard shell.

On Ascension Day no work was done and sewing with a needle was especially interdicted, for to use a needle was to invite divine wrath in the shape of a thunder bolt. Pious housewives observed it as a day of rest, even if the menfolks did go fishing. Some thrifty housekeepers swept the entire house on this day to keep it free of moths and other creatures. Seven weeks after Easter comes Whitsuntide, called "Pingshta" and this was another of the days kept holy. On this day the maidens usually attended church with their new spring finery, while the church itself was decorated with flowers and communion services were and are generally held on this day. Whitmonday is given to worldly recreation and the yokels and young folks of the rural districts spent the day in "der shtadt" in sightseeing, pretzel eating, and peanut munching.

In the latter part of July comes a day named "abdon" pronounced in the vernacular it is "Obdoon" meaning "doing off" and hence it was chosen as the day for cutting down brush, briars, etc., since any growth cut out would die and be "offdone" or done for.

Christmas was regarded as the principal holiday of the year and it seemed to possess a joy peculiarly its own. The Christmas good cheer comprised family reunions with a big dinner. The children had their delights in Christmas cakes. They were cookies cut in the shape of birds, beasts and fishes. There were two kinds, a dark and a light, the darker kind containing molasses or honey as the sweetening ingredient and the lighter variety, white sugar. They were usually ornamented with white figures resembling all sorts of punctuation marks and other hieroglyphs. This was made with starch, water, and sugar, by means of a pointed stick. Another Christmas goodie was molasses candy. The best was made of black sugar-house molasses and contained a plentiful sprinkling of nuts. It was cooked in miniature patty pans with scalloped edges and was known as "mozhey."

Lighting up elaborately laden Christmas trees is a modern innovation and was unknown to our forbearers. The tree, however, is considered chiefly of German origin among us and made its advent largely through the Germans which settled in Pennsylvania. The symbolic character of the evergreen fir tree was originally associated in German customs with the season of spring but in the course of time, it was made emblematic of the Christmas promise of the eternal life.

The night before Christmas often brought a wonderful personage clothed in an outlandish raiment of animal skins and old clothes. A homemade mask concealed his face and he carried a basket in one hand and a long switch in the other. His name was "Belsnickle" which means "Nicholas in pelts of skins." Unlike his English prototype, the mythical Santa Claus who rides in a sleigh drawn by reindeer and who enters dwellings on Christmas eve by way of the housetop and the chimney, our "Belsnickle" was of flesh and blood, generally the wag of the community, and entered the house at the door. In his basket he carried apples, nuts, cakes and candy. These he threw upon the floor and when the half-scared youngsters went to pick them up, he would sometimes lay to with his switch, making them promise to be good and obedient children.

A mild snowless Christmas was looked upon as unfavorable and, it was feared, would be followed by a late cold and unhealthy spring. Hence the saying, "a green Christmas brings a white Easter" and "a green Christmas makes a full graveyard."

Pow-wowing or "brauchen" is the art of a would-be healer who aims to effect a cure by using words as a formulary in the working of a charm or incantation. In such formularies the words of greatest potency are those which are termed the "three highest" and they are the sacred names of the Holy Trinity, with whose aid, invoked by the recital of the formulary, "He moveth thus mysteriously his wonders to perform." It is said that this practice still holds forth at places even in these days of scientific culture but it is believed that his popularity is waning and his numbers diminishing.

It was held that the art of pow-wowing could be taught and its occult secrets transmitted only to a person of the opposite sex but in 1819 there appeared a German book on the subject which taught anyone, male or female, who bought it. It was known as "Der Long Verborgne Freund" and was prepared by John Georg Hohman. This book has been reprinted several times and it has been translated into English and contains many laughable remedies for the relief of the ill that flesh is heir to as well as pious prayers and weird incantations for the recovery of stolen goods and the finding of hidden treasures.

The "Sixth and Seventh Books of Moses" were said to treat these occult sciences and were held in respect and awe, by not only the illiterate, but also by some educated and enlightened people. The following are taken:

Toothache: Cut out a piece of green sward (sod) in the morning before sunrise, quite beshrewdly from any place, breathe upon it three times and put it down upon the same place from which it was taken.

Another was to take a needle and stab the aching tooth with it till you bring blood. Take vinegar and meal, mix, then put them in a patch of cloth, wrap this patch around the foot of an apple tree, wind the thread around it very fast and cover the root well with earth.

Another was to take a splinter from the east side of a tree that had been struck by lightning and to thrust it into the aching cavity or still another was to pick the teeth with a nail taken out of a coffin. When a child had a tooth extracted, the advice was given to drop the tooth into a mouse hole while uttering the sentence, "Here mousey, I give you an old tooth for a new one" and this proceeding was certain to bring a new tooth.

Although no Schuylkill County courts ever sentenced unfortunate women to be hanged for the impossible crime of witchcraft, yet in the not distant past every village had its witch and sorceress or two. Whenever a witch died, her mantle descended to her daughter who, at her pleasure, gave a neighbor's baby fits, caused an enemy's cow to give bloody milk or made his horse balk on the level highway. The discreet housewife, who loved her infant and wanted her bread to rise and her butter to come, took care not to give offense to the woman of the neighborhood bearing the reputation of having bartered her soul to the Evil One for the gift of sorcery. Young infants were the special objects of a witch's malevolence.

In order to counteract this influence, before the babe was three days old, the mother was obliged to walk three times around the house and return to bed. When a young child was afflicted with what is known as marasmus (a decline), it was said to be under the spell of some malevolent female. Then the "hexa" doctor was called in to conjure away the ailment or remove the spell. One remedy was to feed the child out of the kitten's dish and the disease was thus transferred to the feline. Another remedy was to cut off a living hen's comb and administer to the patient three drops of blood from the bleeding crest. If this failed, the child's body was quickly rubbed with three living fish which were hurriedly returned to the creek in whose waters the malady was carried away.

A child with convulsions was believed to be suffering from the same cause and to break the spell, a copy of the Bible or some other holy volume was placed under its pillow or a portion of the mother's wedding garment was put in its cradle and the evil spirit was exorcised.

In the event of an epidemic invading a farmer's barn and killing off his horses or cows, some poor woman of eccentric habits or repellant appearance fell a victim to suspicion and was branded a witch.

The Rush Township witch was never known to ride through the sky on a broomstick like her New England sister, though she mad many a mysterious midnight journey to the conventions of the weird sisterhood. She rode on the bare backs and necks of unbridled horses. If a farmer found his horse's mane mangled and knotted in the morning, he was certain that he was ridden by a witch the night before and that the knotted mane served as stirrups for her feet.

Their meetings were held in the open fields where the wee some hours were danced away in devilish glee by the uncanny throng. The scene of where vegetation ceased to grow was known as "Hexadonz", the scene of a witch dance. Science has demonstrated that the barren spots are caused by a certain fungus plant which exhausts all plant food from the soil and diffuses itself in an ever widening circle.

A witch had the power of turning herself into an animal and could assume the form of a sow or a cow, cat or rat, at pleasure. When a cow's yield of milk suddenly broke off, the owner was sure that the animal was daily robbed by a witch who was drawing away the supply by milking the corner of a towel at her home.

When a hunter failed to kill his game or a skilled marksman shot wide of the mark at an old-time shooting match, his gun was bewitched and the remedy was in loading his piece to drive home with the wad a crumb of communion bread. Because the bread changed by transubstantiation into the body of Christ, no Evil One could stand in its way or divert the bullet thus guarded from its mark.

It was supposed that a witch could be disabled by securing a hair of her head, wrapping it in a piece of paper, and placing it against a tree as a target into which a silver bullet was to be fired from a gun.

The world moves and civilization progresses but the old superstitions remain the same. The rusty horseshoe found on the road is still prized as a lucky token and will doubtlessly continue to be so prized, for human nature does not change and superstition is a part of human nature.

The above was extracted from The Neiferts of Rush Township, by William Washington Neifert, 1906.

If a family were going to move to another residence a distance away, they ordered railroad box cars to be placed on a railroad track siding somewhere close to their home. They would load the wagon with their possessions, haul it to the railroad, load the boxcar and have it shipped to their new location in this manner.

In the year 1913, hot water heating plants and carbide light for illumination were luxury items as well as bathroom outfits.

On Sunday morning March 1, 1914 a fine snow started sifting down a little past noon. One family from the Barnesville area hitched the horses to their buggy and headed for Tamaqua, a distance of about three miles, to bring their father and brothers home from the 5:00 train. Soon after leaving the fine snow turned into a raging blizzard. They should have been home by 6:00 under normal conditions but all roads and railroads were blocked and everything was at a standstill by the next morning. They never got home until 8:00 Monday morning. By then the sun was shining but the winds were high and the snow was drifting.

They had gotten back to within a half mile of home when, due to the rain, sleet and snow mixed with the winds, on a hill the horses could take no more and refused to go any farther. Turning around while still hitched to the pole of the buggy caused something to break. They unhitched the horses and put blankets over their heads to protect their eyes. That was how they were able to lead them into the barnyard of their then unknown neighbors who were living on the Weldy Powder Mill farms. Just as they entered the barnyard, a stroke of lightning hit the wind pump wheel and smashed it beyond repair. The strong wind also damaged another wind wheel beyond repair near the place where the horses refused to go any farther. The neighbor and his two grown sons stabled the horses and made them comfortable then took the family into their home to dry and thaw them out.

This illustrates the way people were years ago. Neighbors were neighbors, not simply people who lived nearby. They were willing to help each other in times of need. The following are more examples of how people treated each other.

A neighboring family's house was devastated by fire. All they could save were the clothes on their backs and the sewing machine. They were very poor and now their possessions were gone. They cleaned out their chicken house and fixed it as good as they could so they could move into it. After the fire some neighbors packed up some clothes and food and sent it over to them.

When a woman needed household help, she could call on the women nearby and get assistance if she weren't feeling well, just had a baby, or for whatever other reason. The walk between their homes could be a mile or more but that was never an excuse to not come to someone's aid.

During this era cars were slowly becoming more commonplace but horses were still very much in use for transportation and farm work. One day when one of the boys had finished the day drilling in the fall wheat crop, he had just pulled out on the road to go home when an automobile with a large plume tied to the side of it came towards the team. That scared the horses and they ran away, grain drill and all. They headed about a half mile down the road to the lane leading to the neighbors' barn. One of the wheels caught either a post or large rock and broke the tongue of the drill clean off. One of the men on the farm caught the team and held it until their owner got there. The drill could not be moved until a new tongue was installed. The next day the owner went to see what was needed to repair it. When he got there he found a new tongue had been installed by the neighbors and an expert job it was, too! The drill was ready to be moved and they would not accept a cent for their work. Also when help was need during threshing or baling time, the farmers were right there to assist each other.

Published in the "Pottsville Republican," "Morning Paper," November 16-19, 1934

Ryan Township was organized in 1868 from territory previously embraced in Rush and Mahanoy Townships. It had a population of 600 in 1870, the first census after its organization. Named in honor of Judge James Ryan of Pottsville, it's of irregular outline and lies in the eastern part of the county, between the upper and lower Schuylkill coal fields. It is bounded on the north by Mahanoy and West Mahanoy Townships, on the east by Rush, on the south by Schuylkill and the west by Blythe.

The first settlers within the present limits of Ryan Township came from Berks County about 1784. Among others who came later were Jonas Bankes, father of Angelina Bankes who married Henry Fritz, son of David Fritz and Elizabeth Herring Fritz. Practically all of the early comers were engaged in lumbering and farming.

Jonas Bankes was among those who owned a saw mill. Some of these mills were up and down mills and worked somewhat like a jig saw, cutting only on the down stroke. The circular saw type came at a later date.

Rev. Shellhart, prominently identified with the early religious history of Tamaqua and vicinity, and Rev. Kroll, one of the founders of the old "White Church" in Rush Township, were the pioneer preachers in the township. They held primitive meetings in a log house on one of the farms.

The oldest church and, for many years, the only one, is St. Peter's Union Church which is situated in Locust Valley on the road from Tuscarora to Mahanoy City. It was built in 1848 by Levi F. Blew, John Schlier, and a Mr. Faust. The first pastor of the union congregation was Rev. David Hassinger, succeeded by Rev. Shellhammer, and Rev. J. Hartman. The church was then rebuilt and remodeled in 1899, the funds being contributed by the farmers of the valley, who have sustained and perpetuated the organization.

The first school in what is now Ryan Township, was built by Isaac A. Blew in 1854. The first teacher was Henry S. Strong, who afterward moved to Donaldson, Schuylkill County. This school was on the south side of the road leading from Reichard's Hotel to Taggartsville (in the area of present day White Birch Golf Course).

Another school was held in the old stone house on the Deem Farm in Locust Valley. These were probably the first free schools in the township, as Rush Twp. of which Ryan was a part rejected the public school system until 1851. Prior to this time the schools were known as subscription schools, each pupil paying a portion of the teacher's salary, which averaged from $8.00 to $12.00 per month. The teachers boarded around, staying for a week or so at a time with the patrons of the school.

David Dresh kept the pioneer tavern of the township in a log house on the Jacob Klingerman Farm. The first regular hotel was built about 1820 on the opposite side of the road from the Valley House by Timothy Lewis. The Valley House was built by a man named Kearn about 1842. William Weaver bought it in 1868 and had it remodeled and rebuilt the same year, D.D. Messerschmidt and his father having charge of the work. Mr. Weaver had a fish pond containing fine specimens of trout adjoining his house. These early hotels were erected along the early roads where "accommodation for man and beast" was cheerfully and cheaply proffered, even though of a primitive character. The teamsters generally carried their own rations as well as supplies of feed for their teams. The main business of the innkeeper was to serve liquor and entertain the guests. They also carried their own mattress which was spread out on the floor of the inn and at times there were so many, it was difficult to walk.

East Mahanoy Junction owes its origin to the building of the Little Schuylkill Railroad built in 1854.

In 1831, the Little Schuylkill Railroad was completed from Port Clinton to Tamaqua. It was built of wooden rails strapped with flat iron. In 1833 a trial trip was made on this road with a locomotive engine running from Port Clinton to Tamaqua. This was the first locomotive introduced in Schuylkill County and excited considerable interest. However, the structure of the railroad was too light for the engine, which spread the rails and ran into the river.

What was known as the Catawissa Road was the first attempt at road building in the township. This extended from the vicinity of Port Clinton via of what is now McKeansburg, Tuscarora, Locust Valley thence via the Catawissa Valley to the Susquehanna. Another road, the Old Middleport Road, extended from the vicinity of Middleport, via Locust Valley, crossing the Murphy and the A.C. Faust farm to the Carl Winkle farm, thence across the Broad Mountain via what was known as the Mountain House to the vicinity of Shamokin.

Ryan Twp. boasts of two fine privately owned parks--Lakeside Park and Lakewood Park--both at East Mahanoy Junction. Lakeside Park is the older of the two and has been in existence since 1880, when two dams and a picnic ground constituted the present park. Gustave Roth was the first owner. In 1901 Harry Hart, Sr., and William Lewis purchased the park, containing 188 acres, from Mr. Roth. In 1912 Mr. Hart bought out Mr. Lewis and thus became the sole owner. This same ownership has been maintained for 25 years. Several hundred men are employed each winter, when the natural ice is harvested and stored in two huge ice houses, each containing 3500 tons of ice. During the summer this ice is shipped by railway to Philadelphia where it is used to refrigerate tropical fruits and meat.

During the last ten years a giant roller coaster, an old mill, and a modern dance pavilion have been erected. For a period of about 35 years, Schuylkill County's playground was to be found in Lakeside Park.

Lakewood Park is located at the headwaters of the Schuylkill River, Schuylkill County. In 1915 a farm of 76 acres was purchased from Daniel Flynn and was opened as Lakewood Park in 1916. A few years later another farm of 24 acres was purchased from Lewis Bankes.

In 1925 a large concrete swimming pool one of the largest in America, was constructed. A large dance pavilion is famed for high-class orchestras. This park is owned by Guinan Brothers of Mahanoy City.

Lakeside Grange No. 1418 was organized in June 1909 in Messerschmidt's Schoolhouse, with about 40 members.

In 1916 a site for a hall was purchased from Mrs. A.B. Miller of Lakeside and in 1917 a modern and up to date hall was built on the site by the Park Crest Builders' Company.

The present membership is 91 and the officers are: Master, John Konsavage; Overseer, Roy A. Messerschmidt; Lesturer, Mrs. Joseph Marshall; Steward, Claude Garber; Asst. Steward, Karl E. Reiseg; Chaplain, Harry E. Blew; Treasurer, Charles D. Blew; Secretary, Reynold Reiseg; Gate Keeper, Alvin Fritz ; Ceres, Sara Blackwell; Pomona, Mrs. Alice Gastager; Flora, Mrs. O.C. Godshall; Lady Asst. Steward, Viola Fritz .

East Union Twp., located in the northern part of Schuylkill County, was formed from Union Twp. in 1867. That part taken from Rush Twp. is the triangular portion including Girard Manor. The original boundary between Union and Rush was a straight line. The part annexed from Mahanoy Twp. is the small strip which lies north of the Catawissa Railroad.

The first settlers came into this section in 1802. Among them were Thomas Gootscholl, his brother William, and John Maurer. Thomas Gootscholl settled on the land which is now known as Girard Manor, while his brother William settled where Edward Konschnik of Phinneyville now resides. John Maurer made his home on the Brandon place. These may be listed as the first inhabitants of East Union Twp.

The villages in the township are: Sheppton, Oneida, Slabtown, Green Mountain, Brandonville and Phinneyville. The township is bounded on the north by Luzerne County and North Union Township, on the west by Union and North Union Townships, on the south by Mahanoy, Delano and Kline Township and Luzerne County.

The industries of East Union Twp. are not varied. The first settlers were engaged in lumbering and it is this industry that attracted the first settlers into the Catawissa Valley. The dense forests of pine, spruce, hemlock, ash and chestnut yielded timber of the finest quality. At a later period a number of men formed what was called the "French Lumbering Company," and proceeded to cut the timber for export to France from a section of land extending for many acres around Girard Manor. The corporation, however, failed and the lands were sold at sheriff's sale to Charles Tate, in 1864. A large tract of the land was acquired by William L. Torbert, a relative of Mr. Tate. The lumber industry passed with the clearance of the land and agriculture was developing on a large scale and now is the principal occupation of the people, especially in the Phinneyville, Brandonville and Slabtown sections of the township. Lumbering is still carried on in the Phinneyville district, but on a very small scale. Adam Peifer owns a saw mill. He obtains logs from the surrounding woods.

Mining is at present the most important and profitable industry. However, it was more profitable in former years than it is now. Sheppton, Oneida and Green Mountain are the chief mining towns. The mines are located in Oneida, but the people of Sheppton also work there. Green Mountain had profitable mines, and employed men from Audenreid and Phinneyville. It was operated by the Glen Alden Coal Company. At present that colliery is not being operated with the exception of a few men who keep the place repaired. The main coal mining project was and is still located in Oneida.

The Coxes were the first to mine coal at Oneida, the operations beginning more than fifty years ago, through Eckley B. Coxe. Coal has been mined there continuously but not under the Coxe operatives. The Coxes leased them to Lehigh Valley, under the operations of whom they remained for the greatest number of years. The Lehigh Valley upon trying to renew their lease, discovered the Markes had outbid them. Hence, the operation came under the control of the Jeddo-Highland Coal Company.

The next and the present company to undertake the mining in this locality is the Wolfe Company.

The roads of the township deserve mention, for many of them have been developed from Indian trails which passed through this section. They were made in to corduroy roads of logs. Many of these formations are still extant, having been covered with a few layers of dirt to eliminate some of the roughness. However, the logs are now decaying which causes frightful jolting of the vehicles. There are also quite a few roads of this township made of clay, causing mud and mire after rain storms. Some of these poor roads are being reconstructed by the aid of CWA funds. There is but one macadamized and one state highway running through the township. The macadamized road leads up through First street in Oneida to the western boundary of the county in Union Twp. This road leads to the highway which skirts Oneida on the east. The state highway begins at Hazleton, passes through Sheppton and Brandonville into Shenandoah. It was opened for traffic in 1931. It is a very fine road and much traveled at the present time. If improvement continues, East Union will have a fine, compact system of roads ramifying all parts of the township.

Surveyed about 1883, the small mining town of Oneida is located in the northeastern part of East Union Twp. It derived its name from the Oneida Indians, a tribe of the Iroquois Confederation, which proved the most friendly to white settlers. This accounts for no Indian atrocities in this district. The Tosh family and the Austras family are believed to have been the first residents of Oneida. Before this name was applied, this town was called Green Mountain, because of the mountains covered with green brush and trees.

The people lighted their home by means of kerosene lamps and secured their water from pumps located on each street. Each street had two pumps, one at the top and the other at the bottom. When the pumps froze, water had to be carried from the pump shanty, which is located at the bottom of Third Street. The present water system brings water into each home by means of pipes.

Electricity was installed in 1927.

A trip from Oneida to Hazleton may now be made in 20 minutes, while in former days the time for this same trip was four hours. At first the people traveled on wagons drawn by a number of horses. But riding was not considered a pleasure at that time, for not matter where you went you were liable to get stuck in the mud.

Soon railroads were constructed by the Coxe Company and a train came here three times a day from Hazleton bringing both passengers, freight, express and mail.

Recently buses began coming into Oneida and Sheppton three times a day, bringing mail and passengers, thus eliminating the train.

The first settlers lived on game and vegetables which they raised on small gardens. Soon a store was established which was the only one in Oneida. The first butcher in town was one of the first residents of Sheppton but delivered meat at Oneida.

The little red school house, located on the top of Third St., was the first school. It was erected in 1890. Later three other school houses were built.

The chief industry of the first settlers was lumbering which was changed later to mining. When coal was found at Nos. 1,2,3, and 4, employees were sent by the Coxes from Drifton, Tomhicken, Derringer and Beaver Meadow to operate these mines. Soon after the discovery of coal, a breaker was built and all supplies were brought from Humbolt on a six-mule team.

These Oneida mines were opened in 1885 by Eckley B. Coxe. At that time it was called Green Mountain. Later the settlement was moved from the old site at the cross roads, about one-half mile east of its present location, to the present site. Coal has been mined there continuously ever since. Mr. Coxe built his own railroad to the mines and this railroad, which connected all the Coxe operations, was known as the D.S. and S. Railroad.

In 1906 the mines were taken over by Lehigh Valley Coal Company.

The St. John's Chapel was at first a band shanty owned by Mrs. E. B. Coxe. Later it was donated by this kind philanthropist and joined together in 1897 with a band shanty brought from Lingonsky's back yard in Sheppton. This church was built to accommodate the Irish Catholics of Oneida. However, before the building of this structure, the Irish Catholics heard mass in homes of Irish families. They were the first to arrange for mass to e celebrated in this part of the township. Then they joined with the Tyroleans and held services in Recla's Hall. Later they went to Crampsi's hall which was a shanty in Lingonsky's yard and which, as has been said, was transferred to Oneida.

The town of Sheppton was first surveyed in the 1889 by H.S. Bayer. However, before this, in 1873, Daniel Bittler occupied the "Possession House," located near the first railroad on the northern end of Sheppton. This house was the first structure in the town, erected by Shepp, Dull, and Silliman to signify their claim to the land. Mr. Bittler held possession for these men. When Mr. Bittler first came here he discovered the remains of a few log cabins which had evidently been destroyed by fire. The names of the inhabitants of these cabins are not known with the exception of one, Fritz , who it has been said, resided there.

These men, Shepp, Dull, and Silliman, from Mahanoy City, claimed this entire tract of land mainly for its coal deposits. However, their claim was disputed by the Coxes, who also laid claim to this land.

Finally, after litigation which lasted two years, the Coxes were declared the legal owners. The decision left Shepp and his associates the owners of the land from Main St. in Sheppton to Brandonville. Shepp secured Nelson Brandon to act as his land agent. He then sold the lots to the settlers for Shepp.

After Coxes gained the land, they also obtained the Possession House and thus ordered Bittlers to move. Biddlow, a German Catholic family, moved here to hold possession for Coxes. Mr. Bittler moved to the Valley and when he came back in 1890, he formed a growing town named "Nelson City," after Nelson Brandon. Many of the houses were log cabins and among the first families were Peter Van Blargan, Goerge Knelly, and Mr. Peifer.

The first business place was a grocery store which later became a drug store on the corner of Main and East Pine Streets.

The first theatre was operated by Jack Brice. Before this theatre, slides had been shown in the old frame school building on West Market Street. This old school, which has been torn down, had also served as a theatre and church.

The first church to be constructed in Sheppton was the Greek Orthodox in 1894 at the extreme end of West Market Street.

The first dance hall was in the huge Recla home, located on the old road which formerly was the main road to the Valley, now running past the Sheppton-Oneida High School. The dances were also sponsored by the Recla family.

The first hardware store was owned by Mr. Marchetti whose descendants then carried on the business. The first baker had his business in the present Longo home on Main Street.

The first barber was John Lynch who was known as "John the Barber." He was a native of Poland but spent most of his life in Sheppton. His first shop was located on Main Street, but as Sheppton progressed, he moved to East Pine Street. The year 1924 saw his death and it was then that some discoveries were made in his shop. During his life he was not particularly wealthy, but after his death, a small sum of money and bonds were discovered beneath the leather seat of his barber chair. It is said that he possessed a formula which rendered crushed stone and slate combustible. This formula, however, was not found.

The first post office was established in the 1892 on Main Street. It was then called the Nelson City post office. However, another Nelson City was located in Pennsylvania, so the name had to be changed. Thus, it was called Shepp Dull, after Shepp and Dull, but later it was named Sheppton.