BELLEFONTE HISTORY The Newsletter of the Bellefonte Historical Society The history of Bellefonte began in the Spring of 1794 with a deed in the records of Mifflin County showing John Dunlop had purchased a plot of ground on the West bank of Spring Creek.

MARCH 2013 Vol. I, Issue 6 PAST ISSUES OF BELLEFONTE SECRETS CAN BE FOUND ONLINE AT:

www.bellefontesecrets.com (previous name of this newsletter) www.bellefontehistory.com has past issues produced since. EMAIL COPIES ARE AVAILABLE AT [email protected] JOHN DUNLOP: The man responsible for the development of Bellefonte and the history of much of Centre County. John created a community that had been considered by many but had never been accomplished in most of the world. He developed our town where all people were created equal even though our government still legally proclaimed that slaves’ where property and women were not equal to men.

Bellefonte History is about the real history of Centre County and unlike other groups we include all areas of Centre County as important in the development of the county. Our effort is to not promote any history that cannot be verified by reliable sources.

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HOW AN AMERICAN DREAM WAS CHANGED TO A COMMON DISASTER BY POLITICIANS By Richard W. Knupp

I had a couple of negative responses to my February article. It seems I am one of those bad Republicans who does not like the way our government is being operated. This is true, I am classified as a Republican, but my article had nothing to do with being a Republican. This past election I voted for a Democratic Attorney General of Pennsylvania because I felt she was a person with great common sense. To me she fits the mold of the seven governors of Centre County. My February article was not about political parties but about the vast difference between the 20th & 21st Century in relation to politics of the 19th Century politicians of Centre County. Being a Centre County politician was not a political party oriented situation but was simply electing the most qualified person. Being from Centre County was more important than the party they represented. During the last half of the nineteenth Century many politicians of Pennsylvania were much like the Centre County Seven. The biggest problem in the world today is that there are two types of people. There are those who earn money and people who only spend money. The problem is that the people who only spend money put themselves in charge as to how the money is spent. They also put themselves in charge of how many people are needed to spend the money. When the American Constitution was developed there were two types of people doing it, the Federalist and people the Federalist called the Anti-Federalist. The Anti-Federalist simply wanted to write the Constitution in a way that the money makers would control the way the money was spent except for the money that was being used for the defense of our country. If I were able to change the government I would take the Federalist program and make it an Anti-Federalist program. The first order of business would be redeploying our tax money and reduce the number making a living off of the money makers by 90%. Something like 10% would be kept to protect our people. Less than 1% would be kept to run the country. The rest of the tax money would be returned to the state and counties from which it came from to provide services there at a great saving would occur because they would receive 90% rather than 40%.. The biggest problem today would be finding jobs for the people who are currently running our country because they are clueless as to how to earn a living by actually working. How would this benefit the poor people and services? Number one it would put much emphasis on supporting those poor who are capable of helping others who cannot manage on their own instead of supplying services for both for doing nothing. An Example: I operate a business for the state that provides care for people with mental and physical disabilities. On several occasions I have found individuals who the person managing their care apply for government care for these individuals and get resistance from the individuals because they feel they really don’t need the care. Why not pay these people to assist the care providers to help care for those who cannot help themselves which would be providing care for the assistant at half the cost of someone providing care for them. It would also make them feel they were earning a living on their own. The reason I cannot do this on my own is simple. The people who develop and manage the program are government employees who cannot understand that there are actually people who know more about the needs of these people than they do. Do I really believe the people would be better off? For the last 55 years I have been involved in charitable programs that if we had only 20% of the people’s tax money to spend there would be no needy people in Centre County. When Bellefonte Pennsylvania was developed in 1797 one of the first things in place was an individual appointed to provide care for the needy. Our area had many Pennsylvania Dutch, Scottish, Irish and Quakers who provide an excellent example as to what can happen when people work together. Another area of vast change involving the political scene over the last 200 years is the judicial system. In the early years of our country the most brilliant lawyers became the judges and were paid more. The Twentieth Century brought us to 2

a time where the real money lay in law suits and defending rich people whereas the original lawyers of our area were more into doing what is best for the community. The most prominent of the local Judges was Hon. Charles Huston. (From Linn’s History Page 202)He was a law student at Dickenson College, Carlisle, where he graduated in 1789 with honors of the class. During the years 1790 and 1791 he taught a select school at Carlisle, meanwhile studying law with Thomas Duncan Esq., with whom he was associated on the bench of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. In 1792-93 he was employed by the trustees of the college as tutor of the languages. Among his pupils was the late Chief Justice R. B. Taney, of the Supreme Court of the United States. In his autobiography the chief justice says of him,” I need not speak of his character and capacity, for he afterwards became one of first jurists of the country. He was an accomplished Latin and Greek scholar, and happy in his mode of instruction. And when he saw a boy was disposed to study, his manner to him was that of a companion and friend, aiding him in his difficulties. The whole school under his care was much attached to him.” In October, 1794, Gen. Washington came through Carlisle on his way to quell the Whiskey Insurrection. Mr. Huston joined the expedition, and his vivid description of its various incidents will long be remembered by the many who had the good fortune to number him among their acquaintances. Due to his many accomplishments in his life it would take more than all the space in this issue to report the rest of his life story. His history as written in Linn’s History, pages 202-204 is worth reading. Linn’s History books can be found at the Bellefonte Historical Library on the corner of Howard and Allegheny across from the regular Library. One additional bit of information from the information in the book which relates to prior remarks I have made in this article. Charles Huston was the hero of the widows and orphans of Centre County. He was there to make sure they were well taken care of. Charles Huston and his original law partners, Thomas Burnside and W. W. Potter were the originators of the law firm that developed the group of attorneys that I like to refer to as seven great governors from Centre County. Each one was part of the Government by the People movement that made them popular with the citizens of Pennsylvania. W. W. Potter studied law under Charles Huston and like others who also studied law under him, he became an excellent attorney. He never became a judge for he eventually became a well thought of member of the United States Congress who represented the people and not a political party. Andrew Gregg Curtin studied law under him and became a highly respected politician because of his teachers.

“Thus the Bellefonte magic has been revealed.”

Compare the present day attorneys and judges to the original attorneys of Bellefonte and you will find there is no comparison. Today their jobs are to protect those that have hired them, or settle disputes whereas years ago the most factual information was used to determine guilt or innocence and speculation played no part in these cases. Again I feel I have to remind my readers that political parties cannot develop programs for the people for they are extremely bias in favor of the people they represent. It could be said that the Democratic party favors the Unions and poor people that feel the rich owe them a better life. The Republican Party may favor the rich and people that work for a living. Me, I feel like people who use common sense who want to give everyone what they deserve. A long time ago I thought unions were a great thing but today I know that was a mistake because Unions do not base wages on what people deserve for what people receive is not based on what they deserve but on the fact that they belong to the Union. In relation to the present day union leaders what they are doing is getting rich from their member’s dues. What should be done is for the businesses to sell their businesses to the unions so the Union can have a better understanding of why it is best to hire employees who deserve what they make. The Republican party may be responsible to the rich people and forget the little people who cannot manage on their own. Personally I favor the rich people in a strange way. Why not base peoples taxes in the following manner We could give the taxpayers the opportunity to make donations to charitable organizations and groups that provide care for the needy and physically or mentally types of people and give them a 125% deduction from their taxes? In other words a person who owes one million dollars in taxes could donate five hundred thousand to the charities and only pay $475.000.00 in taxes. 3

BELLEFONTE: A GOOD FIVE-CENT CIGAR by Rev. Keith G. Koch Proverbs 10:26 (NIV) "As vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes, so is a sluggard to those who send him" The outspoken governor of Indiana and later Vice-President of the United States, Thomas Riley Marshall, was quoted as saying: "What this country needs is a [really] good five-cent cigar." The quote is dated March 1913 to March 1915 depending on who you read. Also, the "really" comes and goes depending on the writer. Marshall never said this quote was original to him. In fact, I have found this quote in the Hartford Courant of 09/12/1875. However, if you wanted a good cigar, Bellefonte was the place to get one. By 1895 there were five cigar manufactures with stores in Bellefonte. Also one regular tobacco store. Philip Bezeer's meat market, in a beautiful Georgian stone house located where the present FaithCentre can be found, advertised and sold "Owl" cigars for five cents in the late 1800s. Robert Irvin was running an oyster stand at Kurtz’s building in the beginning of 1870. There was also a bowling alley there. A bowling alley with oysters and no beer, but selling some of the best brand of cigars in town. On the corner of Allegheny and Bishop street in a new building (1870) belonging to Edward Brown, you could find some of the best tobacco and finest cigars in Levi Miller’s establishment with John Sweeney as the clerk. This establishment was sold during January, 1871 to Mr. Lipton who renamed the place: Samuel Lipton & Co. Cigars were his main line of trade. Bellefonte’s Democratic Watchman of May 19, 1871, decried "the young men of the town and others can squirt their tobacco juice all around in such a careless kind of way, or regale themselves by smoking their toby cigars... Indeed, we noticed some of them so interested in smoking their cigars, that a dog fight across the corner failed to excite their placid minds..." Mr. Welsh owned a stationary store on the corner of Allegheny and Bishop Street, but it was taken over in November, 1871 by Ed Forney who opened a retail and wholesale tobacco and cigar shop. A year later,1872, the November 15 issue of the Democratic Watchman stated: "Our friend Ed. Forney, of tobacco fame, still hold forth in ‘Our House,’ on the corner of Allegany [sic] and Bishop streets. Ed’s cigars are of the first quality, and tobacco eaters say this brand of the ‘weed’ are par excellent. If you want cigars, snuff, tobacco, paper collars or trinkets, go in and see Ed’s stock." As early as 1872, or perhaps even earlier, tub racing on Spring Creek was usually one way the citizens of Bellefonte could entertain themselves on July 4th. But tub racing was not just limited to this national holiday. For in August, 1872, fifteen tubs and their "captains" assembled themselves by the Bush House on Spring Creek for the entertainment of all who showed up. Rash Williams came in third and took the prize of a box of Bellefonte cigars. He then circulated among the crowd and gave whoever wanted one a cigar until the box was empty. There was trouble in Bellefonte during July, 1875, when burglars entered through a rear widow of A. S. Brew & Son and stole their supply of tobacco, cigars, candies, cheeses, and other items. The theft wasn’t noticed until the clerks came to open up the store the following morning. A. J. Cruse, during May, 1892, manufactured a new cigar: "Our Dan." The label had a likeness of General Daniel Hastings in the center. During May, 1893, Mr. Cunningham opened a cigar store in the Brockerhoff House. I guess we really don’t know how to put on a good banquet. The local Board of Trade hosted such an affair at the Bush House in December, 1893. You would be served: Blue Points in Ice; Green Turtle Consomme in Cups; 4

Sheepshead baked in Wine with Pecan Sauce; Julienne Potatoes; Appolinaris; Boneless Turkey with Current Jelly; Baked Ham with Champagne Sauce; Canvas Back Duck a la Gephart; Punch a la Romaine; Broiled Quail on toast; Sweetbreads au Gratlin in cases; Saratoga Chips; Crab Salad; Strawberry Ice Cream Marangue; Roman Cherry Ice; Fruit; Assorted Cakes; Roquefort Cheese; Fromage de Brie; Café Demi Tasse; and CIGARS. Workmen blasting stone by Spring Creek on Water Street made their dynamite charge to strong. For in June 1784, the blast threw stones above the corner building of Spring and High Street and broke the windows of Rine’s cigar store a block away. How about a cigar and bicycle store? John Waite, who was in the carriage business with his brothers, decided to do this on Water and Spring Street in March, 1895. When Al Garman wanted to reopen the closed Bellefonte Glass Works (idle since 1892), he lit the fire for the kiln on a November evening of 1896, and gave all present a first class cigar. Harry Macker started a fire in his own grocery store during February, 1910, by filling his cigar lighter with gasoline which exploded. Bellefonte’s Burgess Harris gave notice to all stores, including cigar stores, that they were not to be opened for Sunday selling beginning January, 1926. Even the various hotels in town could sell cigars to their guests, but not to those not staying at their establishments. The Democratic Watchman of January 22, 1926 stated: "the only things in Bellefonte wide open and running as usual on Sunday, were the Big Spring and Spring Creek." Isaiah 51:6 (NIV) "Lift up your eyes to the heavens, look at the earth beneath; the heavens will vanish like smoke, the earth will wear out like a garment and its inhabitants die like flies. But my salvation will last forever, my righteousness will never fail." MORE BELLEFONTE, PA SECRETS: Mr Reynolds, who lived on the corner of High and Spring Street, received a package during May, 1879, from his son in Florida. It was two cigar boxes containing two baby alligators. I don’t know what he did with them, but I would be careful around the sewers of Bellefonte. Mr. Hopkins, sentenced to hang during February, 1890, for shooting his wife, asked the Sheriff to give him the best ten-cent cigar that could be obtained in Bellefonte so he could smoke it on the way to the gallows. He also wanted the bullet shell that killed his wife sent to his mother-in-law. Bellefonte had several baseball teams in its early days. During September, 1890, the champion team of Bellefonte were Afro-Americans called the "Mascots." They played a game vs. the Boiling Spring team. (Boiling Spring was the former name of Axemann. The town’s name was changed when the Post Office wanted to open a Post Office in Boiling Spring and discovered there already was a Boiling Spring Post Office in PA. Thus the town chose Axemann as their name to honor Harvey Mann and his axe factory which had been located in Boiling Spring.) Bellefonte lost 12 to 6. Later the same day, the printers of Bellefonte had a game vs. the Bellefonte Cigar makers. The Cigar makers "smoked" the printers: 10 to 1. The Bellefonte Kawianians supplied the various Bellefonte Air Mail pilots (1918-1827) with sandwiches, cigarettes, and cigars

You may contact me: [email protected] or 110 Forge Rd., Bellefonte, PA 16823 5

Membership in the Bellefonte Historical Society Social Member $25.00/year – Sponsoring membership $100/year ALL DONATIONS are considered grants and are deductable from taxes.

Donations may be sent to the Bellefonte Historical Society in care of Care For People, 141 West High Street, Bellefonte, Pa 16823.

CARE FOR PEOPLE THE PEOPLE WHO CARE FOR YOU IN YOUR OWN HOME WHEN YOU CAN NO LONGER CARE FOR YOURSELF. 141 W High Street Bellefonte Pa 16823 1-800-322-9292 1-814-353-3432 CARE FOR PEOPLE provides better care for less money. Our Care providers receive 80% of the fees.

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McCafferty House Bed & Breakfast 441 N Spring Street Bellefonte Pa. 16823

(>) 814-355-9458 JoAnn Knupp’s Cell 814-222-1414 A family oriented Bed & Breakfast with facilities for most any number of people up to 16. 6