History of Clymer Township  by Pearl SHORT Hess 1949 Submitted by her daughter &  grandson Melva HESS Calaman & David CALAMAN This page is part of the Tri-County Genealogy & History by Joyce M. Tice No Unauthorized Commercial Use may Be Made of This Material

Joyce's Search Tip - November 2008 Do You Know that you can search just the articles on the site by using the Articles button in the Partitioned search engine at the bottom of the Current What's New Page?

Dear Joyce, Glad that you're interested in Mom's history, and I think that she would have been happy to see it go online. It was never copyrighted. You asked for information about her so am sending you this, taken from her obituary.

Mrs. Pearl Hess was born Nov. 9, 1884 on Short Hill, a daughter of Ashley and Abbie Beach Short. Her grandfather, Lovell Short was a pioneer settler in Clymer Township. In 1906 she was married to Melvin H. Hess who died in 1955. They had eight children.

Mrs. Hess died Feb. 16, 1977. Before her marriage she was a teacher in Clymer Township. She was always active in community affairs. She served for several years as a member and secretary of the Clymer Township School Board and was a Democratic committeewoman. She was a lifelong member of the Clymer Baptist Church, a member of the Sabinsville Grange
and a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Mrs. Hess wrote and published a history of Clymer Township in 1949.

 Melva Calaman

For dates and data of the past, I am greatly indebted to "An Outline History of Tioga County, Penna.", published by The Gazette Company of Elmira, N. Y.; to "Illustrated History of Tioga County, Penna.", published in 1883, by W. W. Munsell and Co., New York City and to "History of Tioga County, Penna." published By R. C. Brown & Co. in 1897. My deep appreciation and gratitude is extended to the following persons who have willingly lent their aid in bringing this history up to date: Mrs. Minnie Yale, Bert L. Earl, Ferris B. Hazlett and Carl L. Kelts for interesting articles; Miss Lena V. Baker, who has been unceasing in her quest for pictures of our pioneers; George A. Stebbins, Jay French, Walter Rexford, Lena Baker, the girls in Tioga County’s Office of Records and many others who good-naturedly bore with my endless questioning, in my search for facts; to my typist, Mrs. Roy Abbott, who with skillful patience and revision, brought my jumbled text into some semblance of order; to Mr. and Mrs. Francis Pickett for copying and restoring old photographs; and last, but by no means least, Rev. Cecil Palm and Miss Baker for their words of encouragement and their cheerful sureness that our work would be a success, without which I am sure, I should have given up the task, as being beyond my ability. I hope this little book, crude and imperfect though it be, will, in part, compensate them for the inconvenience I have caused. While it may, possibly, contain some facts which might have been omitted and lack some facts which should have been inserted, its compiling may be the means of preserving to future generations, some historical facts which otherwise would soon have been lost.

Mrs. Melvin H. Hess (Pearl SHORT)

Tioga County, Pennsylvania was originally claimed by the Seneca Indians though it is evident that the territory was used more for hunting and fishing than for actual occupancy, the main villages of the Senecas having been located in the Genesee River Valley in New York. However, evidence of cultivation was found at Big Meadows now Ansonia, on Pine Creek; at the mouth of Babbs Creek, where it empties into Pine Creek; and a village of considerable size seems to have been located where Tioga Borough now stands. Numerous Indian trails crisscrossed the county, some of which were enlarged for roads when the county began filling up with settlers. One of the most important of these, extending from Painted Post, New York, to the Susquehanna River by way of Tioga, Mansfield, Blossburg, and Liberty, was chopped out by two Patterson brothers, working for Charles Williamson, agent for the Pultney estate in the "Genesee Country" in 1792. Williamson, who established headquarters at Northumberland, Pa., with the intention of selling land in the Genesee, New York valley, decided that an overland route to the proposed colony was preferable to the long water route up the Susquehanna, Chemung, and Canisteo Rivers. Tioga County profited much by his decision, the road being a big factor in the settling of the eastern side and later, the land to the west, in Tioga County.

The. first record we are able to find regarding the origin of Tioga County, is a purchase from the Indians in 1768 of a vast area of rather indefinite boundaries, lying in the valley of the west branch of the Susquehanna River. While this purchase did not extend north to the New York State line, it evidently did embrace part of Morris Township, in the southern part of what is now Tioga County. The newly acquired territory was organized as Berks County, but four years later, in 1772, Northumberland County was erected from the western part of the purchase and then, in 1795, it was again divided, and Lycoming County was erected. At that time all newly acquired lands were known as townships, and we find that two years later, in 1795, Lycoming Township was curtailed and Tioga Township taken from it. Before this time, however, pioneers from eastern New York State had made several settlements in the valleys of the Cowanesque and Tioga rivers, and in 1804 Tioga emerged as a county, with the right to establish her own court and county seat "at any place at a distance not greater than seven miles from the center of the county."

In an old census sheet, in Lycoming County, the population of "Tioga Township", meaning of course, Tioga County, in the year 1800, is given as 10 families — 60 white persons and 7 Negroes. At that time, the county had only one public road, the famed Williamson Road; but from 1800 to 1805 the increase in population was considerable, especially in the eastern side of county. In the year 1804, we find a population of 130 white families, and in 1810 the number is given as 1,687 souls for the county.

The earliest tax assessment to be found in the commissioner’s office at Wellsboro, Pa., is for the year 1812, and appears to have been the first made after the official machinery was in operation. Previous assessments were made under the direction of Lycoming County and are filed in Williamsport.

At the time the assessment was made, the count was divided into two townships, Tioga and Delmar, and the two assessment lists are separate. From perusal of these lists, we assume that what is now Clymer Township was, at that time included in Delmar Township. Space forbids the copying of this entire list, but a few, whose names are familiar, are given below with the statistics given in the assessment list:

Simon Rexford, or Rixford: 80 acres, 1 horse, 2 oxen, 3 cows — Valuation $374.00 — Tax; $1.87.

Reuben Short: 2 horses, 2 cows — Valuation -$60;00 — Tax, 30 cents.

Luke Scott: 100 acres, 4 cows — Valuation $206.00 — Tax, $1.03

Christopher Schoonover: 2 cows — Valuation $20.00 — Tax 10 cents.

Asa Short: 100 acres, 2 cows — Valuation $122.50 — Tax, 61 cents.

Bethlehem Thompson: gristmill, 407 acres, 2 horses, 3 cows — Valuation $888.00 — Tax, $4.44

Joseph Swimley: 90 acres, 1 horse, 1 cow — Valuation $188.00 — Tax 94 cents.

Perhaps the fact should be mentioned, that none of this property, personal or real estate, could have been in Clymer township, as the first white settler came here in 1818, six years after this assessment was made. However, some of them were residents of Clymer later.

The names of "single freemen" also appear on this same list, each of whom was taxed 75c.

The county derived its name from the Tioga River, which flows north and unites with the Cohocton River, near Corning, New York, after which union it is known as the Chemung. After making a half circle sweep, 80 miles in length with the source and the mouth only 37 miles apart, the water finally unites with the waters of the North Branch of the Susquehanna, at Tioga Point, (now known as Athens), in Bradford County, Pa., to be emptied, after a trip across the State of Pennsylvania, into Chesapeake Bay. The term, Tioga, which in Indian language signified, "A gateway", was originally applied to the junction of the Chemung and Susquehanna Rivers. All land to the north of this point, or gateway, belonged to the Six Nations. It is recorded that sentinels were stationed here by the Seneca Indians and any party entering the territory from the south, by any route except at Tioga Point, was suspected of evil purposes, and treated as a spy or enemy.

The Cowanesque River rises in Potter County, near Ulysses, or Lewisville, as it was first named, and flows across the northern edge of Tioga County, to unite with the Tioga River at Lawrenceville, the actual junction of the two streams being a few rods inside the state of New York, and it is this valley, rather than that of the Tioga, whose early settlement most concerns and interests the people of Clymer Township, as all, or nearly all, of our first settlements were made by hardy men who followed the four small streams that flow out of Clymer Township and empty into the Cowanesque River: one at Potter brook, one at Crance brook, one mile west of Westfield (opposite of the valley of the North Fork from Brookfield; third is Mill Creek in the borough of Westfield; and the Jemison, fourth and last, at Phillips Station. While it may seem strange to us, now, being as we are, in the habit of thinking of Westfield as the metropolis of western Tioga County, but it is nevertheless true, that Potter brook, North Fork and Phillips Station were all settled at their junctions with the river before Mill Creek was. This fact probably accounts for the settlement of the east and west ends of Clymer Township, while Sabinsville was still unbroken forest.

The valley of the Cowanesque lies between the Pine Creek Mountain basin on the south, and the Cowanesque Mountain basin on the north and extends about twenty-five miles from the Potter County line to the Tioga River. The anticlinal axis, or center of the valley, which runs through it lengthwise, enters Clymer Township near its southwest corner, passes directly under Sabinsville, and a little to the north of the Little Marsh post office. From these observations, one can readily see that the valley embraces nearly all of Clymer Township, only the extreme southern edge being too mountainous for culture. The valley surface is made up of low, rounded hills; the soil is good, adapted to grain and stock raising. We quote directly when we make the statement that the valley is, "by far the richest and most productive district in the county."

The township of Clymer, 5 1/3 x 7 miles in size, bounded on the north by Westfield Township; east by Chatham and Shippen Townships; south by Shippen and Gaines Townships and west by Potter County, has an average elevation of 1600 feet above sea level, although Gurnee, in the south east, and Mixtown, in the north west, rise in places to slightly over the 2000 feet mark, and so are real mountains. The streams in the northern part flow into the Cowanesque River and so find their way to North Branch of Susquehanna at Athens, while those on the southern edge flow south to Pine Creek and into the West Branch of the Susquehanna at Jersey Shore.

The township, originally named Middletown, was formed from portions of Gaines and Westfield Townships in 1850. At that time, the name was changed to Clymer, honoring William Bingham Clymer, agent for the Bingham estate, from whom most of the farms in the township were purchased for $1.25 per acre. Mr. Clymer, a grandson of George Clymer, signer of the Declaration of Independence, and his wife, did much to encourage settlers to locate in Clymer Township and many stories are told of their kindness and generosity toward any worthy settlers who, through crop failure, sickness or any other unavoidable cause, were unable to meet their obligations. He extended them time, even loaned them his private funds, free of interest, and did everything he could to hearten and encourage them to remain on their clearings and make permanent homes in the township. Many of the old settlers admitted freely that had it not been for his generous aid they would have been obliged to abandon their holdings and begin anew elsewhere. We should be proud that our ancestors chose to honor their benefactor, by naming their home township for him, rather than from any location or physical aspect of the region, as so many townships seem to have done.

The first settler in the township is reputed to have been James Mix, who in 1818 located in what is still known at Mixtown. He must have come by way of Potter brook, then up what it now known as Kale Hollow, (where Caleb Trowbridge later settled) as he located by a spring, the head water of that hollow, where lilac bushes and lilies still mark the site of his homestead. For some reason he elected to abandon his claim and two years later, in 1820, sold the property to Simon Rixford, who with his wife and his step son, George 0. Bristol, cleared the land and built a home. Mr. Rixford, a native of Massachusetts, is claimed to have been the first settler on the site of Knoxville, where he located in 1799. He was a veteran of the Revolutionary War, and was afflicted with deafness caused by proximity of artillery during battle. His remains are buried in the old Bristol cemetery on the east side of Mixtown Hill, as are many of the early settlers.

George 0. Bristol was born in Sherbourne, Otsego County, New York, June 11, 1806. His father died when he was young, and in 1812, he and his mother came to Knoxville where the latter subsequently married Simon Rexford. In 1820 they moved into what is now Clymer Township, on the Mix property, which they purchased. At that time there were no settlers at Westfield or along Mill Creek. To the north the nearest neighbors were Stephen Potter, at Potter brook, and Ayres Tuttle, 1-1/2 miles below the present site of Westfield borough. To the east, the nearest neighbor was at Middlebury, to the south lived the Furmans on Pine Creek and to the west ran an unbroken wilderness to Coudersport. Small wonder James Mix sold out!

At that time, when water was low in the Cowanesque, grain had to be taken a distance of over fifty miles to Painted Post to be ground. After a few years, a path was cut to Pine Creek, where there was a mill.

George Bristol purchased 150 acres of land from David Rexford, son of Simon, and together with his wife, Miss Polly Gaylord, cleared the land, planted orchards and erected suitable buildings. They became the parents of nine children. Mrs. Bristol died in 1877 and was buried beside Mr. Bristol’s mother and grandmother in the Bristol Cemetery on the farm. Both he and his wife were active members and leaders in the Methodist Church, and he filled the position of supervisor and other places of trust in the township. His death occurred in 1893, and he lies beside his relatives in the cemetery mentioned above.

In 1823 Rufus Scott, a native of New Hampshire, located on a place at the extreme top of Mixtown Hill. Mr. Scott married Caroline Dickens of Clymer Township and raised 8 children. The same year George Briggs settled east of Mixtown in what is known as the Elklick district. Christopher Schoonover also came to Mixtown in 1823.

The following complete sketch was written by the 85-year-old great-grand-daughter of Pioneer Watson Blue — Mrs. Minnie Parshall Yale.

George Harvey was born near Solon, New York in 1815.

Betsy Blue, born January 10, 1818 at Pottsville, Pa., daughter of Watson Blue.

In 1825 when on a hunting trip, Blue decided he would locate in this vicinity. He selected a piece of land near Trowbridge Corners, on Wattle’s Creek, and, (with the help of a neighbor who had already built a log house not far away), at once began building a log house. With the help of Soloman Trumbill (the neighbor), it was soon finished and Blue returned to Pottsville for his family and household goods. The family, wife and 8 children, John, Isaac, Levi, Washington, Jerusha, Polly, Betsy, Chloa, arrived at their new home in 1825, making the trip with oxen and on foot. They cleared some land, raised sweet corn, and lived as best they could until they could get more land cleared. Plenty of venison and fish could be gotten at any time. Betsy (Grandma Harvey) was 7 years old when they came here.

The nearest gristmill was at Williamsport, where the corn was taken to be ground into meal. I well remember Grandma Harvey telling me of one trip her father made with ox team,. usually 3 weeks for trip. There came a flood, washed out bridges, over a month before he reached home. Meantime, rations were low. The boys hollowed out a hardwood stump and pounded corn, their mother making mush of it, after sifting it. She also dug up some seed potatoes they Had planted, and made soup for the children.

They never had shoes for winter. Grandma was 14 years old when her brother John who sold some furs, (he did trapping on side), bought her a pair of shoes. "Of course," she said, "our feet looked like the feet of geese. We would run in the snow as long as we could stand it, then come inside, stand on hearthstone and thaw out. Never a cold, either."

After a few years, the father disposed of the land he had cleared, took up land at the mouth of Blue Run, in Gaines Township, across from where Gus Berger now lives. In the group of pines across the Long Run, there are several graves. The father and mother, too, Mr. and Mrs. Watson Blue), I believe, were buried there.

In the meantime, Betsy was working for Isaac Beach, who had located at Mixtown. After her week’s work was done one Saturday night, walking home, she said wolves would be howling on the hills. After working for some time for Beach, she went to Harrington’s at Ansonia. He had bought a large tract of land, built a Tavern, they called it. Kept lots of boarders. The work was very hard with small pay. Four weeks for calico for a dress, the same for having shoes tapped. Here she met Grandpa Harvey (George). He came from his home in New York State to work for Harrington.

Later he and Betsy were married. He had saved some money and had bought what is the Fairbrother farm in Beech Woods. There they began housekeeping. They lived there a long time then sold the farm to John Benn, buying the home on Long Run, then called Lansing; (after the railroad came, called Davis Station). Both died there and are buried in Larrison Cemetery. To them were born 7 children — Mary (mother) April 14, 1841, Eliza, ,Emily, Clecia, John, Hattie, Charles. Mary married Peter Parshall of Andover, N. Y., and John married Mary McCullough of Lansing, Pa. Charles never married. He always lived in the home and cared for his mother. She died July 11, 1916, at the age of 96, years, 6 months.

In the summer of 1871 ,Grandpa moved the house that they lived in, back, and built the one now standing..

At the time of his death, aside from the home, he was the owner of the farm where Bob and Pauline Trowbridge live, also a 100 acre timber tract, at the head of Gal Run.

He decided to cut timber, and so built 2 camps; the one at the head of Gal Run where Father and Mother lived; one, two miles farther on the hill, where Henry Smith and Sarah, his wife lived. Tree logs were cut, drawn to Gaines, and banked; then when spring came, they were floated to Williamsport.

Now here is where I come in. March 1864, I was born in Camp No. One, and the stream named Gal Run in my honor.

In 1833, Silas S. Griffin, a native of Madison County, N.Y., settled in East Beech Woods, clearing and improving an excellent farm. He was twice married and raised a family of ten children. Many of his descendants now reside in Clymer. In 1818 Peter Rushmore came from New York to Knoxville, where he erected and operated a tannery until 1835 when he moved to, cleared and improved a farm west of Sabinsville, where he lies buried in a small family plot. He was the father of 10 children, whose descendants have been prominent in the public life of the township. One son, Silas, operated a tannery here for fifteen years, and another son, Joshua, owned and operated a cheese factory at Mixtown for 25 years or more. In 1836, Lyman Hancock of Madison County, N.Y., a direct descendant of John Hancock, signer of the Declaration of Independence, settled west of Sabinsville, where he raised a family of seven children. One daughter, Sophronia, married Freeman Wilcox, another pioneer from New York State who purchased 100 acres of land one mile west of Sabinsville which is still in the possession of a granddaughter, Mrs. Roba French.

Isaac Beach, a native of Dutchess County N. Y., removed first to Tompkins County, N. Y., then, in April 1836, came to Clymer, which at that time was part of Westfield, locating on what is still known as the Isaac Beach farm on Mixtown Corners. Both Mr. Beach and his wife, who was Jane Miller of Tompkins County, N. Y., were hard working, enterprising citizens, prominent in all civic affairs. They operated a store, a wayside inn for the convenience of travelers; they owned and operated an ashery. They were the parents of eight children, seven of whom grew to maturity, one little girl having been scalded to death in a barrel sunk into the ground, and filled with hot water used in connection with the ashery. It is typical of the magnanimity of Mr. and Mrs. Beach that they promptly took a motherless niece, Abbie Beach, daughter of Mr. Beach’s brother. Nehemiah, of Little Marsh, and raised her with their own children, in place of the little one they had lost. Their sons were all leaders, in the various communities where they settled, both as land owners and merchants. One son, Clark W., studied law and was admitted to the bar in Tioga and Potter Counties, and practiced from 1865 until his death in 1910. So far as we are able to learn, he was the only citizen of Clymer to ever achieve this distinction.

In 1837, three men destined to play a large part in the development of Clymer Township came from Madison County, N. Y., and settled near the site of Sabinsville. They were Charles P. Douglas, Orrin Stebbins, Sr., and his brother-in-law, Elijah Hancock. Of these, Charles Douglas seems to have the honor of being "first settler", coming in February of that year having left Madison County on New Year’s Day. His homestead was a short distance south west of the village site, on land now owned by J. L. Trimmer. He was an energetic, enterprising man, as well as a public spirited one. He purchased 350 acres of land from Bingham and immediately erected a saw mill at, or near, the forks of Mill Creek in Sabinsville. He cleared his farm, set an apple orchard, carried on farming, lumbering and worked at the carpenter’s trade. He kept the first wayside inn for sixteen years, operated the first store, and was the first postmaster in the village. He held at various times the office of assessor, auditor, school director and supervisor, and was the surveyor when the township was laid out. Two of his daughters, Sarah and Almeda, were among the early teachers in the township.

Orrin Stebbins Sr., a native of Connecticut, removed first to Madison County, N. Y., then in 1837, to Clymer, the first settler on the actual site of Sabinsville. Prior to his settlement here, he married Nancy Hancock, a sister of Elijah Hancock, both of whom accompanied him. With the help of Elijah H. and Orrin, Jr., he cleared and improved a large farm, surrounding the present site of the village, and, in partnership with Elijah Hancock, built and operated a saw and gristmill on Mill Creek, the first gristmill in the township. He and his descendants have always been active in public affairs, taking great interest in promotion of the general welfare and filling numerous town and county offices. Orrin Stebbins, Sr., gave the land for a cemetery which has always been a free burial site. Many pioneers are resting there.

Alonzo Giles Sabins, in whose honor Sabinsville was named, was born in Lebanon, Madison County, N. Y., August 28, 1812. At the age of twenty-six, he married Phoebe F. Fisk at Lebanon, N. Y. and on the following day the young couple started on their wedding trip, into the wilds of Clymer Township in northern Pennsylvania, where they settled one mile south west of the village which was to bear his name. Here they carved one of the pleasantest home sites in the township out of the wilderness, working side-by-side, in the forest and fields. It is told of Phoebe Sabins that she laid the entire stone walls, six feet high, for a stone hen house which is still standing, the only original building left on the farm, as the house was destroyed by fire in 1939. A thrifty, progressive man, Mr. Sabins gradually added to his holdings, until, at the time of his death in 1886, he owned one of the most extensive farms in the township. Quiet and studious by nature, he was generally honored and respected. He was one of the first school teachers in Sabinsville School.

Thomas Eldridge, son of John Eldridge, came from Vermont to Clymer Township in 1847, where with the aid of his seven sons, he cleared and improved the farm south west of Sabinsville, now occupied by Joseph L. Trimmer. Mr. Eldridge was a veteran of 1812, and his father fought in the Revolution.

Jared Davis, son of Daniel and Deborah Davis, a veteran of War of 1812, was born in Rhode Island, September 15, 1795. After living in Otsego County and Cortland County, N. Y., he and his wife, Parmelia Fish, came to Knoxville in 1840, later to Gaines, and then, in 1858, he homesteaded at Lansing, (Davis Station), Clymer Township, where he engaged in lumbering, and clearing and improving the site of the hamlet named in his honor. Of his eight children, a daughter, Julia, became the wife of V. R. Gee of Sabinsville; another, Betsy, married Benjamin Eldridge. A grandson, Charles Davis, was a merchant and postmaster in Sabinsville for many years.

After about the year 1830, the country began filling up fast, and it would be next to impossible to give sketches of all settlers, interesting as it would be. However, the descendants of one of the later arrivals have been so identified with the growth and development of the township, we feel he must be mentioned. We refer to Roswell Ackley, who, born in Groton, N. Y. in 1805, was a descendant of one of four brothers who came to America with Lafayette during the Revolutionary War. In 1848 he settled on a farm in what is still known as the "Ackley Neighborhood", which, with the aid of his sons, he cleared and improved, also working at carpentry. His large home, still standing, is, we believe, the only house in the township that can boast of still having the original stone fireplace. Five of Mr. Ackley’s sons were soldiers in the Union Army during the Civil War, one son, Chancy C., bearing the rank of 2nd Lieutenant at the time he was mustered out on May 31, 1865. His descendants have held positions of trust in the township as town clerks, teachers, tax collectors, etc., as well as operating modern successful farms. The first church was located in the "Ackley Neighborhood" on land owned by Roswell Ackley, in 1853-56.

Following is a list of names of the earlier settlers, taken from A "History of Tioga County", printed in 1883:
Early settlers in and around Mixtown: —

John King, Elihu Matteson, Willard Potter, Archibald Campbell, Christopher Schoonover, Samuel Swimelar, Orson Pemberton, Isaac Beach, Rufus Scott, James Mix, Simon Rexford, George 0. Bristol, Nathaniel Owen, Watson Trowbridge, Nathaniel Skinner, William Larrison, Thomas Barber, Samuel Niver, C. R. Skinner, Caleb Trowbridge, Peter B. Lovell, and John Lovell. The old settlers on Long Run were: George Harvey, Jared Davis, Calvin Newton, Moses Newton, and William R. Burdick.

The first settlers in and around Sabinsville eastward to the township line were: Charles P. Douglass, Orrin Stebbins, Elijah Hancock, Thomas Strait, Thomas Eldridge, Lyman Hancock, Hiram K. Hill, Erastus G. Hill, Horace P. Hill, Zachariah Heminger, William Rogers, Roswell Rogers, Demarquis Thompson, Roswell Ackley, Frederick Swimelar, William Ladd, Oziel King, Dixon Southworth, Lovell Short, Renaldo Hawley, William A. Douglass, Freeman Wilcox, Alonzo G. Sabins, Cyrus Paddock, George Labar, William Labar, Charles Labar, Aaron Yale, Reuben Reynolds, Reese I. Reynolds, Hiram Reynolds.

The majority of the foregoing purchased parts of the Bingham Estate, the most of them devoting their attention to farming, clearing their fields of stumps and stones, setting orchards, and improving buildings.

Up until the time of its organization in 1850, this district was known as Middletown and belonged partly to Gaines Township and partly to Westfield. In an assessor’s list for the year 1838, we find the following residents of Gaines Township, who evidently owned land in what was later taken from Gaines, and together with territory taken from Westfield Township, became Clymer Township: —

Riley Burdick, John Benn, William Benn, John B. Benn, Sylvester Davy, George Harvey, William Larrison, David Rexford, Isaac Beach, John Blue.

In order to give the reader an idea of the rapid growth in population, we here give a list of male taxables of Clymer Township, for the year 1851-52, when the first assessment, after the township was organized, was made:--

John Ackley, Roswell Ackley, George Ackley, J. F. Allen, W. R. Burdick, Edmond Bristol, George 0. Bristol, George Briggs, Francis Briggs, Levi Blue, Enos Babcock, Simeon Babcock, John Brown, William Bradley, Willis Babcock, Washington Blue, Rockwell Bentley, Charles Burlingame, Hamilton Boardman, John Batey, Isaac Burnside, Seth Booth, Benoni Boardman, Samuel Briggs, Hiram Burdick, J. B. Benn, William Benn, J. M. Bush, Squire Briggs, Isaac Beach, Clark Beach, E. Y. Brown, Thomas Barber, J. B. Beach, Henry Brigham, Sylvenus Cole, Eli Chapman, F. W. Calkins, George Cass, Samuel Carlind, C. .D. Cameron, Sylvester Davy, George Davy, Jared Davis, John Davis, Alva Dickens, Robert Dickens, Charles P. Douglass, B. Dutcher, William Douglass, Horace Dimon, Thomas Eldridge, Jr., Horas Eldridge, Thomas Eldridge, Chester Ellsworth, Andrew Frazier, Ransom Freeman, Squire Gile, Philo Griffin, Silas Griffin, Daniel Gower, Charles Gum, Benjamin Groo, W. G. Groo, Peter Griffin, G. W. Huyler, George Huyler, Elmore Hackett, Lot Hackett, Burton Howe, George Hawley, Benjamin Howe, Elijah Hancock, J. W. Hancock, Lyman Hancock, E. G. Hill, Charles Hoig, Erastus Hill, H. K. Hill, Henry Hill, Zachariah Heminger, William Head, Job Head, Dr. J. W. Haner, James Hill, George Harvey, George Hurlburt, James Johnson, Alonzo King, Hiram King, H. King, A. King, Harley King, John King, Alfred King, Charles King, David Kilborn, Henry Larrison, Washington Larrison, William Lebar, George Lebar, Thompson Lebar, Amison Lebar, Charles Lebar, Chauncey Lebar, James Lovell, Peter Lovell, John Lovell, Nelson Lindsey, William Larrison, G. Larrison, George Larrison, William McNeil, Benjamin Madison, Henry McFall, Moses Newton, M. W. Newton, Samuel Niver, Norman Orvis, Andrew Ormes, Cyrus Paddock, D. A. Paddock, Lyman Pritchard, Pyre and Co., James Richards, Charles Richards, Willard Potter, Ira Potter, Orson Pemberton, Cheeney Pemberton, John Rushmore, William Rogers, LaVanson Rogers, Dennis Roberts, William Runnelis, Willard Rowland, Roselle Rogers, Silas Rushmore, James Reynolds Estate, Peter Rushmore, Joshua Rushmore, Jonas Schoonover, Thomas Schoonover, Christopher Schoonover, Hiram Schoonover, John Sykes, Charles Sykes, Charles Sothard, Dixson Southard, Chauncey Southard, C. V. Skelley, David Short, E. G. Smith, E. W. Smith, W. W. Smith, Marvin Swimelar, Frederic Swimelar, Thomas Strait, Stephen Strait, Orrin Stebbins, E. H. Stebbins, James Smith, Abram Smith, Peter Smith, A. G. Sabins, Henry Steele, E. F. Skinner, Nathaniel Skinner, James Scott, Levi Scott, Luke Scott, Rufus Scott, Charles Scott, Samuel Swimelar, C. R. Skinner, W. B. Skinner, D. W. Skinner, Samuel Scoville, Merritt Thompson, J. 0. Thompson, Caleb Trowbridge, H. E. Tanner, J. C. Tanner, Watson Trowbridge, Noah Weeks, Freeman Wilcox, White and Co., William Wright, Aaron Yale.

The population of Clymer Township, including Sabinsville, according to the census of 1880 was 1,121; the taxables numbered 374; the value of taxable real estate was $177,504.00 while the value of real estate exempt from taxation was $5,500.00. In 1948, the value of taxable real estate was $190,817.00.

One is safe in assuming that nearly every industry necessary to sustain life, was carried on in Clymer from the time of the first settlement. Miles from his neighbor, who was just as much isolated and handicapped as he, our pioneer, whether man or woman, had to be a person of resource, ingenuity, patience, and skill. His ability to stay on his claim, often the very lives of his family and himself, depended on a man’s resourcefulness and courage. It is noticeable, as one reads the story of the lives of these old settlers, that, while each was engaged first in clearing and improving his home site, almost every one of them. was adept at some special trade. One had learned the currier’s and tanner’s trade in his native state; another was an expert stonemason; a third, a metalworker and blacksmith; here two brothers were professional choppers, while a third, an adz-man, and so on down the list. This was a big advantage in opening up a new country, as "changing works" and "bees" were the order of the time. While Mr. Adzman squared and fitted logs for Mr. Chopper’s cabin, Mr. Chopper was busy felling and burning the trees on a patch of ground for Mr. Adzman’s crops. Then when all was in readiness, all hands for miles, turned out for the "raising bee", a day of hard work and an evening of fun, frolic, and feasting.

Saw mills, run by water power, were soon erected on Mill Creek and other swift streams, which enabled the settlers, as soon as their property permitted, to build framed dwellings and barns, though the last log house (which stood at the mouth of Frith Hollow, near Davis Station) was occupied until a few years ago, when it was torn down. Charles P. Douglas ran a saw mill, and Orrin Stebbins, Sr. and Elijah Hancock had a saw and gristmill, the first gristmill in the township. Both these mills were powered by water, and we find no record of a steam mill until 1873, when Elijah H. Stebbins and his brother-in-law, George Roberts, were partners in a steam saw and gristmill, which operated until 1893, when it burned. In 1884 Edwin B. Schott, a native of Waterloo, N. Y., located in Sabinsville, purchasing the Samuel Goodell property, where he operated a saw and feed mill, as well as a cheese factory which, at times, cared for the milk from 600 cows, until, in the fall of 1900, fire, the awful menace of all mill owners, razed the mill and an immense quantity of sawed lumber. Since that time, no stationary sawmill has been located in the township. A small saw mill, with planer and matcher and a shingle mill, has been operated by the Cole Brothers, (Herman and Charles) for the past quarter century, but because of the death of Herman and the poor health of his brother it has ceased operation.

At the present time, a grist mill, for the grinding of food for stock, and buckwheat flour, is owned by Gordon Clark, Mark Roberts, and Wallace Ackley; and operated by Gordon Clark.

The forest was a source of revenue. Deer and other wild game were plentiful, and the sugar maple was like manna in the desert. It provided the "sweet", so indispensable, and any surplus could always be bartered at the nearest store — Knoxville, twelve or fifteen miles away — for the essentials which could not be raised or made at home. Then, too, maple is fine lumber; and while lumbering was never a major industry (owing to the fact that the forests in Clymer were nearly all hardwood, and so were passed by for the more versatile pine and hemlock by the big lumber companies), mills, catering to the local trade, gave employment to many during the winters when work on farms was slack. Millions of feet of the finest kind of timber were necessarily piled and burned in the process of clearing the land for crops.

Ashes, from the burning of log heaps and fallows, could be sold for money, (a very scarce commodity), by hauling them to Lawrenceville or Painted Post, New York. and every township had one or more asheries or, "potash" where the lye was leeched from hard wood ashes, the moisture boiled away, and the resulting soda, known as "blacksalts" used as leavening in cooking, or sold. This product brought about 2 1-2 cents per pound and was much more easily transported to market. In Clymer, one ashery was located at a spring on Beach’s Corner, in Mixtown, and operated by the family of Isaac Beach for many years.

One of the first things most of our ancestors did, as soon as a patch of ground could be cleared, was to set out an orchard. This foresight resulted in an annual income of no mean proportions, for their sons as well as themselves. No finer, better-flavored fruit can be found than some of the old trees now fast disappearing, produced in such abundance. Until after the turn of the present century, hundreds of car loads of the finest kind of apples were shipped from our freight station to the cities of the east.

The Gurnee coal deposit covers about 400 acres, lying almost entirely in the northeastern corner of Gaines Township in what is known as the "Barrens". A small portion of this coal bed lies in southeastern Clymer and, as the region was much more easily reached by way of the moderate slope on the Clymer side than by the steeper one on the Gaines side of Pine Creek Mountain, the mines and their operation were about as much identified with Sabinsville as with Gaines.

In September of 1882, the Gaines Coal and Coke Company was incorporated, with a capital stock of $600,000 for the purpose of mining coal and other minerals in the counties of Tioga and Potter.

Mines were opened in the northeastern corner of Gaines Township at an elevation of 2100 feet above tide water, and a railroad, four and one-half miles long, built to connect with the Addison and Pennsylvania at the mouth of Blue Run. A company store was established and in 1883 a post office, named Gurnee, was established with Rufus H. Wombaugh, one of the stock holders, as postmaster. For a few years nearly one hundred miners were employed, but the coal deposits failed to prove as extensive as expected, the force was gradually decreased until, in 1895, an inspector’s report lists a total of sixteen men employed in the mines and outside, who worked 162 days of the year mining 6,511 tons of coal. This is a far cry from the peak production when train load after train load of "black gold" rolled down the mountainside. As production dwindled, the mines changed hands several times. Perhaps the best remembered superintendent was Patsy Smith, who held sway during the best years of the mines.

About 1913 a new vein was opened following tests with diamond drills, on lands belonging to New York parties. James McCullough was in charge 0f operations; new buildings were erected, and for a time it looked as though Gurnee was headed for another boom, as various industries, including Eberle Tannery at Westfield and Rieppel’s Foundry at Cowanesque, were supplied by truck with coal. But, as before, the vein soon ran out. Farmers in the area have at various times opened small drifts to supply the coal trade, and at present some strip mining is being done, but the days of coal mining as a paying industry are evidently at an end in Clymer.

As has always been the case, agriculture is the main industry of the township. Dairy farming is largely carried on, fluid milk being shipped from plants in Galeton and Westfield to New York City.

Wherever our forefathers settled in America, we find that one of their first considerations was the education of their young, so it is not surprising to note that the same held true in Clymer.

The first school house was erected near Beach’s Corner in Mixtown in 1826, six years after the first permanent settler arrived. As we have record of only two families at that time (Simon Rixford and Rufus Scott), it is amusing to speculate on the enrollment of pupils in that school. No record is found of the early teachers there.

In 1836 a log school was built on the hill a mile west of Sabinsville. The early teachers there were Alonzo G. Sabin, Ambrose Close, Martin Purple, Alma Davy, and Ann Benn. As the township became settled new districts were added, until in 1874 we had nine schools open six months of the year, though in three separate terms of two months each, often employing a different teacher for each term. At that time the tax levy was 4 mills for school purposes and 4 mills for building purposes, with an appropriation from the state of $150.00. The enrollment was 169 pupils; while in 1882 the schools numbered 10 with enrollment of 299 male 164, female 135.

In 1906 the old two-room school which stood near the western end of the town was abandoned, and a four room brick building was erected on a new school site where E. B. Schott’s mill formerly stood. For three years, three teachers were employed in the three rooms utilized and in 1910, one year of high school work was added to the curriculum and a fourth teacher hired. In 1912-13 the first district school was discontinued, the pupils being transported from Elklick District to Sabinsville. Gradually other districts were brought under consolidation until in 1935, the last Beach School at Mixtown, was discontinued.

Meanwhile, the school had grown scholastically to a three year high in 1914, to a four year, with agriculture, homemaking, and music in 1936, with a faculty increased. to nine regular instructors. At this time a brick and concrete three story addition was constructed, attached to the original buildings: Rest room facilities were provided by means of a flowing well on the school property. The playground was enlarged, leveled and equipped. An excellent cafeteria furnishes lunches at minimum cost to the school personnel.

This setup continued until 1948-49, when further consolidation seemed feasible. A joint school district, consisting of Brookfield, Clymer, Deerfield Townships and Knoxville Borough, to be known as the "Cowanesque Valley Joint School District" was organized with George H. Kline of Knoxville Borough School, as supervising principal. The first nine grades of Clymer and Westfield townships are taught at Sabinsville, the three upper grades being transported to Knoxville High School, where it is hoped the larger classes will result in advantages impracticable in small groups. Clymer Township Grade School is under the principalship of Herbert Michaels, assisted by Mesdames Doris Griffin, Myra Hancock, Ethel Balch, Alberta Patterson and Leah Douglass. In 1948-49 the enrollment of pupils in Clymer Township numbered 120.

The tax levy is 28 mills for administration, 7 mills for the purpose of retiring bonds, and $5 per capita tax.

The office of Justice of the Peace has been filled by the following named persons W. A. Douglass 1851; reelected 1858, 1863; James Pritchard, 1853; Daniel Holmes, 1861; V. R. Gee, 1868; reelected .1873-78; Ira S. Stocum, 1873; re-elected 1878, 1883, 1888, 1893; J. L. Thompson, 1882; re-elected 1887, 1896; Alfred King, 1892; John Davis, 1893; James L. Thompson; M. W. Butts; Everett Larrison; James L. Lattimer; Reese Berdanier.

The first church building in Clymer stood on the present site of Ackley Cemetery, 1 mile east of Sabinsville. — The Methodist Episcopal Church of Clymer — organized in 1853. A building was erected in 1856 at a cost of $1100.00 and dedicated in December 1859. The church being in the Westfield charge, the same ministers served both churches. Among the early ministers who preached in the township were Elder Conant and Rev. Francis Strang, father of Hon. Butler B. Strang. In 1888, a new church was built on Maple street in Sabinsville and dedicated on December 18 of that year, but unfortunately was destroyed by fire on December 9, 1893. Since that time the organization has lapsed, some of the members uniting with other churches, and some attending the M. E. Church at Westfield.

Clymer Baptist Church was organized in March 1869 in the Methodist Church in the Ackley school district, by Rev. William Owen, evangelist. Among the early members were: O. B. Colony, Barton Morse and his wife, Mrs. Martha Reynolds, Mrs. Estoria Frazier, Mrs. S. J. Ackley, Noah Weeks and his wife, Asa Gile and wife, and Mrs. Betsy Davis. In 1871, the congregation began the erection of a house of worship in Sabinsville, which was completed, at a cost of $3,000.00 and much donated work, in 1877. The same year it was dedicated. The first deacons were G. B. Colony, Willard Brown, and L. H. Knapp. The following ministers have served this church as pastors: B. W. Owens, Orson Schoonover, V. M. Seagers, E. K. Barnell, G. G. Fessender, C. A. Diffin, P. F. Reynolds, S. L. Bouvier, Mr. Lindsley, Mr. Smith, J. Mullany, A. W. Mettler, S. A. Field, Mr. Allen, S. L. Bouvier, F. W. Reynolds, C. B. Stevens, W. H. Playfoot, H. P. Glaister, L. E. Catlin, F. M. Quell, W. L. Johnson, A. W. Botirne, W. H. Stevens, Paul de Meurers, G. L. Vaughn, Clifford Weber. The present incumbent is Cecil Palm.

The Free Will Baptist Church of Sabinsville was organized in June, 1895 by Rev. J. C. Warren of Keeneyville. For a time meetings were held in the Baptist Church, but the membership and attendance were small and the organization lapsed.

The Church of God in Christ was established in Sabinsville in 1914. Meetings for worship are held in the homes of the members.

Sabinsville Cemetery is situated on the southern edge of the village. The original plot was donated by Orrin Stebbins, Sr., to be a free burying ground forever. As time elapsed and the space became inadequate, lots have been sold by adjoining land owners. It is incorporated under the name, Sabinsville Cemetery Association, Inc. The Ackley Cemetery, situated southeast of Sabinsville, is incorporated. West Beech Woods Cemetery, one and one-half miles south of Sabinsville; Bristol burying ground in Mixtown; Labar Cemetery on Mud Road; Lovell Cemetery on Potter brook; Barber Cemetery at Mixtown; Swimelar burial plot, north of town and the Short burial plot on the extreme eastern edge of Clymer, are all more or less family burying grounds, and are no longer used for new burials. Larrison Cemetery, near Lansing, is still utilized, though mainly for members of families whose ancestors are buried there. In each of these places of burial rest the remains of the early settlers in the immediate neighborhood.

Before Sabinsville supported a resident physician, doctors from Westfield attended the ills and ailments of our community. In pioneer days, doctors had to be a hardy lot, traveling on horseback or afoot, through forests and streams, day or night, over a wide area infested with wild animals of various species. In fact, records show that at least one Tioga County doctor lost his life in performance of his duty when, in 1847, Dr. F. Reinwald of Liberty was killed by a panther.

Sabinsville’s first resident physician was Dr. J. M. Haner. Other early practitioners were Dr. Harvey Leach, Dr. Seamans, Dr. W. R. Francis, and Dr. R. Shaw.

In 1880, Dr. Thomas A. Bair, a native of Westmoreland County and a graduate of Jefferson Medical College, located in Sabinsville, marrying Ellen Rexford of Clymer. He engaged in active practice until his death in 1918. Since. that time our community has had no resident physician.

In 1892 Dr. A. M. Greenfield located here, but soon removed to Gaines, Pa., where he was a successful practitioner for many years.

Since 1880, several societies have been organized in Clymer and either prospered or lapsed. Of the latter, we make mention of Knights of Honor; Equitable Aid Union; H. C. Ackley Post, Grand Army of the Republic; Clymer Tent, Knights of the Macabees; Sabinsville Hive, Ladies of the Macabees.

At present the active societies embrace the following:

Sabinsville Grange No. 989 was organized December 15, 1890. Present membership comprises the majority of the farm population. They own a two story hall in the village, the first floor of which is used for social purposes, also polling place for elections, while the second floor is occupied by their lodge rooms. Meetings are held regularly every second week.

The Sabinsville Cemetery Association, Inc., a nonprofit corporation, was formed in August, 1940 for the improvement and upkeep of Sabinsville Cemetery. A charter was obtained and bylaws adopted under which lot owners were charged an annual fee for the care of their lots. In 1944 perpetual care was instituted, under which system, in return for one payment, lot owners are assured perpetual care for their lots. To date, the sum of $1200 has been received for this purpose, and the money invested in U. S. Gov’t .Bonds, only the interest being used. First directors of the organization were: Albert Karhan, Luell J. Roberts, Arlie Ransom, Rex Bair, Lena V. Baker, Nellie E. Clark, Helen Butler, with Albert Karhan as president and superintendent of operations. Secretary and Treasurer was Ellis Williamson, and Claire Rushmore, Sexton. Present officers include F. M. Whitaker, President; Arlie Ransom, Mark Roberts, Leland Bartoo, Lyle Warren, Lena V. Baker, Nellie E. Clark; Helen Butler. Secretary, Lena Baker; Treasurer, Frances Warren.

From the start the lot owners have cooperated very enthusiastically, with resulting success to the venture. The recent purchase of a two acre plot adjoining the present cemetery, assures ample space for future interments.

The Modern Woodmen of America, a fraternal insurance organization, has been in operation in Clymer for many years. At one time they numbered fifty or more members, but present membership is seventeen. The order holds no meetings, dues being payable to George D. Wilson, secretary.

Long Run Fish and Game Club, Inc. (By Burt L. Earl — No. 25)

At the time Clymer Township was settled, hills and valleys were heavily forested with both hard and soft woods, our streams were filled with fish and our forests with game; but as civilization advanced our forests were cut down, our streams nearly fished out and small game badly depleted. Still the number of fishermen and hunters increased.

It was in the middle twenties (about 1926) that a group of sportsmen, numbering about 25, met at the B. & S. depot in Sabinsville and organized what is now the Long Run Fish and Game Club, Inc. Its purpose was to propagate fish and game and to help protect what we already have. The club is now affiliated with nineteen other clubs in the county, with a membership of about 4000.

Sabinsville post office was established in 1849, under the administration of Zachary Taylor, with Charles P. Douglas as postmaster. He held the position for sixteen years, and was succeeded by Elijah H. Stebbins, who served twelve years. Succeeding postmasters have been Lewis J. Stone, George W. Douglas (12 years), Charles M. Davis, Charles B. Gee, and the present official, George D. Wilson.

Lansing post office at Davis Station was established in 1868, with John M. Davis as postmaster. Mr. Davis, who operated a general store in connection with the office held the post continuously until his death in 190l. William Ritter and George Belcher were succeeding postmasters until the building was destroyed by fire in 1909 or 1910, since which time the territory has been serviced by Rural Free Delivery out of Sabinsville.

A post office was opened at Mixtown some time between 1840 and 1845, and was discontinued in October 1894. Among those who filled the office of postmaster were Christopher Schoonover, James Pritchard, W. 0. Bristol, J. H. Rushmore and Eli D. Scott. In 1896 an office, given the name of Clymer, was established in the home of Vernette Johnston to replace the Mixtown office. Mr. Johnston acted as postmaster until the coming of the R. F. D. in 1901.

Azelta was the name given to a post office established near the head of Jemison Creek about three miles southeast of Sabinsville on June 2, 1892. Wilmot H. Abbey kept the post office and a small store until his death in 1897, and was succeeded by Edward Thompson, who held the post until the office was closed in 1901. Both Clymer and Azelta received mail delivery three times a week by stage, Clymer from Potter brook, Azelta from Sabinsville.

Before the coming of the railroad in 1882, there were two post routes through the township, though we have been unable to learn their exact course. The first mail into Sabinsville was carried by horse back from Westfield via Sabinsville, Mixtown, Sunderlinville to Pike’s Mills in Potter County by Samuel Losey, who it is claimed, lived to be over one hundred years old.

The first store in Sabinsville was built by Butler B. Strang and stocked with goods by him and his father-in-law, Charles P. Douglass. The business was managed by Mr. Douglass. The next store was built and operated by D. A. Tooker. Both he and Mr. Douglass kept hotels as well. Other early merchants were Martin Purple, Elijah H. Stebbins, Lewis Stone, John and Frank Goodspeed, and M. K. Beach.

Goodall and Tooker owned and operated a store on the N. E. corner of Main and Church Streets as early as 1850. Later, this store was run by Martin Purple, then sold to Ira Baker. In 1888 a disastrous fire destroyed the building, along with three others standing across Main Street. Mr. Baker rebuilt in 1889. Later occupants were Earl Southworth, B. S. Ackley, Lena V. Baker (1900-1911), George D. Wilson, and Agusta Gee. The building is still standing, though no longer used as a store.

Lewis Stone owned and operated a drug store at the south end of the bridge in Sabinsville. Later, Mr. Stone erected a large building a few rods south of his location (corner of Main and Gaines Streets), selling his first store to George W. Douglass for a post office. Later, the same building was owned by Wm. Potter who operated a barber shop, shoe shop and a pool room. It is now used as a dwelling.

Lewis Stone sold his second store to Roland R. Kelts in 1896. Kelts built a two story, forty foot addition on the rear of this building and was succeeded in 1898 by Burt A. Gee and Charles Chamberlain. Later, Gee bought Chamberlain’s interest adding another two story addition and equipping same with an elevator, operating from the basement to the second floor. Later merchants here were Carl Kelts, Albert Stoddard, Otto C. Mosch, Augusta Gee, and Ellis Williamson. The building is now used as a warehouse and an apartment house.

Dr. Shaw began the erection of a store building on Church Street to be used as a drug store and dwelling, but died before completing it. It was sold to Edgar Bevier, who operated a hardware store and a livery on the premises. Other hardware merchants have been Edward Reynolds, Ira L. Warren; and the present owner, Lyle L. Warren, who has recently remodeled the building into a modern hardware and farm implement store.

A building was erected by Henry Baker on Church Street about 1880, which was occupied by Viola Baker, who ran a novelty store until 1887, after which it was used as a post office and general store by Charles Davis. Other merchants there were Marcene Butts, Nellie Nichols, Frank Wilcox, and Ralph Tubbs. About 1902, the site was purchased by the Patrons of Husbandry. The second floor is used as a meeting place for that order, and for the Long Run Fish and Game Club. The first floor is used as recreation rooms and as the polling place for Clymer Township.

Three buildings, with their contents, have burned on the site of the present post office.

In 1880, a store owned and operated by Elijah H. Stebbins was destroyed. In 1888 a block of buildings, which extended from the bridge to the present post office site, was destroyed by fire. These buildings were occupied on the first floor by M. K. Beach, John and Frank Goodspeed, G. H. Stebbins, and Wayne Smith, with law offices and an opera house on the second floors. Two business places with dwellings attached, which stood across the street, caught fire from the flames and were also destroyed. These were owned by Horatio Chisom and Ira Baker, respectively. In them were operated a meat market and a millinery shop by Mr. and Mrs. Chisom, and a general merchandise store by Mr. Baker.

Shortly after 1900 John Bierley constructed a wooden store and cigar factory on the site of this former block of stores. This building burned in 1922, while owned and occupied by George D. Wilson, general merchant and postmaster. The same year, Mr. Wilson put up a small building to house the post office; later moving it back, to make room for the present modern cinder block store building. Mr. Wilson continued the business as it was until 1946, when he sold the mercantile business to Wilson and Eldridge, still retaining the post office in the building. Mr. Wilson is about to complete his 35th year as the Sabinsville postmaster. Wilson and Eldridge operate a large motor traveling store in connection with their business.

A store, built on North Main Street, by Amasa Parker, was occupied by him and later by Leon Whitaker, who conducted a jewelry store. It has since been remodeled into a dwelling and headquarters for local fire warden. A large building near the railroad has been, at various times, undertaking parlors, an implement store, a cheese factory, and at present is utilized as a warehouse by Ferris B. Hazlett in his business as a hay and livestock broker.

Shortly after the first settlers arrived on the site of Sabinsville, a hotel was erected on the south east corner of Main and Church Streets by D. A. Tooker. This hostelry was later run by a Mr. White. A fire destroyed this building and in 1888 a fine three story building was erected by John Eldridge, who purchased the site and conducted a hotel there for some years. Later landlords were M. K. Beach, Butler George, a Mr. Parker, Lester W. Rice (21 years), Adelbert A1len, and Frank Morton. In 1914, during Mr. Morton s occupancy, the building burned to the ground.

On this former hotel site, after having occupied the Gee store since 1909, Carl Kelts started the erection of’ a modern department store in 1916. The building, of tile blocks, 36 by 100 feet, with two stories and basement was completed so that it was opened by Kelts in January, 1917. Kelts continued this business until October 1936, when the business was sold to Arthur and Lawrence Baumunk, who have since successfully continued the business, under the name of Baumunk Brothers. They have added two large motor "Traveling Stores", which serve the territory over a radius of 25 miles.

The building in Sabinsville, now known as the "beehive", was originally built as a dwelling by Solomon Rowland, who later built additions on both sides and conducted a hotel there. In 1893 the property was bought by M. K. Beach, who continued the hotel. After its purchase in 1901 by Sophie Churchill, in 1907 by Burt A. Gee, and in 1908 by Nancy Rushmore, apartments were let. In 1915, Fred Kirk of Cross Forks, Pa. purchased the property and for one year operated a hotel; then, in 1916 he sold to Burt A. Gee who in turn sold to Mansel Schoonover in 1918. In 1934 the property was sold by the Schoonover heirs to the present owner, Lena V. Baker, and is rented as an apartment house.

A steam powered feed and flour mill was erected near the western limit of Sabinsville, about 1895 or 1896, by Millard and Bert Clark. For a time both buckwheat and wheat flours were made here, as well as stock feed, but unfortunately the mill was destroyed by fire.

Another building was shortly erected and was operated by Charles D. and Herman Cole. Later, in 1902 Cole Brothers were succeeded by Gury H. Stebbins and Charles S. Chamberlain, who added a saw mill. About 1907 this partnership was dissolved; Charles Chamberlain left the firm and for several years Delbert Ellis operated the plant, then reduced to a feed mill, for G. H. Stebbins, who eventually sold it to Burt A. Gee. New machinery was ordered but before it arrived the mill and its contents was mysteriously burned. Incendiarism was suspected but never proved. However, as Mr. Gee was unable to finance the cost of a new building, together with the new machinery, a stock company was formed, and incorporated as the Sabinsville Milling Co., Inc., with the following initial stockholders: Burt A. Gee, George A. Stebbins, Adelbert A. Roberts, G. Roy Ackley, John W. Woodcock, Carl L. Kelts, Luell J. Roberts, Charles S. Chamberlain, Ira L. Warren and Albert Karhan. The new company was incorporated in 1918.

After about a year, Albert Karhan retired from the company and sold his stock to Gordon D. Clark who at that time was employed at the mill.

An innovation of the new mill was an engine powered by natural gas, a big improvement over the former coal burning one.

During successive years the following stockholders retired from the corporation, selling their equity in the company to the corporation, the shares to be held as treasury stock. None of this stock was ever reissued:

Burt A. Gee, Charles S. Chamberlain, J. W. Woodcock, Carl L. Kelts, Ira L. Warren (by his heir, Lyle Warren).

George A. Stebbins eventually purchased the shares of A. A. Roberts, from his widow, Etta Roberts, and transferred his own stock, together with the Roberts’ shares to his two sons, Joe Stebbins and Milford H. Stebbins.

In 1947, the remaining five stockholders came to a decision to sell the mill and it was advertised and sold at public auction, Wallace M. Ackley (heir of G. Roy Ackley) being the successful bidder. An arrangement was made whereby the shares of Joe and Milford Stebbins were bought and a new partnership was formed, consisting of Gordon D. Clark, Wallace M. Ackley, and Mark J. Roberts, the latter two being sons of original stockholders. The business, as formerly, is conducted under the name of "Sabinsville Milling Co., Inc", with Gordon Clark as operator and secretary, Walter Smith employed as assistant, and Wallace M. Ackley, Sr., treasurer.

It may be stated that Adelbert A. Roberts served in a mill on this site over a period of 26 years.

A large two story building on South Main Street, originally built by George W. Roberts and operated as a blacksmith and wagon shop, first by him and later by Romaine Doty, was purchased by Luell J. Roberts and converted into a modern garage and filling station. Since his death in 1945, it has been owned and operated by his son, Mark J. Roberts.

A large garage was erected on North Main Street in 1921 by F. Marion Whitaker and successfully managed by him until failing health forced his retirement. The property is now owned and managed by Richard Rushmore.

Cecil Palm has recently equipped and opened a print shop in the building on Gaines Street formerly operated by the late Llewllyn Roberts as a filling station.

A large two story residence on Locust Street, erected by Charles N. Butts, later owned and occupied by Michael W. Butts, and by Roy George, was in 1944 purchased by Mr. and Mrs. Lovell A. Short and has since been a home for aged persons.

A small store on the corner of Church and Maple Streets, formerly owned and operated by Arthur Seamans, has been enlarged for a dwelling.

A store and dwelling, located on Main Street, owned by Frank L. Sears and operated by Daniel Ingham, burned in 1900, together with a small business building across on a side street built by George W. Douglass and for many years used as a post office. Neither building was rebuilt.

Two business blocks on the northwest corner of Church and Maple Streets, occupied by M. K. Beach, general merchandise, and Flynn and Potter, barbers, burned in 1893 and were never replaced.

The site is now occupied by a monument of native sandstone containing a bronze plaque honoring the names of Clymer Township residents who served in World Wars I and II.
 
 

Small town Americans who have not yet reached middle age have great difficulty in realizing how much convenience has been added to life in their communities during the past fifty years. At the beginning of the present century, most rural towns were without gas or electricity; cooking and heating were done with coal or wood as fuel, and for a month or more in spring and fall, travel was almost impossible because of knee-deep mud and deeper slough holes. Homes, business places and, occasionally, streets were inadequately lighted by not too safe kerosene lamps, which were later (about 1895) supplanted by still less safe gasoline.

Provided a small town was so fortunate as to be located on the railroad, a means of quick communication was at hand through the telegraph. Otherwise, the mails were the only means of communication, in or out. The telephone, outside of large towns, was only a dream of the more progressive, while radio or wireless telegraphy were not even dreams.

The first telephone line into Sabinsville was built about 1900 from Westfield, where a small exchange was located. On the front of Gee and Chamberlain’s general store, the now familiar blue sign ornamented by a white bell, enlightened the world as to where telephone service was available. In 1905, Courtney Howland, of Phillips Station, inaugurated a "Farmer’s Line", whereby, by a sort of cooperative system, telephone service was brought to nearly every farmhouse in the territory. This convenient, time saving service was later extended to embrace practically the whole of Tioga County but, as regulations were tightened, these lines fell into disuse or were absorbed by the Bell system.

Natural gas was piped from Westfield to Sabinsville by the North Penn Gas Co. in 1903 but, because of the high cost of building branch lines, was never extended into the outlying districts. However, the majority of rural home owners now use "bottled gas" or electricity for cooking, and fuel oil for heating purposes.

It was not until 1928 or ‘29 that Clymer Township began to have hope of getting improved highways. At that time a three-mile strip of concrete pavement was built, extending from the borough limits in Westfield up Mill Creek into the northern edge of Clymer Township. Later, a small section at a time, in the years 1932-33-34, a macadam extension was constructed southward, until connection was made with U. S. Route 6 at Gaines, Pa. In 1934 a macadam road, one and one half miles in length, was built from Main Street in Sabinsville, eastward on Church Street to a point opposite the Ackley Cemetery. A one mile extension, ending at the foot of Short hill on Jemison Creek is now under construction.

In 1931, the Northern Pennsylvania Power Co. constructed an electric service line into Sabinsville and, in 1938, through the Rural Electrification Administration, electric service was made available to all residents of the township.

The late Charles L. Pattison of Elkland, Pa. was the prime mover in the organization of the Addison and Pennsylvania Railroad Company, in 1882 and was president of the Pennsylvania division of the road, to the time of his death in 1896. The section from Addison to Westfield, which enters Pennsylvania at Nelson Station, was completed and the first train of passenger cars run between those towns on November 27, 1882, within ninety days from the time the work was commenced. It was extended to Gaines, Pa. by January 1, 1883, and later up the valley of Pine Creek, to Galeton in Potter County. The building of the railroad brought a small local labor boom as it moved up the valley. Farmers neglected their work to reap the harvest of higher pay for their teams and themselves on the many hauling, grading and scraping jobs, incident to the building of the new road bed. Most of the hand labor was done by Italians, fresh from their native land, unable to speak or understand a word of English. As the work progressed, their camp was moved with it and for a time they were housed in the "Wigwam", a long, one-story building, which stood between the swing bridge and the railroad in Sabinsville. When they moved into town, ‘twas no trucks for their ride. Lumber wagons with double boxes, drawn by horses transported the workers, standing shoulder to shoulder, as many as could possibly be loaded.

It is told that no one man of them ever left their camp, or entered a store alone. What must have been their thoughts and feelings about this strange, new, rushing country, so different from their own warm, leisurely Italy. Perhaps we get the answer in the fact that so many of them stayed in America, only long enough to acquire a modest savings, then returned home, where a dollar went farther and life moved at a slower pace. As they could not understand the value of our money, or make change, their employers made arrangements with stores to furnish their living supplies, and the cost was deducted from their pay. At evening, a long line streamed out of their camp and, single file, wound its way in and out of a store, each man making his purchase, then stepping into line for the return trip to camp and safety. In Sabinsville, their base of supplies was the store kept by Ira Baker (Mr. Baker also acted as first stationmaster when the line was opened to traffic. Their "Boss", an English-speaking Italian, often bought supplies such as meat, vegetables, and milk from the farmers along the line. A story is told of their method of preparing a hog for cooking. A fire of brush was started; then when it was burning fiercely, the carcass was tossed into the midst of the flames. After a thorough singeing, the hog was washed and dressed in the usual way. It is said that the rind was white and clean after the smoke and ashes were washed away, and surely their method was, at least, as sanitary as the American way of scalding and re-scalding in the same unsavory hot water.

The roadbed was what was known as "narrow gauge." That is, the distance between the rails was 36 inches instead of the standard gauge. This made switching of cars to other lines impossible and necessitated the removal of one set of trucks and installation of another, underneath every car that left this line, or came onto it, loaded or empty, at Addison, where it connected with the Erie. In 1895 the narrow gauge was changed to standard width.

A four and one half mile spur was built from the mouth of Blue Run (between Davis Station and Gaines) to the coal mines at Gurnee, up an almost unbelievably steep grade and over hair raising wooden trestles. The road bed can still be found though the track has long since been removed. Many and many a tall tale is told of the thrills and narrow escapes encountered on the "Gurnee Run."

The regular crew at one time consisted of Conductor "Pompy" Dodge (so called because of his affection for his wonderful pompadour hair cut), Engineer, Charlie Cook; Fireman, Del Scutt; Brakeman, Frank (Snubber) McCollum and Jay (Buffalo) French. How "Buffalo", came by his nickname has not been disclosed, but the method by which "Snubber" acquired his, makes an interesting story. It seems that it was regular procedure to sand the rails on the trip to the top of the mountain, thus assuring a better grip for the wheels or the loaded cars on the way down. Should a shower heavy enough to wash the sand from the rails, come up while they were at the top, the trip down was apt to be a short one. On one such ride, in spite of sanding by the engineer and of brakes set as tightly as they could be, the heavy train tore down the mountainside and over the bridges, faster and faster. The terrified McCollum, after doing all in his power to halt the progress of the juggernaut, clung for his very life to the useless brake wheel shouting at the top of his lungs, "Snub’er, Snub’er, Snub’er!" His colleagues, while very much in accord with his sentiments, did not soon let him forget his nervous break down.

Another story relates how Pompy Dodge, whose spare time was usually spent in front of a small mirror fastened on a wall of the caboose, combing and admiring his pompadour, was one day, riding on the top of a car load of railroad ties, as the long train rolled down the steep track, when as they neared the "big trestle" the ties, due to faulty binding, began to slip, one after another, off the car, to go bounding down the mountain side. For a time, Pompey watched, fascinated and powerless of action, as more and more of the ties took the leap. Then — suddenly realizing that his turn was shortly coming, he began to look for a way out. The "big trestle" high over Blue Run Gorge, level with the tops of trees growing from the bottom of’ the canyon, was just ahead. As they rolled onto the bridge, with the ties under his feet quivering for the plunge, Pompy — looking death squarely in the eye, jumped into the branches of an evergreen tree below him and, miraculously unhurt, shinned safely to the ground, amid a shower of falling railroad ties. It was claimed by his fellow workers that when later he rejoined the crew, after a walk down the hill, though rather bruised and travel stained, Pompy was still training his pompadour.

The gauge of the Gurnee track was never changed, so after the main line was widened, the equipment was moved to the mouth of Blue Run, where trucks were changed under the cars destined for the Gurnee Run. In passing, it is interesting to note that "Buffalo" French is the only man living today who worked on the old "narrow gauge." Mr. French followed our railroad through all its vicissitudes until he was retired. He now divides his time between his friends in Pennsylvania and in California, where he has two sons.

In 1895 the Buffalo and Susquehanna Railroad, usually spoken of as the "Goodyear Line" was opened from Keating Summit in Potter County to Ansonia connecting with the Fall Brook (now New York Central) there, and in 1898 the Addison and Pennsylvania was combined with the other road and the name "Buffalo and Susquehanna" given to it all.

Now followed a time of great development. The system was extended to Wellsville, N. Y., to Austin, Pa, to Cross Fork, Pa., and down Sinnamahoning Creek, up Bennett’s Branch as far south as DuBois. These lines were built primarily as a means of transporting logs, lumber, coal and coke, but passenger service was also excellent. For years, four passenger trains each way ran between Galeton, Pa., and Addison, N. Y., every week day, and service on other divisions was equally good. The switch at the summit in Clymer Township, was a mile in length, connected to the main track at both ends, while the switch at Sabinsville extended across the east branch of Mill Creek. Everywhere along its 300 or more miles of track there was the same activity. Lumber, logs and coal poured out of this territory in never ending streams, and it seemed as though the supply would never be exhausted.

In 1906 the B. & S. undertook what was probably its most expensive engineering job, a line running from Wellsville to Buffalo, N. Y. The line was completed and then, through some flaw in procedure, the expected franchise into the city of Buffalo could not be obtained and the line was soon abandoned and scrapped. At about the same time the big hemlock mills were moved from Cross Fork and Galeton. That was a sad day for the Buffalo & Susquehanna. With the bulk of the freight traffic gone, the cost of maintaining their far flung lines was too great for profitable operation, so in 1932 the entire system was sold to the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company. Most of the lines were taken up until now the original 46 miles of the Addison and Pennsylvania is all that is left, with four regular trains daily, two passenger, two local freight, running over the road, the only railroad passenger service in Tioga County today.

Station masters who served in Clymer Township’s three offices were the following:

At Sabinsville — First Ira Baker, acted as freight agent until regular passenger service was inaugurated and a telegraph installed. His office stood at the railroad crossing in the west end of town. Others who acted in the capacity of telegraph operator, ticket, express and station agent were: Melvin Stebbins, Gerald Stebbins, Edwin Bevier, Almond J. Burger, Lee Yale, Walter Hepworth; Lynn Yale, and Jos. Mahalish..

Operators in the night station at Summit were: Miss Alta Bevier, (who was also substitute operator for the entire division, Arthur Locke and C. Park Streeter. Davis Station in Long Run employed Ralph Davis, Lillian Fish and Charles Ross. These operators were withdrawn about 1912, Davis Station being a flag stop and Summit having telephone connection with the dispatcher’s office at Galeton.

Due to the competition of trucks and buses, the B. & 0. R. R. a few years ago removed the station building at Sabinsville. However, the station is still a regular stop for passengers, mail and freight.

In 1930 a well was drilled for the discovery of natural gas on the Frank Ackley farm by the New York State Natural Gas Corp., formerly the Lycoming Producing Corp., east of Sabinsville, but this venture turned out to be a "duster" or non producer. Then all leases held by the gas companies in the Clymer area were returned to landowners with the thought that gas was a minus quantity. In 1935, Mr. Jack B. Gaddis, pioneer geologist of the North Penn Gas Co., after a general geographical survey of the Clymer area, made a location on the Ray French farm, due west of Sabinsville and on August 19, 1935 a producing well was drilled in and paying gas was located four feet in the Oriskany sand, with a production of 5 9/10 million cubic feet daily. Much credit is given to Jack Gaddis and his associates for their perseverance and knowledge of the "Sabinsville Anticline."

On February 4th, 1936 a location was made by Gaddis on the Albert Karhan lease, and on April 10, 1936 another producing well was brought in with an open flow capacity of eighteen million cubic feet per day. A few days later, a location was made on the George Stebbins lease, northeast of the village, which well, when drilled in, was the largest (43 million) producing gas well east of the Mississippi river.

Other producing wells in the area were the "pooled" wells, where several lot owners joined together to share the profits of production. These wells included the James Lattimer, Harry Gee, Ellis Williamson and Oscar Owens. Still other wells drilled in and producing were Otto Burnside No.1 and No.2, J. L. Trimmer, L. J. Roberts, Andrew Stahli, Francis Johnson, and Cass Ackley.

In 1935 the late Mr. J. F. Eberle, co-owner of the Eberle Tanning Co., of Westfield, Pa., one of the main promoters in the gas field, took over the assignment from Ferris B. Hazlett of a gas pool Hazlett had formed of town lots not pooled by any other company. This town pool was directed and established so that each town lot owner who entered the pool would receive his proportionate share of the natural gas royalties therefrom. Payment on this pool extended over a period of 46 months on a monthly payment plan, and paid these lot owners approximately $100,000.

The residents of the Clymer gas area have enjoyed the benefits of the "gas boom", as is evidenced in our community today in home and farm improvements.

During the height of the Sabinsville "gas boom", the New York State Natural Gas Corp. built a large pipe line to this field and erected a large compressor station near the northern limits of the town on Route 349. This furnished a market and transportation for the gas produced by the various operators. This company also brought direct telephone connections from its main office at Pittsburgh to the station here. The operation of this station, together with the drilling operations, brought several new families to the town and also provided work for many local men. Due to the shrinking production of the field and the recent mild winter the plant has not been operating during the past few months. However, the company has recently been renewing leases in the Sabinsville field preparatory to using this field as a storage basin for gas, to be used if and when a shortage occurs. Therefore, is assumed that the station will later be again put in operation.

There is record of only one of Clymer’s early settlers having fought in the Revolutionary war. The little we can learn about his life follows: In 1790, the valley of Troop’s Creek was surveyed under warrants issued to James Stewart. All remaining land north of the Cowanesque River in Deerfield Township was surveyed in 1794 under warrants issued to James Strawbridge. Mr. Strawbridge gave a distinguishing name to each tract surveyed, such as "James’ Choice", "Pleasant Garden", "Blooming Grove" "Fertility", "Delight", and it is the last named in which we are interested. "Delight" extended from Academy Corners westerly to the Westfield Township line, and in 1799 Simon Rixford, or Rexford, purchased land lying from the mouth of Troups’ Creek northerly along its bank to what is now the borough limits, in breadth 80 to 90 rods. Mr. Rixford had been a soldier in the Revolutionary War and was afflicted with deafness caused by his close proximity to the artillery during battle. He enlisted at age fifteen and served seven years. He came from Winchester, Massachusetts. He had five oxen and with the help of his two sons, Asahel and David, made a considerable clearing, upon which he had good crops. While residing at "Delight" he married Mrs. Bristol, a widow who, with her son George 0. Bristol, came in 1812 from Sherburne, Chenango County, New York and settled at Knoxville. In 1820 Mr. Rixford, with his wife, one son, David, and stepson, George 0. Bristol, removed to Clymer Township where he purchased 300 acres of land from James Mix, who, the first settler in the township, had located two years previously (in 1818). Here Simon Rixford passed his remaining years and together with his wife, is buried in the Bristol Cemetery on a corner of the farm.

At least two men who later became citizens of Clymer fought in the war of’ 1812. There may have been others of whom we have no record:

Jared Davis, born in Rhode Island September 25, 1795, reared in Butternut, Otsego County, N. Y., serving from that place, in the War of 1812. In 1840 he removed to Knoxville, in 1846 to Gaines, and later to Clymer where he resided on his farm until his death November 22, 1882.

Thomas Eldridge, a native of Vermont, settled in Clymer Township in 1847 where he died in 1867. He was a soldier in the War of 1812, and his father was a Revolutionary soldier.

In 1861 the adult male population of Tioga County was approximately 6,000. Of these 2,000 were soldiers in the Federal Army. Of these, 445 or 22% died either in battle, hospital, or prison camp. We regret that we have been unable to obtain an authentic list of the men who served from Clymer Township during the Civil War. Company "A" of the 171st. Regiment, commanded by Captain A.A. Amsbry, of Westfield Township, was recruited largely in townships along the head waters of the Cowanesque, and Company "D" of the 207th, was recruited in Clymer and other townships in western Tioga County. Second Lieutenant Chancy C. Ackley was an officer in Company D. Then too, many in northern and western Tioga County went over the line and joined regiments in the State of New York.

The list of those from Clymer includes the following, which, as we have explained, may not be complete:

Chancy C. Ackley, Beniah S. Ackley, George M. Ackley, Henry C. Ackley, Lorimus B. Ackley, Thomas Barber, Wm. R. Burdick, Perry C. Bristol, David Case, Horatio Chisom, Wilbur Churchill, William Cole, George Douglas, Reuben Davis, Thomas Eldridge, Jr.; Lysander Earl, S. Alvin Griffin:, Robert C. Hill, \Vashington Larrison, Andrew J. Labar, Thompson Labar, Orrin Leach, James Metcalf, Gilbert Manning, Orson Mintonye, John Mintonye, Warren Owens, C. C. Pemberton, Archibald Potter, George Rexford, Rhesa J. Reynolds, Watson R. Rushmore, George A Roberts, Calvin A. Robertson, Platt Smith, Lemuel Scott, Ashley H. Short, Eli D. Scott, Stephen Strait, James L. Thompson, Fred D. Woodcock; Frank Wilcox, Ritner Weeks, Roswell Weeks, Aaron Yale.

Clymer Township can claim one lone enlistee at the time of Uncle Sam’s three month brush with Spain, though his term of service was much longer than that. Claire Rushmore, the son of Silas Jr., and Rosetta (Roberts) Rushmore, (and a great grandson of Pioneer Peter Rushmore, who settled in Clymer in 1835) enlisted for three years on April 25, 1899.

He was mustered into Co. A of the 5th. U. S. Infantry Regiment, and on May 12, 1889 was sent to Cuba. On July 1, 1900 he was elevated to the rank of corporal at Army, Headquarters, Morro Castle, Santiago, Cuba A citation from his commanding officer commends his efficiency and states that his "chevrons" have been "acquired and held through merit."

On July 20, 1900, he was transferred to the Philippines, serving through the Insurrections, until May 23, 1902 and was honorably discharged from the army May 29, 1902. His death occurred at Sabinsville in 1948.

The roster of the men who served, in the First World War is as follows:

Charles Ackley, Rex R. Bair, Dight V. Balch, Ross Blue, Donald Chamberlain, Edward A. Chamberlain, Stanley Clark, Clyde Doty, Lewis Doty, Walter Draper, Albert Elwood, Max Faulkner, Clifford Foote, Russell Gee, Cecil

Griffin, Roy Griffin, Ira Kilbourn, Hugh Knowlton, Joseph Kernan, M. Lyle Lowrey, Harry Ordway, William Randall, Clark Roberts, Edwin Schott, Clarence Short, Leon Tubbs, Walter Tubbs, Arlie Wheaton, Corydon Woody.

Of these two were killed: Charles Ackley is buried overseas, and Arlie Wheaton’s remains were returned home and interred in the Larrison Cemetery, near Davis Station in Clymer Township.

The following from Clymer Township served in the Armed Forces during World War II:

Wallace M. Ackley Jr., Vernon Balch, Jr., Howard Bathrick, Russell Beach, William Buffington, James Bump, Irma Jane Bush, Floyd Campbell, Vernon Carey, Elmer S. Churchill, Albert L. Cole, Clifford D. Cole, Francis D. Co1e, Willard E. Cole, Churchill Densmore, Richard Eldridge, Perry Fillmore, William Frazier, Jack Hackett, Russell Hackett, Robert E. Hazlett, Love S. Hess, Robert E. Hess, Stanley M. Hess, Quentin Hess, Gilbert Hill, Howard Hiliberry, Harry R. Hollenbaugh, Charles H. Hurd, Harold Hurd, Russell S. Hurd, John F. Jenkins, Merle Johnston, Paul Johnston, Bernard Judd, Hardy Judd, George W. Karen, Theodore Karhan, Blain King, Frederick King, Jr., Ivan King, Durell Knowlton, Harmon L. Mainus, George Mascho, Syvelton Mascho, Kenneth McCullough, John McDonald, Martin Mertsoc, Milan F. Mertsoc, Peter E. Mertsoc, Paul Mertsoc, Leland Moore, Denzil Parker, Gerald Parker, Richard Payne, Howard Ransom, Artie Reese, Jr., Eldon C. Roberts, Howard Rushmore, Fay Sayles, Arnold Schlotfeldt, Keith Schoonover, Ralph Schoonover, Bernal Short, Douglas Southworth, Arnold Stebbins, Milford Stebbins Jr., Wilson Streeter, Onan Trowbridge, Roy Trowbridge, Elias J. Van Sickle, Rev. Gordon L.Vaughn, Darwin Watkins, Carl Whitaker, Robert Wilson, Jack A. Yale, Keith C. Yale, Richard Rushmore.

Of these, four made the supreme sacrifice. Vernon Balch Jr., was killed in action in Germany. He is buried in Henri Chapelle U. S. Military Cemetery. Jack Hackett was lost when a troop transport traveling from North Africa to Italy was sunk by the enemy. Quentin Hess was instantly killed in action on Anzio beach head, Italy. His remains were returned and are buried in Woodlawn National Cemetery, in Elmira, N. Y. George Mascho was killed in action when a bomb dropped from a Japanese plane exploded on the deck of his battle ship. He is buried in an American cemetery on a small Pacific island.

And now as we bring our tale to a close, perhaps no words could be more fitting that those of the following prayer, written by "Aunt Clara" Mintonye, 92 year old daughter of Sabinsville’s first settler, found among her papers after her death. I feel sure this wonderful prayer will find an echo in every heart.

"Oh! Most merciful God, cast me not off in time of old age: forsake me not if my strength faileth. May my hoary head be found in righteousness."

"Preserve my mind from weakness, and my body from protracted disease and excruciating pain. Deliver me from despondency in my declining years, and enable me to bear, with patience, whatever may be Thy will; and I humbly ask that my reason may be continued to the last and that I may be comforted and supported; that I may leave my testimony in favor of the reality of religion, and of Thy faithfulness in fulfilling Thy gracious promises; and when my spirit leaves this clay tenement, Lord Jesus receive it and send some of the blessed angels to convey my soul to the mansion which Thy love has prepared for me, into Thy kingdom and mansion, prepared for me by Thy great unchanging love, through Jesus Christ."

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