This township was formed from Union in 1867. The first settlers of any note came into the township about the year 1802, and among them may be mentioned Thomas Gootschall, who settled on what is now a part of Torbert; His brother, William Gootschall, who settled on the place where John Lorah now lives, and John Maurer on the Nelson Brandon place. Henry Gilbert, who purchased the Thomas Gootschall place in 1811, and who is the oldest pioneer of the region now living, resided in 1880, at North Union, at the advanced age of ninety two years, and in the full enjoyment of his mental faculties. The population of East Union in 1870 was 614, and in 1880, 591.
BRANDONVILLE
This is a post village and station on the Catawissa Valley Railroad. It was laid out in 1864 by Nelson Brandon, who owned the land on which it is located. He built a hotel and store and sold them. The post office was established, with Rudolph Breisch postmaster, in 1868. Mrs. B.F. Clayberger was postmistress in 1880. The village contains three hotels, one public hall, two stores, a blacksmith shop and twenty five dwellings. B.F. Clayberger is the proprietor of the hall and one of the merchants; The other store is kept by Samuel Cope. The M.E. church of Brandonville was organized in 1879. Preaching had occasionally been furnished by clergymen from the surrounding towns, and since the organization services have been held with some regularity. The Union Sunday School was started in 1876, with seventy members. Its first superintendent was a Mr. Medlar. It received a charter from the courts in June, 1880, and numbered at that time one hundred and fifty five members, with D.R. Kauffman as superintendent.
TORBERT
Torbert is a pleasant hamlet, portions of which were formerly named Girard Manor and Valencia. It is doubtless as well and favorably known from being the residence of Hon. William L. Torbert as from any other cause. The estate of Hon. William L. Torbert covers about seven thousand acres, comprising the eastern terminus of the Catawissa valley, along which it extends about eight miles from the summit of Mahanoy mountain westward. Near the eastern boundary of these lands a copious spring of water, possessing superior mineral qualities, forms a stream which almost immediately is divided into two branches , one of which flows west, down the north slope of the mountain, into the Catawissa; The other, east to the Schuylkill. The Catawissa , a fine stream, has its course through the estate for several miles, and grist mills, saw mills and other manufactories, standing at intervals on its shores, are propelled by its water power, which is good.
Torbert’s Glen, a wild, romantic and attractive pleasure resort, is visited during the summer and autumn by large numbers of people from various localities. Throughout the entire property, but more especially in those sections adapted to the production of grass, fruit and grain, large never failing springs abound, and the brooks, of which they are the sources, are abundantly supplied with trout, bass, sunfish, whitefish, and Susquehanna salmon. The soil under cultivation is excellent, producing crops of grass, fruit and grain of superior quality and abundant in quantity. The not far distant mining towns in the coal region contain a dense population of non producing consumers of everything in the way of provisions, and afford the best of market facilities to the estate, while the large number of horses and mules used in and about the collieries cause a demand for hay and feed of various kinds, which can be advantageously supplied by the producers being enabled to furnish these necessaries and be exempt from the heavy freight tariffs at which they are brought from western Pennsylvania, New York and other distant sections. These advantages, together with the fertility of the land, most of which is newly cleared, combine to place the local agricultural interests of the future in the foremost rank of successful enterprises in this part of the State.
The adjoining properties on the north, south and east are in the anthracite coal measures, and are owned by the city of Philadelphia, the Lehigh and Wilkes-Barre Coal Company, Hon. William L. Torbert and the Lehigh Valley Railroad Company. Torbert is proverbial for the good health of its citizens and the attractiveness of its surrounding scenery. It is noted for the generous welcome extended to strangers who tarry there for longer or shorter periods. Senator Torbert’s homestead lands are in one body, located in Schuylkill, Carbon and Luzerne counties (a portion in each), Hazelton, Audenried, Delano, Tamaqua, Mahanoy City, Shenandoah and other prominent towns being distant from four to eight miles, while Ashland and Pottsville lie only about sixteen miles away.
A part of this pleasant hamlet was formerly owned by the famous philanthropist, Stephen Girard, from whom its former name was derived. It came into the possession of his heirs, and in 1854 John A. Girard, John Fabricus Girard, and their sister, Stephanie (Girard) DeLentilhac, made a settlement. They came from France, brought mechanics with them and erected buildings and mills. They opened a store in 1856, and conducted a somewhat extensive lumber business, but, owing to their lack of inclination to mix with the people of the adjacent country, and their extreme dislike for the Pennsylvania Dutch patois, the commercial language of the locality, they made few friends, and in 1864 disposed of the entire property to William L. Torbert, of Philadelphia. One of the manor houses was erected by John A. Girard. It is tastefully built in the French Gothic style, covered, in the usual European manner, with a profusion of grape vines, and finely shaded by handsome trees. Colonel Wynkoop built the Valencia manor house, he being at the time United States marshal for the eastern district of Pennsylvania. Besides these there are nineteen tenant houses, occupied by the workmen’s families, and six farm houses with the usual outbuildings. A fine brick schoolhouse was erected in 1880, and it adds materially to the good appearance of the place.
The religious advantages are good. The healthfulness of the locality is attested by the marked physical improvement of invalids who sojourn there temporarily. Torbert has convenient railways communication, the journey to New York and Philadelphia being made in four of five hours without change of cars, and to Williamsport, Baltimore and Washington in from four to eight hours, via the Philadelphia and Reading, the Lehigh Valley, the Central of New Jersey and the Pennsylvania railroads. Senator Torbert has charge of the Railway station, Telegraph and Express offices. The Post Office was established in 1865, with Mrs. Hester Torbert in charge.
Hon. William L. Torbert was born in Philadelphia, Pa., October 24th, 1828, and was reared and educated in his native city, where he was prominent in the Masonic order, and in the Washington Greys, a military company. James Torbert, Esq., his father, was born at Spring Mill, Montgomery county, Pa., February 19th, 1798, and passed his youth in Chester county, Pa., where his parents, brothers and sisters remained during life, and where their descendants are most of them engaged in farming. On Christmas day, 1827, he married Margaret A. Loag, of Chester county, Pa., at the old Brandywine Manor meeting house. During the following year they removed to Philadelphia, where they lived until 1868, when they took up their residence in the Girard Manor mansion, near the residence of Hon. William L. Torbert, their son. Mr. Torbert died there October 16th, 1880, at the age of eighty two, and was buried in Laurel hill cemetery, Philadelphia. His widow, Margaret A. Torbert, eighty one years old, survives him, and is living at the homestead with her daughter, Miss M. Louisa. Their children were:
Hon. William L. Torbert, M. Louisa Torbert, Mary J. Torbert, Emma J. Torbert, Anna Eliza Torbert, Ellie F. Torbert, A. Caroline Torbert, James Torbert, Jr.
Emma J. is the wife of Charles Tete, Esq., of Spring Hill, Delaware county, Pa., an extensive land owner in Schuylkill county. Ellie F. is the wife of Frank A. Smith, Esq., of West Philadelphia, Pa. Hon. William L. Torbert was married, in 1850, to Miss Hester Blatchford, also a resident of Philadelphia. Their children are:
Mary C. Torbert, A. Caroline Torbert, James Franklin Torbert, Susan L. Torbert, Ida V. Torbert, William Stephen Torbert, Elizabeth F. Torbert Victoria Hester Torbert.
Miss Ida V. married Mr. M.M. MacMillan, attorney, of Ann Arbor, Mich., September 9th, 1880. Miss Lizzie F. married Charles E. Titman, of Shenandoah, Pa., December 9th, 1880. James Franklin married Miss Sallie R. Burnett, of Spring Mill, Montgomery county, Pa., December 25th, 1880. Mrs. Torbert’s parents were Stephen and Mary J. Blatchford, residents of Philadelphia, Pa., where their remains now lie in Woodland cemetery. The former died in November, 1865, at the age of seventy one; the latter April 11th, at the age of eighty one. From 1860 to 1865 Hon. William L. Torbert was located in Baltimore county, Md.
Reference has been made to the purchase of the Girard manor property in 1864. Mr. Torbert subsequently bought Valencia and other additions to the original, being extensively interested in lumbering in Schuylkill, Columbia, Luzerne and Center counties, and having about two thousand acres of land under cultivation in the Catawissa valley surrounding his residence. Senator Torbert is the most liberal employer of agricultural labor in Schuylkill county. Those of his employes having families are comfortably located upon the estate, enjoying common privileges, each family free from expense of any kind a dwelling with fruit and fuel and ground enough for garden purposes. The liberal policy which governs Mr. Torbert in his relations with his large number of employes is so well appreciated by them that probably no set of laborers anywhere regard their employer more highly than they do Mr. Torbert. His work is pushed forward month after month without jar of cessation, and he finds not only profit but happiness in endeavoring by all proper means to better the condition of his employes and their families.
Always active in mercantile pursuits and public duties, Mr. Torbert has been at the same time a successful business man and a hard worker for the public weal. Though never a seeker for official preferment, he has been repeatedly called to positions of trust and responsibility by the voters of his township, county and district. The fidelity and earnestness which have characterized his administrations of public affairs marked him for steady advancement until the confidence of the people in his ability and integrity was manifested by his election the State Senate by a large majority in 1876, and as an independent member for 1877 and 1878, his fellow townsmen of East Union indicating that he was not “without honor” at home by casting for him the unanimous and solid vote of the township, which aggregated more than any previous vote, even during closely contested elections when every vote was supposed to have exercised his right of suffrage.
In all good work for the advancement of the causes of enlightenment and improvement, Senator Torbert has ever been qualified to lead and has been relied upon as a leader, but he has nevertheless, ever put his own shoulder manfully to the wheel, considering no necessary duty, however small, too insignificant for him to perform. It is this sturdy and stirring industry, coupled with an ever careful attention to details, that has made him one of the most successful men in this region. It is his regard for the rights of those dependent on him that has endeared him to those whose action he so ably directs. He is one of those helpful men through whose efforts the wheel of progress is made to move on, crushing obstructions and smoothing the pathway of general advancement.
Brandonville
Brandonville is situated midway between Sheppton and Shenandoah. The land was surveyed in 1794 for Thomas Bittler, a first settler. The Bittlers, German nationality, came from Berks County. Soon after the Bittlers, the Brandons, also descendants of Germans, arrived.
Nelson Brandon was born March 3, 1831. He married Rebecca Hartley in 1854. She died in 1866 and then he married Sarah J. Rupert. Mr. Brandon was an extensive landowner in East Union Township, most of which he acquired by purchase from the Bittlers and other pioneer settlers and land owners.
In 1864, he laid out the land for the town. Louis Yetter, an engineer from Catawissa, made the survey. The town was called Brandonville in honor of the founder and owner of the land. The first settlers found the land covered with enormous trees and thick underbrush. the Brandons cleared a tract of land and built a log cabin at the northern end of town. After many remodelings, it is at the present time occupied. This old log house is over a hundred years old and is the oldest landmark in the town.
Water was not available close to the house. It had to be piped from the creeks of the mountains which ran through the upper end of the land. The pipes were made of wood, the hole of which was bored by hand. Some of the pipes can still be found. Today water is piped from deep wells with pumps. Some families still carry their water from a fresh drinking water stream called the Second Creek.
The first settlers were attracted by the large forests. Thus lumbering became the first industry. Early lumber operations were directed by Nelson Brandon, Charles Tete, Senator W.L. Torbert, William Reagan, William Fegley and Samuel Boone.
Many sawmills were built along the Old Catawissa Creek, all operated by water power. The first sawmill was built in 1861 and was located in the district now called the old fertilizer. This sawmill was owned by John Bittler. Old tradition states that, this being the period of the Civil War, the owner was forced to go to war, and his wife operated the mill. The first steam saw mill was built in 1865 and was located at Rattling Run. Also in the year 1865, a saw mill was built at the present pumping station. This saw mill was operated by Torbert and Tete, brothers-in-law.
Because of the great lumber operations, the forests disappeared and the industry decreased rapidly. Farming then became the main industry. Land was cleared and small farms established then later larger areas were cultivated. The Brandon farm, practically the first one operated, is still in existence. The town was mainly composed of farmhouses. Today very few exist within the town. The houses today are country homes with the men of the homes occupied in other lines of activities than farming.
The first store was built by Brandon and sold to Squire Cauley. It was situated at the Ringtown and Brandonville crossroad. This store was later owned by Featherloff. Before this store, the settlers had to go to Tamaqua, the nearest store in the district. In 1860, a store was built at Krebs, near the old White Church. This store was operated by the Culps.
In 1880, there were three hotels, one public hall, two stores, one blacksmith shop, and twenty-five dwellings in Brandonville. The first general store was owned by Calvin Hauck. Paulus Zimmerman carries on the business at present. It is situated in the lower end of Brandonville. The first gasoline station, owned by A.J. Mockaitus, is situated in the upper end of Brandonville. The first Green Hill grocery store, owned by Jane Mensinger, is situated in the center of town.
The first hotel was built by Brandon and sold to John Hem. It was located directly across from the Brandonville Railroad Station. This was later owned by Mr. Reichard. The Catawissa Railroad was built through Brandonville in the 1850s. The station was first called Mahanoy because the people from the Mahanoy City settlement had to come to Brandonville to take the train because there was no railroad through the Mahanoy Valley.
There are many creeks in the woods and meadows of East Union Township. These creeks had been fresh water trout streams. Trout a foot long were considered small during the early days of settlement. The Catawissa Creek was one of the finest trout streams. In the winter some of the old folks would cut the ice and catch enough fish for breakfast. Sulphur water from the coal mines has contaminated the water and killed all the trout.
Wild animals were plentiful during the early settlements. Many deer and bears were shot by hunters. Andrew Lorah claims to have shot the last two wild cats in the district.
Bee hiving was an amusement of the early settlers. The bees were first tracked to their homes in a hollow tree and then the tree was cut down. They were then hived and taken to their new homes. Some would stay and others would leave and find another hollow tree.
In 1900, a bicycle factory was established at Brandonville by Harvey Faust. He made his own machinery making all the parts from raw materials. It has since been torn down and a home built on the site.
An airplane landing field and beacon light were built on O’Hara’s farm in 1925 but were abandoned in 1930 because of the modern devices of the airplanes today. It is not necessary to make many stops.
The race track owned by M.J. O’Hara was built in 1865. It has been the center of amusement for both horse and auto races.The pumping station at the reservoir is a large plant built in 1898. It is situated a mile and a quarter east of Brandonville. This reservoir supplies the water for Shenandoah.There are caves in the northern section of Brandonville which are believed to have been constructed by a small tribe of Indians who wandered up the Catawissa Creek from the tribe that had camped in the Nuremberg Valley. These caves have rooms, cut from huge rocks, large enough to live in. The entrance is now closed.
The first school of East Union Township was in Brandonville. It was an old log cabin, built before 1850, situated at the fork of the road directly below the present grammar school. The seats were benches around an old fashioned stove placed in the center of the room. This was not a free school as public schools were not yet established. The German language was taught and the teacher was hired by the parents. The pupils were punished with cat-o-nine-tails and hickory sticks.
The grammar school was erected in 1885. This contained eight grades until the erection of the primary school in 1913, then only four grades remained. In 1933, the eighth grade was taken to Sheppton High School.
Horn’s school was built in 1875. W.F. Horn, a Civil War veteran, residing at Ringtown, owned the farm at the schoolhouse; hence the name. This school contains the first seven grades. Hauser’s school, built in 1895, is now vacant.
The population of Brandonville in 1855 was very small. There were six log cabins and twenty-five people. But as the years went by, this population increased to five hundred people and approximately eighty dwellings.
The first roads were lumber roads which permeated the entire district. They were taken over by the townships which became the caretaker. In spite of frequent repairs, the dirt roads often were almost impassable. The cement highway from Shenandoah to Hazleton was started January of 1932 and completed in July 1933.
Electricity came into use for the first time in Brandonville in 1925.
The first services for St. John’s Lutheran Church of Brandonville were held in the old log school house, mentioned earlier, by Rev. Samuel S. Kling in 1875. Sunday School was held in the old log school house at as early a date as the church services. In 1886, the present Sunday School building was erected in the center of Brandonville. This is now the Union Sunday School, open to all Protestant denominations. The Evangelicals held their services in this building until 1913 when they erected their own building.
The cemetery, directly back of the Union Sunday School, was started the same year as the erection of the building, 1886. There are four Civil War veterans buried in this cemetery: Lewis Dreisbach, born 1839, died 1923; Conrad Lutz, born 1842, died 1918; Samuel Cowley , whose inscription is Co. H, 6th Regt., P.V. Inf. (He is the only person buried North and South as was his wish, in case the South should rise again); and Daniel Vanhorn, who has no tombstone.
St. Paul’s Evangelical Church, located in the upper end of Brandonville, was built in 1913. The Sunday School was organized the same year as the church.St. Mary’s Catholic Church of Brandonville is a mission of St. Mary’s Catholic of Ringtown. The Catholic people of Brandonville at first went to nearly towns to attend church. This was very inconvenient so Mass was held in the grammar school, June 17, 1923
Sheppton-Oneida
The first German families in Sheppton were the Bittlers, Peter Van Blargan, George Knelly and the Peifers. Thus in the beginning the German people were quite numerous; now there are only a few. The industries of Sheppton have not varied greatly since its beginning. The first really profitable industry was lumbering. The forests were so dense in some places that the sun could not penetrate them. After some time these were all cut down and the lumbering industry came to an end. Then came the mining industry, which was very profitable in the beginning, but is not remunerative at present. The prospect of wealth from these mines was really the motive for the settling of Sheppton.
One of the minor and temporary industries of Sheppton was the manufacture and bottling of temperance drinks. The bottling works was owned by the Longos and was located on the west side of Main Street.Sheppton also had a silk mill which lasted for a few years and gave employment to some people. In the building was then a paper box factory. The owners from New York began operating this factory in 1934.
All the early roads of Sheppton were Indian trails and corduroy roads. The oldest road through this section is the road which continues from East Brandon Street through the valley into Park Place. Along this road is a group of rocks which verify tradition which relates that they were formerly an Indian Camp. The building of the road from Humboldt to Oneida was for the purpose of conveying machinery to Oneida for the mines.The main road to the Valley was a road which skirted Sheppton on the west, continued down over the mountain across Samuel Deebel’s farm, and into the Valley. This road is now known as Sam’s Road and is rough and rock filled.
No. 2, a small clearing containing one house, is located directly below Oneida and is very easily reached. However, in the early days, No.2 was separated from Oneida by a dreadful swamp and the people were compelled to make a round trip and enter No. 2 from the rear. They started at Oneida then to Sheppton, out to the end of present market Street, over the mountain in Cemetery Hill and finally into No. 2.
The members of St. James Reformed Church first held services in the old frame school building on West Market Street. This building, since torn down, was dedicated August 4, 1892 and the Reformed congregation solemnized its first service here in the year 1893.St. Joseph’s Catholic Church was consecrated August 15, 1895, and it is still standing on the right side of South Shepp Street. Before this church was erected the Catholic people of Sheppton attended the St. Joseph’s Catholic Church of McAdoo.St. Paul’s Lutheran Church was built in 1898. However, before the church was built the Lutherans held services in the old frame school building on West Market Street. The first service solemnized in the new church was on February 13, 1898, with Rev. Shlanker as the first pastor. It was through the efforts and influence of this pastor that the church was built.
During the early days of Sheppton, people usually walked or rode horseback over narrow Indian trails or stump-dotted clearings. Some people used the wagon and horses, but his was a very slow method of traveling, because every now and then the wagon sank to its axles in the mud. After the railroad was constructed by the Coxes, it was the main means of traveling and many people were accommodated by these trains. However, after the bus line was installed, the train service practically ceased. The first person to own a car in Sheppton was the first physician, Doctor Jenkins.The first school house at Sheppton was a frame building erected August 4, 1892, and situated on what is the present West market Street. It had two floors, heated by a large furnace in the basement. The pupils sat on benches, and wrote on slates distributed once a year. The school term was eight months.December 22, 1926, the school was declared unfit for use and in 1933, the building was dismantled.
The second school house, a brick construction, was erected in the year 1902, at the south end of the present Sheppton. This school has one floor, heated by a large furnace in each room. In 1912, a three year high school was organized.In 1912, through the efforts of Mrs. Laundahl, a three year high school was organized. The members of the May 4, 1915, graduating class were: Nicholas Walters, Ralph Klingerman, Katherine Fellon, Esther Laundahl, Marina Brennar, John Sullivan, Olive Lorah, Dora Dietz , Lottie Steimling, Florence Dietz , Minerva Neverla, and Stanley Heppe. The school is a township high school to which all students of the township are admitted after completing the eighth grade.
Phinneyville
Situated east of Brandonville and below Sheppton is the small valley of Phinneyville. It was named after a man named Phinney. At the time of settlement in was one large forest of tall trees. The exact date of settlement is unknown. Log cabins dotted the present road when Stephen Girard of Philadelphia purchased half of Phinneyville.George Lorah took care of these lands which was cleared on each side of the road. After Girard’s death, these farms were rented out to farmers with certain restrictions. They were to fertilize the soil with a certain amount of fertilizer each year; they were not allowed to sell straw. Hay had to be sold at $25 a ton. A few years later these farms were sold to private owners. They were comprised of 113 acres each. Joshua Lorah laid out the town into 180 lots but died before they were all sold.
The oldest house was owned by Edward Konschnik . It was formerly occupied by John Lorah. The first settlers were the Blues, Lorahs, Peifers, Zimmermans, Bucks, Millers, Johnsons, Deebels, Clarks and Bittlers.John F. Deebel was born in Baden, Germany, but came to Phinneyville and purchased tracts of land there. In 1874, he sold out to his son, Samuel, who prospered in the lumber and farming business. He also had the finest orchard in Phinneyville.On the Henry Johnson farm at the upper end of Catawissa Valley, was a large sawmill where the present tunnels are. These tunnels are great works of engineering. They drain Green Mountain, Lehigh Valley and many other mines. The water of these mines runs into the Catawissa Creek.
The first settlers of Phinneyville attended the Old White Church on the road to Ringtown. But the inconvenience of traveling prompted them to use an abandoned school house as a church. The temporary Church was soon razed and the public school house was erected on the land. A church was built situated on land given by Mr. Buck. The building was a small log structure. The seats were uncomfortable hand-hewn backless benches. The parishioners would hasten to the church at the time of services to secure the rear seats to rest their back against the wall.At first all services were conducted in German and were very lengthy. Due to the scarcity of hymn books, the minister used to read a line, then the members of the congregation would sing it. This they would do for the entire hymn.The first minister was Rev. Shellhamer who rode on horseback over the Indian trails from Conyngham. Some of the later ministers were Sando and Miller.The present “Little White Church” situated on the same spot where the former Church stood was built in 1895, through the aid of Mrs. Torbert. The lumber for this church was donated by the brother of James Lorah. Its construction was supervised by Rev. Nathan Sechler. The first marriage ceremony performed by Rev. Sechler was that of Sara Brandon and Charles Bloom. The earliest baptism on record in the old church is that of Samuel Emanuel Peifer, November 15, 1874.“Little White Church” adequately describes this building of worship at Phinneyville. When viewed from a distance, it appears as though an artist had sketched this small white edifice against a background of green pastures with a white cloud tinted in blue.To the rear of the church is the cemetery which gives some important information to the historian. When this cemetery was laid out, tombstones were unknown in this section. The only markers were old shale stones, marked with crude inscriptions in German. One marker shows the burial of Thomas Gottschall in 1827. Many of the pioneer settlers are buried in private cemeteries.
This cemetery is the resting place of many prominent men and women of the early days of Union Township, among them George Spiece, a soldier of the War of 1812, who died in 1842. Prior to his death, he lived the life of a hermit near a stream in the upper section of the Catawissa Valley which was later the Wolfe farm. It is still known by the older people as “Spiece’s Run.” For many years after his death, there was no tombstone to mark his grave. In 1916, James Lorah, L.F. Brandon and J.M. Stauffer erected a monument to his memory.There are also two Civil War veterans buried here: Elias Peifer, grandfather of the present Peifer family and the other an unknown soldier.
Clarence Deebel, Allen Faust, Fred Dietz and John Dietz served in the World War.