Township · Huntingdon County

Springfield

3 stories on file, each with its sources. 27.5 square miles of land in the ridge and valley country of central Pennsylvania.

694

Population

27.52 sq mi

Land area

Township

Type

The founding record

Springfield township, situated on the southern border of the county, was erected in 1790, from Shirley and Dublin. It is bounded on the north by Cromwell, on the east by Dublin, on the south by Fulton county, and on the west by Clay township, and contains two post-offices, Meadow Gap and Maddensville. Traversed from north to south by the Black Log mountain, the land is generally elevated and rolling, although there are considerable tracts of rich alluvial bottom along the streams, of which the principal are the Big Aughwick, Sideling Hill and Little Aughwick creeks. In the early part of the present century, Springfield township was a vast forest, slightly broken, by occassional clearings on the bottom lands. One of the earliest clearings was made by John Bailey, a Revolutionary soldier, who settled on the banks of Aughwick. The first settlers on that stream besides Bailey, were William Jones, William Ward and John Robertson, not one of whom has a representative in the township at this day. What is known as "the Big Meadow tract" was warranted, surveyed and patented at a very early day in the names of Lukens, Lennox and Woods. It is situated near the village of Meadow Gap, and contains four hundred acres. The early settlers were principally from Maryland, of which class were the Browns, Stains, Lanes, Cutshalls, etc., who are still represented by numerous descendants. Milton Scott Lytle, History of Huntingdon County (Lancaster: William H. Roy, 1876) · character 541,508 of the scanned text

Springfield township, located in the southern part of the county, was organized in December, 1790, from the townships of Dublin and Shirley. Its original area has been much reduced by the erection of Cromwell in 1836 and Clay in 1845. It is bounded on the north by Cromwell ; on the east by Dublin ; on the south by Fulton county, and on the west by the township of Clay. John Bailey, a Revolutionary soldier, settled on the banks of the Aughwick creek soon after that war. He was soon joined by William Jones, John Robertson and William Ward. Then came a tide of immigration from Maryland, the Browns, Maddens, Ramseys, Lanes, Cutshalls, Wibles, and several other families locating in what is now Springfield township. Thomas Stains settled where the village of Meadow Gap is now, and the village of Maddensville bears the name of one of these pioneer families.John W. Jordan, ed., History of the Juniata Valley and Its People (New York: Lewis Historical Publishing, 1913) · character 201,401

Quoted from a work published before 1929 and therefore in the public domain in the United States. Spelling and punctuation are as printed, including nineteenth century spellings of place names. Scanned text carries optical character recognition errors; the character offset is given so the passage can be found and checked in the original.

3 stories

Stories from Springfield

From the county histories, on Springfield township. The passage below is printed exactly as it appears in 1897, including the spelling of the day and the errors the scanner made. It has not been rewritten, summarised or added to.

Charles Leader rented a farm on the Maryland line for one year; for two years they lived in Carroll county, Md., and five years in Baltimore county, ^Id., where he farmed and ran a saw-mill and a grist-mill. In they removed to Springfield township, Huntingdon county. Mr. Leader bought acres in Springfield to^^Tiship; there was little of it cleared at that time. He greatly improved it, building a barn and store house; here he lived until his death, which occurred July 7, 1888. Mr. Leader was a Democrat. He was a well read man and a fluent talker, and could speak the German language. His amiable disposition won for him the esteem of his associates. He was a member of the Lutheran church. Mrs. Leader still survives him. Their children are : Anna, wife of William Messier, of Clinton county, Ind. ; Julia, wife of Emory M. Stevens, D."D., of Bedford Station; Lucy; Jeffei-son Kohler; Ella, deceased, was the wife Gutshall, of Sprimrfield to^^^lship; Jeannette (Airs. George W. Hicks), of Orbisonia, Pa. Jefferson Kohler Leader received his early education in the schools of Springfield township, his parents ha^-ing moved to Huntingdon county in his second year. He also attended the Orbisonia Xormal School, and Frankfort City Xormal School and graduated from the conimercial department of the Williamsport Business College in 1885.Commemorative Biographical Encyclopedia of the Juniata Valley (Chambersburg: J. M. Runk, 1897) · character 691,332 of the scanned text

Sources

Commemorative Biographical Encyclopedia of the Juniata Valley (Chambersburg: J. M. Runk, 1897)

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It was a time of continual fear; the men even had to stand guard when the women went out to milk the cows. Mr. Brown and his wife were members of the old school Baptist church. They died on the farm, and are buried in the cemetery attached to the Baptist church in Springfield township. A brother of Joshua Brown's resided in Xorth Carolina. John Brown, father of Hiram Brown, was born in Springfield township in 1796. He was educated in subscription schools, but early in life began to make his own living. He was a young man when he was employed in constructing the Chambersburg pike. John Brown was a sturdy, athletic young man. an acknowledged master in wrestling. The young men of his neighborhood, when they met for sport, used to cast lots for a wrestling match by thro\ving up their hats; the two whose hats fell nearest together were forthwith pitted against each other, for the amusement of the rest. It may be supposed, tliat when John Brown chanced to be or:e of these haphazard champions his opponents felt challenged to display all his muscles and his mettle. While still a single man, John Brown worked by the day or by the month, for others; but not long after his marriage, he bought a farm near Brownsville, Springfield township, which he gradually cleared, the principal part himself, but as his boys grew up, inheriting his strength and capacity for work, they did their share in improving the soil of the homestead.Commemorative Biographical Encyclopedia of the Juniata Valley (Chambersburg: J. M. Runk, 1897) · character 694,070 of the scanned text

Sources

Commemorative Biographical Encyclopedia of the Juniata Valley (Chambersburg: J. M. Runk, 1897)

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From the county histories, on Springfield township. The passage below is printed exactly as it appears in 1883, including the spelling of the day and the errors the scanner made. It has not been rewritten, summarised or added to.

Owing to its distance from public improvements, and consequent isolation from the outer world, this township has never been favored with manufacturing establishments, that it otherwise would have been with all its natural advantages. Probably the pioneer settler of what is now Springfield township was a Revolutionary soldier by the name of John Bailey, who wandered along down the Little Aughwick till near what is now Maddensville, where he selected a spot, cut away the trees, and built his mansion. He was not long "alone in his glory," for soon came along a few more hardy pioneers in search of future homes, among whom we find William Ward, John Robertson, and William Jones, who located along the banks of the Aughwick. These pioneers were soon reinforced by others, among whom were the Cutshalls and Stains, Browns and Lanes, the Wibles, the Ramseys and Maddens. The Wibles were of German descent, while the two latter descended from Erin's green isle. All these pioneers located along the Aughwick Valley, while Hugh Orlton, who descended from the Scottish highlands, thought there was no place like the hills, and became pioneer of the hill country, out of reach of the next flood. He took up a large tract by warrant or patent, and subsequently sold to Richard Lane. Mr. Orlton had the pleasure and honor of owning the pioneer "7" shingle-roof" house in the township.J. Simpson Africa, History of Huntingdon and Blair Counties, Pennsylvania (Philadelphia: Louis H. Everts, 1883) · character 2,338,483 of the scanned text

Sources

J. Simpson Africa, History of Huntingdon and Blair Counties, Pennsylvania (Philadelphia: Louis H. Everts, 1883)

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