Mount Union borough
Jack's Spring Then and Now 1909
In 1909, when Charles H. Welch published his History of Mount Union, the town was already nostalgic. He printed Jack's Spring twice: as it used to be, and as it is today. The spring is celebrated for its cool, silvery water. Welch's side-by-side plates show a landscape transformed within a lifetime. The wild spring of the earlier days gave way to carefully walled stone, a visible mark of progress and care.
From the record
Passages about this subject, quoted from county histories now in the public domain. Each one names the book and the position in the text so it can be checked. Spelling is as printed.
This event, which spread alarm and consternation among the frontier settlers and the traders, gave name to the narrow gorge through which the Juniata breaks its winding course. Jack's Narrows are known to every traveler who has wended his way through the narrow defile. ''Jack's Spring" is celebrated for its cool, silvery water. P The following deposition communicates the first authentic intelligence of the murders: "Paxton, April 19th, 1744, "The Deposition of the Subscribers Testifieth and Saith that the Subscribers having a Suspicion that Juhn Armstrong, Trader, Together with his Men, James Smith & Woodworth Arnold were Murther'd by ye Indians, They met at the IIouse of Joseph Chambers in Paxton, and there consulted to go to Shamokin, To Consult with the Delaware King & Secalima! & their Council, what they should do Concerning the Affaire. Wherenpon the King € Councel Ordered Eight of their men to go with the depts. to the House of James Berry, in order to go in quest of the Murther'd persons; but that Night they came to said Berry's House, three of the Eight Indians ran away, and the next Morning these Dep‘, Together wth ye five Indiens that remained, Set on their Journey Peaceably to the last Supposed sleeping place of the Deceased, and upon their Arrival, these Depts. dixpersed themselves in Order to find out the Corps of the deceased, & one of the Depts.J. Simpson Africa, History of Huntingdon and Blair Counties, Pennsylvania (Philadelphia: Louis H. Everts, 1883) · character 73,119 of the scanned text
In fact, some of the first settlers had not been molested by Secretary Peters and his party, and this encouraged others to cross the mountains and establish themselves in the Indian country. James Patterson settled near the present town of Mexico, Juniata county, in 1751, only a year after the trespassers had been driven out, and cleared land on both sides of the river.John W. Jordan, ed., History of the Juniata Valley and Its People (New York: Lewis Historical Publishing, 1913) · character 97,259 of the scanned text
The officers of these townships were as follows: lT67., John Ramsey (Dublin), William Parker (Coleraine), Thomas Coulter (Cumberland), John Cochran (Bedford), John Forsee (Barre), constables, 1768., Charles Boyle (Dublin), Samuel Anderson (Barre), constables; John Brady, Jacob Hair (Barre), supervisors; George Jackson, Zebulon Moor (Barre), overseers of the poor. 1749., Robert Ramsey (Dubliv), Samuel Anderson (Barre), constables; Zebulon Moor, Robert Caldwell (Barre), supervisors; Benjamin ' 1770., James Watson (Dublin), John Wilson (Barre), William Brown (Armagh), constables; Samuel Thompson, Daniel Egoe (Barre), James Moor (Armagh), supervisors; Zebulon Moore, Robert Caldwell (Barre), James Reed (Armagh), overseers of the poor; James Little, Charles Caldwell (Barre), viewers of fences. 1771., William Shirley (Barre), James Foley (Dublin), constables ; Samuel Thompson, Daniel Ego (Barre), supervisors; Zebulon Moor, Robert Caldwell (Barre), Charles Boyle, Benjamin Elliot (Dublin), overseers of the poor. The Indians, after fully realizing the immense stretch of country covered by the bounds set in the treaty of 1754, expressed disappointment and dissatisfaction. They said they did not understand the points of the compass and were thereby deceived. Some of them became allies of the French and commenced a series of depredations upon the frontier settlers.J. Simpson Africa, History of Huntingdon and Blair Counties, Pennsylvania (Philadelphia: Louis H. Everts, 1883) · character 37,654 of the scanned text
Sources
No source list was recorded with this item when it was written. It is shown here as written and has not been re-verified. Treat it as unverified until it has been.
Checked 2026-10-13 · Historic Mount Union collection