JOHN LEATHERS
1857-1937
Written Recollections
COPYRIGHT INFORMATION: The material on this site is under copyright
by Gordon Kelly Marshall. Researchers, family members, libraries, or
genealogical and/or historical societies are invited to use the information
freely, for non-commercial purposes only, with proper credit to me and to this
site. Please email me if you wish to reference it in any format: marshallfamily@zoominternet.net. You may not use it at all for commercial
purposes.
The following
material was written by John Leathers Marshall, son of William Kelker
Marshall (1829-1911) and Anna Mary Rumbarger Marshall (1838-1924)
and great-grandson of John Marshall (about 1761-1806) and Catharina
Truby Marshall (about 1763-1806).
His maternal grandfather, John Rumbarger (1810-1889), founded the
present-day DuBois. The name Leathers
belonged to his maternal grandmother, Elizabeth Leathers
(1818-1844).
Introduction
Lola Marshall Farnham
Of all the relatives preceding my generation,
the one that stands out as my favorite was a little trusting brown-eyed boy who
turned out to be my father. His father
(William Kelker Marshall) was a pioneer lumberman operating in the virgin
forests of
When he was six years (about 1863) old
his father moved his family from Beechwoods to
During flood time the streams were
very rapid and abounded in fish. So
fishing was a great pastime for little boys. After their chores, of
course. There was one fishing
trip in particular that stood out in his memory. Related in his words:
(All
subsequent material was written by John L. Marshall.)
A neighbor's boy and his mother came
to our home one day to visit. Naturally
we boys wanted to go fishing. Finally our
mothers consented on condition that we would not attempt to fish below the big
dam or chute. We were to fish down one
side, cross over, and fish on our way home.
This we did until we came to the dam and chute. The older boy insisted on going below. My
brother (George Kelker Marshall) and I would not go and tried to talk
him out of it; but go he would.
The water was 16 to 18 feet deep. He managed to get down to the lower end of
the chute, which was about 4 feet above the water. The poor silly boy tried to find the bottom
with his fishing rod, leaned over too far and went in head first. He could not swim and went down twice. Each
time he came up he would call for his mother.
My older brother, George, ran over and slipped down the chute just as he
was going down the third time. His hands were all that could be seen. George reached a fishing rod to him at the
last moment and the sinking boy caught it with a death grip. We pulled him to the end of the abutment but
could not get him out. I laid flat down
and took hold of his hands and managed to keep his head above water until my
brother ran home after our mothers. When
they arrived on the scene they took off their shoes, went to the edge of the
chute, joined hands, and with our help pulled him out. He was a horrible sight, too weak to stand
without help. It left on me the
never-to-be-forgotten thought that it does not pay to disobey your parents.
^ ^ ^
My earliest memory, at the age of four
(1861), was a trip with my parents to visit their old home at Parker's Landing
(2). Our conveyance was a big lumber
wagon and a fine team of horses. There was a river to cross and the only
transference was an old ferry or flat boat propelled by a cable. I remember, when we
came to the river we all got out, Mother with little sister (Charlotte
Elizabeth Marshall Seeley) in her arms, my older brother (George Kelker
Marshall), and aunt Kath (Catharine Almira Rumbarger). Father and another man took charge of the
team. A short distance from the water
the team became frightened and backed up, pushing mother with the baby in her
arms into the river. Fortunately, the
water at that point was not very deep and she managed to hold the baby up out
of the water until she was rescued.
^ ^ ^
About a mile from our house lived an
old hunter by the name of Jack Long (3).
It was a treat for us lads to go to the home of the Longs, an old log
house with a stone fire-place. Many
times in the summer the door would be left open and raccoons, porcupines,
ground-hogs and other animals would find their way into the house. Bear meat, venison, rye bread and biscuit
were delicious here. He made moccasins
and buckskin gloves from deer hides tanned in his dooryard. Venison and bear meat was plentiful in those
days. Yet, this kind of family was
deprived of many privileges and necessities of life. Occasionally we were allowed to spend the
night. We would all gather around their
old fashioned fire place, partake of their common food, then climb up a little
ladder to the attic and sleep over night.
Sometimes we would wake up in the morning to find our bed covered with
snow.
Once his cows did not come home. Next morning he took his gun and dog and went
in search of them. He came across a
drove of deer, six in all, and brought them all down with his double-barrelled shot gun.
Another time he came in contact with a female bear and two cubs. Not seeing the mother bear at first, he shot
both cubs. Scarcely had he time to load
his rifle with powder pack and bullit when the
enraged mother bear made a leap for him with her mouth wide open. He rammed the gun barrel into her mouth and
fired.
^ ^ ^
In my mind I wander around the old
homestead. Many a dear, familiar spot
comes to my recollection: I see the old spring at the foot of the hill with its
cool sparkling water. I see the old mill
pond where we caught the beautiful speckled trout. I see the old swimming hole where we saved a
boy from drowning. I see the old saw
mill where we played hide and seek and found some counterfeit money that made
good sinkers for our fishing lines.
I see myself walking to the home of Henry
Hetrick over on Clear Run, who is struggling hard to clear his land and
raise a family. They, too, have their
share of misfortune, bud midst it all they endeavor to look on the sunny side
of life. Mr. Hetrick had a beautiful
little six-year-old daughter who was taken sick and died. On the day of the funeral the weather was
very cold and the snow deep. I remember
that my father made a handbarrow by nailing strips on two poles. He and a number of men carried this rude
stretcher to the home of Mr. Hetrick which was about three miles. The Rev. George Senior came from the
Beechwoods on horseback and preached the sermon. The body was placed on the barrow and carried
by these sturdy woodsmen down to
Once again I remember a trip to Mr. Hetricks. When a boy
about nine years old I had sound teeth and could crack hickory nuts without the
use of a hammer. Accidentally I broke a
sound double tooth and it began to ache very severely. In those early days dentists and doctors were
scarce. Our parents did the best they
could under those circumstances, applying home remedies, saving the lives of
many children, seldom ever calling a doctor save in extreme cases. There were two men who pulled teeth in that
'part of the country. They were Jimmy
Kyle and Mr. Hetrick. I chose the
latter. Mr. Hetrick was a powerful man,
about six feet tall and weighed two hundred pounds. I stopped at his house and was told that he
was about a mile farther in the woods skidding logs. Mrs. Hetrick said, "You had
better take the twin keys with you. He
can pull your tooth out there." The
'machine' she gave me looked like a big monkey wrench. I found my 'dentist' at the skidway with a yoke of oxen, and said, "Can you pull
my tooth?" He said, "Yes. Just
sit down on this log." I did. Then
he called to his son-in-law to come hold me down. Without further preliminaries the work
started. The result was a sound double
tooth came out. When the mistake was
discovered, he insisted on pulling the other one. This time he jerked out two. Fortunately the second sound tooth hung on my
lip. He pushed it into place and brought my jaws together with a crash. Nature did the rest and the tooth is still
sound after fifty-five years (4).
^ ^ ^
My mind goes back to the days when we
burned wood. I remember the big wood choppings when the teams would drag the long trees to the
yard and the men w1th cross-cut saws would cut many cords of wood in one
day. It was no small task for us boys to
keep three or four stoves going in the winter.
But in 1871 when coal was first discovered in the Beechwoods settlement,
woodchopping began to decline. I remember the first load of coal my father
bought. He took his team and drove into
the Beechwoods to Tom
Brown's mine. With an
old mattock they dug the dirt off the top, then with a grubbing hoe they dug up
the coal, measuring it in a half bushel measure.
This coal boom was too much for poor Tom. He became a little 'dotty'. He would haul many a load of coal through the
settlement and unload it near someone's house, free, gratis. On one occasion, while Tom was in church (he
was well able to read and could write the sermons down), he contradicted a
statement the minister made, threw his hat at the preacher, then called him a
liar and ran out and upset the coal house and went home. On another occasion, during a church
entertainment he undertook to 'clean house'.
This time he failed and was taken into custody.
^ ^ ^
When my parents lived on
About the winter of 1868, I was sent
to my grandparents in Rumbarger Town (now DuBois) to attend
school there. How proud I felt as I left
home with my little bundle under my arm and wearing my copper-toed boots. In my bundle was my old Osgood speller,
writing and elementary arithmetic. What
a disappointment to find an old log building about two miles from town. It was about twenty by thirty feet with a
stove in the center, with one desk and benches around the four walls. The students ranged in age, from six to
twenty-four years--young men and girls who had nothing else to do but look
after the chores around home and go to school.
This was a German community and they usually talked Dutch at recess and
the noon hour. After recess in the
afternoon we would have a spelling contest.
All those who could spell were expected to take part. Each pupil took his place according to
number. My place was at the foot. But not for long, for the very first day I got
to the head and there I stayed.
While in
^ ^ ^
During the war of 1861 a company of
volunteers was organized in the Beechwoods under the supervision of Captain
Tracy. Many young men with families
offered their services for their country.
I remember the names of some of them.
There was Samuel Steel who served six months in the
This company went into training out on
the old
The little town of
One tale is told of Hughey Cooper, the cobbler. Hughey was always
on time and a very attentive listener.
As the tales were being told Hughey said,
"There is no war news in my paper."
Someone asked, "What paper do you take Hughey?" "Why," he said, "I take the Sunday
School Visitor, and there is never anything in it about the war." After General Grant defeated the rebels at
On a sadder note, my father's younger
brother (Henry Marks Marshall, 1840-1864) served in the war, was
captured and died of starvation in
^ ^ ^
Early History
of DuBois
Narrated by J. L. Marshall
William McIntosh, who was
married to my mother's half sister (7), owned the first livery stable in West
DuBois. In the summer of 1876 his
brother George came to the stable one evening and hired a horse and
buggy to drive out to Luthersburg. As he
drove out on Long Avenue the horse made a dash, running away, and throwing Mr.
McIntosh out and breaking his leg, the bone penetrating the ground. They carried him to the home of his sister, Mrs.
Frank Hughes. Dr. Smathers
of DuBois, Dr. J. A. King of Reynoldsville, and Dr. Spackman of Luthersburg were called and they set the
broken leg which was a very bad break.
He received the best of care but to no avail, as gangreen
did its deadly work. In a few days I
stood by his bedside bidding him goodbye.
It was a sad picture to me as we were boys together, being brought up in
neighboring communities. Then he was
laid away over in the Beechwoods cemetery.
^ ^ ^
In the summer of 1877 I became manager
of a milk dairy owned by my brother-in-law, Mr. C. E. Seeley (8). The
dairy farm was located in the vicinity of the Rumbarger cemetery and the DuBois
hospital embracing about 30 acres of land.
The plot where the hospital stands was woodland, brush and trees. The little bungalow and barn stood near Spring avenue and
^ ^ ^
This was the year of the coal strike
in the
^ ^ ^
During the summer we decided to visit
in Reynoldsville (9) for a few days, so I hired Al Johnston to take
charge of the dairy. Mr. Johnston later
became owner and manager of the Courier.
When he was engaged in milking the cows the first morning he hung his
coat on the side door. A show that had been in DuBois the day previous passed by on the
Now to come back to
the dairy. The price of milk was
5 cents a quart.
I
delivered the milk twice a day in warm weather, using the milk cans, drawing
the milk from a spigot and with my little team of three year old bay colts I
made good time, and became quite familiar with the streets of DuBois. Most of my trips were pleasant but some were
not, especially when some drunk would crawl in the hay to sober up and it was
necessary to get him out before leaving.
^ ^ ^
I remember another show came to
DuBois, and when crossing the old plank road to get over on the Rumbarger side,
the bridge broke down. They had some
time getting their wagons and elephant out of the mud, then go back to the
railroad to load up again. This stopped
the traffic for some time until the bridge was repaired. I had to find a new road for my milk
wagon. I drove down near where the
boiler shops are now, located and found an old log road leading out to Mr.
DuBois' mill, coming out the plank road on the
^ ^ ^
Now my dear readers, some of you will
remember the lumbering industry in Mr. DuBois' day. As he was a man of genius and contributed
largely to the upbuilding of the town, he gave
employment to many men. It was
interesting to visit his big mill when running full blast, and his lumber
yards. Everything was done on a
systematic basis. On one occasion, when
going through his lumber yard he came to one of his men piling boards, stopped
and gave a few orders. The fellow did
not know Mr. DuBois and said to him, "You mind your own business. I'm piling boards for Johnnie DuBois." This pleased Mr. DuBois. He went back to the mill and found his
foreman and said, "Who is that old Dutchman piling boards out in the
yard?" His foreman laughed and
said, "That is Yokub Funk from
On another occasion during a log drive
when going up the creek, he came up to a log driver loafing. He said to him, "You had better get to
work." The fellow said to him,
"If my work don't suit you, give me my
money." Mr. DuBois said, "How
much do I owe you?" The fellow told
him and Mr. DuBois gave him the amount. Later
it was revealed that this man was working for another firm. You can see at a glance that Mr. DuBois could
be depended upon under all circumstances.
NOTE: The foregoing material was provided by Lola
Marshall Farnham, daughter of John L. Marshall. The following accounts were taken from the
files of the "DuBois Courier".
"Early
Days in Rumbarger"
J. L. Marshall (John Leathers
The DuBois Courier
9 November 1923
The founder of
About the close of the Civil War
grandfather purchased the David Heberling
farm, consisting of 200 acres, more or less, with all mineral rights, for the
sum of $8000 cash, moving there and taking possession shortly afterwards. The boundary line of this farm ran back of
the Catholic cemetery,
The only buildings at that time were
the old farmhouse, known later as the Rumbarger House which stands on the lower
side of
The first store was built by Elisha
Evans near the foot of the hill on
Those who knew the founder of this
town, knew him to be a man of sterling character with a generous heart, ready
to contribute to the welfare of the building up of the community, such as
donating ground for church purposes and cemeteries; also giving money
besides. No doubt there are people
living in DuBois at the present time who bought their town lots at a very low
price, Mr. Rumbarger giving them ample time in which to pay for them. In this way he helped poor people to get a
home.
Mr. John DuBois boarded at the
Rumbarger House while erecting his big mill over on Beaver meadows. I remember he wore a gray suit in those
days. As a young lad it seems I can see
him yet as he went to and from his work.
The first band that played in Rumbarger
was the Dailey band, known as Ebenezer--Erastus--Dewitt
and Hen Doting. They came in from
Grandpa was a great smoker and loved
his pipe. He used the long plug hard
tobacco. No matter how hard the wind
blew, he never failed to light his pipe.
During the last years of his life he discarded his pipe and smoked
cigars. On the day he died he sat up and smoked one. His home then is now the home of Dr. S. M.
Free.
Dr. Smathers
was the first doctor to open an office in DuBois, and one of the first patients
he operated upon was a big woodsman at the Rumbarger House who suffered all
night with a severe pain in his head.
The doctor came before breakfast.
I imagine I can see him yet--a smooth faced young man. As he began to get the instruments ready, he
told his victim to lay down on a bench. After probing in his ear, he succeeded in
extracting a fat bedbug. This gave the
poor fellow relief. Afterwards the patient
ate a heavy breakfast and went to work
The first livery stable was conducted
by Billie McIntosh (7). He surely
did a fine business for his driving horses were always in demand.
About this time the Low Grade was
slowly coming up Sandy Lick, this giving the town additional life. My parents lived on
About the winter of 1868 I was
commissioned to go and live with my grandparents in
Quite naturally I expected my
advantages would be much greater in Rumbarger but was disappointed. The schoolhouse was located about two miles
from town on the
This was a German community and we
usually talked dutch at
recess and
The next school was built, on the left
of the road as you enter town, west of the
Among the first ministers who preached
here was the Rev. Samuel Miles, my wife's (13) grandfather. He was a pioneer minister of
"How John
Rumbarger Founded His Town"
J. L. Marshall (John Leathers
The DuBois Courier
16 November 1923
Mr. Rumbarger was the father of
thirteen children, two sons 8 and two daughters by his first wife: J. L.
Rumbarger (14), Mrs. W. K. Marshall (15), my mother; Mrs. John
Goodyear (11); and Frank (16), now dead. To the second union, nine
children were born. William Rumbarger
(12) of DuBois is the only one that survives.
Mr. Rumbarger died 34 years ago at the
age of 79 years. He still lives in the
hearts and minds of many people in DuBois and elsewhere.
Prior to moving to
In the winter of 1864 my father and George
B. McClelland (17) had a job of cutting logs on this tract of timber for
Mr. Rumbarger. When they had their
contract almost completed, Mr. Alfred Bell, who owned the land, came out to see
them. He offered the land for sale with
mineral rights for the sum of $2.50 per acre.
They said they had no use for it.
Here was one of the many golden opportunities missed on the highway of
life. Simply because we do not have the
talent of vision with which we have been endowed, we miss our reward. This was
almost as cheap as the land William Penn bought from the Indians. About ten
years later the famous
My mind goes back to the days when we
burned wood. It was no small task to
keep three or four stoves going in the winter.
I remember the first load of coal my father bought about the winter of
1867. He took his team and drove into
the Beechwoods, going to Tom Brown's mine. He took an old mattock with him. It was no drift. They dug the dirt off the top and then they
dug up the coal with a grubbing hoe, measuring it in half bushel measures. This
added great comfort to our home as the wood chopping began to decline.
Some of my readers will remember when
the first M. E. Church was built in West DuBois on the corner opposite the B.
R. & P. crossing. Mr. Rumbarger
donated the ground for that purpose and took an active part in the financial
part of the work. One plan they adopted
to raise money was a beauty contest between the young ladies of east and west
DuBois. My sister (18) was visiting at
the home of Mr. Rumbarger. He insisted
that she enter the contest. She did and
to her great delight received the majority of the votes cast.
2004 Endnotes
Kelly Marshall
(1) I know little about the geography of
rural, northeastern
Marshall and his daughter, Lola
Marshall Farnham, note that the family moved when Marshall was six years
old (about 1863) from the area called “the Beechwoods” in Washington Township
to the lumbering region of Wolf Creek--noted by Marshall as being “near
Harvey’s Run” (page 9). He states that
this place was two and a half miles from the nearest school in the Beechwoods
(page 4); however, in telling the story of the death of the Hetrick
family’s daughter, he seems to state that the distance from
The 1864 birthplace of
(2) Was this trip made by the author’s
family see Henry Marshall, before he went off to war and to his ultimate
death at
(3) Members of the Long Family in
Jefferson County, Pennsylvania, were renowned hunters; see Kate M. Scott’s 1888
History of Jefferson County, Pennsylvania (pages 47 ff.); W. J.
McKnight’s 1898 A Pioneer History of Jefferson County, Pennsylvania
(pages 576 ff.); and McKnight’s 1917 Jefferson County, Pennsylvania: Her
Pioneers and People (volume I; pages 126 ff.).
The identity of the “Jack Long”
noted by
The author’s younger brother, Earl
Jay Marshall (1878-1941) married into this family; his wife’s mother was Clarissa
Jane Long Haugh (1852-1930), daughter of Irvin Robinson Long
(1827-1862--a Civil War casualty) and Sarah Kerr (1833-1908); and
granddaughter of John Long (1797-1876) and Jane Robinson
(1793-1879). John Long’s
father was Ludwig (Lewis) Long. My best
notion about the relationship with Jack (Andrew Jackson) Long is that he
and Irvin R. Long were first cousins, their fathers being brothers--the sons of
Ludwig Long. Credit to my cousin Dick
Holben for his excellent research entitled The Long Family: Ancestors
and Descendants of Irvin Robinson Long of Jefferson County, Pennsylvania (2004).
(4) This story made its rounds in the
(5) Laura Heffner Wilson (1900-1990) , niece of J. L. Marshall, recounted this same story to me
in 1976. Her husband, Meredith Wilson,
believed this “loss of the trigger finger” was a somewhat common,
self-inflicted injury to preclude military service--for whatever reason. His laconic comments weren’t appreciated by
his wife, who rose to the defense of her grandfather!
(6) This is the oldest known family story of
the death of Henry Marks Marshall, son of John Marshall
(1803-1889) and Charlotte Kelker (1800-1854), and the author’s
uncle. The John Marshall Family Bible
records his death. My own grandfather, Clifford
William Marshall (1897-1964) recalled that he had a great-uncle who died in
the Civil War, as did his cousin Laura Heffner Wilson; but neither
recalled his name. In the mid-1970s, I
was able to recover the details of his military service and death, through
research in the National Archives. See
the article entitled “The Death of Henry Marks Marshall” in the 1976-1981
collection of family papers, or online at http://www.genealogy.com/users/m/a/r/Kelly-Marshall/
(7) Alice Jane Rumbarger McIntosh
(1855-1912) was the third daughter of John Rumbarger (1810-1889) and his second
wife, Eliza Erhart (1824-1891). She and her husband William McIntosh
(1844-1923) had a son, John McIntosh (1879-1961).
(8) Charles E. Seeley married Charlotte
Elizabeth Marshall, who as an infant is noted above in the account of the
1861 trip by this family to Parker’s Landing.
The Seeleys in time migrated to
(9) By this date, his parents most likely
were living at what they would consider in time the William K. Marshall
homestead, on the left at Cool Spring Hollow on Main Street, as one travels
east through Reynoldsville. This house
stood until the 1990s.
(10) Rumbarger named his youngest son for
(11) Early DuBois merchant John Goodyear
(1833-?) was the author’s uncle by marriage--the husband of his Aunt Libby (Eliza
Rumbarger Goodyear, born 04 April 1840).
They married at Shippensville,
(12) “Uncle Billie” was William A. Rumbarger
(1861-1933) and “Uncle Johnnie” was John H. Rumbarger (1865--?). Note that the author was older than each of
these uncles.
(13)
(14) Jacob Leathers Rumbarger (18
January 1836-09 March 1929) was a successful lumberman in
(15) Anna Mary Rumbarger Marshall (07
February 1838--16 September 1924) was my great-great grandmother Marshall. She married William Kelker Marshall
(1829-1911), a grandson of John Marshall and Catharina Truby. She was born in Warrior’s Mark,
(16) Franklin Rumbarger (10 December
1842--01 May 1895) was a sharpshooter in the Civil War. He married Jane Hallock
in 1863, and died in
(17) McClelland was the husband of the author’s
aunt Catharine Almira Rumbarger McClelland (1848-?). She is the “Aunt Kath” noted by the author,
above, in his account of his family’s trip to Parker’s Landing in 1861. She was survived by a daughter, Minnie
McClelland (1867-1924).
(18) Unfortunately,
^^^^
COPYRIGHT INFORMATION: The material on this site is under copyright
by Gordon Kelly Marshall. Researchers, family members, libraries, or
genealogical and/or historical societies are invited to use the information freely,
for non-commercial purposes only, with proper credit to me and to this
site. Please email me if you wish to
reference it in any format: marshallfamily@zoominternet.net. You may not use it at all for commercial
purposes.
^^^^
Contact Information
Kelly Marshall
Boardman OH 44512-3241
marshallfamily@zoominternet.net