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COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES F O fN D R W IL L B
T h e village o f Foundryville, a short distance nortlicast o i Berw ick, has had quite an inter esting history. Here William H. Woodin opened the foundry in 1847 which gave the town its name. H ere in i 8m Abraham Zaner built a small distiller)', which afterw ards was owned by D. Scybert, the upper miller. A grist mill and wagon shop were operated in the lower end 0! the village by Peter Haym an, and a tannery by O. Stokes. Mr. Woodin’s succes so r in the ownership of the foundry was A . W. Eaton, father of the present president of the American C ar & Foundry Company, at Ber wick. The cliarcoal iron furnace at Foundryvillc was built in 1835. Ore was brought from Bloomsburg by way of the canal and teams. A ll of these industries have passed into ob livion and the village will soon be a suburb of the rapidly growing town o f Berwick. T he Methodist Episcopal Church here is served from Berwick. RF-t.tr.lOUS
A detailed history of the churches o f this township is included in the sketch o f Berwick, as most of them arc served (only occasionally) by the pastors from tlu t city. T he foundations of the Evangelical denom ination in B riar Creek were laid in 1826 by Revs, ficybert and Nocckcr, who conducted services in the home o f George Zahncr. A fte r that date Daniel K ah r, Simon M c ljn c, Jam es Dunlap and others continued lo preach at pri vate houses. T he first Summer H ill church w as built in 1849, the present one in 18 9 3; both were o f frame construction. The Evansville church w as built in 1854. These charges arc now served from W est Berwick. T he suc cessive pastors have been: R evs. Jaco b Ilartzell, John Young, George Hunter, A . H . Irvin, S . D. Bennington, P. H. Rishel. H . W . Buck, S . P. Rcm cr, A . W . Shenburger, W . W. Rhoads, I. W . Pines, D . P . Kline. The date o f organization o f S t. Paul’s E van gelical Lutheran Church o f M artzvllle is not known. T h e first communion service w as held there in 18 6 1. The congregation first met in the schoolroom, just below where the present church building stands, until 1867, when the present church was built. The members t h p w ere: John M artz, Abraham M artz, Daniel M artz, Nathan M artz, D. W . M artz, John H.
M artz, H enry H . M artz, George W. Martz, Z. 'J'. M artz, Lydia M artz, Disiah M artz, Lrah M artz, Ja n e Moharter, M ary H ill, Elizabeth Jones. T he membership at present is thirtysix, and that of the Sunday school, seventyfive. T he pastor is R ev. C E . A rnold, who is in charge of the congregation at W est Ber wick. N o definite records arc extant of the first meetings of the Lutheran and Reform ed cong r^ a tio n s who in 1807 built the union log church one mile front the Susquehanna and four miles from Berw ick. T he first known pastor of the Lutherans wSs Rev. M . ^ r l Solomon Fridrici, and his successors were Revs. J . F . Engel, Peter H all, J . K . H aal, Peter K essler, Isaiah Bahl, W. B . F o x ,,S . S . Henry, Thom as Stcck, J . P. German, S . B . Stupp, G. G . Kunkle, N . Scheffcr. T he congregation at present is served by the pastor or St. Jo h n ’s Church at Berw ick, Rev. W illiam Berk. Zw ingli Reform ed congregation is served by Rev. D. J . E ly . T lte first "F rc ith o f’’ day, or free-house day, w as celebrated in this church in 19 14, about 350 persons attending. The old church is in a good state o f preservation, con sidering its a^c and the moderate expense of construction, it having been built on the site of the log one in 1850, o f brick, at a cost o f $1,0 0 0 only. sch o o ls
- riie first school in Briarcreek township was
held in the old stone Methodist church, four miles south o f Berwick. In 18 10 this school w as removed to a building erected fo r the pur[ w c at Foundiyvillc. (Tordelia A . Preston. Daniel Goodwyn, M orris H ow cr and John A m ey were the teachers in this school at various periods. A t present there are fourteen schools in the township, taught by fifteen teachers, and 47S scholars are on the rolls. The school directors o f Briarcreek township a r c; Bruce Lanning. L e v i K ocher. W illiam S. A sh, Claude Bower, J . O . Grasley. PO PU LATIO N
T h e population o f Briarcreek 1820 was 1,7 19! in 1830, 1.70 6; in in 1 ^ 0 . 1,0 9 1; in i860, 1.7 3 4 : >" in 1880. 1 . 1 7 2 : In 1890, I, 2 9 2; in in 19 10 . 2.;t5i.
township in 1840, M 5 1 : >870. 1 . 0 ^; 1900, 1,8 3 3 :
