COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES pointed postmaster there, and continued to serve until 1847, when the office was moved to N ewlin. in 18 55 it w as restored to Slabtown, the official name o f Roaringcreek bcuig given ic. The present postmaster is E . C . Yeager. T he Yeager tavern, now called the “ N a tional H otel," w as successively run by Isaiah and Wellington Y eager, smd John R ivers. The present proprietor is A . L . Merkle. "Brookside H otel," above the town, is conducted by J . R . Bibby. ' The tannery at Slabtown w as built in 1835 b y John Yeager, operated afterw ard for a num ber o f years by M . & L . Yeager, and finally closed in 1885. The Linville gristm ill is occasionally run in the season by Peter O lslicsky. T h e present storekeepers at Slabtown are H . D . Leiby, E . C. Y eager and John Snyder. T h e population is about two hundred. T he first bridge across R oaring creek at Slabtow n was built in 1874, at a cost o f $1,50 0. T h is w as removed in 19 13, and replaced by one of the most artistic and substantial small bridges in this part of the State, constructed o f concrete and steel, at a cost o f $5,500. A bout 1 7 ^ a mill w as built by Samuel Cherrington fo r Nathan Lee. on R oaringcreek, a short distance from the Friends church, and about two miles southeast o f Slabtown. A ll of the machinery w as brought from Philadel phia over the Reading road. T h is mill was the only one in the lower end of the county at the time, and when it was burned in the winter o f i S i i almost a famine w as caused by the loss o f most of the grain there. John L ee and Jerem iah Snyder were later owners of the m ill. I t ' is only occasionally operated now b y the present owner, a Polander. K E W LIN
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oline engine, as well as a turbine, and the out put is buckwheat flour, about seventy bushels o f grain being ground per day. Newlin at the present time is even smaller titan in the past, having suffered a loss o f pop ulation while Numidia has grown larger. T o e only store at Newlin is kept by B . S . liodinc. NU M ID IA
T his village is the principal one in Locust township, being surrounded by some of the finest farm s In the county. Nathan L ee was the owner o f this spot o f land, and his sonin-law, Peter Kline, built the first house in the village. A store w as opened in this house in >832. The town was definitely laid out in 1835 by E lija h Price, who changed the name o f Leestown to N e w M edia. T his has been corrupted to Numidia. Anthony Dengler built a store here in 1842, and was appointed post master in 1847. T he present postmistress is M rs. Charlotte Daniel, who also continues the store left her by her husband, the form er post master. The other storekeeper is W illiam J . Beaver, who occupies the lower floor of the Odd Fellow s building. The first physician at Numidia was D r. J . II. Vastinc, who carried on practice fo r twentyone years, until his death here. Other physi cians thereafter were Drs. G . W. M ears, Pius Zimmerman, Jo h n Rhodes, J . H . Shircy, and the present residents, D rs. J . C. Winterstecn and A . V . C arl. D r. Wintersteen has resided here fo r twenty-three years. T he hotel is kept by M. Y eager & Son, who have a reputation fo r capability extending all over this and surrounding counties. Good W ill Lodge, No. 3 10, I. 0 . 0 . F ., o f Numidia, has grown with the town's prosper ity, having 13 0 members at present, in con trast to but eleven in 1886. T he organization owns its hall, the largest building tn the town, having a storeroom below. T h e estimated population o f Numidia is 350. and there are few old buildings here, a fire having consumed many of them not long ago. Most of the residences arc attractive and modern in construction, while some of them are quite metropolitan in appearance and in terior furnishings. T h is is the largest town between Catawissa and Centralia and draws upon a fine farm ing community fo r support.
C aspar Rhoads built a tavern on the site at the forks of the middle branch o f Roaring creek about 1830, which came into the pos session o f Jolm K ern in 1S40. l i e gave the nam e o f K ern sville to the little settlement o f about ten houses, but in 1884 the post office here w as named Newlin and E lias W. Wffiitner p laccfl ill charge. The post office is now abol ished. but the name stil sticks. T h e gristmill on the creek here w as built by a M r. H errin g to n, who sold it, the purchaser selling to Benjamin Bahm, and it w as after ESTHER FURNACE w ards owned by Elias Smrdcr. T he present proprietor is W illiam L . Snyder, who bought T h is charcoal Iron furnace w as built in It from Elias. The mill is operated by a gas- 1822 by Samuel Bittler, son o f M ichael, the IB
