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COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
pioneer, and was owned by Burd Patter son and W. F . D eBerg, o f Pottsville. They sold it in 1844 to Fincher & Thomas. Its site w as on Slabtown crcck, a short distance from the junction with R oar ing creek. A waterpower sawmill had b<wn built here over the little creek by Simon Shive a few years previously. There w as no supply o f ore or coal at hand, but an abundance o f timber for charcoal with which to operate the furnace. The ore was secured from the Fishing crcck valley. T he product o f this furnace w as exclusively pig iron, al though earlier writers have statct that stoves and plows were made here. Isaiah John and Samuel B. Dlcmer leased the furnace from the Bittlcr heirs in i860 and ran it until the Civil w ar came on. Then they shipped a lot o f iron to New Jersey, from which place it w as sent to the i^ u th, captured by the Confederates and lost. T h is caused the failure of the firm and the abandonment of the furnace. Other earlier operators of the furnace were Lloyd Thom as, John Richards and D. J . W aller, br. T he furnace is now completely destroyed and but a pile o f stones, overgrown by trees and bushes, m arks the site. ROADS
T he first roads o f this township were merely bridle paths to Catawissa, the only source o f supplies. A fte r the coming of the Quakers a number o f G ernuns came from Berks county by w ay o f a road which they opened from Reading across the mountains. T h is Reading road w as much used after 18 12 . and in 18 17 a sum o f money w as appropriated by the county to improve it. T h is occasioned much bitter ness between rival innkeepers. Caspar Rhoads induced the viewcr.stoncs bear only the initials o f (he occupant, 'fh e old building is in a fair state o f prescr'ation, and is carefully looked a fte r by the few who attend the infrequent services there. In (he year 18 0 $ both the Lutherans and (he Reform ed denomination had a foundation in Locust township. In (he barn o f John H clw ig a short distance north of the site o f N u midia, Rev. John Dictcrich Adam s and Rev. Frederick Plitt had previously held services for the Reform ed and Lutheran adherents res ident here. In 18 15 Rev. Jacob Dicffenbach came and began plans for a church building. T he building committee, Caspar Rhoads. George M iller and Matthias Rhoads, bought a lot from Jaco b K line on the road east o f Numidia. Here a building w as begun, the cornerstone being laid Ju ly 5. 18 16 . but the edifice w as not completed until fifteen years had elapsed. Services were held here once a month. In 1870 the two congregations be gan another church, using the old cornerstone.
