Johnstown High School - Spectator Yearbook (Johnstown, PA)

Page 12 text:

 THE SPECTATOR Conemaugh and Stonycreek Rivers. This land, called the “Campbell Tract,” Charles Campbell had secured through a government land patent after the territory had been opened to white settlers. On this tract much of the present city of Johns- town is now situated. It included the first three, and parts of the Fourth, Ninth, Tenth and Thirteenth Wards. At the same time Johns bought the “Henry Wise” tract, now part of the Twelfth Ward and then a dense forest; for, as late as 1823, the portion west of Market and Vine Streets was still wooded. Shantz built his house near the corner of Vine and Levergood streets in 1793, and was busy for the next several years clearing tracts of land to be laid out in a plan for his future town. In the Somerset County Courts on November 4, 1800, he recorded the charter for his village, Conemaugh Old Town. In this charter his name appears as Joseph Johns. The charter contained provisions many of which have had lasting effects. The Market Place, all public highways, streets and alleys were to be free to the citizens forever. Two lots, one on Market Street and the other on Chestnut Street, were to be given for the erection of public schools and houses of public worship. A plot of not less than one acre was to be used as a place of burial for the inhabitants. This is now known as Union Park. The square on Main Street was to be used for a court house, for Johns hoped that Conemaugh Old Town might become the county seat. And lastly, the strip of land called the Point was set aside for free public amusement forever. In 1807 Johns sold his Johnstown property; in 1805 he moved to a farm in Conemaugh Township where he spent the rest of his life. When he died he left no will so his property was disposed at a public sale. Joseph Johns II acquired it November 3, 1813, and it remained in his possession until a year before his death when he conveyed it to his son Joseph Johns III for the sum of twenty-five hundred dollars. Even to-day the land is in the hands of the Johns family. a W'.'.j-a' - Ti. , w7: The Home of Joseph Johns Built near the corner of Vine and Levergood streets [8]

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■i—--. 1|£ THE SPECTATOR THE FOUNDER OF JOHNSTOWN Polly Barnhart The name Shantz is probably unfamiliar to many of us, but when the German name Shantz is changed to Johns we have a name which every Johnstowner knows and respects. Joseph Johns was not the first white man who attempted settlement in Cambria County. At the date of his coming in 1793, there existed three small villages, Ebensburg, Loretto, and Beulah. More than twenty years earlier, the Adams family, two brothers and a sister, occupied and improved land in what is now Seventh ward. It was a period of Indian troubles. The Adamses repeatedly fled for protection to one or other of the nearby forts at Bedford, Ligonier, or Fort Palmer, and it was in encounters with hostile Indians that both Samuel Adams and his sister Rachel lost their lives. Although the Adams family established no permanent settlement, they left their impress upon the vicinity in the names of Sam’s Run, Solomon’s Run, and Ben’s Creek; and in the name of a hill beyond Geistown, known as Rachel’s Hill. The imperfect records of that pioneer period leave the dates of the activities of this family in doubt. Quite as unfortunate is the indefiniteness of the dates in Joseph Johns’s life, for neither the date of his birth nor that of his death can be proved by documentary evidence. The inscription upon his tombstone reads Joseph Johns Died Jan. 18, 1810 Aged 60 yr. 2 mo. 10 d. This makes the date of his birth 1794. However, a deed later disclosed the fact that he sold property during March, 1812; and the papers of administration for his estate were not issued until May, 1813. A possible error was admitted by his grandson, Joseph Johns, III, because the marker was not erected until many years after the death of Joseph Johns. We know, however, that this Joseph Johns was a man of German descent, and a pioneer such as at that time came from Switzerland and the Palatinate. Un- certainty again arises when we try to determine the date of his arrival in America, since there were several persons bearing the same name who immigrated within a few years of each other. According to family tradition, Joseph and his sister Veronica came to this country together. Of their first few years in America we know little, except that they lived in Berks County where Veronica met and mar- ried Joseph Crisner. The couple later came to Somerset County where they settled. Joseph Johns, while in Berks County married Miss Veronica Holly. They, too, moved to Somerset County where Shantz bought a farm near Berlin. In 1793 lie sold this farm to buy from James McLcnahan land at the confluence of the [7]

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 THE SPECTATOR 3 PICTURES OF EARLY JOHNSTOWN Frances Witt Joseph Johns, the founder of Johnstown, was a man of business ability and foresight, who looked ahead to see his settlement become the county capital and be- cause of that he put into the organization of Johnstown all that he had. It is interesting to note that today after more than one hundred years the plan of the business part of our city follows the original plan of Conemaugh Old Town. The charter for the town, received on November 4, 1800, stated that the town contained one hundred and forty-one lots, ten streets, six alleys and one market square. The main streets were known as Washington, Main, Vine, Chestnut, Market and Franklin streets. By an act of the State Legislature, Conemaugh Borough was in- corporated on January 12, 1831, and three years later the name was changed to Johnstown in honor of its founder, Johns. Our present Central Park, which was reserved for a Court House, consisted of lots 49, 50, 51, and 52. The plot was originally 264 feet square, but on the laying out of side walks it was reduced to 240 feet square. In earlier days the Square was used for public meetings, circus performances, and a playground. Here it was that Dan Rice and Van Amburg brought their circuses, until the ground was not large enough for the exhibitions. The first circus in Johnstown was on the Public Square [’]