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From the Archives of
The
Middleburg Post

111 Years Ago - 1900

JANUARY
4. Fire at Kreamer destroyed the Evangelical Church and fire at Middleburg destroyed the tenant house on James G. Crouses farm.
5. 418 births and 140 deaths in Snyder County during 1899.

FEBRUARY
16. Professor Billhardt opened singing school.
22. W.S. Arbogast sold the Eagle hotel to E.C. Graybill for $5000.

MARCH
1. George Hasssinger bought the stove business from J.c. Schoch.
1. The Adams Express office, which was in the hands of G.C. Gutelius for 27 years, was moved to the Middleburg depot.
29. James Bowersox was awarded a contract to build a flag stone walk across the French Flats for $283.65.

APRIL
2. Post office at Kissimmee opened.
13. W.M. Wilwert, of Sunbury, was lodged in the jail here charged with larceny.
26. POST offers an organ as a prize to a church or Sunday School in Snyder County getting the most votes.
26. Ner. A. Feese, of Beavertown, found a valuable clay deposit near Beavertown.
26. Lewisburg Chronicle claims the block house at Kreamer shoudl be called the "Schoch Block House" instead of "Hendricks Block House."

MAY
5. John Stetler, Sr. with horse and wagon rolled down 100 feet embankment at Lime Kilns and no one was hurt and no damage done.
12. Marlin Burns, three years old, was lost in the Red Bridge grove for three days.

JULY
19. Lightning rod agents swindled six or eight Snyder County farmers.
26. Penn Telephone line has been extended to Port Trevorton.
27. Mary K. Snyder, grand daughter of Gov. Snyder, died at Selinsgrove. Mary was single and she would not tell her age.

Presented by Emily Johnson, VP Snyder County Historical Society and the Simon Snyder of Pennsylvania: Citizen and Governor
1759-1819 exhibition committee

Practicing Law In Snyder County...
Barristers of Old...

    On March 16th, 1855, the question of the division of Union County into two counties came before the voters of that county, and 1,688 votes were cast FOR division and 1,643 votes were cast against the division. So by 45 votes was the matter decided.
    It would be interesting to know how this vote stood territorily. We have learned that the opposition to the division was scattered all over what are now the two counties and that Hon. Ner Middleswarth was a leader among the opponents.
    The division took place and the following year, 1856, the court house in Middleburg was built.
    Immediately upon the formation of Snyder County attorneys located: Alleman, Cronimiller, Merrill, and Weirick at Middleburg; Hill, Hower and Simpson at Selinsgrove, and Malick at Freeburg. For many years after the formation of the county, attorneys of the mother county practiced extensively at this bar, but in time the people employed resident attorneys and at this present time, there are less Union County attorneys practicing in Snyder County than ever before in its history.
    The bar of this county was always on a par in point of ability with the bar of other counties of comparable size. It must be remembered that Snyder County in 1910 had only 311 square miles of land area and that it had a population in 1890 of 17,651; in 1900 of 17,304; and in 1910 of 16,800, thus showing a decreas in population.
    Larger counties, with larger bars produced an occasional luminary but the point we make is that the average size being considered, Snyder County was as high in ability here as elsewhere.
    Prior to 1856, no attorney lived in Middleburg.
    Samuel Weirick came to Middleburg in 1856; he was then 48 years old, and he continued to practice here until

his death in 1868. He was a successful lawyer and a consistent member of the Methodist Church.
    Samuel Alleman also came to Middleburg in 1856 when he was 38 years old, but in 1865 he moved to Selinsgrove and continued to practice law there until his death in 1881. He excelled as an Orphans' Court attorney and was always honored and respected.
    Samuel Merrill also came to Middleburg in 1856 when he was 33 years old and in his time he was regarded as possessing one of the finest legal minds in the state. He enlisted from here and entered the war of the rebellion and died in 1865 in the prime of his manhood.
    John P. Cronimiller also came to Middleburg about 1856 when he was 30 years old, but he was not admitted to the bar until 1857. He read law will Samuel Merrill and when his preceptor entered the army, Cronimiller succeeded to his large practice.
    He excelled as an Orphans' Court lawyer and as a good counsellor. His office in the old frame building, where the First National Bank is now located was always the rendezvous of his brother lawyers. He was a consistent member of the German Reformed Church. He died in 1885.

    Anthony C. Simpson came to Selinsgrove about 1849 and shortly thereafter was admitted to the bar of what was then Union County. He came from Ontario County, New York, and consequently was a stranger to the Penna. Dutch language or dialect, but notwithstanding this he succeeded and became a prominent trial lawyer.
    Much credit is also due to him for promoting the building of the Sunbury and Lewistown RR and he was at one time president of the company.
    He was an eloquent trial lawyer and a man of keen with and great sarcasm. He is remembered also as having an explosive disposition, but when it was over, he was kind and forgiving. This disposition led him into many personal encounters, and he was stabbed in one such encounter. He died in Selinsgrove about 1900.
    Coming down a little later we find John H. Arnold located at Middleburg in 1869, when he was 23 years old. He also went into the Army, but after the war, he practiced here for many years and finally met a tragic death in Cleveland, Ohio about 1902.
    Thomas J. Smith was a native of Middleburg and was born in 1837. He was admitted to the bar in 1865 and at once gained a large general practice. He continued to practice until his death in 1895. Mr. Smith was able but his chief characteristic was his kindness. He was much respected by all classes of people.
    What does the past history of our barristers tell us? They tell us of great legal battles here fought, some won and some lost. But in and through it all, justice was done here as well as it can be done anywhere through human agencies.

Information from this article taken from Snyder County Historical Society Bulletin, Vol. II, Number 1, published in January 1937 and read before the Society on March 22, 1935 by Late Nestor of the County bar. Written by C.P. Ulrich, esq.