Existing comment:
"Forwarding" John Dougherty and a Novel Idea:
Jesse Christmas set out for Illinois in October 1834 with his keelboat, the Hit or Miss, loaded with his wife, children, household goods, and livestock. On reaching the canal basin in Hollidaysburg, Christian tried to sell his boat, planning to cross the mountain by the Portage Railroad and continue his journey on board another keelboat purchased in Johnstown. Unfortunately for Christian, no buyers were to be found.
"Forwarding" John Dougherty, proprietor of the Reliance Transportation Line, came to Christian's aid with a novel concept. Making a few modifications to an ordinary railroad car, Dougherty's "truck" safely scaled the mountain -- carrying keelboat, family, livestock, and all.
"All this was done without disturbing the family arrangements of cooking, sleeping, etc. They rested a night on the top of the mountain, like Noah's ark on Ararat, and descended the next morning..."
-- Sherman Day, Historical Collections of the State of Pennsylvania, 1843
Samuel and Jean Lemon: Entrepreneurs:
Around 1839, Samuel Lemon, in one of many contracts negotiated with the Allegheny Portage Railroad, agreed to supply water to the boilers of Engine House Number 6. Supplying water was not Lemon's only business venture. He leased houses, operated the Lemon House as a tavern, and provided horses and wood to the railroad as well. Another sideline was his sandstone quarry which was likely the source of materials used to construct the Lemon House and railroad sleepers.
Lemon was aware of coal deposits in the area. A rich vein of bituminous coal discovered on his property was one of the most productive in Cambria County; it became known as the "Lemon seam." Lemon employed at least six workers and produced in three years more than 80,000 bushels of coal for use by the railroad. Over the next few years, Lemon sunk a sixty foot shaft north of the tavern and constructed a coal wharf near the railroad tracks. The Lemons coal mine and other businesses helped to make them one of the wealthiest families in the area. |