Hepburn Township, Pennsylvania
Encyclopedia
Hepburn Township is a township in Lycoming County, Pennsylvania
, in the United States. The population was 2,836 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Williamsport
, Pennsylvania Metropolitan Statistical Area.
and one of the founding fathers of Lycoming County and Williamsport
which is the largest city in Lycoming County. Hepburn Township was originally much larger in size than it is today. Lewis
, Gamble, Eldred Township
, and Cascade Townships all are formed from territory that was at least formerly part of Hepburn Township.
An Indian village known as Eeltown played a prominent role in the early history of what is now Hepburn Township. This village located on Lycoming Creek
near the present village of Hepburnville was an important village on the Sheshequin Path
. The Indian name for Eeltown is unknown, but the whites named it for the plentiful eels that could be found in the waters of Lycoming Creek.
Hepburn Township was settled by three distinct groups of European migrants. The western section along Lycoming Creek was largely settled by the Scots-Irish, the middle section known as Blooming Grove was settled by a German religious sect, the Dunkard Brethren
, and the eastern section of the township was settled by the Quakers. John and Gottlieb Heim were among the first Dunkards to settle in Hepburn Township. The Heims were imprisoned in Württemberg
, Germany as conscientious objector
s. A condition of their release from prison was that they would agree to leave Germany forever. Upon their release John and Gottleig moved to the United States. They settled in Lycoming County and founded a religious community and village known as Blooming Grove. Soon other Dunkards from Germany were to join the Heim brothers. They built log cabins and quickly cleared the land for farming
. In addition to clearing the land the Dunkards were also free to worship
God
in a manner that they saw fit. Their faith
was banned in Germany. The newly arrived settlers worked hard to clear the land and credited their success on their faith in God. The new farms prospered almost immediately, they "bloomed like flowers". Hence the name Blooming Grove.
Balls Mills is a village in Hepburn Township. It is named for John Ball who migrated from England to the United States in 1893. He settled in Hillsgrove Township in Sullivan County
. There he built a sawmill
and was beginning to have success when he drowned while bathing. His son, William, then moved west to Hepburn Township and founded Balls Mills in 1818. He built a fulling
mill soon after building his home. The Ball family quickly had success and expanded their milling operations to include a clover mill. The machinery at the clover mill was able to clean clover
seed. Clover seed was very expensive at the time, a bushel
of the seed sold for as much as $24.00. Clover was very important to farmers for providing ground cover and as a food supply for their grazing dairy cows. The Balls family also built a sawmill
, a wool
en mill, and a grain cradle manufacturing operation. A cradle is attached to a scythe
to gather the harvested grains. The cradles were sold not just in Lycoming County but throughout the United States. The first major shipment to the west arrived in St. Louis, Missouri
in 1866.
to the east and Loyalsock Township to the south. The western border with Lewis
and Lycoming Townships is formed by Lycoming Creek
. As the crow flies
, Lycoming County is about 130 miles (209 km) northwest of Philadelphia and 165 miles (266 km) east-northeast of Pittsburgh.
According to the United States Census Bureau
, the township has a total area of 16.6 square miles (43 km²), all of it land.
of 2000, there were 2,836 people, 1,082 households, and 840 families residing in the township. The population density
was 170.4 people per square mile (65.8/km²). There were 1,138 housing units at an average density of 68.4/sq mi (26.4/km²). The racial makeup of the township was 98.77% White, 0.35% African American, 0.07% Native American, 0.42% Asian, and 0.39% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.21% of the population.
There were 1,082 households out of which 34.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 66.7% were married couples living together, 6.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 22.3% were non-families. 18.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.62 and the average family size was 2.98.
In the township the population was spread out with 25.5% under the age of 18, 6.4% from 18 to 24, 26.6% from 25 to 44, 28.5% from 45 to 64, and 13.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females there were 99.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 99.8 males.
The median income for a household in the township was $42,202, and the median income for a family was $46,932. Males had a median income of $36,118 versus $22,156 for females. The per capita income
for the township was $20,044. About 8.5% of families and 8.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 10.2% of those under age 18 and 12.3% of those age 65 or over.
Lycoming County, Pennsylvania
-Appalachian Mountains and Allegheny Plateau:Lycoming County is divided between the Appalachian Mountains in the south, the dissected Allegheny Plateau in the north and east, and the valley of the West Branch Susquehanna River between these.-West Branch Susquehanna River:The West Branch of the...
, in the United States. The population was 2,836 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Williamsport
Williamsport, Pennsylvania
Williamsport is a city in and the county seat of Lycoming County, Pennsylvania in the United States. In 2009, the population was estimated at 29,304...
, Pennsylvania Metropolitan Statistical Area.
History
Hepburn Township was formed from part of Loyalsock Township in 1804. It is named for William Hepburn who was a former state senatorPennsylvania State Senate
The Pennsylvania State Senate has been meeting since 1791. It is the upper house of the Pennsylvania General Assembly, the Pennsylvania state legislature. The State Senate meets in the State Capitol building in Harrisburg. Senators are elected for four year terms, staggered every two years such...
and one of the founding fathers of Lycoming County and Williamsport
Williamsport, Pennsylvania
Williamsport is a city in and the county seat of Lycoming County, Pennsylvania in the United States. In 2009, the population was estimated at 29,304...
which is the largest city in Lycoming County. Hepburn Township was originally much larger in size than it is today. Lewis
Lewis Township, Lycoming County, Pennsylvania
Lewis Township is a township in Lycoming County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. The population was 1,139 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Williamsport, Pennsylvania Metropolitan Statistical Area.-History:...
, Gamble, Eldred Township
Eldred Township, Lycoming County, Pennsylvania
Eldred Township is a township in Lycoming County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. The population was 2,178 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Williamsport, Pennsylvania Metropolitan Statistical Area. The unincorporated village of Warrensville is located in Eldred Township.-Formation and...
, and Cascade Townships all are formed from territory that was at least formerly part of Hepburn Township.
An Indian village known as Eeltown played a prominent role in the early history of what is now Hepburn Township. This village located on Lycoming Creek
Lycoming Creek
Lycoming Creek is a tributary of the West Branch Susquehanna River located in Tioga and Lycoming counties in Pennsylvania in the United States.-Geography:...
near the present village of Hepburnville was an important village on the Sheshequin Path
Sheshequin Path
The Sheshequin Path was a major Native American trail in the U.S. State of Pennsylvania that ran between two Native American villages: "French Margaret's Town" on the West Branch Susquehanna River and "Sheshequin" on the North Branch of the Susquehanna River...
. The Indian name for Eeltown is unknown, but the whites named it for the plentiful eels that could be found in the waters of Lycoming Creek.
Hepburn Township was settled by three distinct groups of European migrants. The western section along Lycoming Creek was largely settled by the Scots-Irish, the middle section known as Blooming Grove was settled by a German religious sect, the Dunkard Brethren
Dunkard Brethren
The Dunkard Brethren are a small group of conservative Schwarzenau Brethren churches that withdrew from the Church of the Brethren.The Church of the Brethren represents the largest body of churches that descended from the original pietist movement began in Germany by Alexander Mack and 7 other...
, and the eastern section of the township was settled by the Quakers. John and Gottlieb Heim were among the first Dunkards to settle in Hepburn Township. The Heims were imprisoned in Württemberg
Württemberg
Württemberg , formerly known as Wirtemberg or Wurtemberg, is an area and a former state in southwestern Germany, including parts of the regions Swabia and Franconia....
, Germany as conscientious objector
Conscientious objector
A conscientious objector is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of thought, conscience, and/or religion....
s. A condition of their release from prison was that they would agree to leave Germany forever. Upon their release John and Gottleig moved to the United States. They settled in Lycoming County and founded a religious community and village known as Blooming Grove. Soon other Dunkards from Germany were to join the Heim brothers. They built log cabins and quickly cleared the land for farming
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
. In addition to clearing the land the Dunkards were also free to worship
Worship
Worship is an act of religious devotion usually directed towards a deity. The word is derived from the Old English worthscipe, meaning worthiness or worth-ship — to give, at its simplest, worth to something, for example, Christian worship.Evelyn Underhill defines worship thus: "The absolute...
God
God
God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
in a manner that they saw fit. Their faith
Faith
Faith is confidence or trust in a person or thing, or a belief that is not based on proof. In religion, faith is a belief in a transcendent reality, a religious teacher, a set of teachings or a Supreme Being. Generally speaking, it is offered as a means by which the truth of the proposition,...
was banned in Germany. The newly arrived settlers worked hard to clear the land and credited their success on their faith in God. The new farms prospered almost immediately, they "bloomed like flowers". Hence the name Blooming Grove.
Balls Mills is a village in Hepburn Township. It is named for John Ball who migrated from England to the United States in 1893. He settled in Hillsgrove Township in Sullivan County
Sullivan County, Pennsylvania
Sullivan County is a county located in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. As of 2010, the population is 6,428. Sullivan County was created on March 15, 1847, from part of Lycoming County and named for Charles Sullivan, leader of the Pennsylvania Senate...
. There he built a sawmill
Sawmill
A sawmill is a facility where logs are cut into boards.-Sawmill process:A sawmill's basic operation is much like those of hundreds of years ago; a log enters on one end and dimensional lumber exits on the other end....
and was beginning to have success when he drowned while bathing. His son, William, then moved west to Hepburn Township and founded Balls Mills in 1818. He built a fulling
Fulling
Fulling or tucking or walking is a step in woolen clothmaking which involves the cleansing of cloth to eliminate oils, dirt, and other impurities, and making it thicker. The worker who does the job is a fuller, tucker, or walker...
mill soon after building his home. The Ball family quickly had success and expanded their milling operations to include a clover mill. The machinery at the clover mill was able to clean clover
Clover
Clover , or trefoil, is a genus of about 300 species of plants in the leguminous pea family Fabaceae. The genus has a cosmopolitan distribution; the highest diversity is found in the temperate Northern Hemisphere, but many species also occur in South America and Africa, including at high altitudes...
seed. Clover seed was very expensive at the time, a bushel
Bushel
A bushel is an imperial and U.S. customary unit of dry volume, equivalent in each of these systems to 4 pecks or 8 gallons. It is used for volumes of dry commodities , most often in agriculture...
of the seed sold for as much as $24.00. Clover was very important to farmers for providing ground cover and as a food supply for their grazing dairy cows. The Balls family also built a sawmill
Sawmill
A sawmill is a facility where logs are cut into boards.-Sawmill process:A sawmill's basic operation is much like those of hundreds of years ago; a log enters on one end and dimensional lumber exits on the other end....
, a wool
Wool
Wool is the textile fiber obtained from sheep and certain other animals, including cashmere from goats, mohair from goats, qiviut from muskoxen, vicuña, alpaca, camel from animals in the camel family, and angora from rabbits....
en mill, and a grain cradle manufacturing operation. A cradle is attached to a scythe
Scythe
A scythe is an agricultural hand tool for mowing grass, or reaping crops. It was largely replaced by horse-drawn and then tractor machinery, but is still used in some areas of Europe and Asia. The Grim Reaper is often depicted carrying or wielding a scythe...
to gather the harvested grains. The cradles were sold not just in Lycoming County but throughout the United States. The first major shipment to the west arrived in St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
in 1866.
Geography
Hepburn Township is bordered by Gamble Township to the north, Eldred TownshipEldred Township, Lycoming County, Pennsylvania
Eldred Township is a township in Lycoming County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. The population was 2,178 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Williamsport, Pennsylvania Metropolitan Statistical Area. The unincorporated village of Warrensville is located in Eldred Township.-Formation and...
to the east and Loyalsock Township to the south. The western border with Lewis
Lewis Township, Lycoming County, Pennsylvania
Lewis Township is a township in Lycoming County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. The population was 1,139 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Williamsport, Pennsylvania Metropolitan Statistical Area.-History:...
and Lycoming Townships is formed by Lycoming Creek
Lycoming Creek
Lycoming Creek is a tributary of the West Branch Susquehanna River located in Tioga and Lycoming counties in Pennsylvania in the United States.-Geography:...
. As the crow flies
As the crow flies
"As the crow flies" or beelining is an idiom for the shortest route between two points; the geodesic distance.An example is the great-circle distance between Key West and Pensacola, at either end of the U.S...
, Lycoming County is about 130 miles (209 km) northwest of Philadelphia and 165 miles (266 km) east-northeast of Pittsburgh.
According to the United States Census Bureau
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...
, the township has a total area of 16.6 square miles (43 km²), all of it land.
Demographics
As of the censusCensus
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
of 2000, there were 2,836 people, 1,082 households, and 840 families residing in the township. The population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...
was 170.4 people per square mile (65.8/km²). There were 1,138 housing units at an average density of 68.4/sq mi (26.4/km²). The racial makeup of the township was 98.77% White, 0.35% African American, 0.07% Native American, 0.42% Asian, and 0.39% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.21% of the population.
There were 1,082 households out of which 34.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 66.7% were married couples living together, 6.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 22.3% were non-families. 18.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.62 and the average family size was 2.98.
In the township the population was spread out with 25.5% under the age of 18, 6.4% from 18 to 24, 26.6% from 25 to 44, 28.5% from 45 to 64, and 13.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females there were 99.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 99.8 males.
The median income for a household in the township was $42,202, and the median income for a family was $46,932. Males had a median income of $36,118 versus $22,156 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...
for the township was $20,044. About 8.5% of families and 8.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 10.2% of those under age 18 and 12.3% of those age 65 or over.
See also
For histories of the other townships in Lycoming County see- History of the Townships of Lycoming County, PennsylvaniaHistory of the Townships of Lycoming County, PennsylvaniaLycoming County was formed from Northumberland County on April 13, 1795. At the time it was formed the county was much larger than it is today. It took up most of the land that is now north central Pennsylvania....