Lou’s View

By Lou Bernard

There have been some interesting people who have lived in central Pennsylvania, as an old article from the Record shows. I stumbled on this while I was looking for something else, which often happens. And there, on the microfilm, I found a Record article from October 25, 1929, headlined, ”Grave of Banished Polish Baron Discovered At Bellefonte.”

Of course, I had to find out more about that. The banished baron in question was Baron Caspar Karl Stegner “Charles” Trcziyulny, whose name just helped me reach my 700-word count for this column. Also, I’m making no guarantees about the name “Trcziuyulny,” which may have different spellings depending on the source. Hell, it may wind up having different spellings in this column alone.

The article read,”Recent investigation in the old Bellefonte Union burial ground has revealed that Baron Caspar Karl Stegner Trcziyulny, banished from Poland in 1793 for political intrigue, found his final resting place in the cemetery.”

Baron Trcziyulny was a surveyor and engineer, a member of a Polish noble family. There seems to be some doubt about his birthdate, but most reliable sources appear to place it about 1767. He was twenty-six when he was banished from Poland, came to America, and settled in Bellefonte. He became the Surveyor General of Pennsylvania, and was a driving force in helping to build the Pennsylvania Canal to Pittsburgh.

Trcziyulny passed away in 1851, and was buried in the Union Cemetery. Evidently, all of this history was forgotten, what with the Civil War going on and all, and the discovery of his grave in 1929 was noteworthy enough to make a fascinating article in the Record.

Trcziyulny’s son, Henry, lived in Milesburg, and at one point was involved in a quarrel with some of the locals. Upon his death in 1878, he was buried in the same cemetery, but higher up on the hill. Legend has it that he was buried up there so he could look down on the community—In fact, some stories have him buried standing up for that reason.

And Trcziyulny had a son, who had a hand in helping to form Clinton County.

His son Charles D. Trcziyulny (At this point, I’ve given up on trying to type that name out, and I’m just cutting and pasting it) owned a property in Mill Hall, which at that time was a part of Centre County. Up until June 21, 1839, that is, when Clinton County was formed from parts of Centre and parts of Lycoming, and Charles Trcziyulny found himself suddenly living in a brand-new county overnight.

It was after a couple of months of debating when officials for the new county of Clinton were finally selected. A meeting was held on September 7, 1839, to nominate people to fill the available offices. They discussed the offices of sheriff and county commissioner, which had apparently been debated at a previous meeting on August 24, but never settled. This new meeting was held at Charles D. Trcziyulny’s home in Mill Hall, making him an instrumental part of creating Clinton County.

A passage from Linn’s History, one of the most reliable books on that time period, says, ”Following the example set by Miles Township, in the parent county, a meeting was held at Mill Hall, at the house of Charles D. Trcziyulny, on the 7th of September, 1839.”

So as it turns out, the Trcziyulny family contributed quite a bit to the state of Pennsylvania. The exiled baron helped build our canals, his son helped build our county, and they all seem to be buried in a family plot in Bellefonte. All of this, and I still haven’t managed to learn how to spell their name.