Lou’s View

By Lou Bernard

November is the anniversary of Lock Haven’s founding. Now, the whole thing was actually a process—Town founder Jeremiah Church came to Lock Haven in the fall, raised the money, bought the property, and then sold the lots. It took months. But the closest thing we have to an official founding date is November 4th, the day Jerry held a public auction to begin the city. That is largely credited as being Lock Haven’s starting point.

I’ve written about it before. Many times. And I hesitate to write another column on this, as I may not have anything new to say. But then I realized that someone else might have something to say, so I interviewed our founder, Jerry Church.*

LB: So, Jerry. Can I call you Jerry?

JC: Oh, sure. Everyone else did, except for my father.

LB: So tell me about your early life.

JC: Well, it’s a myth that I was descended from the early settlers of Clinton County. Hell, I personally created Clinton County. I grew up in upstate New York. A town called Bainbridge, though it was Jericho at the time. I learned the violin as a kid—My parents wouldn’t let me play in the house, but I got an old violin and practiced out in the barn. Got thrown out of school when I was thirteen for trying to kiss the teacher.** That didn’t work out like I’d thought.

LB: So you came to Pennsylvania?

JC: Eventually. I did a lot of traveling, had some adventures. I wrote letters to my brother Willard, and then in the fall of 1833, I went to visit him along the Susquehanna River in Pennsylvania. I loved the area, and I thought we could make a community there. I mean, I grew up along a river. If there was someplace prone to flooding, I wanted in on that.

LB: So you bought the land….

JC: Well, the problem was money. I didn’t have any. Leading a nomadic sort of life doesn’t exactly pay, you know? I found a guy who promised me a loan, but then backed out. So I told Willard to pray, and I ran to Williamsport, where an attorney loaned me twenty thousand.

LB: So then you bought the land.

JC: Then I bought the land. I paid Dr. John Henderson, who owned it at the time, and I bought two hundred acres. On November 4, 1833, I sold it off in lots. The first one was on the corner of Water and Jay Streets, where you guys have an apartment building now. I sold it to Frank Smith, a guy who built a hotel there. He also helped create the Thespian Society, which was a bunch of hotel owners who put on plays for us! Only entertainment we had in those early days. Better than cable.

LB: Lock Haven has grown since your time.

JC: Oh, man, has it ever! I mean, I started small, by comparison. I only had about a dozen blocks on the east end, from Water Street to Bald Eagle. Later on, man, you guys added some land….you all went nuts! Someone added the west end, and all up along Bellefonte Avenue….A lot of that was just fields and forests when I was here.

LB: There was a hotel along Bellefonte Avenue….

JC: You guys called it the Prendible Building, but I knew it as Mahan’s Tavern. I met the mother of my child there. Maria Mahan. She was the owner’s daughter, and we fell for each other. She had my baby, Margaret, but….Well, Maria died. I raised Margaret alone. Also I founded your county!

(Read Part Two of this interview next week!)
*Interview not actually with Jerry Church, who is presently dead.
**This is all true.