The Erie & Jersey Railroad Tunnel.—On August 10, 1905, Bennett & Talbott, contractors, of Greensburg, Pa., contracted with the Erie & Jersey Railroad Company to build twelve miles of railroad, eleven miles of grading, which would require about 1,500,000 cubic yards of excavation, and about 15,000 yards of concrete masonry, and one mile, three hundred and three feet of tunnel through the Shawangunk Mountains, between Guymard and Howells, N. Y. The road was to be completed within a period of two years. Work was commenced on September 4, 1905, by sinking a shaft at the center of the tunnel to a depth of 117 feet. Owing to a delay in getting the right of way, however, they were compelled to sink another shaft at the east portal of the tunnel to expedite the work, beginning on or about October 1, 1905. The west portal of the tunnel was begun on or about November 15 of the same year. The completion of the work was delayed somewhat on account of the suspension of work April, 1907. The excavation of the tunnel will now be completed on or about the first of March, 1908, while the arching will be finished some time in July, 1908. The excavation of solid rock required for this work was 180,000 cubic yards. The timber required to support the roof was 1,700,000 feet, while the amount of concrete sidewall was 8,000 cubic yards. The number of brick required was 8,000,000. The machinery used in the construction of this tunnel was two improved Style A Marion steam-shovels, known as the "45-ton." Alpha Portland cement was used for the masonry. Francis Lee Stuart was chief engineer of this work.
Finchville.—This hamlet is in the southwestern part of the town at the eastern base of the Shawangunk Mountains. It was founded by James Finch, the old settler, in whose honor the name was bestowed. But the precise date of this settlement is not accurately disclosed by the records. It was to this place that many terror-stricken women and children fled for refuge from the Mamakating Valley during the Indian troubles there.
New Vernon.—This is a small hamlet in the northern border of the town. In fact, part of it is in Sullivan County. It was named thus to distinguish it from Vernon in New Jersey. It had one church and some twenty dwellings in 1860, and has shown no very material increase in recent years.
Guymard, in the western part of the town of Mount Hope, was the culmination of the plan of the Gumaer brothers to have a railroad station nearer Gumaer's, which was on the Delaware & Hudson Canal. After the strenuous times of 1857, labor could be obtained at sixty-five cents per day, and the Gumaer brothers decided to build a road from the canal to the Erie railroad, and then the station was named Guymard.
About 1862 they concluded to extend the new road to the old turnpike on top of the mountain. While constructing that part of the road, lead was discovered. As a result of this discovery, many mines were prospected on the Shawangunk Mountain and were operated more or less from 1863 to 1870. Among these was the mine of the Guymard Lead & Zinc Co., from which several carloads of lead were shipped weekly. After the close of the Civil War the price of lead declined, and considering the crude mining methods and the cost involved, eventually the mines were abandoned.
Of the Gumaer brothers, Peter and Jackson are now living at Guymard. Chauncey Gumaer, son of Peter, having had nearly twenty-five years' mining experience in Colorado and the West, has returned and is now working the old mine at Guymard. With the improved methods of mining, he believes his new venture will prove successful.
An incident of considerable local historical interest occurred here in the spring of 1863. The mine at Guymard was being worked by its owners, when one day one George H. Servoss, an Englishman, arrived and claimed that he owned the mine and all the mineral rights in this section through a grant by Queen Anne of England. He erected a small building on the grounds and his miners began operations. The rightful owners were wild with excitement and the news was soon communicated to others interested in mining in this section at that time. A day was appointed, when between 100 and 200 men assembled and tumbled Servoss's building over into the gully below the railroad track and drove him and his miners from the mine. This was probably the last attempt of a subject of Great Britain to claim territory or granted rights in the United States which had been so definitely decided nearly a hundred years before by the ancestors of some who took part in driving this Englishman from his false claim.
A singular incident in connection was this: Ambrose W. Green, who kept a hotel at Otisville, and was much interested in mining, was one of the men who assembled and helped to drive Servoss from his claim at Guymard. Servoss came to Otisville that night and with some of his miners stopped at Mr. Green's hotel. Being convinced that Yankee blood still predominated in this section, Servoss gave up his claim. While stopping with Mr. Green he began prospecting and on June 13, 1863, leased the mineral right of Thomas Hawk of his farm situated less than a mile above Otisville. Ambrose W. Green witnessed the document and Servoss formed what was known as the Otisville Copper Mining Company, which he worked for some time. Servoss died in New York City on December 10, 1907.
The Farmers' Library was incorporated in October, 1807, just a century ago. Its first meeting was held at the home of Benjamin Woodward. The original trustees were Benjamin B. Newkirk, Benjamin Woodward, William Mulock, James Finch, Jr., Peter E. Gumaer, Daniel Green, William Shaw, Jr., Stephen Farnum and Peleg Pelton. The library was established at once and it is said to have contained a valuable collection of historical works which were doubtless the only available books for such use at that early period of library literature. This old library was maintained there some thirty years, which certainly speaks well for the people of that region at that time. The educational influences of this old library upon the young people of that section during that period are said to have been most wholesome and of incalculable value.
POINTS OF HISTORIC INTEREST.