CHAPTER XII. THE CITY OF JOHNSTOWN. The charter original for Johnstown, was not issued by virtue of government authority, as municipal corporations are now created, and such as was granted by Governor Beaver when it became a city of the third class, bearing date of December 18, 1889, but it was given by a solemn pledge in writing by Joseph Johns, the founder. The dedication thus given was as follows: "To All People to Whom These Presents Shall Come: "Joseph Johns, of Quemahoning Township, in the County of Somerset, in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, yeoman, sends greeting. "Whereas, The said Joseph Johns hath laid out a town on the tract of land whereon he now lives, situate in the forks of, and at the confluence of, Stonycreek and Little Conemaugh rivers, known by the name of Conemaugh Old Town, in the township and county aforesaid, which said town contains at present 141 lots, ten streets, six alleys and one Market Square, as by the plan thereof will more fully and at large appear: "Now, know ye, that the said Joseph Johns hath laid out the said town on the principles and conditions following, viz: "First, The said town shall be called and hereafter known by the name of Conemaugh, "Second, The purchaser or purchasers of each lot in the said town. upon the payment of the purchase money agreed upon, shall receive from the said Joseph Johns, his heirs or assigns, a deed regularly executed for the same lot, free and clear of all incumbrances, except the payment of a ground rent on each lot so sold of one dollar in specie on the first of October annually forever. "Third, The said Joseph Johns hereby declares the said Market Square, streets and alleys, public highways, and guarantees to the future inhabitants of the said town of Conemaugh a free and undisturbed use of them henceforth forever. "Fourth, The said Joseph Johns hereby gives and grants to the said future inhabitants two certain lots of ground situate on Market street and Chestnut street, in the said town, marked in the general plan thereof No. 133 and No. 134, for the purpose of erecting school-houses and houses of public worship, free and clear of all incumbrances whatsoever. "Fifth, The said Joseph Johns hereby further gives and grants to the inhabitants aforesaid, free and clear of all incumbrances whatsoever, a convenient spot of ground at the upper end of the said tract of land, not less than one acre, for a burying ground for the inhabitants of said town and neighborhood, which said spot of ground shall be mutually determined on, surveyed, and laid off by the said Joseph Johns and the several purchasers of lots in the said town, or such of them. as may there be present on the first day of May next. "Sixth. The said Joseph Johns reserves the square on Main street, containing the lots Nos. 49, 50, 51 and 52, for a county courthouse and other public buildings, and he hereby engages, as soon as the said town becomes a seat of justice, to convey the same to the county for that purpose, free and clear of all incumbrances whatsoever. "Seventh, The said Joseph Johns hereby further declares that all that piece of ground called the Point, lying between the said town and the junction of the two rivers or creeks aforesaid, shall be reserved for common and public amusements for the use of the said town and its future inhabitants forever. "In testimony whereof, the said Joseph Johns hath hereunto set his hand and seal the third day of November, one thousand eight hundred. "Sealed and delivered in the presence of "JOSEPH JOHNS (L. S.) "ABRAHAM MORRISON, "Somerset county, ss. "On the third day of November, one thousand eight hundred, personally came before me, the subscriber, one of the Justices of the Peace in and for the county aforesaid, the abovenamed Joseph Johns, and acknowledged the above instrument in writing to be his act and deed. "Witness my hand and seal. "Recorded Nov. 4, 1800." "JOHN WELLS. ( L. S.) The one hundred and forty-one lots, each four rods wide. and sixteen rods in length, were west of Franklin street. The land within the city of Johnstown remained in Conemaugh township until January 12, 1831, when Governor George Wolf approved a special act of the General Assembly incorporating "the town of Conemaugh, in Cambria County, into a borough.' The limits of that borough began at the corner of Franklin and Washington streets, thence down the north side of Washington street to the north corner of Walnut street, thence to Vol. I-16 Union street, thence to the north corner of Conemaugh street, thence to Stonycreek street, thençe along the south side of Stonycreek street to Chestnut (now Carr), thence south 22 degrees east 16 perches, thence north to Market street, thence to the south corner of Franklin, thence to the Bedford road, thence to the east side of Main street, thence to Feeder alley, thence to the north side of Basin street (now Railroad street), thence to Franklin street, the place of beginning. By a special act of Assembly approved by Governor Wolf on the 14th of April, 1834, the name of the Borough of Conemaugh was changed to that of Johnstown. The limits of the municipality remained as we have stated until February 25, 1851, when Governor William F. Johnston signed a bill extending the boundary lines so as to include the Fifth, Sixth, and part of the Fourth and Seventh wards, as follows: Beginning at a white walnut tree on the bank of Stonycreek near the township road leading to Millcreek Furnace, thence along Yoder Hill, on the present city line, to "a post on the land of Jacob Benshoff," above Alderman Graham's residence; thence across the Stonycreek river to a white oak on the land of Jacob Horner, thence to the Bedford road, thence along the southwest line of Bedford road to a point "near the said Horner's barn," thence across the road to the corner of Johnstown and Conemaugh boroughs, on Green Hill, above and near Adam and Main streets. All this territory, as well as that included within the boundary lines of 1831, composed the borough. By the Act of 1831, incorporating the borough of Conemaugh, it was provided that " in the general and electoral elections the citizens of said borough shall not be separated from the citizens of Conemaugh township, but shall remain connected with said township and also in support of the poor." On January 19, 1844, an act of the General Assembly was passed over the veto of Governor David Rittenhouse Porter, whereby the place of holding the election for Conemaugh township was changed to the "schoolhouse on lot No. 77, on the Island," but on May 8, 1844, the Governor approved another act, changing it back to the place where "borough elections" were held in Johnstown. The borough of Johnstown and the township of Conemaugh remained a single election and school district until 1844. The municipality of Johnstown was a borough without division by wards until April 8, 1858, when George Nelson Smith, of this city, was speaker pro tem. of the House of Representatives, and a bill was passed dividing it into four wards, in the following manner: "So much of the westerly part of said borough as is bounded by Franklin street, Main street, Market street, Washington street, the Conemaugh river and Stonycreek, shall be one ward and be called the First Ward; so much as is bounded by Main and Market streets, the Canal Basin and Canal Feeder shall be the Second Ward; so much as is bounded by Franklin and Main streets, Conemaugh Township on the east and south and the Stonycreek shall be the Third Ward, and so much of the borough south and west of the Stonycreek, commonly called Kernville, shall be the Fourth Ward." By this act the select and common councils were authorized, to consist of two members from each ward in select council, and four members in common council. But this system was not satisfactory, and it was abolished on April 4, 1861. During the time of its existence the councils met in a room over the postoffice, in the building opposite the present Tribune office; quarters were then procured on the third floor of the Scott House, afterward the Merchants' Hotel. Political jealousies ruined the dual legislative bodies; if select council passed an ordinance common council declined to approve it; if common council originated an ordinance and passed it, select council would put a veto to it. So things went from bad to worse until such a system was abolished. The Act of April 4, 1861, changed the division lines of all the wards and created the Fifth Ward. The First, Second, and Third were made practically the same as they are now, with Main and Franklin streets the division lines, and the Fourth Ward the same also; excepting that the Seventh Ward has been taken from it. The Fifth Ward included all the territory on the South Side, and each ward had three members of council. This single legislative body, with the addition of three members from the Sixth and Seventh Wards, when they were admitted, constituted the council of the borough of Johnstown until the incorporation of the present city government in 1890. By the Act of February 4, 1861, the boundary lines were slightly extended. The Fourth and Fifth Wards remained as they had been, but in the Third Ward the line began on the north side of Basin street, which was abutting on the old Basin, "thence down the middle of the stream or channel carrying the water of said Basin to the (Little) Conemaugh river, to the said river, thence down the (Little) Conemaugh river to its junction with the Stonycreek, thence up the middle of said Stonycreek to a point in said creek immediately opposite," which would be a continuation of the north-eastern line of Market street; "thence by a straight line to the place of beginning" at the white walnut tree on the Millcreek Furnace Road. On the 11th of February, 1868, Governor Geary approved |