And so it was that these families lived the early pioneer life.

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Pioneer Families of Penns & Brush Valleys - Page 4

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Christopher's son, Jonathan Spangler, Sr., married and settled on the homestead with their 10 children. Many of these children settled in other parts of Centre County as well as in Illinois and Kansas.

Jonathan Spangler, Jr. married in 1863 and had 7 children. All except one of these children moved to Illinois, Kansas and Nebraska. It was in 1878 that 50 families from Centre county moved to Kansas. In this group were Stovers, Rossman, Snavely, Miller, Corman and 3 families from Rebersburg. The next year another group was moved to Kansas. Some family names were Kreamer, Haugh, Wolf, Hackenberg, hennigh, and Reber. Four years later over 100 persons boarded the train in Tyrone and moved to Montana where they started a Pennsylvania colony. It was about 1910 when a group of families in the Rebersburg area moved to Houston, Texas. Most were Brungarts and Gilberts. They boarded the train in Coburn and 18 months later arrived back in Rebersburg penniless. During their stay in Texas, there was a lot of rain -- much of their land was under water. One of the letters back to Brush Valley asked that a stone be sent to Texas so they could clean their plow.

Our pioneer families lived very much like the Amish with one exception -- their neighbors didn't have telephones, cars, trucks and electricity -- conveniences that do help thge Amish in their daily lives.

The biggest change in the life for this area came with the railroad from Lewisburg passing through Coburn, Spring Mills and Centre Hall. These railroad stations and the towns where they were located became the hub for the whole community. This happened in the 1870's. It was now possible for the farmers and other businesses to find a better market for their goods. There was better access to bring goods into the aarea. Rail cars were able to bring herds of horses and cattle. Guel came in barrels. People could travel easier. It was now possible for people to visit their relatives that they hadn't seen in years.