Charles and Susannah wasted no time building a family and after 12 years they had 7 children.   They had a farm near his father’s place on the Lehigh county line, but in 1839 they picked up and left for Lycoming County.   Lycoming had been developing along the usual lines, settlers clearing woods, building homes and farming the land.   There were mines of coal and even more of iron ore but farming was by far the principal activity.   That all changed after 1838.   The people began to realize that Lycoming County with its immense forests of pine and hemlock would be an ideal place to develop a lumber industry.   There were 5 nice streams that flowed into the West Branch of the Susquehanna, ideal for transporting logs from the mountains. Timber cutting soon began in all parts of the county, eventually leading to an industry that touched almost every family.   Even farmers added lumbering as a part of their daily business with excellent financial results.   The news of potential prosperity in this neck of the woods and rising land values probably didn’t miss the notice of Charles Fegley.   It was over 80 miles away as the crow flies and it was too early for having the luxury of a railroad. While following the meandering creeks and rivers plus portages between them, the voyage with 7 children probably took several days.

They settled near the small town of Elimsport in Washington Township near White Deer Hole Creek, one of the creeks mentioned above and just 6 miles west of the big river.   The White Deer Valley is a beautiful area with prized trout streams and good farm land with lush, surrounding forests.   Charles purchased a farm of 120 acres along the road to Williamsport from Joseph Lomison for $1,600 in April of 1839.   The family grew and prospered as the county economy boomed.   Twelve years later he sold 7 acres of his land to Eliza A. Hinkle for $150.   Three years after that he sold 11 acres of it for $300 to his son William Henry who was by then 23 years old with a wife and son.   In the fall of 1854 he sold another 24 acres to Henry Weigand for a whopping $1,000, reflecting a tripling of the land value per acre in 15 years.   Sadly, his wife Susannah died that same year at the relatively young age of 53.

Charles’ daughter Sarah had married Israel Crisman, a carpenter, in 1855 and by 1860 they had 2 children and had moved in with Charles.   In 1862 Charles sold the property to son-in-law Israel for $2,100 and by 1870 had moved in with another daughter, Mary, and her husband Thomas Hofer with their 5 children in Gregg Township of Union County about 4 miles away.   Charles died there in 1871 and joined his wife Susannah, buried in the Messiah Lutheran Church Cemetery in Alvira.   May their souls rest in peace, but wait:

If one were to try to locate Alvira on a map, it would appear as though the little town had been wiped off the face of the earth. And that is exactly what happened, by the government of The United States in the spring of 1942 when “through a particularly crude form of eminent domain, the United States government seized 8,500 acres of land in the Central Susquehanna Valley located in adjoining Lycoming and Union Counties, including the entire community of Alvira, to build a massive plant for producing and storing TNT.”   This quotation is from Organizations United For The Environment, which formed in 1979 after the beleaguered area was subjected in following years to one environmental threat after another:

In 1957 the Allenwood Prison Camp was built to house a large population of low security prisoners.

In 1973 the Bureau Of Prisons leased 125 of the 8,500 acres to Lycoming County for use as a landfill.

In 1990 a subsidiary of Union Pacific announced plans to site a hazardous waste incinerator across the highway from the Lycoming County landfill.

After a bitter fight, the landfill plans were canceled.   However, if anyone wants to visit our ancestors Charles and Susannah Fegley in the small cemetery near what used to be Alvira, they will have to get permission from federal prison authorities. The cemetery lies within prison grounds.

Family of Charles Fegley

Charles Fegley born bet. 27 Mar 1799 - 26 Mar 1800 Northampton Co., PA, died 16 Feb 1871 Union Co., PA, married 11 Mar 1827 in Lehigh Co., PA to Susannah Ruth born 20 Nov 1801 Bucks Co., PA, died 1854 in Lycoming Co., PA

Children:

1. daughter Fegley born 1828 in Lehigh Co.

2. Mary A. Fegley born 27 Sep 1829 in Lehigh Co., died 13 Mar 1909 in Montour Co., PA, married about 1851 to Thomas C. Hofer

3. Francis L. Fegley born Jul 1831 in Lehigh Co., PA, died about 1900, married to Keziah Baker

4. William Henry Fegley born Jul 1831 in Lehigh Co., died 26 Jan 1903 in Erie, PA, married 5 Jan 1852 Nittany Valley, PA to Jemima Degarmo born 1831, died 13 Jan 1907 in Danville, PA

5. Lewis Fegley born 1834 in Lehigh Co., died after 13 Aug 1906, married Jennette _____ born 1834

6. Sarah L. Fegley born 1836 in Lehigh Co., died between 1905 - 1910 in Lycoming Co., PA, married abt 1855 Lycoming Co. to Israel Crisman born 1829 Lewiston, PA, died aft 1910 Lycoming Co.

7. Frances Fegley born 1838 in Lehigh Co.

8. Benjamin Fegley born abt 1841 in Lycoming Co., died 24 Jul 1906 in Williamsport, PA, married abt 1866 to Anna M. Marsh born abt 1848 Lycoming Co., died 24 Feb 1888 South Williamsport.

2^nd wife of Benjamin Fegley:

married 31 Jan 1895 Williamsport to Mary Jane Laudenslager Love born 11 Jul 1851 Northumberland Co., PA near Milton, died abt Jan 1938

9. Hannah Fegley born 1842 in Lycoming Co.