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Page 116
BEGINNING OF ORGANIZED GOVERNMENT
CHAPTER XXIII
THE history of the City of DuBois may be divided into
three periods, viz: First, the period from 1870 to the first Monday
of March 1881, in which period the city grew from a backwoods
settlement to a population of near five thousand; second, from the
organization of the Borough of DuBois on the first Monday of March
1881, to the third day of January, 1916, the organization of a
government of a city of the Third Class; third, from January 3,
1916, to the present date, in which the city has operated under a
city charter.
The first period of this history is the development
from a virgin forest with a few small breaks for farms of pioneer
settlers.
The increase of population in Brady Township along the
"Pike" had been of sufficient importance that a new post office was
established on March 31, 1854, called "Jefferson Line," but located
in West Liberty, four miles to the South, of which William
Chamberlin was the first Postmaster.
Residents in the new town were compelled to go to
Jefferson Line by a circuitous route out South Main Street, and then
to the left to the old Beightol farm and then to the right to West
Liberty. One can imagine what this meant in the spring and fall
during the muddy road period, or else they had to go to Luthersburg,
six miles for the mail. In this period it was customary for the
person who got to the post office to receive the mail for his entire
community and then to make distribution either on his way home, or
the neighbors came to his house to secure what little mail there
was.
One can imagine the situation existing after Mr. DuBois
started his industry and the population had increased from four
families to a considerable number. Mr. DuBois was no better than the
other persons and had to receive his mail through either of these
offices.
Passenger trains did not commence to run on the new
railroad until 1873. As soon as the passenger train schedule was
inaugurated, although there was only one train east and one train
west each day, a post office named "Rumbarger" was secured and
George L. Glasgow, of the firm of Glasgow & Ellis was appointed
Postmaster and the post office was authorized to go into business on
the 16th of February, 1874. The store of Glasgow & Ellis was located
at about No. 8 on North Main Street and the office continued in that
locality until the name was changed to "DuBois" in 1876, when the
office was moved to the store of Mr. DuBois at the Pennsylvania
Railroad Station and Charles E. Fowler,one of his clerks, was
appointed postmaster.
A resident of that time, working for Mr. DuBois, stated
that during the period the post office was on North Main Street, he
had
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