Simon Sallada (1785-1854) – Early Settler of the Lykens Valley

A biographical sketch of Simon Sallada, also known as Salada, Sallade, & Solliday, as revised and edited from what appeared in the Elizabethville Sesquicentennial Book, published in 1967:

Simon Sallada

Simon Sallada, son of John Sallada and Margaret [Everhart] Sallada was born in Lykens Township, Dauphin County, March 7, 1785. His father, of French Huguenot descent, and a native of Bosel on the Rhine, emigrated with other members of his family to America in the early eighteenth century, and was among the first settlers on Wiconisco Creek in Lykens Valley. During the Indian incursions on the east side of the Susquehanna River following the defeat of Braddock in 1755, Simon’s mother was captured by the [Indians] near Pine Grove, Schuylkill County, saw them burn the home of their birth, tomahawk and [murder] her parents, brothers and sisters. By a miracle her life was spared and after many years as a prisoner, she was returned to her friends in Berks County.

For want of schools in the valley, Simon Sallada depended on educational instructions by his parents. He was an apt scholar and read and re-read the few books he could find. He was a millwright by trade and acquired much of his proficiency in that vocation from an apprenticeship with Jacob Berkstresser of Bellefonte, [Centre County], Pennsylvania. Many of the old mills within forty miles of Simon’s home were of his designing, and in fact the workmanship of his hand. He was quite a performer on the violin and because of his social nature, was often the center of life of many winter gatherings.

He married Jane Woodside, daughter of John Woodside of Lykens Valley. They had eight children: Margaret Sallada, who married John J, Bowman of Millersburg; Ann Sallada, married Edward Bickel; Jane Sallada, married Daniel K. Smith; Simon Sallada, Jacob Sallada, John Sallada, George Sallada and Joseph Sallada.

Simon Sallada was a self-made man, energetic, affable and industrious and in time became one of the most popular men in the upper end of Dauphin County. Because of his fondness for people and his interest in public works, he became a politician and was highly successful in spite of his opposition to the Whig Party which was dominant in the county. He won success because he put the public welfare above party lines and became a well known statesman throughout Pennsylvania. He was elected four times to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, first in the years 1819 and 1820 when he was 34 years old. In 1832 he was a director in the construction of the Lykens Valley Railroad from Millersburg to Lykens.

During his term in the Legislature in 1836-1837, he was author of what was known as the “Wiconisco Feeder Bill” and steered it through the legislative channels into law. This provided a huge water wheel at the mouth of the Wiconisco Creek at Millersburg to “feed” water from the Susquehanna River into the Wiconisco Canal. He was superintendent of the construction of the Wiconisco Canal which was completed in 1848 from Millersburg to Clarks Ferry where it connected with the Pennsylvania Canal. He was one of the commissioners named in the Special Act of the Legislature of May 5, 1854 which provided a charter for the Lykens Valley Mutual Insurance Company in Elizabethville and was elected the first President of the Company the following month.

Simon Sallada died at the old homestead near Elizabethville November 8, 1854, two months after the death of his wife September 3, 1854, Both are buried in the Old Stone Church cemetery in Elizabethville.

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The photograph of Simon Sallada is adapted from one that appeared on page 136 of the Elizabethville Sesquicentennial Book. Digital copies of this book may still be available from the Elizabethville Area Historical Society.

For recently discovered information from what is believed to be the original family Bible of Simon Sallada, see YouTube video by Roy W. Schreffler.

Corrections and additional information should be added as comments to this post.

[Indians]