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Celestia
by Lou Bernard, Curator
Does God have artifacts in the Heisey Museum? It’s not as odd a question as it seems.
It all began in 1850, with a man from Sullivan County named Peter Armstrong, who founded a town called Celestia.
Armstrong, a good-looking bearded man with a wife and children, was a peddler from Philadelphia. He was also a follower of William Miller, who founded a religious sect that believed that Jesus Christ was returning on October 22, 1844. When Jesus failed to arrive, most of the Millerites dispersed, referring to the day as the "Great Disappointment."
Armstrong revived a version of that belief, and rounded up his own followers, though he was canny enough to not be pinned down to a specific date. He purchased several acres of land along where Route 42 now runs through Sullivan County, and founded Celestia, a city dedicated to his followers.
Celestia, as it grew, had homes, stores, and a school. It had a newspaper, the Day Star of Zion. In the center of town stood a temple, which was planned as a home for Jesus when he arrived.
Another interesting resident of Celestia was young Eva Calm, daughter of the only murderer hanged for his crime in Sullivan County. She was adopted by the Armstrongs, who raised her in Celestia with their religious beliefs.
The people of Celestia believed that Jesus was coming back, and that they would be the first to go to Heaven. As the Civil War progressed, Armstrong petitioned to Abraham Lincoln, to have the citizens of Celestia exempt from the draft, by reason of their religious beliefs. After getting away with that, he tried an even bolder move: He attempted to avoid taxes by having the land deeded to God.
In June, 1864, Armstrong signed the entire town of Celestia over to God. And quit paying taxes. The deed read, “We do....Deed, grant and convey to Almighty God, who inhabiteth eternity, and to His heirs in Jesus Messiah....That certain tract of land and improvements thereof lying and being in the County of Sullivan and State of Pennsylvania...."
The Sullivan County government was not thrilled with this. It didn't help matters that undesirables and criminals, seeing an easy way out of both taxes and military duty, began moving into Celestia. By 1876, the Sullivan County officials repossessed the land for back taxes, and put it up for sheriff's sale. (This may be why so many prisoners find God. He's doing time for tax evasion.)
The county sold the land for a minimal amount, and the buyer was Armstrong's son. Celestia did not thrive any further, however, and today stands as a ghost town. A few foundations and the remains of roads and a pond can be seen, but very little else. The property is owned by the Sullivan County Historical Society, and is available for tours.
Armstrong's son, Lewis, moved to Lock Haven, and with his son Calvin, began the successful Armstrong Paper Company. Calvin Armstrong, grandson of the man who once built a town for Jesus, met a woman named Mary Ball, and married her in 1908.
Mary Ball Armstrong was the daughter of prominent doctor Francis Ball. When World War Two began, she organized the first Red Cross nurses' aid class in the country. She was also the granddaughter of Seymour D. Ball, former mayor of Lock Haven, and the man who once owned the Heisey Museum.
So a grandson in Sullivan County married a granddaughter in Clinton County, and they combined the history of the two areas in a very important way.