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Woodward
History of Centre and Clinton Counties, John B Linn, 1883, p306
"The first settler upon the site of Woodward was John Motz, who came up from Penn township, now Snyder County, in 1786, and shortly after erected a mill. He was originally from Germany, and was a man of education, and in early times manufactured soda on a small scale there. He died in 1802, and his son John, born Jan. 6, 1792, when he came of age took the mill. In 1824, John, Jr., tore down the old mill and built a new one, and commenced to do merchant work, conveying his flour by arks down Penn's Creek to the river, and thence to market. In 1831 the mill burned down, the fire consuming also a large amount of wheat bought on credit. Mr. Motz losing heavily, determined to sell, but on persuasion of his neighbors rebuilt, and the present substantial mill building-one of the best, in the county, walls in the foundation three and four feet thick-still stands a monument of his enterprise and energy. John Motz's name occurs among tavernkeepers licensed in 1801; his widow in 1803. The stone tavern still standing was built by him and his mother in 1814. The post-office was called Liberty Mills, and John Motz, Jr., was the first postmaster.
Its postal facilities were soon shut off by the abolishment of the office. The village was first laid out in 1848, and called then Taylorville, in honor of Gen. Zachary Taylor. It is stated as a fact that every voter of the village cast his ballot for Gen. Taylor. Through Judge George W. Woodward's influence a post-office was again secured for the place, and it was named in his honor Woodward. John C. Motz succeeded his father as postmaster.
Originally the place was known as "Motz's Bank," a name still adhered to by the old inhabitants, and so called because it was the business point for the eastern end of Haines township, where produce was turned into money, notes cashed, and money advanced upon crops if desired. Dr. Isaac Neff was the first and only physician. He remained but one year.
There is one church at Woodward, belonging to the Evangelical Association, and one store, kept by Robert Wolf, who is now postmaster. The village is supplied with water by pipes from a fine spring at the mountain-side. A pottery is carried on by Daniel Voneida."
Centre Daily Times July 11 2005
Woodward owes birth to Motz
By Rich Kerstetter; rkerstet@centredaily.com
John Motz is credited with founding the village known at various times throughout its history as Taylorville, Motz's Bank and Liberty Mills.
The local folks finally settled on Woodward, however, and today the name is linked in many minds to the cave, just outside town, and the sports camp that has become a mecca for skateboarders and other X Games athletes.
Motz came to the region from what is now Snyder County in 1786.
"A sculptor and highly educated man," according to historian John Blair Linn, Motz built a mill shortly after his arrival.
Motz "had more than an average education for his time," according to the 1976 historic compilation "Haines Township Life and Tradition," citing the work of Snyder County researcher Charles Fisher, "and knew philosophy, astronomy and mathematics. He ordered text books direct from Germany."
Upon the elder Motz's death in 1802, his son, also named John, took over the enterprise.
The Motz family, with its grist mill and sawmills, "provided the economic nucleus" for the eastern end of the township, according to the writers of "In Schadde Vun Rundkopp (In the Shadow of Roundtop): A Selected History of the Woodward/Fiedler Area."
Farmers congregated at mills out of necessity and relied on them to provide news of the local area and beyond.
"The first grist mill, a log building, was eventually demolished," the "Rundkopp" account continued.
A second building burned down and, at the urging of neighbors, Motz built another -- a three-story stone structure that stood for more than 130 years.
"The stones from that building now provide a facade for a number of State College houses," "Rundkopp" wrote.
The founder's grandson, John C. Motz, "early evinced great business ability," Linn wrote, and at the age of 20 he "embarked in the mercantile business in his native village and soon enlarged his activity to the measure of running a grist-mill and distillery, and finally purchased the whole interest in the Motz estate."
Motz remodeled the mill in 1852 and again in 1878, according to Linn, and in 1865, he became a member of the Evangelical Association and "took a deep interest in the Sabbath-school, of which he was superintendent for many years."
He also took an interest in banking.
"On the 15th of March, 1872, in company with John Keen and Elias Kreamer, he established the banking-house of John C. Motz & Co., at Millheim, of which he was president," Linn recorded.
Linn, writing in 1883, described Motz as "social in his disposition, a great advocate of education, and a princely entertainer in his own home. ... Prematurely adorned with gray locks, he retains with his industry and enterprise a rugged health that promises a length of days far beyond that of his father or grandfather."
Those days lasted only 60 years, as recorded in "Rundkopp," but in them Motz saw a transformation in Penns Valley, with the economic center moving westward -- from the village founded by his grandfather to Millheim.
"The ... lifespan of John C. Motz mirrored what was to become a nationwide trend," the writer of "Rundkopp" explained, "the abandonment of small, independent market towns for larger, more vigorous and flexible economies."
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