Class __? *_. BnnV .& 7/0<£ CDjfyiightE? COPYRIGHT DEPOSm J"**- :<- i; u k K\iAl f Y BoiulVtV K <& 36 •iiM'lI.. 1 &;/V.() aWdli --> X5 \\ ES f. l i h ) 3 fj . / i - » x ■•UlllUu'fv w lv-; l\ .fc^ r\\ t\i ^j . ■ ...'- ■gfle k 3 Y^fim r& m T,jh/> ■ '♦ ! > 2fc sh Or ft J) | k mn iv-i ^ .-v. ;< * --V-4. llll'l" phalli / CJjloaMd \ r mt\ Mi r .ir<' Iff* ■ 5p.o. * f J*/„ i\" VLAN OF HVSQl MLVSNA ( ■■-\ ■ ) rv - •»<;| IM .ooit lannrrr i .lriiv.i,(rf| /, 1 > i : > :A J ' PB g i ip^ "i - L U ~l "t *"N £ Uiff ■\ ik ' . A.t '''C 6 T u~ HISTORY SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA. FROM A PERIOD PRECEDING ITS SETTLEMENT TO RECENT TIMES, INCLUDING THE ANNALS AND GEOGRAPHY OF EACH TOWNSHIP. WITH MAPS AND NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS. ALSO, A SKETCH OF WOMAN'S WORK IN THE COUNTY FOR THE UNITED STATES SANITARY COMMISSION, AND A LIST OF THE SOLDIERS OF THE NATIONAL ARMY FURNISHED BY MANY OF THE TOWNSHIPS. BY EMILY C. BLACKMAN. PHILADELPHIA: . CLAXTON, REMSEN & H AFF E LFIN GBR, 624, 626, AND 628 MARKET STREET. 1873. Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1873, by EMILY C. BLACKMAN, in the Offioe of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C. v\^i V\< PHILADELPHIA: COLLINS, PRINTER, 705 JAYNE STREET. PREFACE. On the 20th of October, 1868, Miss Sarah M. Walker of Woodbourne, who had previously urged me to write a history of the Soldiers' Aid Societies of Susquehanna County, sent me a letter renewing the solicitation, and adding: "Or, what is better, write a history of the county and include that of the societies." That she should think to succeed with the greater when she had failed with the less, and that such a proposition should be made to me — wholly ignorant as I was of the early interests of the county — caused a hearty laugh, and at the time not a second thought. But, during the following night, it occurred to me that the necessary research for an historical work would be congenial employment for my father in his retirement from medical prac- tice, and that I could arrange for publication such material as he might choose. Within twenty-four hours afterward, we decided to undertake the task, and made out a list of topics which would require atten- tion. The same, but slightly altered, is given in the volume now before the reader. But, owing to the increasing feebleness of my father, the part assumed by him was very early relinquished. Those subjects, the investigation of which I had deemed a man's province, have received my close attention, and, after re- peated examination of files of newspapers and official records both at Wilkes-Barre and Montrose, have been prepared with less aid from individuals than the township annals, in which I was greatly dependent upon the aged and the descendants of pioneers. Owing to the failing memory of some, and the fact that others were but partially informed on matters I wished to understand, their state- ments were often contradictory. A third version was needed to furnish a key to the first or second, and, when this was not ob- IV PREFACE. tainable, the disputed points have been omitted or different ver- sions noted. If any pioneer has failed of mention, it must be distinctly understood that none of his descendants have given me notice of him. Such material as was furnished me I have had to condense greatly, especially in revision ; but the main points have been preserved as far as justice to all would permit. The sketches which were first received, naturally occupy the most space. In the annals the townships are given in the order of settle- ment. Every historical statement made to me I have repeated to the person making it, in order that my apprehension of it might be understood ; then, after reducing it to writing, I have read it aloud in his or her presence, and, in addition, sent the manuscript to the township interested, for further criticism. It is believed that accuracy has been obtained as nearly as possible in the thousands of statements given. It is not only expected, but desired, that the public prints will note any important error; still, should any error of consequence to those only who can readily supply the truth be discovered, private notice of it will be gratifying, since a complete " Errata" given to the public by myself would do justice to all, while a succes- sion of trivial corrections by aggrieved parties might undesignedly cause suspicion of statements which cannot be controverted. Four years from the day the first prospectus was published, I wrote the last page of the history. The variety of the cares press- ing upon me, added to bereavement and frequent ill health, have made the writing of even one page, at times, the labor of weeks. Still, through all, I have been glad I had this work to do. To place within easy reference official facts and lists of great local value ; to meet the long-felt want of many persons by con- densing voluminous statements respecting former claims to this section ; but especially, to furnish a record of the pioneers and early interests of the county, as also of its people in the late great crisis of the nation — this has been a service, the calling to which might well evoke gratitude. And yet, to make it a gift is as impossible as it would be insulting to the people whose deeds or whose an- cestors it commemorates. I have had, probably, little conception of what an historian might PREFACE. V deduce from our records; still, much space has been given to the family, the farm, the newspaper, and particularly to schools and churches, with the conviction that these have formed the character and secured the prosperity of the people. The courtesy and hospitality extended to me during my search for material, in this county, in Luzerne, and elsewhere, are grate- fully remembered. The loan of books and of private diaries not only informed the head but kindled the enthusiasm necessary for my labor. For twelve or fourteen days, a horse and wagon were placed at my service. At other times I have had various escort from place to place as the interests of the work demanded ; and now its completed pages remind me of scenery enjoyed, of pleasant interviews, and of valued letters, some of which were penned by the tremulous hand of age. Nearly seventy persons who contributed material, or otherwise aided me, have since deceased. Except for them, some points must have remained unsettled. Many persons have furnished far more than the record of their own families, in which case I have endeavored to give them credit in due connection, except as they were understood to decline it. All the portraits are gifts to the work, as are also several draw- ings and other illustrations, which, with every favor, if space per- mitted, it would be pleasant to designate. The kind suggestions of several gentlemen and ladies of best authority in the county were of great benefit to me during the progress of the work. When it was nearly completed, and found too voluminous, Henry D. Biddle, Esq., of Philadelphia, offered his assistance in reducing it within the proper compass ; and his labor has been invaluable. He had previously assumed the care of the illustrations (three of which are his own contribution), and of the negotiations with publishers, printers, and binders. Aside from the justice of this particular mention, it is gratifying to asso- ciate with such a service to the county, one who for more than twenty years has been a non-resident, but who will be recognized as the son of a former and valued citizen of Montrose. Publication was greatly facilitated by the liberality of Mrs. Henry Drinker, supplemented by that of Mr. Biddle, consequent upon their confidence in the subscribers to the work. It is regretted that a complete Meteorological Table could not VI PEEFACE. be given ; but, to be satisfactory, it should cover a long period of time, and such a one is not at present obtainable. Aside from the difficulty of securing scientific lists of the plants and animals of the county, the common names are given in the belief that they will prove more acceptable to the general reader. By the recent schedule of the State liens upon unpatented lands, it is certain that Stoke, one of the townships of Northumberland County in 1783, and which was annulled by Commissioners of Pennsylvania in 1785, extended into this section, and was prob- ably covered by the warrants of 1784. It may have been a part of the " Manor of Stoke," which was laid out, in 1769, east of the Susquehanna River, as the "Manor of Sunbury" was west of it; but inquiry at Harrisburg has failed to ascertain its limits. Hon. J. W. Chapman says : — " On many of the tracts referred to, the purchase-money was all paid when the warrants were taken out, though the land- holders neglected to take out their patents and pay their fees, which in such cases the State now demands only $15 for. But in other cases there was more land returned in the survey than the warrant called for, and the amount of the surplus, and interest thereon, is a lien on the land, besides the patent fees, for the col- lection of which, from the present owners of the land, the Legis- lature has provided by law." My obligations are due to Senator Fitch and Representatives Tylek and Beaedslee for various efforts in my behalf. I can congratulate patient subscribers and canvassers that the History of Susquehanna County is at last printed; though /may " have had my best days with it," while it was but a dream of usefulness, and not the football of criticism. EMILY C. BLACKMAN. . Ingles ide, Montrose Pa., April 17th, 1873. CONTENTS. Chapter. page I. Charters of Connecticut and Pennsylvania II. Indians once in this section . III. Westmoreland, and the Pennamite Wars IV. The Intrusion Law and its effects . V. County organization .... YI. Officers and Bar of Susquehanna County 1 7 9 17 24 36 TOWNSHIP ANNALS, AS FOLLOWS : VII. Great Bend. Settled 1787. First township erected. Organized 1793 49 VIII. Harmony. Settled 1787. Tenth township erected. Organized 1809 87 IX. Oakland. Settled 1787. Twenty-seventh township erected. Organized 1853 100 X. Brooklyn. Settled 1787. Sixteenth township erected. Organized 1814 110 XL New Milford. Settled 1789. Eighth township erected. Organized 1807 143 XII. Herrick. Settled 1789. Eighteenth township erected. Organized 1825 163 XIII. Harford. Settled 1790. Ninth township erected. Organized 1808 174 XIV. Gibson. Settled 1793. Twelfth township erected. Organized 1813 . . ' 191 XV. Rush. Settled 1794. Fifth township erected. Organ- ized 1801 211 XVI. Dimock. Settled 1796. Nineteenth township erected. Organized 1832 222 XVII. Lenox. Settled 1796. Second township erected. Or- ganized 1795 237 XVIII. Auburn. Settled 1797. Fourth township erected. Organized 1799 248 XIX. Franklin. Settled 1799. Twenty-first township erected. Organized 1835 258 XX. Liberty. Settled 1799. Third township erected. Or- ganized 1798 275 XXL Bridgewater and Montrose. Settled 1799. Seventh township erected. Organized 1806 . . . 283 vm CONTENTS. Chapter. XXII. XXIII. XXIV. XXY. XXVI. XXVII. XXVIII. XXIX. XXX. XXXI. XXXII. XXXIII. XXXIV. XXXV. XXXVI. XXXVII. XXXVIII. XXXIX. XL. XLI. XLII. XLIII. XLIV. Middletown. Settled 1799. Fourteenth township erected. Organized 1814 .... Jessup. Settled 1799. Twenty-fourth township erected Organized 1846 Forest Lake. Settled 1799. Twenty-second township erected. Organized 1836 .... Clifford. Settled 1799. Sixth township erected. ganized 1806 Lathrop. Settled 1799. Twenty-third township erected. Organized 1846 .... Springville. Settled 1799. Fifteenth township erected Organized 1814 Apolacon. Settled 1800. Twenty-fifth township erected. Organized 1846 .... Choconut. Settled 1806. Thirteenth township erected Organized 1814 Silver Lake. Settled 1809. Eleventh township erected Organized 1813 Jackson. Settled 1809. Seventeenth township erected Organized 1815 Ararat. Settled 1810. Twenty-sixth township erected Organized 1852 Thomson. Settled 1820. Twentieth township erected Organized 1833 Nicholson Lands Geological Formation and Mineral Eesources Agriculture and the Mechanic Arts Roads and Post Offices .... Changes in Politics Schools and Churches Newspapers and Editors .... Authors and Artists Physicians and the Medical Society Temperance Societies ..... Secret Societies and the Census . PAGE 345 356 368 382 400 406 422 430 444 463 472 482 486 491 502 509 518 526 539 544 553 557 571 APPENDIX. Joe Smith 577 Treadwell Trial . . . ' 582 Note on Magnetic Variation (County Line). . . 583 Woman's Work for the IT. S. Sanitary and Freedmen's Commissions 584 List of Soldiers . 620 Index 635 LIST OF MAPS, LITHOGRAPHS, STEEL PLATES, ENGRAVINGS, ETC. Map of the County . . . . . • to face Title Map Illustrating the New England Charter Claims, west of the Delaware Map showing the various purchases made from the Indians Map of Westmoreland, showing the Connecticut Surveys Map of Old Luzerne County Engraving — Seal, Court of Quarter Sessions, Susquehanna County Diagram — showing official divisions of Susquehanna County, 1790 Diagram— showing " " " " " 1799 Diagram — showing boundaries of township of Rush, 1801 Diagram— showing Election Districts — Susquehanna County, 1S01 Diagram — showing divisions of Susquehanna County in 1808 Diagram — showing " " " " Diagram — showing " " " " Diagram — showing " " " " Diagram of "The Fan," at Great Bend . Engraving — Falls of Cascade Creek . Engraving — The Cascade Bridge Engraving — The Starucca Viaduct . Portrait of James B. Gregg .... Portrait of Col. Frederick Bailey Engraving — Old Universalist Church, Brooklyn Portrait of Secku Meylert .... Portrait of Christopher L. Ward Diagram — Site of First Bark Cabin — Beaver Meadow Diagram — Nine Partners' Purchase . Portrait of Joab Tyler, Esq. .... Portrait of Rev. Lyman Richardson . Engraving of Harford Academy, 1844 Portrait of Hon. Galusha A. Grow Engraving — The Old Post House Portrait of David Post, Esq Engraving — The Old Raynsford House Diagram— The Sun-dogs, 1807 . Portrait of Elder Davis Dimock Lithograph — The Montrose Green, 1S40 . Diagram — Successive Borough Limits of Montrose in 1810 in 1815 in 1S72 1812 PAGE Page. 1 6 10 14 24 26 27 27 28 2!) 30 34 35 65 106 126 141 156 162 176 178 178 180 185 244 290 290 293 300 306 316 317 X LIST OF MAPS, LITHOGEAPHS, ETC. PAGE Portrait of Hon. Almon H. Read 332 Portrait of Hon. William Jessup, LL.D. ....... 334 Portrait of Henry Drinker ......... 336 Engraving — The Old Presbyterian Church, Montrose .... 340 Portrait of Rev. Henry A. Riley 342 Map of the Connecticut Survey of Manor, Delaware First Purchase . . 356 Portrait of Hon. Asa Packer 414 Engraving — Lakeside — Residence of Mrs. Caleb Carmalt .... 439 Lithograph— Silver Lake, 1816 450 Lithograph — Silver Lake — Residence of the late Robert H. Rose . .458 Engraving — R. C. Chapel of St. Augustine 462 Portrait of Elder J. B. Worden 470 Portrait of Hon. Benjamin Parke, LL.D. ....... 508 Engraving — Old Seal of Susquehanna Academy . . . . . 526 Portrait of Edith May 548 Portrait of Rev. Elisha Mulford, LL.D 550 Portrait of Hon. S. B. Chase 570 APPENDIX. Diagram — Joe Smith's Diggings ........ 581 \l ERRATA. (Readers are requested to mark the corrections as designated.) i 37, line 2d from the bottom, after " Judge," insert and. 38, " 21st, for "Warmer" read Warner. 39, " 25th, the name of "L. F. Fitch" should be in italics. 41, " 30th, for " David D. Warner" read Davis D. Warner. •43, " 32d, for " Simon Stephens" read Simon Stevens. 45, " 3d, for " Philander Stevens" read Philander Stephens. 46, in 2d foot note, for " now" read since. 48, line 46th, for " Lew" read Law. 64, " 13th, for "Thompson" read Thomson. 97, " 16th, after " murdered" insert, as supposed. 204, " 7th, for " 1739" read 1839. 207, " 25th, for "Kinsbury" read Kingsbury. 221, " 5th, after "all he had," read but one. 254, " 16th, for " Merryall's" read Merry all. 254, " 20th, for "relates" read writes. 280, " 3d, for " terrible" read terribly. 288, " 4th, for " now" read late. 319, " 2d, for "clear" read cleared 335, " 13th, from bottom, after "in consequence," insert during the Revolution. 347, " 46th, for "fort" read forks. 457, " 29th, omit sentence about Agricultural Society. 460, " 9th, after " petition" read against slavery. 499, " 21st, for " Eoswick" read Bostwic/c. 538, omission of the present number of members of Liberty Bapt. Church, 73. The following should have been inserted on page 331. 1813. 1818. 1853. 1855. 1854-55. 1867-8. 1870. COST OF PCBLIC BUILDINGS. Court-house (containing jail), built by Oliver C. Smith . $4,500 00 Fireproof Offices, built by Daniel Lyon .... 2,562 60 Jail (now engine house), built by Boyd and Smith . . 5,768 34 Removal of Fireproof Building by the commissioners . 130 00 New Court-house. To architect and drawing contract . . $320 00 Contract price Furniture, including bell Total New Jail .... Repairs on new Court-bouse Making a total of nearly seventy-one thous and dollars 18,500 00 1,425 70 $20,245 70 34,707 07 3,025 09 nhLsiratin^ the toe m&HTEEi C HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. CHAPTER I. CHARTERS OF CONNECTICUT AND PENNSYLVANIA. The history of the section of Pennsylvania described as Sus- quehanna County, extends far back of its official organization. It can best be understood by a somewhat extended reference to a period preceding even the settlement of the county, when its area, with that of Luzerne from which it was taken, was still a portion of old Northumberland. A review of still earlier times is necessary fully to account for the peculiar relation which this territory once sustained to the State of Connecticut. Grave questions have been practically decided in the status of this small corner of the Commonwealth— questions arising from the transatlantic origin of titles to lands in America — and these first claim our attention. Explanation of Map of Charter Claims. 1. Massachusetts and Connecticut, with a general review of their charter claims, west. 2. The Connecticut County and Town of Westmoreland, from the Delaware west to the Fort Stanwix line ; which sent Representatives to the Assembly at Hartford and New Haven, from 1774 to 1783. 3. The north and south line, one hundred and twenty miles west of the line, ten miles east of the Susquehanna, indicates the western limits of the Connec- ticut Susquehanna Company's Indian purchase at Albany, in 1754. Nearly to this line ranges of towns five miles square were granted and surveyed ; the five most western in M'Kean County, named Lorana, Conde, Turrenne, Newtown, and Addison, are designated. * 4. The Western Reserve, or New Connecticut, in Ohio, being one hundred and twenty miles in length, the width of the Connecticut charter claim, con- firmed to that State on the final adjustment of western land claims ; the United States having accepted the cession from Connecticut of the territory west to the Mississippi. Five hundred thousand acres of this reservation, called " Fire Lands," were granted to New London, Fairfield, Norwark, and other towns burnt by the enemy. The remainder, being sold, is the source of the noble school fund of that State. 5. About seven millions of acres of the beautiful Genessee country, being, with slight reservations, all the territory in New York, west from a line be- ginning at the eighty-second mile-stone from the Delaware, on the northern boundary of Pennsylvania, running north to the British possessions — confirmed, by compromise between New York and Massachusetts in 17S6, to the latter State — together with 230,400 acres east of that line. — From Miner's History of Wyoming 2 HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. The charters granted by English sovereigns to Connecticut and Pennsylvania, and from which the early troubles of this section of country arose, were based on the assumed right of possession in virtue of the discovery of its shores by Sebastian Cabot, who first sailed from England under commission of Henry VII. May, 1497. A few years later, voyagers from France, in the service of its sovereign, also made discoveries and took possession in the name of Francis I.; and, thereafter, the French sovereigns claimed a part of the territory which England held as her own. In 1603, Henry IV. of France having granted to Sieur de Monts the country called Acadia, extending from the 40th to the 46th degree of north latitude, James I. of England became alarmed at the encroachments upon English claims, and, in 1606, divided that portion of North America which lies between the 34th and 45th degrees, into two nearly equal districts ; granting the southern part to a company of London merchants — to whom Sir Walter Raleigh had transferred the patent ob- tained from Queen Elizabeth — and the northern to another corporation called the Plymouth Company. From 38° to 41° the same was granted to both ; but, wherever the one made a settlement, the other might not settle within 100 miles. 1 In 1607, the Plymouth Company attempted a settlement at the mouth of the Kennebec, but it was abandoned after a few months. November, 1620, James I. incorporated the "Grand Council of Plymouth, for planting and governing New England in America;" and granted to the persons constituting it, all that tract of North America lying between the 40th and 48th degrees of north latitude, in its whole extent "from sea to sea," except- ing only such land as might already be in possession of another Christian prince. The Council were authorized to convey or assign "such particular portions of said lands to such subjects, adventurers, or planters, as they should think proper." In 1631, a deed from the Earl of Warwick, then president of the Plymouth Council, conveyed to Lord Say and Seal, Lord Brooke and others, that part of New England afterwards pur- chased from them by the colony of Connecticut. Now, " though the right of soil had passed from the Crown by the original grant, the powers of government were considered of a nature so sacred, they could only be derived directly from the king ;" consequently, in 1662, Charles II. renewed and confirmed the charter to Connecticut, distinctly recognizing it as a part and parcel of the old Plymouth grant. The tract patented to Con- necticut extended " from Narragansett River 120 miles on a 1 U. S. History. Mrs. Willard. HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. 3 straight line, near the shore towards the southwest, as the coast lies towards Virginia, and within that breadth from the Atlantic Ocean to the South Sea." This measurement would bring the southern limit of Connecticut nearly or quite to the 41st de- gree of north latitude; and, "that these boundaries included Wyoming, has never, that we are aware of, been controverted. 1 In 1661, the Dutch, who had settled on the Hudson more than fifty years previous, and who claimed the land from the Con- necticut River to the Delaware, were conquered by the English, and their territory was given to the Duke of York (afterwards James II.), the king's brother. The charter- to Connecticut had included an exception in favor of the Dutch, their land never having been vested in the Crown previous to this conquest ; 2 and, in 1650, articles of agreement respecting the eastern line of their possessions had been made between them and Connecticut. But, because this line, as agreed upon in 1664, was pronounced "the western bounds of the colony of Connecticut," as it was the eastern of the Duke's patent, the plea was afterwards made by Pennsyl- vania, that Connecticut had relinquished all claims to lands west of the Delaware; though these were distinctly included within the charter of 1662. " Now there were no opposite or adverse claims, in 1664, as to the western land. No foreign nation had any pretensions to it. The Duke did not and could not claim it, the Delaware being expressly made his western limit. The king gave no intimation that he was dissatisfied with his own grant of it to Connecticut." 1 The commissioners, therefore, who were appointed to mark the division line between the Duke and Connecticut, had nothing to do or to determine about lands ivest of this patent. But, as his territory fell again into the hands of the Dutch, and was afterwards restored to the British, a new charter was issued to the Duke of York. This occasioned a fresh dispute between him and Connecticut ; but the line between this colony and his possessions was finally adjusted in 1683-85, as it now remains. In that part of America claimed by England, three requisites were demanded to render title to lands perfect : First, a grant or charter from the king; Secondly, a purchase of the soil from the Indians ; Thirdly, possession. 1 That the steps taken on the part of Connecticut respecting the lands within her charter west of the Delaware may be seen in connection with the action of the Government of Pennsyl- vania, the following dates are given side by side: — 1 See Miner's History of Wyoming. * Chapman. HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. Titles to land west of the Delaware included in the 42° of north latitude, and extending from that river to a north and south line 110 miles west of the Susquehanna River : — Connecticut. 1662. Charter from Charles II. 1754. Purchase from the Indians. 1762. Settlement at Wyoming. Pennsylvania. 1681. Charter from Charles II. 1768. Purchase from the Indians. 1769. Settlement at Wyoming. There is no dispute as to the above facts and figures ; and, to the casual reader, nothing more would seem necessary to make clear the validity of the Connecticut claim. To explain how Pennsylvania claimed to prove her right to the land above the Blue Mountains, a few more dates must be given : — ■ Connecticut Claims. 1662. Pre-emption rights with char- ter, the grant extending " from the Narragansett River to the South Sea." 1753. Formation of the "Connec- ticut Susquehanna Company" (and, soon after, of the Connecticut Dela- ware Company), with a view to pur- chase the Indian title. 1755. The Assembly of Connec- ticut " manifest their ready acquies- cence" in the purchase made by the Susquehanna Company, and "gave their consent for an application to His Majesty to erect them into a new colony." Surveyors sent out, but obliged to return because the Indians were at war with the French against the English. 1769. Second settlement at Wyo- ming, by people of Connecticut, which, after varying success, at last became permanent. 1782. The Decree of Trenton had reference solely to jurisdiction, and not to right of soil, which had passed from the government of Connecticut to the Susquehanna and Delaware Companies. The student in history is perhaps in nothing more puzzled than in the attempt to reconcile the successive grants of' differ- ent kings ; and, worse, those of the same king. An example of the former is seen by the patent from Charles I. to Lord Baltimore in 1632, which granted him the country from the Potomac to the 40th degree of north latitude ; thus, by a mere act of the crown (the rights and privileges of the London 1 Argument of Mr. Pratt (afterwards Lord Camden), Attorney General to the Crown, in reply to a query of the Pennsylvania proprietaries. Pennsylvania Claims. 1681. Charter to William Penn not given until " the eastern bounds of New York had been decided to be the western bounds of Connecticut, which restored the land beyond those settlements westward, to the Crown, and laid them open to a new grant." 1 1736. Deed of the Indians which conveyed to Thomas and Richard Penn, the then proprietaries of Penn- sylvania, the right of pre-emption of and in all the lands not before sold by them to the said proprietaries within the limits of their charter. " Said lands bounded on the north by the beginning of the 43° of north latitude," or where the figures 42 are marked on the map. 1779. By an act of Legislature, the right of soil and estate of the late Proprietaries of Pennsylvania was vested in the Commonwealth. 1782. The Decree of Trenton in favor of Pennsylvania. HISTOEY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. 5 Company having been returned to it), what had long before been given to Virginia, was taken away ; as a part of what was granted to Lord Baltimore was subsequently given to William Penn. But of this the latter might well believe him- self innocent, since, when he petitioned for his charter, it was referred to the Attorney-General, Sir William Jones, who re- ported that it did not appear to intrench upon the boundaries of Lord Baltimore's province nor those of the Duke of York, " so that the tract of hind desired by Mr. Penn seems to be undisposed of by His Majesty; except the imaginary lines of New England patents, which are bounded westwardly by the main ocean, should give them a real, though impracticable, right to all those vast territories." Thus, in 1681, Charles II. granted to William Penn a charter of lands having the end of the 42d degree of north latitude for a northern boundary, thus overlapping by one degree the grant to Connecticut made nineteen years before by the same monarch. An answer to the claim of Pennsylvania under this date (1681) has been already given ; but Pennsylvania farther argued that, in 1761, one of the Connecticut governors, in reply to an inquiry of the king, stated: "The colony is bounded on the west by New York." This, however, was not the wording of the reply as adopted by the Assembly, which stated that the colony was bounded by their charter. The change had been made by the governor, without authority, and resulted in his political decapitation, though it is possible he answered with the idea that the king meant to inquire for the boundary of the occupied portion of the grant. Mr. Miner, in the 'History of Wyoming,' sums up other objections made by able writers in behalf of the Pennsylvania claims, as follows: — Objection first. That the Susquehanna Company never had a formal grant from the colony of Connecticut. Second. That the colony of Connecticut received nothing from the Com- pany as a consideration for those lands. Third. That the Company made their purchase from the Indians, contrary to the laws of Connecticut. Fourth. That the king, in 1763, forbade the settlement of territory. \. A remark taken from 'Day's Historical Collections' may bV in place here. "The different principles involved in the charter of the Connecticut colony and the province of Pennsylvania, necessarily produced an essential difference in the manner of acquiring the Indian title to the lands. In the colony, the right of pre-emption was vested in the people; and the different towns in Connecticut were settled at successive periods, by different bands of adventurers, who separately acquired the Indian title either by purchase or by conquest, and, in many instances, without the aid or the interference 6 HISTOEY OP SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. of the Commonwealth. In the province, the pre-emption right was vested in William Penn, who made no grants of lands until the Indian title had been extinguished, and, consequently, the whole title was derived through the proprietaries." Mr. Miner continues : — "In reply to the first three objections, it may be said, also, to be a matter between the Susquehanna Company and the Colony or State ; the whole pro- ceedings of the Company having again and again received the most full and explicit recognition and confirmation from the Connecticut Government. "In reply to the fourth, it may be asked, After the king had granted the lands by charter, what authority had he reserved to forbid the settlement? " The authority to constitute a new power, or government, was reserved, and could not be communicated by the colony of Connecticut, although the latter might govern the new settlement as a part of itself while still a subject of Great Britain. "Again, Connecticut asserted that 'the Pennsylvania agents did not set forth a conveyance of the land from the natives ; but a deed of pre-emption, or a promise to convey at some future time.' " In December, 1773, commissioners on behalf of Connecti- cut wrote to the Governor of Pennsylvania thus: — "It were easy to observe that the purchases from the Indians by the pro- prietaries, and the sales by them made, were they even more ancient than they are, could add no strength to the proprietary title, since the right of pre-emption of the natives was by the royal grant exclusively vested in the colony of Connecticut, and, consequently, those purchases and sales were equally without legal foundation." No purchase affecting the dispute between Connecticut and Pennsylvania had been made by the proprietaries prior to the treaty at. Fort Stanwix (Rome, N. Y.), in 1768. The Indians had already received two thousand pounds sterling from the Connecticut Susquehanna Company for the lands which they then resold to Pennsylvania. The Rev. Jacob Johnson, then a missionary to the Oneidas, and afterwards the first minister in Wilkes-Barre, testified, that the Indians agreed to give Gov. Penn a deed, "because Sir William Johnson had told them that their former conveyance to the New England people was unlawful," and "because the commissioners urged that the Connecticut people had done wrong in coming over the line of Pennsylvania to buy land of the Indians." But we never hear of the return of the two thousand pounds. The sale had been made at Albany, in 1754, in open council, and at a time when delegates from Pennsylvania made efforts to induce the chiefs to sell them the Wyoming lands — one hundred and twenty by seventy miles, the Susquehanna Com- pany purchase — to which they steadily refused to accede. Beloved as William Penn had been by the natives, the pro- prietaries were by no means favorites with the Six Nations (admitted by all to be the original owners of the land), and, a> SHOWING THE VARIOtS PURCHASES JMSSE JWKM ]IE JMMANS ACo HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. 7 for the reason that they had declined to recognize the Delawares as the subjects of the Six Nations, but had persisted in regard- ing them as an independent people ; and, as such, making treaties and purchasing land of them. (See Miner.) They owed them a grudge, too, on account of the " Walking Pur- chase," of 1737, with which every student of Pennsylvania history is supposed to be familiar. But the Commissioners of Pennsylvania, after their return to Philadelphia at that time, reported having held a private treaty, and having purchased lands between the Blue Moun- tains and the forks of the Susquehanna (Fort Augusta, or Sunbury), which was, of course, below the tract sold to the Connecticut people. CHAPTER II. INDIANS. In Susquehanna County, except along the river in Harmony, Oakland, and Great Bend, traces of the original proprietors of the soil are not very frequent. The reader is referred to the annals of those townships for details respecting them. In the vicinity of Apolacon and Tuscarora Creeks, numerous arrow- heads have been found, and, in other localities, other imple- ments of the Indians. (See Apolacon, Auburn, Silver Lake, Herrick, etc.) A stone pestle with the head of a squirrel carved on it, now in possession of Eev. H. A. Riley, was found on the farm of the late Judge Lathrop, in Bridgewater. It is stated, in ' Baton's Geography of Pennsylvania,' that the Tuscarora Indians, on their emigration northward, made this region their residence for a number of years; it is known they had a village near Lanesboro. The Delawares, who inhabited the country about Deposit, derived their supply of salt from this county. (See Mineral Resources.) It appears that the two most noted salt springs in our county had been worked by Indians; and, respecting the one near Silver Creek, a legend is preserved that lends a charm to the spot, now rifled of its pristine wildness and beauty by the hand of modern enterprise. Many of our citizens will recall the scenery described in 1832, by a writer in the ' Montrose Vol- unteer' : — HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. SALT SPRING LEGEND. "Previous to the massacre of Wyoming, this whole extent of country was overrun by Indians, along the course of the Susquehanna. A roving band had succeeded in capturing a white man, named Rosbach, after he had killed two or three of them ; his wife and children escaped, but he, though wounded and bleeding on the threshold, was doomed to perish at the stake. They were compelled to make a march to elude pursuit from the whites, and at length reached and followed up the course of a stream, to avoid leaving a track ; and in their progress passed close beside the mineral spring. What the appearance of the spot was then, it is not difficult to conceive at present, since a clearing of a few acres, an old log-house, and the tottering frame used for boring for salt water, is all that remains to tell that the hand of man has been here. The view in the clearing is not uncommon — a stream of silvery flow and murmur, a high hill and the forest — but, by following up the western creek that here meets one from the north, a wild glen opens un- surpassed among our hills. " It was night when the Indians and their captive reached this hidden valley, but they passed on, after drinking of the spring, to the greater concealment of the ravine beyond. Conceive them as they enter — the party of a dozen half-naked savages, leading, threatening, and at times supporting the droop- ing form of the white hunter as he toils through the water tinged with his blood. On either side, the beetling rocks hang a hundred feet overhead, crowned with high columns of the old forest trees. The water, though not abundant, yet produces a series of beautiful cascades, leaping over irregular ledges of rock, and gathering at intervals in basins, clear as the purest crys- tal. As the leafy dome above closes heavy and compact in the darkness, the party reach the first cascade ; they clamber over the rock and find another basin, deeper, darker, and more secluded than the first. Here they pause. "At a safe distance the hunter's wife has dogged their path, and now watches from the cliff above. In the recess on the right they light their fire. A little apart, the white man is bound to a sapling ; the captors are seated ; the pipe is passed; they are fed, and the hour of vengeance is nigh. At this moment an owl, startled by the fire, shrieks so discordantly, that even the warriors quiver at the sound. Succeeding this horrid scream, a voice of exquisite clearness chanted, in the native language, a war- song of the Oneidas : — ' The northern eagle scents his prey, His beak with blood shall drip to-day, The Oneida's foot is on thy track His spoils are won ere he turns back.' "Before the verse was completed, the Indians had extinguished their fire, and at its conclusion they yelled back the war-whoop of defiance, for the Oneidas were in coalition with the whites. A huge rock came thundering down the precipice — then another, and another — vexing the air; and amid the echo and gloom, a hand rested on the shoulder of Rosbach, and in his ear was whispered, 'Robert, do you hear me?' ' Emmeline ! my wife ! Oh, God !' "In a moment she cut the withe that bound him, and, as the surprised party had left the bed of the stream, she led him down to where the spring issued from its side. His strength is exhausted, his head sinks upon her bosom, and he is a corpse. " After concealing his body among the rocks, she resumed her journey toward the river, and at length reached friends, whose joy upon her return was changed to sadness, as she bade them seek the remains of her husband beneath the shadow of the mountain that overhangs the mineral spring." HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. CHAPTEK III. WESTMORELAND AND THE PENNAMITE WARS. Although the section now embraced in Susquehanna Coun- ty was without a settlement until the close of the Pennamite wars of Wyoming, and until the "town and county of West- moreland" had ceased to exist, our history is still closely con- nected with them. The events of the period to which they belong are given in detail by Chapman, Miner, and others, from whose works a synopsis is given here, prefaced by the following remark from Dr. Hollister's "History of the Lacka- wanna Valley " : — " While Wyoming, in its limited signification, now gives name to a valley (about twenty miles in length and three or four in width) unsurpassed for the beauty of its scenery or the romance of its history, it was formerly used in a more enlarged sense to designate all the country purchased of the Indians by the New England men, in 1754, lying in what is now known as Luzerne, Wyoming, Susquehanna, and Wayne Counties." (A large part of Bradford should also be included in this statement.) The territory of Susquehanna County was included in the Connecticut Delaware Company's purchase, which extended from the Delaware Eiver within the 42d degree of north lati- tude, west to the line of the Susquehanna Company's purchase; or to within ten miles of the Susquehanna River after it enters the State the second time. In 1755, the Delaware Company began a settlement at Coshetunk. The greater portion of the purchases made by the two com- panies was included in the county named by Pennsylvania, Northumberland, then comprising a vast area, from Northamp- ton County (now Wayne and Pike Counties) to the Alleghany River. Luzerne, Mifflin, Lycoming, Centre, Columbia, and Union Counties, in their original extent, with the present area of Northumberland, comprised the Northumberland, which was separated from Berks and Bedford in 1772. The Pennamite wars comprised the struggles of Connecticut settlers to retain possession of the Wyoming lands which they had purchased from the Susquehanna Company; but which were claimed also by the proprietaries of Pennsylvania, who were bent upon securing either the recognition of their own claim, or the ejection of the settlers. Between one and two hundred persons came from Connecticut, August, 1762, and began a settlement in Wyoming, a little above the Indian 10 HISTOBY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. village of this name, but the massacre of twenty of them by the Delawares, the following year, and the expulsion of the remainder, discouraged any further effort for nearly seven years. At no period until 1772, were there more than three hun- dred Connecticut men on the ground at one time. It must not be supposed that peaceful measures were not first resorted to by settlers, before pitting themselves against a superior force. In May, 1769, Col. Dyer and Major Elderkin went to Philadelphia and submitted to Benj. Chew, agent for the proprietaries — a proposition to have the matter in dispute between the Susquehanna Company and the proprietaries, referred either to a court of law or to referees to be mutually chosen by the parties, and in either case the decision to be conclusive. But Pennsylvania would in no wise recognize the Connecticut claim. Thirteen years later such a court ivas convened; but, had the first proposition been acted upon, how much bloodshed and misery would have been avoided ! The first Pennamite war extended over a period of three years — from February, 1769, to September, 1771 ; during which the "Yankees" had been expelled five times, but as often re- newed the contest, and with ultimate victory. The close of 1771 found the Susquehanna Company in full possession. In 1772, Wilkes-Barre 1 was laid out near Fort Wyoming, which the settlers had taken under Col. Durkee, who had command in 1769. In 1773, the government of Connecticut, which, up to this time, had left the Susquehanna and Delaware companies to manage their own affairs, now decided to make its claim to all the lands within the charter, west of the province of New York, and in a legal manner to support the same. Com- missioners appointed by the assembly proceeded to Philadel- phia "to negotiate a mode of bringing the controversy to an amicable conclusion." But every proposition offered by them was declined by the Governor and Council of Pennsylvania, who saw no way to prevent a repetition of the troubles in Wyoming, except by the settlers evacuating the lands until a legal decision could be obtained. In the mean time the people had accepted articles, framed by the Susquehanna Company, at Hartford, Conn., June 2, 1773, for the government of the settlement, and acknowledged them to be of force until the colony of Connecticut should annex 1 The name Wilkes-Barre, commonly written with but one capital, was given in honor of the celebrated John Wilkes and Col. Barre, both members of the British Parliament, aird both of whom took a decided part in favor of America, against the measures of the British ministry. ESTMORELAND. H ^ Showing the ^ -""^ CONNECnCUT sum^EYS. T. Sinclair, lith. EhilaxU JY?& J Permis eion . HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. 11 them to one of its counties, or make them a distinct county; or until they should obtain, either from the colony, or from "His Gracious Majesty, King George the Third," a more permanent or established mode of government. " Bat his majesty soon had weightier matters to decide with his American subjects, which were settled by his acknowledgment of their Independence." On the report of the Commissioners to the Assembly of Connecticut, after their return from Philadelphia, decisive measures were adopted by the Assembly to bring the settlement on the Susquehanna under their immediate jurisdiction. An act was passed early in January, 1774, erecting all the territory within her charter limits, from the river Delaware to a line fifteen miles west of the Susquehanna, into a town with all the corporate powers of other towns of the colony, to be called Westmoreland, attaching it to the county of Litchfield. The town was seventy miles square, and was divided into townships five miles square, though those townships comprised within the Connecticut Delaware purchase were, for the most part, six miles square. Explanation of Map of Y/estmoreland— Connecticut Surveys. The towns marked with a star, thus *, within the Susquehanna Company's purchase, namely, Huntington, Salem, Plymouth, Kingston, Newport, Hanover, Wilkes-Barre, Pittston, Providence, Exeter, Bedford, Northumberland, Putnam or Tunkhannock, Braintrim, Springfield, Claverack, Ulster, are designated in ancient Pennsylvania proceedings as " The seventeen towns occupied or acquir- ed by Connecticut claimants before the Decree of Trenton," and were, with the addition of Athens, confirmed to Connecticut claimants by the Compromising Law of April 4, 1799, and its several supplements. The Delaware Company's Indian purchases comprised the land west from the Delaware River to the line within ten miles of the Susquehanna. The Susquehanna Company's Indian purchase at Albany (1754), extended from the line ten miles east of the river, one hundred and twenty miles west, and included the chief parts of M'Kean and Elk counties. Ranges of towns, west of our map, were granted and surveyed (some as late as 1805) embracing more than a million of acres ; the most western on the State line being in M'Kean County. But we have deemed it useful to give place only to those wherein, or in the neighborhood of which, the New England people commenced settlements. Allensburg, on the Wyalusing, was a grant to Gen. Ethan Allen of Vermont, of several thousand acres, for his expected aid in the grand scheme of treason and rebellion, as it was designated by one party, and of just resistance to unendurable oppression, as it was regarded by the other, in 1787. It is sup- posed he derived no value from the grant. The square townships in the Delaware purchase contain 23,000 acres. Those in the Susquehanna purchase, being five miles square, contain 16,000 acres. Bozrah, on the Lackawaxen, shows the compact part of the " Lackawa" settlement, and was the birthplace of the Hon. George W. Woodward. The mark in Usher (lot No. 39), three miles west from Mont-Rose, designates the place of the author's bark cabin, where, in the spring of 1799, then a lad 12 HISTORY OP SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. From the date of the act mentioned above until after the Decree at Trenton — nine years — the laws of Connecticut were exercised over the "town" in full force. Accounts of their operation were comprised in what is called the 'Westmoreland Records,' now unfortunately not obtainable, having been either lost or destroyed. In the mean time, November, 1775, a General Congress of Representatives from all the Colonies was assembled at Phila- delphia to consult upon measures of mutual defence against the British forces ; when, in reply to an application of the Wyo- ming settlers for protection, Congress had recommended the contending States of Connecticut and Pennsylvania to cease hostilities immediately, and that settlers should behave them- selves peaceably in their respective claims, until a legal deci- sion could be rendered in regard to their dispute ; but it was expressly stipulated, that nothing in this "recommendation" should be construed into prejudice of the claim of either party. Plunket's expedition " to restore peace and good order in Wyoming," then on foot, was not, however, countermanded ; but, failing to effect an entrance into the valley, his troops returned down th.e Susquehanna. This was the last military enterprise ever undertaken by the provincial government of Pennsylvania. The Revolutionary War was begun and ended without the aid of a single man drawn from the country now constituting Susquehanna County ; as not a civilized inhabitant was then within her borders. But that part of Westmoreland in the Explanation of Map of Westmoreland — Continued. of nineteen, assisted by Mr. John Chase (the pleasant bar-keeper at Wilson's Hotel, Harrisbnrg), he commenced a clearing. The mark further west in Usher shows the boyhood residence, in 1800, of the Hon. Andrew Beaumont. The designation of "Barnum," at Lawsville, in the town of Cunningham, shows the log-cabin tavern (1800) of that prince of hotel keepers, afterwards of Baltimore. The triangle marked "Hyde," west of Usher, indicates the head-qnarters of Col. Ezekiel Hyde, Yankee leader in the Delaware purchase in 1800. Also the store of Enoch Reynolds, Esq. (in 1799), afterwards at the head of one of the Bureaus in the Treasury Department, at Washington, for many years ; and since, till his decease, the residence of Judge Jabez Hyde. To avoid embarrassing the map by the insertion of too many names, letters are placed in Wilkes-Barre, Exeter, and Pittston, as points of reference, and their explanation is made here. A, Fort Durkee ; B, Fort Wyoming ; C, Fort Ogden ; D, Wintennoot's Fort ; E, Jenkin's Fort ; F, three Pittston Forts ; Gr, Monockacy Island. After years of search, two maps only of those Connecticut Surveys could be found. Our efforts probably have rescued them from oblivion.' 1 From 'Miner's History of Wyoming.' In accordance with a more minute and accurate survey (see Map of Manor) we have altered the relative positions of Montrose and that of individuals. HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. 13 vicinity of Wilkes-Barre furnished, on the first call, two com- panies, and these, with individuals afterwards enlisted, amount- ed to nearly three hundred men given to the Continental service. It was this drain upon the new settlement that left it so unpro- tected at the time of the massacre by Indians and tories on the memorable 3d of July, 1778. The reader is referred to the graphic descriptions of Chapman, Stone, Miner, Peck, and others, for full accounts of that distressful time. Patriots of the Eevolutionary contest have since honored our country by a residence within it, and their remains hallow our soil ; while descendants and relatives of those who fell in the Wyoming- massacre are still among us. Fifteen days after the surrender of Lord Cornwallis, a petition was presented to Congress " from the Supreme Executive Coun- cil of Pennsylvania, stating a matter in dispute between the said State and the State of Connecticut, respecting sundry lands lying on the east branch of the river Susquehanna, and praying a hearing in the premises, agreeable to the ninth article of the Confederation." Arrangements to this effect were made, and one year later, November 12, 1782, a court composed of five commissioners convened at Trenton, who, after a sitting of forty-one judicial days, in which the parties, represented by their counsel (four gentlemen on behalf of Pennsylvania, and three agents from Connecticut), had proceeded with their pleas, gave their decision in these few and astounding words : — " We are unanimously of the opinion that Connecticut has no right to the lands in controversy. " We are also unanimously of opinion, that the jurisdiction and pre-emp- tion of all the territory lying within the charter of Pennsylvania, and now claimed by the State of Connecticut, do of right belong to the State of Penn- sylvania." Thus, with the close of 1782, and the Trenton decree, the jurisdiction of Connecticut ceased. Before that decree, the court had expressly stated that the right of soil did not come before them, and thus the settlers were content to be transferred from one State to the jurisdiction of another; but events soon made it apparent that expulsion, or the entire abandonment of their possessions was to be preliminary to any adjustment of existing difficulties. The land had been purchased by Penn- sylvania speculators, 1 while it was occupied by those who held it under title from the Susquehanna Company; and the Legis- lature of Pennsylvania, by its commissioners appointed in 1783, 1 The landholders who stimulated the Assembly to unjust measures against the Wyoming people, were generally claimants under leases from the proprieta- ries, or warrants of 1784. The landholders under warrants of 1793 and 1794 — the Tilghmans, Drinkers, Francises, etc., are in no respect implicated in the censure. — Miner. 14 HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. to inquire into the circumstances of the "Wyoming inhabitants, expressly declared: " It cannot be supposed that Pennsylvania will, nor can she consistent with her constitution, by any ex- post facto law, deprive her citizens of any portion of their pro- perty legally obtained." This of course, implied the loss to the Connecticut settlers of all they had paid to the Susquehanna Company, in favor of prior " citizens" of Pennsylvania who had "legally obtained" possession of the land. This was the origin of the second Pennamite war, which fortunately extended over only one year — 1784 — and resulted in the restoration to the "Yankees" of the lands from which they had been cruelly driven during the spring of that year. The years 1785 and 1786 were marked by renewed activity among the holders of lands under the Connecticut title, Col. John Franklin being the leading spirit among them ; while, on the other side, Col. Timothy Pickering had been appointed by Pennsylvania to introduce her laws and support her claims in Wyoming. "Col. P. had executed with fidelity and approba- tion, the office of Quartermaster-General of the army. A native of Massachusetts, after the peace he had settled at Philadel- phia." [See Franklin and Harmony.] "But the first healing measure adopted by the State of Pennsylvania was the erection of the county of Luzerne from Northumberland in 1786, " to give the people an efficient representation in the Council and Assembly, so that their voice might be heard, their interests explained, and their influence fairly appreciated." Col. P. was appointed Prothonotary, Clerk of the Peace, Clerk of the Orphans' Court, Eegister and Recorder, for the county. "A crisis was depending of the highest moment, pregnant with civil war and revolution. A constitution for a new State was actually drawn up, the purpose being to wrest Wyoming and the old county of Westmoreland from the jurisdiction of Pennsylvania, and establish a new and independent government, as Vermont was established in despite of New York." Col. Franklin would not take the oath of fidelity to Pennsylvania, nor accept (at that time) a post of official importance to which he had been chosen with a view to conciliate the one whose opposition was the most bitter. Even the famous Gen. Ethan Allen, from Vermont, appears upon the scene as one pledged to furnish men and means towards the establishment of the new State ; but the arrest of Franklin on a charge of high treason, and his subsequent long confinement in prison, put a quietus to the project. Luzerne County, in 1786, included all the New England emigrants, except those in the ancient Lackawack settlement, and a few on the Delaware, being one hundred and twenty miles north and south, or from the mouth of the Nescopec to f=L. ? i> J; ^ m • <4 miles north and south, or from the mouth of the Nescopec to HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. 15 the north. line of the State, on which its extent was from the sixth mile-stone to a point fifteen miles west of the Susquehanna Eiver where it enters the State a second time. The relative position of what is now Susquehanna County, is given on the accompanying map of Old Luzerne; for more than a quarter of a century all of her settlers were amenable to the courts held at Wilkes-Barre. What privation and inconvenience this occa- sioned the remote inhabitants of Willi ngboro' (Great Bend) and Nine Partners (Harford), one can only imagine when taking into consideration the want of roads, and the peril of traveling u - through the then literally howling wilderness. Doubtless, the difficulty of executing justice often permitted lawlessness of certain kinds, when either to enter a complaint or serve a writ involved a formidable outlay of time and courage in over- coming distance, as well as physical obstacles. A story is told of the late Judge Hyde, who, when sheriff of Luzerne County, came on horseback from Wilkes-Barre to Silver Lake, more than fifty miles, to serve a jury notice, and received for his fee the sum of twenty-five cents. It was at the suggestion of Col. Pickering that a large num- ber of the people united in a petition, setting forth that seventeen townships, of five miles square, bad been located by the Connecticut settlers before the Trenton decree, and the lots averaging 300 acres had been set off specifically to settlers and proprietors; and praying that these might be confirmed : where- upon the Assembly, on the 28th of March, 1787, passed the Confirming Law — an act " for ascertaining and confirming to certain persons called Connecticut claimants, the lands by them claimed within the county of Luzerne," etc. This allowed to Pennsylvania claimants an equivalent, at their option, in the old or new State purchases. The act was suspended by an act of March 29, 1788, and finally condemned and repealed by an act of 1st April, 1790, being called " unconstitutional," as inflicting a wrong upon Pennsylvania claimants. But, since it was only just that the persons complying with the provisions of the act of March 28, 1787. while the law was in existence, should be entitled to the benefit of the same ; it was enacted, March 9, 1796, that the board of property ascer- tain from the documents placed in the Secretary's office what sums ought to be allowed to the respective owners, and that "the Eeceiver-general shall thereupon deliver a certificate of such sum or sums to the respective own ■■■;: and enter a credit in his books for the same, which may 1 r sferred to any per- son, and passed as credit." Claimants 3nsated under this act, were obliged to release to the c< mwealth their res- pective claims to the lands in question, .>re receiving cerlifi- 16 HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. cates to the foregoing effect; the latter were sometimes styled " Wyoming credits." In 1795, the Intrusion Law warned off all settlers not apply- ing for land under a Pennsylvania title. April 4, 1799, an act for offering compensation to the Penn- sylvania claimants of certain lands within the seventeen town- ships of Luzerne, often spoken of as the " certified" townships, was passed, and is known as the Compromising Law. April 1, 1805, redemption of certificates under act of March 9, 1796, was commenced. At the period when the Confirming Law was passed, the State was proprietor of a large portion of the lands so con- firmed to the settler, and the result has been that with one ex- ception, the government of Pennsylvania has refused to recog- nize an}'- right in warrant holders, whose titles originated in the seventeen townships after the Confirming Law. Bat settlers within the limits of what is now Susquehanna County, could not come within the provisions of that law, since they were outside of the seventeen townships to which it was limited ; how then could they expect any title to hold good, except one derived from the State of Pennsylvania? And all the more was this expectation foolish, after the passage of the Intru- sion and the Compromising Laws. "By the latter law all Pennsylvania claims to lands in the seventeen townships, which originated before the date of the Confirming Law, were to be paid for by the State, and Connecticut claimants were to pay for lands of the first class $2 00 per acre, of the second, $1 20; of the third, fifty cents: of the fourth, eight and a half cents. And those claims under Connecticut within townships on which settlement had been made after the Trenton Decree, then numerous and rapidly increasing, threatening wide and extended mischief, forthwith fell before this act of mingled policy and justice." But the "Yankees" were hard to be con- vinced. With them, might did not make right; and the fact that the United States (and Pennsylvania by her vote) accepted from Connecticut, about the year 1800, a formal release of all claim to jurisdiction or soil, west of the eastern limits of New York, excepting to that of the Western Eeserve ; and granted letters patent for that tract, served but to corroborate her claim. By this act, Congress recognized the right of Connecticut west of New York, and the Hon. Charles Miner pertinently asks : "How could she have a right west of Pennsylvania, and not through Pennsylvania, when her charter was nineteen years the oldest?" HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. 17 CHAPTER IV. THE INTRUSION LAW. An act of Assembly, passed April 11, 1795, was designed c< to prevent intrusions on lands within the counties of North- ampton, Northumberland, and Luzerne." The first section reads : — " If any person shall, after the passing of this act, take possession of, enter, intrude, or settle on any lands" within the limits of the counties aforesaid. " by virtue or under color of any conveyance of half share right, or any other pretended title, not derived from the authority of this commonwealth, or of the late proprietaries of Pennsylvania, before the Revolution, such persons upon being duly convicted thereof, upon indictment in any Court of Oyer and Terminer, or Court of General Quarter Sessions, to be held in the proper county, shall forfeit and pay the sum of two hundred dollars, one half to the use of the county, and the other half to the use of the informer ; and shall also be subject to such imprisonment, not exceeding twelve months, as the court, before whom such conviction is had, may, in their discretion, direct." The second section of this act provided punishment for combinations to convey, possess, and settle under pretended titles — payment of " not less than five hundred, nor more than one thousand dollars," and " imprisonment at hard labor not exceeding eighteen months." This act went no further, verbally, than to make intrusions punishable — prohibition being only implied. An act supplementary to this, passed February 16, 1801, authorized the governor (sect, xi.) to issue his proclamation, " Forbidding all future intrusions, and enjoining and requiring all persons who have intruded contrary to the provisions of the act to which this act is supplementary, to withdraw peaceably from the lands whereon such intru- sions have been made; and enjoining or requiring all officers of government, and all good citizens of the commonwealth, to prevent, or prosecute by all legal means, such intrusions and intruders," etc. April 6, 1802, an act of Assembly provided that "no convey- ance of land within the counties of Luzerne, Lycoming, and Wayne, shall pass any estate where the title is not derived from this State or the proprietaries before the 4th of July, 1776." It imposed a penalty upon any judge or justice for receiving proof of, or recorder for recording, a deed of a different de- scription. "No person interested in the Connecticut title to act as judge or juror, in any cause where said title may come in question," ete. An exception was made in favor of the inhabi- tants of the seventeen toivnships, only as far as related to judges, 18 HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. sheriffs, or jurors. This law was required to be made known by a proclamation from the governor, and took effect May 1, 1802. From that date, whatever " right" persons may have had under titles derived from Connecticut, it was sheer folly to defend. But all the overtures of the State were still' scorned by many, as we learn from the Luzerne Federalist of January, 1803, which stated: — " In the district of Rindaw (Rush) one hundred and fifty persons not only avowedly, but firmly and positively, believe in the Connecticut title and no other. In Willingboro (Great Bend) perhaps thirty. But in all the districts nearer two thousand than one thousand could be found who would risk their all in defence of their Connecticut title, if Pennsylvania ever attempts to drive them off by force of arms." Newspaper controversy upon the subject was particularly rife that year, but extended over a much longer period. The following letters of Henry Drinker, of Philadelphia, a large holder of lands in this section, under title derived from the State of Pennsylvania, reveal the intrusion on his tracts. "Philadelphia, 5 mo. 22d, 1801. "Respected Friend, Abram Hoene, Esq. " There are in the hands of Timothy Pickering, Esq., two maps, one of them of a considerable body of lands situate on the waters of Tunkhannock Creek and extending to the head waters of Salt Lick Creek ; the other represents lands bounding on the State line between this State and New York, and to the eastward of the Susquehanna — these maps Col. Pickering has promised to deliver thee when called for. " I now deliver herewith a map of a large body of lands, principally on and near the waters of Meshoppen Creek, and including branches of Wyalusing, Tuscarora, and Tunkhannock. "The townships laid out by the companies (Connecticut) are distinguished by dotted lines, which may be of some use to thee in traversing that country. I have also obtained the names of about 50 settlers from Connecticut, etc., and the parts they are settled on : tho' there may be some variation as to the particular tracts they occupy, yet I presume the following statement may be nearly right, viz : — No. No. Town of Usher. Dan Metcalf, 242 Ebenezer Whipple, 157, Abner Griffith, 156, Auburn. Solomon Griffith, 156, 107 Lloyd Goodsell, Holden Sweet, 156 Myron Kasson, James Carl (Carroll?), 158 Charles Morey, Samuel Maine, 107, 108 Ezekiel Morey, Mecom Maine, 107, 108 John Passmore, Ezekiel Maine, 107, 108 John Robinson, Nathan Tupper, 204 William Lathrop, 208 Dandoloe. Erastus Bingham, 204, 205 Eldad Brewster, 53 Eli Billings, 205, 206 Elias West, 52, 54 Ezekiel Hyde (an im Crocker, 50, 51 provement), 207 Joseph Chapman, 46 HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. 19 Manor. Jeremiah Mecom, 63, 105 Otis Robinson, ditto. David Harris, 66, Ozem Cook, 67, 68 Henry Cook, 67, 68 Amos Perry, 67, 68 George Morey, 100, 101 Ichabod Halsey, 104. Nehemiah Maine, 104, Otis Robinson, 104, Ezekiel Maine, Jr., 106, 107 107, 108 Foster. David Dowd, southerly part of Manor. Andrew Lisk. southerly part of Manor. Chebur. Thomas Parke, 1 perhaps in Bid- Harry Parke, j well. Martin Myers Capt. Joseph Chapman Ezekiel Morey No. New Milford. 1 John Hussey 214, 264 Daniel Kinney, Jr. 215 Lyman Kinney 234 Victory. Spencer, agent for the claimant. Avery Gore. Cyril Peck, Josiah Bass, between the Gore and Auburn. RlNDAW. Capt. Joab Pickett, 240, 242 Daniel Roswell, deaf and dumb, 240, 242: "There is one Isaac Brunson settled in the forks of Wyalusing Creek, just to the westward and adjoining my bounds of lot No. 239. He is on a tract survey'd to Thomas Dundas. This man has always conducted well and de- serves to be kindly treated ; being Town Clerk he can give all the names of settlers in New Milford. " Thy Friend, HENRY DRINKER." Extract from a letter of the same to Ebenezer Bowman, of WilTces-Barre ;■ dated " Philadelphia, 3 mo. 24, 1802. " Esteemed Friend, "Is it not probable, while impressions are fresh and warm on the minds of the Connecticut leaders, speculators, &c, and their hopes and prospects in a low, desponding state, and before they have time to devise and contrive further means of deluding the people, and prolonging the controversy, there may be openings for bringing on agreements and contracts on such terms as the Pennsylvania landholders might not dissent from ? " I am concerned in an extensive tract, and in the general of an excellent quality, situate principally on the waters of Meshoppen Creek, and including parts of Wyalusing, Tuscarora, and Tunkhannock Creeks, in the whole near 100,000 acres, which, on receiving part payment and undoubted good secu- rity for the remainder, I would sell together at two dollars pr. acre, though I believe it cheap at double that price. There are parts, however, picked pieces, which have been intruded on, that are of very superior value, and if separately sold, must be at a very different price. I care nought about re- linquishments, all that I require is pay and undoubted security, when a cleat- title will be made under grants from this State." 1 The reader will be careful to distinguish this from the Pennsylvania town- ship of the same name. The Kinneys were just below the south line of Rush. 20 HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. From the same to the same. " Philadelphia, 7 mo. 7, 1802. " Esteemed Friend : " Our friend E. Tilghman drew up the form of the depositions sent thee, and this mode of proceeding against the intruders was recommended by him, and also by Gov. McKean ; it is grounded on the Intrusion Laws, and has no reference to the cutting of timber, etc. It is expected the defendants must, in conformity to the laws, be subject to confinement, or give imme- diate security. Whether these suits are to be grounded on the act passed the 16th February, 1801, thou wilt judge. Will it not be necessary to as- certain when Spencer 1 and the others intruded and commenced their settle- ments ? If it was before passing the Intrusion Law in 1795, will not this circumstance be an objection to the proposed prosecution?" From the same to the same. " Philadelphia, 7 mo. 29, 1802. " Esteemed Friend : " I have this day received thy letter of the 25th inst., by which it appears that doubts continue on thy mind as to the propriety of commencing the suits I had proposed. Upon the whole, as my friend E. Tilghman is absent, and likely to continue so for a considerable time, on a journey into New England, and as it was by his advice that I move in this matter, it may, under every consideration, be prudent to let your next court go over with- out proceeding therein, intending to take further advice on the subject." From the same to the same. " Philadelphia, 1 mo. 10, 1803. "A letter was received by our committee of landholders, about three weeks since, dated Alhens, 6th December, 1802, and signed by John Franklin and Samuel Avery, which letter thou hast seen. An answer was lately sent to Franklin at Lancaster, in substance as follows : After owning receipt of •their aforesaid letter, and reciting the words of it, that they are a committee appointed at a meeting of the Susquehanna Connecticut Company, to write to, and treat with our committee for the purpose of promoting a just and reasonable settlement, or compromise of the long subsisting dispute, and requesting we would appoint a time and place to meet them on the occasion, our answer goes on to say, we cannot agree to meet them, or any descrip- tion of persons styling themselves a committee claiming lands under the Susquehanna Connecticut Company ; and then refers them to the printed letter written to thee, dated in the 5th mo., 1801, which, if they rightly prize their own peace and happiness, they will duly attend to. " I have a letter from a certain Elisha Tracy, dated Norwich, Connecticut, December 19, 1802 ; he therein says, he owns lands on Wyalusing, Wappasinic, and at the Nine Partners, under the Connecticut Delaware Company, and offers to buy of me, or proposes I should buy of him at a low price, or transfer to him part of my lands, on his covering the remainder with his title, and says, unless the dispute is settled in some way like this, it never will be settled during our lives; he goes further and says, more people are going from there this year on the disputed lands than ever did before. " As yet, no intimation has come to us from the Connecticut speculators and leaders, showing an intention in them to give up the companies ; what effect the late decisions of our judges may have on them remains to be known ; a quiet and peaceable adjustment of this matter without a resort to force, particularly a military force, is much desired by thy assured friend, HENRY DRINKER." 1 Jeremiah Spencer, who bought laud under Connecticut title, and settled in Springville. HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. 21 From the same to the same. " Philadelphia, 9 mo. 30, 1806. " It was pleasing to hear of the progress thou had made, and of the pros- pect of additional sales on the waters of Wyalusing. . . . " A company who have lately viewed about six thousand acres of land owned by Colonel Hodgdon, near Kirby and Law's settlement, have offered him two and one-half dollars per acre, which he has agreed to accept, one- fourth in cash, and remainder on interest." The animosity so long existing between the two parties now culminated into open warfare. In 1803 occurred the famous assault on Mr. Bartlet Hinds, the first settler in what is now Montrose, who had become on conviction an advocate of the Pennsylvania claim, and was charged with bringing against Connecticut settlers indictments for intrusion. This he denied. (He had himself been indicted for the same in 1801, along with Ezekiel Hyde, John Robinson, Charles Geer, Josiah Grant, Blisha Lewis, Amolo Balch, Ichabod Halsey, John Reynolds, Jeremiah Meachem, Otis Robinson, Elias West, and others.) His enemies believed him leagued with the Pennsylvania landholders, and said (though without reason) that he received five acres from them, for every settler he induced to come in under their title, and he had succeeded in bringing in about one hundred. But the fact that he had acknowledged the Pennsylvania right, by repaying for his own land, was ex- erting an influence that embittered against him all who denied that claim. They purchased a note of Mr. Hinds, commenced a suit upon it, took him fourteen miles from home for trial before D. Ross, Esq., at a late hour in the day, making it necessary for him to remain over night. In the evening, the house in which he lodged was surrounded by a mob, who forcibly entered and took him from the house; and, tying him to a horse's tail, dragged him through the Wyalusing Creek, near its forks. When nearly exhausted, Mr. Hinds made the Masonic sign, which induced one of the fraternity to give him assistance, but, when he had reached the shore, his assailants formed a ring, and, seizing his hands, drew him around his burning effigy, and occasionally pushed him into the flames. 1 For this deed, eighteen persons were indicted for riot and assault, and taken to Wilkes-Barre, as the parties belonged in what was then Lu- zerne County. On the trial, the defendants withdrew the plea of "not guilty," and entered "guilty." Five were imprisoned for 1 Cyrus Whipple, son of Ebenezer Whipple, and now living in Iowa, says : " Mr. Hinds bore it like a martyr ; on his return home, he called at my father's, and he looked as if he had seen hard times. There was a constable among the mob, who would cry out at the top of his voice, ' I command the peace!' then, in a low whisper, would say : ' Rush on, boys, rush on !' " 22 HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. the space of three months without bail, one of whom had to pay $10, and four of them, $20 each ; and also to pay the costs of prosecution and stand committed until the whole was paid. Nine were to pay a fine of $30 each, and the court further or- dered "that they enter into recognizances each in the sum of $500, with one good freeholder in like sum, conditioned for their good behavior for the space of one year; and that they severally pay the costs of prosecution, and stand committed till the whole sentence be complied with." One would suppose this had been enough to deter others from further assaults upon the person of B. Hinds, on account of his loyalty to Pennsylvania ; but, as late as 1808, another case occurred, in which he again came oft' conqueror. In 1804, Gov. McKean ordered out two brigades of militia, to enforce the laws against Connecticut claimants. In 1805, the Pennsylvania landholders invited such claimants to give descriptions of their lands, and offered easy terms of purchase in return ; but the public journals warned settlers against giving information which might lead to their ejectment. The old settlers in the seventeen townships, occupied before the Decree at Trenton, endeavored to dissuade new-comers from resistance to Pennsylvania claims, saying, "The State of Connecticut has abandoned you," which of course was the fact, so far as jurisdiction was concerned, since 1782. Congress re- fused to interfere, though its action in regard to acknowledging the claim of Connecticut to lands west of Pennsylvania, had only confirmed whatever claim she had entered to territory within it; since, in law, "all titles from the same source are equally valid." In May, 1806, the trustees appointed by the association of settlers under Connecticut claims met 1 and proposed to settle the controversy by an amicable compromise, " on such terms as settlers can meet with safety ; as it respects payments, and the regularity of title;" and in their appeals to them, stated: "An agent (Tench Coxe) is appointed on the part of our oppo- nents," and so discouraged individual arrangements, advising that the business be effected with him through the agents for the settlers. These were John Franklin, at Athens, Major Nath'l Allen, at Burlington, and Captain (afterwards Colonel) Thomas Parke, of Rush. Three years previous, the committee of Pennsylvania landholders had refused to treat with persons styling themselves " President and Board of Directors appointed at a meeting of the proprietors and claimants of lands under a title derived from the Connecticut Susquehanna Company ;" ' Of this meeting Isaac Brownson was chairman, and Joseph Kingsbury clerk. HISTOBY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. 23 but a less offensive phraseology seems to have conduced to a final adjustment of affairs. Anecdotes are told to this day of the perils and adventures within our own vicinity which those encountered who came still later to take possession in the name or under the sanction of the commonwealth of Pennsylvania. " A surveyor in the employment of Dr. R. H. Rose, while tracing a boundary line through the woods, placed his hand high on a tree to mark where the ax-man, who followed, should strike out a chip as an evidence of the line that had been run. The surveyor had scarcely taken his hand from the tree, when the sharp crack of a rifle ran through the forest, and the spot where the hand had been laid was ' chipped' by a leaden bullet, a hint that sufficed to stay all proceedings for the rest of that day. On one occasion, to such extremities had matters proceeded, the J Yankees' had resolved to take the life of Dr. R., and information was brought to him that a meeting would be held at a particular place on a certain day named, to organize their measures. He determined at once to face the danger ; and, riding boldly to a small clear- ing, which had been described to him as the scene of the in- tended meeting, he found the plotters in actual consultation on the subject. The very boldness of the step procured him a hearing ; he rehearsed to them the historjr of the claims of the two States, and of the grounds of the final settlement, reminded them it was governmental, not individual action ; that he had bought of the legal claimant ; that he felt sorry for them, and wished to lighten their load in every possible way, and re- peated his offers, which he said were final. He told them he was aware of their designs, but added, ' Why shoot my survey- ors? It is bright moonlight, and I shall ride slowly to my camp by such a track — but let whoever follows take a sure aim; he will not fire twice!' Soon one of the leaders advanced towards him, and renewed the conversation respecting the dis- putes that existed ; the matter was freely discussed ; a better temper sprang up, and from that moment may be dated the negotiations that produced the happy termination to which all the troubles arising from the conflicting claims of the two States were subsequently brought." 24 HISTOKY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTT. CHAPTER V. COUNTY ORGANIZATION. Susquehanna County was set off from Luzerne by an act of Legislature, passed^ February 21, 1810 ; but it was not fully organized, with county officers elect- ed, until the fall of 1812. The first section of the same act set off from Luzerne, with a portion of Lycom- ing, another county, then named Ontario, now Bradford; and the east line of Ontario formed the west line of Susquehanna County, 'From the fortieth mile-stone standing on the north line of the State, to a point due east of the head of Wyalusing Falls, in the Susquehanna." From thence, the southern line was directed to run " due east to the western line of Wayne County; thence northerly along the said western line of Wayne County to the afore- said north line of the State (at the sixth mile-stone counting from the Delaware River westward), and thence along the said State line to the fortieth mile-stone, the place of beginning." Different opinions exist respecting the origin of the present southern line of the county ; of these, one seemingly authori- tative is, that, owing to some misunderstanding between the surveyors as to the allowance to be made for the magnetic variation in the north line of the State, the party which set out to run the line from the point indicated in the act, found themselves considerably north of the line run by the party starting from the western line of Wayne County. This re- sulted in a compromise, which has since given rise to various difficulties, especially in determining the northern line of Wyoming County. By reference to the county map, it will be seen that a line drawn due east from the southwest corner of our county would cut off Dundaff and the land adjacent for more than a mile north and south. From the report made by B. T. Case, Esq., to the commis- sioners of Susquehanna County, in 1827, we learn that the whole length of the county on the south line is thirty-three miles and one hundred and seventeen perches, and the breadth on the east line is twenty-three miles and three hundred and fourteen perches. (Magnetic variation 2° 30" west. See Ap- pendix.) HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. 25 The county derives its name from the fact that the Susque- hanna Kiver first enters the State of Pennsylvania within its limits. We are happy in having the sweet-sounding Indian name retained for our frequent local use. " Hanna" signifies a stream of water, and " Susque" is generally believed to mean crooked, though one writer gives its signification as muddy, for which there is no justification in point of fact ; and the Indians gave no arbitrary names. A more winding, crooked stream than the Susquehanna, as to general course, is not to be found in the Northern States; in our own county it varies directly three times. In the grand sweep of the river, from Lanesboro to Pittston, it completely drains our county, every stream within our borders eventually falling into it. When the north line of the State was determined, in 1786, it was found to cross twelve streams running south, and nine running north between the sixth and fortieth mile-stones from the Delaware River — ■ the limits of the north line of Susquehanna County. Promi- nent among these were the " Appelacunck," "Chucknut," and " Snake Creeks." (See ' Pennsylvania Archives,' No. 29.) Running north into the Susquehanna, but not crossing the State line, there are, besides minor streams, Wylie Creek, the Salt Lick, Mitchell's, Drinker's, the Canawacta, and Starucca; though the latter and Cascade Creek may rather be said to enter the river from the east. The Lackawanna (Leckaiv, forks, and Hanna, stream), and Tunkhannock (Tonk two, and Hanna, stream), including Bow- man's Creek, with their tributaries, have their sources in the eastern townships, and run across the south line of the county ; the sources of Martin's and Horton's Creeks are in the central townships, and, with the Meshoppen (Mawshapi cord, or Reed stream), in its four streams, one of which rises near Montrose ; they cross the south line to reach the river, while the Tuscarora and Wyalusing (Wighalusui, plenty of meat) find it after cross- ing the county line on the west. But, without entering further, at present, upon the topo- graphical features of the county, the reader's attention is in- vited to the following diagrams illustrating its official divisions at different periods. And, first, in the year 1790, that portion of Luzerne, since constituting the area of Susquehanna County, was included within two townships, Tioga 1 and Wyalusing. By order of the justices of Luzerne, Tioga was bounded on the north by the northern line of the State, and east and west 1 Tioga township, in old Northumberland, from which Luzerne (including Susquehanna and Bradford Counties) was taken, extended from the present western line of Wayne County to Phoutz's or Big Meadows, in Tioga County, and was eighteen miles in depth from the State line. 26 HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. by the lines of that county, and on the south by an east and west line which should strike the standing stone. Wyalusing was " bounded on the north by Tioga township, on the east and west by lines of the county, and on the south by an east and west line passing through the mouth of the Meshopping Creek." Tunkhannock, the next township below, Fife. 2. also extended across Luzerne County, and its southern limit was an east and west line through Buttermilk Falls. In March, 1791, the court of Luzerne ordered the erection of the township of Willingborough, from the northeast corner of Tioga, but its boundaries were not defined until April, 1793. (See Great Bend.) August, 1795, Nicholson, so named from John Nicholson, Comptroller of the State, was erected from parts of Tioga and Wyalusing, with the following boundaries : — " Beginning at the place where the north line of the township of Tunk- hannock crosses a small creek west of Martin's Creek; running thence due north thirteen miles; thence east to the east line of the county; thence south on the county line to the place where it shall intersect the north line of Tunkhannock township ; thence west on said line to place of beginning." This proves that Nicholson was never " twenty miles square," as some have supposed. In January, 1797, the court approved, but not " finally" until January, 1798, the petition of Ephraim Kirby, and others, for the erection of the township of Lawsville. (See Franklin.) In 1799, Braintrim was set off from Wyalusing and Tunk- hannock; the portion taken from the former by Susquehanna County, retains nearly its original dimensions in the present town of Auburn. (See Fig 3.) HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. 27 Fig. 3. (A.D. 1799.) :■ 'f— — 1 — : 1 . . 1 i i i LAWS-* ' VI LLE y W/U//VS BOROUGH i;\ ■.' i ' \ : .;;'..v.-V - - V ! NICHOLSON BRAIN- i i TRIM \ \ TOWNSHIPS ERECTED FROM TIOGA AND WYALUSING. January, 1801, Ezekiel Hyde, Justus Gaylord, and M. Miner York were appointed commissioners to set off the township of Kush, and in November of the same year, their report was ac- cepted. The township was eighteen miles north and south by thirteen miles east and west, except that on the south line it extended five miles further, this extension being five miles square. The whole comprised 172,660 acres. The following diagram represents the boundaries of Bush in 1801. The dotted line marks the division made by the erection of Susque- hanna County. Fig. 4. At this time there were but twelve election districts in Luzerne County : Willingborough, Lawsville, and Nicholson, together 28 HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. constituting the tenth : and Eush, or Eindaw, the ninth. Eindaw as a Pennsylvania election district must be carefully distin- guished from the Connecticut township of that name at the forks of the Wyalusing; the former included the latter, but its name appears to have been only temporarily adopted. Fig. 5. (A.D. 1801.) ELECTION DISTRICTS. Though the boundaries of the townships already given did not absorb the two townships of 1790, the latter are not again mentioned in this section on the Luzerne records. Practically, the line of Willingborough extended to Nicholson on the south, and both, to Eindaw (district) on the west. In 1805, the court was petitioned to erect the townships of Clifford, Bridgewater, and New Milford. The first named was approved " finally" in April, 1806 ; the second, in November, following ; and the last, in August, 1807. The northeast corner of Clifford was then twelve miles below the State line, being also what was the northeast corner of old Nicholson ; and its area was one hundred and eight square miles. The eastern limit of New Milford, like that of Clifford, was the line of Wayne County. Bridgewater extended north and south about twenty-five miles. At August sessions, 1807, a petition from the " Nine Part- ners" was promptly considered, and Harford was granted January, 1808. For eleven years the inhabitants had desired township organization, but two or three previous petitions had failed to secure the result. HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. Fig. 6. (A.D. 1808.) 29 — ! .'-.3 ■'.■;'■ :j ■-'/' l — r s ■■■■■.: 5 1 / • . 7 - ■■ ■•■'/ ; i 9 - \ 1 4 f 2q 1 1. Willingborougli. .2. Remainder of Nicholson. 3. Lawsville extended. 4. A section of Braintritn. 5. Remainder of Rush. 6. Clifford. 7. Bridgewater. 8. New Milford. 9. Harford. In 1809, Harmony was organized, the last township ordered "by the court of Luzerne in the section set off to Susquehanna County. It formed the northeast corner of the latter as it had of the former, extending from the State line twelve miles south, and from Wayne County nine miles west. Early in 1808, a division of Luzerne County was contem- plated, and a public meeting to favor the object was held July IB, at the house of Edward Fuller, in Bridgewater, about four miles below Montrose; Asa Lathrop presiding, and J. W. Raynsford acting as secretary. Owing to a disagreement as to county lines, it was proposed that all the townships should send delegates to a meeting to be held at the house of Salmon Bosworth, iu Rush, September 1, following, and then endeavor to decide the matter; but it was not until a year and a half later that the act of legislature was passed, which erected the counties of Susquehanna and Ontario; and it was two years more before the former " bade good-bye to old mother Luzerne, and set up housekeeping for herself." [In the map of Old Luzerne, the west line, indicating the relative position of Susquehanna, is either not far enough west, or the line of the north branch of the Wyalusing is incorrectly given, for the forks should be within Susquehanna County.] 30 HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. Fig. 7. (A.D. 1810.)" i ! | i V i i -i-Jr--] /O s : cs 7 / \ 9 ] 1 / n S 4 Y p THE TEN TOWNSHIPS SET OFF TO FORM SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. These are numbered in the order of their erection, a review of which may serve the reader : — l. 2. 3. 4. 5. 7. Willingborough, now Great Bend. Nicholson, being that part of old Nicholson cut off from Luzerne by the county line, since August, 1813, and now called Lenox. Lawsville, embracing Liberty and the greater part of Franklin. Braintrim, being that part of old Braintrim cut off from Luzerne by the county line, and now called Auburn. Rush, then extending eighteen miles north to the State line, by eight miles east and west, embracing besides its present limits, all of Middletown, Choconut, and Apolocon, and the western parts of Jessup and Forest Lake. Clifford, embracing besides its present limits, Gibson, Herrick, and tbe southern part of Ararat. Bridgewater, then embracing besides its present limits, all of Brooklyn and Latbrop, Springville and Dimock, tbe eastern parts of Jessup and Forest Lake, all of Silver Lake, and the south part of Franklin. 8. New Milford, nearly as it is. 9. Harford — its southern and eastern lines slightly changed — was for many years known as "Nine Partners." 10. Harmony, embracing besides its present limits, Oakland, Jackson, Thomson, and the northern part of Ararat. In 1811, all moneys in the county district of Susquehanna were by act of Legislature, to be kept separate from those of Luzerne, and within the bounds of that district. February 25, 1812, a meeting was held at the house of Isaac Post, in Bridge- water, to recommend proper persons to the governor to fill the several offices necessary to the organization of Susquehanna county; Davis Dimock, chairman, and J. W. Eaynsford, sec- retary. The citizens of each township were recommended to nominate officers at their annual town meeting in March, 1812, and make returns the Monday following at the house of I. Post. HISTOKY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. 31 Proclamation for elections, 1812, were issued from Luzerne to Susquehanna County district; but it had been decreed by act of Legislature that " from and after the 2c? Tuesday of October, 1812, Susquehanna shall enjoy and exercise in judicial concerns all powers and privileges;" and the new county was included with Tioga, Wayne, and Bradford in the 11th judicial district. Bridgewater township, in the year 1810, numbered 1418 in- habitants; Clifford, 675; Harford, 477; Willingboro' and Har- mony, 413; New Milford, 174; and Lawsville, 169. Isaac Post was appointed treasurer of the county in 1812, Edward Fuller, sheriff ; Bartlet Hinds, Labon Capron, and Isaac Brownson, commissioners, and Dr. Charles Fraser, prothono- tary, clerk of the courts, register, and recorder. At the time of the division of Luzerne County. Thomas Parke of Bridgewater was commissioner, but he resigned October, 1812 ; Hosea Tiffany had previously served as commissioner, and these two were the only ones who had been appointed to that office from the ten townships now set off. The court was organized by the appointment of the Hon. J. B. Gibson, President Judge, with Davis Dimock and William Thomson, Associate Judges — the two latter took their oaths before the Prothonotary of Luzerne. The county seat was located at Montrose as early as July, 1811, by three commissioners appointed by the governor. They were permitted to locate it at a distance not exceeding seven miles from the centre of the county. Stakes were set at several places proposed ; one in Brooklyn, one in Harford, and one in New Milford. But, in addition to a greater political influence existing, a stronger pecuniary interest was brought to bear for its location in Montrose. Dr. E. H. Eose, whose extensive tracts of land reached this vicinity, made more liberal offers to secure this location than any that could be made elsewhere. Besides, a gift of a public square at this point for the erection of the county buildings, as also of other lots, was made by Bart- let Hinds and Isaac Post. The land given by Bartlet Hinds had been granted by the commonwealth to Thos. Cadwallader, who by deed conveyed it to Samuel Meredith, who by deed conveyed it to George Clymer, who by deed, October 19, 1804, conveyed it to Bartlet Hinds. Another portion was granted by the commonwealth to Jos. Bullock and Isaac Franks, who by deed conveyed it to Tench Francis, whose widow, by her attorney, conveyed the same to Bartlet Hinds, July 9, 1804. The land given by Isaac Post (consideration $1.00) was first granted to the same parties, as the portion last mentioned ; who by their deeds conveyed it 32 HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. to Tench Francis, who by his last will and testament, April 4, 1800, devised his estate to his widow Anne Francis; who by- deed, February 18, 1809, granted the land to Eobert H. Kose ; which sale was confirmed to the said Robert H. Rose, by deed, February 25, 1809, from Richard Penn (her attorney), and on the 5th of October of the same year was conveyed by him to Isaac Post. July 24, 1812, the aforesaid lands were deeded to Susquehanna County, by Isaac and Susannah Post, and Bartlet and Agnes Hinds; and, on the 31st of the same month, the conveyance was acknowledged as a free act and deed, before J. W. Raynsford, Justice of the Peace. Soon after the organization of the board of commissioners, Isaac Post, the treasurer, was charged with the subscription papers of donations made towards building the court-house, etc. It will be seen by the following list of subscribers, with the sums given by each, that the amounts were graduated somewhat by the nearness of their property to the new county-seat, as well as by the length of their purses. Robert H. Rose, whose lands reached near the village, gave $200 ; Stephen Wilson, whose farm was a little south of it, gave $100 ; Abinoam .Hinds, Conrad Hinds, and Isaac Peckins, gave each $50 ; David Harris, Jonathan Wheaton, and James Trane, 1 gave each $25 ; Simeon Tyler, Cvrus Messenger, Samuel Quick, Joseph Hubbard, and Samuel Cogswell, gave each $20 ; Joseph Chapman, Edward Fuller, Joseph Butterfield, Henry Post, Levi Leonard, John Bard, Zebulon Deans, and Edmond Stone, gave each $10; and Freeman Fishback, Thomas Scott, and Samuel Scott, gave each $5 ; Bartlet Hinds, and Isaac and David Post, on whose lands the county-seat was located, gave sundry village lots. The corner stone of the first court-house was laid in 1812, but the building was not erected until June, 1813 ; Oliver C. Smith was the builder. Though now so diminutive in size and appearance, compared with the new one, it was then con- sidered quite a magnificent edifice — an ornament to this region of the State. Besides the court-room in the second story, the jail and jailor's residence were in the first story, and the cor- ner rooms in front, above, and below, were made to accommo- date all the county offices. The first assessment of taxes by this county was for 1813. The following is the list of collectors, with the amount of their duplicates : — 1 It may be news to those who recollect poor " Old Trane," who never had a family, and who died some years ago a pauper of this borough, that he was actually one of the Fathers of the town. HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. 33 Bridgewater, Jonah Brewster, $1265 04 Clifford, Walter Lyon, 442 22 Rush, Philo Bostwick, 418 37 Harford, David Aldrich, 273 71 WMingboro' (Gt. Bend), Silas Buck, 220 61 New Milford, Benjamin Hay den, 194 99 Lawsville, Titus Smith, ' 151 80 Harmony, Isaac Hale, 71 22 Braintrim (Auburn), William Cooley, 58 77 Nicholson (Lenox), Solomon Millard, 57 27 Total, $3154 00 TOWNSHIP OFFICERS FOR 1813. Sworn April 26th. Townships. Constables. Supervisors. Poor Masters. Free-holders. Bridgewater. Jonah Brewster. Stephen Wilson, Thomas Scott, (Edw'd Paine in August.) Charles Fraser, Isaac Post. Willingborough. Silas Buck. Silas Buck, Joseph Bowes. Noble Trow- bridge, Simeon Wylie. Clifford. Samuel Miller. Jonathan Burns. Elias Bell. Walter Lyon, Joseph Wash- burn. New Milford. Benj. Hayden. Seth Mitchell, John Stanley. Rush. James Agard. Philo Morehouse Philo Bost- wick. Lawsville. John Pierce. Titus Smith, Nath'l Ives. Jedediah Adams Friend Tuttle. Harford. Orlen Capron. Laban Cnpron, Jas. Chandler. Harmony. Isaac Hale, Nath'l Lewis, . John Hillborn, John Hillborn Marmaduke Salsbury. Marmaduke S:tlsbury, Adam Swagart, Samuel Tread- well. Braintrim. William Cooley, Philip Haverly Nicholson. Starlin Bell. Solomon Millard William Bell. Elisha Bell, Michael Hal- stead. Petitions were read during the first term of court, January, 1813, praying for the erection of three new townships, viz., Silver Lake, Choconut, and Gibson. The first was confirmed in August following; at which time, also, Nicholson (with a small porton of Harford) received the name of Lenox. Gibson was finally confirmed November, 1813. During the second and third terms of court, petitions were read, praying for the erection of Springville and Waterford, and the division of 34 HISTOKY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. Rush into three townships, viz., Choconut, Middletown, and Bush — a remonstrance being presented against the confirmation of a report making Choconut eight miles square, as proposed in January; the division was finally effected in January, 1814; while Springville and Waterford were not confirmed finally until the April following, or just one year after the petition was first read ; but this was a decided improvement upon former delays, when Wilkes-Barre was the seat of justice for this remote sec- tion. The same month, the name Braintrim was changed to Auburn, and, in November following, Willingborough to Great Bend. Jackson was erected from the southern half of Harmony, December, 1815, having been confirmed " nisi" in the previous spring; from that time for ten years no proposed new township received the favor of the court. CHOCONUT \SILVER- o ' A . i lake ,>>?;.. ,: i , ;r: r — --*--■ MIDDLE TOWNi JACKSON GIBSON VILLE ;s > In the mean time, the name of Waterford had twice been changed, first, in 1823, to Hopbottom, and, in 1825, to Brooklyn, which then covered an area represented by Nos. 16 and 23 on the accompanying diagram. Montrose, taken from Bridgewater, had been incorporated in 1824, and Dundaff, taken from Clifford, in 1828. Herrick was erected by order of the court, May, 1825, from Gibson and Clifford. For the next seven years propositions in regard to townships referred to separation rather than annexation ; when, late in 1832, a new township was organized from Springville and the southern part of Bridgewater, and named Dtmock. In May, 1833, Thomson was taken from Jackson. HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. 35 Fig. 9. Susquehanna County, 187-. 18. Herrick. 19. Dimock. 20. Thomson. 21. Franklin. 22. Forest Lake. 23. Lathrop. 24. Jessup. 25. Apolaccn. 26. Ararat. 27. Oakland. In December, 1835, Franklin was erected from Lawsville and the northern part of Bridgewater ; and in September of the following year the name of Lawsville was changed to Liberty. Thus after nearly forty years' service the old name disappeared from the list of townships, though, happily, it is retained in the central P. O. of Liberty. In 1836, the township of Forest Lake was taken from parts of Bridgewater, Silver Lake, and Middletown. This year the dispute in reference to a division of the county was renewed r and continued full three years, placing its fair proportions in no small danger of being sadly curtailed. In 1846, the township of Lathrojy was erected from the south- ern half of Brooklyn; that of Jessup from the western part of Bridgewater and the eastern part of Eush ; and, from Choconut,, more than half was taken to constitute Apolacon. The borough of Friendsville was incorporated in 1848. Ararat was only a settlement of Harmony and Clifford, and afterwards of Jackson and Gibson, and then of Herrick and Thomson, until 1852,. when its various transmigrations were terminated in its pro- motion to a township. By decree of court, Susquehanna Depot became a borough, August, 1853. Oakland township was erected from the western part of Harmony, in December of the same year. The borough of New Milford was incorporated, December, 36 HISTOKY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. 1859. Great Bend, November, 1861; and Little Meadows, March, 1862. It should be observed, that, of the twenty-seven townships, seven received their names in honor of the Judges of the courts of Susquehanna County with the exception of Rush, which, being erected while it was a part of Luzerne, was named after Judge Eush then presiding over the courts at Wilkes-Barre. Eecapitulation. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. Willingborough Nicholson Lawsville Braintrim Rush Clifford Bridgewater New Milford Harford Harmony Silver Lake Gibson Choconut Middletown Springville 16. Waterford Jackson Herrick Dimock Thomson Franklin Forest Lake Lathrop Jessup Apolacon Ararat Oakland (changed to Great Bend, ] ( " Lenox, ] ( " Liberty, ] ( " Auburn, ] (reduced to present limits 1 ( " " " 1 ( <«'«<] (reduced to present limits 1 ( " " " ] (reduced to present limits '. ( " " " 1 (changed to Hopbottom, '. ( " Brooklyn, ( " present limits, '. ( " " " ; ( " " " ] 814), 813), 836), 814), 814), 825), 846), 853), 836), 846), 832), 823), 825), 846), 836), 1852), confirmed* ' finally 'April, 1793. Aug. 1795. Jan. 1798. it ii ii 1799. Nov. 1801. a a tt ii April, 1806. Nov. 1806. Aug. 1807. Jan. 1808. ii it ii 1809. Aug. 1813. Nov. 1813. a ii Jan. 1814. *\ ii ii Jan. 1814. April, 1814. } " ii April, 1814. j ii ii Dec. 1815. it ii ii May, 1825. Dec. 1832. ii ii ii May, 1833. Dec. 1835. • I ii ii ii May, 1836. 1846. ii ii 1846. ii ii 1846. it ii ii ii 1852. Dec. 1853. CHAPTER VI. OFFICERS OF THE COUNTY.— JUDGES OF THE COURTS. [For the following statements and the list of county officers to 1858, the compiler is indebted to Hon. J. W. Chapman.] Hon. John B. Gibson (since Chief Justice of the Supreme 'Court of Pennsylvania) was the first President Judge of the district to which this county was attached. It embraced Sus- quehanna, Bradford, Tioga, and Wayne Counties. He presided about four years. Hon. Thomas Burnside succeeded him in September, 1816, presiding two years. He, too, has since been a Judge of the Supreme Court. HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. 37 Hon. Edward Herrick first presided here in August, 1818, being appointed for a new district embracing Susquehanna, Bradford, and Tioga Counties. He presided for twenty-one years, lacking one term of court, when he was superseded by the adoption of the new constitution limiting the terms of all the Judges, and Hon. John N. Conyngham 1 succeeded him in May, 1839, continuing two years. Hon. William Jessup, who had previously been appointed for the district embracing Luzerne, Monroe, Pike, and Wayne Counties, first presided in our county, in April, 1811; Susque- hanna being added to his district, and Luzerne put with Brad- ford and Tioga in Judge Conyngham's district, for the mutual accommodation of both. Judge J. presided for ten and a half years. Hon. David Wilmot was first elected Judge for Bradford, Susquehanna, and Wyoming in the fall of 1851. He presided nearly six years, and on his resignation in the summer of 1857, Hon. Darius Bullock 2 was appointed to fill the vacancy for the remainder of the year. The district embraced only Bradford and Susquehanna. Judge Wilmot was appointed to preside again in January, 1858, and was re-elected for ten years, in the following fall. Hon. Ulysses Mercur was appointed President Judge of this judicial district in March, 1861, and in the October following was elected to the same office for a term of ten years from De- cember, 1861 ; was elected to the Thirty-ninth Congress, and resigned his judgeship, March 4, 1865; was re-elected to the Fortieth and Forty-first Congresses, and was re-elected to the Forty-second Congress as a Eepublican. In the fall of 1872 he was elected a Judge of the Supreme Court. Hon. Farris B. Streeter was appointed to succeed Judge M. in 1865. He was elected in October of that year for ten years. Hon. Paul Dudley Morrow was appointed additional law judge of the 13th district, March 1, 1870. He was elected the following October to the same office for ten years from December, 1870. 1 John N. Conyngham was born in Philadelphia, December, 1798 ; graduated at University of Pennsylvania in 1816 ; studied law with James R. Ingersoll, and was admitted to the bar, in 1820 ; soon after he came to Wilkes-Barre, where he married a daughter of Lord Butler, Esq. In 1841, after he had served for two years as President Judge of this district, the change referred to above was made with Judge Jessup. " Two more able and upright judges have never presided in these courts." In 1850 Judge C. was elected to the judgeship he had held by appointment, and was re-elected in 1860. In 1870, he resigned from failing eyesight. In 1871, he was killed on a railroad at Magnolia, Miss. 2 Dr. Bullock is now nearly 80 years of age. He was for years a practicing physician, studied law, was an able counsellor, President Judge, a Major General of the olden time. 38 HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. ASSOCIATE JUDGES. Davis Dimock and William Thomson were appointed As- sociate Judges for this county at its organization in 1812. The terms of all the Judges were then " during good behavior ;" but the resignation of Judge Thomson, after serving twenty-five years, created a vacancy which was filled by the appointment of Isaac Post in October, 1837, who served a little over five years. The limitation imposed by the constitution terminated Judge Dimock's services after nearly twenty-eight years, and Jabez Hyde was appointed in his place, March, 1840. His death, about eighteen months afterward, created a vacancy, and Benjamin Lathrop was appointed in his place, November, 1841. He served five years. Dr. Calvin Leet succeeded Judge Post, February, 1843, for five years. Moses C. Tyler succeeded Judge Lathrop, March, 1847, for five years, nearly. Charles Tingley succeeded Judge Leet in March, 1848. His term lasted only three and one-half years, as the amendment to the constitution for the election of Judges cut him off, and John Boyle, and Davis D. Warmer, were elected Associate Judges for five years, in the fall of 1851. Urbane Burrows and Charles F. Eead were elected in the fall of 1856. Charles F. Read (second term) and I. P. Baker were elected in 1861. Alfred Baldwin and R. T. Ashley were elected in 1866. James W. Chapman and Judson H. Cook were elected in 1871. MEMBERS OF CONGRESS. (Those in italics are from Susquehanna County.) 1812. Isaac Smith, Jared Irwin, for North'nd, Union, Col., Luzerne and Snsque'na. 1814. David Scott, Wm. Wilson, " " " " jglg « « » " " " " " " 1817. J. Murray, (in pi. of Scott, res.) " " " " " 1818. " Geo. Denison, " " " " " 1820. W. C Ellis, " " " " " " " 1822-24-26. Samuel McKean, George Kremer, Espy Van Horn, for Luzerne, Sus- que'na, Bradford, Tioga, North'nd, Col., Union, Lycom., Potter, McKean. 1828. Philander Stephens, Alera Marr, James Ford. 1830. " " Lewis Dewatt, " 1832-34. John Laporte, for Susquehanna, Bradford, Tioga, Potter, McKean. 1836-38. t^am'l W. Morris, " " " " 1840. Davis Dimock, Jr., died January, 1842. 1842. Almon H. Read, elected in March, " " " " 1842. " " (died) for Susquehanna, Bradford, Tioga. 1844. G. Fuller, elected to fill vac, " " 1844. D. Wilmot, for 29th Congress, " " " 1846-48. " re-elected, " " " 1850-52-54-56-58-60. G. A. Grow, ". " " 1862-64-66. Charles Denison. 1«68. Geo. W. Woodward. 1871. L. D. Shoemaker. HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. 39 STATE SENATORS. (Representing Susquehanna after our separation from Luzerne.) 1812, William Ross, for Northunib., Union, Columbia, Luzerne, and Susque. 1814, Thomas Murray, Jr , " " 1816", Charles Fraser, " " 1818, Simon Snyder, " " 1819, Robert Willet, " 1820, Redmond Conyngbam, " " 1822, Jonah Brewster, for Susquehanna, Bradford, and Tioga. 1825, Jobn Ryon, " " " 1829, Samuel McKean, " " " 1830, Reuben Wilder, " " " 1833, Almon H. Read, " " " 1837, Elihu Case, for Susquehanna and Bradford. 1841, Asa Dimock, " " 1844, Wm. H. Dimmick, for Susquebauna, Wavne, and Wyoming. 1847, F. B. Slreeter, 1850, George Sanderson, for Susquebanna, Bradford, and Wyoming. 1853, William M. Piatt, 1856, E. Reed Myer, " " " 1859, George Landon, " " " 1862, William J. Turrell, " 1865, George Landon, " " " 1868, P. M. Osterbout, " " «. 1871. L. F. Fitch, " " STATE REPRESENTATIVES. 1812 1813 1814 1815 1816 1817 1818 1819 1820 1821 1822 1823 1824 1825 1826 1827 1828 1829 1833 1834 1835 1836- 1838- 1840, 1841, 1842, 1843- 1845- 1847- 1849, Cbarles Miner, Benjamin Dorrance, for Luzerne and Susquebanna. Jabez Hyde, Jr.,- Joseph Pruner, " " Putnam Catlin, Benjamin Dorrance, " " Redmond Conyngbam, Benj. Dorrance, " " Jonah Brewster, George Denison, *' " " " James Reeder, " " « k ii it (i « " " Benjamin Dorrance, " " Cornelius Cortright, " " " " Jabez Hyde, Jr., Andrew Beaumont, " " Hyde, Beaumont, Jacob Drumheller, " . " " Drumheller, Elijah Sboemaker, " " Philander Stephens, Drumheller, G. M Hollenback, " Stephens, Hollenback, Samuel H. Thomas, " " " Thomas, Garrick Mallery, '' ■ " Almon H. Read, Mallery, George Denison, " " Isaac Post, " " " " " Almon H. Read, for Susquehanna alone. Bela Jones, " " " Joseph Williams, " ". Bela Jones, " " 37, Asa Dimock, " " 39, Chas. Chandler, Jr., " " Franklin Lusk, " " Dr. Calvin Leet, " " Franklin N. Avery, " " 44, L,ewis Brush, Thomas Morley, for Susquehanna and Wyoming. 46, David Thomas, Schuyler Fasset, " " 48, Samuel Tagqart, R. R Little, " " Sidney B. Well's, E. Mowry, Jr., " " 40 HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. 1850, Isaac RecJchow, E Mowry, Jr., for Susquehanna, Wyoming, and Sullivan. 1851, Isaac Reckhow, Michael Meylert, " " 1852, Ezra B. Chase, John W. Denison, " " 1853, Ezra B. Chase, James Deegan, " " 1854, Charles J. Lathrop, John Sturdevant, " " 1855, Thomas Ingham, John V. Smith, " " 1856, Simeon B. Chase, Alfred Hine, " " 1857-58, Simeon B. Chase, for Susquehanna alone. 1859-60, George T. Frazier, " " 1861-62, D. D. Warner, " " 1863, George H. Wells, 1864, George H. Wells and P. M. Osterhout, for Susquehanna and Wyoming. 1865, J. T. Cameron, P. M. Osterhout, " 1866, J. T. Cameron, Jacob Kennedy, " 1867, Loren Burrilt, Ziba Lott, " 1868, Loren Burritt, A. P. Stephens, " 1869, A. P. Stephens, Harvey Tyler, " 1870, E. B. Beardslee, A. B. Walker, " 1871, E. B. Beardslee, M. Brunges, " 1872, H. M. Jones, " MEMBERS FROM WESTMORELAND TO CONNECTICUT ASSEMBLY. April, 1774, Zebulon Butler, Timothy Smith. Sept. 1774, Christopher Avery, John Jenkins. April, 1775, Capt. Z. Butler, Joseph Sluman. Sept. 1775, Capt Z. Butler, Maj. Ezekiel Pierce. May, 1775, John Jenkins, Solomon Strong. Oct. 1776, Col. Z. Butler, Col. Nathan Denison. May, 1777, John Jenkins, Isaac Tripp. May, 177S, Nathan Denison, Anderson Dana. Oct. 1778, Col. N. Denison, Lieut. Asahel Buck. May, 1779, Col. N. Denison, Dea. John Hurlbut. May, 1780, John Hurlbut, Jonathan Fitch. Oct. 1780, Nathan Denison, John Hnrlbut. May, 1781, John Hurlbut, Jonathan Fitch. Oct. 1781, Obadiah Gore, Capt. John Franklin. May, 1782, Obadiah Gore, Jonathan Fitch. Oct. 1783, Obadiah Gore, Jonathan Fitch. MEMBERS FROM LUZERNE COUNTY TO PENNSYLVANIA ASSEMBLY. COUNCIL. 1787, 1788, and 1789, to the 9th of October, Nathan Denison. 30th of October, 1789, to 20th of December, 1790, Lord Butler. On the 20th of December, 1790, the Council closed its session. The State was organized under the constitution of 1790, and a senate took the place of a council. As Susquehanna County was associated with Luzerne in choosing Legislators, previous to 1829, the following table of Senators and Eepresentatives to 1811, the year following the organization of the county, will be profitable for reference : — SENATE. 1790, (with Northumberland and Huntington), William Montgomery. 1792, William Hepburn. 1794, George Wilson (with Northumberland, Mifflin, and Lycoming). 1796, Samuel Dale (with Northumberland, Mifflin, and Lycoming). HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. 41 3798, Samuel McClay. 1800, James Harris. 1801, Jonas Hartzell (with Northampton and Wayne). 1803, Thomas Mewhorter. 1805, William Lattimore. 1807, Matthias Gross. 1808, Nathan Palmer (with Northumberland). 1810, James Laird. HOUSE. Year of Election Given. 1787, John Paul Schott. 1788, 1789, and 1790, Ohadiah Gore. 1791 and 1792, Simon Spaulding. 1793, Ebenezer Bowman. 1794, Benjamin Carpenter. 1795 and 1796, John Franklin. 1797 and 1798, Roswell Welles. 1799 and 1800, John Franklin. 1801, John Franklin, Lord Butler. 1802, John Franklin, Roswell Welles. 1803, John Franklin, John Jenkins. 1S04, Roswell Welles, Jonas Ingham. 1805, Roswell Welles, Nathan Beach. 1806, Roswell Welles, Moses Coolbaugh. 1807, Charles Miner, Nathan Beach.- 1808, Charles Miner, Benjamin Dorrance. 1809 and 1810, B. Dorrance, Thomas Graham. 1811, Thomas Graham, Jonathan Stevens. TREASURERS. 1812. Isaac Post. 1843. David D. Warner. 1815. David Post. 1845. Walter Follett. 1818. Justin Clark. 1847. Harvey Tyler. 1821. Charles Avery. 1849. O. G. Hempstead. 1824. Mason S. Wilson. 1851. Wm. K. Hatch. 1825. J. W. Raynsford. 1853. D. R. Lathrop. 1826. Hiram Finch. 1855. S. A. Woodruff. 1828. Davis Dimock, Jr. 1857. C. W. Mott. 1831. C. L. Ward. 1859. D. W. Titus. 1832. William Foster. 1861. Amos Nichols. 1834. Davis Dimock, Jr. 1863. Nicholas Shoemaker 1835. George Fuller. 1865. Charles B. Dodge. 1837. Henry J. Webb. 1867. Richard V. Kennedy 1839. Moses C. Tyler. 1869. Benjamin Glidden. 1841. Moses C. Tyler (elected). 1871. Tracy Hayden. PROTHONOTARIES, CLERK OF COURTS, REGISTER, AND RECORDER. Dr. Charles Fraser held all these offices by appointment of Governor Snyder, from the organization of the county in 1812, four years. Jabez Hyde held all these appointments under Governors Snyder and Findley from December, 1816, four years; and Judge De Haert, who had been clerk for Dr. Fraser a part of his time, did all the writing as deputy for Mr. Hyde during his term. 42 HISTOEY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. Asa Dimock, Jr., was prothonotary and clerk of the courts, doing his own work, from January, 1821, under Governors Heister, Shulze, and Wolf; in all fifteen years. David Post was register and recorder (A. H. Eead and other deputies) under Governor Heister three years from January, 1821. William Jessup was register and recorder under Governors Shulze and Wolf, nine years from January, 1824. Did the work mainly himself at first ; E. Kingsbury and others, stu- dents at law, were deputies some of the time. Christopher L.Ward was register and recorder under Gover- nor Wolf three years from January, 1833. Secku Meylert deputy a part of the time. George Walker was prothonotary, etc., under Governor Eitner three years from January, 1836. Did his own work mainly. Simon Stevens was register and recorder (S. Meylert deputy) the first year of Governor Eitner's term, and Charles Avery was appointed for the remainder of the term, and did his own work. George Fuller was prothonotary, and Hiram Finch register and recorder under Governor Porter in 1839. George Puller and H. Finch elected in 1839. John Blanding and " " 1842. u u a u it 1845i Fred. M. Williams and Charles L. Brown, 1848. Fred. A. Ward and J. T. Langdon, 1851. Sidney B. Wells and James W. Chapman, 1854. Geo. B. E. Wade and Charles Neale, 1857. Edwin M. Turner and Harmon K. Newell, 1860. Gabriel B. Eldred and Joseph H. McCain, 1863. " " J. F. Shoemaker, 1866. W. F. Simrell and Jerome E. Lyons, 1869. H. N. Tiffany, register and recorder, 1872. (Mr. Simrell died in 1870, and J. F. Shoemaker was appointed to fill the vacancy until the election of G. B. Eldred, the present incumbent.) Note. — All the registers and recorders from 1839 to 1869, and all the protho- notaries excepting Messrs. Ward and Wells, did their own work mainly, so far as one person could do it all. F. M. Williams served as deputy for the former exception, and J. T. Langdon, F. Fraser, and W. B. Wells for the latter. Miss Mary E. Lyons, sister of the present register and recorder, does the whole work in the recording of deeds. The work of transferring and rearranging the index books in the Offices of Record at Montrose, and in the Register's Office, was performed recently by J. B. Simmons and Miss Lottie Simmons. Some months were required for its com- pletion. The clerical execution was entrusted to the lady, and it will not suffer by comparison with the kindred work in the prothonotary's office. Some idea of the magnitude of the labor may be formed by considering that there are about forty-fire volumes of deeds alone, averaging about 800 pages of HISTOKY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. 43 written matter to the volume, besides mortgages, records, letters of attorney, etc. The twenty-five or thirty books first examined and indexed, necessitated some- thing like 50,000 entries of grantors and grantees. The new indexes are supe- rior to the old ones for the reason that where many grantors or grantees are named in one conveyance, each name is indexed. Giving the acreage and location, necessitates a careful reference to each conveyance. COMMISSIONERS, AUDITORS, AND TREASURERS. County commissioners have always been elected annually ; after the first board, one every year to serve three years each ; and so following each other out in succession. Auditors in the same manner after 1814. None elected till 1813, and then three for one year each. Treasurers were appointed annually by the commissioners till 1841 ; since which they have been elected once in two years. The following are the names of those who were elected to these offices in October of each year, or appointed in January fol- lowing. COMMISSIONERS. 1812. Bartlet Hinds, 1 year. 1842. Abel Hewitt. " LabaU Capron, 2 years. 1843. Alonzo Williams. c< Isaac Brownson, 3 years. 1844. Isaac Reckhow. 1813. Jonah Brewster, 1845. Jonas Carter. 1814. Hosea Tiffany, Jr. 1846. Nathaniel West. 1815. Stephen Wilson. 1847. Elisha P. Farnam. 1816. Sylvanus Hatch. 1848. David O. Turrell. 1817. Daniel Ross. 1849. John Murphy. 1818. Philander Stephens. 1850. Shubael Dimock. 1819. Samuel Warner. 1851. John Hancock. 1820. Joseph Washburn. 1852. Amos Williams. 1821. Philo Bostwick. 1853. Amherst Carpenter. 1822. Hosea Tiffany, Jr. 1854. Joseph Smith. 1823. Simon Stephens. 1855. Wm. T. Case. 1824. Edward Packer. 1856. Perrin Wells. 1825. Charles Avery. 1857. Orange Mott, Jr. 1826. Walter Lyon. 1858. Levi S. Page. 1S27. Ansel Hill. 1859. C. M. Stewart. 1828. Joseph Williams. I860. J. B. Cogswell. 1829. Wm. Hartley. 1861. James Leighton. 1830. Joseph Washburn. 1862. Nelson French. 1831. Calvin Summers. 1863. John B. Wilson. 1832. Arad Wakelee. 1864. David Wakelee. 1833. Jonathan C. Sherman. 1865. J. T. Ellis. 1834. Cyrus H. Avery. 1866. B. M. Gage. 1835. Charles Tingley. 1867. Samuel Sherer. 1836. Robert Griffis. 1868. J. T. Ellis, second time 1837. John Comfort. 1869. Preserved Hinds. 1838. Edward Heald. 1870. Edward L. Beebe. 1839. Thomas Burdick. 1871. Oscar Washburn. 1840. Nathaniel Norris. 1872. Lyman Blakeslee. 1841. Wm. G. Handrick. Col. Thomas Parke and Hosea Tiffany, Esq., were commis- sioners for Luzerne County before this county was set off. 44 HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. COMMISSIONERS' CLERKS. Jonah Brewster was appointed for the first year, 1813, and Dr. Asa Park for the second. Almon H. Read was clerk five years from January, 1815. Bela Jones deputy part of the time. "William Jessup six years from January, 1820. George Fuller three years and two months from January, 1 8 '2 6 . E. Kingsbury, Jr., one year and ten months from March, 1829. B. Streeter eight months and J. W. Chapman four months of 1831. Davis Dimock, Jr. for 1832. Charles Avery for 1833. Secku Meylert seven years from January, 1834. Asa Dimock for 1841. Robert J. Niven eleven years and four months from January, 1842. William A. Crossmon from May, 1853, to present time. Remarks. — For the information of those who desire to know what townships have furnished commissioners for the county, and how many each (for it is desirable that these officers should be somewhat distributed), it may be seen that Bridgewater, having them so frequently at first, has had in all, counting Mr. Sherman, who was afterwards cut off into Jessup, viz., Messrs. Hinds, Brewster, Wilson, Stephens, War- ner, Joseph Williams, Sherman, Wells. Harford, Capron, Tiffany twice, Tingley, Carpenter. Rush, Brownson, Ross, Griffis, now in Jessup. Gibson, J. Washburn twice, Case, 0. Washburn. Great Send, Reckhow, Hatch. Springville, Stephens (afterwards in Dimock), Wakelee. Apolacon, Amos Williams, P. Hinds (Little Meadows). Middletown, Bostwick, Handrick, Wilson. Brooklyn, Packer, Hewitt. Herrick, Lyon, Dimock, Ellis. Silver Lake, Hill, Murphy, Gage. Lenox, Hartley, Farnam. Clifford, Burdick, Stewart. Jackson, Norris, French. Auburn, C. H. Avery, Carter, Coggswell. Jessup, Hancock, Smith (besides Sherman and Griffis). Franklin, Alonzo Williams, Leighton, Beebe. And the following towns have had one each : Montrose, Chas. Avery ; New Milford, Summers ; Harmony, Comfort ; Ghoconut (afterwards Apolacon), Heald ; Liberty, Turrell ; Thomson (since Ararat), West; Forest Lake, Mott; Susquehanna, Page; Dimock, Samuel Sherer ; Oakland and Lathrop have never had a commis- sioner, nor has Ghoconut or Thomson within their present limits. SHERIFFS AND CORONERS. The election for sheriffs and coroners has always been for three years each. They have been as follows : — HISTOKY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. 45 18T2. 1815. 1818. 1821. 1824. 1827. 1830. 1833. 1836. 1839. 1842. 1845. 1848. 1851. 1854. 1857. 1860. 1863. 1866. 1869. 1872. Edward Fuller. Austin Howell. Samuel Gregory. Philander Stephens. Samuel Gregory. Charles Chandler, Jr. Joseph Williams. Charles Avery. William Hartley. Walter Follett. Thomas Johnson. Nelson C. Warner. Christopher M. Gere. Gabriel B. Eldred. Fred. P. Hollister. John Young. Elias V. Green. David Summers. S. F. Lane. Wm. T. Moxley. M. B. Helme. Stephen Wilson. Philander Stevens. Chapman Carr. Daniel Trowbridge. Charles Chandler, Jr. Benjamin J. Dimock. Davis D. Warner Hiram Finch. Walter Follet. Thomas Johnson. Jonas Carter. Wm. B. Handrick. John Baker. William H. Boyd. Benjamin Dix. Dr. J. Blackman. Dr. C. C. Halsey. Dr. Braton Richardson. Dr. L. A. Smith. Dr. C. C. Halsey. Dr. C. C. Halsey. COUNTY SURVEYORS. Prior to 1827, Susquehanna County was connected with some other county (Bradford?), as a deputy-surveyor's district. In 1827, the surveyor-general appointed Adolpbus D. Olmstead his deputy for Susquehanna County ; in 1830, J. ~W. Chapman; in 1833, John Boyle; in 1836, Issachar Mann; in 1839-1847, John Boyle ; in 1847, 0. S. Beebe. • County surveyors first elected in 1850, O. S. Beebe ; in 1853, Timothy Bovle ; in 1856, Joel Turrell ; in 1859, Wilson J. Turrell ; in 1862-65-68, J. W. Chapman; in 1871, O. S. Beebe. 46 HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. Attorneys from other Counties Admitted to the Bar of Susquehanna County, from the Year 1813 to 1840. When Admitted. 1813, Jan. Term 1813, Apr. Term 1813, Aus. Term 1813, Nov. Term 1814, Aug. Term 1817, Sept. Term 1818, May Term 1818, Dec. Term 1819, Aug. 31 1819, Sept. 2 1820, Jan. 31 1821, Jan. 29 1821, Feb. 2 1S21, Sept. Term 1824, Feb. Term 1824, Aug. Term 1825, Aug. Term 1826, Sept. Term 1826, Dec. Term 1830, 1830, 1831, 1833, 1834, 1835, 1836, 1840, May Aug. Aug. Dec. Dec. May May Nov. Term Term Term Term Term Term Term Term Names Counties. Eben'r Bowman .... Luzerne. David Scott it Garrick Mallery u Nathan Paltrier u Putnam Catlin' it Henry Wilson . (( Elihu Baldwin Bradford. Roswell Welles Luzerne. Alpheus C. Stewart " George Denison a Thomas Graham it John Evans it Thomas Dyer . a Edward Herrick 2 Bradford. ' Luther Barstow u Thomas B. Overton Luzerne, Bradford. Josiah H. Minor Wayne. Nathaniel B. Eldred t< Thomas Welles Amzi Fuller Wayne. Horace Williston 3 Bradford. Latham A. Burrows Oristus Collins Luzerne. Chester Butler a John N. Conyngham it Simon Gages Throop i< Dan Dimmick . Pike. James W. Bowman . Luzerne. Thomas W. Morris . (£ Stephen Strong Oswego. Wm. Seymour . Henry Pettebone Luzerne. Benjamin A. Bidlack " Thomas Fuller Wayne. Ezra S. Sweet . Owego. David Woodcock George B. Westcott . Wayne. Robert Charles Johuson Broome. George W. Woodward Luzerne. Volney L. Maxwell . u Luther Kidder . K David Wilmot . Bradford. Lewis Jones Luzerne. Hendrick B. Wright a And about twenty-fii relat< ;r adr aissi's ' 1787, first Court. May 29. In 179-1, when he and E. Bowman, the only lawyers in Luzerne, declined to serve, two lawyers from Connecticut were imported. 3 Now President Judge. 3 Horace Williston was a nntive of Sheffield, Conn., and the youngest brother of the late Seth Williston, D.D. He studied law in Elmira ; practiced in Binghamton, and also ifi Susquehanna County courts, many years, even after his removal to Athens, Bradford County. He was eminent in his profession, and distinguished for strict integrity and love of justice. He was President Judge of the Thirteenth Judical District. He died August 14, 1855. HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. List of Students and Resident Lawyers. 47 When Adm'd Names. With whom Studied. Remarks. 1S14, Apr. Charles Catlin. Attorney from Luzerne. Became a resident ab't 1819. 1S16, Sept. Almon H. Bead. Attorney in Vt. Ex'd. Representative in Congress 1S42. Died 1843. 1S17, May 5 Benjamin T. Case. Attorney in Bradford Co. Came to M. in 1816. Died here in 1S62. 1818, Dec. George Catlin. At Wilkes- Barre (?) Examined. Became an artist. 1S20, Feb. 2 William Jessup. A. H. Read. President Judge. 1S21, Apr. Balthazer De Haert. Deputy Prothonotary. 1S23, Feb. 3 James A. Gordon. Montrose. Removed. 1S26, May I Earl Wheeler. Dundaff. Ed'r. Removed. 1S2S, Sept. 1 Benjamin Parke. Attorney from Harrisburg. Ret. to M. in 1S63. Farmer. 1828, Sept. "2 Ebeuezer Kingsbury, Jr. Wm. Jessup. App. Dep. Att'y-Gen'l 1830, 1830, Aug. 30 Barzillai Streeter. Montrose. 1830, Nov. 29 John J. Wurts. " 1830, Dec. 3 Cephas J. Dunham. Attorney from Northampton. Here a year or two. 1S31, Jan. 31 Franklin Lusk. State Rep. Died Feb. 1S53. " Norman I. Post. Became a merchant. Died. 1S31, Aug. 30 Rinaldo D. Parker. Dead. 1S32, May 1 William Wurts. J. J. Wurts. Removed. 1832, Apr. 30 Thomas P. Phinney. Attorney from Luzerne. Dundaff. Dep. Atl'y-Gen'l. 1S33, Davis Dimock, Jr. B. T. Case. Rep. in Cong. 1S10. D'iedlS42 1833, Albert L. Post*. Wm. Jessup. Baptist minister. Dep. At- torney 1836. 1831, Nov! 17 Wm. C. Tiffany. B. T. Case. Harford. 1836, Mav 5 James C. Biddle. Wm. Jessup. Did not practice. Died 1841. 1836, Nov. 22 Ralph B. Little. Wheeler, Case, & D. Wilrnot Dimock. Oldest practicing lawyer. 1S37, Chris' r L. Ward. Wm. Jessup. Removed to Bradford Co. Died 1S70. 1837, Philip Fraser. " ■ U. S. Dis. Judge. Florida. 1S3S, May 8 Joseph T. Richards. Practiced 12 years. Died ia Cal. 1S.53. " Harris W. Patrick. A. L. Post. Removed to Bradford Co. 1S3S, Lyman De Wolf. Attorney from Bradford. Frieudsville. Removed. 1S38, Sept. 4 Ariel Carr. A. L. Post. Wm. J. Turrell. " District-Attorney. Speaker Penn. Senate 1S62-1865. " Robert J. Niven. Wm Jessup. 1S39, Feb. 5 Benjamin S. Bentley. " President Judge (vacancy) at Williamsport. " J. R. Barstow. " Practiced in Bradford Co. 1839, May 8 Sylvester Abel. " Practiced and died at Ann Arbor, Mich. 1S40, Apr. 27 George H. Welles. - Prac. in Wilkes-Barre. Rep- resentative from Gibson. " |Almon Virgil. Attorney from Warren. Baptist minister. 1810, Nov. Sabin Hatch. F. Lusk. Justice of the peace. Died. 1811, Apr. 20 Peter Byrne. Removed to Scranton. " Farris B. Streeter. 1 Davis Dimock, Jr. District-Attorney. President Judge, 13th Judicial Dist. 1841, Aug. 18 S. S. N. Fuller. F. Lusk. Removed to the West. 1S42, Apr. .Franklin Fraser. Wm. Jessup. District-Attorney 6 years. " lEzra Maxon. Lenox. Removed to the West. Dead. Wm. C. Salmon. F. Lusk. Removed to Milford. Dead. 1843, Aug. 21 ! Albert Chamberlin. Bentley & Richards. District Attorney, 6 years, J ustice Peace, V. S. Asses- sor. Rem. to Scranton. Benjamin F. Smith. William Fordham. Wm. J. Turrell & A. Carr. Removed to Chicago. 1814, Aug. 19 John H. Dimock. D. Dimock, Jr. Dist. Att'y 1850 (First elect.) " .Samuel B Mulford. Wm. Jessup. Died in California. iGeorge Perkins. A. L. Post. Fond-du-Lac, Wis. JCharles Kellum. F. Lusk Removed to Sycamore, 111. 1S44, George Baldwin. Attorney from N. Y. Great Bend. 1S45, Aug. 19 Naham Newton. Bentley & Richards. Dead. 1847, Apr. 19 Galusha A. Grow. Little & Streeter. Speaker 37th Congress. Rep- resentative 12 years. 1847, Aug. 16 John H. McKune. B. S. Bentley. Pres. Judge iu California. 1817, Nov. 15 E. Henry Little. Attorney from Wayne. Here a short time. Removed to Illinois. 1848, Apr. 17 Owen B. Tyler. R. B. Little. Died in California. 48 HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. List of Students and Resident Lawyers. — Continued. When Adm'd Names. With whom Studied. Remarks. 1818, Aug. 21 La Fayette Fitch. Homer H. Frazier. John C. Truesdell. B. S. Bentley. R. B. Little. State Senator, 1871. Ed. Independent Republican 1849, Aug. 20 Philo C. Gritman. Dundaff. 1849, Aug. 21 John C. Fish. District Attorney, 1S52. Gt. Bend. Farmer. 1850, Aug. 19 Ezra B. Chase. F. B. Streeter. State Representative, 1S52-3. " John C. Miller. Wm. Jessup. Died at the West. " Martin L. Truesdell. B. S. Bentley. Liberty. Farmer. 1851, Jan. 22 Simeon B. Chase. F. B. Streeter. Rem. to G. Bend& N. Milford 1851, Nov. 17 William H. Jessup. William H. Cooper. Leonard B. Hinds. Lucius Robinson, Jr. 3. Clark Lyman. Wm. Jessup. F. B. Streeter. B. S. Bentley. Banker. Rem. to Susquehanna Depot. 1852, Aug. ie Andrew J. Davis. E. B. Chase. 1S.31, Jan. 16 Frederick A. Case. B. T. Case. 1855, Aug. 20 Urial C. Johnson. J. Brewster McColluin. W. J. Turrell. R. B. Little. Removed. 1S55, Not. 19 C. Judson Richardson. Jessups. Chicago. 3 855, Nov. 2d Albert Bushnell. B. S. Bentley. Died Feb. 1S61, at Susq. Dep. 1S56, Apr. 7 Wm. M. Post. R. B. Little. Rem. to Susquehanna Depot. 1S57, Aug. 17 H. L. Emmons. Jessups. 1S57, Nov. 16 C. A. Lyman. S. B. Chase. 1S5S, Aug. 16 Ira Vadakin. Attorney from Wayne. Dealer in marble. Montrose. 1859, Aug. 15 Truman L. Case. Jessups. Removed. 1859, Nov. 21 Alfred Hand. Daniel W. Searle. Orlando C. Tiffany. it Removed to Scranton. District Attorney, 1S65-71. " Wm. D. Lusk. Little & Post, Sam'l Sherrod. Removed to Scranton. 1859, F. E. Loomis. Jessups. X il 1860, Aug. 20 B. S. Bentley, Jr. Mile- J. Wilson. Bentley & Fitch. R. B. Little. " Rieuzi Streeter. F. B. Streeter. In Colorado. " Casper W. Tyler. " Ed'r in Meadville. 1860, David A. Baldwin. Attorney from N. Y. Great Bend. Dead. 1S62, Jan. 20 Isaac J. Post. Jessups. Removed to Scranton. 1S62, Aug. 11 E. W. Smith. J. B. McCollum. 1862, Aug. 22 A. O. Warren. U. F. Hollenback. F. B. Streeter. Beutley & Fitch. 1S62, Aug. 25 L. M. innell. R. B. Little. 1863, Apr. 6 Wm. A. House. George P. Little. *' Rep. From New Jersey. 1863, Nov. 25 Edwin M. Turner. Attorney from Wyoming. Prothonotary. Removed. 1S65, Apr. 3 James Edward Carmalt. Lew School, Cambridge, F. B. Streeter, and Jessups. Elected District Attorney, October, 1S71. 1S66, Aug. 13 Jonathan J. Wright. Bentley & Fitch. Colored. Delegate to Con'l Convention. Judge of Su- preme Ct. S. Car. First colored man admitted to practice in Pennsylvania. 1S66, Nov. 12 William H. Frink. Aaron Watson Bertholf. A. Chamherlin. Bentley, Fitch & Bentley. 1S6S, Apr. 17 Thomas H. B. Lyons. J. B. McCollum. Removed. 1S6S, Aug. 10 Charles L. Catlin. Attorney from D. C. ]S6S, Aug. 21 Monroe J. Lavrabee. W. J. Turrell. Susquehanna Depot. 186S, Nov. 9 William A. Crossman. Byron O. Camp. Willoughby W. Watson. HnnttingC. Jessup. F. B. Streeter. J. B. McCollum. L. F. Fitch. Wm. H. Jessup. Commissioners' clerk, 20 yrs. 1869, Apr. 12 Charles A. Warren. E. L. Blakeslee. A. O. Warren. Michigan Union Law School, and Littles. 1869, Aug. 9 Alex. H- McCollum. J. B. McCollum. 1S69, Nov. 16 George H. Allen. Attorney from Luzerne. Harford. 1870, Apr. 27 Eugene 15. Hawley. Wm. D. Lusk. Editor Montrose Democrat. 1870, Aug. 17 Benjamin L. Baldwin. Jessups, Crossmon. 1S71, Aug. 15 Edgar A. Turrell. Attorney N. Y. Sup. Court. Removed to New York. 1871, Oct. 17 C. E Baldwin. Great Bend. 1 872, Jan. 8 Stanley N. Mitchell. J. Ferris Shoemaker. Carmalt, Crossmon. Jessups, Crossmon. Removed. 1872, Nov. 11 J. T. Richards. Wilbur F. Lathrop. Wm. A. Crossmon. Littles & Blakeslee. HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. 49 CHAPTER VII. TOWNSHIP ANNALS. GREAT BEND. V In November, 1814, the township previously known as Wil- lingborough received from the court the name of Great Bend on petition of several of its residents. It was then but a section of the original township, which, March, 1791, was formed from the northeast corner of old Tioga, Luzerne County, and which was the first taken from the two townships then comprising the territory afterwards set off to Susquehanna County. Willingborough, in 1791, was so far from the seat of justice — Wilkes-Barre — that it appears to have received little attention for two years; the only record of it being the appointment of viewers to lay out a road within its limits. These seem not to have been actually defined until April, 1793, when the line waa ordered thus: — " From the twenty-first mile-stone on the north line of the State, south six miles ; thence east until it shall intersect the line to be run between Luzerne and Northampton Counties ; thence north to the State line ; thence west to the place of beginning." This made the township sis miles north and south, by fifteen miles east and west; but, practically, or as an election district, until the erection of New Milford, it extended over the area of the latter as originally defined, and, in all, covered one-quarter or more of the present county. Perhaps no section of Susquehanna County has scenery more beautifully diversified than that included in old Willingbo- rough — now Harmony, Oakland, and Great Bend. Here the Susquehanna Kiver flows around the base of a spur of the Alle- ghanies, of which the lower outline is marked by a number of rounded peaks of great beauty ; the higher, by the two mountains of the vicinity bearing their original Indian names — Ouaquaga, 1 1 In reference to the correct orthography of this word, J. Du Bois, Esq., says : " There is now a post-office of this name on the north side of this mountain, near the village of Windsor, N. Y., and by reference to any post-office register you will find it written as above. When I was a child, I remember standing before the guide post at the forks of the road a few rods beyond the three (Indian) apple trees, on which was a finger-board marked thus : [giF*10 Ms. to Ouaquapha, and of myself and other children puzzling our brains in trying to make out how those letters could make the then accepted pronunciation, Ochquago. 4 50 HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. and Miantinomah. 1 It is regretted that the signification of these names cannot be given here, or that of the smooth flowing Canawacta, or more bubbling-voiced Starrucca — fitting streams to run among such hills as face Ouaquaga Mountain. In one of the sketches of this vicinity recently published by Joseph Du Bois, Esq., of Great Bend, and kindly contributed to this compilation, he says : — " Most of our hills were named after those first-settlers, who made improve- ments near their bases, as Trowbridge Hill, Wylie Hill, Strong Hill, Fish Hill, etc. " The Indians once had beautiful names for them all; their foot-trail alone crossed these summits in search of the haunts of game ; then the moose, the elk, the deer, grazed upon these hills, and were to the Indian hunter his main subsistence. Many a time did their tops blaze with the signal fires of the Indians as the enemy approached ; and now how changed ! The stately pines that once adorned tbeir summits have fallen before the ax of the lum- berman, and those larger animals that once roved in comparative security have either been exterminated, or have fled before the advance of civilization to more secure hiding places. Ascend our hills now, peep into those dark caves in those frowning ledges of rock — these were once the dens of the savage panther, the crafty and ravenous wolf, and the fierce and surly bear; these have all gone, and only the survivors of civilization remain. These caves are now the home of the wild cat, the fox, the raccoon, and the rabbit, and they will remain with us until our improvements reach these mountain tops." To the hills mentioned above, may be added Du Bois's Hill (from which the vicinity of Binghamton can be seen), Baker's Hill, between that and Strong Hill, and Battlesnake Hill, across the Susquehanna. The latter is divided from Locust Hill by Newman's Creek, and from Trowbridge Hill by Trowbridge Creek. Denton Brook skirts the eastern base of Locust Hill, emptying into the Susquehanna at Taylortown. Between this place and Eed Eock, Mitchell's Creek joins the river on the south side, and divides the unbroken wilderness of" Egypt" from another elevated forest, which terminates in Turkey Hill in Oakland. The creek received its name from a settler near its mouth prior to 1795. The valley of the Salt Lick is rich in beauty and culture, and appears to be the only settled portion of the township south of the river, except in its immediate vicinity, and along Wylie Creek, near the western boundary. Wylie Hill is separated by the latter creek from Strong Hill, and on the north by Ives's (formerly Bates's) Creek, from Baptist Hill. Following Wylie Creek from Liberty to Great Bend, the traveler on approaching the village is met by a landscape of Whoever painted that finger-board must have been familiar with the Indian pronunciation, and spelled it as nearly as he could to represent it." 1 The name of a war-chief, and of an iron-clad steamer of our navy that was the flag-ship of the late Admiral Farragut on his recent visit to the East. HISTOKY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. 51 exquisite beauty, and hardly inferior to it is the view obtained in descending the Salt Lick. A western gentleman, while recently passing over the Erie Eailroad in the vicinity of Great Bend, exclaimed, " This equals the Sierra Nevada I" There are no lakes in the township. There were formerly manv willows on the banks of the Susquehanna, but the basket- makers have cut them down. Sarsaparilla, the white snake- root, and black cohosh, and a number of medicinal herbs, are common. This locality appears to have first attracted the notice of the white man during the Eevolutionary War. From a sketch prepared by Mr. Du Bois, we retain the follow- ing : — "A part of General Sullivan's army, under command of GeneralJames Clin- ton, encamped on the banks of the Susquehanna at Great Bend in the summer of 1779. The Six Nations (with the exception of the Oneidas), incited by- British Agents and British gold, joined the British and tories of the Revo- lution, in their murderous assaults upon the border settlements. In order to check their attacks, General Sullivan, with a portion of his army, was sent up the Susquehanna by the way of Wyoming to the mouth of the Chemung River, where he awaited the arrival of General Clinton, who proceeded from Mohawk to the headwaters of the Susquehanna, and from thence down the river." [Mr. DuBois had the pleasure of reading many years ago, the MS. diary of one of General Clinton's officers, and relies on his memory of its contents, in relating what follows.] " When General Clinton arrived at the head of the river, Otsego Lake, he found the water very low, and the navigation of the Susquehanna, on rafts, as intended, impracticable. In order to raise the water, it was decided to build a dam at the foot of the lake, which some of the soldiers under the directions of the officers proceeded to do, while others were detailed to con- struct timber rafts below, upon which the army was to descend the river. When the dam was completed, the rafts being ready, and a sufficient quan- tity of water having accumulated in the lake, the flood-gates were opened, away sped the fleet of rafts, with their noble burden, amid the loud cheers of the soldiers. " Very soon new troubles arose, for not one of these 1600 men knew any- thing about navigating the Susquehanna. The Indian canoe only had here- tofore broken the stillness of its waters, consequently some of the many rafts were at almost every turn brought to a stand-still by the bars and shallows of the river. These " shipwrecks," as the soldiers called them, produced shouts of mirth and laughter from those who were more fortunate in drifting clear of the shoals ; but, as the water was rapidly rising from the great supply in the lake above, these stranded rafts were soon afloat again, and very soon were passing some of those rafts which had first passed them, and from whose crews came shouts of derisive laughter, and now were stranded in like manner. Both officers and men emjoyed this novel campaign on rafts down the beautiful Susquehanna (to use the officer's word) "highly." He said that, notwithstanding they had to keep a sharp lookout for the " Red Skins," it did not in the least mar the great enjoyment of the sports of this rafting expedition ; fishing, frolic, and fun were the order of the day. Nothing worthy of mention happened to the expedition on their way to this place, and here, 52 HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. on a bright summer day, in 1779, they landed to pass the night, and to allow some of the dilatory rafts to come up, and here at Great Bend, on the Flats near the "Three Indian Apple Trees," General James Clinton's army en- camped, and here for one night, at least, brightly bnrned the camp fires of 1600 of the soldiers of the Revolution. The officer in his diary says of the three Indian Apple Trees which they found here, that they then bore the marks of great age. There were no Indians seen here by them, although there was every indication of their having only recently left. The next day they went on board of their rafts and proceeded down the river. Of the venerable trees mentioned above, only one is now- standing, the second having fallen within a short time after the compiler visited the spot in the summer of 1869. The trunk was then entirely hollow, and a person might stand in it; but its decay had been gracefully concealed, in part, by a circle of trained morning-glories exhibiting a thoughtful care and touch- ing reverence for a relic of the past, which is linked with " a race that has had no faithful historian." Thtc Painted Rocks. — About two miles above the village of Great Bend, the Susquehanna River is quite narrow, with high rocks on each side of the stream. It seems as if by some great convulsion of nature, a passage had been opened through the mountain of rock for the passage of the river, form- ing high precipices on each side of the stream. The Erie Railroad, by their improvement, have cut away the rock on the north side, thus destroying the original beauty of this once interesting spot. The top of the cliffs were once covered with trees and a thick undergrowth, and many a deer while fleeing before the hounds has unwittingly taken the fatal leap from the top of this precipice. And the wary fox, too, fleeing before the pursuing loud-mouthed beagles, has from these cliffs taken his last leap, being dashed upon the fro- zen river below. This romantic locality was known to the early settlers as the Painted Rocks, from the fact, that, high upon the face of one of these cliffs, and far above the reach of man, was the painted figure of an Indian Chief. The out- lines of this figure were plainly visible to the earliest white visitors of this valley ; but long after the outlines had faded, the red, which predominated in this figure, still remained ; this in after years caused the inhabitants not familiar with the early history to call the place " Red Rock," and by that name it is known to this day. As to how and when this once beautiful painting was made on these rocks, at a place, too, apparently inaccessible to man, has been the subject of much mystery and many conjectures, for this full-length portrait was evidently done by a skilful artist's hand, long be- fore the whites had settled in these parts. 1 Before the settlement of Susquehanna County, according to a statement in 'Wilkinson's Annals of Binghamton,' "a purchase was made of the Susquehanna valley from the Great Bend to Tioga Point, by five gentlemen of Philadelphia, viz., Messrs. Thomas, Bingham, Hooper, Wilson, and Coxe. Thomas's patent embraced the Bend, and extended six miles down the river; then Bingham's patent, extending from Thomas's west- ern line to two or three miles beyond the village of Bingham- 1 By J. Du Bois, Esq. HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. 53 ton, two miles wide, lying equally on both sides of the river." No account of the Thomas patent can be found at Harrisburg. Mr. Wilkinson adds, that when Joshua and William Whitney came, in 1787, to the valley of the Chenango, near its junction with the Susquehanna Eiver, they found two or three families living at Great Bend. 1 These were doubtless the Strongs at the west bend, the Comstocks at the east bend (now Harmony), and the Bucks between them at Red Rock. At least these families might have been found there, in the fall of 1787. It is known that the first two families preceded the last named, though it is not positively stated which one of the two was first in the vicinity; but Ozias Strong, formerly of Lee, Mass., was the first settler, so far as can now be ascertained, within the limits of the present town of Great Bend, and the first resident purchaser of land under Pennsylvania title. Besides the above, the only settlers now known to have been here, in 1788, were Enoch Merry man and wife, and their son Bishop and his wife; Nathaniel Gates and wife with five chil- dren, and three sons-in-law — Jedediah Adams, David Lilly, and William Coggswell, with their wives : Jonathan Bennett (in Oakland first) with his sons Jonathan and James, and his sons- in-law, Asa Adams and Stephen Murch, with Thomas Bates and Simeon Wylie, sons-in-law of Rev. Daniel Buck. All had families. In 1789, John Baker, a native of Hatfield, Massachusetts, came to Great Bend, at the age of twenty-four, and soon after married Susanna, a daughter of Ozias Strong. The public records of Luzerne County show, that Ozias Strong, June 9, 1790, bought of Tench Francis, for one hundred and thirty pounds sterling, four hundred and fifty-three acres of land north of the river, in the vicinity of the present Great Bend bridge. Two days later, Benajah Stroug (possibly a brother of Ozias) bought, of the same landholder, six hundred and one acres, south of the river, on both sides of the mouth of the Salt Lick. This tract was sold by B. Strong, September 21, 1791, to Minna Du Bois and Seth Putnam, for seven hun- dred pounds sterling. Minna Du Bois was made attorney for his brother Abraham, of Philadelphia, June 23, 1791. On the same day of Ozias Strong's purchase, Tench Francis gave deeds to other parties. Ichabod, Enoch, and Benjamin Buck bought of him one hundred acres for one hundred and twenty-five pounds. 1 The village which soon clustered around the Whitneys was supplanted after a few years by the settlement at Chenango Point, now Binghamton. This was laid out into village lots in 1800. A saw-mill was erected in 1788, on Castle Creek, and a grist-mill, in 1790, on Fitch's Creek, in the town of Couklin. These were the first mills in all the region. See 'Annals of Binghamton.' 54 HISTORY OP SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. Elisha Leonard 1 had lands adjoining Ozias Strong's (which adjoined S. Murch's), and Edward Davis's also adjoined lands of E. Leonard's. But few items have been preserved of the families who came to Great Bend before 1790. The Merry mans were here when Nathaniel Gates came. The latter had lived, previous to 1778, at Wyoming, though he was from home, engaged in his coun- try's service, when the massacre took place. Mrs. Gates fled with others to the mountains, and finally reached Connecticut, with her seven children, where she was afterwards joined by her husband. One child being sick, during her flight, was carried by a neighbor ; while Mrs. Gates carried another in her arms and one on her back — the rest were able to walk. The family had lived in Wayne County before coming to Great Bend. Three children of N. Gates were drowned in the Susquehanna, but their bodies were recovered and buried at Great Bend, February 16, 1791. Polly, daughter of Asa Adams, and two young men of the Strong family, and Samuel March, and his sister Polly, had been drowned, previously, in the same stream. [No name occurs more frequently among the early wives and sisters than Polly — always a synonym for Mary.] Not far from this time, a son of Mr. Gates, who had been taken prisoner by the Indians while the family lived on the Delaware, escaped and reached Philadelphia where he learned the whereabouts of his parents. He came on via Mt. Pleasant, from which there were only marked trees to guide him, the snow being twelve inches deep. When within a hundred rods of a hunter's shanty, where Phinney's hotel now stands, in New Milford, his strength gave out. He was about to lie down in despair, when he saw the sparks from the shanty, which so revived him he was able to get there ; but he could not speak, so badly was he frozen. He was able, at length, to tell where his friends were — about six miles distant; and the hunter, after two or three days, managed to notify them, when they took him home ; but, for days, his life was despaired of. James Parmeter may have been here as early as some of those previously mentioned, but was not here when the Bucks came. i " He built his 'log cabin' on the south side of the Susquehanna,, near the south end of the present bridge across the river. For some time he sub- 1 "Not many rods from the farm house of the late Abraham Du Bois, on the place formerly owned by Seelye and Daniel Trowbridge, there is a fine spring of fresh water, clear as a crystal, always flowing, never freezing in winter, but cold as ice-water. This spring, since my earliest recollections, has been called, and is well known to this day, as Leonard's spring. My father (A. Du Bois) told me it was named after an early settler ; and I think the one named above." J. D. B. HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. 55 sisted by hunting and fishing. One of the first Connecticut settlers, who came into this county, and was on his way to a settlement not far south of Montrose, and who staid over night at his cabin, told me that his cabin was then completely covered with the skins of wild beasts, among which he saw those of the panther, bear, wolf, deer, and wildcats. As other settlers came into this valley and commenced to settle further west, he, from the necessity arising from his location, was transformed from a simple hunter into a hotel keeper and ferryman (1793) ; for these early pioneers would stop at his house, as it was the only one near, and he assisted them to cross the river. As it could not be forded, except at very low water, he was compelled to build a ferry boat, as his house could not hold these blockaded travelers, the travel having now greatly increased by settlements further west, even as far as the lake country." John Baker bought a piece of wild land, went to work, and after he had nearly paid for it, found there was a mortgage on it for more than it was worth; he gave it up and bought another, and built a log cabin. He was prospered for a time, but one day as he and his wife were returning from work in the field they found their house and all its contents had been burned up; nothing was left except the clothes they had on. He sold his land and moved to Homer, New Jersey, in 1794. He had then three children. He came back to Great Bend to spend the following winter, and here, March 1795, his son, David J. Baker, was born. From him (now living at Dryden, N. Y., in his seventy-seventh year) we learn that his parents returned to Homer, in a canoe, as soon as the ice was out of the river, the same spring. His was the ninth family in the township (Homer) of ten miles square. The 'Bellevue (0.) Gazette' of a recent date contained a bio- graphical sketch of Mr. Baker, from which the following items are taken : — " His parents died when he was quite young. He never went to school a day. At the age of eighteen he served six months in the Revolutionary army. " At Great Bend he and his wife joined the Presbyterian Church, and re- mained consistent professors of religion all their lives. His wife taught him to read and write, and by his own efforts he acquired an education. He was a man of good natural ability, and fond of argument. Of the four sons and three daughters born to them here, three sons are still living ; two at the west, and David in Dryden, N. Y. He was the first deacon of the church in this town." Mr. D. J. Baker adds : " The Strongs all left Great Bend after my father did. My grandfather, Ozias Strong, had a family of six sons and six daugh- ters, namely: Major Joseph, Horatio, Francis, Zadock, Peltiah and Abner. His daughters with their husbands' names were, Beulah Treet, Roxy Benedict, Hannah Gates, Susanna Baker, Polly Jones, and Lovina Todd. Peltiah was drowned in the Susquehanna River while his father lived at Great Bend; the rest of this large family lived to a good old age, and all but one of them had large families. When Horatio left the Bend, he settled in the valley of the Scioto River in Ohio, and had a family nearly as large as his father. When my grandfather, Ozias Strong, left the Bend, he, together with three of his sons (Francis, Zadock, and Abner, who were then unmarried) settled at South Cortland, which was then called Homer, on 350 acres of land. When Major Joseph Strong left the Bend, he settled in Manlius, Onondaga County, New 56 HISTOEY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. York, in 1812 ; lie moved to Huron County, Ohio, in 1814 ; Zadock followed him in 1815 ; Francis Strong and my father, John Baker, who married Susanna Strong, followed them in 1816, and in 1825 or 1826 Abner and Aunt Todd, she being then a widow, followed ; and all settled near each other in Ohio, on a ridge of land which is to this day called Strong's Ridge. Zadock Strong's marriage was the first marriage of the settlers of Homer, N. Y. He and his bride rode on horseback through the woods from Homer to Ludlowville, in Tompkins County, N. Y., a distance of thirty miles, to find the nearest person who was qualified to perform the marriage ceremony. Uncle David Jones, from Boston, who married Aunt Polly Strong, bought my grandfather's farm at South Cortland, and took care of the old people the last years of their lives. Capt. Benajah Strong moved to Lansingville, N.Y. " I left Great Bend with my parents when an infant, but I remember of their speaking of Stephen Murch so frequently that it is to me like a household word." The following sketch by J. Du Bois, Esq., is copied by per- mission from the ' Northern Pennsylvanian.' " Lathrop Island. — About one-third of a mile above the Great Bend Bridge, in the middle of the Susquehanna River, there was formerly a beautiful island, known as Lathrop Island, thus named from the fact that one Ralph Lathrop, 1 a very early settler, cleared it up and cultivated it. When the whites first came into this valley, this was quite a large island, some acres in extent, the surface being very level, and as high above water as the shore opposite. The early settlers said that a part of this island had been cleared by the Indians. Upon being questioned about it, the Indian Doctor told me that this island was a great resort for Indian fishing and hunting parties ; in fact, the Indian picnic grounds. Here all the canoes for miles around, filled with the dusky sons of the forest, and their wives and little ones, came at stated periods to hunt, to fish, to feast, and to celebrate some of their games. One of their games was a boat race ; this always took place soon alter landing. Many strove for the honors ; for he who paddled his canoe around the island and came to the starting-point first was immediately invested with all the honor and power of a chief, to last during the festivities or stay upon the island. The victor's word for the time being was law, and the entire pro- ceedings of the party during the festivities were directed by him. Long after this valley was settled by the whites, this beautiful island was the favorite resort of the settlers and their children. Here they came in boats, with their wives and little ones, not forgetting cooking utensils, for our mothers and grandmothers were not content with ' cold victuals,' as the custom now is at picnics, but here, upon this almost enchanted spot, they cooked the tender venison and fresh fish provided by their husbands and sons, not forgetting to bring cakes and other good things. " This island, except a fine cluster of large trees left at its head for its pro- tection, and a fringe of beautiful shade trees around its border, was cleared. No such charming and inviting spot could be found in this vicinity, and it was the favorite for picnic parties for many years ; now nothing remains of it but unsightly gravel bars. This once beautiful place of resort was de- stroyed by mischievous boys. The timber standing at the head of the island, and which had for ages protected it from destruction, was the receptacle of vast quantities of driftwood. These boys went upon the island one summer's day, in a dry time, and set this driftwood on fire, which destroyed the trees ; and as soon as their roots decayed, this once beautiful place became an easy prey to the destructive ice floods of the Susquehanna ; and this once charm- ing spot, for pleasure parties and recreation, is lost to the citizens of this neighborhood for all time to come. 1 Mr. Lathrop was a son-in-law of Priest Buck. He afterwards became in- sane. HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. 57 "If any one wishes to satisfy himself as to this island being once the resort of the Indian fishermen, let him take a walk along the north shore of the river opposite, and he can, even now, find any number of the sinkers used by the red men. They fished with a hand line ; a round or oval stone from two to three inches in length, and from one-half to three-quarters of an inch in thickness was selected, a notch was cut in each edge, around this the end of the main line was fastened, short lines and hooks were attached to the main line, after the hooks were baited, the sinker was thrown far out into deep water, and the line, to use a sailor's expression, ' hauled taut,' and the least motion on the short lines was conveyed to the hand of the fisherman with almost electric speed." Incidents in the early history of the Susquehanna Valley are related by J. B. Buck, a son of Capt. Ichabod Back, whose father was the Rev. Daniel Buck referred to below. (Most of these were contributed to the 'Susquehanna Journal,' published at Susquehanna Depot.) " My great-grandfather, Eben Buck, was an Englishman ; his son Daniel, my grandfather, was a Presbyterian minister, ordained in Connecticut, his native State. In early life he was engaged in the old French war, in which he distinguished himself, and rose to rank and high position. He was a self- made man, and a doctor as well as minister. In 1786, he left the valley of the Mohawk, near Albany, where he had resided some years, and brought his family with teams to Otsego Lake, crossed it and came down the river in canoes, seventy miles, to near where Windsor village now stands. Here he remained nearly two years, and then moved down to Bed Rock. My father (the oldest son) and Uncle Benjamin were then married and had families. Father built his house just north of where the Erie Railroad passes through the tunnel, Uncle Benjamin just south of this place, and grandfather between them, on the line of the track over the tunnel. The old cellars are now to be seen. " When my father came to Red Rock, it was all wild. But on examination some marks were found that could not be accounted for. The high rocks on the river were painted red, and on the island was found the foundation of a house. This was found quite plain when the land was cleared up and plowed, but it had been so long ago that it was grown up with trees. There for five years he had to pound the grain in a mortar to make flour and bread. There I was born, when but few whites were there, but hundreds of Indians often passed up and down. There were no roads — nothing but a path in the woods. " After this time a mill was built at Tioga Point (now Athens), and we went with a canoe to mill— 62 miles. About this time father subscribed for a paper published by Mr. Miner at AVilkes-Barre. It was about ten by twelve inches to the page. We took it two years, and then it was doubled, and it was enlarged again from time to time. "My father was of steady habits, and possessed a strong, observing mind. After one year grandfather and Uncle Benjamin removed down the river a mile or two; the latter on the farm since known as Newman's, and the former on that one long owned and occupied by the Dimons, near the Bend bridge. Uncle Denton (Enoch) did not come in quite as soon as father; he located at Taylortown. " Father and uncle had begun to farm, and families would often get in a strife ; by agreement, when haying and harvesting were over, we would have a holiday. One day uncle took his oxen and cart and brought his family to father's, and all went on the hill for huckleberries. We filled all the pails, and then went to killing rattlesnakes. That afternoon we killed 411. It will be understood that in August the females go back to their dens to have their young. We killed 33 old ones, and the rest of the 411 were young ones. 58 HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. " Here was found great abundance of wild animals of different kinds, and birds also. When out late at evening we were often followed by panthers, but never molested. At one time the wolves drove a deer upon the ice on the Susquehanna, not far from our house, and caught it. After devouring it, they had, a frolic. We had a horn made of a sea-shell. We ran out with the horn, and, after watching them at their play, sounded the horn. They stopped at once ; then, catching the echo rather than the first sound, they ran directly towards us till about half way, when they stopped a moment, discovered their mistake, and then ran up the river for a mile for dear life. There were fifteen of them. " I well remember the first wagon brought here. It was drawn by four oxen. Father bought the fore wheels, and uncle the hind ones. The tires were in six pieces for each wheel — spiked on. Brought from Boston by a Mr. Dorset." " Fire was obtained either by flashing powder, or with the flint and steel. Friction matches were not invented for fifty years afterward. It was always expected that fire would be kept on every hearth. If by neglect the fire went out, it was common for families to send half a mile to a neighbor's for fire. " The first house, and the one in which I was born, was built in an exceed- ingly primitive style. One huge log nearly made one side of the house, of which material the dwelling was built, for the mill-going saw ' these valleys and rocks had never heard.' The floor was made of strips, split, or halves of logs, flattened ; the roof was covered with ' shakes,' four feet long ; the beams overhead extended beyond the body of the house some five or six feet, making a stoop or piazza, from the roof of which, in autumn, used to hang the seed-corn for the ensuing year. The house was situated near a fine spring of water. Its furniture was not of the present-day style; the bed- steads, chairs, tables, and cooking utensils belonged to another age. We had no stoves, no carpets; we needed none. We had an immense fireplace, and the forest all around us. The day found us busy; the night gathered us around the broad stone hearth, glowing with a well-piled fire, where we re- counted the hopes, adventures, and news of the day, in much the same man- ner as is done to-day, in well-regulated families. " For years we had no other evening light than that from the blazing hearth- fire, pine-knots, or a candle. The only way we had for lighting a candle was by means of a sliver from the wood-pile, or by taking a live coai from the fire and blowing it with the breath until it glowed, and then placing the wick of the candle against it. This was not always immediately successful, and fre- quently caused the young housekeeper to blow until her cheeks were as red as roses. Especially was this frequently the case of Sunday evenings, when young gents were present. It was many years after the country was settled before whale-oil lamps were introduced, and until then our only resource for light was the fire, blazing, or the consumption of fat in some manner. " Our food was mainly meat, from the forest ; bread, vegetables, short-cakes, johnny-cakes, and buckwheat pancakes. We used to eat our venison cooked in various ways. A venison steak is epicurean, and reckoned among the best of backwoods dishes. Our bread was baked in a flat, shallow cast-iron kettle, set upon coals, with coals heaped upon the cover. Our biscuits were baked in a tin oven, shaped like a letter V, so arranged as to heat both the top and bottom of the biscuits. Our short-cakes were baked in a long- handled frying-pan, heated at the bottom with coals, and by the glowing fire at the top — and good cakes it makes, too — better than any of the new-fangled ovens of the present day. If the fireplace was well supplied with necessa- ries, it had an iron crane, from which cooking utensils could be suspended at a greater or less height above the fire. The crane wanting, its place was supplied by some other device for suspending the pots — generally trammels — an exceedingly clumsy and inconvenient arrangement, by which vessels HISTORY OP SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. 59 used in cooking must be suspended from a pole, crossing the chimney high enough above the fire not to burn. * " Did the good housewife desire to get breakfast, she first filled the tea-kettle and hung it over the fire, or set it on fresh coals, drawn from the wood fire, on the hearth to boil; she then put her meat to frying in a spider, having legs about three inches long, by setting it on fresh coals; her potatoes, if boiled, were put in a pot and hung over the fire ; if she desired pancakes, they were baked on a round griddle, suspended over the fire — when the griddle was hot enough, she swung out the crane and put on the batter ; one side baked, the crane was swung out, the cakes turned, and again swung in ; when done, again swung out, cakes removed, and another batch spread on." " In those days, stores were few and distant. Powder and lead were among our most necessary articles, and these cost long journeys. For some years no store was nearer than Bainbridge, N. Y., then Windsor, and finally Great Bend— supplied by teams from Catskill. A man named Whittemore first began trading at Windsor; Bowes at the Bend. He built, about sixty-five years ago, the square house near the Presbyterian Church." Shad were so numerous in early times, that they were sold for one cent each. "A Fish Story. — After planting, one year, the men thought they would have a play day. They agreed upon a fishing party, and were to drive the river. We first began at the island, by building a willow and brush fence, or net across the north side of the river, so as to stop the fish. The other side we had three horses mounted by boys, who rode back and forth, scaring the fish into our pen or net, between the island and opposite shore. A large party then proceeded up the river some three miles, and drove the fish down — floating before them a rude sort of brush net, in the water, so that it was really easier for the fish to run down stream than pass it. They came down the stream driving, splashing, sw'imming, and wading, and having a gay time, until they reached our pen or brush net ; when we piled in brush and made a fence which it was difficult for the fish to pass. We then began throwing out the fish, and the great creatures would splash against our legs, and dash about in vain efforts to escape. We captured by this frolic eigh- teen hundred shad. Each boy and girl had five — each woman thirty, and the balance were divided equally among the men — of course they secured the lion's share. The whole ended with a real feast and frolic, with shad for meat instead of quails. The evening was joyous, and the entertainment bouutiful, and the whole passed off with a zest and appetite which cannot be surpassed by our present efforts." Another reminiscence of Mr. Buck's runs thus : — "Wolves were exceedingly troublesome to the early settlers. They would enter the fold at night and kill sheep and lambs, and, sucking the blood and eating a portion of the flesh, would leave the flock ruined for the farmer's coming. In those days each family made its own cloth for all the various purposes. The clothing of the father, the mother, the sons, and the daughters, was the handiwork of the busy mother. The flesh was also a reliance for food ; hence the loss of the sheep was a dire calamity for a farmer. The sheep had for many years to be yarded close by the house. The ducks, geese, and chickens also had to be protected at night." Three or four brothers of Eev. Daniel Buck figured in the early history of Wyoming. Elijah (and possibly Asahel) was one of the first forty settlers of Kingston ; William is mentioned in the old records of Westmoreland as a fence-viewer and grand juror, in 1774, and Capt. Aholiab Buck was one of nine cap- 60 HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. tains slain the fatal afternoon of July 3, 1778. William, a son of Asahel Buck, was massacred the same day. An older brother of the four, Eben, had two sons, Elijah and William, the former of whom settled near Athens, Pa., as early probably as 1788. " Priest" Buck, as the minister was generally styled, had seventeen children, ten of whom were those of his second wife; sixteen lived to have families. In addition to the sons already mentioned, who were of his first wife, there were Daniel, Israel, Silas, and Hiram. The majority of the family settled and died in the State of New York. Silas died in 1832, at Great Bend, where his widow still resides. Two of his sisters, Polly and Eachel, also died here. Enoch Denton died in Ohio ; Israel, in Wyalusing, where some of his descendants reside. He had fifteen children. Eev. Daniel Buck died at Great Bend, April 13, 1814. He had buried his first wife in Connecticut; his second wife died at Great Bend, September 6, 1828, and rests beside her husband in the cemetery near the Episcopal church. Capt. Ichabod Buck was born in New Canaan, Connecticut. He died in Franklin, Susquehanna County, March 19, 1819. A recent writer says of him: "He was a Christian, and to him perhaps more than to any other man were the early settlers of Great Bend indebted for religious teaching, influence, and example." He had five sons: William died at Great Bend; John B., the author of several sketches given in these annals, is still living (February, 1872) at Susquehanna Depot; Benjamin died young; Elijah, living in Illinois, and Benjamin, in Michi- gan. His daughter Lucy, now dead, was born at Eed Eock, April, 1791; and Deborah (Mrs. Lyman Smith, of Binghamton), March, 1793. The latter is the only survivor of the six daughters. Mrs. I. Buck died at Great Bend. William Buck married a daughter of Oliver Trowbridge 1st; she was eight years old when her father came to Great Bend in 1796, and is still living in the same town. Elijah and William, sons of Ichabod Buck, form the third set of brothers of these names in the Buck family : the first being the brothers of Eev. D. Buck, the next his nephews, and the third his grandchildren. David Buck, who lived in 1807 on the north side of the Sus- quehanna Eiver opposite Wright Chamberlin's, was not a near relation of this famly. Thomas Bates lived about a mile below the bridge on the south side of the river. He died here before 1820, much esteemed. We insert here brief sketches of three of the early settlers of this section. HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. 61 Simeon Wylie served his country through the war of the Revolution, hav- ing entered the service in the spring of 1776, at the age of eighteen years. He was early detached from the ranks as waiter to General Arnold, and served as such until the time of Arnold's defection, and was the principal witness to prove the identity of Major Andre, his visits to Arnold at his quarters at the Robinson house, and the manner of Arnold's escape. From that time, he served as a sergeant to the close of the war. He was in the battle of Long Island, and White Plains, in 1776, in the northern campaign, at the battle of Bennington, and at the capture of General Burgoyne in 1777. He was also in a preceding battle in which Arnold was wounded, and was in the battle of Monmouth in 1778. In the confusion of the retreat from Long Island, on the evening after the battle, Sergeant Wylie was one of a party of seventeen (including a lieutenant), left in a piece of woods near the enemy. Not knowing in the dark what course to take, they agreed to wait until daylight, and then attempt to cross the East River or Sound. As soon as it was light they sent two of the party to search for a boat and give a signal to the detachment remaining in the woods. Upon hearing the signal the latter hurried to the shore, where they found a boat which had been drawn upon the beach, and, while pushing it with some diffi- culty into the water, they saw a party of " red coats" passing. They however succeeded in launching the boat and took to the oars. The enemy being near discovered them, ordered them to "halt" and surrender, or they would fire upon them. Disregarding the threat they pushed on, and the enemy fired and continued to fire until the boat reached the New York shore, and so well was their aim taken that every man except the lieutenant and Sergeant Wylie was either killed or wounded. The killed were buried with the honors of war, and the wounded taken to the hospital in New York. Some forty years after, a crippled pensioner traveling through this part of the country stopped for the night with Mr. Wylie. In the course of the evening he spoke of the Revolution and the cause of his lameness. He proved to be one of the seventeen. He remaiued with Mr. Wylie through the winter and taught school. Sergeant Wylie was a brave man and a good soldier. This bloody transaction, with many other revolutionary reminiscences, he was accustomed to narrate with thrilling effect. In the spring of 1835, he buried his wife (a daughter of Rev. D. Buck), with whom he had lived forty-nine years. She had resided forty-three years on the farm where she died, and had been a member of the Presbyterian Church eighteen years. He died suddenly while on a journey into the State of New York to visit one of his sons, September 14, 1836, aged seventy-eight years. Jonathan Dimon was a native of Fairfield County, Conn. In his minority he served several years as a soldier in the army of the Revolution. A few years after the war he moved with his family to Willingborough, in the spring of 1791. He purchased a farm of Ozias Strong, and followed farming for the remainder of his days. His success was such, he was able, to a considerable extent, to supply provisions to the Wyoming settlers. He was the third postmaster at Great Bend, for several years from 1813. He was a man possessing intelligence, energy, integrity, and influence, and who exercised hospitality almost to a fault. He was an opponent to immorality, intemperance, and Sabbath desecration; a supporter of educational and reli- gious institutions. He died suddenly June 8, 1821, aged sixty years, greatly lamented, and was followed to the grave by a larger number of persons than had ever before been seen at the Bend on such an occasion. His widow, Mrs. Abigail D., and the mother of his ten children, was a member of the Baptist Church many years. Her children were all living at the time of her death in November, 1834. Charles Dimon, son of Jonathan, was six years old when his father settled at Willingborough. He was educated at the common schools, which were then taught by competent teachers. At a suitable age he commenced work- 62 HISTOKY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. ing on the farm with his father, and pursued the same occupation through life. January, 1810, on the resignation of Dr. E. Parker, he was appointed the second postmaster at Great Bend, which office he held until March 2, 1813, when he was appointed justice of the peace, by the Governor of Pennsjdva- nia. April 23, 1823, he voluntarily resigned his commission for the purpose of pursuing his favorite occupation of agriculture. About nine years afterwards the people, without his knowledge, sent a petition to the governor to have him reappointed, which was done ; his second commission being dated December 3, 1832, and which he reluctantly accepted. He was twice elected under the amended constitution, and com- missioned, viz., March 17, 1840, and March 18, 1845. His fourth commission terminated March, 1850, when he absolutely refused another election. He discharged the duties of a magistrate with ability and with general satisfac- tion, having acquired a good knowledge of the laws relating to his office. He had the reputation of being as reliable a justice as any in the county, and his decisions were respected. He was a man of strict morality, inflexible in his opposition to vice in every form, both by precept and example — a true son of his father — always aiming at right, and opposing wrong and deception. He had a controlling influence in the community, and bore the reputation of an honest, Christian man, to tomb. He was friendly and courteous; always extending the hand of friend- ship to all deserving persons ; hospitable, and ready to assist the unfortunate, using his influence for religion which he professed to have experienced, and always endeavored to sustain the best interests of the country in her civil, literary, religious, and political institutions. He was never married. To relatives, friends, and society the loss of such a man was a calamity. He died at the Bend, August, 22, 1864, aged seventy-nine years. Dr. Fobes, the first regular physician of the place, was here in 1791. Eobert Corbett, though then where New Milford village is, was a taxable of Willingborough. A Mr. Worden, early in the nineties, was near the present line of Oakland. " As early as 1791, the settlers of Mt. Pleasant began opening a road to Great Bend. It left the north and south road nearly opposite Mr. Stanton's house (in Mt.P.), and proceeded westward, varying from half a mile to a mile south of the Great Bend and Coahecton turnpike, which has taken its place." (Rev. S. Whaley.) Before November, 1792, the settlement must have largely increased, as a road which had been laid out on petition of Lewis Maffet and others — William Forsyth among the viewers — was opposed by a remonstrance sent to the court and signed by " Orasha" Strong and fifteen others. The first report made the road " begin at a stake about three rods above a place called the Three Apple Trees, and run northwesterly to the State line." The court granted a review of the road by different men, among whom Asaph Corbett, then in New Milford, and Asahel Gregory, in what is now Herrick, must have been disinterested parties. They made the road begin opposite James Parmeter's, at a stake in the north bank of the river. Messrs. Bennett, Parmeter, Strong, Leonard, Asa Adams, and Isaac Hale (the last in what is now Oakland), viewed and laid HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. 63 out two other roads that season ; the first, " beginning at a hemlock stump, opposite Seth Putnam's saw-mill, northerly (W. E.W.) to the south bank of the Susquehanna River, then N. E. to the north bank of said river, then up said river inter- secting the road first laid out;" the other appears to have connected these with the house of Benjamin Buck, one mile above Ozias Strong's. In 1793, the court appointed Ichabod Buck, constable ; Horatio Strong and Jonathan Bennet, supervisors ; and Elisha Leonard and Ichabod Buck, overseers of the poor. From this time the town rapidly increased in prosperity and influence. November, 1795, Jonathan Newman, formerly of Pittston (was there in 1789), bought of Minna Du Bois land lying north of the river, above the ferry. Nathaniel Holdridge, the first settler of Herrick, must have been here then, as he was con- stable the following }^ear. In 1796, Oliver Trowbridge, called Major Trowbridge, came in. The same year Horatio Strong received a license to keep a tavern. He had only a log-house. This, it appears, was purchased by Oliver Trowbridge, who built, in 1797, a framed part to the house, an upper room of which was used by a Masonic Lodge ; the walls of it were papered — the first instance of a papered room in the county. He was licensed in 1801. He had four sons — Noble, Lyman, Augustus, and Harry (the latter two died at the West) — and four daughters, of whom Mrs. Wm. Buck is the only one now living at Great Bend. Noble Trowbridge (J. P.) in 1810 built the wing of the present large house occupied by his son Oliver, about one and a quarter miles from the State line. The old bar-room, kitchen, and dining-room of this once noted tavern are well preserved ; also, the old sign of the Indian and his arrows, though it no longer invites the traveller to rest. Here were seen the old " tester 1 ' bedsteads, with blue and white linen hangings, such as some of us now cherish as the handiwork of our grand- mothers. From the porch, views of river, hills, and meadows of great beauty are obtained, and pleasure-seekers much frequent this locality. Trowbridge's Creek reaches the river just below. Noble T. had six daughters and three sons — Oliver, Grant, and Henry (dead). Lyman Trowbridge settled in the south part of the township near Salt Lick Creek. He had four daughters, and four sons — Amasa, Augustus (dead), Charles, and Lafayette. Daniel and Seelye Trowbridge, who lived on the south or west side of the river, were sons of David, a brother of 0. Trowbridge, 1st. Henry Lord, originally from Maine, came from Dutchess 64 HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. County, N. Y., in 1797, and settled about half a mile south of Great Bend. The place was afterwards occupied by Asahel Avery and Jonas Brush. He had eleven children, only two of whom — Mrs. Dr. Charles Fraser and Mrs. Charles Avery, of Montrose — remained in the county, when their father removed to Yates County, N. Y., after residing here about twelve years. The same year, Jonathan Newman was constable, and Oliver Trowbridge and Samuel Hayden, supervisors. The year fol- lowing, Sylvanus Hatch was constable, Samuel Blair and Henry Lord, poor-masters; Samuel Blair, assessor. (All these offices, it will be remembered, included then a supervision of all the territory now included in Great Bend, Oakland, Harmony, and New Milford, and Jackson, Thompson, and part of Ararat; but in the last three there was then no settler.) Asa Eddy, afterwards first justice of the peace of the town- ship, offered for sale, in 1798, " six valuable farms at and near Great Bend — indisputable titles given." Facilities for travel increased. The road from Mt. Pleasant, projected in 1791, appears not to have been satisfactorily lo- cated ; for, January, 1798, Messrs. Parmeter and Hatch, Dudley Holdridge (son of Nathaniel), David Summers, Joseph Potter, and Asahel Gregory, were appointed to view and lay out the road, which, after reaching the house of Daniel Leach, ran nearly north to the Salt Lick, then to E. Corbett's, then north six miles to the ferry at Great Bend. The report of the viewers was not presented and approved until the next year. In November, 1798, J. Dimon petitioned for a road " begin- ning two miles from the ferry, and running up the river to a place called Harmony, and thence to the State line ;" also, for " a road leading from the aforesaid road across to the line above mentioned, toward a place called Ouaquaga, in the State of New York." John Hilborn, IchabodBuck, S. Blair, J. Dimon, Isaac Hale, and J. Newman, were appointed to lay out these roads. During this year, a " post" was engaged to ride from Wilkes- Barre to Great Bend once a fortnight, for the delivery of papers. A road had been laid out to " the road on the waters of the Tunkhannock," in January previous. It will be remembered that, at this time, Harmony and Great Bend as townships had no existence. In 1799, Sylvanus Hatch was a licensed " taverner at Hatch's ferry," as the location was then frequently called. A part of the old log building is still standing across the road from where the three apple trees stood, on the farm of Ozias Strong. Mr. H. did not own the log tavern, but he afterwards purchased one of the fan-shaped farms (see diagram), and kept a promi- HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. 65 nent hotel on it, below the present Methodist church. This building has recently been divided. David Brownson was constable in 1799 ; Isaac Hoyt one of the supervisors, and Thomas Bates, freeholder. Benjamin Gould was an early settler, on a part of N. Trow- bridge's form. Jonathan Dimon was one of six settlers whose farms converged at a point near the nineteenth mile-stone. Each farm had a river front, and all extended about two miles on the river, somewhat as shown by the diagram. Fig. 10. The "Fan" at Great Bend. U The original Strong farm, on which Great Bend borough is located, may have extended over Nos. 1, 2, and 3 ; but No. 1,. once occupied by Eev. D. Buck, became the farm of Jonathan and Charles Dimon ; No. 2, once that of Horatio Strong, be- longed successively to Josiah Stewart, William Thomson, Lowry Green, and W. S. Wolcott ; No. 3, once that of Sylva- nus Hatch, since owned by Truman Baldwin; No. 4, the Trowbridge farm, after O. Trowbridge left the tavern-stand of H. Strong ; No. 5, the present Gillespie farm ; No. 6, now owned by A. and D. Thomas, was once Samuel Blair's. The first three, of course, have been much divided; but a daughter of Jonathan Dimon is still a resident of part of No. 1. Sections of those owned by Hatch and Trowbridge once comprised the farm of Mrs. Andrew Johnston, the " first bride of the valley." She was the daughter of Garret Snedaker, who settled in Broome County, in 1794, and married Mr. Johnston, in September, 1796. He died in 1815, leaving her with six sons and one daughter. Mrs. J. related to the compiler, in 1869, her 66 HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. surprise on coming here from New Jersey, when a girl, at the dress of people at meetings on the Sabbath. " One young woman wore a waistcoat (without sleeves) and a petticoat ; the men wore leather coats and pantaloons." She lived in Great Bend, with her son, John B. Johnston, until her death, in V January, 1870, in her ninety-third year. In response to inquiries respecting Minna Du Bois, his grand- son, J. B. D., says: — " As near as I can learn, my ancestors of the name Du Bois left France at the time of the persecution of the Huguenots. They first fled to Germany, and afterwards came with the Germans to this country, and settled at or near Esopus, on the Hudson River. " My great-grandfather, Abraham Du Bois, received his portion on the death of his father, and moved to New Jersey. He had three sons : Abra- ham, Nicholas, and Minna. My grandfather, Minna Du Bois, was the youngest of that family. He was a wild youth, ran away, shipped and went to France. This was just before the Revolution. In the war that was then going on between France and England, my grandfather Du Bois joined the French navy. The vessel to which he belonged was captured by the Eng- lish, and he and the other prisoners were taken to England and kept as prisoners in the mountains of Wales, until the war was over. He then came home. His brother Abraham, a wealthy jeweller in Philadelphia, and a large land-owner, made him an agent and sent him to Great Bend, to take care of his landed estate in this section. Several tracts here bore the warrantee name of his son, Nicholas Du Bois. " Minna Du Bois was twice married ; Abraham was the son of his first wife ; and Jane (Mrs. Lusk), an only daughter of his last wife. The house in which the latter was born now forms a part of the Lusk House, 1 at the south end of the bridge, where Minna Du Bois kept a public house for years, and here Benajah Strong had one before him; and Abraham Du Bois, his son, after him (1812). Mr. Du Bois died March 14,1824, aged seventy years. His wife afterwards resided with her daughter in Montrose, where she died December 30, 1848, aged eighty years. "Abraham Du Bois, Esq., married, in 1811, a daughter of Joseph Bowes (Julia), who was educated at the Moravian school in Bethlehem, Pa. Their sons were : Joseph (contributor to these ' Annals'), Nicholas, James C, and William, who died in Panama. Their daughters : Mrs. Rev. J. B. McCreary, dead, Mrs. Dr. Brooks, of Binghamton, Mrs. F. P. Catlin, of Wisconsin, Mrs. Hon. S. B. Chase, and Mrs. Curtis, of Great Bend. "Abraham D. died August 1, 1867, aged eighty-one years ; and his wife died May 15, 1855, aged sixty-one." " A Talk with an Indian Doctor. By J. Du Bois.— Many years ago when I was a boy, a playmate of mine informed me that an Indian family had ar- rived at Great Bend, and had taken lodgings at the Log Tavern. Up to this time I had never seen an Indian, and my curiosity was greatly excited. I soon obtained leave of my parents to go and see the natives. I filled my pockets with knick-knacks for the young Indians, hoping thereby to gain the good-will of the older ones. " In company with another boy (for I was afraid to go alone) we proceeded to that then far-famed hotel known as the Log Tavern, and there we found 1 This place is one of the ancient landmarks. After Mr. Du Bois's death, Benjamin Taylor, Langley, Ebenezer Brown, Sen., Benjamin Miller, and Caldwell, were' its proprietors. Mr. Chaffee was first proprietor of the Lusk House. James Parmeter's well is still to be seen, in front of the hotel, across the river-road. HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. 67 an old Indian with a young squaw for a wife, and three children. The old Indian claimed to be a doctor. True, he did not bring with him innumerable 'manikins just imported from Paris,' neither did he come preceded by flam- ing posters, announcing free lectures, nor pay lectures. The Indian "doctor came unheralded, driving his own horse and wagon containing his family. He was an intelligent-looking man, over six feet in height, weight over two hundred pounds. His hair, notwithstanding his age, was shining black, neatly braided, and hung down to the middle of his back in the form of a cue. His costume, in style, was not purely Indian, but he retained the leg- gings and moccasins of the red man. The only insignia of his profession, which he carried, was the ' medicine bag,' which was an otter skin, with the fur on. The doctor had already announced his intention of remaining with us two or three months, had tendered the landlord the coin for his board in advance, saying that his principal object in coming here was once more to visit the scenes of his early youth. Although he plainly announced .the ob- ject of his visit, it was not long before many speculations and guesses were made by the curious among our citizens as to the real object of this Indian visit. Some of those observing ones had noticed that the ' medicine bag' was the receptacle of many articles not to be found in the materia medica of the white or red men, and from this fact, came to the conclusion that the title of doctor was merely assumed to hide his real object, which some said was to dig up and remove ' hidden treasures.' Others said, he had come to re-mark the localities of covered salt springs, or valuable mineral deposits. On being questioned as to his knowledge of these things, the doctor was very reticent ; this only increased the curiosity of these speculators, and they even went so far as to offer to pay the Indian well if he would disclose to them this hidden wealth, which they plainly told him they were sure he could do if he would. At last the doctor yielded to the pressure, so far as to tell them that if they would count him out seven hundred dollars in coin, he would disclose to them something worth — to use the Indian's own language — much money. Now these speculators were more anxious than ever to know what it was, whether hidden treasures, salt springs, or mineral deposits, but to these questions the Indian was silent. Then they told him he had set his figures too high, and offered him one hundred, two hundred, and finally four hundred dollars ; but all of these offers did not move the Indian. The doctor's movements were closely watched while he was here, some of these speculators thinking that they might gain by stealth what they failed to obtain by negotiation ; but the Indian was too much for them in this. Almost daily he took his rifle and went out upon our hills, but never twice in the same direction, and although the woods at that time literally swarmed with game, the doctor seldom came home laden with the fruits of the chase. The doctor had his patients, too, and it is but just to say, that those that did apply to him were well satisfied that the Indian doctor was no humbug. " The writer, anxious to learn something about the Indians that once lived in this valley, concluded to question the doctor. I again visited the Log Tavern. I found the doctor reclining on the grassy slope of the bank of the Susquehanna, near the Indian Apple Trees. Armed with a pipe and tobacco, I approached him and presented them, retreated to a respectable distance and sat down, and watched him as he drew forth the steel, the flint, and striking fire, proceeded to test the quality of the Indian weed. Boy like, I at once commenced to question him, and as he remained silent, I piled ques- tion upon question, without even waiting for an answer, not knowing at that time that an Indian never answered a question immediately, but first smokes, then thinks, and then answers. After almost exhausting my list of inquiries, I remained silent. The Indian, after puffing away at the pipe for some time, said, ' Boy want to know much, Indian tell him some. When a boy, I lived here, many Indians lived along this valley of the Susquehanna, we belonged to the Confederate Five Nations, afterwards called the Six Nations.' He then 68 HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. proceeded to state in his own language that this valley was for a long time the frontier of the Confederacy. At that time the Delaware Indians claimed all the lands up to the Susquehanna River, at the same time the Confederacy claimed to the Delaware River, the land lying between these two rivers was disputed ground, and many were the conflicts between the hunters on this disputed territory. After awhile, the Six Nations conquered the Delawares, and extended their authority as far south as the Chesapeake Bay. During the war of the Revolution, the Indians quietly withdrew from this valley, and all of them, except the Oneidas. joined the British and were nearly all ex- terminated in the battles which followed. Before the Revolution the Indians raised great crops of corn along these river flats. "'All over yonder,' said he, pointing to the hills on the soath side of the river, 'elk, elk, deer, too, plenty, very plenty, fish in this river very plenty, Indian lived well.' I asked the doctor where the Indians buried their dead ; he pointed toward Dimon's flats, saying, 'there we bury our dead.' I then told the doctor, that when the workmen were excavating the ground for northern abutment of the first Great Bend Bridge, they discovered the skele- ton of what they supposed to be a large Indian (as it was found in the sit- ting: posture), I asked him how this Indian came to be buried there. After puffing away at the pipe as if in deep thought, he replied, 'The Delaware Indian, he die in his canoe, we bury him there.' I asked him by what death did he die, but received no answer. Not being willing to give it up so, I told the doctor that this Delaware Indian, as he called him, had a large hole in his skull, to which he replied, ' Delaware bad Indian.' Pursuing my inquiry in another direction, I asked him if a hostile Indian was detected as a spy, if by their laws it was death; he answered yes. And upon inquiring he said that they never bury those belonging to another tribe with their own dead. He further said that the Three Apple Trees was the rallying point and headquarters for all the Indians in the neighborhood. Here coun- cils were held, marriages celebrated, feasts observed, war-dances performed, and the fate of prisoners decided. " At another visit the doctor said that he had greatly enjoyed his visit here in looking upon the hills and valleys where his youthful days were spent, and would soon return to his people in Canada, who were anxiously awaiting his return. When the doctor had ended his visit, many of his friends here met at the Long Tavern to bid him good-bye. The Indian doctor during his stay here made many friends, performed some remarkable cures, excited a good deal of curiosity, imparted much information about the former inhabit- ants of this valley, and with his family departed for his home in the North- west, with the best wishes of his new-made acquaintances." " An Indian Claim. — Jonathan Dimon was one of the early white settlers of this valley. He settled on the farm now owned and occupied by Mr. Carl. When Jonathan Dimon left the valley of the Hudson River, and removed to this, then called wilderness, West, his son, Charles Dimon, had not com- pleted his education, and did not come on to his father here, until some years later. A few days after his arrival, his father told him to go upon the flats and plow up an old ' Indian burying ground.' (This burying ground was located about the centre of the lately talked-of Fair Ground, and proposed Race Track, and on each side of what now remains of an old hedge.) More than thirty years ago, the writer had this narrative from our late and much esteemed fellow-townsman, Charles Dimon. He said that he felt many mis- givings about thus disturbing the burial place of the dead, and asked his lather what he should do with those curious stones that marked the last rest- ing-place of the Indians. His father told him that when he plowed up near enough to these stones to loosen them, to carefully take them up and pile them up by the fence. He said that with a heavy heart he proceeded to do as his father bade him, but would much rather have plowed elsewhere. After working awhile, his oxen needed rest ; at this time he was very near HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. 69 the bank of the river, and was sitting on his plowbeam with his back towards the river. He said that, in spite of himself, his thoughts would run on about the red men who once inhabited this valley. True, his father had told him that no Indians had been here for a long time, they had long since removed to other ' hunting grounds,' or had fallen in battle before the superior arms of the white man. He thought, and could not help thinking, what would be his fate if the Indians should happen to come along and find him plowing up the graves, and removing the stones that they had set up to mark the last resting-places of their ' fathers ?' While these thoughts were troubling him, he heard a low guttural, yet musical sound, or combination of sounds, which came from the river behind him. It was different from anything that he had ever heard. He turned his face toward the river, a screen of willows partly hid from his view objects on the river nearest to him, and as these strange sounds came nearer, he peered through the bushes and — said he to the writer — ' imagine, if you can, my feelings and surprise, when I tell you that I saw close to me a large canoe full of Indians, and this had barely passed the opening before another canoe full of Indians came in sight. I immediately unhitched the oxen and hurried out of that field, and away to the house. Being somewhat excited at what I had seen, I said to father, that I thought it very unsafe to plow in the Indian burying field while the Indians were about. Father told me to explain ; I did, by telling him what I had seen. He told me to go down to the ferry, and see if the Indians landed. I went to the ferry, which then occupied the present site of the Great Bend Bridge across the Susquehanna River. And there, at the Log Tavern, which then stood on the site of the two-story house opposite to and near the toll house, I found the Indians, about twenty in number.' A crowd of the curious soon collected, and an ' inquisitive ' Yankee soon learned from the Indian inter- preter, that they had come to claim all that strip of land lying north of the Susquehanna River, and south of the forty-second parallel of latitude, de- claring that they had never sold it, and that they wanted to meet the settlers and have a talk. This declaration of the interpreter caused the crowd to disperse in every direction to notify the settlers, and when these messengers told the settlers that a large party of Indians were at the Log Tavern, and claimed their lands, they too left their plows and wended their way to the Log Tavern, and as they came together on the way thither, they saluted each other after this manner, 'what now, what next?' here we have been trem- bling about our titles, Pennsylvania claims us, Connecticut claims us, and now, after all, here come the aborigines themselves, to claim our lands, and, if we should refuse, perhaps will take our scalps. " By evening a number of settlers had collected, and, as they had no speaker among them, they chose one for the occasion; he was a kind of backwoods lawyer of those days (his name, as well as many other interesting incidents of this meeting, have, I am sorry to say, gone from the memory of the writer). Among those early settlers that were named as having attended this meet- ing, and were interested therein, I can only remember the following : Captain Ichabod Buck, Captain Jonathan Newman, Jonathan Dimon, Sylvanus Hatch, Josiah Stewart, David Buck, Noble Trowbridge, and James New- man. After all were seated in the old Log Tavern, the speaker for the set- tlers arose, and told the Indian interpreter that all were now ready to hear the talk of their chief. "Many eyes were now turned toward the central figure of a group of noble looking Indians. But at this time some of the whites present were whisper- ing to each other, and at the same time, wondering why the chief rose not. After a while the interpreter arose, and gave these inattentive whispering whites, a just and well-merited rebuke. 'Friends,' said he, ' I perceive that you do not understand the character of the red men, when assembled in council. No Indian will rise to speak, until there is perfect silence and attention, and there is nothing he more dislikes than a whispering, inattentive audience.' 70 HISTOKY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. After this rebuke from the interpreter, silence reigned. The chief, a man of great stature and noble bearing, soon arose, and spoke in the Indian dialect, which was well interpreted, sentence by sentence, in good English, and was, as near as the writer can remember, as follows : ' Friends and brothers, once our fathers had their wigwams on these beautiful banks of the Susquehanna ; once they chased the elk, the deer, the bear, over the beautiful hills that sur- round us ; once we had full possession of this valley, and no one disputed our right. Moon after moon rolled on, and our fathers left the valley for better hunting grounds, north and west, but before they left, ' good Father Onas, (William Penn) made a treaty with our fathers, by which they sold him a large piece of land, which is called after William Penn — Pennsylvania — he gave our fathers a copy of the treaty — large paper — which, I am sorry to say, is lost. Now our learned young men tell us, that in this treaty with good father Onas, the northern line of his purchase here was the Susquehanna River, and not the forty-second parallel of north latitude, as laid down on the ' paper pictures ' — maps — of the whites. Now, brothers, we come to you as the representatives of our nation to claim this land. We believe we have never sold it. We come not to take it from you, but to sell it. Our good father Onas — William Penn — always dealt fair with the red man. We would never claim anything that was wrong of the children or friends of Onas if we knew it. When famine came upon the early friends of Onas, did not our fathers supply the wants of the starving friends of Onas, by hunting and fish- ing for them, and when bad hostile Indians troubled them, did not our fathers place the white feather of protection over the doors of their log wigwams. And while we acknowledge that bad Indians, many bad Indians, did take the king's money and fight with the king's men, our brothers will witness, and your history of the war will witness, that the nation, or that part of the nation that we represent — the Oneidas — never raised the war cry against our brothers. And now, if we have a good right to this land, we have great con- fidence in our friends, the children of our great and good father, William Penn. that they will do right and just by us. We wait your answer.' " The speaker for the settlers, after a few words in an undertone with them, made a low bow to the chief, and to the other members of the delegation who sat on each side of their chief, in the form of a semicircle, said: ' Friends and brothers, we are pleased with the words of the noble chief who has so eloquent- ly spoken. The settlers, who now surround me, have chosen me to answer the chief. They desire me to thank him, and the other braves who sit before us, for the kind and pacific manner in which their great chief has set forth their claim to this part of the land we occupy, and upon which we have built our wigwams. They also desire me to say, that they are not ignorant that those that you represent were always the friends of our good father, William Penn, and have always proved true to his friends, and shall always cherish in remembrance those kind offices of our red brethren in times past. And here, almost under the shade of the three ' Old Indian Apple Trees,' planted by your fathers, we pledge ourselves anew to our red brothers, that nothing arising out of your present claim shall mar the peace or lessen the friendship that has so long existed between us. We are very sorry, however, to inform you that our ' head man,' Judge William Thomson, is away on a long jour- ney, and as to your rights to this land, we must confess that we are ignorant. We settled here holding the titles to our lands under the charter of William Penn, never doubting his knowledge as to the extent of his purchase of your fathers. When our ' head man ' returns, and it should prove that our good father, and your good father, Onas, was mistaken, and that your fathers never parted with this land, we pledge ourselves, as the honest descendants of the good William Penn, to buy of you these lands, on which we have settled and built our wigwams. If our brothers will tarry with us until our 'head man' returns, which will be in eight or ten days, the hospitalities of this Log Tav- ern shall be yours, without cost to you, and in the mean time you can amuse HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. 71 yourselves, perhaps, in hunting the deer on these beautiful hills, where once your fathers trod. And if our brothers desire it, we will join you in the chase. But if you cannot gratify us in this, but must sooner return to your own peo- ple, then we pledge ourselves again, that you shall hear from us when our head man returns.' " The interpreter of the Indians, after consulting with the delegates, said, that, in behalf of his companions, he returned many thanks for the very kind answer, and for their pressing invitation to remain and enjoy the hospitalities of their friends ; but,' said he, ' we are compelled to deny ourselves this great enjoyment. Business at the Council House of the Six Nations demands our return, where among our own people they would await a letter from our head man, and there would invoke their Great Spirit — your Great God — to shower blessings upon the head of the friends of William Penn.' "The next day these Indians left for their homes in Northern New York. When Judge Thomson returned, the settlers soon acquainted him with this new claim to their lands. Judge Thomson sent to the capital of the State, for a certified copy of William Penn's treaty with the Indians. In due time the Judge received a fac-simile copy of said treaty, and many of our citizens of that day had the pleasure of seeing and examining this copy of Penn's treaty with the Indians, before the Judge forwarded the same to the Council House of the Six Nations. This copy was described to the writer, as a great curiosity. The names of all the chiefs were plainly written out, and at the termination of each name was the sign manual or mark of the chief; at the eud of one name was a bow, another an arrow, another a bow and arrow crossed, another deers' horns, another a deer's head and horns, another the form of a new moon, etc. etc., each name having a different mark representing their implements of war, hunting, game, trophies, etc. "This treaty plainly fixed the northern boundary of our State on the forty- second parallel of north latitude, thus dissipating the fears of the settlers. This copy of Penn's treaty, Judge Thomson forwarded to the address left by the Indians, since which time, neither our fathers, nor we of the second or third generation, have heard anything more about the Indians' claim to these lands." Almon Munson, a carpenter, came May, 1800. The next year he brought food for his family from Tioga Point, in a canoe. In 1800 Major Trowbridge was Collector of State Revenue for Wheelingboro' and " Nine Partners." About this time Oliver Trowbridge and others petitioned for "a road from the plantation of Ichabod Buck (at Red Rock), extending up the river to the north line of the State," and also, one " from the north line, on the east side of the Susquehanna, down the same to Abner Comstock's to a fording, thence across the river, to intersect the first mentioned road, near the plantation of William Smith." Simeon Wylie and David Brownson were the viewers. In 1801, still another road, or marked path at least, was gained, " from the north line of the State near the seventeenth mile-stone, down to the road that leads from Great Bend to Harmony." The taxables of "Wheelingboro"' this year were ninety, and the amount of tax, $810.59 ; David Brownson, Assessor ; S. Blair and S. Hatch, assistants. (The compiler cannot explain the fact that the tax, in 1803, was but $70.) 72 HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. There were then three slaves in the town : one was owned by Jonathan Dimon, another by David Barnura, and a third by Anna Newman. There were two " Phesitions"— Noah Kincaid and Asa Corn- well. The innkeepers were : David Summers, Eobert Corbett, James Parmeter, and Sylvanus Hatch. Each of the latter two owned half a ferry. Jonathan Cunningham had a ferry opposite the present Trow- bridge farm. It was called " the lower ferry." Mr. Du Bois says of this : — "James Parmeter's ferry having become very profitable, another pioneer built a house on the opposite side of the river; and he too built a ferry boat, and opened an opposition ferry. As the road through here was fast becoming a great thoroughfare, both of these ferrymen made money. In the winter season, they found it difficult to cross with boats, owing to the floating ice in the middle of the river. As the country along the Susquehanna was mostly a wilderness, our river did not freeze entirely over as readily as now. Strong ice would form along each shore for four or five rods in width, the middle of the stream remaining for a long time open. These ferrymen would then pro- ceed to build an ice bridge after this manner : After measuring the distance from the solid ice on each side of the river, they would commence immedia- tely above, and laying out the width and length they would saw out of the solid shore ice a bridge, and, holding fast one end, would swing the other end across the open chasm till it rested against the solid ice on the other side ; then by dipping water from the river in freezing weather they soon formed a strong and safe bridge for teams to pass, the travellers freely paying toll for crossing this ice bridge. This ferry was kept up until the fall of 1814, when the first Great Bend Bridge was completed." The " merchants" on the tax list for 1801 were D. Barnum (not here three years later) and S. Hatch ; the blacksmiths, Philo demons and Jonathan Newman; cordwainer, Abner Eddy. William Campbell, Joel Hull, and Eli Nichols appear as new taxables. Tench Francis, landholder, was taxed for 13,158 acres. Un- improved land was valued at fifty cents per acre. The sum of one hundred and fifty dollars was drawn from the county treasury for the erection of bridges over the large creeks of this town. Asa Eddy was justice of the peace when all Luzerne County, then including Susquehanna, Bradford, and Wyoming, besides the most of its present territory, had but ten justices. His jurisdiction extended over more than half of what is now Sus- quehanna County, as it was composed of Nicholson, Willing- borough, and Lawsville, in their original extent. The whole number of taxables in his district was two hundred and eighty- six. Eush, as a justice's district, containing one hundred and three taxables, occupied the remaining part of our territory HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. 73 (Isaac Hancock, J. P.), with the exception of a fraction of Braintrim. In 1802, a road was viewed from the settlement near the mouth of the Snake Creek to Great Bend, four miles. Timothy Pickering, Jr., was one of the viewers of another road in Wil- lingborough about the same time. No portion of the county, at this period, was so well provided with roads, such as they were, and still the river was the great highway. Ichabod Buck, Rufus Lines, and Hezekiah Leach, were ap- pointed supervisors of this district in 1803. Jason Wilson, early in the century, was located near the east line of Liberty. Jotham French was here in 1804. At the same time, Marmaduke Salsbury lived on the south side of the Susquehanna River, at the mouth of Mitchell's Creek. He afterwards moved to Harmony, now Susquehanna Depot. C. Longstreet had come from New Milford to the ferry-house. Elections were held here. The total vote for Congressman, in 1804, was one hundred and thirty-nine. In 1805, orders drawn on the treasurer of Luzerne, by the supervisors of Willingboro', amounted to one hundred and seventy-nine dollars. In 1806, Nicholson was made a separate district; Willing- borough and Lawsville were still in one. Hitherto, great indefi- niteness appears to have existed in Wilkes-Barre, as to the locality of persons in either of these sections, persons in Great Bend being placed in Nicholson, and vice versa. Wilkes-Barre post-office received letters for persons at Great Bend. New Milford township was erected, August, 1807, and then the taxables of Willingborough were reduced to thirty-one, though still including those of Harmony and Oakland. It is just possible Wm. Preston, a taxable of 1801, was on the Strong farm, after Sylvanus Hatch, and before Josiah Stewart, but it is certain the latter had occupied it prior to 1807. An advertisement appeared in the Luzerne 'Federalist,' in April of the same year, which runs thus: — "To be sold, a valuable plantation at the Great Bend of the Susquehanna, by Josiah Stewart. -The public terry appertains to the farm, which has also an orchard of two hundred bearing trees. The turnpike from Newburgh yj crosses to the State line." From the Bend, Mr. Stewart moved to where McKinney's Mills are; then to Snake Creek, within half a mile of the State line, where he built and run a saw-mill, then returned to Great Bend, and afterwards to Windsor. Elections were held at his house after the organization of Susquehanna County. In connection with a sketch of Josiah Stewart, given by Mr. Du Bois, his remarks respecting the ancestors of Mr. S., at Wyoming, though a digression here, may be allowed as a part 74 HISTORY OP SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. of the history of the county with which our settlers were still connected in 1807. "Among those that left Forty Fort, on the morning of the great battle and massacre, were Captain Lazarus Stewart and his son Lieut. Lazarus Stewart, Jr. Captain Stewart had often before led the settlers against their Pennamite foes, in their murderous raids against the Connecticut settlers, and was fitly chosen to command a company, in this their day of trial. His son Lieut. Lazarus Stewart, Jr., also, as lieutenant, commanded a company; both were slain fighting bravely at the head of their men, and terrible indeed was that fearful struggle. That noble band of heroes, numbering three hun- deed, fought not only for their own lives, but for the lives and safety of their wives and dear ones who had fled to the forts for safety, and were now trembling with fear lest the tide of battle should turn against their only protectors. But these brave men were doomed ; they were greatly out-num- bered, out-flanked, and surrounded, and an indiscriminate massacre followed. The Indians were stimulated by promises of gold and plunder to deeds of terrible cruelty. Few families in the valley suffered more than the Stewarts on that bloody day. Josiah Stewart, a son of Lieut. Lazarus Stewart, Jr., and a grandson of Captain Lazarus Stewart, too young to engage in the terrible strife of that fearful day, escaped the slaughter that followed, and afterwards settled on the Susquehanna Eiver, at Great Bend, and at one time owned and occupied what was afterwards known as the " Thomson Farm," upon which Great Bend Borough is now located. Josiah Stewart came here at an early day, and although not wealthy, was an enterprising citizen, had something to do in building, and at one time owned our first grist-mill, and built one of the first saw-mills in the neighborhood. His family consisted of his wife, and three sons — Lazarus, the eldest (named after his grandfather, Captain Lazarus Stewart, who fell in the Wyoming massa- cre), Charles, and Espy. His daughters were Hannah, Pattie, Betsey, and Frances. Mr. Stewart believed in the education of the youth of our country, especially females. On them (he used to say), as teachers and mothers, the future welfare of our country depended ; and, acting upon this belief, he gave his daughters as good an education as his means would warrant, and some of your readers will remember the days of log school-houses and slab-benches, and with what fidelity and perseverance, as school-teachers, Hannah, Pattie, Betsey, and Frances Stewart labored to educate the children of the early settlers. As to his sons, Mr. Stewart used to say that they must get along- through the world with less education, as they, in all probability, as pioneers, would have to rough it, as he and his father had done. This saying, as to his sons, proved prophetic. Lazarus, the eldest, not finding a place on this continent that suited him to settle upon, took to the sea. Charles, after living in the neighborhood several years, moved to the West as a pioneer. Espy, the youngest son, following the tide of emigration westward, never rested until from the western slope of the Rocky Mountains he saw before him that great barrier to further western progress, the Pacific Ocean. He settled in California. "Josiah Stewart had one peculiarity which the writer never noticed in any other person, that of sleeping in a standing position. If he could touch one shoulder to a tree, or to the wall of a room, he would sleep as soundly in an upright position, as if reclining upon a bed of down. Perhaps he acquired this habit from standing sentinel in Wyoming Valley, in those troublous times, and watching the Pennamites on the one hand, and the Indians on the other, while the older and more able-bodied members were laboring in the fields ; for it is a well-known fact that in those days, those that were not old enough to labor were thus posted as sentinels, to give warning of the approach of their enemies. Young Stewart thus stood and watched hour HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. 75 after hour, until exhausted nature sought repose in balmy sleep ; and yet he kept his position of apparent watchfulness. " Mr. Stewart lived to a good old age. His life was a life of usefulness as a citizen, and as a pioneer he labored hard to smooth the way for those who should come after him. He died in the adjoining town of Windsor, N. Y., at the residence of his son, Charles Stewart." In 1807, William Thomson, afterwards an associate judge of Susquehanna County for many years, came to Great Bend and purchased the farm advertised by Josiah Stewart, the oldest cultivated farm in the township. He was a native of Scotland. He filled several important offices, the duties of which he per- formed with ability and fidelity. He had a large estate which lie had accumulated by industry and economy, and which he bequeathed to needy friends. He died January 30, 1842, in his seventy-eighth year. His house formed a wing of the National Hotel, which was burned December 13, 1869. Samuel Blair, Alexander McDonald, Daniel and Harvey Curtis, Thomas Newell, James Clark (one mile south of the village), Moses Foster (three miles ditto), James Gould, Morris Jackson, David Buck, and Charles Fraser were all here before November, 1807. Dr. Charles Fraser, a native of Connecticut, came to Great Bend from Sangerfield, Oneida County, N. Y. With but temporary absence, he resided at Great Bend, as a practicing physician, until the fall of 1812. Being then elected to fill the offices of prothonotary, register and recorder, he removed to Montrose. Previous to 1807 Joseph Bowes, an Englishman, came to Great Bend, and erected a large house (dwelling and store) on the south bank of the Susquehanna River, the present resi- dence of Dr. B. Patrick. It has been used as a church and a seminary, and is rich in local historical associations. 1 Dr. Eleazar Parker came to Great Bend August, 1807. He was commissioned, February, 1808, the first postmaster in Sus- quehanna County. (See Physicians.) J. J. Way was a taxable of 1807. Asahel Avery, Sr., and family came from their farm (now Woodbourne) and located one-half mile south of the ferry. 1 The residence of Dr. E. Patrick was burned on the niglit of the 9th Decem- ber, 18G9. It had not been occupied for some time, and the origin of the fire could not have been accidental. This time-honored building, erected in 1805, was so substantially built that it still retained its "youthful appearance" — and together with the beautiful grounds and shrubbery by which it was surrounded, made it an ornament to the village. Many persons will remember it as the residence of Mrs. Jane A. Lusk, formerly of Montrose, whose noble life and, character are still as fresh and green as the evergreens that cover her tomb, in sight of the smouldering ashes of her hospitable home — made beautiful and attractive by her own hands. After this house had ceased to be used for school purposes, it stood empty a long time until the Erie Railroad was constructing, when Nicholas Du Bois occupied it. 76 HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. November, 1808, Dr. R. H. Rose petitioned for a road from Silver Lake to Great Bend, which was granted June, 1809. In the mean time he had purchased of the Francis estate lands extending from the river to the State line, and also west and south of the river, in the vicinity of Great Bend. He laid out the latter in village lots, and in accordance with his wish, the road following the river for a short distance from the Bowes mansion was vacated. Captain Benjamin Case removed from Newburgh, N. Y., with his family, in 1808, to Great Bend. After a few years he removed to Warren, Pa., where, " as one of the pioneers of this then remote section, he pitched his tent, and aided in the work of civilization and progress, and where, after a life of honor and usefulness, he was gathered to his fathers." His son, Benjamin T., married in Warren, and, in 1816, removed to Montrose. Mr. Joseph Backus, now of Bridgewater, says of himself in 1809 :— "Being then a lad of seventeen, I was wending my way from the land of steady habits, in company with Captain Gifford, who was on his way hither to visit his friends, who had previously emigrated to this then uncultivated wilderness. Having reached Great Bend, crossed the river, and stopped to feed at Du Bois's Hotel, while we were waiting for the team to feed, a com- pany from Bridgewater came out there for the purpose of trading with Mr. Bowes, the merchant — quite a common occurrence in those days, there being then only one small mercantile establishment where Montrose now stands, kept by Isaac Post, on the very spot where Koon now keeps. I believe he also kept public house, and I think that that and one other house were the only tenements where Montrose now stands. This company proved to be some of the very friends the captain was coming to visit, so you can imagine the pleasure of meeting; and they manifested it by postponing their return, crossed the river to Hatch's, took dinner, spent the afternoon right merrily, and were ready to start home about sundown ; a bitter cold night, snow about three feet deep. Of course we had to occasionally warm, first at Bar- num's, then at Dr. Cornell's grandfather's, on the farm now owned by C. B*. Lathrop, in Bridgewater; no inconvenience in those Asljs, for every family kept large fires all night, and the latch-string always out. "Asahel Avery, father of Squire Avery, of Montrose, Captain John Bard, Edward Fuller, afterwards sheriff of the county, and Benjamin Lathrop, then a young man, having lately entered the matrimonial state with the daughter of said A. Avery, and afterwards major in the militia and judge of the county court, constituted the company. About midnight we reached the house of Mr. Fuller, the terminus of our ride, on the farm where James Knapp now lives, and I believe the southern limit of Bridgewater township, but then the central point, for town-meetings and elections were held there for some time after." In 1810, Harmony was set off from Willingborough, and the latter was then reduced to six miles square, the present size of Great Bend. Joseph Stewart's fulling mill was advertised for business as early as 1811. Colonel Jeremiah Baker came to Great Bend in 1812. He HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. 77 was a tanner, and tanned in the swamp on the land now owned by Isaac Van Nosdale. He afterwards kept a store in the house long occupied by Rev. J. B. McCreary, and in Samuel Dayton's farm-house. He died at McKinney's Mills. A published remi- niscence of the early times says: — " Mr. Bowes, father of Joseph (Bowes) and grandfather of Ira Corbett's wife, was the sole merchant at the Bend. Soon afterwards Colonel Jeremiah Baker owned a small tannery and store. Several houses had by this time been put up and families moved in. A young stranger (Harrison, a watch- maker) came into the place and put up a grocery where the National Hotel now stands ; he boarded with Squire Lyman T. Trowbridge's father, then living at that place. An incident occurred connected with this young man which created considerable excitement. Some ducks were in the river, and he sent Augustus Trowbridge, then a boy, for his gun ; upon receiving it, he blowed in the barrel, and supposing it was not loaded pointed it at the boy, and was about to snap it, but the boy, being afraid, ran away. The young man then went to the house, and Trowbridge's two daughters, young ladies, wished to learn how to shoot a gun ; he raised the hammer, placed the muzzle to his head, and told one of the young ladies to pull the trigger, which she did ; the gun proved to be loaded and blew his brains out. He fell with his head between the andirons in the fireplace." Asahel Avery was appointed justice of the peace of Wil- lingborough, in 1812, by Governor Synder. Reckhow, father of the late Isaac Reckhow, came in 1814. The latter occupied a seat in the State Legislature, and was for fifteen years an efficient justice. Taylortown was settled by William Taylor (father of the late Jonathan Taylor of Lanesborough). He died February, 1851, aged seventy-one; his widow, in 1864, aged seventy-five. " Organization of the First Great Bend Bridge Company. — In the year 1812, the citizens of Great Bend petitioned our Legislature for a charter to build a bridge. An act was passed in February, 1812, and approved by Simon Snyder, then governor of our State. Under this act, Samuel Hodgdon and John B. Wallace, of Philadelphia, and Win. Thomson, Sylvanus Hatch, Robert H. Bose, Minna Du Bois, and Richard Barnum, of the county of Susquehanna, were appointed commissioners to open books of subscription for the stock of said company, in pursuance of the act to authorize the governor to incorporate a company for erecting a bridge over the Susque- hanna River at Great Bend, where the ferry was then kept, opposite the houses of Abraham Du Bois and Sylvanus Hatch, in the district of Willing- boro,' and county and district of Susquehanna. " These commissioners did not get sufficient stock taken and paid in, to warrant building until the spring of 1814. The first meeting of stockholders was held February 10, 1814. William Thomson was chosen chairman, and James Newman, secretary, and Samuel Blair, Joseph Bowes, and David Summers, were chosen as judges of the election of managers. The follow- ing were elected : Samuel Blair, James Newman, Noble Trowbridge, John Maynard, Minna Du Bois, and Daniel Lyon. Joseph Bowes was chosen treasurer, James Newman, secretary. At this meeting proposals were re- ceived for building the first Great Bend bridge. The contract was awarded to Peter Burgot, of Oxford, N. Y. " September 14, 1814, the following persons were appointed to inspect the new bridge, to see if it was completed according to contract : Joseph Bowes, David Buck, and Haynes Johnson — bridge accepted. 78 HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. "At the same meeting', Christopher; Longstreet was appointed to and accepted the office of toll gatherer and gate-keeper. On the third day of March, 1822, this first bridge was destroyed by an ice freshet, was rebuilt the same summer, by the brothers, Charles and Zedic Chamberlin. On the 19th of January, 1832, this second bridge was destroyed by an ice freshet, and was rebuilt the following summer by Abraham Du Bois. In the spring of 1846, this third bridge was destroyed by an ice freshet, and in the summer following, the present covered bridge was completed by Reuben C. Brock and Joseph Du Bois, to whom this contract was awarded." The projectors and patrons of an enterprise of such lasting- benefit to the people of Great Bend, and scarcely less to those living at great distances from it, should not be forgotten. Subscribers to the Stock of the Great Bend Bridge, September 7, 1812.— William Thomson, Sophia Luce, Almon Munson, John J. Storm, Minna Du Bois, Wm. Luce, David Crocker, Storm Rosa, Samuel Blair, Thad. Mason, Peter Burgot, Abraham Storm, Abraham Du Bois, Adam Burwell, Isaac Rosa, James Newman, Asahel Avery, Daniel Sneden, Sylvns. Hatch, Emery Carey, John Maynard, Dav. Summers, N. Trowbridge, John Hilborn, Jeremiah Baker, Rufus Fish, Hezek. Leach, Joseph Bowes, Isaac D. Luce, John Fish, Daniel Lyon, Frederick Henn. Amount subscribed by the above, $6000. All of the above named have passed away. Ebenezer Brown, a carpenter, came from Orange County, N. Y., and assisted in building the bridge three times. He was an associate of the hunter, Joe Fish, on his success- ful excursions after the wild animals that were the vexation of the farmers. At one time they caught three young wolves, and carried them home in a bag, and, the following day, they killed the old wolf. Eattlesnakes were another pest. Mrs. Brown (now living) was once picking berries on Strong Hill, and sat down to rest on a ledge, from which she was warned to flee, and it was well she heeded, as twenty-one rattlesnakes were found under the same rocks that day. Ebenezer B. died in 1871. Mrs. B. says : " In the spring of 1821, John McKinney's, where is now Mcintosh's, was the only house on Main Street south of Minna Du Bois's hotel. He afterwards built what is now a part of the Mansion House. This store was separate, nearer the bridge. " Colonel Baker owned the McCreary place, and immediately west of it, Putnam Catlin, Esq., lived. Mr. Bowes had then left the house next below. " Sylvanus Hatch then kept the block (or log) tavern near the bridge, and Judge Thomson's house was the only house between that and Noble Trow- bridge's." On the 4th of July, 1822, there was a grand dinner in the orchard by the log tavern. The oration was in the school- house, on the south side of the river, and the orator was so drunk, there was considerable excitement in the audience. HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. 79 They went back to Hatch's, to dance. The ball-room was reached by stairs so narrow the company passed in single file, and dancing was confined to the centre of the room, as the roof sloped so on the sides that a person could not there stand upright. There was room only for "French fours." Blind Joe (white), the fiddler, was always along. Isaac Stoddard and wife, from Litchfield County, Connecticut, in 1816, were among the very earliest settlers of Locust Hill. He died in 1853, aged eighty-two; she died in 1856, aged eighty. They had a large family. CHURCHES AND SCHOOLS. Sixteen members of the families who came to the vicinity of Great Bend in 1788 were church members. These were, Eev. Daniel Buck and wife, Ichabod Buck and wife, Stephen Murch and wife, Thomas Bates and wife, Deacon (before he came) Strong and wife, Deacon Merryman and wife, Deacon Jonathan Bennett and wife, Jonathan Bennett, Jr., and Bishop Merryman. There occurred a religious revival among them in 1789. Deacon Asa Adams was an early and a very exemplary member. All were very strict in the observance of the Sabbath. They would not carry a gun in hunting for the cows on the Sabbath, though wild animals were then frequently encountered. Tradition speaks of "the famous Buck controversy" in 1790, as causing a division in the heretofore pleasant unity of the set- tlement, and a long-continued soreness of feeling between indi- viduals which is said to have manifested itself at "raisings," and those siding with the minister were called the church party, and the other the Murch party, the latter being the accusers. It is true that at one time there was a controversy between Mr. Buck and another minister before a ministerial association, respecting a similar charge, that is, false statements; but Mr. B. is said in this instance to have exculpated himself. Eev. Seth Williston, a missionary from Connecticut, preached occasionally at Great Bend early in the " nineties," and was. probably one of the " two ministers from Connecticut" who formed, about 1792, a Congregational Church — the first church in the county. We are told that in 1798 it numbered forty members, including the " Lower Settlement," now Conklin, N.Y. A reorganization took place in 1802. In common with other Congregational churches of the county, it afterwards became Presbyterian in government. The following statement of John B. Buck was published in 1869 :— 80 HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. " Early Public Worship. — Seventy-five years ago, there was a log dwell- ing-house north of where the Erie Depot now stands, at Great Bend, used as a place of worship. The congregation was scattered up and down the river, in cabins. The only means of getting from here was by canoes. They went as far as the rift or rapids, where they left their canoes, and walked past the rapids, then took passage in a large canoe around by my father's. For dinner, they carried milk in bottles, and mush. They listened to one sermon in the forenoon, and then came back to canoe and ate dinner, then went back to second service ; Daniel Buck was minister. In summer this was their means of travel. " With increase of families the means of communication increased. In winter, there was no other way save by foot-paths. For many years there were no denominations save Presbyterians. About seventy years ago, the Methodists began an influence about two miles from here. Everybody espoused Methodism, men, women, and children. They frequently walked from five to six miles to be present at prayer meetings. " My sisters were at one of the prayer meetings, and, as an evidence of the change in the spirit, understanding, and manners of the people, I give lan- guage used in two of the prayers on that occasion. The reader will bear in mind that this was seventy years ago, and that the people were poor, and had little of the means or knowledge of the present day. I do not conceive that either of the individuals mentioned cherished a wrong spirit toward their fel- lows, but their language gives an illustration of the strength of party spirit at that time. " Elder Lewis said, ' Send the mind of the people up the river down to me, and the people down the river (the Presbyterians) may go to hell, and I care not.' " Mrs.' Stid, at the same meeting, said : ' Lord, take Capt. Buck by the nape of the neck and shake him over hell until his teeth chatter like a raccoon.' "' Mr. Buck elsewhere states : — " The school-houses of those early days were exceedingly primitive. They were built of logs ; the seats made of slabs, with legs inserted in two-inch augur-holes for supports, and without backs. The desks for writing were along the wall, and when the lads and lasses practised at writing, they sat with their backs to the school. The rooms were warmed by a fireplace, and in these rude shelters the religious meetings were held and the early churches established. A school-house was afterwards built upon the ground now occu- pied by Mr. McKiuney's store. It was used for a long time for a meeting- house. Previously, we had used Mr. Strong's dwelling-house, which stood a few rods north of the water-tank." The first district school was taught in 1800, by Alba Dimon. Abijah Barnes taught in 1801, in a room of a log dwelling vacated for the purpose. The first singing school was taught by Almon Munson in the chamber of Judge Thomson's house, or what was afterwards his. Eeligious meetings were sometimes held in Esq. Dimon's barn. 1 This prayer is said to have been used by another in reference to one then present, who took it all in good part, since to the offending portion was added, " But don't drop him in, Lord ! don't drop him in, for he's precious." HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. 81 The following is J. Du Bois's account of " The First School-house. — The early settlers of this valley, to their honor, let it ever be remembered, felt it their duty at a very early day of its settlement to build a respectable edifice, in which they could educate the rising generation, and in which they could meet to worship God. They not only felt it their duty, but they at once acted in the matter by calling a meet- ing, at which a committee was appointed to circulate subscriptions to raise funds for the purpose of building a house, not only large enough to hold all the children in the township, but large enough to accommodate all the people of the valley who wanted to meet for worship. A subscription was drawn up, signed and circulated, and another meeting was held to hear the report of the subscription committee. The amount of subscriptions was reported. Many of the subscribers were then living in log houses, with roofs made by slabs split out of logs by hand, and others with roofs made of the boughs of the hemlock. Yet, at this meeting, it was resolved that this first house which they were about to build and dedicate to these noble purposes, should be a frame building sided with sawed pine siding, and shingled with good pine shin- gles, to be fourteen feet between joists, and twenty by forty feet on the ground, and to be finished in a workmanlike manner. One of the settlers proposed that a belfry and steeple should adorn the building. This proposition was objected to on the ground that the amount subscribed would not warrant this additional expense. The individual proposing this then arose and said that, as he was desirous of seeing at least one thing in this valley pointing heaven- ward, if they would build a spire he would add ten dollars to his subscription ; a lady present then arose and said that she would add ten dollars ; others followed suit, and the matter was soon decided in favor of a steeple. The- windows were to be large, and Gothic in style, and a pulpit was to be built in the north end of the building; a porch was to cover the entrance, and as the house was to face the street, the spire was to be on the centre of the building. Large swinging partitions divided the interior of the house in the middle, when used for school purposes, but were hoisted and kept in position by sup- ports, when used for church purposes. This house was to be free to all denominations of worshippers. After the above plan this house was built. The steeple ou this first house of worship, built at Great Bend, displayed good architectural design, and ornamental finish, and was painted white ; but I am sorry to have to record the fact that neither the fathers nor their de- generate sons ever painted the body of this otherwise fine building. But in it many youth were educated, and many a sinner, convicted of his great in- gratitude to a kind and ever-merciful God, was pointed heavenward for relief, by the faithful teacher and preacher. As the roads were very rough in those days, most of the worshippers came to meeting on horseback, often two riding on one horse. As we had no settled ministers of that time, Captain Ichabod Buck, a soldier of the Revolution, of the Presbyterian faith, when there was no pi'eacher present, always opened the meeting by reading a por- tion of God's Word, and by prayer. William Buck, his son, led the choir in singing, after which Captain Buck read a selected sermon, and invariably closed the meeting by calling on Deacon Asa Adams, another soldier of the Revolution, for the closing prayer." In this school-house the first Sabbath school was started, June 1st, 1817 or '18, at the suggestion of Elijah, son of Captain I. Buck. The first teachers were Miss Jane Du Bois (Mrs. Lusk) and a Miss Stewart. Harford had set the example, after Eev. Ebenezer Kingsbury and Captain Buck had attended the Presbytery, where they 6 82 HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. listened to an account of what Eobert Eaikes had done in Eng- land. A very sad state of things appears to have existed prior to 1815. Infidelity was then very prevalent and outspoken. " Some prominent infidels had secured such an interest in our house of worship," says one narrator, " that they could control the house ; they then turned the church out, and for some time after they met there on the Sabbath and read infidel works. One of the most active men in this was then a justice of the peace ; in some way he offended one of his infidel friends, who, to retaliate, sent a formal complaint against the " Esq." to the governor of the State, accusing him of turning a Christian congregation out of their house of worship, and of publicly reading infidel works on the Sabbath. " The governor took away bis commission, and this put a stop to these public meetings." But the feeling towards Christians was exhibited still in words such as : " In a little while there will not be ropes enough to hang Christians in America." It is glory enough for one Sabbath school, that quite a num- ber of children from some of these infidel families attended, and, prior to 1821, had become hopefully pious. After Mr. Buck, there was no regular minister until about this time, Kev. O. Hill supplied the pulpit, then Eev. Moses Jewell and Kev. J. B. McCreary. Deacon John McKinney and Abraham Du Bois, Esq., built the present Presbyterian church. Elder Dimock organized the Baptist church, October 27, 1825. Deacon Daniel Lyons alone built the meeting-house. Elder Frederick was the first minister. The services, for some time prior to this date of their suspension, were conducted by Deacon Lyons, who had a prejudice against singing, which he maintained with a spirit equal to that exhibited by his father, David Lyons, — one of the " Boston Tea Party" in 1773 — but his success only contributed to the scattering of the flock. Yery recently (sum- mer of 1872) the Baptist organization has been revived here. The Episcopalians held service in the old Bowes mansion before they built a church on the borough side of the river. The ministers of this denomination have been: Eevs. Messrs. Long, Skinner, Eeese, Bowers, Scott, Hickman, Day, Loup, and Jerome. The dedication of St. Lawrence Catholic chapel took place July 1869. The laying of the corner-stone of the M. E. church in August, 1869, was conducted with Masonic ceremonies. The building was finished at an expense of $10,500, and was a model house of worship. But — fire has laid it low. ' The people, however, with commendable spirit, are already rearing another upon its site. Mr. Joseph Backus contributed the following, in 1870, to the Montrose ' Eepublican.' It refers to 1811, when the school- house mentioned above may have been burned down. It stood at the present railroad crossing on Church Street. A second school-house was also burned on the same spot. HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. 83 " At the age of nineteen I had an invitation to teach school at Great Bend, accepted ; went there and found no school-house, but a vacant dwelling on the farm of Jonathan Dimon was obtained, and, having passed a formal examina- tion before said Dimon and Adam Burwell, I was duly installed in my new domicile, a written agreement drawn up by which each was to pay for what he signed or sent, specified terms, three months, four weeks each, five and a half days each week, at the exorbitant price of eight dollars per month. Settlers being scarce, scholars came quite a distance, from as far up the river as Cap- tain Ichabod Buck's. I recollect boarding there, but the names of the chil- dren have escaped my memory. Silas and Hiram Buck, of another family, I well remember. They were somewhat my senior, and were very agreeable companions, especially Silas, whose mild and genial temperament would win friends at all times and in all places. I was much pleased when I saw the notice of a surprise party at his widow's for her benefit. 1 My services being appreciated, the proprietors agreed to build a school-house if I would serve the ensuing winter — wages raised to ten dollars. I did so, and the house being located farther down the river, brought a new set of scholars from both sides of the river, enlarging the circle of my acquaintances and friends. " Early in 1831, the Bowes Mansion was converted into a fe- male seminary and boarding school, the first Principal of which disgraced the "Eev." prefixed to his name. In the fall of 1832, James Catlin and Miss Lucretia Loomis had charge of the institution. When the latter left for Montrose, it was changed to an academy, and only male students were invited, J. Corwin, Principal. A good normal school is now sustained in Great Bend Bo- rough. "In Great Bend there are five public burial places. The oldest, called the 'Potter's Field,' on the south side of the river, was so named because many strangers have been buried there. It was given as a free ground by Eobert H. Eose, one of the first land-holders of the township, then known as Willingboro. It contained ten acres, and was given to Charles Dimon and Wra. Thomson as trustees. Next, the ground known as the Newman burying ground, one mile southeast of the Brie Depot. This is a beautiful spot, well laid out. Jason Treadwell, the murderer of Oliver Harper, the only person ever executed in Susquehanna County, lies in this ground, with nothing but the senseless turf to mark the spot. There are churchyards adjoining the Pres- byterian and Episcopal churches, where many of the oldest in- habitants are buried. The ground near the Presbyterian church was given by Dominicus (Minna) Du Bois, and that near the Episcopal church by Wm. Thomson. The only really attractive place is Woodlawn Cemetery, one mile east of the town." 1 Mr. Backus refers to the following newspaper item : — "A party of eight old ladies, all widows, made Mrs. Silas Buck an old-fashioned visit on Tuesday of this week. Their united ages were six hundred and forty- one years, the eldest being ninety-two years of age, and the youngest seventy- seven. They were all of Great Bend." 84 HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. The following newspaper item from Great Bend appeared in =171 r— 1871:— " ' Only waiting till the shadows are a little longer grown, Only waiting till the glimmer of the day's last beam is flown.' " There are seven of them, in our little borough, good old mothers, whose united ages amount in the aggregate to 579 years. Here are their names in rotation, from youngest to oldest; Mrs. Silas Buck, Howe, Denison, Leavens- worth, Stephens, Wm. Buck, Lydia Thurston." — One year later, and the second and fifth on the list were done with " waiting" forever. J GREAT BEND BOROUGH Is about three-fourths of a mile in length, and between one- quarter and one-half of a mile in width. It has four streets par- allel with the river and east of it, with five streets running east and west. It was incorporated November, 1861. It had then within its limits "two railroad depots, one large tannery, three hotels, and a large number of stores, shops, and dwelling- houses, and about seven hundred inhabitants. The ground for the Erie Eailroad was broken at Great Bend in 1847, and late in December, 1848, it was finished to Bing- hamton. The State of New York had agreed to appropriate $100,000 to the road on condition it should be finished to Binghamton by January 1st, 1849. The company run their first train through in time to secure the appropriation. John McKinney built his storehouse just previous, and it was at his platform the first trains stopped. The first superintendent of the road was Kirkwood ; Mr. E. J. Loder succeeded him, and the station at Great Bend was first named after him — Lodersville — the name also of the post-office, while the village on the south side of the river retained its old name — Great Bend. The post-office mark of the latter is now Great Bend Village, to distinguish it from the borough. The Erie Eailroad station is on that part of the old Strong farm which Judge Thomson occupied. Lowry Green bought this farm, and sold it to William Wolcott, who sold it reason- ably as village lots; and by his enterprise conduced greatly to the prosperity of the town. The adjoining farm, forming the north end of the borough, was purchased by Truman Baldwin. The Erie Eailroad pays to Pennsylvania $10,000 yearly for the right of way through Susquehanna County, or rather for freedom from taxation, and the company finds in the arrange- ment a pecuniary gain. The State of New York, ten years previous to the construc- tion of the road, had desired to procure from Pennsylvania that small tract of territory lying north of the Susquehanna Eiver, in the township of Great Bend, and also a small gore of land lying on the east side of said river, from the State line down to HISTOKY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. 85 Lanesboro, in Harmony Township, thereby enabling the State of New York to locate and construct the New York and Erie Railroad down the valley of the Susquehanna River from the point where it first enters the State of Pennsylvania to Bing- hamton, without leaving their own territory. At a meeting held at Great Bend, September 14th, 1839, for the purpose of taking into consideration the propriety of peti- tioning the Legislature of Pennsylvania to adopt measures for ceding the above land to New York, it was " Resolved, that we are sincerely attached to the laws and Constitution of Pennsylvania, and that we cannot better show our attachment than by pro- moting her interest and convenience. " Resolved, that in our opinion, both the great States of New York and Pennsylvania would be sharers in the benefit arising from the construction of the New York and Erie Railroad, and that the citizens of both States ought to pursue a liberal policy to secure and facilitate the construction of this great public improvement on the best possible route. " Resolved, that with these views, those of us living within the bounds of the above strip of land, have signed our names to the petition in question, wishing at the same time to retain the friendly feelings of those we leave in case of our separation from them. " Resolved, That not being influenced by any political party or party measure, we invite all persons friendly to the best interests of all concerned, to aid in devising the best possible means to effect the object herein contem- plated." The President of the meeting was Putman Catlin, Esq., and the Vice- Presidents Abraham Du Bois and Charles Dimon. A fire, Jan. 1870, consumed the National Hotel. In the same year the junction of the Delaware, Lackawanna, and Western Railroad was removed to Binghamton. The portion of this road extending from Great Bend to Binghamton, a dis- tance of fourteen miles, is called " The Valley Railroad." There was a company formed for the manufacture of scales; the foundry established by Emmet Curtis, and whose scales took the first premium at our State Fair, over those of Fairbanks and others, but it is now closed. A patent was issued recently to Edward R. Playle, of Great Bend, for a furnace for smelting steel, iron, etc. In the immediate vicinity of Great Bend there are five steam saw-mills, cutting on an average five thousand feet of lumber a day, besides numerous water-power mills, cutting all together probably half a million feet per year. On the village side of the river there is a machine-shop for the repair of locomotives of the Delaware, Lackawanna, and Western Railroad. PHYSICIANS. Rev. Daniel Buck may have been the first to practice the healing art at Great Bend, but Dr. Fobes, who was there in 86 HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. 1791, or before, was probably the first regular physician in Susquehanna County. An amusing story is told at the doctor's expense. There was a young, pious widow living at Chenango Point (now Binghamton), and Dr. F., then a widower, living at Great Bend, paid his addresses to her. He was very pious, praying night and morning, also asking a blessing at the table. They were married and moved to the Bend. The doctor con- tinued praying and saying grace at meals a few days, but sud- denly stopping, his wife asked him, "Why do you leave off praying?" " Oh, my dear, I've got what I prayed for !" The physicians who had lived at the Bend, and had removed previous to August, 1807, were Drs. Fobes, Noah Kincaid, and Charles Fraser. Dr. Jonathan Gray remained and advertised his services at " twenty-five cents for every mile and under ; one dollar for every six hours' continuance with a patient sick of a fever ;" and added, " all shall be done gratis for any person who is less capable to pay than the practitioner is to do with- out it." In August, 1807, Dr. Eleazar Parker, a native of Connecticut, came to Great Bend (then called Willingboro, Susquehanna County), and practiced medicine and surgery two and a half years successfully. In the fall of that year he was appointed Surgeon's Mate to the 129th Eegiment, which had been formed the spring previous. He was commissioned the first postmaster in the county, February 1, 1808; Isaac Post, of Bridgewater, being commissioned one month later. The same year, March 6, Dr. P. performed the operation of bronchotom} 7 on a little girl two years old, and extracted a watermelon seed from her windpipe. She recovered and is now living at Harford, and has the seed in her possession. (She died January, 1873.) He introduced vaccination into the county and vaccinated a large number. His practice extended into almost every settle- ment in what is now Susquehanna County — a circuit of fifty miles of bad roads, on horseback when practicable, but in many places there were only foot-paths for miles through the woods — and, laborious as it was, it proved very unremunerative, for the people were really unable to pay much. Dr. Parker married a daughter of Jonathan Dimon, and in 1810 moved to Kingston, Luzerne County. He was Examining Surgeon of the 35th Pennsylvania Eegiment during the war of 1812 ; has been a teetotaller over forty years, and never pre- scribed alcohol to a patient in his practice of sixty years ; and now, 1872, at the age of ninety years, is hale and active. On petition of Dr. Parker, the north end of the Newburgh Turn- pike, finished by D. Summers, was made a post-road. In 1813 or 1814, Dr. McFall, an Irishman, educated and highly re-spected, came to the Bend and died there about 1835. HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. 87 CHAPTER YIII. HARMONY. The east bend of the Susquehanna River within our county may have been settled as early, or even a few months earlier than the western, but respecting this nothing further has been ascertained than that, "about the time the State line was run," Moses Comstock came with his family from Rhode Island, and located on the flat between the Starucca and Oanawacta, where these streams enter the Susquehanna River. The commissioners appointed by the governors of New York and Pennsylvania to determine the line between these States, had marked by mile- stones ninety miles of it, from the Delaware westward, prior to October 12, 1786; and in November, 1787, they reported the completion of their task. At the latter period, it is asserted, the first white settler, mentioned above, was here; but he had no title to the land which he was not obliged eventually to relinquish upon the demand of the Pennsylvania claimant, Colonel Timothy Pickering. Still, for a dozen years at least, he and his sons Asa and Abner continued their improvements, and in this vicinity he died. In 1789, the mouth of Cascade Creek became the terminus of a road which was projected by Samuel Preston, of Wayne County (then Northampton), from the north and south road, constructed, with some aid from the State, by Tench Coxe and Henry Drinker, Jr., of Philadelphia. (The last named was for a long period cashier of the Bank of North America, Phila- delphia, and was the father of Henry W. and Richard Drinker, to whom he gave a tract of 30,000 acres in Luzerne County, which was known as " Drinker's Beech," from the timber abundant there. He was also a nephew of the Henry Drinker, sometimes styled " the Elder," who was founder of the " Drinker estate" of 500,000 acres in Susquehanna and other counties.) Samuel Preston and John Hilborn had conducted the enter- prise of Messrs. Coxe and Drinker, together with Samuel Stanton, the first settler of Mount Pleasant. Mr. Preston's own road, as given above, was constructed under the impression that the settlement he projected on the Susquehanna would eventually be a place of much business. Rev. S. Whaley, in his 'History of Mount Pleasant,' gives the following in reference to this section and Mr. Stanton : — " During the summer of 1789 he cleared several acres of land 8S HISTOEY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. in this fertile vallejr, erected several dwelling-houses, built a store, a blacksmith shop, and a saw-mill. He named the place Harmony." Messrs. Drinker, Hilborn, and Stanton were associated with him in this enterprise also. Mr. Stanton grew enthusiastic and muse-inspired over it, of which he left tangible evidence in a dozen stanzas of six lines each, which were styled by him, " A few lines of poetry, attempted on seeing and assisting in build- ing the town of Harmonv, on the Susquehanna Eiver, August 2, 1789 :"— " Sweet, happy place, called Harmony. Strangers must say, when they pass by, The Founder they approve ; Who from a forest wild did raise A seat where men may spend their days In friendship, peace, and love. "How curiously the streets are planned, How thick the stores and houses stand, How full of goods they are ! From north and south the merchants meet, Have what they wish for most complete, And to their homes repair." As we read the transcript of his glowing fancies and contrast them with the solitary relic that covers the ground he saw "so thick with houses," our amusement is tinged with sadness. Two descendants of very early set- tlers in this vicinity, them- selves over eighty years of age, never heard of a mill at this point, and say " there was no mill in Harmony be- fore 1810." With its supe- rior mill-sites this seems strange. The following sketch ap- peared in the 'Philadelphia Casket,' November, 1828, ac- companied by an engraving: a reproduction of which we give : — " Cascade Creek unites itself to the Susquehanna about a mile to the south of that part of the north- ern boundary line of Pennsylvania through which the river passes on its entrance into this State. The creek is in general rapid, and derives its name from a fine cascade of about sixty feet in height. This is about half a mile above the mouth of the creek, the banks or cliffs of which Fijr. 11. Falls of Cascade Creek. HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. 89 are so abrupt on both sides tbat the visitant is obliged to wade a consider- able part of the way before he can reach the cascade, the beauty of which will amply reward his toil. At this place the rock is composed of horizontal strata of great regularity, over which the water, catching in its descent, falls in a broken sheet of foam. The banks of the creek, above the cascade, are skirted with the hemlock spruce (P inus-abies Americana), which, though a tree of little value for its timber, adds greatly in the painter's eye to the picturesque beauty of the scene." A traveler who visited the spot many years ago, in midwinter, said : — " The intense cold of the two preceding days had completely congealed the water of the brook, and chilled the murmur and the roar into silence. It seemed indeed as if some magician, while the stream was dashing from rock to rock in its joyous uproar, had suddenly arrested it in its course, and turned torrent and foam and bubble instantly to stone; and the cataract, in lone and icy beauty, now slumbers on its throne." The most that was then expected, was a good turnpike road. Mr. Preston afterwards connected his road with Stockport (his residence) on the Delaware, by a road which he supposed would be a great thoroughfare between the two rivers, while the north and south road would bring travel from the south, and both concentrate at Harmony. This place was then a part of old Tioga, which in 1791 was set off to Willingborough; and it was not until 1809 that the township was organized which bears the name given the settle- ment in 1789. The north line of the State from the east line of the county to the fifteenth mile-stone — nine miles — was the north line of the township, and its east and west boundaries extended south twelve miles, to the present line between Jackson and Gibson, which, continued to Wayne County, formed the southern boun- dary. Thus the area of Harmony, as ordered in 1809, included the limits of the present township, together with Oakland, and the borough of Susquehanna Depot, Jackson, Thomson, and the northern part of Ararat. More than half the western boundary of the present town- ship is the Susquehanna River, which enters the State between the twelfth and thirteenth mile-stones, its course being a little east of south ; but, from the point where it turns abruptly south- west, it enters Oakland, and the western line then follows the Lenox and Harmony Turnpike, which lies east of Drinker's Creek. Besides the three principal streams of the township which have had mention, three branches of the Starucca, Hemlock Creek, Roaring Brook, and Pig-pen Brook, as well as the stream itself, afford fine mill sites, and traverse a great part of 90 HISTORY OP SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. the township. The source of the Starucca, 1 as also that of the Canawacta, is in Thomson, but one branch of the latter " heads" in Jackson. This stream is said to commemorate the remnant of an Indian tribe that once lingered in the vicinity. The old orthography of the word was Conewagta. Comfort's Pond, with its islets crossed by the southern line of Harmony, is the only lake of the township. The broad ridges forming the larger portion of the area of Harmony, are still covered with the original forests of beech and pine, and contain thousands of acres of unseated land. Comstock's Eifts are the rapids in the Susquehanna, two miles long, just below the place where Moses Comstock settled. This was occupied after he left it by Timothy Pickering, Jr., until 1807; and was afterward owned by John Comfort, Mar- tin Lane and his heirs, by Jonathan Taylor, and is at present in the possession of Egbert Thomas. Abner, son of Moses Comstock, was on his father's first loca- tion as late as 1800, when a road was viewed from the north line of the State, on the east side of the river down to his house, "at a fording," whence it crossed the river to join a road on the other side near the plantation of William Smith. J. B. Buck says of the years just preceding : — " There were then no roads or wagons to ride for pleasure, or business. "The river was used as the great highway, and the boats were canoes dug from a large tree. These, when properly constructed with the ends turned up, and properly rounded, supplied an easily propelled, but frail and unsteady craft. (Until 1819 there was not even a bridle-path on the south side of the river from Harmony to Great Bend.)" fie also adds the following incidents: — "At the early date of which we have been speaking, the settlers were obliged to depend upon the forests very much for their supply of meat. It was a daily sight in those days ; a man, dog, aud gun equipped for the forest. The chase was successful enough to answer for a dependence. " One day Asa Comstock, with his dog, drove a large buck into the river opposite where the Presbyterian church, at Susquehanna Depot, now stands. It was not all frozen over, and the current carried the dog and deer down the stream, until they came to firm ice in the bend of the river. He laid down his gun, and, knife in hand, took the buck by the horns, thinking to cut his throat aci'oss the edge of the ice. But the animal was yet fresh, and so quick with his feet, as with a jerk to draw him into the river; and man, dog, and deer were hurried by the rushing current under the ice. There was no possibility of returning, and his only hope was in going down stream until he found an air hole or opening in the ice. If he rose to the surface the ice would stick him fast — he therefore hurried downward as deep in the water as possible until he saw light near where the bridge now stands where he escaped. "He was a large strong man. There was no means of earning money in 1 This orthography is given, somewhat reluctantly, after consulting the best gazetteers. HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. 91 this valley except by hunting or making shingles. Money was far from being plenty — not as abundant as meat. Owing to these causes, he decided upon going into the northern portion of the State of New York to chop cord-wood for a furnace near Lake George. While there a severe snow storm kept him within doors. He, in company with many Dutch teamsters and several Indians, sat around a bar-room fire. Whiskey in those days was drank freely. The Dutch were great smokers, and upon this occasion they had nothing to do but to drink and smoke. A stout Indian present amused himself by passing around, and knocking the pipes from the mouths of the Dutch smokers. Comstock was not a habitual smoker, but witnessing the impu- dence of the Indian, he procured a pipe and tobacco and joined the circle of smoking Dutchmen. Soon the Indian struck his pipe, knocking it to the floor, when he at once arose and knocked the Indian where the pipe lay. The Indian rose full of fight, and, the landlord forbidding fighting in the house, dared C. to follow him. He followed at once, and in passing through the hall, picked up a large bear-trap and struck the Indians with it between the shoulders, killing him instantly. The other Indians ran as if for dear life. " This was a critical time for poor Comstock. The Indians would soon be back with recruited force. He was advised to flee for his life, for no help could save him from the wrath of the Indians. One smoke had been his ruin, and would cost him his life. "He refused to run. He resolved to stay and meet his fate like a man, for, said he, 'if I run, they will surely kill me.' "Not long had he to wait. Soon the old Sachem, followed by fourteen warriors, was seen approaching. ' Where is the man that killed Indian V inquired the Sachem. All had fled but Asa Comstock — ' I am the man,' he boldly replied, 'what do you want of me?' 'You good fellow — Indian no business to break your pipe — you do right. You good fellow — come have a drink.' " Abner Comstock afterwards removed to the vicinity of "Wind- sor, N. Y. Asa, his brother, resided with their mother on a part of William Smith's " plantation," which has since been owned by Levi Westfall, and is now in Oakland. Mrs. C. lived many years, "a comfort to her children, and a welcome guest to many of her old neighbors." In November, 1791, John Hilborn, an agent for Henry Drinker, came from Philadelphia with his wife, who rode on horseback from Stroudsburg with a child in her arms. Their settlement was permanent, at the mouth of Cascade Creek. Their daughter Mary, now Mrs. Robert McKune, was born here August, 1792, and still resides upon the same farm, with her son George, opposite the now empty house which her father built and occupied many years, and where he died, the 15th of fourth month, 1826, aged nearly eighty-five. This building marks the site of the one which, in 1789, was so multiplied by the imagination of Mr. Stanton. A portion of the old Stockport road is still traveled along Hemlock Creek as far as Jenning's; but, from that point it struck off directly over the hills, crossing the "head" of Pig-pen Creek, where it was within half a mile of the State line, and thence down to Hilborn's. It is now covered with timber. For many years, 92 HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. after his intellect became clouded, the unremitting labor of Jesse, the youngest son of John Hilborn, Sen., kept the road open. He had a wolf pit by the side of the road, near Pig-pen Creek. Mr. and Mrs. Dilling, parents of Mrs. John Hilborn, were here very early, and both are buried in Harmony. It is said the first religious meetings in Harmony were those of the Friends, at the house of John Hilborn. If there were Presbyterians here, their services were held at the west bend of the river. The following sketch of John Hilborn was first published in the 'Bucks County Patriot,' June, 1826, and, a little later, in the 'Eegister' of Montrose. Though a double I is here given to his name, it is generally omitted. ''John Hillborn was a native of Bucks County. He was brought up by his grandfather, Stephen Twining, who had a grist-mill. J. Hillborn after- wards conducted, for a number of years, a merchant mill on the Neshamony, and later, run a saw-mill at Coryell's ferry. During the war of the Revolu- tion, he was a non-combatant, being a Quaker, and wns then living with his elder brother Joseph, on Brodhead's Creek, seven miles above Stroudsburg. Early in June, 1778, they apprehended danger from the Indians, being set on by the British forces at Niagara. An agreement had been made by the Hillborns with John Price, who lived seven miles above, on the north branch of the creek, that if either of them heard of any Indian disturbance, he should immediately inform the other. One morning, an old woman, living two miles above, came running to Hillborn's house, and she told them her son's family were all killed or taken, and she only was suffered to escape on aecount of her age. Joseph Hillborn fled with his wife across Brodhead's Creek. John, however, remembered his promise to Price, and thought, as a hunter, well knowing the woods, he could carry the information with safety. About one mile from the house was a high conical hill, which Hillborn de- termined to ascend for the purpose, if possible, of observing the motions of the Indians. In so doing, however, he did but accelerate his fate, for the In- dians had taken possession before him, and upon his advance, presented their guns at him and demanded his surrender. There was no alternative. He submitted, and they extorted from him a promise never to attempt an escape. Then they bound a burden on his back and ordered him to march. He soon discovered they had with them all the family mentioned above, except one little boy, who made so much noise, they killed and scalped him near the house. " According to Indian customs, they traveled on the highest ground in order to keep a look-out. As they came in sight of John Price's house, the Indians closely examined Hillborn as to who lived there? what sort of a man was he ? did he keep a gun ? was he rich ? etc. It severely exercised his mind — he was all anxiety to save Price — and he well knew if the Indians found anything misrepresented, it would be worse for all. He told them the plain truth, that Price was a poor, inoffensive man, had nothing to do with the war, but did keep a gun to support his family in meat. They held a council in Indian, and his heart was almost overcome, when he heard the Indian captain pronounce in English, ' Let them live.' "The Indians hurried the march for fear of being pursued, and great hard- ships were encountered, especially by the women and children, in wading the many deep streams of water. Hillborn discovered that their sufferings ex- cited sympathy, but there was a great diversity in the characters or disposi- tion of the Indians. The most conspicuous and amiable among them was a HISTOKY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. 93 private, a little, smart, active Mohawk. The worst of the company were white men, one of whom, Thomas Hill, conducted himself in such a manner towards the women prisoners, that the Indian captain endeavored to shame him. A pretty little girl among the prisoners used to cry for milk and more victuals, and the little Mohawk would carry her, and try to soothe her by promising her plenty of milk and good victuals when they should reach Chemung, which he afterwards fulfilled, but Thomas Hill would try to thwart the child, and show her her little brother's scalp, and almost set her distract- ed. This was not approved by the Indians. "At Tioga Point they rested. Here all the loads that had been carried on their backs were put into canoes and consigned to J. Hillborn to conduct to Chemung. When they reached the latter place, according to the Indian custom, all the prisoners must run the gauntlet, that is, all the Indians, young and old. stand in two rows with switches, and the prisoner must run between them — the Indians paying on according to their discretion. When J. Hill- born's turn came to run, he had suffered so much by assisting the others on the journey, his feet were so sore (as he had no shoes) he could not run. The Mohawk, seeing this, told him to sit down, and he would run for him. The Indians paid it on him more severely than on any of the others, but he prided himself on bearing it all with heroic bravery, without flinching. After the gauntlet, the Indians treated all the prisoners, as to provisions, as well as they lived themselves, and their business was to hoe corn. " The Indians soon after held a council upon another war expedition. The Mohawk informed Hillborn that it was to be on the West Branch of the Susquehanna, and that John Montour was to be their captain. Hillborn was alarmed, as he feared that a defeat would make worse times for the prisoners, at this time treated well ; and as he felt himself somewhat recruited, he formed a plan for his escape. " A division of the American army was then at Wyoming ; this he knew, for he had heard the morning and evening gun on their journey. The Indians had several good running canoes, and Hillborn resolved to take the best, while the Indians were asleep, and go down to Wyoming. As he was a good waterman, he had no doubt of getting far enough in advance before the dis- covery of the flight, to elude all pursuit. One consideration restrained him — would such conduct be right? He concluded to continue a few days longer, and consider its propriety. In the first place, he had solemnly en- gaged, to save his life, that he would never run away, and the Indians had placed full confidence in his promise; but then, it was extorted by fear. Secondly, should he, professing to be a Christian, set a bad example — what would be the sad consequence of such a deviation to his fellow-prisoners, or others hereafter, under similar circumstances ? This seriously claimed his reflection, and he found the most real peace and inward comfort of mind — come life or death — to strictly adhere to the solemn promise he had made ; and found sweeter sleep by a full resignation to his fate, than in any flatter- ing prospect of success in an attempt to escape. When Col. Brandt was sent to Chemung, in anticipation of Sullivan's expedition and attack, of which the British had warning, the little Mohawk advised Hillborn to plead his cause before him. This he did as well as he could, saying he was a Qua- ker, and that it was against his principles to fight. Brandt pretended to be- lieve him, but replied, ' You are a prisoner to the Delaware tribe, I am a Mohawk, I have not the authority.' The next morning he was ordered to be prepared to march to the fortress at Niagara. He had no shoes nor cloth- ing, except such as he was captured in. His greatest suffering was while marching barefooted forty-five miles on the beach of Seneca Lake, from which one of his feet never recovered. " At Niagara, the Indians were paid their bounty on him as a prisoner ; he was then ordered to Quebec, which he reached by sloop and batteau, just two months after his capture. As he was a prisoner, he was to be sold to 94 HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. the highest bidder, to refund the bounty paid the Indians. His almost uaked and reduced situation, when exposed to sale, was truly deplorable ; to use his own words, ' My appearance was not merchantable.' Fortunately, he fell into the hands of a veteran colonel, who had been aid to General Wolfe. This gentleman, pitying his forlorn situation, advanced money to clothe him comfortably, and, upon learning he was acquainted with the management of a gristmill, employed him in a very handsome one of his own. There Hill- born behaved so well, that in a short time, he was entrusted with the exclu- sive management of the mill, and his situation was made very comfortable. However, he became very impatient to retui'n home, and the second winter of his residence with the worthy colonel, he asked permission to return, when the spring should open, to his country, to meet once more his relatives. The eolonel appeared to hear his request with deep concern, and offered him high wages, if he would consent to remain and attend to the mill. But nothing could induce him to stay. As soon as the navigation opened, he settled for the redemption or purchase-money, and all that had been advanced him for clothing and necessaries, and his master allowed him such wages as he pleased, for as a bought servant, Hillborn made no charge. His master made out that there were nine pounds sterling due to him, for which he paid him ten guineas and his passage to New York, and they parted in the best friendship. He had paid for his freedom by honest labor, and for the first time since his capture, had money in his pocket. After putting to sea, all went well until the captain, speaking a vessel, was informed that a French fleet was on the coast, capturing every British sail ; and then he gave over his voyage to New York, and put into Halifax. Here J. Hillborn suffered many hardships, in consequence of the scarcity of provisions, and his money soon went, and he was again reduced to extreme distress. At length the commander of the garrison, in order to get rid of some hungry mouths, per- mitted Hillborn and some Yankees to take an old sloop, and endeavor to find their way to New York. After meeting with much rough weather and great hardships, they at length arrived at Sandy Hook, where Hillborn re- minded the master of the vessel of a promise to put him on shore in Jersey. " The war was not yet ended, and as he traveled through New Jersey, his very distressed appearance rendered him an object of pity and attention from those hospitable people. As he had been starved, he ate sparingly, and found he gained strength. As he approached the Delaware, he learned that all the ferries were guarded, so that none could cross. It was midsummer, and the water was low, and he well knew the best fords, so that by wading and swimming, he was able to reach the Pennsylvania shore, and a house in Upper Makefield, where he found his venerable father, a brother and a sister. From his very emaciated condition and distressed appearance, none knew him, and he was necessitated to tell them who he was. Such a scene as fol- lowed is easier conceived than expressed. It was then two years and some days since he was captured, in all which time they had never heard whether he was dead or alive. " The writer of the above narrative adds, that J. Hillborn communicated the facts to him 16th Juue, 1787, in sight of the scene of his capture, and states, that J. Hillborn was the first prisoner that returned from Canada, and per- haps the only one that paid for his freedom. After the peace, they were discharged, and all his fellow-prisoners returned, except one, who died at Niagara. " Since John Hillborn lived in Harmony, that noted Thomas Hill stopped there to stay all night. Hillborn knew him and treated him well, but he did not know Hillborn. In the morning, he asked, 'What is to pay?' John Hillborn replied, 'It is not my practice to charge an old acquaintance,' upon which Hill started, and asked, ' What acquaintance ?' J. Hillborn said, 'Thomas Hill, has thee forgot our journey from Brodhead's Creek to Che- mung?' — and said no more." HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. 95 The sons of John Hilborn were, John, William, and Jesse. His daughters — Hannah (Mrs. Warren Bird, now dead), and Polly (Mary) now Mrs. Robert McKune of Harmony. Joseph, brother of John Hilborn, came in 1791, and (his wife being dead) resided with him. James Westfall came from Sussex County, New Jersey, in 1794 or 1795, and settled about one and a half miles above the mouth of the Canawacta, on the east side of the Susquehanna, on the upper end of what was afterwards known as the Picker- ing farm. His son Levi was born here in 1797. About 1800, he removed to the farm of William Smith on the west side, where Levi Westfall 1 now lives. In 1800, Col. Timothy Pickering, once Secretary of State under Washington, came to Susquehanna County to look after lands he had purchased. He found located upon them the fami- lies of Comstock, Smith, and Westfall, whose titles not being obtained from him caused their removal. Timothy Pickering, Jr., an only son, at his father's request, reluctantly consented to locate on the flat vacated by Abner Comstock, and came on from Boston, and built the first framed house in Harmony; but he was sadly homesick, and being deprived of the society to which he was accustomed, he married a respectable young woman of the backwoods — a sister of the wife of Elder Nathaniel Lewis, the pioneer Methodist, of what is now Oakland. This step is said to have been a great disappointment to Col. P., whose ambition would have chosen for his son a bride from courtly circles. He died in 1807 in his twenty-eighth year, and his remains now rest in the cemetery near the railroad, opposite his own house. His father afterwards so far overcame his pre- judices as to come to Harmony and take the widow and his two grandchildren to his own home, then near Boston, Mass. John Comfort came in 1808, and bought the house and farm of T. Pickering, Jr., and returned to the East. In 1809 he came to settle, only removing after about ten years, half a mile above the present viaduct. He built a saw-mill prior to 1812, near the site of the present mill of Charles Lyons ; the first one it is averred in the township. He was a justice of the peace for some years, and so honest a man, that one to whom he had given a promissory note returned it to him for safe keeping. His sons were James, Silas, and George. The last-named is now a missionary to the Omahas in Montana. Silas was a pre- siding elder of the Methodist church in Missouri nearly forty years ago ; but was dismissed because he received " nigger tes- timony." He died April 5, 1850, in his seventy-fourth year. 1 Since deceased. 96 HISTOEY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. Adam Swagart, a brother-in-law of John Comfort, came to the settlement two or three years after the latter. Joseph McKune, Sr., came to Harmony about 1810, locating on the east side of the river, but in 1832 removed to Oakland. His son Kobert married Mary Hilborn in 1817, and then went to Orange County, New York, where he resided several years before returning to Harmony. Upon the death of John Hil- born, Mr. McKune and family occupied his house, and continued to reside in it for thirty-five years. Eobert McK. was killed while walking on the railroad track, March 4th, 1861. The perils of travel on former roads is illustrated by an inci- dent told by David Lyons, now of Lanesboro ; but who, in 1815, resided with his father at Great Bend. Mr. William Drinker had come on, at that time, to look at lands for which he was agent, and young Lyons undertook to get him and his trunk through to Harmony, from Great Bend. After traveling about six miles in the wagon, they were obliged to remove the fore wheels, and strap the trunk to the hind ones ; then jumping the horse over the logs plentifully scattered in the path,, and lifting the wheels, the journey was made to a point opposite Mr. Hil- born's. Here they put two canoes together, covering them with plank, and on this frail convej^ance, horse, trunk, the boy, and Mr. Drinker, passed over the river in safety. In 1818, Martin Lane came to Harmony, and bought of John Comfort the Pickering homestead. In early times, there were seven Indian apple trees on this farm. Within a few years arrow-heads have been found here, and clay pipes have been washed out of the banks by freshets in the river. Martin L. died in 1825, aged forty-seven. His son Jesse was appointed justice of the peace for Harmony the same year. He now resides in Wilmington, Delaware, and all the Lane family are gone. For a long time after Mr. Lane located here, the place was known as Lanesville; but in 1829 it was changed to Lanesboro. It is three miles from the north line of the State, and was the central point of old Harmony. As early as 1820, James Newman and Josiah Benedict lived a few miles up the Starucca. Joel Salsbury then lived near the State line above the falls of Pig-pen Creek. These falls are fifteen feet high, and a more classic name would befit their beauty. The number of taxables in Harmony (including Oakland) in 1820, when David Hale was tax-collector, was twenty-eight; the year previous but twenty-five; and the amount of his du- plicate, as per receipt but $51.89, at five mills on the dollar of valuation. For several years in succession, previous to this time, Jesse, oldest son of Isaac Hale, was collector. In 1819, HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. 97 one man's tax was but six cents, another's seven, and another's eight cents. The heaviest tax-payers were John Hilborn and * Martin Lane, but even they paid less than nine dollars. Still, mea- ger as such sums seem beside those now demanded of property- holders, there was not wanting, at least a few years later, plenty of grumbling, as is witnessed by a political document forwarded by Mr. Hale, which was circulated for campaign effect, and in which is the following : " Year after year thousands of dol- lars are wrung from the pockets of our citizens in the shape of taxes, and what have we obtained in return ? Nothing, com- paratively speaking, nothing !" But all this was expected to be rectified, if the candidates then offered, viz., Horace Willis- ton, Esq., for Congress, and William Jessup for Eepresentative, could be elected. Alas! they were defeated. On the old Harmony road about one and a half or two miles from Lane's, Oliver Harper was murdered by Jason Treadwell, May 11, 1824. Travelers are still shown the poplar tree near the fatal spot, on which the initials " O. H," are rudely carved ; also, " Pot-rock," etc. John Eogers located Sept. 1825, on an elevated spot just south of the river road, near where it turns abruptly north, and west of the Canawacta ; and still occupies the same farm, a part of the old Wharton tract. In 1825, David Lyons occupied a house four miles up the Canawacta, which was the only one between the mouth of the creek and Collins Gelatt's, seven miles south. Joseph Austin soon after located near Mr. Lyons. The latter is now on a part of the old Lane farm. Lane's Mills, rebuilt in part, are now run by Blias Youngs and H. Perrine. The first public movement towards the erection of a bridge across the Susquehanna at Lanesboro was made in the summer of 1836. It was built in 1837, and was destroyed by a freshet. As late as 1846, the town consisted of but one hotel, the mills, one store, and a cluster of houses; but during the con- struction of the great works of the Brie Eailroad at this point, it became quite a business place. From the time of the com- pletion of that road, which passes over the Canawacta bridge above the houses of Lanesboro, its business has been in part transferred to the depot one mile south of it. Twenty-five years ago, the vicinity of Lanesboro, and especially that of Cascade Creek, was a favorite resort for parties of pleasure. Its trout were unsurpassed, and its falls a charming feature of otherwise picturesque scenery. The traveler does not now find the locality as attractive as formerly. The practical demands of the age have invaded its seclusion, cut down the tangled wildwood, thrown an embank- 7 HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. merit across the stream near the foot of the falls, and in a great measure filled the basin into which the creek pours in a double stream, so parted as to fall at nearly a right angle. The cascade seems to have lost in height and in volume. Through the rocks and stones underlying Fig. 12. the embankment, the creek still finds its way, except in seasons of high water, when its current is turned aside through a tunnel excavated 16J feet wide through solid rock. Prior to the construc- tion of the embankment, the New York and Erie Eailroad company spanned the stream with a single wooden arch, 276 feet in length and 184 feet in height. Fears of its relia- bility induced the company to sacrifice the beautiful struc- ture, the original cost of which was about $160,000, and fill up the entire space beneath, at an expense of about $275,000, taking ten years to accomplish it. A view of the old bridge is here given. Near the mouth of the Starucca, the same company constructed a work of vaster proportions, and more massive magnificence. The railroad track is laid upon 18 arches sup- ported upon 19 piers of solid masonry, 110 feet in height, and extending across the stream ■^'p - • and valley a distance of 1200 feet. The " false-work" of each of the arches cost $1600, and to remove it cost $100 more. The entire cost of the via- duct was about $325,000. It was built in two and a half years. The cranberry marsh of Messrs. Miller, Morton, Em- ory, and Eowley, is a recent enterprise near the cascade. The manufactory of tur- bine water-wheels, mill and tannery gearing, etc.. of Messrs. A. & S. H. Barnes & Company is at Lanesboro. Also, the manu- THE CASCADE BRIDGE. ■■.■";" THE STARUCCA VIADUCT. HISTOEY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. 99 factory of an excellent wagon-jack, on an extensive scale, by C. S. B.ennet & Co. There is a German settlement in what was once called East Harmony, where, October, 1869, a post-office was established, called Harmony Center, H. W. Brandt, P. M. (In 1872, a depot of the Jefferson Eailroad.) Something of its enterprise in March, 1871, may be seen from the following article from the 'Montrose Eepublican:' — " Up the Starucca Creek. — Those who have never had the privilege or em- braced the opportunity of visiting this section of the county, to look upon the wild scenery, the rough, rugged, sharp-pointed rocks, the alpine mountains, the deep gorges, and the general uneven surface, may be interested in a brief description of the observations of a newspaper correspondent on the occasion of a carriage ride of five miles up that remarkable creek. Half a mile above the village of Lanesboro we came to the small wooden bridge across the river leading up the river to Windsor. Turning a short angle at this point, we passed up the creek under the broad high arch of the Starucca viaduct of the Erie Railway. "As we move along and enter the valley, with vast mountains on either side of us, we come to Brandt & Schlager's tannery, 1 forty feet above the viaduct ; and if we were to judge of the amount of business done by the abundance of hemlock bark banked up in such perfect order, it must be enormous. There are several dwelling-houses for the accommodation of employes, and one store, connected with which is a beautiful residence, partly in the rear of the store, at some little distance from the road. At our right, far above us on the hill- side, is the Jefferson Railroad, recently built for the purpose of transporting coal from Carbondale. A little further on, we come to the line of the new railroad to Nineveh, connecting the Jefferson and Albany roads. The grad- ing across the valley has already commenced — indicated by high gravel banks. " We are now crossing the Starucca nearly a mile above, on a good sub- stantial bridge 150 feet in length, and our attention being drawn to the oppo- site side of the creek, we see a few laborers at work on the new road as it runs along the mountain fifty feet directly beneath the Jefferson. One mile above this point is the junction; a short distance below, the extensive chair factory of Messrs. Fromer & Schlager. Here we find a short turn in the road, and soon come to the old tannery of Messrs. Brandt & Schlager. This firm have been doing a heavy business in this line of trade for the last fifteen years ; in fact they are the pioneers in what is now known as Harmony Center, and one of the most romantic and wonder-loving spots imaginable ; and cer- tainly the artist who has never visited this wild wilderness place, with its high forest-covered mountains, sharp-pointed hills, deep gorges, mossy rocks, bright sparkling water, waterfalls, and the ten-acre valley, must assuredly have never heard there was such a place. Quite a little village has grown up in the vicinity of the tannery, several elegant dwellings, and a model school- house, with its bell and appropriate adornments. Half a mile farther up the creek, near the old stone quarry which furnished stone for the viaduct, is the acid factory of Curtis, Miller & Co. This has been in operation several years, and has the appearance of doing a paying business. Several hands find employment Hard wood only is used in the manufacture of this acid or coloring material, large quantities of which are made use of in the manu- facture of calicoes. The acid is a hard, dry, brittle, dark-colored substance, and is sent to market in large coarse sacks — Messrs. Gauts & Co., New York 1 Since destroyed by fire. 100 HISTORY OP SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. commission merchants, receive all they manufacture. In the process of manufacturing, forty-eight cords of wood are consumed every week. The combustible portion of the wood is not destroyed, and large quantities of charcoal are produced as a residuum." The village of Starucca lies in the narrow valley through which the stream of the same name runs, but is situated just beyond the limits of Susquehanna, in Wayne County. The Jefferson Railroad in following the wide sweep of this winding creek, passes near the village, to which it has given new life and impetus. The station is in Susquehanna County. The construction of the Lackawanna and Susquehanna Rail- road has increased business at Lanesboro. A foundry is in active operation. Some years ago a yacht was built here for carrying passengers to and from Windsor, but navigation of the river was found impracticable. A fine buck was shot five miles up the Starucca Creek, in November, 1871. CHAPTER IX. OAKLAND. The settlement of the last township of Susquehanna County was nearly coeval with that of the first, of which, in fact, it formed a part until the erection of Harmony. It was separated from the latter, December, 1853. Oakland is six and one-half miles in extent, north and south, by two miles on the State line, and nearly three miles on the line of Jackson. The eastern boundary is formed by the Sus- quehanna River, and the Lenox and Harmony turnpike just east of Drinker's Creek. Full one-half of the township is covered by the Oquago Mountain, which on the south and east slopes nearly to the river, though, in places, the valley widens, and reveals most inviting flats, rich in soil and culture. The tributaries to the Susquehanna are Drinker's Creek, and "3d Run," 1 on the south side, and Flat Brook, Bear Creek, 2 and two or three nameless small streams on the north and west sides. The fall in the river below Lanesboro is so rapid, that the water seldom freezes over entirely ; and the immense volume which here breaks through the northern spur of the Alleghany 1 So marked by early surveyors, by whom the Canawacta was called the 1st Run, Drinker's Creek the 2d, and John Travis' Brook the 3d. 2 So named from early encounters of settlers with bears near it. HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. 101 Mountains furnishes almost unrivalled privileges for manufac- turing establishments. The river crosses the township from east to west, and the traveler can follow its course six miles within the township limits. Half a dozen islands clot the stream within a distance of three miles. What is called the Upper Island is near the mouth of Bear Creek. Gulf Island is just below the passenger bridge connecting the borough of Susquehanna Depot with Oakland village ; and Lovers' Island, the favorite resort of young people, is at the crossing of the railroad bridge below. Gulf Island was so named because it is situated near the mouth of the Canawacta, which enters the Susquehanna river through a deep gully. There are no lakes in the township. The name is derived from the forests of oak north of the river. Pine is also found there; but, south of the river, the timber is principally hemlock, maple, beech, and hickory. Old settlers mention hemlock-spruce; such a graft not being un- common. Turkey Hill is the elevation south of where the river begins to turn northward around the base of Oquago Mountain. A stone-quarry, of some prospective value, has been recently opened near Drinker's Creek. Ichabod Swamp, about four miles north of Susquehanna Depot, near the State line, is a locality once of some note as " a dreadful swamp, thick with hemlock and laurel, and full of paths of wild animals — bears, wolves, and panthers." It takes its name from the fact that here Captain Ichabod Buck was once lost, but fought his way out to the river with only a jack- knife for a weapon. A natural cranberry marsh is found about a mile north of Susquehanna Depot. Bear Creek is its outlet. The marsh is indicated on a survey made in 1785. It is said that the Indians found lead here. Prior to 1788 there was not a house in Oakland, but this date marks the arrival of Jonathan Bennet, who stopped here for a short time before settling two miles below Great Bend. In 1791 William Smith, sometimes called " Governor" Smith, was located on the flat now owned and occupied by Levi West- fall,' whose father, James, about 1800, bought whatever title to it Mr. Smith held. It is said the latter had obtained it of Moses Comstock, his father-in-law, who then lived on the east side of the river, exactly opposite. On the west side the flat is inclosed in the sharp angle formed by the river, which here * Since deceased. 102 HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. turns abruptly to the west, making in fact the great bend, which name, strangely enough, has been given to the point in the township where the river turns northward at a less-marked angle. The spot is one of the few localities in our county where indisputable evidences have been found of its preoccupation by the Indians. On the draft of a survey made by a Pennsylvania agent in 1785, six small wigwams are marked at the point of land just below the western abutment of the old bridge, to designate an old town of the Tuscaroras. Here were found by Mr. Westfall the poles of the wigwams and several pits con- taining charred corn and an immense quantity of clippings, showing that arrow-heads were manufactured here on a large scale. William Smith had two sons, Arba and William. All removed to Cincinnati, Cortland County, N. Y. William Greek located very early on the south side of the river, at the mouth of Drinker's Creek. He sold his improvements some years later to Marmaduke Salsbury, who married Clarissa, daughter of William Smith, and after her death married her sister Lydia (the widow Rouse). They had a large family. John Stid also settled very early on the river in front of what is now known as Shutts' place, and just below the point where the railroad reaches the northern bank. Right opposite, at the mouth of the Third Run, John Travis was located. He claimed the island just below Lovers' Island, and his older brother, Ezekiel, the whole of what has since been the Joseph McKune farm. When the Pennsylvania landholders looked after their in- terests here, some of the earliest settlers disappeared, and titles to land procured from them were found defective, necessitating a repurchase by those who remained. Isaac Hale and Nathaniel Lewis lived near each other, on the north side of the river, as early as 1791. Afterwards, Mr. L. bought a place on the south side, and resided there for many years. The one he vacated was purchased by Samuel Tread- well. It is now owned by L. P. Hinds, Esq. Here Jason, youngest son of Samuel Treadwell, afterwards hung on con- viction of the murder of Oliver Harper, lived until his marriage, when he moved into Great Bend Township. The father, prior to residing here, had been located ten or twelve years opposite Red Rock. Isaac Hale was born March 21, 1763, in Waterbury, Conn. When a boy he was taken by his grandfather to Vermont. He stayed there through the Revolutionary War. After having worked one summer in Connecticut, he concluded to try "the West." At Ouaquago (now Windsor, N. Y.), he found Major HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. 103 Daniel Buck, afterwards "Priest" Buck, with whom he boarded. His son David 1 says: — " He was to furnish the meat, and the major the breadstuff — frost-bitten corn — to be pounded in a mortar, as there were then no mills in the country. The first day he went into the woods, he brought home a deer. They shortly afterward moved down the river to the Great Bend, which, as near as I can make out (there is no infallibility in the traditions of the elders), was in the fall of 1787, or thereabout. "After exploring the country, and getting acquainted with the oldest set- tlers, viz., Moses Comstock Jonathan Bennett, Deacon Jedediah Adams, etc.. he went back to Vermont, and married Elizabeth Lewis, sister of Nathaniel Lewis, who married about the same time Sarah Cole, whose sister, Lorana Cole, afterwards married Timothy Pickering, Jr. " Well, now for the emigrant train, Isaac Hale and Nathaniel Lewis, with their wives Elizabeth and Sarah. Nathaniel Lewis had a yoke of steers and a cart, on which to carry all their plunder (baggage), a distance of about two hundred and twenty miles from Wells, Rutland County, Vt., to Willing- borough, 2 Luzerne County, Pa. After writing those long names, please let me make a digression. Two hundred and twenty miles — a short distance in the present time — not so then — a small company, but void of fear. They had heard Ethan Allen swear, and so were not afraid of bears. They went through to Pennsylvania, as near as I can make it, in 1790. "Isaac Hale bought an improvement of Jonathan Bennett. The land he afterward bought of Robert H. Rose, the same place on which I was raised, and on which he lived when I left my native place, and where he was buried." This place is now occupied by James M. Tillman, in Oak- land. In the summer of 1793, Isaac Hale was one of the viewers of the first roads laid out in Willingborough. He was a great hunter, and made his living principally by procuring game. His sons, also, were hunters. His wife was for fifty years a consistent member of the Methodist church. A lady now liv- ing at Lanesboro, who knew her well, says: "I never visited her but I thought I had learned something useful." Her death occurred in 1842, in her seventy-fifth year. Their daughter, Emma, was intelligent, and, that she should marry Joseph Smith, Jr., the Mormon leader, can only be accounted for by supposing "he had bewitched her," as he afterward bewitched the masses. It is thought that Mr. Hale was a little deluded at first, as well as others, in regard to Joe's prophecy of the existence of precious minerals, when digging was progressing in the vicinity, under the latter's direction, and the party were boarding at Mr. Hale's, but his common sense soon manifested itself, and his disapproval of Joe was notorious. He was a man of fore- thought and generosity. He would kill the elk, up the Star- ' David Hale, of Amboy, Illinois. 2 This locality was not then known by this name on the court records. It was in Tioga Township until the following year. 104 HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. ucca, in the fall, when it was the fattest; make troughs of birch or maple, to hold it when cut up; carry salt on his back, salt the meat, and cover it with bark, held down with heavy stones, and then leave it until the snow came, when he could easily bring it down. The fruit of his labor was sometimes exchanged for assistance on his farm, but perhaps as often found its way, unheralded, to the tables of others, when the occupants of the house were out of sight ; and to them the gift seemed almost miraculous. For many years there stood at Mr. Hale's door a stump-mor- tar and heavy wooden pestle, worked by a spring pole, and his boys were obliged to leave work an hour or two before dark, to grind out meal enough for mush for their supper. The hand- mill afterwards took the place of the mortar and pestle, and could grind half a bushel in a day — a great improvement. His sons were : Jesse, David, Alvah, Isaac Ward, and Eeuben. The last named "assisted Joe Smith to fix up some characters such as Smith pretended were engraven on his book of plates." To David Hale, however, "it always appeared like humbug." Jesse and David were drafted in 1814, and marched in Cap- tain Frederick Bailey's company to Danville. The following statements are also from the pen of David Hale :— "Brother Jesse Hale was a man of business, fifty years ago. His height was six feet in his moccasins, and his common weight one hundred and eighty pounds. He had learned lo hunt panthers with our father, Isaac Hale. "At one time he was following a panther through a thicket of laurels, when the dog sprang over a log into a nest of young panthers. The dog seized one ; one run to brother Jesse, who caught it in his hands ; it was about the size of a common house-cat. He could have tied it fast, but he thought ' If the old one hears this fuss, she'll soon be here !' so he whipped it against a beech sapling, and helped the dog to dispatch his ; then hunted up the other, which was not far off, and killed it. " The old one did not come, so he stuffed the three young ones into his pack, and went to the camp. The next day he returned, and found the old panther had been back, and, not finding her young ones, had put off, so he started after her. In the course of the day, he came up with and killed her, and packed her to camp. "After that, he came across two more that he took in the same way ; and these, with one wolf and about twenty deer, made out his winter's hunt, fifty- five years ago. "Jesse Hale raised a large family, viz., six sons and four daughters. He had three sons killed by rebels. They were the younger three, viz., Captain Joab T., who fell at Fort Donelson ; Sergeant Frank, who fell at Corinth ; and Captain Robert, who fell at Manietta, Georgia. " His sons, now living, are Silas, Julius, and Charles, all men of property." From Dr. Peck's 'Early Methodism' we obtain the follow- ing:— "Joe Smith married a niece of Nathaniel Lewis. This same 'Uncle Nat. Lewis' was a most useful local preacher. He was ordained Deacon by Bishop Asbury, in 1807. After the story of the Golden Bible, and the miracle- HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. 105 working spectacles had come out, Joe undertook to make a convert of Uncle Nat. The old gentleman heard his tale with due gravity, and then proceeded : " ' Joseph, can anybody else translate strange languages by the help of them spectacles ?' " ' 0, yes !' was the answer. " ' Well now,' said Mr Lewis, ' I've got Clarke's Commentary, and it contains a great many strange languages ; now if you will let me try the spectacles, and if, by looking through them, I can translate these strange languages into English, then I'll be one of your disciples.' " This was a poser, and Joe had to run." Selah Payne was a school teacher here, early in the century. He had been a student in the first school at Ouaquago, and was ambitious to fit himself for teaching. He afterwards became a Methodist preacher, and, it is said, a chaplain to General Jack- son during the southern campaign of the war of 1812. He was an eccentric man, but had considerable ability. On a large tract of land (540 acres) which he purchased near Ichabod Swamp, he designed a kind of African college; but, after laying the foun- dation, 1 the enterprise was abandoned for want of funds, and Mr. Payne left the place. The tract passed through several hands, and all the timber was cut down and shipped off. Within a few years Mr. P. returned, and was killed by being ran over by a train of cars near Susquehanna Depot. His wife was a daughter of Judge McAllister. Joseph McKune, Sr., came in 1810 to the place first occupied by Ezekiel Travis, near the burying ground. He died about 1851. Joseph McKune, Jr., located on the Belmont turnpike in 1825, but in 1832 came to the place previously occupied by his father in Oakland, and died here in 1861. It was on this farm that Joe Smith translated the Mormon Bible. It is now occupied by B. F. McKune, son of Joseph, Jr. The sons of Joseph McK., Sen., were Robert, Joshua, Joseph, Charles, William, Hezekiah (now in Illinois and the only son living), John, and Fowler. He had five daughters. Dr. Israel Skinner and his twin-brother Jacob, came in 1814 to the farms adjoining or lying on the line between Great Bend and the present township of Oakland (then Harmony).. Dr. S. is remembered as the author of a 'History of the American Revolution in Verse.' Jonathan Brush came in 1819 ; and his brother Ard, in 1820. Arc! was accompanied by his son Samuel, who is still living on the homestead, near the line of Jackson. At a recent gather- ing there of his friends, among whom were old settlers and pio- neers of the vicinity, he exhibited "a stuffed panther skin that looked enough like life to frighten even dogs." It is said he "never looked amiss along his rifle-barrel, and never had an 1 This is incorrectly marked on the new atlas, as "Foundation of the first Mormon Temple." 106 HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. unsteady hand. The skin exhibited measured fully nine feet from head to tail." Jairus Lamb, one of the first three pioneers of Jackson town- ship, has been for several years a resident of Oakland. His wife, Mrs. Betsey Lamb, during the four years prior to her 80th birthday, wove sixteen hundred yards of cloth, besides attending to the duties of her .household. On her 80th birthday, which was celebrated by her children at the residence of C. W. Lamb, Esq., she wove four yards of plaid flannel. During the month closing July 8, 1869, she cut and sewed the rags, doubled and twisted the warp, and wove twenty-three yards of carpeting. In her 82d year, she wove two hundred yards. If, with her day and generation, the necessity for such labor passes away, one can never cease to admire the industry and patience exhibited in their achievements. SUSQUEHANNA DEPOT. This borough was incorporated August, 1853. It is an out- growth of the Erie Railroad, the ground for which was broken here in 1846. The first clearing was made by William Greek, late in the last century, and his improvements passed to M. Salsbury, as pre- viously stated. But the only legal title to the land was then held by Henry Drinker of Philadelphia. It was purchased by him from the Commonwealth, Dec. 1791, and from his executors, by John Hilborn, January, 1810, and from the latter, two months later, by Marmaduke Salsbury, who lived on it about twenty- five years. At his death, it passed to his heirs, and eventually (June, 1847 — July, 1852) it was sold by one or more of them to the New York and Erie Railroad Company. From the above tract (118 acres and some perches), styled Pleasant Valley on the surveyor's map, sixty-three acres and a little over should be deducted as having been conveyed by M. Salsbury to J. H. Reynolds, and by him to William B. Stod- dard. Possibly that portion of the town including the property of the Roman Catholic church should be excluded also, as once a part of Wm. P. McKune's land. Sedate Griswold, formerly owner of a large tract within the borough limits, died here recently. " On the site of Susquehanna Depot, one single farmer had sufficient work in 1848, the summer through, to guard against the encroachments of rattlesnakes that sung in his barn, and made music in his hay fields." Twelve years later a population of 2000 persons had apparently driven the reptiles from the place, but not from its neighborhood, which in 1870 they still infest. ' te^t^^d /J . HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. 107 The borough has one street which runs in the valley, follow- ing nearly the course of the Susquehanna; the streets parallel to it are reached by steep acclivities, or by long staircases be- tween the blocks of buildings. It well deserves the title it has received — the City of Stairs. It is said that some of the Erie employe's go up to dinner two hundred feet above their work. For a time after the Erie Eailroacl was finished, the popula- tion decreased; but it now gains steadily. Americans, English, Irish, and Germans are found numerically as named, with a few Italians and Poles. Many of the machinists in the Erie work- shops are English. James B. Gregg, Master Mechanic of the Erie Railroad shops, is a native of Delaware, and is of Quaker parentage. The homestead was in New Castle County, near Wilmington. He attended the State common schools until he was seventeen years of age, at which time he persuaded his father to permit him to learn the machinist trade, rather than pursue farming, to which he was brought up. His father procured him a position, though reluctantly, in the extensive machine shop of Geo. Hodgson, an Englishman, in Wilmington, Del. At the expiration of his apprenticeship, in 1836. he attended school for three years ; one and a half years under the tuition of Jonathan Gause, near West Chester, Pa. ; and the same time at the High School of John Gummere at Burlington, N. J. These teachers were Quakers; and the schools were noted in their day as first-class schools, where young men could procure a thorough practical business education, including the languages if desired. Mr. Gregg then spent one year in traveling in the Western States, and on his return was appointed general Foreman of the Piermont shop, the only one then on the New York and Erie Railroad. Here he remained until 1851. He was then promoted to the office of Superintendent of Motive Power at Susquehanna Depot. This place is 195 miles from New York city, and 274 miles from Dunkirk. The following is from correspondence of the ' Broome Ee- publican,' May, 1859 : — ■ " The shops were located here in the summer of 1848. The buildings were then few and small. In 1854, they covered five acres, and in 1859, 350 men were employed, doing the work for 319 miles of the road. The capital then invested in the shop machinery was about $200,000. Sub-shops were sta- tioned at Canandaigua, Owego, Hornellsville, and Port Jervis, of all which, Mr. Gregg was the superintendent. " In the Susquehanna shops, there are sixteen departments of labor ; each of which has its foreman, who has, in the performance of his duties, absolute control of all that pertains to his branch of business ; subject of course to the general foreman of the shop. He is not only required to see that every piece of work that leaves his department is perfect in itself, but is held individually responsible for the material used in its manufacture. Nor is the foreman alone responsible. There are in the several departments what are termed ' gangs,' over whom presides a subordinate foreman appointed to attend some particular job. " Admirable system is observed in the general management and discipline that prevail throughout the shops. The care of tools is so secured as to insure the company from the consequences of any neglect on the part of their em- ployes. 108 HISTOEY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. "In 1856 the steam hammer was introduced into the Susquehanna shops; in 1857, there were two hammers only, and the saving, in being able to manu- facture their own material, was estimated at $25,000 for one year." In response to inquiries respecting later work here, Mr. Gregg kindly furnishes the following statements: — "I continued to increase our facilities for doing work by erecting additional buildings from time to time, as business increased, until it was found, in 1862, of pressing necessity, and from the great danger of our then wooden buildings being destroyed by fire, to construct still larger and more durable buildings. "At the request of the general superintendent, Mr. Minot, I furnished grouud-plans for the construction of such shop buildings as would meet not only the then greatly increased wants of the company, but all future contin- gencies. These plans were laid before the board of directors, and in due time were accepted and adopted. The buildings were commenced in 1863 and finished in 1865, at a cost of $1,250,000 ; the tools and machinery cost, in addition, $500,000. "The buildings, covering eight acres, are acknowledged to be the most extensive of their kind in this country, and also the most complete in their arrangements for economizing labor and facilitating work. This is the tes- timony of railroad men from all parts of this country, as also of our visitors from England. " I made provision in the construction of the buildings, by consent of the company, for a library and reading-room ; and this is now an important insti- tution, as connected with our shop system of management, for the benefit, of the employes. "I also made a like provision for a lecture-room, 42 X 60 feet. Both these rooms the company, upon my recommendation, very generously fitted up, at their own expense, with all necessary furniture, gas fixtures, and steam- heating apparatus. "The library, which is 'circulating,' contains about 2500 volumes of well-selected, miscellaneous works, and is growing at the rate of 400 to 500 volumes annually. Our subscription for daily, weekly, and monthly reading matter, for the supply of the table for daily reading, is about $120 per year. " I cannot speak of this library and reading-room in terms of too great praise, as an agent in the building up of good citizenship in our community. The books are read at about an average of 400 volumes per month by per- haps not less than one thousand persons. Each book can be retained four- teen days. " It is the only library, reading-room, and lecture-hall connected with any similar shop or manufactory in the country. " The number of men employed varies from 650 to 700, as our wants direct. The average amounts of money paid them is about $38,000 per month, wages being more than doubled within the last dozen years. " I hazard nothing in declaring it as my opinion that no shop or manufac- tory of any kind in this country, employing a large body of men, can so truthfully boast of the intelligence and high moral worth possessed by the employes, as of this shop. Nor can any similar number of workmen boast of possessing so large an amount of property or real estate as is actually possessed, and in fee simple owned, by the employes of this shop, which is not less than $600,000 worth. "The company originally owned about 300 acre9 of land, now covered by happy, thrifty homes of Susquehanna Depot. Prior to May, 1859, the company duly appointed me, by act of the board of directors, etc., their agent and attorney for the control and sale of the above property. " By being careful to employ none but men of exclusively temperate habits HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. 109 and of good moral character, aside from being good workmen, and by holding out to these men encouragement to purchase lots and build houses for them- selves, every lot of the 300 acres is now sold and deeded, and, in addition, our men have purchased largely of adjoining lands. " The number of steam hummers is now increased to six, and with these I am now supplying forged work, axles, etc., and all iron work for bridges for all parts of the road and its branches. I have also very largely introduced the manufacture of cast-iron drilled wheels for engines and cars for the whole line of the road, the annual number supplied from this shop averaging about 11,000 wheels. In the construction of new locomotives, the rebuilding and repairs of old ones, and, indeed, for the care of the road in all particu- lars, this shop has now become largely responsible." Theodore Springsteen is chief clerk ; John T. Bourne, store- keeper; and Robert Wallace, general foreman. Forty-six miles of steam pipe heat the Erie shops and depot. The Sisters of Charity occupy the building erected by Martin Newman, which was once Scoville's hotel. Near this point, the traveler coming north on the Lenox and Harmony turnpike, is suddenly met by a view of scenery remarkably beautiful. Be- fore him is the abrupt bend in the river, and the Ouaquago Mountain, with its southern slope skirted with the new and flourishing village of Oakland. Lanesboro is at the right, and a little beyond, the grand stone bridge or viaduct that spans the valley of the Starucca. Its nineteen piers and eighteen arches are here distinctly seen, and, stretching still beyond the Sus- quehanna, in its due north course to the State line, is its valley rich in beauty and in the historical interest that gathers around it. The locality has been painted by one of its own residents. (See later page.) The first four hotels were: J. B. Scoville's, Thomas Carr's, Elliot Benson's, and Eobert Nichols' — not one of which was kept up as such in 1869. The Starucca House, near the rail- road station, and the Canawacta House, had succeeded them, also the Hotchkiss House on Church Hill. The churches are the Presbyterian, Soman Catholic, Metho- dist, Baptist, and Universalist. L. P. Hinds was the first lawyer who located in the place; John Ward, the first merchant. William Stamp, of Susquehanna Depot, is the inventor of a new steam-gauge, which is said to be a work of great value. At present (1872) a city charter is petitioned for. Susque- hanna Depot received from the State $3000 for schools. This allowance was made, partly in consideration of the fact that the place has no revenue from the Erie Railroad property. The graded school building is a large and fine one, the site of which was selected with a view to accommodate pupils as to distance; but otherwise, it appears unfortunately chosen, on account of the lowness of the ground and the proximity of the railroad shops. 110 HISTOKY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. North 1 Susquehanna, or Oakland Village, is connected with Susquehanna Depot by a bridge across the Susquehanna Eiver. This was first built in the fall of 1855, by a stock company, of which Thomas Jackson, M.D., was President, H. C. Godwin, Vice-President, and L. P. Hinds, Secretary. They with F. A. Ward, Levi Westfall, J. B. Scoville, and AVilliam W. Skinner, constituted its managers. The original expense was about $4700. This bridge was carried away by a freshet, and the half of the expense of the one which takes its place was borne by William M. Post. In 1852 or 1853, the Van Antwerp and Newbury farms, with a part of Elijah Westfall's land, comprising about 400 acres lying north of the river, had been purchased by J. B. Scoville for Messrs. Jackson and Godwin, who laid out fifty or sixty acres in village lots, which they sold to William M. Post in 1857. Prior to 1864, there was only one road in Oakland Village — the old Ouaquago turnpike — and but one or two farm houses. Five years later, there were three streets between the old turn- pike and the river, and three cross-streets of the five laid out were open. A hotel was built in 1864, near the north end of the bridge, by T. T. Munson, which has since been known as Telford's. After selling the hotel, Mr. Munson established the first store here. West of the bridge there is a saw and grist-mill; east of it, a sash and blind factory. In 1869, there were about seventy buildings in the village. It now (spring 1872) contains over one hundred houses, and is steadily growing. A neat school- house, with blinds, serves as a place of worship for the Metho- dist society. A union Sabbath school begun here 1865, by Mrs. William M. Post and Mrs. Cockayne, with eight scholars, numbered over one hundred scholars in four years. The village is an independent school district. The majority of the residents are Brie Eailroad employes. CHAPTEE X. BROOKLYN. When first settled, in 1787, the area of Brooklyn was an atom in the vast space allotted to the most northern district of Luzerne County, and which, in 1790, was designated as Tioga 1 Or West, as it is called by the people of Harmony. HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. Ill township. In 1795 it belonged in part to Nicholson township; in 1806 it was wholly in Bridgewater (then still in Luzerne), and in that portion of it which, at the second term of court after the organization of Susquehanna County, was included within the limits of a township then petitioned for, to be called Waterford. Of the latter, it was proposed the southeast corner should be where the county line crosses Martin's Creek; that the creek, for ten miles, should be its eastern border; thence a line due west five miles, its northern; thence a line running- south to Luzerne County (now Wyoming), the western ; and thence east to the place of beginning, the southern. This made the northern boundary nearly on a line with that of Dimock, as since run; but Waterford as finally granted, April, 1814, was twelve miles north and south. This brought the northwest corner within two miles of Montrose, and it was soon thought expedient to change it, leaving the residents along the Meshoppen, as far down as Lindsley's or North Pond, still in Bridgewater. February, 1823, the court changed the name of the town to Hopbottom (that being the name of the post-office, as also of the settlement from an early day); for, as there were already three Waterfords in the State, it caused derangement of the mails. In 1825 a meeting of the citizens was held, and they decided to petition the court and the postmaster-general for a change of name, both of town and post-office, to Brooklyn, with a favorable result. In 1846, Brooklyn was reduced nearly one-half, by the erec- tion of the township of Lathrop, since which time its limits have remained unchanged. The Hopbottom Creek, so called from the number of wild hops once found growing in its valley, runs through Brooklyn from north to south, having its source in Heart Lake, between New Milford and Bridgewater, and reaching Martin's creek in the northeast corner of Lathrop. It is said that " up Martin's Creek a former hunter's range ex- tended (as also to the upper branches of the Wyalusingj ; the fur of the marten, then abundant, was his chief aim." It is probable the creek derived its name from this circumstance, and that it is incorrectly called Martin's creek. " Dry" Creek is also a tributary to Martin's Creek in certain seasons. Horton's Creek has its rise in the western part of the town- ship, and crosses the southern line about midway ; thence passes entirely through Lathrop to join the Tunkhannock below. It was once a rival competitor with Martin's Creek for railroad honors. South Pond (Ely Lake) and the half of North Pond, the latter 112 HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. on the west line of Brooklyn, and the other near it, are the only lakes of the township. The surface is very uneven. The traveler over the Owego turnpike (which enters the township at Oakley's and leaves it near its northwest corner) will cross some high hills, and, in going over the road from Kingsley's to the Center, will find those even higher ; but here is some of the best land. SETTLEMENT. In 1787, John Nicholson, Comptroller of Pennsylvania, and owner of extensive tracts of land throughout the State, attempted to colonize his lands along the Hopbottom ; and, in five years, collected about forty Irish and German families from Philadel- phia, and " down the Susquehanna." He had agreed to supply them with provisions, for the first year at least, and that they should have the land seven years ; the settlers in the mean time to clear what they could, and to build upon each lot a house and barn, and at the end of seven years to have the first right of purchase at the price the land might then be worth. Adam Miller, a Protestant Irishman, though part of his life had been spent with a Roman Catholic priest, had married a cousin of Nicholson, and both were persuaded by him to come to his Hopbottom lands in 1787. At the end of one year they became discouraged, and Nicholson, to induce them to stay, deeded to Mrs. Miller 175 acres of land. Mrs. Miller's maiden name was Elinor Nichaelson, as the name was spelled in the old country. Her father was a brother of John Nicholson's father, and a Welshman ; her mother was an Englishwoman. Mrs. Fox, a Dutchwoman among the colonists, once com- plained to Mrs. Miller of their fare, when the latter responded: " Peggy, we ought to thank the Lord that we have enough such as it is." But " Peggy" could not assent, and replied: " Do you really believe anybody under the heavens ever thanked the Lord for johnny-cake ?" The eldest child of Adam Miller is now living (1870) in Michigan, in her eighty-fourth year, and she was about one year old when her parents came to what is now Brooklyn, and was just three years old when her brother William was born there, December, 1789. His was the first birth in this county, so far as has come to the knowledge of the compiler. Elder Charles Miller, for man}' years a minister in Clifford, was also born on the Hopbottom, March 20, 1793. His sister Anna Maria, now the widow of John Wells, was born there in 1795, and was in her fifth year when her parents with their family went to Ohio. They returned the same season to Tunk- HISTOKY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. 113 liannock, and, early in the spring of 1800, reached Clifford Corners, in the vicinity of which they lived and died. (See Cliffokd.) Eichard McNamara and Robert Patterson came in 1787. The latter is buried in Brooklyn. William Conrad (or Coonrod, as then pronounced) was among the earliest of Nicholson's colonists. He was one of the Hes sians employed by Great Britain in the Revolutionary War. All the time he had to prepare for the expedition was less than twenty-four hours, and then he left home and country forever. He supposed the expedition was designed only to go to Eng- land ; but, when there, it was joined by the British fleet and sailed for America. The next year he was with Lord Howe at Philadelphia. The Hessians were then told, that if they deserted to the Yankees, they would be killed and eaten up. Conrad, however, made his escape, and the first American officer he met gave him a dollar. He soon found inhabitants with whom he could converse in his own language, one of whom, Page, ac- companied him to this section. Hardships of every kind awaited the family of Conrad here. Their first home was under the shelter of a hemlock root, where one of his children was born. He stayed in Brooklyn long enough to make a small clearing, build a log-house, and set out an orchard on the farm afterwards owned by Andrew Tracy, Esq., and then removed to Harford, where he lived more than forty years, and where he died. A son of his is still living in the county, a little east of Hopbottom village; and another branch of the family is living at South Gibson. Little is known of those who came in 1787, with the excep- tion of a few persons. Mrs. Wells (mentioned above) states, that a physician, whose name was Caperton, accompanied the first settlers, and that he, Mr. Fox, and Mr. John Robinson, were her father's near neighbors. The majority of these known as "the Nicholson settlers" were Irish, and their locality was called the Irish Settlement by the settlers of Great Bend and " Nine Partners." Nicholson had furnished teams, a quantity of "sugar kettles" for boiling sap, and erected a log grist-mill (about sixty rods below Whipple's present saw-mill), but failed to supply provisions as he had agreed ; the families, being left to care for themselves, suffered much from want, and not knowing how to manage in the wilder- ness, became discouraged, and after a few years abandoned the settlement. Among the few whose names are connected with the improve- ments purchased by the New Englanders, there were, besides the settlers already given, another Conrad, Trout, Mclntyre, and Denison. 8 114 HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. John Jones, a well-educated Welshman, came from Northum- berland, 1790-2, and became a sort of superintendent of the settlement. His family consisted of his wife (formerly Mrs. Milbourne), and his stepson, Bloomfield Milbourne, with their three daughters, Nancy, Betsy, and Polly. The last-named died in 1802. Nancy became the wife of Samuel Howard, a later comer, and Betsy, of John C. Sweet, of Harford. A son of one of the earliest New England settlers in Brooklyn (J. Sabin) narrated the following incident: — " 1 remember one time Mr. Jones went to Wilkes-Barre, forty miles away ; bought two five-pail kettles, in which to boil sap, hung them astride his mare, drove her before him, and walked himself. When he had nearly reached home, some brush caught in the legs of the kettles, which so frightened the beast she ran into the woods and broke them both." In 1792 Mark Hartley, of Scotch descent but of Irish birth, and then living at Northumberland, was induced by Nicholson to join the Hopbottom colony. He was accompanied by his wife and two children, Mark and William, the latter only eight weeks old, now Esquire Hartley, of Lenox. He remained less than five years in the settlement before removing to the vicinity of Glenwood. From 1792-95 the last of the Nicholson colonists came. They were William Harkins, James Coil (to Adam Miller's clearing), and Prince Perkins (colored), with his son William, and two grandchildren. Prince had been the slave of Captain Perkins, of Connecticut (the great-grandfather of C. S. Perkins, now of Brooklyn), but as he became a freeholder, and spent his life in the township, his history forms a part of it. He came from near the mouth of the Tunkhannock, after ac- quiring his freedom in Connecticut by the laws of the State. Denman Coe and Wright Chamberlain, from Connecticut, were on the Hopbottom, in 1795. (See Gibson.) James Coil removed after a few years to Clifford. [The location of the Nicholson settlers can best be given in connection with that of the New Englanders.] On the failure of John Nicholson, his lands in the Hop- bottom settlement passed into the hands of John B. Wallace, of Philadelphia, and from him, in 1818, to Thomas B. Overton, then of Wilkes-Barre. A portion of the lands of Brooklyn belonged to the Drinker estate. The earliest New England settlers came to this section sup- posing themselves to have clear titles to land under the " Con- necticut Delaware Purchase." Prior to locating on the Hop- bottom, Joseph Chapman — a sea-captain, who had made fifty voyages to the West Indies — and his son Joseph, from Norwich, Ct., had begun an improvement on their purchase in Dimock, or HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. 115 " Chebur," as that town was then named, on Connecticut sur- veys. But, as there was no building on their land, the)' pro- cured an improvement in the adjacent town of " Dandolo" ; the section including the Irish settlement or Nicholson colony, and in the fall of the same year (1798) Captain Chapman brought his family to the log cabin vacated by John Robinson. He re- mained here until the spring of 1800, when with his wife and his sons Isaac A. and Edward, and his daughters Elizabeth and Lydia, he removed to the house, which he in the mean time had built on his place in Chebur. The only child of his first wife, Joseph Chapman, Jr., re- mained upon the Hopbottom place, but was not then without neighbors, from one to three miles away, nor many months with- out a companion. The incoming of Andrew Tracy can best be given in his own words, though fully to understand his position, the reader must be informed that he was Secretary and Recorder of the Con- necticut Delaware first Company, and that this was the final effort of the Connecticut claimants under the Indian Delaware Purchase to obtain possession. Captain Peleg Tracy, his eldest son, appears to have purchased the first improvements of Messrs. Jones and Milbourne, on the present farm of Obadiah and W. P. Bailey, as early as his father secured those of William Conrad, the place a little north of Brooklyn Center, which is now owned by Jared Baker; but he did not come to occupy it until two weeks after his father's arrival with his family. DIARY OF ANDREW TRACY, Esq. "1798, August 21st, I set out from Norwich (Ct.), with my son Edwin (Leonard E.) for the Delaware Purchase, and we arrived at Dandolo the 30th inst., at Mr. Milbourne's; the 31st at Chebur; 1st Sept. at Mr. Brownson's at Rindaw ; where we waited for Mr. E. Hyde till the 11th, and the 12th left there and went to view the Manor, etc. a the 14th took possession of C oon- rod Castle with the premises. We sowed about four bushels wheat and rye, and rolled up a log-house, two logs above the chamber floor ; and on the 11th November set off for Norwich. "On the 8th January 1799, sent off my team, and on the 11th set out with my family for our seat in Dandolo, and got to Peleg's place on the 6th of February, after a long and expensive journey of 28 days. We left Peleg's house about the 5th of March, and then moved into the castle — it was thir- teen feet square — having eleven in the family steady, until the 4th of July, and then we moved into the new house to celebrate the day of American Independence, and had about 40 persons to dine." The foregoing appears to have been written at the same time with what follows in the diary down to July 1801. To account in part for the large number of " persons to dine," it is here noted, that Captain Tracy was married and had three children when he settled in Hopbottom ; and that his wife was accompanied by her sister Betsey Leffingwell. Capt. Chapman's family 116 HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. were still in Brooklyn. Charles Miner may also have been of the party, since he came to this section with Capt Tracy. " Coon- rod Castle" then contained three "sets" of children; five were the children of Esq. Tracy's first wife, and four were those of Mrs. Tracy and her first husband, Amaziah Weston ; while the youngest, then an infant (now Mrs. Warner Hayden of New Milford), was hers and Esq. Tracy's. On the arrival of the Tracy family at Martin's Creek, they were met by Capt. Chap- man, who bore her in his arms the remainder of their journey. But to return to the diary : — "The last winter (1799-1800) was very hard and severe; snow that fell during the first week in November lay until May. We had about 12 inches of snow on the first of April, and there fell a snow 9 or 10 inches deep, and on the 8th, near as much more, and on the 2d of May we had a snow fall so as to make the ground look white. The hard winter was followed by a severe drought, which was the means of my going to French Town [now in Bradford Co.], three times after grain, and once down theTunkhannock, and so up the Susquehanna to the Wyalusing. and so home with four bushels wheat and rye. On my way home, I got within half a mile of Joseph Chapman's house, when it being very dark and rainy, my horse became frightened, and ran into the woods ; and I was under the necessity of lying there all night, not having so much as an old log or anything but a small beech to screen me from the storm, which was incessant all night. As soon as the daylight appeared, I found the path, and then proceeded on to Capt. Chapman's where I got half an hour before sunrise, not having had any sleep, but very wet and cold. After dinner I set out with my load for home. "June 6th, 1800, occurred a very great frost that killed corn, beans, pump- kins, cucumbers, etc." Under date of July 26, 1801, he mentions a frost which killed some things. August 5th, following, he adds: " Eev. Jacob Crane, a mis- sionary from New York, preached a sermon at my house, to about 40 hearers." On the 21st of the same month,- he mentions his own son-in-law Thompson, who preached two sermons that day at the same place. August 25th, there was " a frost that killed everything subject to frost." On the 12th and 13th of Septem- ber following there was also " some frost." This was the last entry of his diary. Andrew Tracy, Esq,, died Nov. 1, 1801. In 1801, Captain P. Tracy sold his place with the house which Messrs. Jones and Milbourne had built in 1790, to Captain Amos Bailey. Traces of the ruins of the house are still to be seen near the spring, in the orchard of O. Bailey; where there are trees set out by the first occupants, which are still bearing. Captain Tracy then went to the clearing first made by William Harkins, where H. W. Kent now resides ; but remained there only two or three years before removing to Wilkes-Barre. All of the first family of Andrew Tracy, Esq., left the town soon after his death, except his son Leonard who died here in 1802. HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. . 117 The widow of A. Tracy with her children, Samuel, Mary, William, and John "Weston, and Sally and Andrew Tracy (the last named born soon after his father's death) continued to re- side at the homestead until her marriage with Deacon Joshua Miles. She died in 1856. Her son Andrew, after his marriage removed to Marathon, N. Y. Sally (Mrs. Hayden) says : " I have often heard my mother speak of the good old time when we lived in Coonrod Castle, and took the door from the hinges and laid it on barrels for a table, before we could get any made." Samuel and Mary Weston were early teachers in Brooklyn ; William, father of E. A. Weston, died here in 1853 ; John, is a physician in Towanda, Pa. Charles Miner did not take up land in the vicinity of the Chapmans and Tracys, but his associations with them, in 1799, permit us to copy a few items from a letter written by him about fifty years later : — " On the 12th of Feb. 1779, in company with Captain Peleg Tracy, his brother Leonard, and Miss Lydia Chapman in one sleigh ; Mr John Chase of Newburyport and myself in another; set out from Norwich, Ct., and ar- rived at Hopbottom the 28th. The snow left us the first night, when we were only twelve miles on our way, and we were obliged to place our sleighs on trundle wheels. Our cheerful, undaunted female friend, through the pa- tience-trying journey of sixteen days (never a tear, a murmur, or a sigh) lived to see her grandchildren, the children of an eminent judge of the Supreme Court." After selling to Captain Tracy, Mr. Jones made a small im- provement where James Adams 1st, now lives. This he sold in 1813, to Latham A. Smith. Mr. and Mrs. J. spent their later years near Mrs. Milbourne, in a house of which the logs were cut by Mr. Jones, though younger men rolled them up. After Mrs. J.'s death, in 1822, he lived with his son-in-law, S. Howard, and died in Brooklyn, in 1834, aged 91. Bloomfield Milbourne, after he and Mr. Jones left their first location, took possession of the place to which Mr. Fox had come in 1787. An old apple-tree is still pointed out as near the site of his log cabin, on the farm now owned by Lyman Tif- fany. The road from Mclntyre Hill to Martin's Creek passes the place. It was cut through one early 4th of July, as a holi- day job, by Capt. Joshua Sabin, his son Jonathan, Jos. Chap- man, Jr., and others; no whiskey was drank on the occasion. He is remembered as a very honest, kind-hearted, and oblig- ing man, and very fond of a practical joke. He was acknowl- edged to be "the greatest chopper in town," and was also u a dead shot" with the rifle. He married a daughter of Isaac Tewksbury, and spent the remainder of his days upon the Fox place. He died in 1839, aged 68. 118 HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. Eichard McNamara's improvements were purchased by Capt, Joshua Sabin, an account of whose settlement is here given, in the words of his son, in a letter to J. W. Chapman, Esq.: — "In the spring of 1799, Ezekiel Hyde, a land speculator from Connecticut, came to my father, who was living in Otsego County, on the left bank of the Susquehanna, 70 miles above Great Bend, and told him that he would sell him 800 acres of land in Hopbottom. My father accompanied him to H. t and bought out McNamara, who gave possession immediately. Then my father came back and took my oldest sister, and my brothers Lyman and and Aaron, and some household furniture, and moved them to Hopbottom. He bought a cow, and left them to keep house for the summer. He had sold his farm on the river, but had the use of it that year. He was late in getting to Hopbottom to mow the grass, and your grandfather Chapman and your father mowed and stacked the hay. In September, my father lashed his two canops together, and. loaded with household goods (including a loom, etc.), and also a number of apple-trees large enough to set, took me, and went down to Great Bend. He there buried the roots of the trees in the ground for the winter, and then we started together for Hopbottom, on the Newburgh road (the turnpike afterwards built nearly on the same line), seven miles through the woods to the first house, which was Corbett's tavern (now Phinney's in N. M.), where we halted. I went into the barn, and saw a pair of elk horns on the floor. They were standing on four points, and I took off my hat and walked between the horns under the skull, and as I stood erect under the horns they just touched my hair. (My height was 5 feet 10 inches.) There I saw also a tame elk among the cattle. "We went on to Hopbottom by way of a town then called 'Nine Part- ners.' When we reached our destination, I was heartsick with the place ; but I became more reconciled when I became acquainted with your father and your uncles Edward and Isaac, and your aunts Lydia and Polly. Your grandfather had bought a new place about eight miles from there (in Che- bur), and wished me to go with him to visit it. He had already built a house on it, and a family named Myers had moved into it till they could build. "Mrs. Myers was very glad to see him, and said, ' Captain Chapman, have you any snuff?' He told her he had plenty, and she said she 'had suffered so for snuff* that if she had 'this house full of gould' she ' would give it all for one pinch of snuff.' " I helped him fence his ground, and sow and drag in three acres of wheat, and I returned home Saturday night. "My father went back up the river, and left my oldest sister, myself, and Aaron to keep the house. He was down twice during the winter." Capt. Sabin's family then consisted of his wife and eight children. The letter continues: — "The whole family moved down, in March, 1800, in sleighs. They crossed the river twice on the ice, and drove the cattle and sheep. They reached the new home the last week in March. The most of the stock, consisting of 9 horses, 60 head of cattle, and 20 sheep, was turned over to Hyde for land, which father lost because he failed to get a good title." From another letter to the same, written nearly twelve years ago, we learn that Capt. Joshua Sabin was born in Dutchess County, N. Y. He served in the Revolutionary army as cap- tain under Washington, and at the close of the war settled in Rensselaer County, N. Y., and received an appointment as jus- HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. 119 tice. He afterwards rented his farm there, while he lived in Otsego County, where Ezekiel Hyde found him. He became so disheartened after losing his property through the Connecticut land speculation, that after about four years' residence in Hopbottom he returned to his old home in Rens- selaer County, where he spent the remainder of his days (17 years) in tranquillity. His eleventh child, and the only one born in Susquehanna County, had been named after Ezekiel Hyde, who gave him 100 acres of land, but unfortunately the giver did not really own a foot of it. The Hopbottom farm continued to be occupied by Jonathan Sabin, after his father left, until 1809 (he having in the mean time married the widow Raynale), when he removed to the Lake country. The following incidents were given by Mr. Sabin upon re- ceiving a copy of the Montrose ' Republican' which contained the proceedings of the Old Settlers' Festival, June, 1858. Hon. J. W. Chapman says : " No one acquainted with Jonathan Sabin, his skill and success as a hunter, and rectitude as a man, will question the truth of his statements." "In the spring of 1800, Capt. Bartlet Hinds, in company with another man, came five miles through the woods to grind their axes — four in number, and new from the blacksmith shop — on my father's Nova Scotia grindstone, preparatory to cutting the first trees for a road from Great Bend to where Montrose now stands. "While reflecting upon the events of my youthful days, my mind involun- tarily reverts to some of the wilder and more exciting scenes enjoyed by me in hunting game, with which the wilderness of that country, at that time, was so bountifully supplied. " I was then sixteen years of age, and lived with my father in a house about half a mile from Joseph Chapman's, where in those days there stood a yellow ivilloiv tree near the foot of the hill. "During my four years' residence there, I destroyed five panthers, a num- ber of bears, some seven or eight wolves, and at least two hundred deer. On one of my hunting excursions, I discovered, about twc-thirds of the distance up the mountain southeast from the willow tree, a pile of leaves some two or three feet high, and upon examination found they contained a dead buck, which I supposed had been placed there by a panther. I took off the skin, and covered the body again as I found it, as nearly as I could. I then loaded a musket with eleven buckshot, and set it for the panther just at dark, and had left it only about five minutes, when I heard the report of the gun ; upon returniug to the spot, found the panther dead, not nine rods from the place where he received his wound. Every shot had taken effect. He measured nine feet in length from his nose to the end of his tail. " While upon a hunting excursion about 200 rods north of the house, on the hill, I discovered a bear coming directly towards me. I allowed him to come within 16 feet before I fired; the charge, a ball and nine buckshot, took effect in his heart, and killed him instantly. "On another occasion my brother and I went up to the north pond, about one mile from the house, to shoot deer by torchlight from a canoe. Soon after dark we heard the deer in the pond. We moved towards them care- 120 HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. fully, and when within twelve rods, I fired and killed three the first shot ; and before morning I killed four more, making seven deer with five shots, and had them all home in the morning." From his letter written in 1866, we have the following : — " About sixty years ago I saw a man coming up the hill towards my house, followed by his horse. He wanted to bait the horse on the beautiful clover before the door. That man was Robert R. Rose from Philadelphia. He named the town of Montrose. He owned 20,000' acres of land there. He surveyed his land himself, and boarded at Captain Hinds' that summer. " He sent to me for a barrel of pork. It was impossible to get through the woods with a wagon, but I contrived to get the pork to him. I took two poles twenty feet long, and bored holes with a two-inch auger, about five feet from the butt, and inserted two cross-bars to hold the barrel, then sprung the poles together, bound them with withes, and lashed them behind the oxen. In this way I took him the pork, and got $20 for it— a great sum in those days." He also mentions the fact that in 1799, when he came, there was no settler from Page's (at Brooklyn Center) to Colonel Parke's ; and from Page's to Horton's mills — 9 miles — there was but one, John S. Tarbell. Four barrels of salt paid for a span of horses purchased by Jon. Sabin when he was 21 years old. He sold to Mr. Miles a pair of millstones for $50. About 1808, Mr. Sabin had occasion to go to Cayuga Co., N. Y.j to buy wheat, which could be obtained there for fifty cents per bushel, while at Hopbottom it was $2.00 ; and he was then so delighted with " the lake country," he determined to leave the Beechwoods, and all their game. Having no regular title to the land, he sold his " improvements " to John B. Wallace, the Pennsylvania claimant, who gave him for them, $100 and 100 acres. The latter he sold to David Morgan, and in 1809, he re- moved to Ovid, N. Y. In 1812, he bought a farm beyond Seneca Lake, in Steuben County, and resided there many years. He had eight children, one of whom, Joshua, died at Fort Leaven- worth in the service of the U. S. during the rebellion. During the last twenty years of his life, he was blind from a cataract. His home was then with his youngest son in Niagara Co., N. Y., where he died the 25th of January 1870, aged 87 years. Prior to the departure of Jonathan Sabin, J. B. Wallace and his brother in law, Horace Binney, Sen., of Philadelphia, came on to see their lands, and employed him to cut a road to "the Gregory settlement" in New Milford. All his family finally removed to the west. The Sabin farm was afterwards occupied by John Seeley, and sons Alden, Reuben, and Justus ; Putnam Catlin also resided here a short time before he purchased a farm half a mile above, and 1 The whole tract owned by Dr. Rose in 1809 consisted of nearly 100,000 acres. HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. 121 the place at length came into the possession of Jezreel Dewitt. A son of the latter now lives on it. It was half a mile from this place up the creek, on the north side, that Mr. Trout, another of the immigrants of 1787, was located. The farm is now occupied by N. C. Benjamin. Mr. Denison's clearing, which was half a mile above Mr. Trout's, was early abandoned by him. In 1799, the timber around the rock on which his oven was built had grown to a diameter of six inches. " Conrad Hill" takes its name from the location of one of the Conrads a short distance above Denison. Prince Perkins first settled where C. E. Palmer now lives, but soon moved to the farm now occupied by Charles Kent. In 1811, he sold the latter to Latham Williams, and by the kind assistance of Colonel Frederick Bailey, procured one hun- dred acres of land (which Henry Dennis now owns) and there he and his son lived and died. Prince was the soul of all the early dancing parties in the vicinity, and was probably an ac- cessory to the feast mentioned on another page. Some one ex- hibits a memorandum running thus: "1800 — Prince Perkins for fiddling on the fourth of July — 'lis. 3d. To give a picture of the life of a young woman for a fortnight in primitive times, the following is copied from Betsey Leffing- well's diary, kept for a friend in Connecticut, in 1799. Miss L. had come to visit her sister, Mrs. Capt. Tracy : — "Bidwell, 1 September 30 — Monday morn. — Mr. Chapman went to Web- ber's 2 after the horses in the time we were getting breakfast, which we eat with haste, mounted, and set off. Met Leonard Tracy on our way to Capt. Chapman's. Mr. Robison 3 and Mary met us before we got to the house where they had been waiting for us near an hour. We soon proceeded on our way to Rindaw, called on the Mr. Parkes, was treated with short cake, dryed bear's meat, and boyled corn. After a short tarry, we again mounted, jogged on to Mount Calm, made a visit to the new house, and then set off anew. Drove through swamp-holes, over logs, roots, and stumps, dismount- ing every half hour to pass creeks and brooks. At twelve we found seats, and partook of a comfortable meal, which refreshed us mightily. By four o'clock we came in sight of the famous store, 4 which was filled with men of every description. Mr. Hyde, Reynolds, and Miner were not backward in welcoming us to Rindaw. We were escorted to Mr. Brunson's by them ; found all well, and glad to see the ladies. Mr. Reynolds invited us to walk ; we steered for the famous creek, and were joined by Mr. Pascal Tyler and the other gentlemen ; took a sail, returned, drank tea, spent a sociable eve, and at nine we retired to rest. 1 Miss L. dates from the residence of Capt. P. Tracy, who then lived where Obadiah Bailey now lives. 1 It is thought Mr. Webber may have lived where S. K. Smith is now. 3 John W. Robinson. She wrote the name as it was then generally pro- nounced. 4 Enoch Reynolds, of Norwich, had established a store at Rindaw as an ex- periment. 122 HISTOEY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. "Tuesday (Oct. 1st) was very pleasant. We rose, took a walk to the store and on the banks of the creek. Returned to breakfast; was intro- duced to Doctor Usher and son, from Chatham — a proper tippe. Mr. Hyde found some work for us, which employed us till half-past ten, when we prinked up, eat a luncheon, mouuted our horses, and set out with Mr. Reynolds, Chapman, and Robison to visit the Miss Inghams, seven miles down the creek. Had a very polite welcome from the ladies. Was treated with melons, apples, and an excellent cup of tea, and many other delicacies too numerous to mention. Miss Polly Ingham is soon to be married ; we all had a polite invite to (the) wedding, and agreed to attend — hem. At even we mounted our nags to return to Brunson's, which we gained by nine; eat a hearty supper, and retired to rest. "Wednesday. — Rose early, in order to turn our faces towards Bidwell. We jogged on leisurely, viewing the country as we passed, and making our remarks on the inhabitants and their plantations. There are eleven families in fourteen miles of the road, which three years since was a wilderness. At three o'clock we got within five miles of Mr. Chapman's ; as it was the last house, we called. Mrs. Wilson was happy to see us, and set before us a good dinner. It being late, and no road but now and then a blazed tree for our guide, we concluded to stay the night. We took a walk around his clearing, and found it very pleasant, indeed. Mr. Wilson has been a settler but eight months, and has thirteen acres well cleared and fenced; hear this, and be- lieve, for it is true. He sows six acres of wheat this fall, with no one to assist him. " We rose early on Thursday morn, the third day of October, mounted our horses, and left them (the Wilsons). We crept along, over hills, and dales, and mud-puddles; found the Valley (Capt. C.'s) at 9 o'clock. " Fryday, October 4th. — Got home. Mrs. Chapman came and spent the day with us, accompanied by Mrs. Tracy. I took a run over to Mrs. Harkins' about noon. " Saturday, October 5th. — Cloudy, and some rain ; I not over smart to- day, but am fixing for our tour down to Rindaw, as we must be ready at a minute's warning (for Miss Ingham's wedding). Isaac and Edward Chapman called on their way to Mr. Jones'. The day was spent in work and play, and the night in sleep. " Sunday morn. — Very pleasant. I rose not so early as common. Mr. Mil- burne made us a visit before we breakfasted. About eleven, I dressed my- self and set off for meeting, alone. Found Milburne at Mr. Harkins', with Linsey. They were going to meeting, so Miss Leffingwell had their agree- able company. Arriving at Esq. Tracy's, we were disappointed in not hear- ing the sermon, as Capt. Sabins had that moment begun the last prayer, and such an one as I never heard ; shall, however, say but little about it. I found Joseph and his sisters with Mr. Robison, of the congregation, with many more not worth mentioning (to you). They all left the house soon after but Mr. Chapman and Betty [herself], who drank tea with the Esquire's family, and then set off for home. Had a mighty serious walk (with the serious con- sequence of a wedding). Took a view of the plantation Mr. Webber is soon to move on. Got home by sunset, made up a good winter fire, and spent the evening by its side, in good spirits. "Monday, October 7th, eve. — Mr. Harkin came in after some oyl for his child. I finished washing in time to prink up before dark. Mr. Robison made his appearance. We spent the evening very agreeably at whist. Mr. R. and Miss Leffingwell came off victorious. " Tuesday, 8th. — The afternoon I spent in writing, and the eve in knitting. "Wednesday. — No company to-day. I have been ironing, Mr. Tracy gathering corn and pumpkins — the largest I ever saw ; they will weigh, take them as they rise, thirty pounds, and one thirty-seven. HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. 123 "Thursday. — Mr. Chapman has made us a visit, on his way to Mr. Jones', to make Nancy a pair of shoes ; had his saddle-bags on his neck. " Fry day. — Mr. Chapman called on his way home. We retired to rest at eleven. "Saturday eve.— I have got the ink-horn, with my paper, in my lap, just to bid you a good night's rest. " Sunday eve. — We have spent the evening knitting, paring pumpkins, and telling riddles. [Saturday evening, and not Sunday evening — a New Eng- land custom of early times — was considered a part of the Sabbath.] "Monday. . . . Spent the day rationally — no company — and at nine re- tired to rest, in spirits." Miss Leffingwell was married to Joseph Chapman, Jr., the 25th of December, 1800, at Norwich, Conn. Referring to this, in 1858, Charles Miner said : " Capt. Peleg Tracy and Joseph Chapman, Jr., had each chosen a bride of the old aristocratic family of Leffingwell, in Norwich, amiable and excellent ladies." The children of Joseph Chapman, Jr., were George, James W.j Lydia(Mrs. J.L.Adams, recently deceased), John H., and Joseph, who died a young man. All were born on the farm which their father took up on the Hopbottom in 1798, and which Joseph Chapman, Jr., purchased under Pennsylvania title (a half mile square), and where he and his wife resided to the close of their lives. He died in 1845, and Mrs. C. in 1846. Joseph Chapman, Jr., was a shoemaker, and one " who was never known to fail in keeping his promise." George purchased a farm adjoining his father's, but the latter is occupied by C. M. Chapman, a son of George ; and thus it has been held by four generations of the same famil}^. Samuel Howard's first clearing is now the farm of Nehemiah Mack ; he afterwards cleared the farm of James Adams, Sr., and finally settled near B. Milbourne, until late in life, when he removed to South Auburn, where he died in 1843, aged seventy. Mrs. H. died in 1872. In 1800, Jacob Tewksbury, from Vermont, bought out Mr. Page, who, with his large family — eleven children — was located just where Brooklyn Center now is. What was then known as Dutch Meadow is partly covered by the village cemetery. The Page place was purchased, in 1808, by Deacon Joshua Miles, and Jacob Tewksbury removed to a farm about half a mile west of it (where Rev. L. H. Porter now lives), and after- wards went to Gibson, where he died November, 1842, aged seventy-four. Ebenezer Whitney came first to the clearing made by Mark Hartley, but soon removed to the place now owned by C. S. Perkins. Capt. Amos Bailey was born in Groton, Ct., January, 1777. He was married, February, 1801, to Miss Prudence Gere, a 124 HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. sister of Charles and Ebenezer Gere, and came with the latter to "Bidwell" the following month. (The locality was then in Nicholson, Luzerne County.) Capt. Charles Gere settled in what is now Lathrop, but Ebenezer G. and Capt. Bailey spent the summer with the family of Capt. Tracy. They were obliged to go to the mouth of the Tunkhannock for some pro- visions, which they brought on horseback, with marked trees to guide them ; and seven miles to mill, leading the horse that carried the grist. Capt. B. killed the first deer he ever saw the morning after he arrived here. He and Mr. Gere split lumber from a cherry log, and made them a table and a bed- stead. The table is still in perfect preservation in the room of one of his daughters, on the place where it was made ; and from its neatness of finish no one would suspect it was constructed outside of a cabinet shop. Possibly it is the only piece of furniture now in the county which was furnished by its forests and foresters in 1801. In the fall of that year they returned to Connecticut, where Mr. G. remained nearly twenty- one years before he came to settle in Brooklyn. It was the intention of Capt. Bailey to bring his wife that winter, but as there was no sleighing he came alone, and worked through the summer of 1802. He purchased of Mr. Tracy his improve- ments, and the log house, built in 1790, by Messrs. Jones and Milbourne; and in the fall, with his wife, began housekeeping on the farm, where both lived until death. They came from Connecticut in a wagon, and were seventeen daj^s on the road, three of which were spent in traveling from Great Bend, twenty miles. But they were more fortunate than many of the early settlers; they had a home to come to, and provisions in store for them, and something to spare to the hungry who came to their house; still they necessarily suffered many hard- ships and privations. Mrs. B. lived here three months without seeing a woman ; but, though she had left a good home and society, she endured her privations cheerfully. As the country was cleared up, all the privileges of social life sprang up around them. Their united industry and economy soon secured to them a comfortable home. Capt. B. cleared his farm, and raised stock and produce to pay for it. He planted his first orchard from seeds which he brought from Connecticut; some of the trees are now standing and bearing. In 1856, John Lord, Sr., just before his death, wrote the following: — "Capt. Amos Bailey was here about two years before I came. He was always foremost in opening roads to accommodate new settlers. As soon as there were children enough for a school, then he was the foremost one in providing good schools. Through his influence the necessary amount of subscription was raised for a public meeting-house, which was built HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. 125 without serious embarrassment to any one. He has always been a man of peace, and, by his friendly interpositions, he has prevented many serious litigations. Prominent men were willing to take counsel of him, because they knew he would act for the good of all." Capt. Bailey died November 9, 1865, in the eighty-ninth year of his age. Mrs. Bailey was greatly respected and beloved. She died July 15th, 1854, aged 85 years and 9 months. Amos Bailey and wife were among the earliest and most active Universalists of the. township. Their children were: Prucly, who married Robert Kent, and died in Bridgewater, in 1863 ; Amos G., who lived in Brooklyn, and died in 1855; Eunice G., and Obadiah, at the old homestead — the farm which W. P. Bailey, a son of the last named, now owns and occupies with him. Silas Lewis was a settler of 1801. Also, Edward Goodwin ; Amos, Daniel, and William Lawrence. Amos Lawrence occu- pied the Hartley place after E. Whitney, but removed, with his brother Allen, after a few years, to Dimock. Joshua Saunders and family settled at Mack's Corners. While his son Nathan was helping Capt. Bailey to clear his land, about 1804, he was knocked down by the limb of a tree, and died from his injuries. Mr. S. sold to Elisha Mack in 1811, and in 1817 moved to Ohio with Orlando Bagley and sons, and returned, after a time, to Brooklyn. 1802. — Jeremiah Gere — cousin of Charles and Ebenezer Gere, and son of Rezin Gere who fell at Wyoming — lived the first three years after his arrival with Joseph Chapman, Jr., and tanned leather in vats dug out of pine logs. In 1806, on the day of the great eclipse, he moved into the frame house he had built on the farm where S. W. Breed now lives. He died Sep- tember, 1842, aged 72. Charles V., his eldest son, died recently in Minnesota, aged 74 years; George M. died there, also ; Henry resides in Mis- souri, and Edward L. in Brooklyn. Two others of his sons and two daughters are dead. Miss Otis, afterwards the wife of Free- man Peck, of Harford, came in with the family. Mott Wilkinson and family came in 1802; also, Sergeant Tewksbury (a brother of Jacob), from Vermont. He settled just below Joshua Saunders, where John Bolles now lives; he died in 1842, aged 68. 1803. — Isaac Tewksbury (father of Jacob and Sergeant T.) and Barnard Worthing came from Vermont on a visit; the lat- ter purchased an improvement — the Abel Green farm (in La- throp). Both returned the same fall. Alfred Tiffany and family came from Plarford. 1804. — Early in this year, Isaac Tewksbury and family located on the clearing of one of the original forty settlers of Brook- 126 HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. lyn — "Mclntyre" hill. For nearly fifty years this hill has been crowned with the Universalist church, a landmark for miles around. Isaac and Jacob T. built the first saw-mill in the town, about 1805, nearly opposite the house now owned by P. G. Birch. Isaac and Judith T. are buried in the Methodist Episcopal churchyard. The ancestors of the family came from Tewksbury, Eng- land, where one of them, John, was burned at the stake, about 1620. Orlando Bagley, wife, four sons, and three daughters came on ox and horse sleds from Hartland, AVindsor County, Vermont, at the same time with Isaac Tewksbury. Jesse B., the oldest son, now (1871) 85 years old, says : — "We started on Tuesday, and were two Sundays on the road. It was in March, and the snow in some places was nearly five feet in depth. We set- tled on the hill east of what is now Mack's Corners. We went to Tunk- hannock and Wilkes-Barre for store goods, to Horton's and Tunkhannock to mill, and to Hyde's, at the forks of the Wyalusing, to our post-office. Esquire Hinds, only, lived where Montrose is." Orlando Bagley 's sons were : Jesse, Stephen, Thomas, George, and Washington. The family moved to Ohio in 1817, but four of the brothers returned to Brooklyn. Jesse recently removed to Lanesboro'. The present Mrs. Otto, nee Miriam Worthing, and two of her brothers, came to the town with the families of Orlando Bagley and Isaac Tewksbury, a few months before Barnard Worthing, her father, located permanently in the vicinity. She spent some years in the family of Deacon Joshua Miles, and prepared for teaching. She taught school twenty seasons in Susquehanna and Luzerne counties. She united with the Methodist class in 1821, at the age of 17, and was acquainted with all the early ministers of that denomination. She has contributed some valuable items to its history. Capt. Charles Gere (brother of Ebenezer), remained in La- throp until 1803 or 1804, when he came to the place now owned by Joseph Tiffany, and remained there until his death, early in 1842. His wife was a sister of Drs. B. A. and Mason Denison, and, from her own knowledge of medicine, she was accustomed to practice at an early day, going to her patients on horseback, guided by marked trees. Of their children, Charles D. and Mrs. Dr. Merrill are de- ceased ; Robert W. and one daughter, Mrs. J. W. Adams, live in Brooklyn, and another, Mrs. Sarah D. Kintner, in Wyoming County. 1804-1807. — Samuel Yeomans and sons Joseph and Samuel, Isaiah Fuller, Noah Fuller, and Stephen Gere (brother of Jere- "wva/iv Ji/,n Avi" &&9« HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. 127 miah, and father of Albert R. Gere now of Brooklyn), John Seeley and sons Alden, Reuben, and Justus, settled in the town. COL. FREDERICK BAILEY. Col. Frederick Bailey, a younger brother of Capt. Amos Bailey, bought of Amos Lawrence his title to the improvement first begun by Mark Hart- ley, Sr. (father of Esquire Hartley, of Lenox), one of the original Nicholson settlers. He afterwards added to his possessions by purchase from the State of some vacant land adjacent, making with this the large and valuable farm now owned by his youngest son, Henry L. Bailey. Here Col. Bailey settled, in 1807, and resided till his death, in September, 1851, at the age of 71 years. Having acquired a thorough common-school education in his native State (Connecticut), he was several times employed in winter in teaching the youth of his neighborhood. One who attended his school at the age of five years, and again at the age of 11, contributes the following notice of Col. B. :— " The writer of this, among several others, most of threescore years or more, can bear testimony to his strict discipline, thorough training, and his happy faculty of inspiring the ambition of his pupils, and laying the foundation for all their attainments in after life. He was not only a successful teacher and a thrifty farmer at home, but a man whose qualifications fitted him to be fore- most in any public enterprise. The old Milford and Owego Turnpike Road, which sixty years ago was considered almost as momentous an undertaking as the Pacific Railroad was half a century later, furnishing as it did a tho- roughfare for travel by daily stages from Western New York to the city, through this corner of Pennsylvania, owed much to his wide-awake, perse- vering energy for its construction and maintenance as a public benefit, till superseded "by the railroads of the country. But it was in the domestic cir- cle — in his own family and immediate neighborhood— that he was most espe- cially appreciated. His surviving children piously regard the fifth com- mandment, while many other relatives and friends revere and cherish his memory." The following extract from the obituary, published at the time, is expressive of the sentiment entertained : " He was intimately identified with every enterprise calculated to promote the growth and improvement of the country. He was extensively known in it, and was eminently respected by the past generation and the present as a man of sound judgment, superior business attainments, and active, prompt, and energetic habits. He was alike liberal in his sentiments and his actions ; and having obtained a compe- tency by his industry and prudent management, his heart and his hand were always open to the wants of his friends and neighbors." He had six sons and four daughters. He had buried one wife, three sons, and one daughter (among whom was his eldest son, Frederick W. Bailey, an enterprising merchant near Boston). Two daughters and his second wife have since deceased — the latter in 1869, in her 90th year. Robert M. Bai- ley, of Boston, James W. Bailey, of Lawrence, Mass., Mrs. Win. Stevens, of Pike, Bradford County, and Henry L. Bailey, now on the old homestead, constitute the remainder of his family. 1808. — Joshua Miles — commonly called Captain or Deacon Miles — came to Brooklyn Center, purchased the saw-mill of the Tewksburys, and built a grist-mill. He is remembered as a public-spirited man, a good mathematician, and a devoted Christian. He had quite a library, for those days, of excellent books, including a number of volumes of sermons, which were read in public worship nearly every Sabbath for years after 128 HISTORY OP SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. Lis death, which occurred July 6, 1815. His house occupied the site of D. A. and A. Tittsworth's store. Erastus Caswell, a brother of Mrs. Miles, came with her and remained some time; afterwards went to Wilkes-Barre, mar- ried, and did not return to Brooklyn until 1825. He had nine children, of whom six live in the vicinity. 1809. — Noah Tiffany, from Massachusetts, came with his family, including his sons Olney, Noah, and John, and their sister (now the widow of Eliab Farrer, of Harford), to the Harkins place, near a fine spring, the coveted location of early settlers. After Deacon Miles's death, he purchased his house and farm, and resided there until his death, July 19, 1818. He had been postmaster some years, and his son Arunah occupied this post during the two years he resided in the place, immedi- ately subsequent to the death of his father. Charles Perigo and Edward Payne were settlers of 1809. 1810. — Joshua Miles, Jr., came in the fall, with his wife and one child (subsequently Mrs. Dr. B. Eichardson). After two or three years he came in possession of the mill property of his father. He was a man of enterprise and sterling integrity. Being a carpenter, he erected two saw-mills in Brooklyn and two in Lathrop, and two grist-mills in Brooklyn, several dwelling-houses, a Presbyterian and a Methodist church, and, for himself, an oil and a paper-mill. The last-named enterprise was burned in 1842, soon after it was started, and embarrassed him so much he decided to repair his fortune at the West. He removed to Sterling, 111., in 1813, and died there in 1863, aged eighty-five. Elisha Safford, a native of Massachusetts, came from Con- necticut to the west part of Brooklyn in 1810, and selected the farm which he afterwards cleared, cutting the first tree felled on the place, and which is now occupied by Albert Allen ; a pretty ridge, abounding with hemlock, beech, birch, and maple. He brought in his family — wife and two children — in 1811, and built a log house, which he occupied nineteen years. His wife, Olive, is said to have been " always abound- ing in works of kindness and love to her neighbors." She reared six sons and four daughters to adult age, and all settled not far from home. When she was in her seventieth year she wrote a sketch of her early life in Brooklyn, from which the following is copied : — " There were at that time meetings held on the Sabbath at a dwelling- house two miles from us. We attended as often as we could conveniently, but we had to walk and carry our children. When we did not go we did not wholly forget the Sabbath ; we did not visit or receive visitors on that day. Like others, we had to suffer many privations. The necessaries of life were hard to be got. My husband went, one time, ten miles for a half HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. 129 bushel of salt, and brought it home on his back. The roads were very bad ; but, prompted by ambition, I did forbear to murmur or complain, though at times, when the friends and associates we had left behind came fresh to my mind, I would think within myself, Oh, why was my lot cast in the wilds of Susquehanna !" The pen of one of her daughters writes : " Father had sheep, and mother spun and wove, and, with her girls' help, made warm clothing for winter, and bedding too. He raised flax every year, and we spun and wove it every springtime. I remember well, when I was seven years old, of spinning; having the quill wheel fitted up with ' standard,' and old-fashioned ' head,' as I was too small to spin on the great wheel." After describing a terrific night-storm, she says : — " In the morning we looked out upon what seemed a new world. So much of the woods was laid prostrate, we could look through the opening and see cleared fields and buildings three miles distant — a great treat to us, although the damage done in the forest was great. Southwest of us, about six acres were swept nearly smooth." Some years after that, a raging fever went through the place, three or four in a family being sick at one time. Elisha S afford died in 1862, aged eighty-one. His wife, after years of suffering, died in 1859. aged seventy-three. One son, J. Dwight Safford, now deceased, became a minister, a member of the Wyoming Conference. Silas P. Ely " contributed his full share to every public improvement." He came in the first of the Ely family, his father Gabriel and uncle Zelophehad Ely, arriving three or four years later. He had a large family, of whom only three survive ; his son George occupies the homestead. He lived to be eighty-one years old ; had been a Presbyterian for fifty years. The Macks of Brooklyn belong to three families, descend- ants of three brothers : Elisha Mack's sons were Elisha, Marvin, and Enoch 2d; Elijah's were Josiab, Elijah B., Nehemiah, and Edward; Enoch has but one, Flavel. Enoch settled where Amos Hollister lives. David Morgan, Gideon Beebe, Bela Case, Isaac Sterling and sons, Bradley and Isaac H., carpenters, were settlers of 1810. Isaac H. Sterling is now a resident of Sterling, 111. Dr. Mason Denison began the practice of his profession in Brooklyn about 1810. Putnam Catlin, Esq., came to the township as agent for the Wallace estate of " 14,000 acres of beech and maple lands," receiving land in payment, of which a part was Mr. Sabin's old sugar-camp. He built a fine residence here. The Hop- bottom post-office was established in 1813, P. Catlin, post- master. The returns for letter-postage, the first quarter, were $1.00. In the small frame building erected for the office, his son George, "since eminent on three continents as an artist, 9 130 HISTOEY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. and particularly as a delineator of Indian life and features," once taught school. When George was born, his parents resided in or near "Wilkes-Barre. His mother's maiden name was Sutton, and she belonged to a prominent family in Wyoming Yalley. Putnam Catlin was admitted as an attorney during the first court in Wilkes-Barre, May 29, 1787. He removed to Windsor, K Y., and from there to Brooklyn, then (1810) included in Bridge- water. His aged father resided with him, and died here. Julius, a brother of George, who also had artistic tastes, was drowned, in 1828, at Eochester, N. Y., while sketching the Falls. Though Putnam Catlin is said to have had an " aristocratic bearing," he was yet truly affable and easily approached. The poor were never turned away from his door. He would say, " I shall always have enough," and would take the clothing, which Mrs. C. thought still serviceable, and give it to the child- ren of others more needy. He encouraged young men to clear land for him; and though it was then the custom to give cattle, or " truck," as payment for work, he would pay to each from two to three dollars in cash, that they might be able to expend something on holidays. Even as late as 1825, for a whole sum- mer's work, a farm-hand received but $10 in cash, the rest being in produce, etc. While he was cashier of the Silver Lake Bank, he and his family lived for a time where J. S. Tarbell lives in Montrose; and afterwards in the bank building, now owned and occupied by I 1 . B. Chandler. Afterwards he removed to Great Bend, where he died in 1842, aged 77. Mrs. C. died two years later, at Delta, N. Y., in her 74th year. He had been a drummer-boy of the Revolution. He was born in Litchfield, Ct., and was there admitted to the bar. In 1814 he was a Representative in the Legislature of Penn'a. A story is told of one of his early trips from Wilkes-Barre to " Nine Partners." The only house of entertainment was half- way between the places; it was built of logs, and consisted ap- parently of but one room, containing two or three beds. There was no floor. A short-cake was baking before the fire, and a white cloth was spread on a stump, the only table. At bedtime he was invited to sleep " in the other room," a pleasant fiction, as the only partition consisted in the projecting chimney and another stump. Justice Kent, originally from Massachusetts, came in 1810 from Windsor, N. Y., to the farm now occupied by David, his oldest son, and which then adjoined that of P. Catlin on the north. When Mr. K. brought his family in 1811 to the log- cabin he had engaged the previous season, it was occupied by HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. 131 Joseph Guernsey and family, and for six weeks the two fami- lies lived in one room; four adults, and twelve children; six of the latter in each family. A ladder led to a small loft where some of the children slept. Fifteen sheep were yarded near the house. Dogs could not be depended upon for guard, as they were afraid of the bears. Mr. K. built a grist-mill (where Jewett's saw-mill is) near the present line of Bridgewater. Robert, his second son, tended the mill, though at times he did not have more than one cus- tomer a week. He with other boys was accustomed to practice stratagem to secure venison. They made temporary salt licks between the roots of trees, then constructed a bower, and " set" a gun for an unwary animal. He was a playmate with George Catlin at Windsor, and confirms the statements of the latter re- specting his prowess in hunting, saying : " He would hit if with- in fifteen rods of anything." He had eleven children, all of whom are living in the county, except one daughter. His sons are Robert, Elijah, H. Wallace, Ezra S., Charles, and George J. About 1825, farmers began to realize cash for cattle sold to drovers. A two-year old would sell for from seven to nine dollars. In 1826, one farmer sold 100 bushels of wheat at 75 cents per bushel, and only one bushel could command cash. This money was the first he had received in fifteen months ; the fifteen shillings he had previous to that time, had held out ! Money for taxes was raised by working on the turnpike. 1811. — Nathan Jewett came in the spring from East Haddam, Conn., built a log-house on the place now occupied by his grand- son, Nathan R. Jewett, and then returned for his family. They arrived Nov. 3, 1811. He had then two children, Francis, who died when a young man, and Rodney, fifteen months old. Two daughters and one son, Allen, were born here. Thejast named was killed in the war for the Union. On his arrival, he paid for his farm, 100 acres or more, in gold ; and always enjoyed a competence from the fruits of his labor. He died in 1861, aged 78. Mrs. J. died in 1865, aged 77. Cyril Giddings ; David Sutliflf, and sons Zerah, Joel and Har- ris ; Latham Williams and family, from Groton, Conn. ; and Jedediah Lathrop, were among the settlers of 1811. Also, Jacob Wilson, who taught the first school in his neighborhood. Wise Wright, from Connecticut, settled in Brooklyn (where his son Orlando now resides) ; at the same time (1811) his brother Anthony settled in Lathrop. A lady of Brooklyn writes : — " I remember when Wise Wright and family lived in a log-house covered with bark. Perhaps none here endured more of the hardships and priva- tions of a new country than Mrs. W. Many times after the children were in bed, she had spun a day's work ; sometimes working all night to procure food and clothing for their needy family. They had nine children, and lived 132 HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. to enjoy a comfortable home on the farm where they first settled ; and where they both died. Mr. W. died in 1854, aged 71 ; and Mrs. W. a few years later." Esek H. Palmer and Amy his wife were natives of New Lon- don Co., Ct., where they lived until after the birth of four of their twelve children. In March, 1811, he came from Conn, on foot and alone, to the house of Amos Bailey, in Susquehanna County. After prospecting a little, he selected the farm now occupied by his son, C. E. Palmer (Prince Perkins' first " chop- ping"), cleared, put in crops, and made them ready to leave until harvest ; and then returned, as he came, to Connecticut. In August following he brought his family and goods in a two- horse wagon, and commenced housekeeping in a log-house be- longing to his neighbor A. Bailey. The lumber for his own house had to be drawn from Titus' mill (now Oakley's) up a steep hill; and by the road, they had to travel more than three miles with oxen and sled in the heat of summer ; but he perse- vered, and had his house inclosed so that the family moved into it in Nov. 1812. The old house was removed in 1840, and a new one built near its site. Here he died Oct. 31, 1861, in his 84th year. Mrs. P. now (1872) in her 90th year, resides at the homestead. Their six daughters, and four of their sons, James S., Gurdon W., Charles R., and Isaac N., became heads of families. The oldest son, James S., formerly edited a paper in Montrose, and is now a preacher of the Universalist denomination in Mansfield, Pa. Two sons and one daughter are deceased ; the rest of the family are independent farmers, or farmers' wives of Susquehanna County. 1812. — Stephen Breed came from Stonington, Conn., to the clearing where Adam Miller and family had their home in 1787 ; but, prior to 1812, it had been also vacated by James Coil and Edward Goodwin. Mr. Breed was extensively known as the keeper of a public-house. " Early in the Tem- perance Reformation he adopted its principles ; and to the time of his decease kept a temperance house, where travelers found a home at which good order and comfort awaited them." He was for many years an Elder in the Presbyterian Church. He died in 1852, and his farm is now occupied by his widow and their son, R. F. Breed. Edward Packer settled on Mclntyre Hill, on the farm now occupied by Dudley Packer, his son. It was in this vicinity that Hon. Asa Packer, now of Mauch Chunk, learned the car- penter's trade. James Packer, Solomon Dickinson, Caleb Crandall and family, Luther and Erastus Catlin, Ephraim Howe, Thomas and William Sterling, were all here in 1812. HISTORY OP SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. 133 1818. — Dana Fox, at the age of 18, came from Connecticut with a sister (afterwards Mrs. P. Wood) older than himself, into the wilderness, and cleared the farm where Lebbeus Rogers afterwards lived and died. David Bissel came in this year. James Smith, wife, and sons Latham A. and Isaac, with their families, came from Connecticut. The ten children of L. A. Smith now (1871) reside within the county, and two are prominent physicians. James S. died at the age of 83, and his wife at that of 82. 1814. — Gabriel and Zelophehad Ely. The sons of the latter were Lyman, John R., Hiram, and Jacob. He died about 1822. Gabriel Ely was postmaster in 1815 or '16. Anthony Fish, and sons Francis, Frederick, and Asa. He had eventually four daughters, three of whom reside in the county. Israel Reynolds, and sons Nathaniel and Samuel. Two other sons, Hatfield and Israel, died long since. 1815. — Asa Crandall, Sen., a wheelwright. Joshua Baker, a Baptist minister, had a large family. He moved to Lenox, where he died in 1871. Nathaniel Sterling resided in Brooklyn until his death, April 15, 1872, in his 98th year. Andrew and Lebbeus Rogers, Peter Herkimer, James Oakley and family, from Harford ; Ebenezer Payne, Thaddeus Palmer, Elihu B. Smith, Elisha Williams, Thomas and James Davison, are reported as here in this year. 1816. — Dr. Samuel Bissel, Stephen Griffis, Joshua and Josiah. Fletcher, Laban and David Cushing, Joseph Lines, Joshua Jackson, wife, and sons Joshua and Joseph, with their wives, and Caleb (single). George Cone, wife and two children, came in February, in a " coaster " wagon, with three yoke of oxen. He brought in $2500 — then considered a large sum. None of the family remain here. His place is owned and occupied by Rodney Jewett. 1817. — Jonas R. Adams, a hatter. Thomas Garland came from Maine and set up a tailor's shop; the first in the county outside of Montrose. In June, 1821, he received the appointment of postmaster, the office then being named Hopbottom, though the town was Waterford. It was upon his petition that the town received the name of the P. O. 1818. — Lodowick Bailey, a younger brother of Amos and Frederic B., is still a resident of the township, and recently celebrated his 86th birthday. As illustrative of the longevity of the people of this section, it may be stated that there were 134 HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. five persons present at the celebration between 80 and 90 years of age ; six between 70 and 80 ; and seventeen between 60 and 70. In the fall of 1867, forty-nine persons in Brooklyn were over 70 years old, fifteen of whom were over 80, and one (N. Sterling just noticed) over 90. With few exceptions, all were natives of New England. One year later, there were bat thirty- six reported as being over 70. Amos Merrill, wife, and sons Jonathan H. and Amos B. The elder became a physician, and died in New Hampshire ; the younger resides in Hopbottom. The mother died in her 100th year. Asa Hawley, father of E. W. Hawley, of Bridgewater; Abel Hawley, brother of Asa, and father of Joseph H., of Lenox, and Nelson H., of Montrose ; Jeremiah Spencer, a carpenter, who lived and died on the old Saunders farm ; Isaac Aldrich ; Arunah Tiffany (postmaster two years) ; Thomas Oakley ; Moses Smith ; Joseph Peckham. The last named took up a farm which is now divided — his widow and son James occupy- ing one part of it, and G. W. Palmer the part which George Newbury purchased before him. 1819-22.— Nathan Aldrich ; George Eisley ; Capt. Eandall, a cooper ; Eufus Pierpont, and Eichard Williams, afterwards in Lathrop, with his father's family, and John Austin. Ebenezer Gere, twenty-one years after his first sojourn in the county, returned with his wife and children — the present Mrs. E. O. Miles, and Mrs. G. W. Palmer, of Brooklyn, and Christo- pher M. Gere, of Montrose — to the farm which he had purchased in 1816, of Orlando Bagley. He remained here until his death. Mrs. G. is still living (1872) in her 90th year. 1823. — James Noble (as asserted by many) was the first mer- chant in the town. He had been previously a short time at Burrows Hollow in Gibson, but came here from New York. It was at his suggestion the town received the name of Brook- lyn. In 1831, he removed to Springville, where he remained two or three years; then returned to New York, where he died. The celebration of the 4th of July, 1823, is remembered as more general and spirited than that of any previous year. 1823-24. — Edward Otto, Isaiah Hawley, and Capt. Eowland Miles and families. 1825. — Capt. Elisha Baker purchased of Samuel Weston the farm now owned by his son, Jared Baker, of New York. William Ainey was born in Fulton Co., N.Y., in 1776. His w r ife (Hannah Crawford) was a native of Connecticut. She died ten years after their arrival ; he died aged 74. Both lie in the old burying ground near the Methodist church. Of their grand- sons, Albert J. Ainey is a practicing physician at Brooklyn HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. 135 Center ; D. C. Ainey, at New Milford, and William H. Ainey is a prominent lawyer, and president of a national bank in the city of Allentown. Their father (Jacob) was for some years a resident of Dimock. 1826-1830. — Y. S. Culver ; Lucius Eobinson (had a carding machine and fulling works many years) ; Jezreel and Aaron Dewitt from New Jersey ; Eli B. Goodrich ; Isaac and Amos Van Auken ; Dr. B. Richardson. Rollin T. Ashley came from Atlantic Co., N. Y., in the spring of 1831, and engaged in the mercantile business. In 1866 he was elected associate judge of the Susquehanna courts, which office he held until the recent election of James W. Chapman. Years of disquiet to the settlers, in consequence of conflicting claims of Philadelphia landholders, did not prevent them from improving the land, and erecting buildings in comfortable style. One source of difficulty had arisen from the fact that land war- rants issued to Chew and Allen, in 1775, were overlapped by those issued to John Nicholson in 1785; but at last, by decision of the Legislature, March, 1842, the minds of the people were set at rest. The first school-house in Brooklyn was made of logs ; the first teacher in it was Leonard Tracy, December, 1800. He died two years later. There appears to have been no school from that time until 1807, when Samuel Weston taught for one winter. Following him during the next five years were: Edward Chap- man, Mary Weston, Frederick Bailey, Eunice Otis, Miss Austin, George Catlin, Mrs. Joseph Chapman, Jun., and Joshua Miles ; the ladies teaching in summer, and the gentlemen in winter. Jesse Bagley taught very early near Mack's Corners ; and several years afterwards in other localities. A daughter of Capt. Amos Bailey writes : — " The first school in this district, as near as I can ascertain, was taught by Lucretia Kingsley, of Harford, in Mr. Milbourne's barn, in the year 1812. The next, by Col. Frederick Bailey, in his own house. Our first school-house was burnt soon after it was built; I think Dea. Cyril Giddings was teaching that winter. Another school-house was built on the same spot. Miss Sally Kingsbury (now the widow of Lyman Richardson), Miss Ruth Cone, and Noah Williston Kingsbury, of Harford (now deceased), were among the early teachers of this district. It was at a school of the last named that a young woman brought a grammar, wishing to study that branch; but it was thought by some of the directors to be unnecessary, and likely to interfere with other studies ; and was not allowed. The only branches taught in school where my sister, my brother Amos, and myself attended, were spelling, reading, writing, and arithmetic. Thus, and because we could not be spared to go to school much, after we were old enough to work, our advantages of school education were limited enough. My last teacher was Mr. Asa Crandall." Eliza Milbourne was the first teacher near E. Safford's, in 1820- Of later teachers, whose labors were continued year after year, honorable mention may be made of Sarah D. Gere, 136 HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. daughter of Charles Gere, and of Verie Aim Safford, who be- gan teaching between 1830-35. Miss Safford died July, 1867, aged 59. Samuel A. Newton came from Connecticut in 1833, to the farm Deacon Jacob Wilson had owned and occupied, and where he had taught school in his own house, about four miles from Montrose. Here, in the fall of 1839, he established a select school which was afterwards known for years as Newtonville Institute. He died in 1863. Among the earliest town-officers were : Cyril Giddings, first constable of Waterford, and Fred. Bailey and David Sutliff, first supervisors (1814). Joshua Miles, Jeremiah Gere, Charles Gere, and Joseph Chapman, Jun., were elected " freeholders " the following year. Frederick Bailey was town clerk in 1820. The Abington and Waterford Turnpike was incorporated by Act of Legislature, in 1823. It passes through the township from north to south. In addition to the remarkably cold seasons of 1801 and 1816, maybe noticed that of the hard winter of 1812-43, in Brooklyn. The diary of Miss Y. A. Safford states: — " The snow fell at intervals from early in November until February, 1843, when there was four feet of snow on the ground. The roads were almost impassable till April." Under date of April 12th, she added : " Farmers almost without exception are destitute of hay. Many have kept their stock on browse for a month past. Numbers of sheep and cattle have died, and those that are alive can scarcely get up alone. Poor people, who had man- aged to lay by a few bushels of grain for their families, have used them up, and are now destitute of food either for themselves or cattle." Later, her journal continues : " Snow fell on the first day of December, 1845, and bare ground was not seen again till March, 1846. Uninterrupted good sleighing four months in succession. A great flood when the snow thawed." Notwithstanding the severity of Brooklyn winters, its soil is productive to an extent that compares well with that of other townships. Tall oats and large crops of wheat have been re- ported. In 1839, a pumpkin was raised which weighed a hun- dred pounds. Cattle thrive, either from the quality of the grass and grain, or from the good attention paid to their wants. Industry and thrift characterize the inhabitants and their sur- roundings. Though the cluster of buildings surrounding the hotel, store, and post-office, at Montrose Depot, are in the township, the station itself is in Harford, as the Lackawanna and Western Railroad runs east of Martin's Creek — the eastern limit of Brooklyn. "The village of Brooklyn is built on an inclined plane, 40 minutes from rail. It has a post-office and a daily mail, and here, and in the township, it is said theie are two hotels, five dry goods stores, one dentist, two HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. 137 physicians, and three wealthy retired merchants ; four music-teachers. There is also a steam saw-mill, cabinet and chair factory, a tannery, a stove and tin shop, a carding machine, two feed mills, a flour-mill nearly ready for operation, four saw-mills, two cider-mills, a tailor shop, a cooper shop, four blacksmith shops, two carriage shops, one harness shop, four boot and shoe shops, and two movable meat markets. " There are in town twenty-five pianos, organs, and melodeons. one knitting machine, forty sewing machines, one photograph gallery, two milliners, and three dress-makers. There are in the township three wealthy, influential, religious societies, with seven pastors or clergymen. Each congregation has a well-regulated choir. There is one thriving Good Templars' Lodge, one town hall (called Rogers Hall), and ten school-houses. The independence and wealth of our people is largely with the farming community." A Farmers' and Mechanics' Association was organized some years ago. Brooklyn was awake, in comparatively good season, to tlie im- portance of the temperance movement, and to the interests of the slave. E. L. Paine, son of Edward, is said by some to have been the first merchant, and to have sold out to James Noble. Succeed- ing merchants were as follows: George M. Gere, Betts, F. W. Bailey, James Jackson, S. W. Breed, E. T. Ashley, Edwin Tiffany, O. A. Eldridge, Eobert Eldridge, O. G. Hempstead, E. McKenzie, Amos Nichols, James Smith, C. Eogers, Foot, D. A. & A. Tittsworth. Justices of the peace, appointed: Edward Packer, Dr. Samuel Bissell, James Noble, Abel Hewett, Marvin L. Mack, Ebenezer Gere. Elected : Amos G. Bailey, E. 0. Miles, Amos Tewksbury (declined), E. A. Weston, G. B. Eogers. [Abel Hewett was elected and re-elected as long as he lived in Brooklyn.] Physicians : Mason Denison, a native of Vermont, educated at Dartmouth College, removed to Mo,ntrose in 1813 ; married Wealthy, daughter of Walter Lathrop. Mrs. Edmund Baldwin is the only one of the children now in the county. Samuel Bissell, E."B. Slade, Enoch Mack, Palmer Way, B. Eichardson, Wm. L. Eichardson (1841), and Doctors Meacham, Chamberlin, Blakeslee, and Ainey. RELIGIOUS. In 1804, the Hopbottom settlement was visited by Morris (James?) Howe and Eobert Burch, preachers in Wyoming cir- cuit, who formed a Methodist class of four members: Jacob Tewksbury and wife, Mrs. Tracy (afterwards Mrs. Miles), and Silas Lewis. [In the History of Early Methodism, by Dr. Peck, Mrs. Joshua Saunders is mentioned as one of the four; but it is said she did not join until several years later.] The circuit embraced Wayne and Luzerne, including what are now Susquehanna, Bradford, and Wyoming counties. 138 HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. In 1806, Christopher Frye, who is described as "rough as a meat-ax," was on this circuit. The first class-leader was Nicho- las Horton, who lived ten miles below Brooklyn Center. Upon his resignation on account of the distance, Frazier Eaton, only six miles away, was appointed leader, and was accustomed to fulfil his appointments barefooted. After him, Jacob Tewks- bury was the leader until about 1809, when Edward Paine came to the place, received and retained the leadership, until he began to preach. Mr. Paine was, for many years, "the life of the Methodist Society." His wife was an efficient helper. While Mr. Frye was here, there was a rapid increase of members, among whom were several of the Bagleys, Tewks- burys, Saunders, Worthings, and others. A daughter of Jacob Tewksbury, Mrs. Garland, was a member for sixty years pre- ceding her death in 1868. In 1812, Kev. Elisha Bibbins was on the circuit. He had appointments "at Crowfoot's (Josiah Crofut), within eight miles of Great Bend, thence (via Hopbottom?) to Springville, or 'the little Beechwoods,' thence to Lyman's settlement, thence to Meshoppen, next to Brain trim, and from thence up the Tusca- rora Creek into the neighborhood of Father Coggswell's " — in Auburn. " Hoppingbottom" was a name given, by outsiders, to the settlement on the Hopbottom — the ing being inserted to illus- trate the leaping and shouting by which the Methodists then exhibited their spiritual joy. A revival continued here through the year. The houses then afforded so little privacy that persons were accustomed to retire into the woods to pray. A gay hunter declared that they frightened the deer away, and that he came upon praying people everywhere. In 1813, Bridgewater circuit was formed, John Hazard and Elijah Warren, preachers. " Hopbottom was the centre of the circuit, and gave tone to the whole." In 1814, Wyatt Cham- berlin was one of the preachers; in September, 1816, a camp- meeting was held ; in 1817, Joshua and Caroline Miles sold land, twelve by six perches, for $15, for the erection of a house of worship ; in 1818, Edward Paine was licensed to preach, and in 1819 he occupied the circuit with George Peck (now the Rev. Dr. Peck, of Scranton). The latter says : — "Methodism had long been in existence in this region of country; but still it had to dispute every inch of ground. The class in Hopbottom had been diminished and weakened by removals, and here we met with active hostility from Old School Presbyterians and Universalists. Elder Davis Dimock (Baptist) was firmly intrenched in his stronghold at Montrose, and from that point spread himself as widely as possible in all directions ; and wherever he came he was sure to strike a blow at Methodism. In spite of HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. 139 opposing elements, we had seals to our ministry. There was a rising in the church at all points." Eespecting his companion in the circuit, Dr. Peck says : — "Edward Paine, a native of Connecticut, was born in 1777, of pious parents, and was converted when fourteen years old ; at fifteen, he joined the Baptist, and afterward the Methodist, church. About the time he came to Hopbottom he was licensed to exhort, and was soon licensed as a local preacher. After several years he began to be exercised about the itinerancy. At home, he possessed a good living, was highly esteemed by all his neigh- bors, was honored with the office of justice of the peace (the first justice of the town of Waterford, as Brooklyn was then called), was strongly attached to his family, but he resolved to sacrifice all for the'church of God." Edward P. was drowned, in 1820, Avhile bathing near Owego, N. Y. He Avas on his way to Conference in Canada. His widow married Jesse Eoss, and removed to Oshkosh, Wis., where she died in 1870. Other early prominent ministers and presiding elders in this section were, Geo. Lane, Loring Grant, Benjamin Bidlack, Gid- eon Draper, John Kimlin, Noah Bigelow, Wm. Brown, George Hermon, and Marmaduke Pierce. It is said of Father Bidlack that " he preached much against dress. On one occasion, he told his hearers if they should see a fox-hole, and a fox's tail hang- ing out of it, they would say there was a fox in it ; so, hats and bonnets, all covered with feathers and ribbons, showed there was pride in the heart." The Methodists had held their meetings, until 1809, at the house of Jacob Tewksbury, and from that time at Edward Paine's, until about 1813, when they erected the frame of the first house of worship in the town. As soon as it was inclosed, they put in a temporary pulpit, placed boards across the joists for seats, in comfortable weather, and here many delightful seasons were enjoyed. The building was taken down in 1830, and a new one built near its site, by Joshua Miles, Jr. This, in 1867, was remodeled at an expense of $4000, a cupola and bell being added. The church membership now numbers about 200. The first public religious services of the New-Englanders of the Hopbottom settlement were held by Congregationalists, among whom Joshua Sabin was prominent in 1799. After the arrival of Jacob Tewksbury, and the formation of the Metho- dist class, all 'united in public worship several years. "Eev. Wm. Purdy, a Baptist, preached frequently at Hop- bottom as early as 1808 ; and went from there over the hills to 'Nine Partners' to Elkanah Tingley's, a 'Baptist Tavern' stilll (1863), and over rugged ridges through the Elkwoods." A Baptist church was never organized in Brooklyn. August 7th," 1810, the "Second Congregational Church of Bridgewater" was organized with the following members: 140 HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. Joshua Miles, Noah Tiffany, Olney Tiffany, Josiah Lord, Eleazar French, Mary Miles, Patty Gere, Nancy Howard, Betsey Mack, Mary Lord. Elizabeth Whitney, Phebe Wilkinson. The first two of the above were the first deacons of the church. In 1811 and '12, Rev. Joseph Wood, pastor of the First Con- gregational Church of Bridgewater, also officiated here a part of the time. About 1813 or '14, a young man by the name of Treat preached here for a time, and several members were added to the church, including Jacob Wilson and Cyril Giddings, who were afterwards elected as deacons, upon the deaths of Deacons Miles and Tiffany. A few others joined the church at intervals prior to 1818; in this year forty-seven were added, under the labors of Rev. M. M. York, a home missionary, who was with the church three months, and Rev. G. N. Judd, of Montrose, who came here July, 1818, and preached one-fourth of the time, for about two years. Among the additions of 1818, were " hon- orable women not a few," whose lives have been a blessing to the township, of whom Mrs. Stephen Breed, now in her 87th year, is the only survivor. In 1823, the form of government was changed to Presby- terian. In 1825, the name of the church, after being called by the successive names of the township — Bridgewater, Waterford, and Hopbottom — became what it is at present, the Presbyterian Church of Brooklyn. In the mean time, Rev. Mr. Judd had twice visited the church, after his removal from this section; and additional members had been received. Rev. B. Baldwin labored as a missionary in Brooktyn a short time, and preached the sermon at the dedication of the first Presbyterian church-edifice, November 6th, 1829. In the fol- lowing month, Rev. Sylvester Cooke commenced his labors here, and continued them fourteen years, " beloved by all who knew him." In 1844 he removed to Deckertown, New Jersey, where he still resides. While a resident of Brooklyn, he be- came the father of five sons, all of whom were in service against the late Rebellion. One of them, General Edwin F. Cooke, re- cently died in Chili, while serving as Secretary of Legation of the United States to that government. Rev. 0. Fraser succeeded Mr. Cooke at Brooklyn, remaining three or four years, when Mr. Baldwin resumed his missionary labors, preaching here half of the time for three years. Revs. Mr. Shaffer and Edward Allen filled the interim till 1858, when Rev. Wm. H. Adams came and remained ten years. Rev. George Spaulding, the present pastor, came in 1868. The church has about 50 members. A new house of worship was completed and dedicated January, 1872. HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. 141 Mr. and Mrs. Judd organized a Sabbath-school as early a3 1819. This was not long kept up, but a re-organization was effected in 1826 or '27 (J. W. Raynsford, Esq., assisting), and is still in operation. UNIVERSALIST. Eev. Barzillai Streeter, of Massachusetts, while on a visit to his brother, Dr. Streeter, of Harford, in 1820, was the first Universalist preacher in Brooklyn. The society of that denom- ination was not formed here until about 1822, after the arri- val of Rev. Amos Crandall. It belonged to the Chenango Association, which met here for the first time, September, 1824. Mr. Crandall died, " much lamented," July 2d, 1824. Yery Fijr. 14. OLD UNIVERSALIST CHURCH, BROOKLYN. soon afterwards, the corner-stone of the " Universalian " or "Liberal" meeting-house was laid with Masonic ceremonies, 142 HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. and the building was inclosed the same year. Upon its com- pletion it was dedicated, November 17, 1825, Kev. C. E. Marsh, from Vermont, officiating. Previous to this, the meetings of the society had been held in school-houses, private dwellings, and sometimes in a grove. Mr. Marsh, a young man of much promise, continued preaching here until prostrated by sick- ness. He died March 10, 1828, and was buried with Masonic honors, as was also his predecessor, and both rest side by side near the church, on Mclntyre Hill. The following is copied from the original minutes of the societ}' - : — " At a meeting held at the Universalist meeting-house in Brooklyn, on the 17th of December, 1826, proposals were made at the aforesaid time, to com- mence the formation and organization of a church, and those who felt willing were called upon at this time to manifest their wishes upon this subject, and the following named persons did present themselves at the above meeting, to wit : Charles R. Marsh, Brs. James Smith, Rufus Kingsley, Amos Bailey, Esek H. Palmer, Freemond Peck. Joshua K. Adams, James L. Cray, Frederick Bailey. Sisters, Annis Smith, Lucinda Kingsley, Prudence Bailey, Betsey Chapman, Almira Wright. Therefore the above-named brothers and sisters would invite others who feel firm in the faith of God's universal good- ness and grace, and who feel determined so to conduct themselves, as to tie instrumental in the good cause of the Redeemer— to come forward and unite with us on Sabbath-day, the 31st of January next, for the purpose of further organizing and consolidating said church, and those who cannot conve- niently attend at said meeting, are desired to place their names, as well as others, to this paper— that we may ascertain our numbers, etc. Brooklyn, December 18th, 1826." This appears to have been only a renewed society organiza- tion, as the church was not organized until July 5th, 1868, under the present pastor, Eev. H. Boughton. It has now (1871) forty-nine members. " Church members are those only who sign the Declaration, Constitution, and Laws of the Denom- ination, and who are received according to the forms for admission of members. Baptism is conferred upon those only who desire it, but the Lord's Supper is an ordinance regularly observed in all Universalist churches as in others. A Sabbath- school of sixty scholars is connected with the church. A subscription is raised, and a lot purchased, for a new church-edifice to be erected at Brooklyn Center; after which the old one will be taken down. The Universalist ministers of Brooklyn from 1828 to 1867 were : Revs. George Rogers, Alfred Peck, Thomas J. Crowe, T. S. Bartholomew, James R. Mack, J. B. Gilman, A. O. War- ren, N. Doolittle, and L. F. Porter. These, with those before mentioned, include nearly or quite all the ministers of this de- nomination who have been located in the county. HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. 143 CHAPTER XI. NEW MILFORD. This township was established August Sessions, 1807, by Luzerne County Court. Its boundaries were described thus: — "Beginning at the turnpike road on the south line of Willingborough, thence west' along said line to the east line of Lawsville, thetice south one mile and a half, thence west to the extent of five miles from said turnpike, 1 thence south to the north line of Nicholson township, thence east to Wayne County line, thence north along said county line to the southeast corner of Willingborough, thence west along the south line of Willingborough to the place of beginning." Besides its present territory, it then included all of what is now Jackson and Thomson, and a part of Ararat. It was re- duced to its present limits by the erection of Jackson (then extending east to Wayne County), in 1815. It is thought the name New Milford was given to the town- ship in honor of N. Milford, Connecticut. Although Willing- borough, for several years, had practically extended over the original area of New Milford, its southern line is nowhere officially described (except as that of a justice's district) lower than six miles from the State line ; and thus, though the records do not state the fact, New Milford must have been taken from old Tioga township, since the strip between Nichol- son and Willingborough had not been apportioned to a new township until 1807, though a petition for New Milford had been made two years earlier. High hills and narrow valleys, with the exception of the valley of the Salt Lick Creek, mark the township which still exhibits well cultivated, richly productive, and excellent dairy farms. Quite a large number of sheep are raised. Next to grass, rye and oats are the heaviest crops. Beech, birch, maple, pine, and hemlock constitute the principal timber of the town- ship. Some of the best land is on the ridges where the hard maple grows. There are very few oaks or elms in the town- ship, and very little chestnut timber. Corn does better than formerly. The south line of the township passes through the middle one of the three lakes, the upper lake being wholly north of it. 1 On the large county map, the west line of the township is not marked more than three and a half miles west of the turnpike. 114 HISTORY OP SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. These lakes are the source of one of the principal branches of Martin's Creek. Hunt Lake, about two miles east of the upper lake, is the chief source of Nine Partners' Creek, which passes through Harford. Corse's Lake, or, as now known, Page's Pond, and the largest sheet of water in the township (covering about one hundred acres), is near the west line of Jackson. These lakes furnish fine water power for various mills and factories. The larger part of Heart Lake 1 is within the west line of New Milford. In the northeastern part of the township the outlet of East Lake forms, with that of Page's Pond, a large tributary to the Salt Lick. The sources of the latter and of Martin's Creek are within a few rods of each other, and this point is the sum- mit of the Delaware, Lackawanna, and Western Eailroad — the two valleys furnishing a natural road-bed from Great Bend south across the county. It is stated that Jedediah Adams came from Great Bend, in 1789, and did the first chopping in New Milford, whilst accom- panying the surveyors of a Philadelphia landholder. He and his wife occupied a cabin on the flat, near the present site of the Eagle Hotel. They returned to Great Bend in the fall of 1790. A hunter and trapper by the name of De Vough, or De Vaux, lived about the same time, in a bark shanty, which is said to have been the first dwelling in New Milford. It stood on the site of the residence of the late Wm. 0. Ward, Esq., but the old well of the hunter was across the present road, near the hotel. In 1790, Eobert Corbett, with his family, was located on the Flat vacated by the hunter, and may be considered the first settler there. He came from near Boston, through the agency of Mr. Cooper, of Cooperstown, New York. In 1799, a road was granted from his house to Solomon Mil- lard's, in Nicholson (now Lenox). In 1801, he was taxed as "innkeeper," but must have left soon after, with his sons, Sewell and Cooper, for the mouth of Snake Creek — now Corbettsville. His son Asaph appears to have remained, as, in 1802, he was one of the assessors for Willingborough district, and, not far from this time, probably, built the first framed house in New Milford, on land now the garden of Henry Burritt. It was re- moved, 3'ears since, to the bank of the creek ; and now, after 1 There is an uncertainty as to the origin and orthography of this name, the general impression being that the lake, in shape, resembles the human heart. Another authority states that it was named after Jacob Hart, who lived in the vicinity. HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. 145 seventy years, so sound are its timbers, it forms a part of the residence of Charles Ward. It had been the temporary home of several early settlers. Cooper Corbett, now of Binghamton, was born in New Milford, and is nearly or quite eighty-two years old. He is positive that his father was preceded by Mr. Adams in the occupancy of the flat. Benjamin Hayden came in, single, March, 1794, and began a clearing, where, years afterward, he kept a tavern; the site of which is occupied by the residence of his grandson, William Hayden. He married Ruby Corbett, a daughter of the pioneer. They had but one son, Warner, named after a son of Robert Corbett. Warner Corbett died March, 1795, at the age of seven years, and his remains are interred in the New Milford cemetery, near the Eagle Hotel. The stone that marks the spot appears to bear the oldest date of any interment there. Benjamin H. died in 1842, aged 67. A contemporary wrote of him: " So long as probity and virtue have advocates, the memory of Mr. Hayden will be revered." His widow, Ruby, died in 1849, aged 70. Warner Hayden married, in 1815, Sally, daughter of Andrew Tracy, Esq., who brought his family to what is now Brooklyn township, early in 1799. When they reached New Milford, Mr. Benj. Hayden, with his ox-team, helped them through Har- ford, as their horses were pretty well tired out with the rough journey from Connecticut — 28 days in all. At Martin's Creek they were met by Mr. Joseph Chapman, who conducted them to their new home, carrying in his arms the infant who was destined to become the mother of the eight "Hayden brothers;" five of whom reside in New Milford, one in New York, and two are deceased. Warner Hayden was a saddler, and an enterprising man, keeping up establishments in two or three towns at the same time, and very successful. He died in 1850, aged 52. His widow is still living in New Milford. David Summers settled in New Milford, two months later than Mr. Hayden. He had passed through this section in the fall of 1793, and secured a cabin which had been erected by some one (possibly one Smith, or a hunter by the name of Houck), on the spot, in Summersville, now occupied by his son James (now over eighty years of age). To this place, in May, 1794, he brought his wife and five sons: Eli, Calvin, David, James, and Ira; the youngest being then an infant. The spring was so far advanced that he could not have a gar- den that season on his own place, but cultivated one on Mr. Hayden's clearing, a mile and a half away ; but Mrs. S. would run up there, after her morning's work was done, for garden- 10 146 HISTOEY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. sauce for dinner, and still do her day's work at spinning or weaving. The woods that lay between were then frequented by deer, bears, wolves, and panthers ; but were the path the smooth- est of roads, with no peril from wild beasts, as it is now, the woman of the present day could hardly compete with the pio- neer matron in energy, and in the endurance of so many priva- tions. David S. was originally from Fairfield County, Conn. He left there, in 1787, for Durham, Greene County, N. Y., and remained at the latter place until his removal to New Milford. Here he was an innkeeper in 1801; and, many years later, the hotel of his son Calvin, on the same spot, kept up the fame of its excellent table. Mr. Summers lived here to the close of his life, April, 1816. His age was 55. Mrs. S. survived him until 1844, dying at the age of eighty-four. She had lived just fifty years on the same farm. Of their sons, David died in 1831 ; Calvin in 1852, aged sixty-six; and Eli, the eldest, who had been a resident of Illi- nois some years, August, 1870, in his eighty-eighth year; Ira, the youngest, now nearly eighty, lives near the brother who occupies the homestead. In 1797, Samuel Hayden, father of Benjamin, was a super- visor of Willingborough. He lived nearer Great Bend than his son, but possibly not within the town limits. Three sons of Hezekiah Leach, viz., Hezekiah, Daniel, and Samuel, were in the vicinity of the Salt Lick at a ver}^ early day ; Daniel is mentioned on the records of Luzerne County, April, 1799, as a settler south of Eobert Corbett on the old road to Great Bend from Mount Pleasant. This road, after passing Capt. Potter's in what is now Gibson, and soon after touching the old Brace Eoad (probably at Gibson Hollow), was made to run " thence to David Hamilton's, thence to Daniel Hunt's, thence to Daniel Leach's, thence nearly north to Salt Lick, thence to Eobert Corbett's, thence 6 miles to the ferry at Great Bend." It is not certain that Hezekiah Leach, Sr., came in at that time, but he spent many years in New Milford, and died there in 1823, at the age of 83 years. He was one of the patriots of the Eevolutionary Army. If Daniel Hunt was located, as we may suppose, near Hunt Lake, he must have left within a short time afterward. He married a daughter of Eobert Corbett. Hezekiah Leach, Jr. (or Capt. Leach), also married a daughter of Eobert Corbett, and was a prominent member of the com- munity. A sketch of his location, etc., written from informa- tion given by his son, George Leach, is copied from the Mon- trose ' Bepublican ' : — HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. 147 "Among the once notable taverns on the Great Bend and Ooshecton Turnpike — a section of that great thoroughfare, the old Newburg Turnpike — was one a mile south of New Milford village, at the cross-roads and forks of a branch of Salt Lick Creek. To a person standing on the high hills south of this junction, parts of New York State are visible through the val- ley stretching directly north to Great Bend. At the foot of this hill, on a fine meadow, was the greatly frequented public house of Hezekiah Leach. Mr. Leach came to the place from Litchfield Co., Conn., about the close of the last century, on horseback, bearing, besides his gun and other ' no- tions,' a sixteen-pound trap, of which he afterwards made good use. "He took up some three hundred acres of land, which he greatly improved. He died January 1, 1840, aged 66, and his large family are now scattered from Boston to California. The land passed to Secku Meylert, Esq.. and is now owned by Nathan Fish and Robert Gillespie, who have removed a part of the old house, and demolished the sheds, so that the place is no longer adapted to public accommodation. The present generation can little realize the* number of emigrants and the amount of heavy transportation upon this road before canals and railroads came to the relief of oxen and horses, and entirely diverted travel from many of its accustomed channels. From New- burg and other eastern points, to the Lake country in New York and else- where westward, there was such a throng of travelers, that, even among that comparatively sparse population, several public houses were required where but one is now kept. " In those days timber was plentiful, and the people got rid of much of it by working what they could into their buildings, which were certainly very strong. Mr. Leach put up a very large dwelling, and, on the opposite side of the road, corresponding barns. My informant was born on the spot, in 1802, and his earliest recollections were those of travelers, from year to year, filling the house from garret to bar-room ; and of a cellar stored with liquors and eatables in their season, while the long sheds were crowded with horses and vehicles. Customers were moving at all hours, coming in until midnight, while others, long before daylight, at the summons, ' Hurrah, boys ! we must be off again,' were starting away. On a rainy day, or when work was slack, crowds of men and boys would gather to pitch quoits, or play various games of skill and strength. Balls, sleigh-rides, and parties were frequent in win- ter. Whiskey was as common — and almost as much imbibed by most per- sons — as water. It was deemed an absolute necessity, on many occasions, where it is now disused. Liquors were then much purer than they now are, yet many a strong, good-hearted, useful man, through their seductive in- fluences, came to poverty, disease, and death. " Fish and wood-game were plentiful in early times. Mr. Leach was ac- customed to say that during his residence here, he had killed 548 deer, 61 black bears, 1 white bear, 11 wolves, and 1 panther, besides wild cats and lesser game never counted. The ' white bear,' killed at Hunt Lake, was rather of a very light straw color ; the skin was sold to a Judge Woodward, somewhere near Cooperstown." Benjamin Doolittle, from Connecticut, was a taxable of Wil- lingborough, for 600 acres, in 1799, but is not mentioned as a resident before December, 1801. He was located nearly one and a half miles west of the present Eagle Hotel. His wife was Fanny, daughter of Ichabod Ward, who came later. Their children were Nelson, Albert, George, Harry, Benjamin, and Lydia. Mr. Doolittle moved to Ohio many years ago. John Foot, a shoemaker, was " a new-comer" on the tax-list, December, 1801. He lived next west of Mr. Doolittle. He 118 HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. came from Vermont with his wife and three children — Timothy, Belus, and Amanda. Belus died in New Milford in 1841. His son Edwin was the first (1842) Daguerrean artist in Mon- trose. It is probable that Nathan Buel and Peter Davis came in 1801. Josiah Davis, father of the latter, was in Lawsville. Mr. Buel then had two children — Arp'haxed and Polly, after- wards Mrs. Leighton. John Hawley was here as early as November, 1802. He was elected one of the overseers of the poor of Lawsville in 1804, though his location was within a mile of the Salt Lick. Hezekiah Leach was, the same year, a supervisor of Willing- borough, though, certainly, three miles below the line of that town as recorded in 1791 and 1793. Both were in the same justice's district, which, from 1801 to 1806, extended from the State line, and included Lawsville and Nicholson, as Avell as Willingborough. These remote townships of Luzerne were little known at the county seat. Some of the inhabitants of Nicholson and Willingborough were placed in either at differ- ent times, as, for instance, " S. Hatch, taverner in Nicholson ;" and "Abel Kent, Wright Chamberlin, and Hosea Tiffany, tav- erners in Nicholson and Willingborough." Mr. Hawley lived less than half a mile east of Mr. Doolittle. " He, being a widower, had married a widow, and she had two daughters by her first husband, whose names were Merab and Koxanna Andrews. His sons were John (well known in later days as Deacon Hawley), Uriah, and Newton ; his daughters were who married Elias Carpenter, of Harford (then the Nine Partners), and Betsey, who married Bel'us Foot, and lived all her life in the neighborhood." Deacon Hawley died in 1866, aged 84 ; Merab, his wife, in 1830, aged 55 ; Phebe, his widow, in 1869, aged 83. Christopher Longstreet, from New Jersey, may have been in earlier than 1803, since he bought out Eobert Corbett, who appears to have left a year or two before this date ; but at pre- sent nothing positive can be asserted of Mr. Longstreet's pre- sence here until that time. Mrs. Longstreet died in 1813 ; and, soon after " Col." Long- street removed to Great Bend. " Old Prince," a colored man, who came in with them, remained in New Milford until his death, July, 1815. Like " Prince Perkins," of Brooklyn, he seems to have been quite noted in his day. There were probably other settlers of 1803. Early in 1804, at least, Cyrenius Storrs, Job Tyler and family, and Joseph Sweet and family, were on the main road southeast from Cap- tain Leach. Some of the posterity of the first named remain in the township. HISTOKY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. 149 Colonel Job Tyler (from Harford) had three children : Jared, now in Harford, but until recently in New Milford ; Nancy, wife of Francis Moxley, on the Tyler homestead ; and another daughter, Mrs. Brewster Guile of Harford. He was " an ex- cellent farmer," public spirited, and quite widely known. He died in 1857, aged 77. Joseph Sweet's farm was afterwards Jonas B. Avery's. The substance of the following sketch was kindly communi- cated to the compiler in personal interviews with Seth Mitchell, Esq., but subsequently (Jan. 1872) some other listener prepared it for the * Montrose Republican,' from which it is taken. " Seth Mitchell was bora in Roxbury, Litchfield County, Conn., April 9th 1785. Left an orphan at eight years of age, his boyhood was passed in hard labor and service, with very small opportunity for schooling, the nearest school being nearly two miles distant. When seventeen years old he worked one winter for his board and attended school, acquiring sufficient knowledge of arithmetic to enable him to transact all ordinary business. I have known him to beat good accountants in computing interest, both as to speed and correctness — and this when past threescore and ten. In 1804, when 19 years old, he came with Mr. Benjamin Doolittle to New Milford, Susquehanna (then Luzerne) County, and worked for him that summer, returning on foot to Roxbury in December. The next spring, 1805, he came again to New Milford, and bought 100 1 acres, being a part of what was long known as the ' Mitchell farm.' At this time, excepting two families, his nearest neighbors were distant six miles, south and west, the log house of Esq. Hinds being the only dwelling in Montrose, and there were no roads through the woods — even cut out. This season he worked two days in a week for his board, and two days more to get a yoke of oxen to use two days for himself, in this way clearing and sowing five acres, and returning to Roxbury in the autumn. In the spring of 1806 he came ' west' again, his brother Nathan coming with him and buying a lot adjoining. This summer he cleared and sowed eight acres more, going back east again at the approach of winter. In 1807 he came 'west' the fourth time, driving a yoke of cattle. Enlarging his clear- ing still more, he returned again to Roxbury to spend the winter. The spring of 1808 found him again early at his ' western home.' This season, besides clearing and fencing more land, he built a log house and frame barn, again going east in December to spend the winter. In February, 1809, he was married, and one week afterwards started ' west' to prepare his log mansion for his bride. In June next he returned to Roxbury and moved his family (wife) with a few necessary house-keeping articles, to their home in the woods of what was then 'the great west.' In 1815 he built a large frame house, which is still standing, and is at present owned and occupied by Mr. Ezra Beebe, nearly three miles west of what is now New Milford Borough. During these years and afterward he gradually added to his farm, until it finally numbered 470 acres. Three times he made the trip from Roxbury to New Milford on foot, twice driving before him a yoke of oxen, and twice he footed it from New Milford to Roxbury, carrying his clothes and provisions on his back, some of the way breaking his own path through snow knee deep. The distance was about 170 miles. At the age of 23 he was elected captain of a company raised in New Milford and Lawsville, having risen from the ranks. His commission was for four years. He afterwards served as justice of the ' He bought of the landholder Bound or Bowne. The Wallace estate joined that, and was principally in old Bridgewater (including Brooklyn). 150 HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. peace ten years. The few old settlers who are now living still call him Cap- tain or Esq. Mitchell. His wife dying, he married again in 1837, but has been the second time a widower for nine years. By his first wife he had eight children, five of whom are now living. He has cleared over 300 acres of land, and built more than 700 rods of stone wall — has built one log and six frame dwellings — seven barns, besides two horse-barns, cattle sheds, out build- ings, etc. He has used no strong drink for the last forty-two years. He has been to the Mississippi River five times, once alone, after he was eighty-two years old. He is now nearly eighty-seven, with his faculties all well pre- served, and recently walked from his home to Montrose (two and a half miles) to attend meeting at the Baptist church, of which he has been an active member about fifty years. He acquired a handsome competence, wholly by hard labor and judicious economy. As an instance of how money was made in early times, he stated that he raised large crops of corn with which he fattened large numbers of hogs, and packing the pork, carted it to the lum- ber region on the head-waters of the Delaware River, a trip requiring three days, and selling it on long credit. Pork was then worth five dollars' and beef three dollars per cwt. Butter ten to twelve cents, and cheese five to six cents per pound." Seth Mitchell was supervisor of the township fourteen years. The following is clipped from his autobiography. " The first house that we stopped at when we came in, in 1804, was Cap- tain David Summers's. He lived in a log house at what is now Summers- ville. He had then just built a frame grist-mill, which was quite a large building for this region in those days. In that year, a ball was held in Sum- mers's mill, and was attended by the young people of New Milford, Great Bend, and Lawsville. There were about twenty-five couples present. The mill floor being smooth and the room large, it was a good place to dance. I attended. We had a very merry time. That mill was afterwards altered into a house, and became Summers's hotel — afterwards Barnum's — long famous for its good table, and much resorted to by young people and pleasure-seek- ers as Phinney's now is. "The turnpike had been lately finished from Newburgh to Mount Pleas- ant when I moved out in 1809, but it was not then built from Mount Pleas- ant to New Milford. " After living on the old farm about thirty years, I purchased an almost unimproved one, about three miles from Montrose, on Snake Creek, where I cleared up about fifty acres and built a house and barn." Since 1857, the home of Seth Mitchell, with but temporary interruptions, has been in Montrose ; and he is now (August, 1872) the oldest man in the borough. Three of his sons, Thompson, Norman, and Charles, are dead. Norman was a much esteemed deacon of the Baptist Church ; his death oc- curred June, 1870. In the spring of 1805, Josiah Crofut and Joseph Gregory moved in from Connecticut ; and Seth Mitchell boarded with the former while he cleared five acres on his own land, which adjoined theirs. Provisions were scarce that summer, as every- thing had to be purchased at Great Bend. The large log-house was but half-floored below, and above there were only five boards, on which S. Mitchell's straw-bed was placed ; and to which he climbed by the log walls. Josiah Crofut died in 1836, aged sixty-seven. HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. 151 Seth and Nathan Mitchell boarded with Mr. Gregory in the summer of 1806. In 1807 Nathan moved into his own house, where he lived until his death, in 1816, at the age of thirty- five }rears. Wm. Rockwell came to the township in 1805. Asa Bradley came to New Milford about 1806. "He and his family were received by Deacon Hawley, with the hospi- tality common to those times, though he and his wife then occupied a small three-cornered room in his distillery, where they entertained Mr. Bradley and family, until a log-house could be built for them. Anxious to rid Deacon Hawley of their unavoidably burdensome company, they hurried into the new building before it was furnished with a more substantial door than a blanket. They took with them a pig, and put it into an inclosure attached to the house; but the first night they were awakened by its squealing, which sounded as if the animal were being taken off. In the morning they found it, some distance from the house, half devoured ; and around the pen were the tracks of a panther. The question arose, if the animal had not found the porker, what was to hinder the ravenous beast from entering the house for his supper? Freeman Badger had been in this vicinity prior to 1804, but had returned to Cheshire, Ct., and was not settled here before 1806. He was a prominent man in the township. He had one son, Frederick, and two daughters. He died in 1855, aged seventy-two; his wife Mary, died five days after him, aged sixty-seven. His father, David, died herein 1885, aged eighty- six ; Mrs. D. Badger in 1828, aged seventy-five ; but the exact date of their coming has not been ascertained. About this time Nicholas McCarty bought the farm and tavern of Christopher Longstreet, and continued to keep a public house there until his death, in 1821. Situated at the junction of the Newburg Turnpike, with the road from Jack- son and Harmony to Montrose, it became a noted place; and "McCarty's Corners" served long as a landmark for travelers. The McCarty House has been kept as a public house by various tenants, from that day to this, being at present the Eagle Hotel. Mr. McC, like those who preceded him, received his license directly from the governor, who granted it on the recommendation of the Court of Luzerne County (to which Mr. M.'s petition had been made, indorsed in the usual way by respectable men of his neighborhood), and was granted, the first time, January, 1807. Though, "In the Name and by the Authority of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania," he might sell "Rum, Brandy, Beer, Ale, Cyder, and all other Spirituous Liquors," it was " provided" that he should not " suffer drunk- enness (!), unlawful gaming, or any other disorders." He had 152 HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. a son named Benjamin, and three daughters, one of whom married Isaac Warner ; another, John Boyle ; and another, a man named King, who removed to the West. Ichabod Ward came from Connecticut to Susquehanna County in 1807. He occupied a house near the site of the present residence of H. Burritt. and nearly opposite the Pres- byterian Church. A pear tree planted by his hand, and still flourishing, marks the spot. He was long an active member and faithful officer and deacon of the Presbyterian denomina- tion, and to him is due the honor of maintaining public religious services, in his own house, in the early days of the settlement — each alternate Sabbath uniting with the people of Lawsville in their neighborhood. He had two sons, William (who set- tled here in 1806, preceding his father one year), and Samuel much younger; and three daughters, Mrs. B. Doolittle, Mrs. Seba Bryant, and Mrs. Uriah Hawley. All, except the last named, removed, after some years, to Ohio and further west. His second wife, Mary, who came with him to this country, was the mother of Seth Mitchell, at whose house she died in 1828, aged seventy -seven. Ichabod W. died four years earlier, and is buried in the village cemetery. His descendants, to the fifth generation, reside upon the land he helped to clear — an instance as rare as it is gratifying. William Ward, of Litchfield County, Conn., was encouraged to come to Pennsylvania by his brother-in-law, Benjamin Doo- little. In 1806 he married Sally Briggs, in Eoxbury, Conn., and came directly to this country. To the young bride this was, indeed, a wilderness, but she would not express her long- ing for the home she had left. She passed many hours, of the lonely first year, in watching her husband and assistants en- gaged in clearing the forest, from the identical spot now covered by the railroad depot and adjoining buildings. She little dreamed then of railroad and telegraph stations within sight from her door. The wonders of steam and electricity were then, indeed, not dreamed of by any one. The following year their first child — the late C. L. Ward, of Towanda, Pa. — was born. They named him after the friend they found in the wilderness — Christopher Longstreet. Soon after this, they removed from the log house — the pioneer's first home, the site of which is now covered by the residence of their grandson, William T. Ward — to the first frame dwelling in this part of the county, and since known as the Ward House. The late William C. Ward and two other sons were born in New Milford, previous to the removal of the family to Mt. Pleasant, where they remained a few years, and then returned to New Milford. In the mean time two daughters had been added to the family group ; to which came in succession another son, and a daughter who died young, and then three sons. HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. 153 Ten children lived together for years in the old homestead, little able to realize, from the comforts surrounding them, what privations their parents had experienced. The following incident of pioneer life was related to the com- piler by the heroine herself: — "A large buck was one day chased by the hunter's dogs into Mr. Ward's clearing. Samuel Ward — then only a lad of twelve or fourteen years — who was living with his brother, seeing the animal stumble and fall, immediately sprang and caught him by the horns, at the same time calling to Mrs. Ward for assistance. Feeling her helplessness, but, with a true woman's courage and quickness of perception, realizing the dangerous position of her young brother-in-law, who was struggling to prevent the animal from regaining his feet, she. hastened to unwind the long-webbed garters she wore, and with them speedily succeeded in tying its legs until a neighbor, who happened to be in calling distance, reached them and cut the animal's throat." William Ward was commissioned a justice of the peace in 1834. He was for many years in charge of and acting as agent for the DuBois Estate, also for the sale of the Meredith, Bing- ham, and Drinker lands, in which capacity he became widely known. A contemporary wrote of him thus: — "Few of the citizens of the valley of the Salt Lick have done more to de- velop the resources and contribute to the prosperity of Susquehanna County than William Ward. To great perseverance and untiring industry in the pursuit of business, he added the most unqualified kindness, ever extending to rich and poor a cheerful hospitality. He was one of our most valued citizens." He died in New Milford, October, 1819, aged 64. His widow afterwards married one of the pioneers of Bridgewater, Joseph Williams, since deceased. She is now (1871) 84 years old, and the sole survivor in New Milford of the settlers who came prior to 1810. She resides 1 in the old Ward homestead, where eight of her children were born. There seems to have been little accession to the settlement of New Milford during the five years succeeding 1807. The first entry on the Town Eecords, March 18, 1808, men- tions a town meeting at the house of John Hawley, when he and John Slater (here only a few years) were elected judges of elec- tions ; H. Leach, clerk ; Thomas Sweet and B. Doolittle, supervisors and constables. March 3, 1 09. — N. Buel, clerk; B. Hayden and J. Gregory, supervisors. [A list of ear-marks of sheep is the only further record until 1814. An entire gap occurs from 1848 to 1860, and from Feb- ruary, 1866, to September, 1871.] About 1812, John Phinney came from Windham County, Conn., and settled on the hill west of the village. His father, i Died August 17, 1872. 154 HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. Samuel, came in shortly after, with his wife, and died years later at Summersville. Mrs. Samuel Phinney's maiden name was Hyde; she escaped from Wyoming, at the time of the massacre. John Phinney died in 1867, aged 85; Lucretia, his wife, in 1853, aged 66. The proprietor of the Eagle Hotel is their son. Gurdon Darrow came from Groton, Conn., May, 1812. He served in the war of 1812. Sally, his wife, died in 1864, aged 75. Thomas Sweet had a license, in 1812, to keep a tavern on the Newburgh Turnpike, not far from where the Baptists have their house of worship. He sold to Jonas B. Avery and re- moved to Harford. Military parades were frequent in the vicinity. At one time the firing of cannon shattered the window-panes of Mr. A.'s house. Jonas B. A. died in 1836, aged seventy; his wife in 1835, aged sixty-three. They had one son, Franklin N., commonly called Major Avery, who died in 1843, aged forty-seven ; his widow, Rosana, died in 1869, aged seventy-two. Ebenezer and Park W. Avery, brothers (of another family), from Groton, Connecticut, came in early and married sisters, the daughters of Jonas B. Avery. Ebenezer's farm is now oc- cupied by D. W. Moxley, and that of Park W. (who returned to Connecticut), by Andrew S. Roe. The taxables of New Milford, at the time Susquehanna County was officially organized, were sixty in number, besides non-resident landholders: Henry Drinker, Isaac .Wharton, Abraham Du Bois, Bobert Bound, Samuel Meredith, and Thomas Clymer. The highest resident-tax, in 1812, was upon a valuation of $2550. John and Uriah Hawley owned a saw- mill, and David Summers and son James another. Robinson Lewis (deacon), who died about 1858 at an advanced age, came from Groton, Connecticut, in 1813. He was a pillar of the Baptist interest in its early days. His widow survives him. Jacob Wellman, William Phinney, John Dikeman, John Belknap, and Titus Ives were taxables of 1813. All remained in the township many years. Jacob W. was a soldier of the Revolution. He died in 1830, aged ninety-one. His sons were John, Jacob, David, Berry, Hiram, and Calvin ; the last named being the only one living. He, as also descendants of the others, are in N. Milford. The first Scotch settlers were Daniel McMillen and Laflin (or Lauchlin) Mcintosh, who were also among the taxables of 1813. During that year the court was petitioned to grant "a road from H. Leach's to Lauchlin Mcintosh's — near the Middle HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. 155 Lake. McFarley, McLoud, McKenzie, and others of Scotch birth, came in between the years 1814-17. William McKenzie lived where H. Burritt is now located. He died in 1827, aged seventy-six. John Wallace, a Scotch-Irishman, came in 1814, from Dela- ware County, New York, with his son-in-law, Thomas Walker. Ithamer Mott was taxed for land in 1813, but does not ap- pear to have been a resident when the assessment was made. In 1814 he was licensed to keep a tavern ; his house was near the top of one of the highest hills of the township, on the line of the Newburg Turnpike, and near the junction with it of the Philadelphia and Great Bend Turnpike. Mott's Hill is one a traveler could never forget, having once made the toilsome ascent, or dashed down from the summit in an old-fashioned stage-coach ; and even with all modern improvements in road and vehicle, there are few hills one would care less to encounter. Captain Thomas Dean, from Cornwall, Connecticut, in 1814, settled opposite Benjamin Hayden and remained in the town- ship, or in what is now the Borough of New Milford, until his death at the age of ninety-one, June 22, 1870. For several years preceding his death he had been deprived of his eyesight, but passed his last days peaceful!}' at the house of his daughter, the widow of Dr. Bingham. He had buried two wives. Jonathan Moxley came from Groton, Connecticut, in 1814. His father's name, Joseph Moxley, is on the Fort Griswold monument at Groton, among those slain by the British under the leadership of the traitor Arnold, in 1781. Jonathan served in an emergency in that contest, but was never regularly en- listed. He died in New Milford in 1849, aged eighty-four; his wife, Sally, in 1826, aged sixty-seven. Of their seven children, two are living — the twin brothers, Francis and Gurdon. The present Sheriff, William Tyler Moxley, is a son of Francis. Gurdon Moxley speaks of having raised thirty-nine and forty bushels of wheat to the acre. The Moxleys occupy large farms around the corners where the Baptist meeting-house and Mox- ley school-house are located. The meeting-house was finished in 1851, and such were the prices of labor and materials at the time, and the liberality of the neighborhood, that the cost of the building was but $1000. John and Alpine Pierce settled in the northwest corner of the township in 1815. " Tennant-town," in the southern part, retains the name of three brothers, Oliver, William, and Allen Tennant, and their half-brother, Benjamin, who leave a large posterity. Oliver T. was from Fisher's Island, in Long Island Sound; he came here in 1816, and died at the age of seventy-eight. William T. came from Shelter Island, Suffolk County, New York, in 1817, and 156 ' HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. died at the age of seventy. Allen T. came from the same island in 1818; his first wife, Polly, died in 1833, aged fifty-four; his second wife, Camilla, 1853, aged seventy-four ; and Allen him- self, in 1858, aged eighty-two. Benjamin Tennant came in about 1820, and moved westward some years since. In 1816, Silvanus Wade, a blacksmith; Joseph Paine, a tailor; Gaius Moss, a tanner; Chauncey B. Foot, a physician, and William Sabins, a shoemaker, were added to the commu- nity. The last named came from New Haven, Connecticut, with his wife and four children ; he remained in-New Milford until his death, at the age of ninety-one years, February, 1869. His widow is still living, aged ninety-one. They were married in 1803. Darius Bingham also came in 1816. His wife, Sally, died in 1821, aged forty-seven. He was killed at the age of sixty, in 1828, by the fall of a tree. Their son, Lemuel, for some time kept a public-house just north of Capt. Leach's, where the late Deacon Mackey died. Calvin and Gad Corse, Jason Wiswall, and Luther Mason were in New Milford about this time. In December, 1816, the population of the township as reported by the assessor was 461, the males being 29 in excess. Among the settlers of 1817, were Dr. L. W. Bingham (not the same family as above), John S. Hendrake, David G. Wilson (had a store), Stephen and Jacob Hart, Joseph Thomas (a store), Levi Page, and Enoch Smith. The last named remained here until his death, October, 1871, aged eighty. Dr. Bingham boarded at Wm. Ward's, and tended store for him until he established himself as a physician. He wielded the pen of a ready writer, of newspaper articles at least, as early as 1819. On all the public questions of the day, he appears to have had decided, outspoken opinions. In his profession he had an extensive practice to the close of life. Albert Moss came from Cheshire, Connecticut, in 1818, and engaged in business with his brother Gaius, and continues to reside in New Milford, enjoying the improvements that have been made in his day, and to which his own enterprise has contributed. Samuel Hammond came from Cheshire County, New Hamp- shire, and bought a farm near the south line of the county — the same on which his son, Lieutenant-Colonel Asa Hammond, now lives, and to which he came the following year. The son has cleared over one hundred acres here. The father died in New Milford, the day he was eighty-two years old. At this time (1819) William Ward kept a tavern as well as a store. Ira Summers had a clothing or fulling mill, and, soon after, an oil mill. ^2*f^^^^- HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. 157 Lincoln and Shubael Hall were here. Seth Mitchell kept an inn. The same year, John Boyle, a native of Ireland, came to New Milford, at the age of nineteen years. A newspaper writer says of him : — " His brain, industry, and energy were his capital. Men then worked hard for fifty cents per day and boarded themselves ; and for ox team and driver one dollar per day — the men living upon game, and blackberries in their season. This was then a wild lumber country, but no outlet to mar- kets. The market prices were — Lumber, clear Pine, . $7.50 per 1000 ; Wheat, $1.00 ; Rye, 50 cents ; Oats, 16 cents ; Butter, 10 cents ; and land worth from $2.00 to $3.00 per acre; and Pine Shingles, $1.50 per 1000. " The Newburg Turnpike was then the main road through this region, and remained so until the Delaware, Lackawanna, and Western Railroad gave an outlet to the produce of the country. " Mr. Boyle, the Irish emigrant boy, afterwards became, by appointment of the governor, county surrogate for ten years, and by election of the peo- ple, in 1851, associate judge for five years; and by marriage, industry, and good management, became the possessor of a large amount of the land now within the borough limits of New Milford." He married a daughter of 1ST. McCarty. James B., his brother, a carpenter, came in later, and bought of Benjamin McCarty the place now occupied by his widow. He died in 1857, aged sixty. Many other worthy men and women of New Milford were doubtless among the arrivals prior to 1820, but no definite record of them (with one exception) has been furnished the compiler. The interest of the following sketch, it is believed, will justify its extended mention of foreign affairs: — Secku Meylert, born in the City of Oassel, Germany, December 24, 1784, was the son of Michael Meylert, a banker. He received a liberal education, and traveled extensively in Europe, spending two years in Paris during Bonaparte's early and brilliant career. Returning to his native city he ap- plied himself to business with his father, with whom he remained lor some years, and afterwards established himself in business as a banker in Cassel. When the French army entered Germany he was offered and accepted a position, for a short time, as an officer of the staff, and participated in sev- eral engagements. On June 14, 1807, he was seriously wounded at the battle of Friedland, having had two horses shot under him, and was left on the field for dead. After the affairs of Europe were settled by the victory of Waterloo, the old Elector of Westphalia was restored to power, he having promised to make concession to the people and to grant them a constitution. Mr. Mey- lert was one of those who believed in his promises and who favored his recall. The Elector, however, postponed the fulfilment of his word, and followed a reminder of his promise with exactions more rigorous, and a rule more tyrannical than before. During this period, Kotzebue, aided by other writers as unscrupulous if not as able as himself, in the secret service of Alexander of Russia, flooded Germany with publications in the interest of imperialism and opposed to free government. The people of Germany had been led to expect conces- sions on the pai't of their rulers, and anticipated the speedy establishment of representative systems. Now, however, the attempt to form liberal in- 158 HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. stitutions was ridiculed — every species of political amelioration was opposed, and a marked enmity was exhibited to the liberty of the press. Good and true men throughout all Germany felt that these influences must be opposed and counteracted, or the cause of free government would be lost. No organization, however, was then in existence to accomplish this except the secret associations of the students in the universities. These were utterly insufficient for the purpose, and indeed must themselves be con- trolled and directed by the counsel of mature minds. An organization was soon formed composed of some of the most enlightened and liberal men throughout Germany, to withstand this tide of imperialism, and to exert an influence in high places for constitutional government. Tn Westphalia, this organization was strong and powerful. So carefully, however, were its affairs conducted that its very existence was not even suspected. Before the plans of these associations were fully matured, a secret letter from Kotzebue to the Emperor of Russia was published, which so exasper- ated the students that it became difficult to control them and to moderate their wrath. One of their number, Karl Ludwig Sand, of the University of Jena, a young man of irreproachable character, but enthusiastic and fanati- cal, became impressed with an insane impulse to kill Kotzebue. For months he struggled to rid himself of this conviction, revealing it to no one, and at length went to Mannheim, and on the 19th of March, 1819, he assassinated Kotzebue in his own house, and then deliberately gave himself up and was subsequently executed. Thus from this foolish, criminal act, all plans for amelioration of Germany had to be abandoned. The excitement throughout the German States was intense. The rulers immediately commenced a vigorous investigation to ascertain if secret political associations existed, and the leaders of such asso- ciations quietly absented themselves for a time until the excitement should subside. Mr. Meylert, who was the treasurer of and a leader in the central and main association in Westphalia, and who had made himself peculiarly obnoxious to the Elector, because he had not hesitated to remind him of his promises and to ask for their fulfilment, went to Holland, whence he was advised by his friends to return, or at most to absent himself for a short time to Sweden or England, but, disgusted with tyranny, and hopeless for reforms, he decided to come to free America. In England, Mr. Meylert read the pamphlet of Dr. Eose of Silver Lake, then in circulation in Great Britain, which gave a glowing description of the fertility of the soil and advantages to persons emigrating, who should settle in Susquehanna County. This determined his destination. In the summer of 1819 he arrived, and purchased 50 acres of land in New Milford — 1^ miles from the present village — built a house and commenced clearing a farm. Unused to this kind of work, his progress was slow and his returns meagre. He added to his house a store, and kept a small stock of goods, but the country was thinly settled, money was scarce, and his sales were small. Some outside investments made by him proving unfortunate, the means which he brought with him soon wasted away. Seeking occupation better suited to his education, he taught school for a short time ; taught a class in the French language in Montrose, and was em- ployed for a considerable time by Mr. Thos. Meredith in business relating to his lands. In 1833 Mr. Meylert removed to Montrose, where he held the position of Clerk to the County Commissioners, and Deputy Register and Recorder. In 1844 he returned to his farm in New Milford, which had been greatly increased by the purchase of adjoining farms, and there lived until his death, Dec. 30th, 1849. During the later years of his life the agency of large lauded estates was placed in his hands, and before his death he had charge of nearly all the land estates belonsnnff to non-resident land owners in northeastern Penn- HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. 159 sylvania. He had also purchased several bodies of wild land, and his New Milford farms then aggregated nearly 1000 acres. Mr. Meylert married Abigail, the eldest daughter of Deacon Amos Nichols, of Montrose, Feb. 11th, 1821. She is now living in Laporte, in this State. They had five sons and three daughters, all of whom are now living. Mr. Meylert was a highly educated man, being proficient in both ancient and modern languages, and excelling in mathematics. As a business man he was remarkable, having few equals in his capacity to transact business with great force, rapidity, and accuracy. He was an active member of the Baptist Church • a zealous Christian, kind and affectionate, and benevolent in every good work. He was a man of strict integrity and of great truthful- ness—positive in character, and stern and unyielding in the performance of his convictions of duty. The highest number of votes polled in New Milford, in 1814, was 19 : in 1830, 57 (at town elections). The population in 1810, 78 ; 1820, 611 ; 1830, 1000. In 1844, the whole vote at Presidential election, 249. The first merchant in New Milford was, William Ward, in 1815. Within the next five years three or four small stores were opened; one of which was kept by James Edmunds and Capt. Dean, in 1815 ; first, in one of the Hayden rooms, and afterwards in the red house at the lower end of the present borough. The second firm that had any permanence, was that of Grif- fing & Burritt, about 1821. The former was from Guilford, and the latter from Newtown, Conn. They dissolved in 1824, and kept separate establishments. Henry Burritt has been longer in the mercantile business than any man in Susquehanna County ; but, in several cases, the establishments of the fathers have been continued by the sons. In 1827 Warner Hayden opened a store. The firm name was afterwards Hayden & Ward, "merchants and innkeepers." In 1832 Wm. Ward and son were in partnership. John McKinstry opened a store in Summersville. This was afterwards kept by Summers & Scott, Summers & Sutphin, etc. Uriah C. Lewis was a practising physician in the township in 1828. The borough of New Milford was petitioned for, Aug. 1859. The petition included the following statement respecting the locality : — "It is a compact, regularly built, populous, and thriving bu- siness place, containing within its limits a railroad depot, two licensed hotels, two extensive tanneries, three churches, a large number of stores, shops, manufactories, and other business places, and private dwellings — the population and business steadily increasing." Decree of Court confirmed Dec. 1859. The petitioners were a majority of the freeholders within the boundaries given. 160 HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. The north line of the borough consists of 84 perches on the north line of the Hayden farm ; the east line, 522 perches; the west line 527 perches ; and the south line 234 perches, or nearly three times as many as the north line. A newspaper writer, Jan. 1S70, furnished the following items: "The main street is a trifle over a mile in length, almost a dead level, and as straight as a ' bee line.' It is broad and well worked, with good side- walks on both sides of the road. Good-sized sugar-maple shade trees fence in the side-walks, from north to south, on both sides of the street; and the Park, in front of the Graded School and the Congregational Church, with graded and graveled walks, is shaded in like manner. The architecture of the buildings and grounds displays taste, refinement, modesty, neatness, and comfort, without the least appearance on the part of any one to over-reach, over-match, or over-display his neighbor. " The ' Union Mills'— grist and flouring mills, sawing, planing, sash, blinds, and doors, etc., are suspended for the present. There are three cigar manu- facturing establishments in the place, that carry on a large ' stroke of trade.' An iron foundry is energetically working its way into the confidence of the people. Two tanneries — one a ' custom establishment,' and the other a large manufacturing concern. It is now conducted by Messrs. Corbin & Todd, late of Ulster Co., N. Y., and successors to the Pratt Brothers. It now em- ploys from twelve to twenty men, uses from 2000 to 2500 cords of bark per year, at $5.00 per cord, and turns out from twenty to thirty thousand sides of sole leather per year. It is estimated that there is bark enough in the county to serve it for ten years yet — the proprietors owniug enough bark land to serve it four years. "A. B. Smith has a machine shop run by water-power. " One drug store, and only two doctors — L. A. Smith and D. C. Ainey, sup- plying the region for miles around — speak volumes for the health of the lo- cality. " Eight mercantile establishments offer to the surrounding country their various wares. This is exclusive of the cigar establishments, that keep Yankee Notions at both wholesale and retail. "With the exception of one store at Summersville, this is the market place for the whole township and parts of several adjoining townships. Besides the farming interests, there are in this township some dozen circular saw mills, each employing from twelve to twice that number of men, generally with families, all of whom seek family supplies from these stores. " One banking house — that of S. B. Chase & Co. " The public hall of the Eagle Hotel is used for lectures, concerts, and reli- gious services, as well as for merry-makings. " One printing office — that of the ' Northern Pennsylvania^.' " Another writer says : — " Our industrial interests, although in a newly settled region, begin to be felt as of some importance. From the 1st of June to the 1st of January, 1870, our lumbermen shipped at this depot, 3,720,000 feet of lumber. 1 think that every foot of this lumber was taken from the forests of this township, and it is believed that more lumber has been shipped at Somersville and Susquehanna Depot than at New Milford. Our dairymen have also shipped at this depot, through our village merchants, 240,169 pounds of butter, from the 1st of June to the 1st of January." Sutton's, or the Bast Lake Steam Saw-mill, about 3J miles from New Milford Depot, runs during the entire year, and HISTOKY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. 161 furnishes the miners and railroads with large quantities of long timber. In the summer of 1870 the pond belonging to Mr. Elliot Page, and which occupies a space of one hundred acres, was drained preparatory to a repair of the dam ; when the fish, which had been accumulating there for about twenty-four years, were made an easy prey by the use of a net. In all, there were caught about six thousand pounds of pickerel, perch, chubs, suckers, bullheads, etc. A gentleman of Lynn (March, 1869) says : — *' Forty years ago, beginning at the lower end of the town, the inhabitants were Benj. Hayden, and Warner his son, Captain Dean, old Esq. Wm, Ward, Albert Moss, Henry Burritt, John and James Boyle. Those few, with their families, composed the chief of the population where the village now stands. The writer lived nine or ten years very near the old Leach Farm. The old school-house at the foot of Mott's Hill furnished some scenes that still dis- tinctly linger in recollection. In those days the master was supposed to be master of the situation, without the necessity of calling in school directors. On one occasion a boy some nineteen or twenty years old became disobedient, and was forthwith brought up to be chastised. He very distinctly refused to accept the punishment ; whereupon he was seized, and thrown upon the floor, and the whip applied. He being nearly equal in strength with the teacher, the result was doubtful till he was turned upon his face and became more easily managed. He then called to his sister to go home and have his brother, with whom he lived, come to the rescue. ' Go quick !' says he. ' I will,' she answered, and started. ' Come back !' says teacher. ' Go on' and ' come back' were alternately used for a while, when order was restored by a promise of future obedience." A remarkable case of longevity is mentioned : — John Robinson, born in Dutchess County, N. Y., 9th November, 1770, died in New Mil ford 8th April, 1867. His widow Betsy died two years later, aged ninety-four. They lived together in the bonrls of matrimony seventy- seven years, and reared a large family. Both were Baptists, and Mrs. R. had been a church member seventy-five years. The poor-house for the township and borough is in the east- ern part of the township. The farm was purchased of Jesse Baldwin for $4000 and $500 additional for stock. The institu- tion opened April, 1871. CHURCHES. There are four churches in the borough : The Protestant Episcopal, dedicated November, 1829, was built principally through the liberality and efforts of David Badger, Gaius and Albert Moss, and William Ward, Esq., with the favoring in- fluence of the rector of the parish, Rev. S. Marks. The Presbyterian, though built later, represents an earlier denominational interest here; as also the Methodist, which was not built until 1848, though such class-leaders as Benjamin Hayden and Captain Dean held religious services in their own 11 162 HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. houses at a very early day. Their church is on land donated by William C. Ward, Esq. The Baptist society was constituted February 23, 1827. Their house of worship was dedicated January 15, 1851, in the Moxley neighborhood. October, 1869, the Eoman Catholics started a chapel, 26x50 feet, on land donated by John Boyle, but the frame was blown down the following month. In 1870 it was again upon its foundations, and was completed and dedicated July, 1871. The name of William 0. Ward is closely connected with a large portion of the business, political and social, interests of this township, as the high esteem and confidence of the people in imposing upon him offices of trust and responsibility fully attest. He held the office of justice of the peace nearly thirty years, and in the performance of his duties gained the name and character of peace-maker among his neighbors, generally suc- ceeding in settling their disputes to their mutual satisfaction, and gaining the good-will of both the parties. He died Feb- ruary 24, 1871. Eespecting his eldest brother, the following is contributed : — Christopher Longstreet Ward was born in New Milford in 1807. He came of a race who found a home upon our shores in the infancy of our country, who shared in her struggles, and bore a loyal part in her early history. He never lost the leaven of labor, the energy and vigor which have found root and borne fruit in the peculiar growth of American character. To these virtues he united something of the liberality and culture which are distinctive of an older and a riper civilization than our own. He lent himself from his earliest youth to such studies as leisure would allow, and made himself acquainted with a very considerable range of reading ; his mind was disciplined to hard work and to habits of industry. His diversions indicated the bent of his mind. From the school-boy to the printer-apprentice, and through the initiatory studies of his profession, he gathered many curious things, and delighted in arranging them appropri- ately ; and in later years this propensity led to his acquisition of a most valuable collection. With freedom from other demands upon his time, he might have fallen upon some congenial path in the world of letters. He did not yield himself to such a career, but knew much of its consolations amid the cares of business. [His connection with the press, and his occupancy of positions of trust in Susque- hanna County, are mentioned on other pages of this work.] He removed to Towanda, Bradford County, more than thirty years ago, and lent his aid to many enterprises of lasting benefit to the town. He was the President of the Atlantic and Great Western Railway during its construction through Pennsylvania, and through his instrumentality the means for its early completion were obtained in Europe. He never deviated from the resolution formed in early life of not entering the political field to hold office, though high honors were tendered him during more than one presidential term. In political matters he was a tried and trusted counsellor to those with whom he affiliated, and felt the deepest interest in all the important measures of the day. The laborer and skilled workman profited by his enterprises; the debtor • by JcfatS 'arte*™ """ C_y . Q\) . MMjr^cC , ~~ \ , 163 HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. jnt is knew his forbearance; the poor blessed him. The following incick . — worthy of notice as illustrative of his generosity and unsolicited benevu-'- lence : — Such was the confidence felt in the officers of the Susquehanna County Bank, that many persons, including several lady school-teachers, had their savings in its notes. "When the bank failed, Mr. Ward felt so keenly the sufferings inflicted upon the latter, that he, though not an officer of the bank, redeemed with his own funds several hundreds of dollars of the worthless notes in their hands. Those who knew him well remarked that he had a habit of doing and intending a kindness ivithout admitting the intention. His hospitality was liberal to friends and strangers. His acquaintance, by reason of his active and varied course of life, extended widely among the leading men of his time. He had considerable knowledge of the early history of the section in which he lived. Though progressive, he loved the traditions of the past, and honored and respected the men who removed the wilderness, and laid the foundations of both local and national progress. His love of books and his superiority of taste, united to rare system and method, enabled him to collect many thousands of volumes, selected with great care, and containing, it is stated, more rare works than can be found in any private library of the country. His collection of autographs was unusu- ally complete; and by his skill in arranging, mounting, and illustrating them, they constituted a unique feature of his literary possessions. He was a well-read and clear-minded lawyer, respecting and respected by the profession, but his business affairs multiplied year by year and took him from active practice, though it had been attended with abundant success. To the extent and variety of his labors may be attributed, in part, the sudden and comparatively premature closing of his life. He died at Towanda, May 14, 1870, aged sixty-three. CHAPTER XII. HERRICK. This township was formed from parts of Gibson 1 and Clifford, May, 1825. Its original extent was eight miles on the Wayne County line, south from the N.E. corner of Gibson (then near Long Lake, or Dunn's Pond, now in Ararat), by four miles* and a half east and west — a right-angled parallelogram. It was reduced to its present proportions in 1852, having then parted with three-eighths of its former territory on the north. It re- ceived its name in honor of Judge Edward Herrick, who was then presiding over the Courts of Susquehanna County, which was included in one district with Bradford and Tioga. He had been appointed for this district upon its erection in August, 1818, and he continued to preside over it twenty-one years, 1 The court had been petitioned, May, 1815, to have Gibson divided "through the centre from north to south ; the ' westernmost ' part to retain the name of Gibson, and the new town to be called Lawrence." Nothing further appears in relation to it. 164 HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. lacking one term of court. Judge Herrick is still living at Athens, Bradford County. " Though now (1870) 82 years of age, he is as erect as ever, and loves to converse, with his older acquaintances especially. Enjoying the fruits of early care and industry, he takes little interest in the contests of the day for wealth or honor ; but in the bosom of his surviving family, and in the society of books and papers, he is a good specimen of vigorous old age. Though he was the weakest of a large family of children, he has outlived them all, thanks to his calm and equable temperament, and the good providence of God.V That section of the township north of the Great Bend and Coshecton Turnpike, is but sparsely settled. The principal timber left there is hemlock. The traveler, in entering the town by the road from Ararat church, passes through woods where there is not a resident for a mile and a half; and, if in summer, seems to be going through a tunnel roofed with green interlacing boughs, which for some time close to him the view of the exit beyond. The surface here appears to be a continu- ation of the broad table-land of Ararat, gradually sloping to the south, from which spring the sources of the east branch of the Tunkhannock. The west branches of the Lackawanna, rising in Ararat, are but slender streams in the northern part of Herrick, which is cold and wet compared with the section below the turnpike. The latter is a good farming country, though but little wheat is grown. The best crops are oats and corn. The township is walled in by mountains on two sides. The Moosic Mountain ranges along the eastern border, and the two peaks of Elk Mountain tower in the extreme southwest, though Prospect Eock is just below the township line; while East or " Tunkhannock Mountain" (as it was formerly called), rises a little beyond in Gibson, and extends nearly to the line between Herrick and Ararat. A road traversed the township prior to January, 1798, which was even then known as " the old Brace road." A part of this has been traveled within the memory of present residents; but its route beyond the limits of Herrick seems very indis- tinctly defined. At the time mentioned above, the Court at Wilkes-Barre appointed a committee to see if a new township was needed, " beginning at the line of Northampton County (now Wayne) where the Brace road crosses said line, then running due west," etc. etc. At the same term a petition was presented for a road to Great Bend, from Samuel Stanton's near the line of North- ampton County (or near Mount Pleasant) : — HISTOEY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. 165 " To begin at the line of said county, where the road crosses said line, and run west to the third Lackawanna bridge ; thence to Abel Kent's, thence to Asahel Gregory's, thence to Johnson's Creek, thence to D. Church's, thence to Tunkhannock Creek, thence to Joseph Potter's, thence to old Brace road, thence to David Hamilton's, then to Daniel Hunt's, then to Daniel Leach's, then nearly west to Salt Lick, then to R. Corbett's, then north six miles to the ferry Great Bend — 23 miles." [See Gibson.J This, with an alteration afterwards made, was approved and confirmed, April, 1799. The route proposed is given here to show that the roads were distinct from each other. The line of the Great Bend and Coshecton turnpike, run a few years later, follows the latter in its general route; but the Brace road appears to have been designed to connect the road cut through to Grreat Bend, by settlers of 1791, with the north and south road in Northamp- ton County, some miles below the point intersected by the road mentioned above. A road from Belmont to Tioga Point, though never com- pleted, is laid down on Proud's Map of Pennsylvania (1798), as "the grand route northwestward, and the only road in the section now included in Susquehanna County." At that time Herrick was within the limits of Nicholson township, which then covered territory now embraced in five whole townships, and parts of three more in Susquehanna County, besides a strip of the counties below. Thus we find on the court records mention made of a road "from the Brace road in Nicholson. 11 It appears to have left Northampton Co., at a point due east from the head of Stillwater Pond, in Clifford, and crossing the northeast corner of the township as it is, entered Herrick near the present farm of E. Carpenter. It passed through the orchard of Major Walter Lyon (late that of Wheeler Lyon), and is said to have intersected the old road to Great Bend not far from the west line of Herrick. But, controverting this idea, it is the prevalent opinion that it terminated on the top of Tunkhannock (East) Mountain, in Gibson. This, in turn, is discountenanced by the statement that " it crossed the northeast corner of Nine Partners," as an order was issued August, 1800, for a road "from Van Winkle's mills on the Brace road," to run westward from Martin's Creek. The principal lakes of the township of Herrick are Low Lake and Lewis Lake. The former was named after John N. Low, an early settler who died previous to 1814. It is one mile long, and is near the centre of the township. At its outlet, Lewis Lake, near Uniondale, has superior water privileges. Just above the turnpike there is a large reservoir made by a dam in one of the tributaries of the Lackawanna. This stream, with two tributaries to Tunkhannock Creek, drains the township. 166 HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. SETTLEMENT. Nathaniel Holdridge was probably the first settler ; it is stated he was here as early as 1789. He removed soon after to Great Bend, then Willingborough. In 1790-92, Abel Kent and his brother Gideon, with their families; Asahel Gregory and family; Jonas and Sylvanus Campbell ; Daniel Church, and Hale (two hunters), came over the mountain, or via the Susquehanna River, into this secluded region, where they were joined in the latter year by Walter Lyon. The only other settler known to have come in before 1800 was John C. Await. Abel, John, and Carlton Kent were brothers (Carlton 2d was son of Abel); and Gideon and Durham sons of Gideon Kent, Sr. The old road of 1791 passed the vicinity of their clearings, which were known as the "Kent Settlement" many years. It was about four miles west of Belmont, and nearly a mile south of the Great Bend and Coshecton Turnpike, and a little west of the Wilkes-Barre turnpike, or where these roads were after- wards located. Abel Kent was a " taverner," as early as 1798, on the farm now owned by Mr. J. Thomas. He died in 1806. His brother John then kept a public-house on the old road until 1812, when he built and removed to a tavern at the junction of the two turnpikes. Asahel Gregory, who also had lived on the old road, then moved up to the turnpike, about half a mile west of John Kent. He was the first justice of the peace in this section. His career was an active one for the times, in the hardships of which he had a full share. He brought his family down the Susquehanna Biver to the Bend on a raft, and when their destination was reached he built a log hut, peeled bark to shelter the bed, and took possession. Mr. Gregory lived in Herrick over forty years, when he re- moved to the residence of his son Samuel, in Bridgewater, where he died April, 1842, at the age of 83. He was a Revolutionary pensioner. His remains rest in the burial lot on Dr. Asa Park's old place. Hubbel Gregory, his son, had a small store, about 1820, near his father's residence in Herrick. He removed to Michi- gan, and died at Ann Arbor, in the 72d year of his age. Traditions of the exploits of the hunters Church and Hale are still extant, but some of them have too improbable an air for sober history. Hale pursued his calling con amove. Onee, when entertaining a friend at his house, he heard that peculiar barking of his hounds which announced the approach of game, when he exclaimed, " Oh, what heavenly music I" His friend, HISTOEY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. 167 not appreciating a hunter's taste, or not understanding the cause of his pleasure, replied, " The d — d hounds make such a noise I can't hear it!" Jonas Campbell remained in this vicinity at least twenty years. He married a daughter of Mr. Await ; their son was drowned in their spring in his second year, and his body was the first buried in the cemetery at Uniondale, June, 1811. Walter Lyon came from Ashford, Conn., in 1792, with his wife and one child on a rudely-fashioned sled, a yoke of steers, and an ax; his wife's stepfather (Green) drove in a heifer for her, and carried a pair of steelyards — all their worldly effects. He bought of John Clifford 400 acres, on which he afterwards built the large house in which he lived and died ; and, adjoin- ing this tract, he bought 100 acres of William Poyntell (a land- holder who died, 1811, in Philadelphia), and paid for the whole, within a few years afterward, by lumbering on the Delaware Eiver. He had also 200 acres additional. His family was large, including five sons — Wheeler, Jacob, John, Henry, and Walter, to whom he gave five large adjoin- ing farms, the road through which has been named " Lyon Street." Their descendants are numerous in the vicinity. In early times, he was obliged to take his grain to Great Bend on his back, and return with his grist in the same man- ner. Once, when the water was low, he was obliged to wait for his grist three weeks; and, not wishing to make a second journey, he hired out to husk corn. In the mean time, his family had only potatoes and milk to eat, and were in great fear for his safety, as his route lay through forests then tra- versed by bears, panthers, and wolves, and broken by only a few clearings. He was an active man in township, and county affairs, being justice of the peace, a major in the 76th regiment Pennsylvania militia, and a county commissioner, besides being often in- trusted with other public business. He went on foot to attend court at Wilkes-Barre before the organization of Susquehanna County. He died in 1888, aged 68. Wheeler Lyon, his eldest son, occupied the homestead until his death, February 20, 1870, aged 76. Walter L. died in the spring of 1872. Jacob L. was colonel of the " Washington Guards," a volun- teer battalion of Pennsylvania militia. He was " honest, patri- otic, intelligent, public-spirited, and generous." He died May 10, 185-1, aged nearly 58 years. John Coonrod Await was one of the Hessian soldiers that England hired to fight her colonies of this country; and of those who, after the war, chose to remain here. He located on the road leading from Frost Hollow to Mt. Pleasant, and within 168 HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. a few rods of the county line. He had a large family of chil- dren, most of whom had arrived at maturity previous to 1807. Seth Holmes was, early in the century, if not previously, located southwest from "The Corners." Luke Harding and his son Elisha were also here early ; their farm was next above Major Lyon's, and joined Abel Kent's, on the opposite side of the road. Joseph Sweet settled, about 1804 or 1805, on the farm now owned by James Curtis, near the present tannery of Ira Nichols, a locality which, as the center of business, is also called " Her- rick Center," though very nearly on the east line of the town- ship. He kept a tavern very early where, after the Newburgh Turnpike (Great Bend and Coshecton) was completed, a popular house was kept by Sylvanus, son of Ithamar Mott, of New Mil- ford. Here stages and relays of horses were at all times in readiness to supply the heavy demands of the road. Mr. Sweet sold and moved away about 1815, and Ezra Newton had a part of his farm. In March, 1807, Asa Dimock, Sr. (an older brother of the late Hon. and Elder Davis D.), came from Pittston, Pa., with his wife and four children, to a log house of one room, which had been built for a school-house, on the old road south of the turnpike, a little southeast of A. Gregory. He moved up with the others when the turnpike was finished (or about 1811), and located about one hundred rods east of John Kent's tav- ern, which was afterwards and for a long time kept by his son, Warren Dimock. The locality was known as " Dimock's Cor- ners," 1 though the post-office kept by him was named Herrick Center, and retained the name until its removal, in 1858, to its present location on the Lackawanna. ~W. Dimock was ap- pointed postmaster in 1826. Asa D. was appointed a justice of the peace by Gov. McKean during the summer of 1808, and by Gov. Snyder was commis- sioned as major of the 1st battalion 129th regiment Pennsyl- vania militia. This was composed of the militia of Northumber- land, Luzerne, Ontario (Bradford), and Susquehanna counties. He was the first blacksmith in the vicinity, and built a shop near his residence on the turnpike. He carried the United States mail from Chenango Point to Newburgh, on the Hudson River, once a week, sometimes on horseback, and sometimes in a single wagon or cutter. " I recollect," says his son Shubael, now of Wisconsin, " his coming home from Newburgh with the mail, flying a white flag from a pole stuck up in his cutter with the word 'Peace' inscribed on it in large letters. This, at the close of the war with England, caused great excitement along the road. 1 Asa D. was postmaster of "Dimock's Post-office," here, as early as 1815, but the township was then included in Gibson. HISTORY OP SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. 169 " Often have I heard the panther scream and the wolf howl in the wilder- ness around us, and seen the scalps brought to my father, to secure to the successful huntsman a certificate for the bounty allowed for them. I recol- lect an old hunter (Wademan) once came in my father's absence, and, while waiting for his return, he took out from his knapsack some nice white-looking meat to eat for his dinner, and, at the same time, invited us to taste it. I was the only one who accepted the invitation, and then he told us it was the meat of the panther he had killed." John Kent, Asa Dimock, and Parley Marsh, a school teacher (1812-13), were the first settlers at or near the Corners. In 1818, Asa D. removed to Clifford, and purchased a farm of Amos Morse, who lived half a mile below "the city," down the east branch of the Tunkhannock. Two years later he was located on the present site of Dundaff, where there was but a hat shop, a school-house, and three dwellings. [Another statement: "Asa Dimock, Sr., had a store (1817) on the corner opposite (and south) of the hotel which was then kept by "Warren Dimock. It then consisted of only the present back part of Phinny's. These were the only two houses in 1817. There was then no road past Crystal Lake, but it was being cut out."] Asa D. removed, in 1827, to Lenox, where he resided with his son Shubael to the close of his life, in 1833. Warren and Shubael had returned to the " Corners." In the month of September, 1807, Edward Dimmick, and his son, Martial, came from Mansfield, Conn., and located on the Lackawanna, not far from the present church at Uniondale, the father having bought three hundred acres of Thomas Meredith. In the spring of 1808, he brought in his family, consisting of a wife and eight children. As the spelling of the name indi- cates, there was no relation existing between this family and that of Asa Dimock, who preceded Edward Dimmick only a few months in coming to the township. John Coonrod Await and Joseph Sweet were the only settlers then in the vicinity of Uniondale, except two or three outside the present bounds of Herrick. David Burns was four miles below, in Clifford, and Sam. Stanton had been settled some years, about three miles northeast, at Mount Pleasant. Mr. Dimmick had been a Kevo- lutionary soldier. His sons were Martial, Eber, Joshua, Til- den, Edward, and Shubael. In his reminiscences of early days at Uniondale, his oldest son, Martial, communicates the following: — " In July, 1808, towards night, there came a thunder shower, which con- tinued till near midnight ; and although I have lived here sixty-two years, 1 have never seen, I think, half as much water in the Lackawanna, at one time, as there was the next day. It swept bridges and all before it to its mouth. Everything in our little cabin was as wet as though it had been dipped in the sea. In June, 1809, I went to the Chenango River, five miles above its mouth, to one Mr. Crocker's, and brought three bushels of corn on horseback, between forty and fifty miles, as none could be obtained nearer. 170 HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. But what a change has taken place in the sixty-two years since I came to this section ! Then it was woods, woods, all around, abounding with wild ani- mals; and these were really necessary for food for the inhabitants. One could shoot and kill a large fat buck that would weigh about two hundred pounds, and nice wild turkeys that weighed twenty-one pounds dressed, or catch them in traps, as I have done. The Lackawanna Creek, passing right through the settlement, swarmed with speckled trout. Surely these were almost the staff of life, for bread was often scarce ; but this game has passed away, and the time which made it necessary. "The settlers had many sore trials to pass through; poor roads, poor houses, a want of buildings to store what little they did raise, and a want of many things they had been used to having before they came here ; but with all their trials, there was some real enjoyment." In 1810, Blackleach Burritt, Hezekiah Buckingham, Abijah Hubbell, James Curtis, from Connecticut, and David N. Lewis, from Wyoming Valley, came with their families into the neigh- borhood. Lewis Lake received its name from the latter, and near it he had a grist-mill — the first in what is now Herrick. Blackleach Burritt settled first on the Flat, near M. Dimmick, but afterwards moved to the Wilkes-Barre turnpike, below Stephen Ellis, in Clifford, where he died. His widow died in the fall of 1869, aged ninety-one. His sons were Grandison, now in Wisconsin, Samuel, Eufus, and Eli. One other died young, and Eufus, at two years of age, was drowned in the creek, during the fall of 1813. Of the sons of Samuel Burritt, Loren P. has represented this county in the State Legislature two years; and Ira N". is now private secretary to President Grant to sign land patents. Both did active and protracted service in the Union army. About 1809, Philip J. Stewart bought a part of John Kent's farm, and built a house opposite him. In 1810, Stephen Ellis and family came in from Connecticut. J. T. Ellis, his son, at present one of the commissioners of Susquehanna County, was then but five years old. They were located near the Tunkhannock Creek, on what is now Lyon's street. Stephen E. bought of Moses Wharton, a large land- holder in that section. He was afterwards a Eevolutionary pensioner. He died November, 1847, aged eighty-four. His son, Capt. H. H. Ellis, died in 1828. "Smith's Knob," a hill near Uniondale, was named after Eaynsford Smith, a settler in the vicinity, in 1811, whose resi- dence was, however, just over the present line of Clifford. In 1811, James Giddings, formerly a sea-captain, came from Connecticut, and purchased a farm of Asa Dimock and Walter Lyon, Sr., next above that of the latter. He had thirteen children, twelve of whom lived to adult age. His son, Giles A. Giddings, left Susquehanna County in 1835, and died in 1836, from wounds received in the battle of San Jacinto, Texas. J. D. Giddings, a lawyer, went to Texas in HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. 171 1838, to take care of the landed property his brother Giles had left; and there he accumulated a large fortune before the War of the Eebellion. George H., another brother, is also in Texas. Still another brother, John J., who went there as mail-contractor, was killed on the plains by the Indians early in 1861. Several daughters of Capt. Giddings married and settled within the county. Near a spring on his farm, traces of its former occu- pancy by Indians have been found, such as beads, pipes, hatchets, etc. In 1812, Eli Nichols settled on the place now occupied by his daughter, the widow of Samuel Burritt, Esq. He gave, three or four years afterwards, a large number of books to form a library for general circulation, which were kept for years at Mr. Ellis'. The postmaster at the present " Center," Ira Nichols, is his son, and to his enterprise the locality is in- debted for much of its recent prosperity. A lai'ge tannery and a store are under his management, at the point where the old Newburg turnpike crosses the Lackawanna. In 1813, a road was laid out from Gideon Kent's to A. Gre- gory's. About this time, possibly a year or two earlier, Wm. Tanner kept a tavern on the turnpike near the western line of the present township. A year or two later, Dr. Erastus Day succeeded him, and be- came quite a prominent man in the vicinity. Saw-mills were built or owned by Asa Dimock and Carlton Kent. "On the 6th of July, 1814, about 5 P.M., there came up a thunder shower, accompanied with a hurricane," says Mr. M. Dimmick, "which leveled almost everything before it, for five or six miles in length and about a half-mile in breadth, com- mencing on the north side of Elk Mountain, and reaching to Moosic Mountain. It unroofed buildings and tore down others, and opened a new world in appearance." The first store, for many miles around (except that of Joseph Tanner, in Mount Pleasant), was kept, in 1815, by M. and E. Dimmick, at Uniondale. People came to it from ten and fifteen miles, and even farther, to trade. The year 1816 was marked here, as elsewhere, by the pe- culiarity of its seasons. "The most of January and the whole of February was like what our weather generally is in Septem- ber — the ground dry and dusty, and the atmosphere warm and pleasant as summer. This was followed by a cold sickly spring and summer. Many died of 'inflammation of the lungs.' It snowed in June." Philip J. Stewart kept a tavern in 1816, and Eber Dimmick in 1817, on the Newburg turnpike. In 1818, A. and Hubbell Gregory opened another. 172 HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. In 1817, Kev. Williams Churchill came to the township from Ehode Island. His wife is a descendant of Roger Williams, the founder of Rhode Island. They celebrated their golden wedding May 18, 1870, in Herrick, surrounded by nine of their children, and others of their descendants. In 1819, the first school-house in the southeast part of the town was built, and a teacher (Gurdon H. Tracy) kept school in it a few weeks, when it was burned. At this time, Uniondale, as well as all of Herrick, bordering on Clifford (below a line extended to Wayne County from the line between Gibson and Clifford), was in the latter township. It was not until six years later that Herrick was erected. It is difficult here, as elsewhere in our county, to associate the early settlers with the name of a township which now includes the places of their former abode, but which had no existence until they had passed away. Thus, prior to 1796, the settlers on lands now within the bounds of Herrick, were in the old townships Tioga and Wya- lusing, Luzerne County. From that time for ten years they were in Nicholson ; from 1806 to the organization of Susque- hanna County they were in Clifford; from 1814 they were, with the exception mentioned above, included in Gibson, until, in 1826, the tax-list of Herrick was made out for the first time, the township having been erected the year previous. By reference to the annals of Gibson it will be seen that a division of the township had been petitioned for once or twice before the eastern part was set off for Herrick. The peaks of Elk Mountain and the ridge of Tunkhannock or East Mountain formed a barrier to oneness of interest among its inhabitants, and to ease in the transaction of township business. To the writer, while on a recent visit to that section, it was a matter of surprise that they had continued so long together ; but it was then no longer a surprise that the people of Herrick, as early as 1827, 1831, and again in 1839, sought to be set off' with Clifford, to form a part of a new county, proposed on our southeastern border. The natural features of the country countenanced the wish, as at the present day, most of the business of the section is done with Carbondale and Scranton; but it is none the less painful to see our own county more foreign to some of its inhabitants than Wayne and Luzerne. Happily, political considerations just now are too powerful to make them desirous of any immediate change of county rela- tions. The completion of the Jefferson railroad facilitates egress from their retreat southward, and also brings them into readier communication with the townships north of them, and may thus ultimately unite them to the interests of their own county. HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. 173 RELIGIOUS AND MISCELLANEOUS. In the Kent Settlement a Methodist class was formed in 1810. The earliest notice of any religious services in the vicinity of Uniondale is related thus: — "In 1812 there came along an old man, and stopped at the house of Mr. Buckingham, just before night, and, giving out that he was a minister, ap- pointed a meeting. The whole neighborhood assembled at short notice, and had a good meeting. Though the preacher, Phillips, a Baptist, could give a good discourse, he was very illiterate, being unable to read writing at all. "The neighbors gave him a piece of land and built him a small log-house, where he lived alone. He preached for us about a year. " In the fall of 1813, Mr. Hill, a missionary from the Connecticut Society, came and labored for a short time, and in the winter following there was quite a revival. A Congregational Church was formed by Rev. E. Kings- bury and Rev. Worthington Wright of Bethany ; ten of its members being in this vicinity, and five in Mt. Pleasant. In 1833 the connection between them was dissolved, and the Uniondale Presbyterian Church was formed with forty-three members. Their meeting-house, the first in the place, was erected in 1835." A new one is built on its site, but the old house stands near. A Baptist church was formed in the western part, June 1834, and consisted of ten members, viz.: Jacob and Mahala Lyons, Thomas and Alex. Burns, Benjamin and Harriet Coon, Silas and Emily Finn, Martin Bunnel, and Benjamin Watrous. From 1839-41 Eld. Joseph Currin was pastor. In 1840 Silas Finn "received liberty to improve his gift" as a preacher in this denomination, and was afterwards licensed. In 1842-43, Eev. John Baldwin was pastor. The highest number of mem- bers was thirty-one. The church was disbanded in 1851. 1 A Methodist society was organized about forty years ago, by Eev. V.M. Coryell. Eeligious services were held in a school-house for many years, but, in 1853, a neat church edifice was built near the residence of Walter Lyon, Jr. This gentleman, with his brother, the late Wheeler Lyon, Esq., Carlton Kent, and Andrew Giddings, were chiefly instrumental in its erection, though the community, in general, were liberal in their contributions to it. In 1851 or 1852 there was a Freewill Baptist church erected about half a mile north of the Methodist church. Most of the church members have died or moved away, and the house is now unoccupied except on funerals or extra occasions. A Bible Society, in connection with Clifford, was formed at an early day ; Sabbath schools and temperance societies were also formed and have been continued ever since. They have changed somewhat in form, but not in substance. The Herrick 1 From E. L. Bailey's Hist, of Abington Association. 174 HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. Anti-Slavery Society was organized in 1838 : Martial Dimmick, President, and Grandison Burritt, and Dav. W. Halsted, Vice- Presidents. Politically, the township was democratic until 1830. While Herrick was a part of Gibson, in 1814, the heaviest tax-payers in the former were of the Kent family; after the separation, they were Samuel Benjamin, a tavern keeper, and Walter Lyon, Sr. Within the last thirty years, nine Welsh families have lo- cated in Herrick, though they are considered as belonging to " the settlement," whose members are principally in Clifford and Gibson. CHAPTEE XIII. HARFORD. In November, 1807, the court of Luzerne County granted ("Nisi") the petition of John Tyler and others for a new town- ship from the north part of Nicholson, seven and a half miles wide and six and a half long, to be called Harford; but this grant was not " finally" confirmed until January, 1808. The name was varied from Hartford, at the suggestion of Laban Capron, to make the orthography of the word correspond with its customary pronunciation. A petition had been presented to the court as early as 1796 by the same parties, "inhabitants of a place called Nine Partners," praying to be set off into a new township, and commissioners were appointed to examine whether the same was necessary. Their report, January 17, 1797, was favorable to the petitioners, and the following bounda- ries were described : — " Beginning at the dwelling-house of Mr. Amos Sweet, then running on a straight line north till within five miles of the line of Willingborough, then turning a corner to the west, running five miles to a corner, thence running seven miles south to a corner, then east five miles, then turning north and running that course until it meets the aforesaid." Thus making a township seven miles north and south by five miles east and west, which was to be called Stockfleld ; but no further record is found respecting it. In the eleven years that elapsed before the " Nine Partners" secured township privileges, the settlers between them and Willingborough had also petitioned for the township of New Milford; and this occasioned an alteration in the boundaries proposed by the former, when at last their object was virtually HISTOEY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. 175 attained. The north line was then established on that of Nicholson, two or three miles south of the one given in the report of the first commissioners, and the center was essentially different, many new families having been added to the settle- ment. The western boundary of Harford is Martin's Creek, a tributary to the Tunkhannock, like every stream in the town- ship. Its principal feeder is the outlet of the Three Lakes. Van Winkle's Branch and Nine Partners Creek, in the eastern part, have their principal sources in other townships. Upper Bell Brook rises near the center of Harford Township, in the vicinity of Beaver Meadow, memorable as the birthplace of the settlement. (See diagram.) The brook reached the Tunkhannock in Lenox near the early location of Elisha Bell. Spring Brook, which flows into Martin's Creek at Oakley, was visited by a remarkable flood in the summer of 1870. The lower of the three lakes, and the larger part of the middle one, with Tingley Lake, a much larger sheet, with a pure sand bottom, and two ponds about three miles west of it, are in the northern part of Harford, while Tyler Lake rests on the top of a hill, and is the pet and pride of the village. The beautiful white pond lily is found here, also in the lower and middle lakes. In the vicinity of Montrose depot, which is in the northeast corner of Harford Township, a rare variety of the mullein ( Verbascum thapsus — white-flowered) was found by Rev. H. A. Riley, of Montrose. A German work, written in Latin, describes the plant, but it is known to but few American botanists. The timber is principally beech and maple. In the early years of the settlement, pines four feet in diameter at the ground and sixty feet high beneath the lowest limb, were com- mon, and were of great service in building. Shingles were made from them three feet long, the roofs being ribbed, that is, the shingles were held on by poles fastened at the ends of the roofs. The township is uneven, but the soil is very fertile. A graft put in a plum-tree by Milbourn Oakley, in the spring of 1868, had grown eight feet and six inches before December following. The following four pages are compiled principally from the Historical Discourse of Rev. A. Miller : — In the fall and winter of 1789 several young men, afterwards its first settlers, were deliberating together in Attleborough, Massachusetts, on the subject of emigrating from the place of their nativity. Most of them were unmarried and unsettled, but several were married and proprietors of small farms. The difficulty of obtaining near home and from their own resources an adequate supply of land, urged them to seek ampler room in some new region and on cheaper soil. A company of nine concluded to enter upon the adventure in the spring. They were Hosea Tiffany, Caleb Richardson, Ezekiel Titus, 176 HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY. Robert Follet, John Carpenter, Moses Thacher, Daniel Carpenter, Samuel Thacher, and Josiah Carpenter. Messrs. Tiffany, Titus, and Follet were married. Mr. Tiffany only was over thirty years of age; the others were mostly under twenty-five. They left Attleborough by two different routes on the 27th and 29th of April, 1790, to meet at West Stockbridge ; thence they proceeded via Kin- derhook to Albany, New York. Information was sought of the Surveyor- General. He suggested Canajoharie, Herkimer, and German Flats as inviting fields, or, if not suited there, Cherry Valley, or some towns soon to be sur- veyed west of the Unadilla. Reports of the sickliness of the otherwise most attractive portion of the Mohawk Valley, induced them to turn aside from the river at Canajoharie and proceed to Cherry Valley. Here they were strongly inclined to settle. But, visiting William Cooper at the outlet of Otsego Lake, they were invited to pass down the Susquehanna in a boat with him in a few days, free of expense, to view lands of which he had the agency, lying about one hundred miles south. To this southerly movement consent was given the more readily in hope of finding the climate warmer, as a settler at Cherry Valley had stated that during five years of his residence there, not a month had passed without frost. Passing down the river they arrived at the Great Bend, May 16th. Here they found a few families, with whom they remained the next day, which was the Sabbath, and attended worship. On Monday, with Mr. Cooper, sur- veyor, and others, they proceeded into the wilderness in a southern direction. On Tuesday, the 19th, they reached the Beaver Meadow, and having found Fig. 15. \- 'HARFORD V-i \ Cfc \& : ' \V v»i v- ""•■ -■--. \ ^i PUL K \ tt .; :: ♦ D T I FF A N VW^T h f // *\ ' X. ^ BE AV/Tfl fM: %* \ y ^ ME AD OWl§m SPRING ■.}•. x 7.'V, '