USA > Pennsylvania > Luzerne County > Annals of Luzerne County; a record of interesting events, traditions, and anecdotes > Part 15
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HUNTINGTON TOWNSHIP was formed from a portion of Salem in 1793, and named in honor of Samuel Hunting- ton, a native of Windham, Connecticut, and who was one of the immortal signers of the Declaration of Indepen- dence.
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ANNALS OF LUZERNE COUNTY.
The first settlement in this township was made on the Huntington Creek by John Franklin, in 1775. He erected a log-cabin, and spent the summer alone in the wilderness, not beholding the face of a white man for five months.
The first grist-mill was a log structure, with one run of stone, and a saw-mill attached, erected by Mr. Hop- kins, in 1788, on a branch of the Huntington Creek. The tract on which the mill stood had been donated for that purpose, several years before, by the Susquehanna Land Company. In 1798, Nathan Beach, Esq., put up a mill on Marsh's Creek, now known as Rogers's Mill. Bacon's fulling and carding mill was erected in 1817. The first church, used also for school purposes, was erected in 1808, and the Pine Grove Church in 1818.
In 1796 Huntington contained 92 taxable inhabitants,* 27 horses, 165 head of horned cattle, and 90 dwellings and other buildings.
This township has an area of 29 square miles, of which one-half is cleared and cultivated, producing excellent crops of grain. It is perhaps the best cultivated township in the county. Large quantities of its produce are con- veyed to Hazelton, Jeansville, and to other places, for consumption. Their land is greatly benefited by the application of lime, which the farmers procure from the kilns near Berwick in Columbia county.
In Huntington are 10 saw-mills, 6 grist-mills, 6 stores, 7 churches, 3 taverns, and 2 carding and fulling mills.
Harveyville, Cambria, and Town Hill are pleasant vil- lages, containing from 10 to 25 dwellings each. The population of the township in 1840 was 1510, of whom 252 were engaged in agriculture. In 1850 the population was 1747.
* For names of taxables, see Appendix, M.
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BOROUGHS AND TOWNSHIPS.
HYDE PARK BOROUGH was incorporated in 1852, prior to which it was a portion of the township of Providence. It has improved, for several years, with great rapidity. It has 13 dry goods and grocery stores, 4 churches, 3 hotels, 1 foundry and machine-shop, and 1 tannery. In 1840 it contained only 6 or 8 dwellings, and was called originally " Fellows' Corner," from Mr. Fellows, an old resident. There are two coal openings or slopes in the borough, belonging to Thomas Howell & Co., and to the Hyde Park Company, both connecting with the Delaware, Lackawanna, and Western Railroad. The buildings are chiefly of wood, two-stories high, and neatly painted. The private residences and streets are ornamented with shade- trees. Its population is about 1300. (See Appendix X.)
JACKSON TOWNSHIP was formed from a portion of Ply- inouth in 1844, and was named in honor of General Andrew Jackson. The first settlement was made by Palmer Ransom in 1795. He was followed by John Lomereaux, Levi Brunson, Jesse Brown, Major B. Fuller, Joseph Reynolds, and others.
The area of Jackson is 15 square miles, of which a fourth part only is cultivated. Its timber is chiefly oak, hemlock, and pine. Its surface is undulating, and its soil produces the usual grains, which find a market at Plymouth and Wilkesbarre. It is improving, particularly as a dairy township. A considerable quantity of lumber . is manufactured, and taken to the canal and railroad below West Nanticoke.
It has 9 saw-mills, 3 grist-mills, 1 church, 1 store, and 1 tavern. The church, store, and tavern are located in Huntsville, which contains about 30 dwellings. This village received its name from Mr. Hunt, one of the early settlers.
The population of Jackson in 1850 was 592.
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ANNALS OF LUZERNE COUNTY.
JEFFERSON TOWNSHIP was separated from Blakely in 1836, and was named in honor of Thomas Jefferson. It was settled chiefly by Jerseymen and Germans. The first settlement was made in 1784 by Asa Cobb, and the second, near the Wayne county line, by Mr. Potter in 1795.
Dr. Hollister, in his work on the Lackawanna Valley, relates that the wife of John Cobb once found a wolf destroying her husband's stock during his absence from home, and boldly attacked and killed the beast with. a pitchfork. Forwarding the scalp to Wilkesbarre, she re- ceived the lawful bounty.
Jacob Keiser, in 1831, erected a saw-mill on Keiser's Creek.
Jefferson contains 39 square miles, of which one-sixth part is cleared land. It is mountainous in part, with some good farms interspersed in the small valleys. It produces abundantly of the coarser grains, and its market is at Scranton and Dunmore. The prevailing species of tiniber are oak, chestnut, beech, and hemlock. It has 5 saw-mills, 1 store, 1 church, and 1 tavern.
The population of this township in 1850 was 414.
JENKINS TOWNSHIP was separated from Pittston in 1852, and was named in honor of Colonel John Jenkins, one of the first settlers in the Wyoming Valley. It is the smallest township in the county, extending over an area of only 14 square miles. The first grist-mill in Jenkins was erected on Gardner's Creek, in 1794, by Joseph Gard- ner and Isaac Gould. Peter Winters, aged 74, and Letitia Cotant, aged 71, are the oldest inhabitants in this town- ship. About one-half of its territory is cleared, but is chiefly the property of the Pennsylvania Coal Company, for which the company annually pays taxes exceeding $1800.
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BOROUGHS AND TOWNSHIPS.
Port Griffith, named in honor of Mr. Griffith, one of the original stockholders in the Pennsylvania Coal Com- pany, is a village containing 2 stores, 1 tavern, and 150 dwellings. It is the terminus of the company's railroad.
Port Blanchard, named in honor of John Blanchard, one of the first coal operators, contains 5 dwellings and .1 tavern.
The population of the township is chiefly Irish and Welsh.
KINGSTON TOWNSHIP is one of the townships formed under the authority of the Susquehanna Land Company ; and is also one of the eleven, with enlarged boundaries, into which Luzerne was divided in 1790. It has since been considerably diminished by the formation of new townships. It derived its name from Kingston in Rhode Island, and was called by the first settlers "Kingstown."
Among the forty persons who entered the Wyoming Valley in 1769, under the auspices of the Susquehanna Land Company, was Mr. Ezra Dean, whose wife was a native of Kingston, in Rhode Island. After the several tracts had been assigned by lot, and the party was seated under a tree on the flats, Mr. Dean proposed to furnish a . art of good Connecticut whiskey for the privilege of naming the township. The proposition was accepted, and in compliment to his " better half" he gave the name Kingstown; whereupon each one of the company, one after another, repeated " Kingstown," and then moistened his mouth with a little whiskey.
A portion of the plain lying in this township was called Abram's Plain, from Abram a chief of the Mohican Indians. These Indians also had a village near Forty Fort, on Abram's Creek.
Forty Fort stood within the present limits of Kingston
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ANNALS OF LUZERNE COUNTY.
on the river, a short distance below the present church, about 80 feet from the water.
The first saw-mill was erected by James Sutton, on Toby's Creek, in the spring of 1778.
In 1796, Kingston, then including Dallas and parts of Lake and Franklin, contained 100 taxables,* 78 horses, and 241 head of horned cattle.
The area of Kingston is 29 square miles. It embraces several excellent farms, but, like other townships in the coal-field, its lands do not sustain the high agricultural character of which they are capable. The highlands are adapted to grass, and in common with the territory lying west of the Kingston and Plymouth, or Shawnee Moun- tains, they are destined to become an excellent dairy and stock growing region.
Kingston township contains 8 grist-mills, 6 saw-mills, 1 chopping-mill, 6 churches, 6 stores, 4 tanneries, 2 card- ing and fulling mills, 3 taverns, and the works of the Kingston Coal Company.
Wyoming Village, formerly called New Troy, contains about 40 dwellings, 3 stores, 2 churches, and 2 taverns, and is situated in the neighborhood where the battle was fought. The Monument, Wyoming Institute, and the Fair Grounds are in the same locality.
Trucksville contains about 30 dwellings, 1 store, and 1 church.
Forty Fort is a collection of 6 or 8 dwellings, with 1 store, and 1 church. It was the formidable rival of Wilkesbarre for the county seat, in 1786.
In 1840 there were 11 persons engaged in mining in this township, and 273 in agriculture.
In 1850 its population was 2454.
* For names of taxables, see Appendix, N.
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BOROUGHS AND TOWNSHIPS.
KINGSTON BOROUGH was incorporated in 1858, and con- tains about 80 dwellings, 4 stores, 2 churches, and 2 taverns. The Wyoming Seminary is located here.
LACKAWANNA TOWNSHIP was formed from portions of Providence and Pittston, in 1838.
The first saw and grist mills in Lackawanna were built by the town (then Pittston), at the Falls on the Lacka- wanna river, in the year 1774. The next year they passed into the possession of Solomon Strong, and soon after were swept away by a flood. In 1779, Mr. Keys put up a saw-mill on Keiser's Creek, and the lumber for Lord Butler's dwelling-house, in the village of Wilkes- barre, was manufactured here and floated down the river. A saw-mill and a small log grist-mill were erected on Mill Creek, by Samuel Miller, in 1782.
Among the oldest residents are Erastus Smith, Joh Knapp, H. H. Winter, Michael Frederick, James Scott, and Charles Drake. John Atherton is the oldest native- born resident of the township, being 68 years of age.
Lackawanna contains 15 square miles, two-thirds of which are cleared, producing wheat, rye, corn, oats, and buckwheat, which are consumed within its own bounds. It has 5 saw-mills, 1 grist-mill, 1 powder-mill, 3 stores, 3 churches, and 3 taverns.
Taylorsville contains about 200 dwellings, and is the place where the Union Iron and Coal Company carry on their operations.
Belleview is a collection of about 50 dwellings, where there are 4 coal openings, the property of the Delaware, Lackawanna, and Western Railroad Company.
Hampton has 30 dwellings, which is also the property of the last-mentioned company.
At the Dunson Works there are 4 coal openings, and about 40 dwellings.
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ANNALS OF LUZERNE COUNTY.
The New York and Scranton Coal Company have 1 coal opening, with 30 dwellings.
In 1840 no one was engaged in mining in this territory, but there were 61 persons employed in agriculture, and its whole population was 363. In 1850 it was 389.
LAKE TOWNSHIP was formed in 1841 from parts of Lehman and Monroe, and took its name from Harvey's Lake, which is located in this township. In 1842 a portion of the township was cut off, in the formation of Wyoming county. Its area is 34 square miles, of which an eighth part is cleared. It is mountainous and hilly, and adapted to grazing. Its timber is pine, oak, and hemlock mainly. It has 5 saw-mills, 1 planing and lath mill, and 1 grist-mill, but no store, no church, and no tavern. Religious meetings are held in the school-houses.
The mills of Hollenback and Urquhart are located on the outlet of Harvey's Lake, where 1,000,000 feet of lumber are annually manufactured.
Harvey's Lake is destined to become one of the most popular summer retreats in the state. Many thousands of dollars have been expended in a building on its shore for the accommodation of visitors, whose number is an- nually increasing. It is to be hoped that all persons, owning timber lands surrounding the lake, will protect them from the woodman's axe, that the locality may not be shorn of its primitive grandeur and beauty.
The population of Lake in 1850 was 383.
LEHMAN TOWNSHIP was separated from Dallas in 1829, and was named in honor of Dr. William Lehman, of Philadelphia, who, at that time, was a member of the General Assembly of Pennsylvania, and had strenuously advocated the extension and immediate completion of the state canals.
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BOROUGHS AND TOWNSHIPS.
The Ides and Browns were the first settlers in this township. In 1806 Joseph Worthington settled on Har- vey's Creek, and cut a road from the place where Elijah Ide now lives to Harvey's Lake. At this time there was not a single house within three-quarters of a mile of the lake.
Lehman contains 22 square miles. Its surface is undu- lating, one-third of which is cleared and cultivated, being adapted to grazing and the coarser grains. Its market is at Wilkesbarre. It has 9 saw-mills, 2 churches, 1 store, and 1 tavern, but no grist-mill.
Lehman Centre is a village of about 15 dwellings, where the 2 churches of the township are located.
The population of Lehman in 1850 was 558.
MADISON TOWNSHIP was taken off from Jefferson and Covington in 1845, and was named in honor of James Madison, one of the Presidents of the United States. The first settlements in Madison were made in 1824 by John Besecker, Barnabas Carey, Richard Edwards, Nathaniel Carter, Jacob Swartz, and John Koon. The first saw- mill was erected in 1826, on Roaring Brook, by Peter Rupert. The first church was built in 1849.
The area of Madison is 28 square miles, one-third of which is cleared, producing wheat, rye, corn, oats, &c. Some parts of the township are rugged, and the prevail- ing timber is beech, hemlock, and ash.
Madison contains 1 grist-mill, 1 saw-mill, and 2 churches not in the villages.
Moscow is a flourishing village, on the Delaware, Lack- awanna, and Western Railroad, containing 30 dwellings, 2 churches, 2 stores, 2 tanneries, and 1 saw-mill.
Dunning, named in honor of A. Dunning, Esq., con- tains 25 dwellings, 2 saw-mills, 1 tannery, 1 church, 1 store, and 1 tavern.
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ANNALS OF LUZERNE COUNTY.
The population of the township in 1850 was 579. '
NEW COLUMBUS BOROUGH was incorporated in 1859. It contains 50 dwellings, 3 stores, and 1 tavern. The office of the Huntington Valley Insurance Company is located here; also an excellent Academy, under the charge of A. J. Furman, Esq .; students during past year, 270. The first dwelling was erected in New Columbus, by the Hon. John Koons, about fifty years ago.
Its population in 1850 was included in that of Hun- tington township.
NESCOPECK TOWNSHIP was separated from Newport in 1792. Jacob Smithers, Jacob Shover, Martin Arner, and Jacob Seyberling settled in the territory of this township in 1791, on the banks of the Nescopeck Creek, near its mouth. In 1796, including Hollenback, Sugarloaf, But- ler, Black Creek, and Hazel townships, it contained 31 taxables,* 36 horses, 58 head of horned cattle, 3 grist- mills, and 3 saw-mills. In 1797 Harvey D. Walker built a grist and saw-mill about one mile from Nescopeck Vil- lage. The first church was erected in 1811, on the turn- pike, by the Lutherans and German Reformed members, about four miles from the village.
This township contains 28 square miles, a portion of which is mountainous, and the remainder is flat or river bottom and rolling land. Its timber is chiefly oak, chestnut, and hemlock, and its soil is adapted to wheat, rye, oats, and corn. Its market is Hazelton. It has 3 saw-mills, 2 grist-mills, 1 carding and fulling mill, 1 forge, 2 stores, 2 churches, and 3 taverns.
Nescopeck Village is built on the site of an ancient town of the Delaware Indians. It was the rendezvous of the hostile savages, during the French and Indian war,
* For names of taxables, see Appendix, O.
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BOROUGHIS AND TOWNSHIPS.
upwards of one hundred years ago. It has about 20 dwellings, 1 store, and 1 tavern. The Nescopeck Insur- ance Company has its office here. The southern line of Luzerne crosses the Susquehanna at this place, cutting the Nescopeck bridge diagonally about midway.
The population of Nescopeck township in 1850 was 920.
NEWPORT TOWNSHIP was one of the original townships under Connecticut jurisdiction, and retained its name in the new division made by the court in 1790. It derived its name from Newport in Rhode Island. The first set- tlement in Newport was made by Major Prince Alden, in 1772, on the property now owned by Colonel Wash- ington Lee. A few years after this his sons, Mason F. and John Alden, erected a forge on Nanticoke Creek. In the same year Mr. Chapman put up a log grist-mill, with one run of stone, near the forge. This was the only mill in Wyoming that escaped destruction from floods and from the torch of the savage. In 1780 this mill was guarded by armed men, and, as far as possible, it met the wants of the public, but many of the settlers were com- pelled to carry their grain to Stroud's mill, at Strouds- burg, a distance of fifty miles.
Newport, in 1799, including Slocum and Dorrance, con- tained 49 taxable inhabitants,* 31 horses, 130 head of horned cattle, 3 mills, and 1 forge.
The area of this township is 19 square miles, one-half of which is cleared land. It is very undulating, and at one time produced a considerable quantity of grain ; but for several years past its farming interest has been declin- ing. Considerable tracts of land have passed into the hands of coal companies, and a good portion of the old
* For names of taxables, see Appendix, P.
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ANNALS OF LUZERNE COUNTY.
farming population has removed to other localities. The companies seem to take no interest in the improvement of their lands, further than to rent them for sufficient to pay the taxes. Its fences and buildings generally indicate a mining district, and that its agricultural glory has departed. Its timber is principally oak, hickory, and hemlock.
It contains 2 saw-mills, 2 grist-mills, 1 store, 2 churches, and 3 taverns.
In 1840 it had but 1 person engaged in mining, and 148 in agriculture. Its population in 1850 was 868.
NEWTON TOWNSHIP. When Wyoming county was set off from Luzerne, the dividing line passed through what was then called Falls township, and that portion of it remaining in this county was organized in 1844, under the name of Newton. This name is derived from New- ton, in Sussex county, New Jersey.
Among the first settlers in this township were Henry Litts, Elias Smith, Jacob Biesecker, and Henry Beemer. They were chiefly from New Jersey. Elias Smith erected the first saw-mill, on Gardner's Creek, in 1818. The first church was built in 1848.
The area of Newton is 24 square miles, two-thirds of which is cleared land. The surface is undulating, and its soil produces the usual grains of the country. A con- siderable quantity of butter is made in this township. Its produce finds a market at Pittston and Scranton. It has 4 saw-mills, 3 stores, 2 churches, 2 taverns, and 1 carding and fulling mill, but no grist-mill.
Newton Centre, a village of 30 dwellings, contains the stores and churches before mentioned.
The population of Newton township in 1850 was 819.
PITTSTON TOWNSHIP was one of the old Connecticut townships, which retained its name on the second divi-
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BOROUGHS AND TOWNSHIPS.
sion in 1790. It was named in honor of the distinguished English statesman, William Pitt, the elder, and was ori- ginally called "Pittstown."
The first house in Pittston was a log building put up in 1770, by Zebulon Marcy. During the next five or six years settlements were made by the Browns, Benedicts, St. Johns, Baldwins, Bennets, Hopkins, Careys, and Blanchards.
In 1776, Mr. Brown erected a block-house, whose loca- tion is now within the borough of Pittston, to which two stockades were added. In 1778, during the Indian battle, they were occupied by women and children, who were guarded by 30 men, under the command of Captain Blanchard. The first saw-mill in the township was built on the Lackawanna, in 1780, by Solomon Finn and E. L. Stevens.
In 1796, including Jenkins and parts of Lackawanna, Springbrook, Bear Creek, and Plains, Pittston contained 65 taxable inhabitants,* 37 horses, 147 head of horned cattle, and 1 slave.
The present area of Pittston is 36 square miles, one- half of which is cleared land. It is generally hilly, and being a mining region, agriculture is a secondary pursuit. Rye, corn, oats, and buckwheat are produced here, which are consumed at home.
Pittston contains 3 saw-mills, 1 grist-mill, 3 stores, 1 church, 1 foundry, 1 tannery, and a large powder-mill.
The present population is chiefly Irish, Welsh, and German.
In 1840 the population was 1110, of whom 4 were coal operators, and 248 were engaged in agriculture. In 1850 the inhabitants were 4048.
* For names of taxables, see Appendix, Q.
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ANNALS OF LUZERNE COUNTY.
PITTSTON BOROUGH was incorporated in 1853, and in the following year its boundaries were enlarged. Prior to 1838 it contained only 8 or 10 dwellings.
The oldest house now standing in Pittston, is the Hart house, on Main street, erected by Jacob Hart and God- frey Perry, about the year 1790. Shortly after, William Slocum built a large frame-house below the old Sox tavern. There was an old frame building about 14 rods south-west of the present residence of Mr. John Sox, in which a store was kept, in 1799, by Messrs. Wright & Duane. Adjoining this stood another building, which was one of the first in Pittston township, and which was purchased and removed by Mr. William Tompkins in 1825.
The Stockbridge house was erected in 1830, at which time Mr. John Alment kept store in a frame-house oppo- site the Butler Hotel. Mr. Alment also, at one time, resided and kept the post-office in this building.
Messrs. Butler & Mallery commenced operating in coal in this township in 1838, since which period the borough has rapidly advanced to its present high position among the incorporated towns of the county. It now contains 22 dry goods, 8 clothing, 5 grocery, 1 hardware, and 3 drug stores, 2 steam grist-mills, 7 hotels, and 8 churches. It is supplied with water forced from the Susquehanna into a reservoir, and distributed thence through the town in pipes. (For population in 1860, see Appendix X.)
PLAINS TOWNSHIP was formed from portions of Wilkes- barre and Pittston in 1851. The Waname Indians, a tribe of the Delawares, once resided within the limits of this township, and one of their chiefs being named Jacob. the whites called the territory Jacob's Plains. From this the township derived its name.
The original Connecticut settlers, in 1762, built their
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BOROUGHS AND TOWNSHIPS.
log-houses immediately above the confluence of Mill Creek with the Susquehanna. These buildings were afterwards seized by the Pennamites, who enclosed them with stock- ades, and called the enclosure Fort Ogden.
ยท The first grist-mill in the Wyoming Valley was erected on Mill Creek, within the bounds of Plains, by Nathan Chapman, in 1772. It was a log structure with one run of stone, and stood on the side of the creek opposite the present mill of the late Mr. John Hollenback. It was carried away by the high water soon after its erection. In 1813, on the same creek, Mr. Hezekiah Parsons put up the first fulling and woolen factory. The second grate for burning anthracite coal was set up by Henry Stark, in Plains township, in 1808, shortly after Judge Fell's successful experiment at Wilkesbarre. The first church here was built in 1843.
The oldest residents in Plains township are Hon. Charles Miner,*Messrs. Parly Lyons, Henry Shafer, Ben- jamin Courtright, John Clark, and Henry Stark.
The extent of Plains is 15 square miles, of which one- half is cleared. Its surface is partly hilly and partly flat or river bottom land. Its soil produces wheat, rye, corn, oats, and buckwheat, and its market is at Wilkesbarre and Pittston. It has 1 saw-mill, 3 grist-mills, 2 stores, 2 churches, 2 taverns, I powder-mill, and 4 collieries.
PLYMOUTH TOWNSHIP was one of the old Connecticut townships, and also one of the eleven of 1790. Its name was derived from Plymouth, in Litchfield county, Con- necticut.
In 1775, a battle was fought in Plymouth between the Yankees and Pennamites, near the coal-mines of Jameson Harvey, Esq. In 1776, a stockade was put up, for the defence of women and children in times of attack by the savages, near the site of the village of Plymouth.
* The HIon. Charles Miner died in 1865.
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ANNALS OF LUZERNE COUNTY.
In 1780, Robert Faulkner erected a log grist-mill on Shoup's Creek, below the site of the present Shoup Mill, and about the same time Hezekiah Roberts put up a similar mill on Ransom Creek. In the same year Benja- min Harvey built a log mill and dwelling-house on Har- vey's Creek, which were occupied by his son-in-law, Abraham Tillbury.
Samuel Marvin, in 1795, erected a saw-mill on Whits- ley's Creek, above the present residence of Samuel Wad- hams, Esq.
In 1796, this township, including Jackson, contained 95 taxable inhabitants,* 61 horses, and 262 head of horned cattle.
The area of Plymouth is 29 square miles, of which a portion is river bottom, and the rest hilly and mountain- ous land. One-third of it is cultivated, producing the usual grains of the country, which find a market at home. It has 2 saw-mills, 2 grist-mills, 9 stores, 2 churches, 3 taverns, and 14 coal-mines.
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