USA > Pennsylvania > Bradford County > History of Bradford County, Pennsylvania, with Illustrations and biographical sketches > Part 29
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107 | Part 108 | Part 109 | Part 110 | Part 111 | Part 112 | Part 113 | Part 114 | Part 115 | Part 116 | Part 117 | Part 118 | Part 119 | Part 120 | Part 121 | Part 122 | Part 123 | Part 124 | Part 125 | Part 126 | Part 127 | Part 128 | Part 129 | Part 130 | Part 131 | Part 132
The line which dissevered this part of Luzerne cut in two parts the township of Burlington. That part north of the line retained the name of Burlington. Of that part south of the line the court, at its August session, 1804, de- creed : " On the petition of Dennison Kingsbury and others, it is ordered by the eourt that that part of the town- ship of Burlington now remaining in the county of Luzerne shall hereafter be called and known by the name of Canton." Seeley Crofut was appointed the constable, and Aaron Cook and Henry Segar supervisors.
At the April session, 1807, on the petition of Job Irish and others, setting forth that owing to the inconvenience, and at times the impossibility, of crossing the river, especially at the time of the spring elections, they pray for a new town- ship on the west side of the river. The commissioners ap- pointed report in favor of granting a new township, begin- ning at the mouth of Durell's creek, thence south 45º west, to the county line, thence on said line west to the corner of Canton, thence north on the east line of Canton to the county line, thence as the said line runs to the river, thence down the river to the place of beginning. The re- port was confirmed finally at the January sessions, 1808.
The western part of Ulster, in length nineteen miles from the west line of the county, was set off into a separate township, by the name of Smithfield, between 1804 and 1810, but I have been unable to get the date from the Ly- coming county records.
ELECTION DISTRICTS.
By an act of assembly, passed Sept. 13, 1785, entitled an act to regulate the general elections and to prevent frauds therein, it was provided that each of the counties of the commonwealth be divided into election districts. By this
111
HISTORY OF BRADFORD COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.
act the county of Northumberland was divided into four districts, of which " the freemen of the townships of Tur- bet, Mahoning, Wioming, Shawance, and Stoke, being the second district, shall hold their elections at the town of Northumberland." Any voters in this county were, therc- fore, under the necessity of traveling all the way to North- umberland in order to exercise the right of suffrage .*
Sept. 7, 1789, the assembly passed an act dividing Lu- zerne county into five election districts, in which it was pro- vided that all " that part of the county aforesaid, beginning at the north line of the State of Pennsylvania, and extend- ing down and including both sides of the river Susque- hanna to a line drawn east and west across the county at Wyalusing falls, shall be an election district, by the name of the Tioga district, and the freemen thereof shall meet at the house now occupied by Simon Spalding and hold their elec- tions." It will be observed that in all of present Brad- ford and Susquehanna counties there was but one place of election.
By an act passed March 29, 1792, the Wyalusing dis- trict was set off from parts of Tioga and Tunkhannock dis- tricts, with the following bounds : Beginning at the mouth of Wysock's creek, extending down and including both sides of the Susquehanna to a line drawn east and west across the county at the mouth of Meshoppen creek ; and the freemen to hold their elections at the house of Isaac Hancock, Esq. March 17, 1802, the place of holding elections was changed to the house of Justus Gaylord, Jr.
The Wyalusing district was divided by an act passed April 10, 1799, which directed " that all that part of Lu- zerne county within the following boundaries, to wit, by a line drawn due east and west from one side to the other of the said county, intersecting the river Susquehanna at the mountain commonly called Breakneck, thence down the said river to a creek called Rummerfield's creek, thence a line drawn as aforesaid east and west, from one side-line to the other of the said county, shall be and is hereby erected into a separate election district, and the free electors thereof shall hold their elections at the house of William Meenes, iu the township of Wysocks."
Section 3 of the election law of 1800 directed that "all that part of the several districts of Wyalusing, Wysocks, Tioga, and Willingborough, in the county aforesaid, in- cluded within the following bounds, viz., beginning at a point due east from the Standing Stone in the Susquehanna river, thence north to the forty-first milestone standing in the northern boundary of the State, thence east on the said boundary-line to the twenty-eighth milestone, thence south until it shall intersect a line drawn due east from the place of beginning, shall be an election district, to be called the Rindaw district, and the electors thereof shall hold their
general elections at the house now occupied by Ezekiel Hyde, in said district.
In the act annexing the part of Luzerne county to Ly- coming, section second provides that elections shall be beld at the usual places, " but no inhabitant of the parts so an- nexed to Lycoming county shall be entitled to vote in Lu- zerne county, but shall give their votes at the place nearest to their residence, where an election is held in Lycoming county or in the parts so annexed to the same."
Section eight of the act of April 3, 1804, made the town- ship of Tioga, in Luzerne county, a separate election dis- trict, and directed the elections to be held at the house of Thomas Berry in said township.
April 5, 1805, Burlington election distriet, with the fol- lowing bounds : Beginning at the northwest corner of Bur- lington township, thence south on the east line of said town- ship to the north line of the county of Luzerne, thence west on said line to the east line of the county of Tioga, thence northierly on said line to a point due west from the northi- west corner of the township of Ulster, thence east seven miles, thence south to the north line of Burlington township, thence east on said line to the place of beginning; to be called the Burlington district, and the electors to hold their elections at the house now occupied by Nathaniel Alter [Allen]. March 20, 1810, the place of holding elections in this district was changed to the house of Mary Goddard.
Orwell district was erected by act of April 11, 1807, and described by the boundary-lines of the township, and the house of Josiah Grant was appointed as the place for hold- ing the general elections.
In the seventeenth section of the act of March 28, 1808, it was provided that the following bounds in the county of Lycoming, viz., beginning at the sixty-sixth milestone on the north line of the State, thence south to the north line of Burlington township, then on the said line westerly to the east line of Tioga county, thence northerly on said line to the eighteenth [eightieth] milestone, thence east on the said line to the place of beginning, be an election district, to be called the Cleftsburg District, and the place of holding elections to be the house of John Cummings, which was changed, March 20, 1810, to the house occupied by William Furman.
The thirty-sixth section of the act of March, 1808, erected the township of Wysox into a separate election district, and provided that the elections be held at the house occupied by Amos Mix, in said district.
Section eight of the act of March, 1810, made Canton township, in the county of Luzerne, a separate election dis- trict, and the place of holding elections the house occupied by Joseph Wallace.
As early as 1802 the question of erecting a separate county out of the northern part of Luzerne began to be agitated. Two things led the people here to desire the change : one was the great distance to the county-seat ; the bad roads and inconveniences of travel made it a great burden for suitors and others having business in the courts to attend. The second reason was the alienation of feeling between the two parts of old Luzerne, growing out of the land controversies. As has been stated in a previous chapter, the people of this county were mostly half-share
* "Capt. Simon Spalding, and twenty-three others, repaired to Northumberland, some of them traveling an hundred miles and none of them less than sixty, to reach the nearest place of balloting. After taking the oath of allegianee, their ballots were deposited in separate boxes, lest they should be deemed irregular ; but this eaused it to be known for whom they voted. So nearly were parties divided that these twonty-four votes decided the election of a member of the supreme executive council, two representatives to the assembly, and the sheriff."-Miner, p. 34.
112
HISTORY OF BRADFORD COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.
men, and consequently bitterly opposed to the intrusion and compromise laws, while the old settlers, in the main, favored both. These differences became greater as those laws went into effect, so that in more than one instance the parties were arrayed against each other in open hostility.
In 1806* the proposition was brought before the legis- lature of the commonwealth. The journals of the House afford us pretty full information of the several steps by which the result was finally reached.
March 24, 1806, " an act to erect parts of Luzerne and Lycoming counties into a separate county district" was read the first time, and " ordered that it be recommended to the attention of the next legislature."
December 15, the act was reported as " unfinished busi- ness," and the next day referred to the members from Lu- zerne and Lycoming.
March 11, 1807, Mr. R. Smith presented three several petitions of similar tenor from one hundred and fifty-four inhabitants of Northumberland and Luzerne counties, pray- ing that certain parts of said counties be erected into a separate county.
December 19, 1807, Mr. Beach presented four several petitions of a like tenor from a number of the inhabitants of the northern part of the county of Luzerne and north- eastern part of the county of Lycoming, praying for reasons therein stated that a new county may be erected, to be called the county of HIRAM, agreeably to the bounds do- scribed in said petition, and that the seat of justice be fixed within the district of Wysox. Said petitions were read, and referred to Messrs. Beach, I. Smith, Rupert, Starrett, and Moore.
January 2, 1808, Mr. Miner presented a petition from a number of the inhabitants of Burlington township, in the county of Lycoming, praying that a new county may be erected by law, to be called HIRAM, agreeably to the bounds therein described. January 7, Mr. I. Smith presented a simi- lar petition. Both were referred to the committee appointed on the 19th of December.
Mr. Beach, the chairman of the committee to whom these several petitions had been referred, reported on the 12th of January as follows: " That your committee have taken the subject committed to them into consideration, and are of the opinion that the prayer of the petitioners ought to be granted, therefore offer the following resolution to the consideration of the House: Resolved, That a com- mittee be appointed to bring in a bill agreeably to the prayer of the petitioners; and, on motion, said report was road a second time, and the same being under consideration, a motion was made to postpone the further consideration thereof for the present; which was agreed to."
# At a meeting of delegates from Wysox, Wyalusing, and Brain- trim, "it was thought necessary to give the inhabitants of the north part of Luzerne and the east part of Lycoming notice to appoint one delegate from each distriet, to meet at the house of William Means, Esq., on Tuesday, the 11th day of November next, to consult and agree where the line shall run, for the purpose of having a new county set off." Signed by John Taylor, John Horton, Jacob Striekland, Jonathan Terry, William Means, Asa Stevens, Thomas Wheeler, B. La Porte, Amasa Wells, Justus Gaylord, Jr., Josiah Grant, Reuben Hale, Eleazer Gaylord, Job Irish.
This is the first direet movement looking toward a new county that I bave met with.
January 18, Mr. Miner presented eight several memorials from a number of the inhabitants of the northeast part of the county of Luzerne, remonstrating against the erection of a new county out of the northern part of said county, and praying that a new county district be erected agreeably to the bounds therein described, to be called LORAINE, which memorials were read and laid on the table. On the 2Ist of March Mr. Miner read in his place a bill, entitled an " Act appointing commissioners to ascertain and report to the legislature suitable boundaries for a new county to be erected from Luzerne and Lycoming," which bill was read the first time, and ordered to a second reading, but nothing further was done with it.
During this session (1808-9) numerous petitions were presented, praying for the erection of two new counties out of the northern part of Luzerne and the northeastern part of Lycoming, which were referred to a special committee, consisting of Benjamin Dorrance, of Luzerne; Isaae Smith and Samuel Satterlee, from Lycoming; John Murray, from Northumberland; Jacob Snyder, from Berks; and James Ralston, from the Wayne and Northampton district. Jan- uary 28, Mr. Dorrance reported a bill, entitled " An aet to erect parts of Luzerne and Lycoming counties into sepa- rate county districts," which bill was read, and ordered that " Thursday, the 2d of February next, be assigned for the second reading of said bill, and that it be the order for that day." On the day appointed, the House resolved itself into committee of the whole, and, after some time, the speaker resumed the chair, and the bill was reported without amendment.
February 10, the bill passed to the third reading after some amendments, and the next day was read the third time, agreed to, and sent to the senate for its concurrence. The same day it was read in the senate the first time, and on the 15th of March was considered in committee of the whole, when the bill was postponed and recommended to the attention of the senate at their next session.
Early the next session the matter was again brought to the attention of the legislature, and petitions were presented by Messrs. Dorrance, Welles, and Graham, which were re- forred to a special committec, and on the 12th of January, 1810, Mr. Dorrance, of this committee, presented the fol- lowing report :
" That they have attentively examined the subject, and are of opin- ion that the prayer of the petitioners ought to be granted ; that the said counties are very inconveniently large, and ought to be divided, and it is fully within the knowledge of a part of your committee that it has long been, and now is, the anxious wish of all the inhabitants of that county to have the division made.
"Your committee are also of opinion, not only from the almost uniform tenor of the numerous petitions referred to them, but from the personal knowledge possessed by a part of them of the county, that the proposed county distriets ought to be bounded by, and in- eluded within, the following lines :
"For the western county distriet, beginning at the fortieth mile- stone, on the north line of the State, and running south to a point due east of the head of Wyalusing falls, in the Susquehanna river ; thenee southwesterly to the nearest point of Lycoming county line ; thenee in a direet line to the southeast corner of Tioga county, at the Beaver dam, on Towanda creek ; thenee northerly along the east line of Tioga county to the cightieth milestone, on the north line of the State; thenee easterly along said line to the place of beginning.
"For the eastern county district, beginning at the fortieth milestone, on the north line of the State, and running south along the east line of
P.T
N
E
W
Y
O
R
K
Wappasening
T
A
T
H
E
N
S
Greek
-
21.2
MT
Z10 N
-
SMITHFI
from E
L D
U L
STER
-
Wysox Creek
Jul 2
O
BUR L
1
N
G
T
O
N
Creek
Sugar
River
Creek
TOWANDA
0
f
CANTON
taken
Part.
L
Y
C
O
M
1
N
G
SUSQUEHANNA
taken
W
Y
S
n T
R
S
H
Part
MAP OF BRADFORD COUNTY IN 1812.
Towanda
WYALU
S
Z
G
NOTE
D
. North and West of the dotted Line wastaken from Lycoming County. South and East from Luzerne .
Lycoming
Susqueha
X
Wyalusing Creek
JNY3Z07
113
HISTORY OF BRADFORD COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.
the proposed western county district to a point due east of the head of Wyalusing falls, in the Susquehanna river; thence due cast to the western line of Wayne county ; thence northerly along said western line of Wayne county to the aforesaid north line of the State; and thence westerly along said line to the place of beginning.
"Your committee offer the following resolution : Resolved, That a committee be appointed to bring in a bill for the purpose of estab- lishing two county districts, agreeably to the lines and bounds above described."
The report was then read a second time, and the reso- lution thereto attached and adopted, and it was ordered that the committee who brought in the report be a com- mittee for the purpose expressed in the resolution.
January 17, Mr. Dorrance brought in a bill, entitled " An act to erect parts of Luzerne and Lycoming counties into separate county districts," which bill was read the first time and made the special order for Wednesday, January 24, on which day and the 26th it was considered in committee of the whole, and ordered to be transcribed for third read- ing, which it passed the next day, and was ordered to be sent to the senate for its concurrence, where it was read for the first time January 29, and on the 2d and 5th of Feb- ruary considered in committee of the whole, passed the second reading on the 6th, and passed finally with amend- ments on the next day, and sent to the house of repre- sentatives for their concurrence the same day. The principal amendments were the substitution of the name ONTARIO for MORRIS, which had been given to the western district, and making it the duty of the trustees, or two of them of the Ontario district, to survey and mark the boundary-lines between Ontario county and the counties of Susquehanna, Luzerne, and Lycoming, and the trustees to be appointed for the county of Susquehanna shall cause to be surveyed and marked the boundary-lines between the said county and the county of Luzerne, and for the performance of said duties they shall receive two dollars and fifty cents for every mile so ascertained and marked. The House agreed to the amendments the same day, and on the 21st of February the bill was signed by the governor and became a law.
The act provided for the appointment of three trustees, who should have power not only to establish the bounda- ries of the new county, but to fix the site for the county- seat, which must be within seven miles of the geographical centre of the said county, which may be most beneficial to and convenient for the same. The governor appointed Samuel Satterlee, Moses Coolbaugh, and Justus Gaylord trustees of the Ontario district, who employed Jonathan Stevens, Esq., then deputy surveyor of the district, to sur- vey the lines thereof.
As the lines were run the old township of Braintrim was divided, a part remaining in Luzerne and a part included in Ontario. Accordingly the inhabitants of that township petitioned the next legislature so to alter the lines that they might remain in Luzerne, and an act was passed March 28, 1811, by which the trustees of the county of Ontario " are hereby authorized and required to establish a point east of the Slippery rocks (so called), at the head of Wyalusing falls, in the River Susquehanna, for the southeast corner of Ontario county; from thence a line run west to the said Slippery rocks ; from thence a south westerly course to the nearest point of Lycoming county, is hereby established as
the southern boundary of the said county." The remaining lines were left unchanged, and form the present boundaries of the county.
After a very careful search, I have been unable to find any survey of the county except a map of it found among Judge Stevens' papers. From this and other information obtained the lines are about as follows : Beginning on the eiglitietli milestone, running due east forty miles to the fortieth milestone, this line being part of the northern boundary of the State; thence from the fortieth milestone south (making no allowance for magnetic variation ) twenty- four miles and fifty-six perches ;* thence west four miles to the Slippery rocks; thence south sixteen degrees west, eight miles ; thence north eighty degrees west, thirty-three miles to the Beaver dam ; thence north two and one-half degrees west, twenty-eight miles to the place of beginning. Making the proper allowance for magnetic variation, these figures will probably be found nearly correct. According to the surveyor-general's report, the county contains one thousand one hundred and seventy-four square miles, or seven hun- dred and fifty-one thousand three hundred and sixty acres, being the third in area of the counties of the common- wealth.
December 20, 1810, petitions were presented to the legislature, praying for the organization of the county for judicial purposes, referred to a committee who reported favorably ; but, after some delay, at the close of the session was recommended to the next legislature. December 17, ' 1811, the bill to organize the county for judicial purposes was referred to a select committee, which, through its chairman, Mr. Satterlee, reported favorably Jan. 11, 1812, and was passed by the House March 10, and by the Senate March 24, and the same day was approved by the governor. It provided for the election of county officers at the general election, the next October, and their inauguration into their respective offices, directed that the court should be held at the house of William Means, Esq., of Meansville, in Towanda township, until suitable county buildings should be erected, and changed the name of the county from Ontario to Brad- ford, in honor of William Bradford, formerly attorney- general of the United States.
The county as thus described embraced the townships of Athens, Burlington, Canton, Columbia, Orwell, Towanda, Ulster, Wyalusing, Wysox, and a part of Rush, ten alto- gether, and six election districts, to wit: Burlington, Can- ton, Cleftsburg, Tioga, Wyalusing, and a part of Rindaw. The part of Rush township was treated as a distinct town- ship, while the electors of that part of the Rindaw district embraced in the new county voted as part of Tioga.
The bill erecting the county provided that the trustees should select the site for the court-house, which, however, must be within five miles of the geographical centre of the county. Wysox, Towanda, and Monroe were the candidates for the location of the seat of justice, and each sent pe-
# Miss Blackman, in her " History of Susquehanna County," p. 583, quotes from a letter of Hon. J. W. Chapman, that the west line of Susquehanna is about twenty-four and a quarter miles, and assuming the State line to be duc east and west, the magnetic variation is 53º. In the re-survey of the State line in 1877, the magnetic variation was found to be 5º 9'.
15
114
HISTORY OF BRADFORD COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.
titions to the trustees preferring its claim, and urging its advantages over other places named. In order to reach a conclusion best for the county, the trustees appointed a day on which they would meet delegates from the various lo- calities, at the house of William Means, Esq., and there determine the question. The day arrived and so did the delegates, but they were informed that the trustees had come the day before, and early that morning had set the stakes for the location of the court-house ; Esquire Means de- claring, with a twinkle of his eye, that persons were sus- ceptible to various kinds of arguments.
The people of Wysox were very much disappointed at the result of the decision of the trustees. They had sup- posed that, as a matter of course, the fine plains on the east side of the river were a far more preferable site for a town than the steep side hills on the opposite side. It will be remembered that one of the schemes for the new county provided that the county-seat should be at Wysox. In anticipation of this, a town plat had been surveyed, the streets marked and named, and the place called New Balti- more. So certain were the people of this arrangement that the Luzerne Federalist, of Sept. 7, 1810, says, " We are informed that the seat of justice for Ontario county is fixed by the commissioners at Wysox." In an advertise- ment of a farm at Wysox, the advertiser describes it as " adjoining the plot of New Baltimore, which will nn- doubtedly be the county-seat of the new county." This opinion was strengthened from the fact that .Moses Cool- baugh, one of the trustees, was a resident and a large prop- erty owner at Wysox. Thomas Overton gave the county the land for the public square, and laid out the village of Towanda. Esquire Means gave other lots for various pub- lic uses, and a subscription of several hundred dollars was taken towards defraying the expense of building the court- house and jail, as part of the consideration for locating the public buildings at Towanda.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.