USA > Pennsylvania > Susquehanna County > History of Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania. from a period preceding its settlement to recent times, including the annals and geography of each townshipAlso 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 > Part 13
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On the old Harmony road about one and a half or two miles from Lane's, Oliver Harper was murdered by Jason Tread well, 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 Rogers 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 Elias 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 Erie Railroad 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-
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ment 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 16} feet wide through solid rock. Prior to the construc- tion of the embankment, the New York and Erie Railroad 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, THE CASCADE BRIDGE. 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 Fig. 13. extending across the stream 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 Rowley, is a recent THE STARUCCA VIADUCT. 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-
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factory of an excellent wagon-jack, on an extensive scale, by C. S. Bennet & 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 Railroad.). Something of its enterprise in March, 1871, may be seen from the following article from the ' Montrose Republican :'-
" 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 employés, 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
' Since destroyed by fire.
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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.
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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 dot 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,1 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
1 Since deceased.
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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
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Daniel Buck, afterwards "Priest" Buck, with whom he boarded. His son David1 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-
1 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.
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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 Reuben. 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 to 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 Marrietta, 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-
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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 ?'
"'O, 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 run 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.
Ard 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."
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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. 1794, 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.
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