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 6
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TREASURERS.
1812. Isaac Post.
1843. David D. Warner.
1815. David Post.
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. 1861. Amos Nichols.
1832. William Foster.
1834. Davis Dimock, Jr.
1863. Nicholas Shoemaker.
1865. Charles B. Dodge.
1867. Richard V. Kennedy.
1869. Benjamin Glidden.
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.
1835. George Fuller.
1837. Henry J. Webb.
1839. Moses C. Tyler.
1841. Moses C. Tyler (elected).
1845. Walter Follett.
42
HISTORY 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. Read 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 Ritner three years from January, 1836. Did his own work mainly.
Simon Stevens was register and recorder (S. Meylert deputy) the first year of Governor Ritner'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 Fuller and H. Finch elected in 1839.
John Blanding and
1842.
66 66 1845.
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. R. Wade and Charles Neale, 1857.
Edwin M. Turner and Harmon K. Newell,
Gabriel B. Eldred and Joseph H. McCain, 66 J. F. Shoemaker,
1866.
W. F. Simrell and Jerome R. 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-five volumes of deeds alone, averaging about 800 pages of
1860.
1863.
43
HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY.
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.
Laban Capron, 2 years.
1843. Alonzo Williams.
66 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.
1817. Daniel Ross.
1849. John Murphy.
1850. Shubael Dimock.
1819. Samuel Warner.
1851. John Hancock.
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.
1828. Joseph Williams.
1860. 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.
1834. Cyrus H. Avery.
1835. Charles Tingley.
1867. Samuel Sherer.
1837. John Comfort.
1869. Preserved Hinds.
1838. Edward Heald.
1870. Edward L. Beebe.
1839. Thomas Burdick.
1871. Oscar Washburn.
1840. Nathaniel Norris.
1841. Wm. G. Handrick.
1865. J. T. Ellis.
1866. B. M. Gage.
1836. Robert Griffis.
1868. J. T. Ellis, second time.
1872. Lyman Blakeslee.
Col. Thomas Parke and Hosea Tiffany, Esq., were commis- sioners for Luzerne County before this county was set off.
1842. Abel Hewitt.
1818. Philander Stephens.
1848. David O. Turrell.
1820. Joseph Washburn.
1827. Ansel Hill.
1859. C. M. Stewart.
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, 1826.
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, O. Washburn.
Great Bend, 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; Choconut (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 Choconut 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 :-
45
HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY.
SHERIFF.
CORONER.
1812. Edward Fuller.
Stephen Wilson.
1815. Austin Howell.
Philander Stevens.
1818. Samuel Gregory.
Chapman Carr.
1821. Philander Stephens.
Daniel Trowbridge.
1824. Samuel Gregory.
Charles Chandler, Jr.
1827. Charles Chandler, Jr.
Benjamin J. Dimock.
1830. Joseph Williams.
Davis D. Warner
1833. Charles Avery.
Hiram Finch.
1836. William Hartley.
Walter Follet.
1839. Walter Follett.
Thomas Johnson.
1842. Thomas Johnson.
Jonas Carter.
1845. Nelson C. Warner.
Wm. B. Handrick.
1848. Christopher M. Gere.
John Baker.
1851. Gabriel B. Eldred.
William H. Boyd.
1854. Fred. P. Hollister.
Benjamin Dix.
1857. John Young.
Dr. J. Blackman.
1860. Elias V. Green.
Dr. C. C. Halsey.
1863. David Summers.
Dr. Braton Richardson.
1866. S. F. Lane.
Dr. L. A. Smith.
1869. Wm. T. Moxley.
Dr. C. C. Halsey.
1872. M. B. Helme.
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 Adolphus 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, O. S. Beebe. County surveyors first elected in 1850, O. S. Beebe ; in 1853, Timothy Boyle; 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.
NAMES.
COUNTIES.
1813, Jan. Term
Eben'r Bowman
Luzerne.
66
David Scott
66
Garrick Mallery
66
Nathan Palmer
66
Putnam Catlin'
66
1813, Apr. Term 1813, Aug. Term
·
Roswell Welles
Alpheus C. Stewart .
George Denison
66
Thomas Graham
John Evans
66
Thomas Dyer
Edward Herrick2
Bradford. 66
1813, Nov. Term ·
1814, Aug. Term
Thomas B. Overton .
Luzerne, Bradford. Wayne. 66
1818, May Term
Thomas Welles
Wayne. Bradford.
1819, Sept. 2
.
Oristus Collins
Luzerne. 66
1821, Jan. 66
Chester Butler
66
1821, Feb. 2
1821, Sept. Term 66
Pike. Luzerne. 66
66
1824, Feb. Term .
Oswego.
1824, Aug. Term . Wm. Seymour .
1825, Aug. Term . Henry Pettebone Benjamin A. Bidlack Thomas Fuller
Luzerne. 66
1826, Dec. Term 66
.
David Woodcock
George B. Westcott .
Wayne. Broome. Luzerne.
1833, Dec. Term
.
1834, Dec. Term · Luther Kidder .
66
1835, May Term · David Wilmot .
1836, May Term
Lewis Jones
Bradford. Luzerne. 66
1840, Nov. Term . Hendrick B. Wright
And about twenty-five later admissi's.
.
Latham A. Burrows
1820, Jan. 31 ·
Josiah H. Minor
1817, Sept. Term
.
Nathaniel B. Eldred
1818, Dec. Term
Amzi Fuller
Horace Williston3
1819, Aug. 31
29 . John N. Conyngham Simon Gages Throop · Dan Dimmick . James W. Bowman . Thomas W. Morris Stephen Strong
1826, Sept. Term · Ezra S. Sweet
Wayne. Owego.
1830, May Term
1830, Aug. Term .
Robert Charles Johnson
1831, Aug. Term
George W. Woodward Volney L. Maxwell .
66
Henry Wilson .
Elihu Baldwin
Bradford. Luzerne.
66
Luther Barstow
66
1787, first Court, May 29. In 1794, when he and E. Bowman, the only lawyers in Luzerne, declined to serve, two lawyers from Connecticut were imported. 2 Now President Judge.
3 Horace Williston was a native of Sheffield, Conn., and the youngest brother of the late Seth Williston, D.D. He studied law in Elmira ; practiced in Binghamton, and also in 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.
47
HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY.
LIST OF STUDENTS AND RESIDENT LAWYERS.
WHEN ADM'D
NAMES.
WITH WHOM STUDIED.
REMARKS.
1814, Apr. 1816, Sept.
Charles Catlin. Almon H. Read.
Attorney from Luzerne. Attorney in Vt. Ex'd.
Became a resident ab't 1819. Representative in Congress 1842. Died 1843.
1817, May
5 Benjamin T. Case.
Attorney in Bradford Co.
Came to M. in 1816. Died here in 1862.
1818, Dec.
George Catlin.
At Wilkes- Barre (?) A. H. Read.
Examined. Became an artist. President Judge. Deputy Prothonotary. Montrose. Renoved.
1S26, May 1828, Sept. 1828, Sept.
1 Benjamin Parke.
Attorney from Harrisburg. Wm. Jessup.
Dundaff. Ed'r. Removed. Ret. to M. in 1863. Farmer. App. Dep. Att'y-Gen'l 1830. Montrose. 66
1830, Aug. 30
1830, Nov. 29 John J. Wurts.
1830, Dec. 3 Cephas J. Dunham.
1831, Jan. 31 Franklin Lusk. Norman I. Post.
IS31, Aug. 30 Rinaldo D. Parker.
1832, May 1 William Wurts.
1832, Apr. 30 Thomas P. Phinney.
1833,
Davis Dimock, Jr. Albert L. Post.
1834, Nov. 17 Wm. C. Tiffany.
1836, May 5 James C. Biddle.
Wm. Jessup.
Wheeler, Case, & D. Wilmot Oldest practicing lawyer. Dimock. Wm. Jessup.
1837, 1837, 1838, May
Chris'r L. Ward.
Removed to Bradford Co. Died 1870.
Philip Fraser. 8 Joseph T. Richards.
U. S. Dis. Judge. Florida. Practiced 12 years. Died in Cal. 1853. Removed to Bradford Co. Friendsville. Removed.
1838, 1838, Sept.
4 Ariel Carr. Wm. J. Turrell.
District-Attorney. Speaker Penn. Senate 1862-1865.
1839, Feb.
66 Robert J. Niven. 5 Benjamin S. Bentley.
President Judge (vacancy) at Williamsport.
1839, May
J. R. Barstow. 8 Sylvester Abel.
Practiced in Bradford Co. Practiced and died at Ann Arbor, Mich.
1840, Apr. 27 George H. Welles.
1840, Nov.
Almon Virgil. Sabin Hatch.
Attorney from Warren. F. Lusk.
Justice of the peace. Died. Removed to Scranton.
1841, Apr. 20 Peter Byrne. Farris B. Streeter.
Davis Dimock, Jr.
District-Attorney. President Judge, 13th Judicial Dist. Removed to the West.
1841, Aug. 18 S. S. N. Fuller. 1842, Apr.
F. Lusk. Wm. Jessup.
District-Attorney 6 years. Lenox. Removed to the West. Dead.
66 Wm. C. Salmon. 1843, Aug. 21 |Albert Chamberlin.
F. Lusk. Bentley & Richards.
Removed to Milford. Dead. District Attorney, 6 years, Justice Peace, U. S. Asses- sor. Rem. to Scranton.
66 Benjamin F. Smith. 66 William Fordham. 1844, Aug. 19 John H. Dimock. Samuel B. Mulford. 66 George Perkins.
66 Charles Kellum. 1844, George Baldwin. 1845, Aug. 19 Naham Newton. 1847, Apr. 19 Galusha A. Grow.
1847, Aug. 16,John H. McKune. 1847, Nov. 15 E. Henry Little.
1848, Apr. 17 Owen B. Tyler.
Wm. J. Turrell & A. Carr. D. Dimock, Jr. Wm. Jessup. A. L. Post. F. Lusk. Attorney from N. Y. Bentley & Richards. Little & Streeter.
B. S. Bentley. Attorney from Wayne.
R. B. Little.
Removed to Chicago. Dist. Att'y 1850. (Firstelect.) Died in California. Fond-du-Lac, Wis. Removed to Sycamore, Ill. Great Bend. Dead.
Speaker 37th Congress. Rep- resentative 12 years. Pres. Judge in California. Here a short time. Removed to Illinois. Died in California.
1820, Feb.
2 William Jessup. Balthazer De Haert.
1821, Apr.
1823, Feb.
3 James A. Gordon. 1 Earl Wheeler.
2 Ebenezer Kingsbury, Jr. Barzillai Streeter.
Attorney from Northampton.
Here a year or two. State Rep. Died Feb. 1853. Became a merchant. Died. Dead. Removed. Dundaff. Dep. Att'y-Gen'l. Rep. in Cong. 1810. Died 1842 Baptist minister. Dep. At- torney 1836.
B. T. Case.
Harford. Did not practice. Died 1841.
1836, Nov. 22 Ralph B. Little.
J. J. Wurts. Attorney from Luzerne. B. T. Case. Wni. Jessup.
1833,
Harris W. Patrick. Lyman De Wolf.
A. L. Post. Attorney from Bradford. A. L. Post.
Wm Jessup.
66
Prac. in Wilkes-Barre. Rep- resentative from Gibson. Baptist minister.
Franklin Fraser. Ezra Maxon.
48
HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY.
LIST OF STUDENTS AND RESIDENT LAWYERS .- Continued.
WHEN ADM'D
NAMES.
WITH WHOM STUDIED.
REMARKS.
1848, Aug. 21 La Fayette Fitch.
Homer H. Frazier.
66 John C. Truesdell. 1849, Aug. 20 Philo C. Gritman.
1849, Aug. 21 John C. Fish.
1850, Aug. 19 Ezra B. Chase. 66
John C. Miller. Martin L. Truesdell.
Wm. Jessup. B. S. Bentley.
Liberty. Farmer. Rem. to G. Bend & N. Milford
1851, Nov. 17 66
William H. Jessup. William H. Cooper. Leonard B. Hinds. Lucius Robinson, Jr.
F. B. Streeter. B. S. Bentley.
E. B. Chase.
B. T. Case. W. J. Turrell.
Removed.
Chicago. Died Feb. 1861, at Susq. Dep. Rem. to Susquehanna Depot.
1857, Aug. 17 H. L. Emmons.
1857, Nov. 16 C. A. Lyman.
1858, Aug. 16 Ira Vadakin.
1859, Aug. 15 Truman L. Case.
Alfred Hand.
66
66
Little & Post, Sam'l Sherrod. Removed to Scranton.
1859,
1860, Aug. 20 B. S. Bentley, Jr. Milo J. Wilson. Rienzi Streeter.
66 Casper W. Tyler. David A. Baldwin.
1860, 1862, Jan. 20 Isaac J. Post.
1862, Aug. 11 E. W. Smith.
1862, Aug. 22 A. O. Warren. U. F. Hollenback. 1862, Aug. 25 L. M. Bunnell.
R. B. Little. 66
Rep. From New Jersey.
Prothonotary. Removed.
1865, Apr. 3 James Edward Carmalt. | Lew School, Cambridge, F. Elected District Attorney, B. Streeter, and Jessups. Bentley & Fitch.
1866, Nov. 12 William H. Frink. 66 Aaron Watson Bertholf. 1868, Apr. 17 Thomas H. B. Lyons. 1868, Aug. 10 Charles L. Catlin.
1868, Aug. 24 Monroe J. Larrabee. 1868, Nov. 9 William A. Crossman. Byron O. Camp. Willoughby W. Watson. L. F. Fitch. 66 Huntting C. Jessup. 1869, Apr. 12 Charles A. Warren. E. L. Blakeslee.
1869, Aug. 9 Alex. H. McCollum. 1869, Nov. 16 George H. Allen.
1870, Apr. 27 Eugene B. Hawley.
1870, Aug. 17 Benjamin L. Baldwin. 1871, Aug. 15 Edgar A. Turrell. 1871, Oct. 17|C. E. Baldwin.
1872, Jan. 66 J. Ferris Shoemaker.
1872, Nov. 11|J. T. Richards. Wilbur F. Lathrop.
A. Chamberlin.
Bentley, Fitch & Bentley. J. B. McCollum. Attorney from D. C.
W. J. Turrell.
F. B. Streeter.
J. B. McCollum.
Wm. H. Jessup. A. O. Warren.
Michigan Union Law School, and Littles. J. B. McCollum. Attorney from Luzerne.
Wm. D. Lusk. Jessups, Crossmon. Attorney N. Y. Sup. Court.
Carmalt, Crossmon. Jessups, Crossmon. Wm. A. Crossmon. Littles & Blakeslee.
66 66
In Colorado. Ed'r in Meadville. Great Bend. Dead.
Removed to Scranton.
J. B. McCollum. F. B. Streeter. Bentley & Fitch.
1863, Apr. 6 Wm. A. House. George P. Little.
1863, Nov. 25 Edwin M. Turner.
1866, Aug. 13 Jonathan J. Wright.
B. S. Bentley.
R. B. Little.
State Senator, 1871. Ed. Independent Republican
Dundaff. District Attorney, 1852. Gt. Bend. Farmer. State Representative, 1852-3. Died at the West.
1851, Jan. 22 Simeon B. Chase.
F. B. Streeter.
Wm. Jessup.
Banker. Rem. to Susquehanna Depot.
66
66 G. Clark Lyman.
1852, Aug. 16. Andrew J. Davis. 1854, Jan. 16|Frederick A. Case. 1855, Aug. 20 Urial C. Johnson. 66 J. Brewster McCollum. 1855, Nov. 19 C. Judson Richardson. 1855, Nov. 20 Albert Bushnell. 1856, Apr. 7 Wm. M. Post.
R. B. Little. Jessups.
B. S. Bentley.
R. B. Little.
Jessups. S. B. Chase.
Attorney from Wayne. Jessups. 66
Dealer in marble. Montrose. Removed. Removed to Scranton. District Attorney, 1865-71.
1859, Nov. 21 66 Daniel W. Searle. Orlando C. Tiffany. 66 Wm. D. Lusk. F. E. Loomis.
Jessups. Bentley & Fitch. R. B. Little. F. B. Streeter.
Attorney from N. Y. Jessups.
Attorney from Wyoming.
October, 1871. Colored. Delegate to Con'l Convention. Judge of Su- preme Ct. S. Car. First colored man admitted to practice in Pennsylvania.
Removed.
Susquehanna Depot. Commissioners' clerk, 20 yrs.
Harford. Editor Montrose Democrat.
Removed to New York. Great Bend. Removed.
S Stanley N. Mitchell.
F. B. Streeter.
49
HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY.
CHAPTER VII. TOWNSHIP ANNALS.
GREAT BEND.
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 was 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 six 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 River 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 : 123-10 Ms. TO QUAQUAPHA, 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 their 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 Rattlesnake 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 Red Rock, 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."
I 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.
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