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 66
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Total, 410
ROBERT WALLACE, Susquehanna Depot, D. D. Grand Master.
Encampments.
ST. JOHN, No. 50. Instituted at Montrose, Febr'y, 1847.
Present members 42
CANAWACTA, 225.
Susq. Depot, Mar. 1872. Present members 38
-
Total, 80
C. C. HALSEY,
Montrose, D. D. Grand Patriarch.
Rebekah Lodge.
MARY, No. 7. Instituted at Montrose, 1869.
Amount paid for relief for year ending April 1, 1872 ·
. $500
Amount of funds on hand April 1, 1872 £
. $4000
The GRAND FRIENDSHIP SOCIETY of 1820-22, or longer. (The Sons of Temperance and Good Templars are elsewhere noticed.)
The GRAND ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC, Post 41, at Montrose ; 53, at Susquehanna Depot; 96, at Great Bend; and 143, at Brooklyn.
There is a Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers at Susquehanna Depot.
573
HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY.
THE CENSUS.
In 1810, Susquehanna County, although erected by act of legislature, was still officially connected with Luzerne; and the population of several of the townships included those of both counties, as Nicholson, Clifford, Braintrim, Rush, and Bridge- water. The last-named, however, was almost entirely above the line of division, and its population 1418; that of Willing- borough, 351; Harmony, 80; Lawsville, 169; New Milford, 178. The census was taken by Isaac A. Chapman.
Population in 1820. (Taken by BELA JONES. )
Males.
Females.
Total.
Auburn .
113
93
306
Bridgewater
1027
956
1983
Choconut
257
249
506
Clifford .
349
332
.681
Gibson
455
455
910
Great Bend
289
236
525
Harford
321
319
640
Harmony
.
80
93
173
Jackson
128
137
265
Lawsville
229
237
466
Lenox
110
104
214
Middletown
276
253
531
New Milford
324
286
610
Rush
134
108
242
Silver Lake
258
198
456
Springville
385
326
711
Waterford
.
401
378
779
Total whites
5145
4762
9905
Total blacks
51
Total number inhabitants
9958
Of the above there were the following classifications : farmers, 1864; me- chanics, 261 ; merchants, 23 ; foreigners not naturalized, 309.
There were in the county : sheep, 12,259 ; horses, 857; oxen, 1358; cows, 2586; grist-mills, 29; saw-mills, 62; fulling-mills, 7; carding machines, 8 ; tanneries, 5 ; grain distilleries, 12.
There was manufactured in the county during the year ending August 1, 1820 : of woolen cloth, 37,797 yards ; of linen cloth, 52,762 yards
There was in the county (1820), of improved lands, 33,780 acres ; of un- improved lands, 171,831 acres ; of unseated lands, 224,935 acres. Total acres in county, 430,546 acres.
The valuation of taxable property as collected from assessment rolls of 1821, amounted to $1,007,698. Number of taxables, 1821, 2061.
.
.
.
·
574
HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY.
Population in 1830.
Auburn
516
Herrick .
468
Borough of Dundaff
298
Jackson .
641
Borough of Montrose
415
Lawsville
878
Bridgewater!
2450
Lenox
546
Brooklyn2
1350
Middletown
683
Choconut
780
New Milford
1000
Clifford
866
Rush
643
Gibson
1081
Silver Lake
516
Great Bend
797
Springville3
1514
Harford .
999
Harmony
341
Total
. 16,782
[Official total, 16,787.]
Population in 1840. (Taken by J. W. CHAPMAN.)
Auburn
1113
Herrick
629
Bridgewater
2082
Jackson .
754
Brooklyn .
. 1474
Liberty
554
Clifford
1068
Lenox
800.
Choconut
952
Middletown
589
Dimock
998
Montrose
632
Dundaff .
304
New Milford
1148
Franklin .
515
Rush
1039
Forest Lake
606
Springville
926
Great Bend
859
Silver Lake
907
Gibson
1219
Thomson
325
Harford .
1179
Harmony
523
21,195
Population in 1850.
Auburn
· 1837
Herrick
. 824
A polacon
748
Jackson
978
Bridgewater
1548
Jessup
840
Brooklyn
1082
Lathrop
510
Choconut
894
Lenox
1443
Clifford
1647
Liberty
833
Dimock
1056
Middletown
1140
Dundaff
296
Montrose
917
Forest Lake
780
New Milford township Rush
1433
Friendsville
185
Franklin .
703
Silver Lake
· 1213
Gibson
1459
Springville
1148
Great Bend township
1150
Thomson .
.
509
Harford .
1258
Harmony
1578
29,168
[This is in excess of the official total by 480.]
The census of 1860 was taken by A. J. Garretson ; of 1870, by James Howe, Philo Burritt, David Summers, Horace A. Deans, and C. E. Davis :-
1 Before the erection of Forest Lake and Jessup. 2 66
66 66 Lathrop.
3
66
66
66 Dimock.
.
·
·
·
·
.
·
·
1159
·
·
575
HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY.
Comparison of Population.
1860.
1870.
1860.
1870.
Apolacon .
·
910
133
Lathrop
876
983
Auburn
2164
2006
Lenox
1791
1751
Ararat
500
771
Liberty
995
1030
Bridgewater
1785
1459
Middletown
923
871
Brooklyn
1213
1128
Montrose .
1268
1463
Choconut .
1068
939
New Milford township
1515
1647
Clifford
1624
1532
borough
414
600
Dundaff
245
187
Oakland
·
522
1106
Dimock
1181
1124
Susquehanna Depot .
2080
2729
Friends ville
202
223
Rush .
1471
1418
Forest Lake
1125
995
Silver Lake
1313
1079
Franklin
805
849
Springville
.
·
1346
1424
Gibson
1439
1368
Thomson
558
701
Great Bend township
1976
855
36,714 38,066
Harford
1441
1595
Harmony .
1072
1212
Herrick
904
950
Gains
1,352
By comparing this result with the official totals, a discrepancy appears :-
For 1860, 36,267. For 1870, 37,523. Gains, 1256. Difference, 96.
Great Bend and Little Meadows boroughs were not enume- rated separately in 1860, and part of Bridgewater has been added to Montrose since that date, so that the change in those districts is not exactly known.
"The war and western migration depleted some of our best townships. Every western township lost heavily; and all the southern, excepting Lathrop and Springville, also Gibson, Clifford, and Dundaff, on the east, lost in population. But the northeastern portion of the county-those districts, notably, which are threaded by the railroads, or so near as to feel their business influences- all exhibited a healthy growth. New Milford township and borough gained 318, Great Bend 310, and the three districts into which old Harmony is divided (viz., Harmony, Susquehanna Depot, and Oakland), show an increase of 1373.
" The lesson is a telling one in urging the importance of the railway through the centre of the county, and also of one or more on our western borders. The increase in wealth and busi- ness accommodations is equal to that of the population."
Progress by Decades.
Population in 1820
9,960
Gains.
1830
. 16,787
6827
1840
.
28,688
7493
66
1860
. 36,267
7579
1870
. 37,523 .
1256
.
867
804
Little Meadows
528
Jessup
1431
66
borough
36,714
Jackson
1121
1175
21,195
4408
1850
.
Total in fifty years, 27,563-or about 550 per year.
576
HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY.
Susquehanna County is the twenty fourth in the State in point of population. There are forty-two counties with a smaller popu- lation. The valuation of personal property in the county is $2,343,273 60, and the number of taxables is 9532. The assess- ment of tax amounts to $5987 06, which, by act of assembly, approved April 16th, 1868, is reduced fifty per cent. The half mill tax of May, 1861, is $1169 83. The county is in the tenth military division, and is associated with Wayne in that division. There is no organization of militia in the district. The total number of men subject to military duty from the county is 511- from the division, 2272.
In 1870, the native population was 33,519 ; foreign born resi- dents, 4004. Of the latter, 84 were born in British America ; 665 in England and Wales; 2879 in Ireland; 97 in Scotland; 215 in Germany ; 14 in France; 21 in Sweden and Norway ; 4 in Switzerland ; 10 in Holland ; 2 in Italy.
There were also 9284, one or both of whose parents were foreign.
Prior to 1820, the few colored persons (two or three of whom were slaves), in this section were numbered, of course, in Luzerne County.
In 1820, there were fifty in Susquehanna County ; in 1830, seventy-three; in 1840, ninety-seven ; in 1850, one hundred and sixty ; in 1860, two hundred and nine; in 1870, two hundred and forty-nine.
In 1850, there were seventeen more colored persons in Mon- trose than in all the rest of the county; in 1860, twenty-seven more ; and in 1870, ninety-one more.
In 1850, they were found in seventeen townships and bor- oughs; in 1860 and 1870, in but fifteen.
There are twenty-one persons who are deaf and dumb-twelve males and nine females; the oldest is over fifty and under fifty- five years of age. Three males and one female are in the Deaf and Dumb Asylum at Philadelphia.
The following figures are taken from the Annual Report of the Surveyor-General of Pennsylvania for the year 1871 :-
Counties.
Population.
Square miles.
Acres.
Susquehanna
37,523
797
510,080
Bradford .
53,204
1174
751,360
Luzerne
.
160,755
1400
896,000
Wayne
33,118
720
460,800
Wyoming .
14,585
409
261,760
APPENDIX.
JOE SMITH, THE MORMON PROPHET. " A madman, or a fool, hath ever set the world agog."
IT is a fact, of which we are not particularly proud, that Susquehanna County harbored such a madman as Joe Smith at the period when he was engaged in the compilation, or, rather, the translation, of the Book of Mor- mon. But to the fact itself there are living witnesses, with some of whom the writer has conversed.
There appears to be some uncertainty as to the time of his arrival in Har- mony (now Oakland), but it is certain he was here in 1825 and later; and, in 1829, his operations here were finished, and he had left the county.
In 1830 the Book of Mormon was published, the requisite funds being fur- nished, it is said, by Martin Harris, a coadjutor of Smith during its transla- tion, and who had sold his farm for the purpose, and reduced his family to straits in consequence. His wife and daughters were greatly exasperated at his course, but he appeared to have been a sincere believer, firmly convinced of the truth of Mormonism. (Mrs. David Lyons, of Lanesboro, once heard Joe's wife speak of Mrs. Harris' complaints to her of the destitution of the family.)
Mr. J. B. Buck narrates the following :-
"Joe Smith was here lumbering soon after my marriage, which was in 1818, some years before he took to 'peeping,' and before diggings were commenced under his direction. These were ideas he gained later. The stone which he afterwards used was then in the possession of Jack Belcher, of Gibson, who obtained it while at Salina, N. Y., engaged in drawing salt. Belcher bought it because it was said to be 'a seeing stone.' I have often seen it. It was a green stone, with brown, irregular spots on it. It was a little longer than a goose's egg, and about the same thickness. When he brought it home and covered it with a hat, Belcher's little boy was one of the first to look into the hat, and as he did so he said he saw a candle. The second time he looked in he exclaimed, ' I've found my hatchet !'-(it had been lost two years)-and immediately ran for it to the spot shown him through the stone, and it was there. The boy was soon beset by neighbors far and near to reveal to them hidden things, and he succeeded marvellously. Even the wanderings of a lost child were traced by him-the distracted parents coming to him three times for directions, and in each case finding signs that the child had been in the places he designated, but at last it was found starved to death. Joe Smith, conceiving the idea of making a fortune through a similar process of 'seeing,' bought the stone of Belcher and then began his operations in directing where hidden treasures could be found. His first diggings were near Capt. Buck's saw-mill, at Red Rock; but, because his followers broke the rule of silence, ' the enchantment removed the deposits.'"
The first reference in the county papers to Joe's influence appears to have been in November, 1831, and December, 1832, when "two or three wretched zealots of Mormonism created much excitement, and made some proselytes in a remote district on the borders of this county and Luzerne." The new converts then purposed removing to " the promised land," near Painesville, Ohio.
In December, 1833, Isaac Hale, of Harmony, addressed a letter to D. P. Hurlburt, in the State of Ohio, in reply to his application for " a history of facts
37
578
HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY.
relating to the character of Joseph Smith, Jr., author of the Book of Mormon, called by some the Golden Bible." The Mormons pronounced the letter a forgery, and said that Isaac Hale was blind, and could not write his name. This was followed by a request from another gentleman of Ohio, that Mr. Hale would assist in laying open Mormonism to the world, by drawing up a full narrative of the transactions wherein Smith, Jr., was concerned, and attesting the same before a magistrate. The result is here given :-
Statement of Isaac Hale. Affirmed to and subscribed before Chas. Dimon, J. P., March 20, 1834. The good character of Isaac Hale was attested to the following day by Judges Wm. Thomson and D. Dimock.
" I first became acquainted with Joseph Smith, Jr., in November, 1825. He was at that time in the employ of a set of men who were called 'money-dig- gers,' and his occupation was that of seeing, or pretending to see, by means of a stone placed in his hat, and his hat closed over his face. In this way he pre- tended to discover minerals and hidden treasure. His appearance at this time was that of a careless young man, not very well educated, and very saucy and insolent to his father. Smith and his father, with several other money-diggers, boarded at my house while they were employed in digging for a mine that they supposed had been opened and worked by the Spaniards many years since. Young Smith gave the money-diggers great encouragement at first, but, when they had arrived in digging to near the place where he had stated an immense treasure would be found, he said the enchantment was so powerful that he could not see. They then became discouraged, and soon after dispersed. This took place about the 17th of November, 1825.
" After these occurrences, young Smith made several visits at my house, and at length asked my consent to his marrying my daughter Emma. This I re- fused, and gave him my reasons for so doing ; some of which were, that he was a stranger, and followed a business that I could not approve; he then left the place. Not long after this he returned, and, while I was absent from home, carried off my daughter into the State of New York, where they were married (February, 1826), without my approbation or consent. After they had arrived at Palmyra, N. Y., Emma wrote to me inquiring whether she could have her property, consisting of clothing, furniture, cows, etc. I replied that her prop- erty was safe and at her disposal. In a short time they returned, aud subse- quently came to the conclusion that they would move out and reside upon a place near my residence. Smith stated to me that he had given up what he called 'glass-looking,' and that he expected and was willing to work hard for a living. He made arrangements with my son, Alva Hale, to go to Palmyra, and move his (Smith's) furniture, etc., to this place. He then returned to Palmyra, and soon after Alva, agreeably to the arrangement, went up and returned with Smith and his family.
"Soon after this I was informed they had brought a wonderful book of plates down with them. I was shown a box in which it was said they were contained, which had to all appearances been used as a glass box of the common-sized window glass. I was allowed to feel the weight of the box, and they gave me to understand that the book of plates was then in the box, into which, how- ever, I was not allowed to look. I inquired of Joseph Smith, Jr., who was to be the first who would be allowed to see the book of plates ? He said it was a young child. After this I became dissatisfied, and informed him that if there was anything in my house of that description which I could not be allowed to see, he must take it away ; if he did not, I was determined to see it. After that the plates were said to be hid in the woods.
" About this time Martin Harris made his appearance upon the stage ; and Smith began to interpret the characters and hieroglyphics which he said were engraven upon the plates, while Harris wrote down the interpretation.
I told them, then, that I considered the whole of it a delusion, and advised them to abandon it. The manner in which he pretended to read and interpret was the same as when he looked for the money-diggers, with the stone in his hat, and his hat over his face, while the book of plates was at the same time hid in the woods.
579
APPENDIX.
" After this Martin Harris went away, and Oliver Cowdry came and wrote for Smith while he interpreted as above described. This is the same Oliver Cow- dry whose name may be found in the Book of Mormon. Cowdry continued a scribe for Smith until the Book of Mormon was completed, as I supposed and understood.
"Joseph Smith, Jr., resided near me for some time after this, and I had a good opportunity of becoming acquainted with him, and somewhat acquainted with his associates, and I conscientiously believe, from the facts I have detailed, and from many other circumstances which I do not deem it necessary to relate, that the whole ' Book of Mormon' (so called) is a silly fabrication of falsehood and wickedness, got up for speculation, and with a design to dupe the credu- lous and unwary, and in order that its fabricators might live upon the spoils of those who swallowed the deception.
"ISAAC HALE."
Alva Hale, son of Isaac, stated that Joseph Smith, Jr., told him that " his (Smith's) gift in seeing with a stone and hat, was a gift from God ;" but also states, that "Smith told him, at another time, that this peeping was all d-d nonsense. He (Smith) was deceived himself, but did not intend to deceive others; that he intended to quit the business (of peeping) and labor for his livelihood."
Hezekiah McKune stated that, " in conversation with Joseph Smith, Jr., he (Smith) said he was nearly equal to Jesus Christ ; that he was a prophet sent by God to bring in the Jews, and that he was the greatest prophet that had ever arisen."
Joshua McKune stated that he was "acquainted with Joseph Smith, Jr., and Martin Harris, during their residence in Harmony, Pa., and knew them to be artful seducers."
Levi Lewis stated that " he had been acquainted with Joseph Smith, Jr., and Martin Harris, and that he has heard them both say adultery was no crime. With regard to the plates Smith said, 'God had de- ceived him-which was the reason he (Smith) did not show the plates.'"
Nathaniel C. Lewis stated he " has always resided in the same neighbor- hood with Isaac Hale, and knows him to be a man of truth and good judg- ment. He further states that he has been acquainted with Joseph Smith, Jr., and Martin Harris, and knows them to be lying impostors."
Sophia Lewis testifies that she " has frequently heard Smith use profane language. Has heard him say the book of plates could not be opened under penalty of death by any other person but his first-born, which was to be a male."1
"We certify that we have long been acquainted with Joshua McKune, Heze- kiah McKune, Alva Hale, Levi Lewis, Nathaniel C. Lewis, and Sophia Lewis [the individuals furnishing the several statements above referred to |, and that they are all persons of good moral character, and undoubted truth and veracity.
" ABRAHAM DU BOIS, J. Peace.
" JASON WILSON, Postmaster.
" HERBERT LEACH.
" GREAT BEND, SUSQUEHANNA CO., PA., March 20, 1834."
Many stories respecting Joe Smith are still current in the localities he fre- quented here :-
" A straggling Indian, who was passing up the Susquehanna, had told of buried treasure. Joseph, hearing of this, hunted up the Indian, and induced him to reveal the place where it was buried. The Indian told him that a point, a certain number of paces due north from the highest point of Turkey Hill, on the opposite side of the Susquehanna River, was the place. Joseph now looked about for some man of means to engage in the enterprise. He induced a well- to-do farmer by the name of Harper, of Harpersville, N. Y., to go in with him.
' The child was a girl, and was buried in the graveyard on J. McKune's farm.
580
HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY.
They commenced digging on what is now the farm of Jacob I. Skinner, in Oak- land township. After digging a great hole, that is still to be seen, Harper got discouraged, and was about abandoning the enterprise. Joseph now declared to Harper that there was an enchantment about the place that was removing the treasure farther off ; that Harper must get a perfectly white dog,1 and sprinkle his blood over the ground, and that would prevent the enchantment from removing the treasure. Search was made all over the country, but no perfectly white dog could be found. Joseph said he thought a white sheep would do as well. A sheep was killed, and his blood sprinkled as directed. The digging was then resumed by Harper. After spending $2000 he utterly refused to go any further. Joseph now said that the enchantment had removed all the treasure ; that the Almighty was displeased with them for attempting to palm off on Him a white sheep for a white dog, and had allowed the enchantment to remove the trea- sure. He would sit for hours looking into his hat at the round colored stone, and tell of seeing things far away and supernatural. At times he was melan- choly and sedate, as often hilarious and mirthful ; an imaginative enthusiast, constitutionally opposed to work, and a general favorite with the ladies.
"Smith early put on the airs of a prophet, and was in the habit of ' blessing' his neighbors' crops for a small consideration. On one occasion a neighbor had a piece of corn planted rather late, and on a moist piece of ground, and, feeling a little doubtful about its ripening, got Smith to bless it. It happened that that was the only piece of corn killed by the frost in the neighborhood. When the prophet's attention was called to the matter, he got out of the difficulty by say- ing that he made a mistake, and put a curse on the corn instead of a blessing. Rather an unneighborly act, and paid for, too!"
Harris came from Coventry, Chenango County, N. Y. [Query. Was he not the same Martin Harris who, in 1799, was imprisoned and broke jail at Wilkes-Barre ?]
Joe often told Mrs. D. Lyons of the hidden treasure, and of the " enchant- ment" about it, and that it was necessary that one of the company should die before the enchantment could be broken.
After Oliver Harper's death the digging was prosecuted with renewed energy. Harper had been efficient in procuring men and means to carry on the enterprise, which was not to search for the " plates" from which Joe pre- tended to receive revelations, but for reported hidden treasure.
A belief that money will yet be found as predicted still affects some weak characters, and even within the last five years digging has been carried on slyly at night on or towards Locust Hill, but not in the same place where Joe's believers worked.
The compiler has herself visited the place where the Book of Mormon was prepared for publication. A part of the building forms the rear of the house at present occupied by Mrs. Joseph McKune. It was (in Joe's time) close by the brook, and had been used by Mr. Hale for dressing deer-skins. Mrs. Lyons saw both Smith and Harris there with the manuscript in hand.
Samuel Brush, of Oakland, often talked with Harris upon the subject of the translation ; but, though Mr. B. was often in company with Joe Smith, fishing, etc., the latter never referred to it, and "this was after all the dig- ging.'
Reference has been made to the difference of opinion in regard to Joe's first operations in Susquehanna County. R. C. Doud asserts that in 1822 he was employed, with thirteen others, by Oliver Harper, to dig for gold under Joe's directions (though the latter was not present at the time), on Joseph McKune's land : and that Joe had begun operations the year previous. He states that George Harper, a brother of Oliver, had no faith in the enter-
1 Another version of this is : "To remove the enchantment, Joe's followers killed a black dog, in lieu of the desired black ram, and dragged it around and around in the pit."
581
APPENDIX.
prise, but tracked the party to Hale's farm. The digging was kept up con- stantly ; seven resting and seven at work.
On the old Indian road from Windsor to Chenango Point, about four miles west of Windsor, men were digging, at the same time, for silver, upon Joe's telling them where it could be found. Mr. D. further states that he himself had no faith at all, but hired out at so much per day, and it was of no conse- quence to him whether his employer gained his point or not.
It is said that even Mr. Isaac Hale was at first a little deluded about the digging, while he boarded the party. This probably was some time before he had met Joe Smith ; as it would appear, that the time referred to by Mrs. D. Lyons, was in 1825, when the digging was renewed after Harper's death, and Joe himself was present.
Jacob I. Skinner, son of Jacob (who was twin-brother of Israel Skinner), has the deed of the land on which Joe's followers experimented. It is some- thing over a quarter of a mile north of the river to " the diggings," up Flat Brook. The accompanying diagram will illustrate the relative position of the pits.
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