VOLUME ONE 1700 - 1850 WILLIAMMARI N HN O SC URE, B.S. R S N Y D E R U I I SEC R ETA Y , CO NTY H STOR CAL SOCIE TY ; MEM B E R V I I O V L , PENNSYL AN A SOC ETY. SONS F THE R E O U B R V - G R I TION ; MEM E , PENNSYL ANIA E MAN SOC ETY B R A N D MEM E , COMMITTEE ON LOCATING MAR K ING I R A N D R R D W I H STO ICAL SIT ES , CO ESPON ING TH R THE PENNA . HISTO ICAL COMMISSION, THE PENNSYLVANI A F ED E R ATI ON O F H I S T O R I C A L SOCIETIES C O PYR IGHTE D 1 9 1 8 B Y T H E C O MPILE R Mid d l e r Mid d l e b ur P a b u . g POST , g , m U 2 Se lin sgro ve C hro n o lo gy PR I NC I PA L R E F ER E NC E S C olonial Records , Pennsylvania . Pennsylvania Archives Pennsylvania . Frontier Forts of Pennsylvania , Pennsylvania . f Messages O the Go vernors , Pennsylvania . Reports of C a nal C ommissioners of Penna . Pennsylvania . ff Annals of Bu alo Valley , Linn . History of the Susquehanna and Juniata Valley Everts , Peck and Rickards . C onrad Weiser , Walton . Me in s. History of the West Branch , g n e s C ounty Histories , Rupp . History o f Pennsylvania , Engle . C atholics in the Revolution , M artin . Golden Jubilee History of the Evangelical Lutheran C hurch of Selinsgrove , Pa . t Yutzy . t N o . 1 94 . M. His ory of Lafayette Lodge , F A . , of Selinsgrove , Pa . Schoch ; Reminiscences of Sunbury , Irwin . Jubilee Memo rial Volume of the Danville C onference of the c r Evangeli al Lutheran Ministe ium of Pennsylvania , O c he n f o rd e t. a l . History of Susquehanna Synod , Evangelical Lutheran church; Manhart e t. a l . T H C: mu: m. A PUBLIC LiBRA RY O X A N D T I LD E N F O UN D A T I O N S 19 19 Se lin sgro ve C hro n o lo gy 3 SELIN V SCR0 B, PENNA CHRONOI 0GY By WILLIAMMARION S H C NIIRE, B.S. F O R E W A R D This volume gives in outline the early history of the Forks o f the Susquehanna . It embraces the pre sent territory C of entral Pennsylvania bounded by the towns of Sunbury , Nor the umb e rla n d e e , S linsgrove , Lewisburg , N w Berlin and imme diate vicinity . The years covered embrace the formative period of our n the ation . To historian o r student , it sho uld re veal much of e a n d e . T o valu inter st the citizen and patriot , it should bring an appre ciatio n o f the wo rth o f o ur fre edom . Unfortunate ly o ur e r e e ur the trials of a ly s ttl rs , many of them o ancesto rs , can scarcely be realized by reading the scant no tes herein . e e The Abo rigin s , at peac , in the land of the primeval , welcomed the white stra nger to his wigwam . H e put hisfaith in n the new race . Only too soo , the encroachments follow e d by o o trickery , tre ache ry , and then bl dshed , turned the Red Man against the White M an . e e C heated by traders , robbed by schemers , misrepr sent d r n at treatie s and often c o mp e lled to sign State pape s , unde r u e due and unnatural influences , the Indians soon saw his b loved — Valley of the Susquehanna—T h e O tz in a c hso n slipping from e n his grasp forever , a l e gacy hand d down to him by unwritten u disputa te d titl e s from ge ne ration to ge n e ration and from time unkno wn . he Fired by the re velation of the fate in store for him , t o o r Red Man , arme d by new and p werful weap ns , ba tered to him “ ” the n e w fire by unscrupul o us traders , and inflamed by water e e f o r s o f the White Man , turn e d against the s ttl rs , the mo t h part , scattered , unprotected and at peace and harmony wit h their new ho mes . The innocent suff ered f o r the sins o f t e pro fite e r. 4 Se lin sgro ve C hro n o lo gy T he r h e War C y sounded t rough the for st , the Valley e of the Susqu hanna re eked with blood , the Pe nns C re ek Massa cre was only the forerunner o f more and larger attacks by the enraged race through out the C o lonies . The suff ering of our forerunners reveal how deadly this beautiful land wa s bought f o r us . Subse quent events took o n a military asp e ct. Fort Augusta st he e e ablished at t Indian villag o f S hamokin , at the Forks of the ’ s e o f e Su quehanna , then the fronti r His Maj sty George III , King ff o of England , in America , a rded a protectio n f o r the ravished e e white settl m nt o f Penns C reek , now the town o f Selinsgrove , five mile so uthward . T he military annals of this post are worthy of the most elaborate c o mpilation , touched o n he re in outline . The struggle for a bare existance in this dense forest o . o f land , deve l o ped a spirit f Liberty Ere long the flames Freedom were fired by the unscrupulous o ppression of a stub o o e . e vo lu born King , and saw the C l ni s spring to arms The R tio n ry War followe d . H e rein we note the hearty cooperation given by this thinly settled territo ry about the Great Forks. Draine d by every availabl e man for military service in h ff e the Contin ental Army , t e frontier su red by the inroads o f the savages . The fate of the R e d M an as he at last face d the Land o f the Setting Sun , never again to re turn to his Isle of Que he to fish and hunt , or to t wigwams of Shamokin , to live and o o e love , is a pathetic episode . It is s n eclips d by the birth o f the new natio n amid the struggles o f the R evo lution . The co ming of the new c e ntury witne ssed the beginning of a wonderful type of national life . How the nation of today found its first firm footing and expanded interna lly and com me rc ia lly is a so c ia lo gic a l study of unique inte rest . ’ It is the compiler s hope that this publication may stimu late ln others an interest in lo cal history and thereby a deeper “ ” ' “ reveren c e for these rocks n d rills , these woods and templed ” hills amidst which we live . Eve ry locality has itsrich tre asure o f history and traditions with its people should be familiar. It is out of such substance that a Guiding Hand was making our — h o asma she nation great, a nation t at stands t day , y ever stand , for j ustice and liberty among all peoples . May the reader find among these contents , secured at odd e moments in a busy every day lif , from all available authentic o e t . so urces , inspiration to bec me a b ter American citizen — Se lin sgro ve C hro n o lo gy, 1 608 1 727 5 1 608 h . C aptain John Smith , t e Founder of Jamestown , Va , explores the C he sapeake Bay and discovers the mouth of the Susquehanna River. 1 61 6 ’ Brul e , a Frenchman , navigates the Susquehanna from its headwaters to its mouth . 1 682 N o v. 4 o e e W , Fam us treaty betw n the Ind—ians and illiam Penn o n the banks o f the De le wa re River ye t to be broken . 1 696 e Jan . 1 2, Thomas D o ngan , late Gov rnor of New York , leases land including the S usquehanna regio n to William Penn f o r “ 1 000 ye ars at an annual rental o f a pepper corn . 1 700 The Susquehanna Vall e y inhabited by the Wolf or ” “ ” the Muncy Tribe of the Five Nations . “ ” e th Se pt. 1 3, Susquehannock Indians de d to William Penn , “ Susquehanna River , all islands and land on both sides to ” the utmo st confin e s the re of . 1 701 A pril 1 , William Penn and the Susquehannock Indians hold a treaty at Philad e lphia . J . Le T o rt, a trader apparently has a store at the Forks of th e Susquehanna ( Northumberland ) .