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flood" of that year washed everything away. About the same time a family settled on the Michael Raber farm. The whole family were massacred. George Walker soon after the massacre left the country, and it is supposed went west, where he could have more room.

In 1787 a road was laid out from Nescopeck falls to the Lehigh river, following afterward very nearly all the way by the turnpike that passed through the village of Conyngham, on its way to Hazleton. Evan Owens was the proprieter of Berwick, and to this day you will hear old men speak of the "Owens road.”

The first land grant was the Campania tract, lying west of Big Wapwallopen creek, surveyed to Daniel Grant in 1769; patented to George Campbell in 1773. The next grant was to Jacob Bittendorfer in 1808. This was then Evans mill tract. Settlers along the Nescopeck creek in 1791 were Jacob Smithers, Jacob Shover, Martin Aton and Jacob Seyberling. In 1807 Henry Dewespecht, Michael Harrier, Conrad Bloos, Jacob Bittenbender, Jr.; William Moore, Thomas Cole, Conrad Reiderich, John Henry, Casper Henry, Michael Whitenecht, Michael Nauss, Conrad Bingheimer, Peter Clingeman, Bernard Snyder, John Rooth, George Bittenbender, George Keens, John Buss, Daly, Bassinger, and a surveyor by the name of Chesney had settled in Nescopeck. They were nearly all from Northampton county. From this time settlers came in rapidly. The Fortners, Sloyers and Smiths came about 1828, and the families of Evans and Williams soon after. Jonas Buss, who settled here in 1807, is now living at Mifflin, Columbia county, at the age of eightynine. He still retains his memory of early events to a remarkable degree, and we are indebted to him for many facts concerning the early history of the township.

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William Rittenhouse, who owned large tracts of land in this and adjoining towns, built a log gristmill on Nescopeck creek about 1795, as an inducement for settlers to purchase his lands. He sold to Jacob Rittenhouse in 1808. Nathan Beach, so prominently mentioned in the account of Salem township as a man of great enterprise, built a mill on Wapwallopen creek near a place called "Powder Hole," in 1795. There were three mills on this site-all burned by accident. 1795 Samuel Mifflin built his sawmill near the mouth of Nescopeck creek. In 1824 Henry Bowman built on this spot, using the old dam, his three-story gristmill; sold to Daniel Evans in 1838, who added a plaster-mill. In 1853 John McMurtria built his gristmill above the Evans mill; he sold to J. Johnson in 1860. In 1840 John T. Davis built a fulling mill on a branch of the Nescopeck; sold it to J. Stephenson in 1860, who ran it until it closed down. H. Haschner built a sawmill in 1867 on Nescopeck creek. On the same creek, in 1830, E. and J. Leidy built their forge, three fires and two hammers, making blooms and bar iron of ore obtained from Columbia county. The late Hon. Simon Cameron at one time had an interest in this forge. It passed into the hands of S. F. Headley, who enlarged it and ran it until 1854, when its fires were permanently banked. A tannery on Nescopeck creek was built in 1858 by Theodore and George Naugle; run until 1870. They built a sawmill in 1856.

Nescopeck Village was started into life in 1786 by the fact that at that time Samuel Mifflin opened his little store on the bank of the river, now in the village site. His agent and manager on the ground was William Baird, residence and store room all one. The building was frame and is said to be the first of its kind in the township. The next move toward making the place was the opening of George Rough's blacksmith shop near by. A ferry was now operated, and a man named Steiner opened his log cabin hotel at the foot of the ferry. In 1807 John Myers built his frame hotel and then the village began to put on airs, as well it might. Another was built by John Rothermel in 1815. His son, the painter of the celebrated picture, "The Battle of Gettysburg," was born here. In 1817 Christian Kunkle built the stone house now owned by the Cooper heirs, in Nescopeck village, burning the brick for the chimneys, and for a three-story building in Berwick, on the ground. Michael Raber built the first brick dwelling and burned the brick for all the rest.

A bridge across the Susquehanna was built in 1816. A flood swept the bridge away in 1836, and the following year it was rebuilt. It is 1,250 feet long.

It is now estimated there are 650 residents in the village. The old stone house was once the hotel of the place. In 1827-8 the place was noted for its rapid growth and the business air that prevailed. The drowsy village was wakened into active life and the musical horns of the canal boats roused up the latent fires of the once lucky-go easy natives. The little boys then, the little remnant now left, are very old men, love to tell how they played hookey and would go down and all day watch the great canal boats arrive and depart, and how they longed, and hardly dared hope, the time would come when they could reach the exalted positions of drivers on the canal. About the total business of the people was at one time canaling, and as soon as a boy was fourteen or fifteen his ambition would be gratified--surfeited the first round trip, and then he would commence scheming to run away from his cruel master. The boy had to whip the mules and the boss would whip the boys, or perhaps it would be more descriptive to say he whipped the mules through the boys a kind of vicarious tickling. The village has an important railroad junction. The main line of the Pennsylvania Central passes through the place, and in 1886 a branch was built from here to Hazleton. No village in the county is improving better than this. Many of the people have their homes here and do business or work in some of the industries across the river in Berwick. Milton Brundage was the original town proprietor. His three sons have sold their interests and reside in Hazleton. G. P. Miller was the first to buy a lot on the north side of the main street, pick off the stones and build his present Central hotel. There are in the place 2 hotels, 1 grist mill (the old Evans mill mentioned above); 3 general stores; railroad round house and machine shops (working about 60 men); 2 drug stores, 1 furniture, 1 grocery, 1 hardware, 1 meat market, some small trading places, blacksmith's and carpenter's shops.

Briggsville is the only other postoffice in the township. There is a store here; was at one time a tavern, but no longer open to the public.

Sugarloaf is a station on the Hazleton branch of railroad, six miles from Nescopeck. A station house. A fertilizing factory is the only business of the place.

NEWPORT TOWNSHIP

Was one of the original townships when this was Westmoreland county, Conn., and derives its name from Newport, R. I. It now contains within its boundaries but nineteen square miles, whereas originally it was all of what are now Newport, Slocum, Dorrance, Hollenback, Conyngham and Nescopeck townships.

The first settlement in Newport was made by Maj. Prince Alden, in 1772, on the Col. Washington Lee property. A few years after this his sons, Mason F. and John Alden, erected a forge on Nanticoke creek. In the same year Mr. Chapman put up a log gristmill, with one run of stone, near the forge. This was the only mill in Wyoming that escaped destruction from floods and from the torch of the savage. In 1780 it was guarded by armed men, and, as far as possible, it met the wants of the public, but many of the settlers were compelled to carry their grain to Stroud's mill, at Stroudsburg, a distance of fifty miles.

Even when Stewart Pearce wrote his Annals he states that the industry of farming, once quite a business of all the people, was passing away-the farmers selling their land to the coal companies and moving off. While the lands were mostly hilly and undulating, yet they were once productive, but when the coal operators got possession of them, farms began to be neglected and soon agriculture was given over to careless and indifferent renters or turned out as commons. "Companies seem to take no interest in the improvement of the farms, further than to rent them on short and uncertain leases for enough to pay the taxes." In other words, Newport is now almost exclusively "a mining district"-a term sufficiently descriptive to the average reader.

Prince Alden made his improvement on Newport creek; in modern times his place was the property of Col. Washington Lee. This description is still somewhat vague, as Lee owned at various times a great deal of property. Either Alden's first location was in what is now a part of Nanticoke borough or was very close thereto. Of one thing there is little doubt, namely, that his settlement here was the cause of the coming of the first settlers in what is now Nanticoke borough, such as William Stewart and others, who came in 1773. About one-third of the borough of Nanticoke, the south part, was taken from Newport township. To which the reader is referred for the early settlers. The first record information we can find of the original settlers is of date June 13, 1787, as follows:

NEWPORT TOWNSHIP.-At a meeting legally warned and held at the house of Prince Alden, Saturday, June 9, 1787, made choice of Mr. Prince Alden, moderator, and Mason F. Alden, clerk.

"Resolved, Whereas the survey of this town was utterly lost at the destruction of this settlement, it is, therefore, resolved that a committee of three persons be appointed to carefully inspect into and ascertain the proprietors and actual settlers of the town of Newport at or before the decree of Trenton," etc.

The town meeting provided for other things, but the material act is given verbatim. The committee appointed were Prince Alden, Capt. John P. Schott and Mason F. Alden. They were also to "allot out the third division of 300 acres to each proprietor." The persons who were residents and found to be entitled to lots, as reported by that committee, were as follows: James Baker, Mason Fitch Alden, John P. Schott, Prince Alden, Sr., William H. Smith, John Hegeman, Ebenezer Williams, William Smith, Caleb Howard, Clement Daniel, Isaac Bennett, William Stewart, George Miner, Peleg Comstock, Samuel Jackson, Benjamin Baily, Anderson Dana, John Canaday, John Jameson, Elisha Drake, John Carey, Edward Lester, Luke Swetland, William Hyde, Hambleton Grant, Turner Jameson, John Bradford, John Nobles, James Barks, Prince Alden Jr., Andrew Alden. There were seven other proprietors' names in the reported list, but they were non-residents, and therefore omitted. It should be further explained that nonresidents" means those not in this part of the State. There are in the above list some who were well known residents of Wilkes-Barre and Plymouth.

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Prince Alden and John P. Schott were agents to lay out the lots of land, or to act with the surveyors, and Shubart Bidlock and Elisha Bennett were chain bearers and ax-men.

September 15, 1790, William Jackson, Isaac Bennett and Silas Smith were appointed to care for the public lands. John Hegeman was appointed to revise the town records. It was voted that each proprietor in elections should be entitled to cast as many votes as he owned "rights."

In 1792 William Jackson, John Fairchild, Mason F. Alden, M. Smith, Daniel McMullen and Abram Smith were appointed a committee to lay out roads. They employed Christopher Hurlbut to do the work.

August 3, 1794, Isaac Bennett, Sidney Drake, John Fairchild, Jonathan Smith and William Jackson were appointed a committee to attend to the land trials with the Pennsylvania authorities, and to attend to any other township business that might arise. This committee, October 4, 1794, leased for 900 years lot 18, second tier, first district, to Elias Decker, at a rental of one pepper corn per year, if demanded to be paid into the town treasury. Also on the same terms to Jacob Crater, lot No. 49, third division. Putnam Catlin was voted £25 178. 3d. for expenses of land trials. March 15, 1800, the committee leased to John Alden lot 25, for 999 years for $43, to be paid any time before the expiration of the lease, and $2.58 a year to be paid the treasurer; to Henry Schoonover, lot 1; to Abram Setzer, lot 13; to Andrew McClure, Nos. 26 and 27.

February 25, 1805, the following persons signed and agreed to abide by the lines and surveys established by William Montgomery under the confirming act:

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