was the busy and able gatherer of historical data of this county, and the great misfortune is death has dropped the curtain and his matter remains inaccessible to the seeker for facts. To the old newspaper files of the late William Penn Miner, as he received them from his father and as they are in the care of his son, William B. Miner, are obligations for many valuable cullings; also to Dr. F. C. Johnson's "Historical Record" and the same to George B. Kulp's "Families of Wyoming." The quick-witted reader will readily recognize the paragraphs from the facile pen of Hon. C. Ben Johnson. To Rev. Horace Edwin Hayden, for the matter of the Protestant churches, and to Rev. M. J. Hoban, for that of the Catholic church, are obligations acknowledged; also to C. F. Hill, Esq., of Hazleton, for much valuable material of the Indians and early history. To the gentlemen of the press and to many others, are especial thanks cordially extended.

From all these, as well as still other sources, will be found from cover to cover of this book more or less of over 25,000 of the dead and the living whose lives are linked with that of the county. A goodly contingent, and to them is handed this much of the unequaled story, for them to transmit in turn to their long-coming posterity. Here is a monument that will outlive the finest bronze or hardest granite.

The work is divided into Two Parts—Historical and Biographical, with a full analytical index, which will render easy reference not only to each name, but to every incident of interest in the work.

THE EDITOR.

CONTENTS

PART I.

CHAPTER I.

LUZERNE COUNTY. Page

As it Came from the Hands of God—First Viewed by Civilized Eyes—Festival of the Foliage
—The River and the Valley—Mountains and Streams—The Unknown Races of Men—
Indians—Mammoth and Mastodon—Glaciers—Geological—Coal Strata—Fourteen
Veins, Containing Ninety Feet of Coal—The County's Drainage—The Increase in Pop-
ulation—Statistics of Present Population, etc 17- 34

CHAPTER II.

1762.

The First Attempted Settlement—First White Men to Visit this Section—Character Devel-
oped under Adversity—Old French War—Massacre of Settlers—John and Emanuel
Hoover, Noah Hopkins—Capt. Lazarus Stewart—Again This is a Silent Desert—Next
Attempt at Settlement 17/i9—First Penuamite and Yankee War—First Forty Settlers,
List of—Four Times the Settlers Driven Off—Capt. Butler and Capt. Amos Ogden—
List of the First Two Hundred Connecticut Settlers—Renewal of the Troubles Between
Yankees and Penuamites—Effort to Form a New State—A House Divided Against
Itself, etc M- 67

CHAPTER III.

HABITS AND CUSTOMS.

Those Who Came Peeping in the Wilderness—Old Michael, or " Old Pickle "—"Oh Sister
Phebe"—The Ancient Dude—Severe Religion—A Preacher Tried for Drunkenness —
The Prophesies and Grotesqueries- The Brush Hut and Log Cabin—A Typical Woods
Pioneer, etc 67-90

CHAPTER IV.

BATTLE OF WYOMING.

Westmoreland Town and County, of Connecticut—The People Quick to War for Inde-
pendence—Reckless John Penn—Plunket's Expedition—The Two Companies Sent to
Washington—Steuben Jenkins' Historical Address—Massacre of the Ilardings—The
Fatal July 3, 1778—They Surrender and are Then Plundered—Conflicting Stories—
The British Accounts—Penuites Called Tories and Many Driven Out—List of the
Killed in the Battle—The Dorrances—Col. Franklin with Company Reached the
Fort Just After the Battle—Butler Escaped to the Mountains—Deuison Surrenders—
Some Ancient Stories of the Battle Investigated—The Movement—The Centennial
Day of the Battle, etc 90- 123

CHAPTER V.

Hartley's And Sullivan's Expeditions.

Page

Following the Battle Washington Orders Hartley and William Butler to Form an Expe-
dition—Sullivan Reaches Wilkes-Barre and Ascends the River—Extracts from Diaries
of the Men in the Expedition—Importance of Sullivan's Movements—Indian Marauds
in the Valley—Battle with the Indians at Frenchtown Mountain—King Nutimus. 123-134

CHAPTER VI.

YANKEE AND QUAKER.

The Seventeen Townships—Legal Aspects of the Subject—Address of Gov. Hoyt—
Titles of Connecticut and Pennsylvania—Puritan and Quaker—Jurisdiction and Soil
Considered—A Long and Bitter Controversy—Both Were Right, etc 134-168

CHAPTER VII.

WAR.

Whisky Insurrection—Threatened French War—Row with England—War of 1812-15—
Mexican War—Civil War, etc 168-199

CHAPTER VIII.

SUGAR LOAF MASSACRE.

Destruction of Forts Rice, Bosley's Mills and Fort Jenkins—Capt. Klader's Company
Ambushed—Burial Pfcrty-^John Balliett—The Walk Purchase—Chief Nutimus—Peter
Hess Massacred, etc 199-209

CHAPTER IX.

LUZERNE COUNTY CREATED.

Witchcraft—Westmoreland Town Erected—Interesting Items from the Records—Town-
ships Within the Town—Prices Regulated by Law—Punishment of Evil Doers—
Oldest Land Records—County Created—Courts aud Lawyers—Resident Attorneys—
Officials—Centennial, etc 209-249

CHAPTER X.

no Ads.

Blazed Tracks—Express—Malls —Turnpikes—Stage Drivers—George Root and Conrad
Teter—First Highway—River Navigation—Canals—Rafting—Railroads—Ship Build-
ing—Bridges—Storms aud Floods, etc 250-269

CHAPTER XI.

COAL.

Vast Deposits Once All Over the State—First Shipped Down the River in 1807—Parties
Who First Mined and Transported It—Jesse Fell—Canal Opened—Nicho Allen and
Philip Ginter—Miner, Cist 'k Robinson Attempt to Mine and Ship Coal—Railroads aud
Transportation Companies- Value of Coal Lands—Eastern Middle Coal Fields—Coal
Found—Ario Pardee—Eckley B. Coxe—Superior Hard Coal—George B. Markle—Tun-
nels—Accidents, etc 270-320
CHAPTER XII.

THE DEAD THAT STILL LIVE. PAGE

A List of the Prominent Earl}' Men Here—Those Who Stood in the Front—Hon. Charles

Miner's List and Others Added, etc 321-873

CHAPTER XIII.

SCHOOLS.

Education Considered—First Schools—Free Schools—Present Schools—Educational Insti-
tutions, etc 374-394

CHAPTER XIV.

THE PRESS.

The First Printers—Herald of the Times—Gradual Growth of Printing—Long List of
Papers and Many Able Newspaper Men—Papers now Published in the County,
etc 397-U7

CHAPTER XV.

MEDICAL.

Salivation Army—Hot Water and Bleeding—A Learned Profession—Medical Societies—
First Physicians—List of Registered Physicians—County Medical Societies, etc 418-422

CHAPTER XVI.

CHURCHES OF TUB COUNTY.

First Arrivals of Churches, and Organizations—A Religious People Were the Pioneers—
Moravians, Puritans and Catholics in Their Order, etc 422-450

CHAPTER XVII.

SOCIETIES AND ASSOCIATIONS.

Anti-Masonic Politics—Modern Popularity of Secret Societies—Board of Trade—Early
Debating Societies—Ninth Regiment—Balls —Library Associations, etc 451-463

CHAPTER XVIII.

AGRICULTURE.

In the Valley Originally it was only Farmers—Time has Brought the Change—Now it is
only Collieries—Fair Grounds and Associations—The Beginning and End of the Story
—Some of the Early Manufacturing Industries, etc 463-470

CHAPTER XIX.

CITY OF WILKES-BARRE.

The Proud Queen of the North Susquehanna—Founded by John Durkee—First Settlers—
First Improvements—First House was Abbott's, Corner of Main and Northampton
Streets—Forts—Reminiscences of the Early People and Buildings—Banks, Factories
and Industries—City Improvements, etc 470-521

CHAPTER XX.

HAZLETOX.

The New City in the County—Its Founding and Growth—Its Situation—Officials—Early
Settlers—Drumheller, Davenport, Pardee and Others—Its Industries and Institu-
tions 522-531
CHAPTER XXI.

TOWNSHIPS AND BOROUGHS.

PART J I.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

Biographical Sketches in Alphabetical Order 671-1489

Biographical Sketches Addenda 1490