History of Lycoming County, Pennsylvania
The lands of the West Branch Susquehanna River Valley were then chiefly occupied by the Munsee phratry of the Lenni Lenape (or Delaware), and were under the nominal control of the Five (later Six) Nations of the Iroquois.
Her village at the mouth of Loyalsock Creek on the West Branch Susquehanna River was a stopping point for the Moravian missionaries who were spreading the gospel throughout the wilderness of Pennsylvania during the 1740s.
Andrew Montour left Montoursville at some point and moved to Juniata County before finally settling on Muntour's Island in the Allegheny River near Pittsburgh.
[1] The Fair Play Men were illegal settlers (squatters) who established their own system of self-rule from 1773 to 1785 in the West Branch Susquehanna River valley of Pennsylvania in what is now the United States.
In a remarkable coincidence, the Fair Play Men made their own declaration of independence from Britain on July 4, 1776, beneath the Tiadaghton Elm on the banks of Pine Creek.
It was on the east side of Antes Creek, overlooking and on the left bank of the West Branch Susquehanna River, on a plateau in Nippenose Township south of modern-day Jersey Shore in western Lycoming County.
Brulé descended the West Branch Susquehanna River and was held captive by a local Indian tribe near what is now Muncy before escaping and returning to Canada.
Hepburn lived in the Sunbury area for a short time before moving up the West Branch Susquehanna River to what is now Duboistown, where he worked for Andrew Culbertson in digging the race for Culberton's Mill.
Ross and Hepburn would team together to create Williamsport from land that was swampy and thought to be uninhabitable by the Susquehannocks who had originally inhabited the West Branch Susquehanna River Valley.
It is supposed that men working for Hepburn and Ross met up with the messenger bearing the affidavit at the Russell Inn on the corner of East Third and Mulberry Streets in Williamsport and got him intoxicated.
His arrival and coinciding speech set off a tremendous riot that led to the near destruction of a local schoolhouse and the controversial pardoning of the rioters by Pennsylvania Governor David R. Porter.
Governor Porter's statement of pardon said, "It is represented to me by highly respected citizens of Lycoming County, that this prosecution was instituted more with a view to the accomplishment of political ends than to serve the cause of law and order."
"[12] Historians believe that Porter pardoned the rioters under political pressure that was rampant, in the years prior to the Civil War, regarding the issue of slavery.
He was the owner of a barge on the Pennsylvania Canal and transported lumber from Williamsport on the West Branch Susquehanna River to Havre de Grace, Maryland.
[13] Hughes hid runaway slaves in the hold of his barge on his return trip up the Susquehanna River to Lycoming County, where he provided shelter on his property near the Loyalsock Township border with Williamsport before moving further north to eventual freedom in Canada.
Patriotic fever swept through Lycoming County[15] as the people of the north anticipated what they believed would be a rapid defeat of the rebellious Confederate States of America.
The citizens of Lycoming County continued to support the war in various ways as numerous trains passed through Williamsport from points north and west carrying new troops to the battles in the south.
The tables were heaped with various foods and drinks including cold meat, bread, fresh vegetables, buttermilk, lager beer, and a variety of distilled spirits.
Today Culbertson's Mill and tavern are long gone, and the area is a largely overgrown riverbank with an abandoned softball field surrounded by a railroad, bridge, and woods.
The history of Jersey Shore begins about fifty years before it was incorporated and on the opposite bank of the West Branch Susquehanna River in what is now Nippenose Township.
These pioneers on the north side of the river were counted among the Fair Play Men a group of squatters who lived outside the jurisdiction of the colonial and revolutionary governments of Pennsylvania.
The town was further expanded by the success of Montgomery Machine Shops, which, starting in 1873 under the supervision of Levi Houston, built woodworking machinery that was sold to clients throughout the United States and Canada and as far away as Australia.
It serves as a large recreational park with several miles of hiking and biking trails, numerous softball fields, picnic areas, and pavilions and fishing ponds.
Tom Ridge, United States Secretary of Homeland Security (2003–2005), was governor of Pennsylvania at the time of the crash, and attended a vigil at the school with his wife.
Among those who sent condolences were President Bill Clinton, the U.S. softball team at the Atlanta Olympics, and Francois Bujon de l'Estaing, French ambassador to the United States (1995–2002).
In 1797, ten years after coming to Muncy, Benjamin McCarty conceived the idea of starting a town, and began laying out lots on what is now Main Street, and sold them to different parties.
This factory, the first of its kind in the area, caused a stir among the local carpenters who believed that the readymade building materials would curtail their profit-making ability.
The lands of the West Branch Susquehanna River valley were then chiefly occupied by the Munsee clan or phratry of the Lenni Lenape, and were under the nominal control of the Five (later Six) Nations of the Iroquois.
The first settler in what is now South Williamsport is believed to have been Aaron Hagerman, a transplanted Hollander, who is thought to have arrived shortly after the end of the American Revolutionary War.
Another early entrepreneur, Jacob Weiss, gave the village a push toward borough status by purchasing a tract of 40 acres (160,000 m2) and laying out town lots.
