Page:Historical and Biographical Annals of Columbia and Montour Counties, Pennsylvania, Containing a Concise History of the Two Counties and a Genealogical and Biographical Record of Representative Families.djvu/42

COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES branch of the Delaware river as a monument on the northeast comer of Pennsylvania, with the words and figures New York, 1774, and the above-mentioned latitude and variation cut upon the top. They also placed another stone, four perches due west from the former, cutting on the top thereof the word Pennsylvania and the same latitude and variation as on the other. The extension of that line farther west was postponed until 1786-87, when it was completed by Andrew Ellicott, on the part of Pennsylvania, and James Clinton and Simeon Dewitt on the part of,New York.

By act of March 27,1790, £300 were granted to Reading Howell for delineating on his map alt the lines of this State, as established by law or otherwise ascertained.

Penn sailed in the ship “Welcome” Aug. 30, 1682, for his newly acquired province. He arrived after a long passage at New Castle, Del., where the colonists. English, Dutch and Swedes, assembled to welcome him as their beloved proprietor. He wished the province to be called New Wales, but the king persisted in naming it “Pensilvania.” In reference thereto Penn wrote to his friend, Robert Turner, on the 5th of January: "I proposed, when the secretary, a Welshman, refused to have it called New Wales, Sylvania, and they added Penn to it. and though I much opposed it. and went to the king to have it struck out and altered, he said it was past and would take it upon him; nor could twenty guineas move the under-secretaries to vary the name; for I feared lest it should be looked on as a vanity in me. and not as a respect in the king, as it truly was, to my father, whom he often mentions with praise.”

Notwithstanding his rights under that charter, Penn, with his characteristic sense of justice. purchased the territory from the Indians at a fair price. It is sad to relate that later owners of land in the State did not follow in his footsteps in their dealings with the natives and settlers.

Before leaving England Penn drafted what he called the "Fundamental Law and Frame of Government of Pennsylvania.” from which we cite the thirty-fifth section: “All persons living in this province who confess and acknowledge the one Almighty and Eternal God to he the Creator, Upholder and Ruler of the world, and that hold themselves obliged in conscience to live peaceably and justly in civil society, shall in noways be molested or prejudiced for their religious persuasion or practice in matters of faith and worship, place or ministry whatever." Herein was granted a greater degree of religious liberty than had been allowed elsewhere in the colonies.

INDIAN TREATIES AND AGRESSIONS

More than a hundred and fifty years elapsed from the date of the settlement of Jamestown, Va., ere the more venturesome of the pioneers came to the portion of the Commonwealth included in the boundaries of Columbia and Montour counties, and eighty-six years had elapsed since William Penn made his first bargain with the Indians. Before detailing the settlement of this section we will review the different incidents which occurred previous to that time which had their effect upon the history of the counties of Columbia and Montour.

The first treaty between Penn and the Indians took place in July, 1682, at Shackamaxon, and was negotiated by William Markluim, the former’s representative. In the following November Penn arrived with a party of colonists and cemented the former treaty, probably also making another one. Various other purchases were made by the Penns in the years 1696, 1700, 1718, 1732 and 1736. The purchase of 1/49 came to within a few miles of the territory now included in the counties of Columbia and Montour.

At that time few of the white leaders had any idea of the vast extent of the country, and the Indians could give them no definite description of the boundaries or extent of the tracts that they had disposed of. Connecticut at this time was seeking to enlarge its boundaries, and cast envious eyes on the rich Wyoming valley, part of which is located in the northern end of Columbia county. In a conference held with the Indians at Albany in 1754. the Connecticut delegates made a large purchase of land in this valley and formed the Susquehanna Company, to promote the settlement of the lands. The proprietaries of the State of Pennsylvania had also made a purchase of these identical lands at an earlier date, the savages having little regard for the letter of their obligations and being actually ignorant In many instances of the real location of the several tracts sold. The Connecticut company .at once began to sell the lands thus purchased. and a few venturesome settlers came to the portion now included in Fishingcreek township.

The success of the French in 1754 and Brad- dock’s defeat in the following year brought the Indian war into this section and it resulted in the depopulation of the country in 1763. It was not until the purchase of 1768 that the country was finally permanently opened to set-