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THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY. Discussing the Proposed Removal into the Osterhout Library Building.

The last regular meeting of the Wyoming Historical and Geological Society held in the old rooms took place May 13, President E. L. Dana in the chair. A large number of members were present.

Gen. Dana announced that the meeting was for the purpose of discussing the proposition to remove into the old First Presbyterian church.

From the discussion which followed later in the evening it was obvious that the purpose of the meeting was a surprise to most of the members present, and little preparation had been made to discuss it.

The secretary, Sheldon Reynolds, read from the society's recent correspondence. Wm. R. Maffet was proposed for membership by Dr. Ingham.

Judge Dana made the meteorological report for Feb.-April. For February the average temperature was 28 9-10 degrees; rain fall 3 47-100 inches; depth of of snow fall 8% inches. For March, the average temperature was 311⁄2 degree; rain fall 1 84-100 inches; depth of snow fall 34 inches. For April, average temperature 42% degrees; rain fall 2 16-100 inches; snow fall 94 inches. The snow fall during the winter of 1886-7 by months was given as follows: Nov.,1886, 6 inches; Dec..1886, 104 inches; Jan., 1887, 9 inches; Feb., 1887, 84 inches; March, 1887, 3 3-14 inches; April, 1887, 94 inches; total 47 inches. The heaviest snow fall in April since April 20, 1857 occurred April 18, 1887.

Mr. Reynolds reported that the Osterhout trus ees had agreed to assign to the society the use of the lecture room, two stories, of the church, which will be ready for occupancy in July. Mr. Reynolds said it had been suggested that the society's library, or a portion of it, be merged into the Osterhout library. The government and State publications, about 3,000 volumes, particularly would be better adapted to the Osterhout library than to the shelves of the Historical Society. The trustees desire that the society inform them as to what repairs are necessary in the portion of the church building set apart for the society.

Judge Dana gave a reminiscent sketch of the growth of the society and paid it a generous eulogy on the position at which it has arrived. He announced that the chief object of the present meeting was to discuss and take action upon the proposed removal from the present quarters. The first thing to be done is to get a plan of the most economical adjustment practicable for the needs of the society. The removal of the

cabinet and library of the society should be in the hands of the curators of the several departments.

Mr. Jones moved that the committee already appointed be renewed and conjoined with the curators to confer with the Osterhout trustees, with power to act. Judge Woodward moved the old committee be discharged and the new one, consisting of the cabinet committee, be appointed in their stead. Mr. Atherton seconded the motion. Carried.

Mr. Edward Welles hoped the library of the society would be put in an alcove by itself and would not lose its individuality by being scattered about the Osterhout shelves. Mr. Reynolds announced that all but the government publications of the scciety's library would be kept in their rooms adjoining the library. Every one of the books will have the society's book-plate. Mr. Reynolds then moved that the government and State publications be deposited in the reference department of the Osterhout library. Mr. A. T. McClintock moved to amend that the matter be left to the cabinet committee with power to act. After discussion by Judge Woodward, G. R. Bedford and the president, the amendment and motion were withdrawn and the matter was referred to the cabinet committee and Mr. E. Welles. Adjourned to meet on Friday evening, June 3.

The names of the various contributors were read and the contributions were also announced. A yote of thanks was then tendered to all the contributors, who were as follows: Amherst College, Wisconsin State Historical Society, Dr. F. C. Johnson, C. J. Hoadley, Hon. J. R. Wright, Superintendent of Documents John G. Ames, American Geological Society, Director of the United States Mineral Survey of 1885, H. J. Smith, Minnesota Historical Society Governor James A. Beaver, Numismatic and Antiquarian Society, Meriden Science Association, Lewis Swift, Hon. J. A. Scranton, I. A. Stearns, H. J. Hill, W. A. Wilcox, Indiana Historical Society, E. H. Chase, Canadian Institute, American Geographical Society, Bureau of Education, S. H. Lynch, Owen P. Keenly, Department of the Interior, W. G. Sterling, R. G. Huling, Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences, Dr. W H. Sharpe, Virginia Historical Society, Bangor Historical Society, Secretary Internal Affairs J. S. Africa, United States Geological Survey, American Geological Society, I. P. Hand, C. D. Collet of London, A. H. Dickson, Luzerne County Express, Telephone, R. Baur & Son, J. C. Coon, A. E. Foote, W. D. Averell, Percival Gasset, Commissioner of Patents, Travelers' Insurance Company, Iowa Historical Society, George W. Lung, Mrs. S. Horton, Hon. E. L. Dana.

VOL. I.

The historical Record

MAY-JUNE, 1887.

RELICS OF THE RED MEN.

Footprints of the Indians in the Lackawanna Valley-Dr. Hollister's Cabinet of Twenty Thousand Specimens. [Scranton Truth.]

Dr. Hollister's cabinet of Indian relics contains 20,000 specimens, most of which were picked up along the Lackawanna Valley. The owner's intimate knowledge of Indian language and customs invests this rare collection with an added interest, and makes it an excellent history of the Red race who a little more than a century ago held complete possession of this place, now the great centre of the anthracite industrycovered with beauty on its face, and lined with rich treasures in its bosom. The writer spent several hours recently in the doctor's cabinet room with great pleasure and profit. The Doctor treasures his relics as a miser would his gold. The collection numbers pots of stone and burned clay of various capacities; pestles of large proportions and delicate finish; agricultural implements of stone. and of every possible variety for cultivating tobacco, corn, etc.; war implements of a formidable character, comprising spear points ten inches in length, and still as keen as a knife; stone death mauls for killing captives, such as that used by the "bloody Queen Esther" at the massacre; amulets, stone rings and beads and charms worn on the person to insure immunity from danger and disease, besides every kind of implement of silex or stone, such as was fashioned and used in this region a little more than a hundred years ago when the Delaware and Monsey tribes, who were tributary to the famous Six Nations, held sway here.

Among the quaint and curious articles that attract attention is a highly elaborate stone pipe, representing the Indian idea of the universe. The bowl represents the world, supported on one side by a bear, on the other by a wolf, while a crude figure of an Indian on each of the opposite sides supposed to be standing on a log, holds up the world like a second Atlas. The following is a correct sketch of this rude piece of Indian art:

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Nos. 9-10.

This specimen was picked up at Campbell's Ledge. Prior to the great ice floods of 1875, Indian relics were found frequently along the banks of the Susquehanna at that point, but of late such discoveries are very rare. Another odd specimen of Indian art is the turtle, or alligator calumet or Pipe of Peace. This is made of sharp-stone and exhibits one of the first impulses of the savage mind toward artistic representation. The following sketch will give an idea of this droll conceit:

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The pipe was formerly in the possession of the Nanticokes, and did duty at many a council fire, in quieting the fierce passions of the sanguinary savages, who made use of such a mode of establishing peace. It was picked up a short distance from the village of Nanticoke, near the Susquehanna River, and several miles from the scene of the Wyoming massacre.

The most ornate of the Indian amulets yet discovered in this vicinity, is the representation in stone of a bird, which was ploughed up in 1866 by Hiram Owens, in a field located in the Lackawanna Valley, four miles from Scranton. It was a charm of rare worth among the savages, and defeat could never come to the warrior who wore it.

A formidable stone hatchet, such as was frequently used in the great massacre, is represented by the accompanying sketch. The weapon was picked up near Capouse Mound, a memorable spot in the Lackawanna Valley, where half a dozen of those who

were fleeing from the terrors of Wyoming were overtaken and mercilessly butchered. One of the most wonderful things connected with these stone weapons is their remarkable polish, and the keenness of edge by which they are characterized. This is shown in a high degree in a stone tomahawk, or battle-axe, of the very earliest make, such as was used by the Indians when the whites first made their appearance in this region. A speciSmen of this deadly

weapon was discovered on a farm near Scranton, 20 years ago, by Mr. Henry Griffin. The above is a representation of it. Around the hollow portion of the stone a withe was placed to fix it to the handle, and, wielded by a powerful arm, and in the hands of a savage who regarded mercy as a disgrace, one can easily see what a cruel means it would be of putting to death a vanquished foe.

In strong contrast with the heavy stone tomahawk is that in use at present upon the Rocky Mountains, among clans who have no firearms. The following is a sketch of this light yet effective weapon:

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Among the arrowheads found so frequently along Wyoming and Lackawanna Valleys, the Cornelian is the most beautiful and highlyprized. One of these was picked up in 1875 by Mr. Marvin Carter, at Caponse.

The old Indian ap-ple tree stood in the midst of the wigwam village and close by was the mound from which a number of relics have been exhumed, and where, it is supposed the bod ies of several warriors were laid at rest, after their spirits had passed to the happy hunting-ground.

Near this spot was also found a serrated, or saw-flint arrow-head, of which the following is a representation. It is so constructed that it could neither be introduced nor withdrawn without lacerating and doing great injury to the parts, and was considered one of the most destructive of Indian missiles. One of the most deadly of arrow heads, however, was an oval flint, used for war purposes and so constructed that the poisoned point remained in the victim, while the remainder of the missile was easily extracted.

These weapons of war, pipes of peace and amulets have a language more eloquent than written history. They bring us face to face with a condition of things which prevailed here a little more than a hundred years ago, and as we contrast them with the implements and the civilization of the present day in the Lackawanna Valley, they naturally give rise to the question what will it be a hundred years hence when we shall all have passed away from the scene of action.

An Old Local Poem.

We append a portion of a poem bearing the signature of a visitor from Lancaster, taken from an old scrap book containing clippings from Wilkes-Barre papers of half a century ago:

ADIEU TO WYOMING.

Sweet valley! famed for noble deeds,
In chronicle and song

I cannot leave the pleasant fields,
Where I have tarried long,
Without a sigh of bitter pain,

That I no more may see

The friendly faces I have known-
Sweet Wyoming! in thee.

Thy hills, thy vales are beautiful
As earthly scenes can be;

Yet beauty was a fatal gift,

Sweet Wyoming! to thee:

Two natious saw thy winning smile,

And wooed thee for a bride:

And for the prize of that fair form,

Their stoutest champions died.

And Gertrude! brightest, sweetest child
That fancy ever drew-

I cannot leave these peaceful scenes
Without a sigh for you.
Thy gentle spirit seems to float
O'er every mist-clad hill;

The music of the voice to breathe,
From every bounding rill.
Home of the brave and beautiful!
While memory shall be,

The children of this land shall go
On pilgrimage to thee:

Forget not all thy fathers did,

And to thyself be true

And now I leave thy storied vale-
Sweet Wyoming! adieu.

LANCASTER, Feb. 17, 1841.

-J. S. P.

A HUNDRED YEARS

Since the

Oaganization of Luzerne's
First Court.

[Wilkes-Barre Evening Leader.] Friday, May 27th, was the centennial or one hundredth anniversary of the organization of the first court ever held in Luzerne county under Pennsylvania jurisdiction.

It was convened in Wilkes Barre, in the building then located where Judge Woodward's house now stands and was presided over by six Justices of the Common Pleas, as they were then called. There was no President Judge until the constitution of 1791 was adopted, when Jacob Rush was appointe l.

It must have been a very primitive court for fourteen years afterwards, in 1801, according to a carefully kept diary, still preserved, there were but sixty houses in Wilkes Barre. And seven years later, in 1808, there were but four houses not of wood. Two stone houses were-that now occupied by Dr. Mayer and that Miss Alexander has just torn down, and two brick houses, the Perry house at the Northampton and Main corner and the Slocum house where Brown's book store now is. There was no traffic except that the farmers brought their produce over a ferry opposite Northampton street, bartered it on the common, from whence it was taken to Easton over the mountain in wagons.

It is not surprising to hear, therefore, that there were but four attorneys admitted at the first court and that for many years afterwards the total list was a very small one. In fact it is a comparatively few years since the bar of Luzerne ceased "traveling the circuit," that is traveling from court to court in Luzerne, Bradford, Tioga, Wayne and other counties and practicing in each, the trips usually consuming from five weeks to two months. Stuart Pearce in his "Annals" says that in 1784 the whole number of buildings in Wilkes-Barre was but 26, of which 23 were burned by the Pennamites.

The names of the justices who held the first court in Zebulon Butler's house were Wm. Hooker Smith, Benjamin Carpenter, James Nesbitt, Timothy Pickering, Obadiah Gore, Nathan Kingsley and Matthias Hollenback. Lord Butler was Sheriff and Timothy Pickering held about all the other offices except that of Court Crier, which belonged to Jos. Sprague. Four Attorneys were sworn in: Ebenezer Bowman, Putnan. Catlin, Roswell Weiles and William Nichols. The President Judges who have respectively presided over the court were and are: Jacob Rush, December, 1791. Thomas Cooper, August, 1806. Seth Chapman, August, 1811. John Bannister Gibson, July, 1813. Thomas Burnside, 1817.

*David Scott, 1818.

+William Jessup, 1838.

John N. Conyngham, 1839. Resigned in 1870, serving 31 years.

Garrick M. Harding, 12th of July, 1870, his 40th birthday. Resigned 1879. Charles E, Rice, 1879.

There have been four Additional Law Judges, E. L. Dana, Henry M. Hoyt, John Handley and Stanley Woodward.

*Judge Scott held the President Judgeship for over 20 years.

+Judge Jessup was twice commissioned as Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, in 1838 by Governor Ritner, and in 1848 by Governor Johnson. For a part of the time, in the change of the districts, this county came within his circuit. By a compromise arrangement between Judges Jessup and Conyngham and with the consent of the Bars of both, the Susquebanna and Luzerne districts were so adjusted as to accommodate the two Judges, putting Luzerne in Judge Conyngham's district and Susquehanna in Judge Jessup's.

There have been many distinguished men in the Luzerne bar. She has given two Chief Justices in the persons of John Bannister Gibson, and George W. Woodward, and Warren J. Woodward also served upon the Supreme bench. All three were eminent men, Judge Gibson in many respects the most eminent who ever sat in that tribunal. The words of his decisions are still quoted, just as he uttered them, as irrefutable definitions of the fundamental law.

Garrick Mallory became a Judge. George Griffin was elected constable of WilkesBarre as a joke, became angry, went to New York, became a friend and associate of Aaron Burr, and attained high distinction. Ovid F. Johnson and Henry W. Palmer became Attorneys General. Henry M. Hoyt became Governor. Henry M. Fuller a remarkable man. He served in the Legislature and twice in Congress, was Whig candidate for Canal Commissioner of the state and mentioned for Vice President in 1860, though he was but forty when he died.

was

H. B. Wright served as speaker of the State House of Representatives, was President of the Polk Convention and several times in Congress.

Charles Denison, Chester Butler, L. D. Shoemaker, E. S. Osborne and others have also sat in Congress.

John Handley, Alfred Hand and R. W. Archbald are judges in Lackawanna. Luther Kidder also went to the bench in another district.

In the old days George Denison was a wonderful pleader. Lyman Hakes, brother of the doctor, is believed to have been the

strongest criminal lawyer the Bar ever had. Hal Wright was also a great lawyer. One of the most remarkable of the whole number was James McClintock, a poetic, sympathetic orator. His story is a very affecting one. He was assigned by Judge Scott to defend a little girl who had stolen a pair of shoes from in front of a store. The loser of the shoes had got them back, but insisted on prosecuting the child. McClintock defended her in a speech that was the talk of all this part of the state for long afterwards. Later he was nominated for Congress, principally because of this speech. There were three candidates. Two weeks afterwards, so slow were the methods of transmitting the news at that day, it was not known who was elected. In the meantime McClintock had married. Chester Butler gave a grand party in honor of McClintock and his bride. That night news came that convinced him he was elected. He was congratulated universally, on that, and on his marriage. Subsequently it transpired that he was defeated. a year his wife died in giving birth to her first child. The child died also, and McClin tock became insane. He was sent to an asylum and died there 30 years afterwards, having been an imbecile all that time. A sad conclusion to a brilliant beginning.

Within

Many chapters of great interest would be inspired by knowledge of the men who have plead at this bar. We have room only for these rambling, hasty reminisences. The bar now is as strong as any in the state. It has about 150 members. Andrew T. McClintock is the oldest in years and in practice. The younger are so numerous that nobody knows them all. The last to be admitted is Marlin Bingham Stevens, whose date is May 16, 1887, and whe has an office in Ashley.

Relics of Sullivan's March. WILKES-BARRE, May 23, 1887.-EDITOR RECORD: In the summer of 1841 or 1842 I saw two cannon balls unearthed on the Kingston flats, which at the time of their discovery were supposed to have been thrown there by one of Gen. Sullivan's guns the year after the massacre of Wyoming. They weighed three or four pounds each.

One of them I found while hoeing with my father and brother Charles on land now owned by John Gates. This was given to A. C. Church, whose son William, at present residing in Kingston, thinks it went into Barnum's first New York museum, which was destroyed by fire.

The other ball was found by Lyman Little, who with myself and some other boys were amusing ourselves after bathing by digging in the recently cut perpendicular bank of the river opposite the centre of Johnson's island. LYMAN BELDING.

The Meteoric Shower of 1833. NIAGARA FALLS, N. Y., May 26th, 1887.EDITOR RECORD: In a recent number of your valuable RECORD, I read a short notice of that wonderful meteoric shower of 1833, which I remember as vividly as any event of my life, as I was at my grandfather's in Wyoming Valley on that memorable night. At about 4 o'clock in the morning he sent my mother (who then made it her home there) to our sleeping apartment to awaken us, and she, with great solemnity, told us to come down stairs to prayer as the world was coming to an end; that the scriptures were being fulfilled, the stars were indeed falling from heaven etc., etc. It was really a most solemn display and was awfully grand. The supposed stars appeared to take start from the center of the zenith or great dome, and fall as quietly to the earth, as a shower of large flakes of snow, but lost to view as they came near the surface. I distinctly remember watching the phenomena of the "falling stars," till the rising sun hid them from sight, and eagerly watched for their appearance the next night, but the shower was over, and the show was out.

S. PETTEBONE.

The RECORD's request for reminiscences has elicited some very interesting data. The latest is a letter written by Capt. James P. Dennis, who was an eye witness, to his father. The former was at this time in Philadelphia, employed on the construction of the first railroad bridge across the Schuylkill. The reference to the meteoric display is as follows:

"I observe by the papers that the splendid phenomenon of shooting stars extended over the region of Wilkes-Barre as well as Philadelphia. But I am afraid that unless 'Old Michael' rang the bell many of your sluggish citizens did not enjoy the sight. I was up, as usual nowadays, about an hour before daybreak, and upon going out to wasn myself I first saw them, and it seemed to me as if all the stars in the firmament had taken it in their heads that they had been long enough stationary, and that they all with one accord were changing places. They seemed to shoot to and fro from every point of the heavens. Some of our men declared the moon was being cut to pieces and that the chips were flying from her. Some thought that there would be no more stars, that they were all falling. Others that the world was coming to an end and were prodigiously frightened. As for myself I stood and looked and wondered and admired the sight until the great luminary of day made his appearance and outshone the rest."

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