John Franklin, then a young man of 26 (having been born in 1749 in Litchfield, Conn.,) was regarded as a leader. He was one of the first 200 settlers who came to Wyoming in the spring of 1769, then in his 20th year. He was probably with Stewart's Rangers when their "Huzza for George the Third" rong loud and clear over the sleeping ga

of Pennamites on that frosty morning in 1770, when, as Dr. Egle relates, the house of Lancaster came to the rescue with the returning Yankees.

John Franklin was a leader in every enterprise, and as a civil justice, military commander, legislator or general counsellor he was kɩown, esteemed, trusted and beloved and might well be acknowledged by all as the hero of Huntington, the hero of Wyoming and one of the heroes of the world.

In 1778 when Wyoming was invaded by the combined horde of Tories and Indians, Franklin was captain of a company of volunteers for Huntington and Salem. Lieut. Stoddard Bowen, of Salem, pressed on with a part of the company and arrived at Forty Fort in time to participate in the battle. He was killed, also Elias and David Bixby (or Bigsby), Levi Hicks and Job Marshall, and perhaps others.

Franklin's detachment arrived too late, exhausted by their long march and loss of sleep and rest. They were appointed to assist in preparing the fort for surrender. Solon Trescott, (Mrs. Hartman's grand. father) his elder brother Samuel, Thomas Williams and some other Huntington men, were held as prisoners, but were paroled by John Butler. Soon after a general exodus of the people took place.

Capt. Franklin's wife died of small pox in Windsor, Bucks Co., Pa., in November following. After taking his motherless children to Connecticut he returned to the desolated valley to assist in defending those in danger and to punish the enemy.

Huntington is proud to claim such a man as the pioneer, leader and friend of her people.

Lieutenant William Jones.

The account in the RECOBD of the Masonic burial of Capt. Davis and Lieut. William Jones, who were killed by the Indians near Wyoming, in 1779, has brought out some very interesting information. We are informed by Miss Emily I. Alexander that the stone which now marks their grave was erected by George M. Hollenback and that she remembers distinctly of accompanying her father and Mr. Hollenback to the old burying ground on Market Street and making a search for the original stone. She remembers, though only a child, how the stone looked, she describing it as of red mountain stone and bearing, in addition to the inscrip

tion, a Masonic symbol. Miss Alexander says that Mr. Holler back remarked that he was related to Lieut. Jones and would erect a marble slab to replace the original stone, which had become very much defaced.

The dust of these honored dead is now buried in Hollenback Cemetery, not many rods to the north of the entrance and in a triangular lot owned by Lodge 61, A. Y. M., and set apart for these two graves alone. The marble is becoming yellow and as a correspondent suggests, should be replaced by a more imposing monument. That the grave is not neglected is shown by the fact that it is beautified by a thrifty weeping willow, a holly shrub and some arbor vitæ bushes, to say nothing of the flags which are placed upon it by loving hands every Decoration Day and which flutter as long as a shred is left by the windswhich sweep over the hills. A conversation with Mr. Edward Welles has elicited the following note:

EDITOR RECORD: This young officer was, I believe, a nephew, certainly a near relative, of Mrs. Eleanor Jones Hollenback, mother of Matthias Hollenback, of WilkesBarre, and wife of John Hollenback, of Lebanon, near Jonestown. He was one of the officers in Major Powell's detachment sent on in advance of Sullivan's army, on its way to the Susquehanna in the month of April. 1779; and was one of several men slain in an ambush near Laurel Run. The following is a copy from the original epitaph on his tombstone, now gone into decay; taken from the old brown stone then lying in the Hollenback cemetery, in the month of October, 1868:

In memory of
Capt. J. Davis

of the 11th Penna. Regt.
also

Lieut. William Jones

who were massacred by the savages
on their march to the relief of
the distressed inhabitants of Wyoming
April 23, 1779.

Erected by the Brotherhood

July 25, the same year.

The inscription upon the original stone has been copied in the present one, except that the last two lines are replaced by the words "Erected by a friend."

You will observe that the date given in the extract from the Providence (R. I,) Gazette of Sept. 18, 1779, for the ceremony of reinterring the two officers, Davis and Jones, does not accord with that given on the tombstone, erected at the time, the latter being July 25, and the former July 28. If you have a perpetual calendar, you may find which is the correct date, as the newspaper account gives the day of the week as being

Tuesday. What you want is to find out whether that day of the week fell upon the 25th or the 28th of the month. [There seems to be considerable confusion as to the date. The newspaper item already alluded to says the funeral occurred on Tuesday, the 28th, whereas, Tuesday fell upon the 27th. Gen Stryker's sketch of the Sullivan expedition, gives still another date, July 29, though without specifying the day of the week.EDITOR.]

The present tombstone was erected by the late G.M. Hollenback, Esq., when the original had become much dilapidated. The latter is said to have been buried in the same lot in Hollenback Cemetery, where the remains of Messrs. Davis and Jones were reinterred, as described by your correspondent, W. J.

Ought not a granite monument to be erected over the graves of those two men, in Hollenback Cemetery?

Nov. 20, 1886.

An Old Poem on Ireland.

W.

[The Easton papers publish the following lines, written at Berwick by Rev. James Lewers, immediately after the passage in the year 1829 of the Act of "Catholic Emancipation," and now at this interesting period of Ireland's history, reproduced from memory by the writer's brother, Dixon Lewers, formerly of Wilkes-Barre, now a resident of Easton:]

When freedom came down from the skies with a smile,

And flew round in triumph unfettering the nations,

Ah, say, could she pass by the Emerald Isle

And beam not a glance of her dark desolation? The land that contains our Emmett's remains Could she leave it forever in darkness and [sea, chains ? No! List to the voice that sounds loud o'er the Tis liberty speaks and our country is free.

"Oh, land of the west," cried the spirit of light As on Ulster's green mountains at last she descended, [night, "Have I left thee to groan beneath slavery's Thy tears still unnoticed, thy claims undefended?

Dear isle that has been in my battles still seen With thy bright, flashing sword and thy standard of green:

Have I left thee in bondage to weep o'er the sea? Rise! Erin Mavourneen! arise and be free." "Can the days of thy Ullin be ever forgot,

The proud plume of war and love's eye softly beaming?

Or thy Brian the Brave in my battles that fought

Neath the harp woven standard victoriously streaming,

Or that shout

breeze bore

round the shore that the ocean

When Berwick was Founded. EDITOR RECORD: I notice in No. 2, page 38, of the Historical Record, the letter of the Hon. Steuben Jenkins in relation to the founding of Berwick, in which he quotes from a letter of Thomas Cooper, giving the date of settlement of Berwick as of the 10th of May, 1787. He closes with the remark: "It would seem to be satisfactory evidence of the time when the town of Berwick was laid out."

The indications are that Berwick was laid out earlier than the date given above. Timothy Pickering, in a letter to Gen. Muhlenburg, bearing date of Philadelphia, April 5, 1787, says:

"That application should be made to Council to appoint Evan Owen a Commissioner to explore, survey and make the best route for the road, and that Jacob Weiss should contract to open it so as to render it fit for passing wagons carrying a ton weight. This proposal I made on this principle-That persons interested in having the shortest and best road cut would be the fittest to be employed to execute the work. Mr. Owen is an intelligent man and (I find on inquiry) a man on whom the public may repose great confidence. He owns a tract of land opposite the mouth of the Nescopeck, which he has laid out into lots for a town, and has no intermediate interest."

The letter is too long to produce here, but enough has been given to show that Berwick was laid out before April 5, 1787, and when we bear in mind that Pickering wrote this in Philadelphia, it is fair to presume from the fame of the town having reached there as early as April 5, 1787, that it must have been laid out at least some months before that date.

C. F. HILL.

HAZLETON, Pa., Dec. 13, 1886.

The First Forty of Kingston. After the treaty at Fort Stanwix, in 1768, had quieted the troubles with the Six Nations, the Susquehanna Company decided, at a meeting held at Hartford Dec. 28, 1768, to settle the much coveted lands at Wyoming. It was determined to lay out five townships, to be settled by the first of February thereafter, the first to have 40 settlers, each of the others to have 50. Each township was to be five miles square. The committee named the first township Kingston. The others were named Wilkes-Bar e, Pittston, Plymouth and Hanover, in this order. Three full shares in each township were devoted to religion, education and charity. These townships were afterwards called Hanover. Plymouth, Kingston, WilkesBarre and Pittston. Upon the arrival of the first 40 from Connecticut, they found the

valley already occupied by representatives of the proprietary government of Pennsyl vania, who were authorized to lay out two manors, one on either side of the Susquehanna, the Manor of Stoke and the Manor of Sunbury. They were given leases on tracts of land, were to establish a trading post with the Indians, encourage immigration and expel intruders, the latter term, of course, applying to settlers from Connecticut. When the first 40 arrived they found the Pennsylvanians located at the mouth of Mill Creek, in buildings which had been erected six years before by the Connecticut people whom the Indians had murdered or expelled. Finding the enemy in possession the Connecticut 40. who arrived in February, 1769, constructed a stockade across the river and named it for their number, Forty Fort. A little later it was determined to expel the Pennamites and they accordingly surrounded the block house and demanded a surrender, in the name of Connecticut. Their demand was met with a request for a conference, and the Connecticut men, unsuspicious of treachery sent Messrs. Tripp, Elderkin and Follett into the blockhouse. They were immediately seized and taken to the Easton jail, their 37 associates accompanying of their own accord. They were immediately bailed out, returned to Wyoming and inaugurated the famous "Pennamite and Yankee War," which continued for thirty years, in terrupted in part only by the Revolutionary War. Mr. Jenkins is authority for the statement that the Pennamites undoubtedly instigated the attack on Wroming to clean out the settlers and get possession of the lands.

The following list of the first 40 settlers is from the MSS. collection of Hon. Steuben Jenkins of Wyoming:

A list of the Proprietors or first Forty of Kingston:

Benjamin Shumaker, Isaac Tripp,
Stephen Gardner,

John Jenkins,

Benjamin Follet, Zebulon Butler, Thomas Dyer, Nathaniel Wales, Committee. Samuel Gaylord, Joseph Frink, Stephen Harding, Stephen Jenkins, Ezra Belding, Timothy Smith, Thomas Bennett, Elijah Shoemaker. Peter Harris, Parshal Terry, Elijah Buck, Nathan Denison,

On Vine Elderkin's right, accepted Isaac Warner.

On Joshua Hall's right, accepted John Perkins.

Ou Peter Harris' right, accepted Elijah Harris.

On Nathan Walsworth's right, accepted Joseph Walter.

On Allen Wightman's Douglass Woodworth.

right, accepted

On Cyprian Lathrop's right, accepted Palmer Jenkins.

On Stephen Harding's right, accepted Israel Jones.

On Henry Dow Tripp's.

Timothy Peirce, occupied by John Peirce. Asahel Atherton, accepted James Atherton.

Samuel Gaylord, accepted Timothy Gaylord.

The above is a true list or roll of the Forty first settlers on the West Side of the Easternmost Branch of Susquehanna River as I was ordered By the Committee to Return ye same to Maj. Dorkee, President at WilkesBarry. Test.

ANDREW METCALF, clerk to said forty. June ye 28, 1770.

[Note by S. J.: The names of Nathan Walsworth, Allen Wightman, Elias Roberts, Zerrubbable Jerroms, Henry Dow Tripp were erased by two lines being drawn across them. Their names, so far as they appear again, are given above.]

Forty-five years ago the old stage driven by Alex. and George Kenner, ran up one day from Wilkes-Barre to Carbondale and down the next, carrying at no time more than half a dozen passengers. Now six first-class passenger trains run daily between Scranton and Carbondale well filled. What a change! -Scranton Republican.

That recalls a remark made by Hon. Victor E. Piollet in a speech at the recent opening of the Lehigh Valley RR. Co.'s Vosburg Tunnel. He said that when Asa Packer was projecting the road the objection was made that there was a canal which was sufficient to carry all the coal from the Wyoming Valley and a stage line from Wilkes-Barre to Philadelphia which was ample to carry all the passengers who wanted to go-therefore what hope could there be that an expensive thing like a railroad could be maintained! To-day the Lehigh Valley has 19 passenger trains daily leaving its magnificent station in Wilkes-Barre, to say nothing of the freight and coal trains.

In 1782, Mary Pritchard was fined five shillings for going away from her residence unnecessarily on the Sabbath day.

THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY. Mrs. M. L. T. Hartman Reads a Paper on Lower Luzerne-A Map of Sullivan's Campaign Presented-Other Valuable Donations.

The quarterly meeting of the Wyoming Historical and Geological Society, was held December 10, Judge Dana presiding, and the following ladies and gentlemen, among others, being in attendance:

Judge Loop, C. Parsons, O. A. Parsons, S. Reynolds, O. C. Hillard, Hon. C. D. and Mrs. Foster, Miss Emily Alexander, Miss McClintock, M. H. Post, Dr. and Mrs. Ingham, G. H. Butler, Charles J. Long, Frank Phelps, R. Sharpe, W. S. Monroe, Rev. H. G. Miller, G. R. Bedford, Hon. J. R. Wright, John Reichard, Edward Welles, Miss Geraldine Culver, J. E. Patterson, C. Morgan, Jr., W. H. and Mrs. Brown, F. C. Johnson.

Secretary J. Ridgway Wright read the minutes as also from the RECORD the account of the adjourned meeting of the society held in the court house on the occasion of the celebration of the centennial of Luzerne County.

A long list of contributions were acknowledged, among them the following:

Cabinet-Indian implements, thong dresser, hammer stone, pitted stone, Sheldon Reynolds; arrow and spear points, H. C. Wilson, Mt. Vernon, O.; Trinidad asphalt, Dr. C. F. Ingham; Brinton Coxe, old prints.

Library-Rev. C. B. Bradee, Lyman H. Lowe, Hon. J. A. Scranton, Commissioners of State Survey, American Museum of Natural History, C. J. Hoadley, F. C. JohnBon, Col. Reynolds, Hon. E. L. Dana, Essex Institute, American Geographical Society, New Jersey Historical Society, RECORD exchanges containing historical articles, John S. McGroarty, A. E. Foote, Laurence Francia Flick, Ed. Ruch, H. H. Harvey, Kansas Historical Society, AmeriCatholic Historical Society, Newport Historical Society, Wm. J. Buck, Glasgow Archaeological Society, Australian Museum, E. F. Duren, Smithsonian Institution, Canadian Institute, Hon. Steuben Jenkins, G. B. Kulp, Public Opinion, Science, Will S. Monroe, Rhode Island Historical Society, Library Bureau, W. P. Ryman, W. P. Miner, Royal Academy of History Belles Lettres and Antiquity, Sweden, and the several government publications, of which the society's library is a depository.

can

Among the publications of interest was a catalogue of autographs belonging to estate of the late Lewis J. Cist, Vol. 13 of the Colonial Records of Connecticut, pamphlet on Indian methods of arrow release, "Huguenots on the Hackensack," description of the Frances Slocum relics, Buck's "History of the Indian Walk," Historical Record,

"Jenkins Family of Rhode Island," pamphlet on cannibalism among American Indians (by Gen. C. W. Darling, Utica, N. Y.), a newspaper published by the Ojibway Indians.

The contributions of Brinton Coxe, Esq., president of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, include the following: Fac simile of an authentic silhouette of Washington, life size; original political caricature published in 1774, relating to throwing the tea overboard in Boston harbor; fac simile of the first royal proclamation relating to Pennsylvania, April 2, 1681; an old broadside of 1788: "observations by the committee of the landholders on the utility and importance of the roads proposed to be laid open in Northampton and Luzerne," from the papers of Tench Coxe, one of the Philadelphia committee.

Judge Dana spoke of a brief correspondence with Gen. John S. Clarke, of Auburn, N. Y., relation to the old Sullivan Road. Gen. Clark informed the society of some interesting details of the route in the Wyoming region, and offered to furnish a copy of a pamphlet on the subject at a slight expense. Gen. Clarke referred also to the death of Jones and Davis on the road near Laurel Run. His letter was accompanied by a fac simile map of the route of Gen. Sullivan's army from Easton to a point 20 miles above Wilkes-Barre, Buttermilk Falls. The

map WAS made by one of Sullivan's officers, Lieut. Lodge, and gives considerable detail as to streams, mountains, settlements, etc. It is copied from the archives of the New York Historical Society and is one of a series of five maps covering the entire route of the Sullivan expedition. They will be reproduced by the State of New York and 5,000 copies printed to accompany the history of the Sullivan campaign now being prepared in minute detail at the expense of the Common wealth of New York.

The following gentlemen were elected to membership: Resident. Joseph D. Coons. Edwin Shortz, Rev. W. F. Watkins, Jr. Corresponding, Col. J. A. Price, W. A. Wilcox, Scranton; Dr. D. G. Brinton, Wm. A. Darlington, Philadelphia; Gen. C. W. Darling, Utica, N. Y.; Dr. Walter J. Hoffman, Washington, D. C.

At this point Mrs. Hartman read an admirable paper on the Huntington Valley portion of Luzerne County. It was a patriotic tribute to John Franklin, who figured so prominently in Wyoming history, of which we give a synopsis on page 67 of this issue. Mrs. Hartman also gave some statistics as to the agricultural and other resources of Huntington, together with an excellent poem of her own composition. Upon taking her seat Mrs. Hartman was warmly applauded and a vote of thanks passed.

Dr. Ingham offered a resolution that a committee be appointed to consult (in conjunction with the trustees) with the trustees of the proposed Osterhout building, with reference to the quarters that are intended to be provided in that building for the Historical Society. The chair appointed Calvin Parsons, Edward Welles and William P. Miner.

Judge Dana, as meteorologist of the city, submitted a detailed report for the last three mouths. In September the average temperature was 65, as compared with 60 in 1885 and 66.7 in 1886. The rain fall was 4 48 inches, as compared with 1.24 inches in 1885 and 1.66 inches in 1884.

October, average temperature 52, 50 in 1885 and 53.5 in 1884. Rain fall 296 inches in 1886, 4.45 in 1885 and 3.44 in 1884.

November, average temperature 35, 40 in 1885 and 35% in 1884. Rain fall 5.84 inches in 1886, 5.22 in 1885 and 3.28 in 1884.

These figures show the present year (Sept., Oct. and Nov.) to have been much wetter than its two predecessors, the ngures being 13.28 inches in 1886, 10.91 in 1885 and 8.38 in 1884.

Adjournment was than had until the aunual meeting in February. Many of the visitors remained and inspected the map of the Sullivan Road and the several contributions.

Early Days in Wayne County.

A new history of Wayne County is being published. The Honesdale Herald gives some gleanings therefrom, a few of which we copy as being of local interest:

Daniel Skinner and others were the pioneer white settlers in Wayne County, settling at Cochecton in 1757.

The first road opened through Wayne County was cut 1762 by the Connecticut settlers going to Wyoming. The second was the old North and South road, extending through our western townships from Monroe County to the north line of the State. The former was opened in 1762 and the latter in 1788.

Dr. Lewis Collins, of Cherry Ridge, was Wayne's first resident physician. He was born in Connecticut in 1753 and died at Cherry Ridge in 1818.

Ebenezer Kingsbury, Jr., from 1883 to 1840 proprietor of the Wayne County Herald, was State Senator from 1838 to 1842; Howkin B. Beardslee, another of its editors, was Senator from 1865 to 1868. Thomas J. Hubbell, another editor, and H. B. Beardslee were both members of the Legislature; and Warren J. Woodward, still another, was subsequently a Judge f the Supreme Court.

Col. Sam. Hunter on the Situation. [The writer of the following letter was Col. Samuel Hunter of Northumberland County, and the reference to the Wyoming people induces me to send it forward for the HISTORICAL RECORD. Col. Hunter was a notable man. He resided on the site of Fort Augusta (Sunbury) which he owned; was justice of the peace, Member of Assembly prior to the Revolution, colonel of one of the Northumberland County associated battalions, and county lieutenant during the trying days of the struggle for independence. He died in 1784. The letter was to "Mr. Owen Biddle. Merchant, Philadelphia." W. H. E.]

Fort Augusta, 16th October 1775

Sir: As I came to Lancaster I was informed the situation our County was in for want of Ammunition, which made me aply to the Committee of Lancaster County for three Hundret w't of Gun Powder and nine Hundred w't of Lead, and so far prevail'd on them to let me have the above Quantity, by Giveing them an Order on the Committee of Safety for the Province, to allow them so much out of the Quantity alow'd for the County Northumberland. What indused me to give such an Order was what you told me that evening I left Town, that you thought Our County should have some Ammunition, and I think there is no time we stand more in need of the like, when our Properties is invaded by a diferent Colony, Especially at these times of General Calamity. When we should unite as one in the General cause of liberty.

I am S'r

your most Obed't Humble Serv't To Owen Biddle. SAM'L HUNTER

The Historical Record. In a letter from Caleb E. Wright, Esq., Doylestown, formerly of Wilkes-Barre, that gentleman writes: "I like your monthly. Such a publication was needed and should have been started at an earlier date. Send me all the numbers as I desire to bind them."

Mr. C. F. Hill writes from Hazleton: "Send me Nos. 1 and 2, as I intend to pr serve and bind them, and I want the work complete. I hope you will give the Historical Record your best attention and push it. There is a world of unpublished history of the Revolutionary frontier of Pennsylvania which included the North and West Branches of the Susquehanna River, and every citizen in this terribly scourged frontier is interested in its early history, much of which now lives only in tradition. I am preparing some history for the RECORD, much of which has never appeared in print and will forward as soon as I can verify certain matters as to names and dates."