Description
Meginness, John. The Early History of Lycoming County, Pennsylvania: Its Aboriginal History, The Colonial and Revolutionary Periods Through Its Early Settlement and Organization as a County in 1795. Chapters 1 -13 from the History of Lycoming County, Pennsylvania by John Meginness: Chicago (1892). (Lewisburg, PA: Wennawoods Publishing, 2005) – Ronald & Kristen Wenning, ed.
Duodecimo. 206 pages. Softcover.
Condition: VG+ Clean and tight. Please forgive the shadow in the photos.
“That portion of Lycoming County lying north of the Muncy Hills, and westward along the river to the Indian lands above Lycoming Creek, was the theater of many sanguinary conflicts during the Colonial and Revolutionary periods, and in that territory there is scarcely a square mile that was not baptized in fire and blood. Hostile bands of savages frequently descended from the north, killed and scalped scores of settlers, carried many into captivity who were unable to escape, destroyed their improvements, and burned their cabins. It was here that the great panic, or Big Runaway, occurred in 1778, which stands without parallel in the annals of pioneer settlements. So wrote John Meginness in 1892 as he set to work in writing the History of Lycoming County.
“His work involved the examination of hundreds of official letters and reports found in the archives of the State, and the consultation of numerous authorities and musty court records. Meginness long experience in journalistic and historical effort was a guarantee to the public that the work would be faithfully performed, and it is believed that he made it as thorough, exhaustive, and accurate as possible.
“According to Dr. George Donehoo, in his 1928 edition of A History of the Indian Villages and Place Names in Pennsylvania, the word Lycoming is a corruption of the Delaware word Legaui-hanne, meaning a Sandy Stream. Originally a part of Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, Lycoming County covered a vast territory. From this magnificent domain the following counties were, in whole or in part, formed: Armstrong, Bradford, Centre, Clearfield, Clinton, Indiana, Jefferson, McKean, Potter, Sullivan, Tioga, Venango, and Warren and since then several sub-divisions have been made, such as Forest, Elk, and Cameron. To give the reader a better idea of the extent of that original territory, its area may be roughly estimated at about 12,000 square miles or about one-quarter of the land area of Pennsylvania.
“Today Lycoming County is still of considerable size, 1,215.5 square miles to be exact, and is the largest county in Pennsylvania. From northwest in Brown township diagonally southeast to Jordan township, Lycoming is over 100+ miles across and larger in size than the state of Rhode Island. And even though early explorer Conrad Weiser and his party traveling up the Lycoming Creek Valley to the Indian Council at Onondaga (New York) complained that the forest is so dense that for a day the sun could not be seen, and so thick that you could not see twenty feet before, Lycoming County today is still over 75% forested.
“From her earliest Indian history dating back over 10,000 years ago, Lycoming County has seen many early explorers, Indian leaders, missionaries to the Indians, Indian agents, Pioneers and Indian Fighters come and go across her land. We hear our mountains still calling out their names; Brule, Montour, Weiser, Heckewelder, Brady, Pence, Antes. Many stories of her early history remain a mystery today.
“Though a part of Lycoming s heritage may still be shrouded in mystery, there s much about her early history we find intriguing and fascinating. We know her earliest inhabitants fought in wars as profound as the French and Indian War and the American Revolution and experienced on her soil the lesser known Pennamite and Sawdust Wars.
“ABOUT WENNAWOODS PUBLISHING
“It all started with a dream, preserving America s 17th and 18th century Eastern Frontier history. Beginning in the fall of 1994, our first books, Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania and Indian Wars of Pennsylvania became instant hits and today we are one the largest publisher and seller of books on 17th and 18th century Eastern Frontier History. As a small family business consisting of Ron and Kris Wenning and our son Scott, we have turned our love of early American . . .” – rear cover blurb.
