[8] Minutes, General Assembly, March 19, 1756.
[9] Minutes, General Assembly, Mar. 23, 1758.
[10] Minutes, General Assembly, Nov. 29th, 1765.
[11] Doc. Rel. Col. Hist. N. Y., VII, 759.
[12] Doc. Rel. Col. Hist. N. Y., VII, 767.
EARLY DAYS IN LUZERNE COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA (1805-1845)
[Excerpts from an address by the late W. P. Ryman, Esq., of Wilkes-Barré, Pa., before the Wyoming Historical and Geological Society.]
THE EARLIEST SETTLERS AND THEIR IMPROVEMENTS
The difficulties of settling Dallas township were very great. It was comparatively an easy thing to cut a path or road along the banks of Toby’s Creek and find a way even to its source, but to settle there alone, many miles from any clearing, and meet the wolves, bears and other wild animals, which were terrible realities in those early days, saying nothing of the still pending dread of the prowling Indian, was a very serious undertaking.
When a small boy I heard Mr. Charles Harris, then an old man, tell some of his early recollections, which ran back to about the time of the battle and massacre of Wyoming. He told us of the Indians who once came into the house where he and his mother were alone and demanded food. There being nothing better they roasted a pumpkin before the fire and scraped it off and ate it as fast as it became soft with cooking. He also told us about his father’s first settling on the westerly side of Kingston Mountain at what is still known as the “Harris Settlement” about two miles north of Trucksville. He said that his father worked all the first day felling trees and building a cabin. Night came on before the cabin could be inclosed. With the darkness came a pack of wolves, and, to protect his family, Mr. Harris built a fire and sat up all night to keep it burning. The wolves were dazed and would not come near a fire, and when daylight came they disappeared. To pass one night under such circumstances required bravery, but to stay, build a house, clear a farm and raise a family with such terrors constantly menacing exhibited a courage that commands our highest esteem.