ley, a long canoe-shaped trough, extends up into the western corner of the county. The principal streams are the Juniata river, and Tuscarora cr., Licking cr., Lost cr., and Cocalamus cr., tributaries of the Juniata; and West Mahantango, which empties into the Susquehanna.

The slate and limestone valleys are fertile; the mountains are precipitous, broken, and generally sterile; but their sides are covered with a thick forest. Iron-ore is found in the county, but the greater proportion of the iron manufactories of Mifflin were not within the present bounds of Juniata co. The principal branch of business is agriculture. The population is composed of the descendants of Germans and Irish, who were the early settlers. The Pennsylvania canal and the Huntingdon turnpike pass along the left bank of the Juniata. Near Tuscarora cr., some ten miles from Mifflin, there are said to be the remains of an ancient Indian fortification and mound.

The first settlements in Tuscarora Valley were made by Scotch Irish, from the Cumberland Valley, about the year 1749. At that day the slate lands bordering the mountains, watered by clear and copious springs, were more esteemed than the limestone lands, where the waters sunk beneath the surface, and expensive wells were consequently required. The adventurous pioneers, therefore, extended their researches over the mountains, and discovered the rich and well-watered valleys along the Juniata. In 1833, at the circuit court sitting at Mifflin, an important lawsuit was tried, involving the title to a farm of 300 or 400 acres of the best land in Tuscarora Valley, about 6 miles from Mifflin. The farm was in controversy for about 50 years, before various courts at Carlisle and Lewistown. It is known among lawyers as the Grey property case, reported in 10 Sergeant and Rawle, page 182. Many of the facts given in evidence are interesting as elucidating the history of the times; and the whole case, with the amusing scenes that occurred at the trials, and the marked originality of many of the principal personages, would constitute an excellent theme for an historical novel. The following statement of the case is derived, partly, from a sketch by Samuel Creigh, Esq., published in Hazard's Register, and partly from verbal conversation with a number of the eminent counsel in the case.

Robert Hagg, Samuel Bigham, (or Bingham,) James Grey, and John Grey, were the four first settlers in Tuscarora valley, and the first white men who came across Tuscarora mountain, about the year 1749. They cleared some land, and built a fort, afterwards called Bigham's fort. Some time in 1756, John Grey and another person went to Carlisle with pack-horses, to purchase salt as Grey was returning, on the declivity of the mountain, a bear crossed his path and frightened his horse, which threw him off. He was detained some hours by this accident; and when he arrived at the fort, he found it had just been burned, and every person in it either killed or taken prisoner by the Indians. His wife, and only daughter, three years old, were gone,-also Innis's wife and children. A man by the name of George Woods (he was the father-in-law of Mr. Ross, who ran for governor, and afterwards lived in Bedford) was taken outside the fort, with a number of others.

John Grey joined Col. Armstrong's expedition against Kittanning in the autumn of that same year, in hopes of hearing from his family. The hardships of the campaign prostrated his health, and he returned to Bucks co., his original home, only to die. He left a will giving to his wife one half his farm and to his daughter the other half, if they returned from captivity. If his daughter did not return, or was not alive, he gave the other half to his sister, who had a claim against him of £13, which she was to release.

In the mean time, George Woods, Mrs. Grey and her child, with the others, were taken across the mountains to Kittanning, then an Indian village, and afterwards delivered to the French commander of Fort Duquesne. Woods was noted for his gallantry, and during their captivity at Fort Duquesne he represented to Mrs. Grey how much better married than single persons fared

among the Indians, and proposed a match. Mrs. Grey had no inclination for a partnership in misfortune, and peremptorily declined. Woods was given to an Indian by the name of Hutson; and Mrs. Grey and her child were taken charge of by others, and carried into Canada. About a year after the burning of the fort, Mrs. Grey concealed herself among some deerskins in the wagon of a white trader, and was brought off, leaving her daughter still in captivity. She returned home, proved her husband's will, and took possession of her half the property. She afterwards married a Mr. Enoch Williams, by whom, however, she had no issue. Some seven years after her escape, in 1764, a treaty was made with the Indians, by the conditions of which a number of captive children were surrendered, and brought to Philadelphia, to be recognised and claimed by their friends. Mrs. Grey attended, but no child appeared that she recognised as her dear little Jane. Still, there was one of about the same age whom no one claimed. Some one conversant with the conditions of John Grey's will, slyly whispered to her to claim this child for the purpose of holding the other half of the property. She did so, and brought up the child as her own-carefully retaining the secret, as well as a woman could. Time wore away, and the girl grew up, gross and ugly in her person, awkward in her manners, and, as events proved, loose in her morals. With all these attainments, however, she contrived to captivate one Mr. Gillespie, who married her. A Scotch-Irish clergyman of the Seceder persuasion, by the name of McKee, became quite intimate with Gillespie, and either purchased the property in question from him, or had so far won his good graces, that he bequeathed it to him. The clergyman made over the property to one of his nephews, of the same name. The clergyman had also a brother, McKee, who, with his wife, was a resident of Tuscarora Valley. His wife, "old Mrs. McKee," was a prominent witness in the subsequent trials. After a lapse of years, the children of James Grey, heirs of John Grey's sister, got hold of some information leading them to doubt the identity of the returned captive; and the lawsuits consequent upon such a state of things were speedily brought, about the year 1789. It would literally "puzzle a Philadelphia lawyer" to describe the multiform and complicated phases which the case assumed during a legal contest of more than 50 years, and would besides throw no light upon the history of the valley. The Williamses, the Greys, the McKees, all claimed an interest by inheritance,-to say nothing of the Beales, the Norrises, and others who had bought into the property, and several lawyers with large contingent fees. Many of the facts stated above were elicited during the examinations, although some of them were not admitted by the court as legal testimony.

Mrs. Grey (or Mrs. Williams) said that when they were crossing Sideling hill she had examined the child Jane, and found a mark on her by which she had been able to recognise her. Mr. Innis was one of the captives, and remained with the Indians until the treaty; and when one day he chided Mrs. Williams for keeping a child not her own, she replied, "You know why I keep this girl." Mrs. Innis told her that her daughter was not returned, that this was a German girl, and could not talk English when she came to Montreal. Mrs. Innis herself had lost three children. One the Indians put under the ice because it was sick-the other two she got. One of these a gentleman of Philadelphia had, and refused to give it up, until Innis proved the child his by a private mark. Mrs. Williams said to one witness, "No, that is not my daughter, but George Woods knows where my daughter is, and has promised to get her." The real daughter, however, never was recovered.

Old Mrs. McKee, the principal living witness at a number of trials, and who spoke with a rich Irish brogue, on one occasion became quite garrulous, and entered largely into the history of the valley, to the great amusement of the court. Among other things, she described the spurious girl as "a big black ugly Dutch lump, and not to be compared to the beautiful Jenny Grey." Her historical developments so much interested one of the jury at Lewistown, an old settler himself, that he-forgetting the restraints of a juryman-sent for the old lady to come to his room at the hotel, and enter more at large into "the days of auld lang syne." The old man was a little deaf, and the old lady's loud voice could be heard throughout the house. One of the counsel, whose side of the case wore rather a discouraging aspect, overheard the old lady; and the next morning exposed the poor juryman, amidst a roar of laughter from the court and the bar. The case of course had to be ordered for trial before another jury. The following is the deposition of George Woods, written by him, or at his dictation, at Bedford, in 1789, but never sworn to. It was not without great resistance on the part of counsel, that the facts were introduced as testimony. The case was finally decided in 1833 or '34, against the identity of the adopted child, and the property vested accordingly.

"Personally appeared, &c., &c., &c., George Woods, and saith, that about 12th or 13th of June, 1756, he was taken by the Indians in the settlement of the Tuscarora, in the county aforesaid, [of Mifflin,] and that the wife of John Grey and his daughter Jane, and others, were taken at same time;-that we were all carried to the Kittanning town on the Allegheny river,-and there divided among the Indians,-and some time in the month of July then next, the said Indians delivered me, together with Jane Grey, to a certain Indian named John Hutson; which said Indian took me and the said Jane Grey to Pittsburg, then in possession of the French; and after some days the Indian Hutson delivered me to the French governor Mons. Duquesne; from which time I heard nothing of the said Jane Grey until the winter after Stump killed the Indians up

Susquehanna; at which time I found out the said Indian called John Hutson, who informed me that little Janey Grey was then a fine big girl, and lived near Sir William Johnson's-which information I gave to Hannah Grey, mother of the said Jane Grey.

"At same time Hannah Grey showed me a girl she had taken out from the prisoners released by Col. Bouquet for her own child.

"I then informed the said Hannah that the child she had taken was not her own child-said Hannah requested me not to mention that before the girl she had taken, for that, if she never got her own, she wished not to let the one she had know any thing of her not being her own child. Some time in the same year Col. George Croghan came to my house. I informed him the account I had got from John Hutson. He, Mr. Croghan, informed me that the Indian's informa. tion was true, and that he got the said Jane Grey from the said Indian; and had put her into a good family to be brought up ;-all which I informed the said Hannah,-and this-summer-was-athree-years the said John Hutson, and his son, came to my house at Bedford and stayed some time. I inquired about little Janey, as he called the child he had got with me-he informed me little Janey was now a fine woman, had a fine house and fine children, and lived near Sir William Johnson's seat, to the northward. I am clear that the girl Mrs. Hannah Grey showed me she had taken for her child was not the daughter of John Grey-and further saith not." Dated June, 1789-never sworn to-used in 1815, 1817-Mifflin county.

Besides the settlers mentioned in the report of the Grey case, others settled in the Tuscarora valley after quiet was restored to the frontier; among them were Messrs. Grimes, Scott, Patterson, Casner, Wilson and Matthew Law, Ralph Sterret, and Robert Campbell. William Patterson settled at the mouth of Tuscarora valley, opposite Mexico, and owned a large tract of that fine land at the foot of the mountain, now occupied by the Strausses and Keplers. Patterson was a bold, energetic man. He built the first mill below Millerstown, afterwards swept away by a flood. The Indians always feared him. He erected a blockhouse, about the time of, or soon after, Braddock's war, (1755.) It is still standing, in the farmyard of Mr. Strauss, performing the peaceful duty of a corn-crib. It is about 12 feet square, 8 logs high, and formerly had a slate roof to guard against fire. The chinks were stopped with stone, and the rifle-holes cut with a flare towards the inside and small outside, to admit of pointing a rifle in any direction. Before the blockhouse was built, an attempt was made to dig a cellar just opposite Mexico, a little above Mr. Strauss's; but the Indians came down on the point of the little ridge overlooking the spot, and shot the workmen, who abandoned the site. The ruins remain, and a large walnut-tree, nearly 20 inches in diameter, is growing out of them. There was a most sanguinary battle on the river bank, a little above Mr. Strauss's, between two tribes of Indians. It originated in a quarrel between the Indian children, about some grasshoppers, and was known as the grasshopper war. Greater nations have warred for objects equally important. Philip Strauss and Mr. Kepler, grandfathers of the present generation, settled here before the revolution.

It is said that Hugh Hardy, a Scotch-Irishman, was settled up Licking cr., at an early day. The whites had a fort near the mouth of Licking cr. valley, called Campbell's fort, which is now obliterated. It is related that, long after the settlement of the whites, the friendly Indians used to encamp on Licking cr., near where Mr. Peter Sheetz now resides, where they would sometimes amuse themselves by shooting at a mark; and that when they had exhausted their bullets, they often went down somewhere near the mouth of Licking cr., and returned shortly after with plenty of lead, nearly pure; which led the whites to suspect the existence of leadmines in that region. An old Indian used occasionally to come down and talk about a silver-mine, in a ridge near Mifflin, on the opposite side of the river; but as the whites never found it, and the Indian had his living

free as long as he kept up their credulity, it is presumed the mine only produced silver for himself. Most of these Indian stories about precious mines are "an auld wife's fable." The best mines yet opened in Juniata co. are on those lands that yield 25 to 30 bushels of wheat to the acre. MIFFLIN, the county seat, occupies an elevated site on the left bank of the Juniata, commanding an extensive view of the neighboring mountains and valleys. Since the establishment of the county, the place has improved rapidly. The new county buildings are pleasantly located on rising ground, with a public square in front. The view annexed was

taken from the opposite side of the river. A neat and substantial bridge is seen crossing the river. One of the churches is seen on the extreme left, near the canal. The courthouse is in the centre, and the other two churches on each side. The academy is also seen at the end of the street leading from the bridge. The churches are Presbyterian, Methodist, and Lutheran. The Pennsylvania canal passes along the river bank, and the Huntingdon turnpike passes through the town. A thriving trade is carried on here with the rich valleys adjacent. Mifflin was laid out about the year 1791, by John Harris. Among the first settlers here were John Watson, Samuel Bryson, (presiding judge,) Samuel and Alexander Jackson, James Knox, James Ramsay.

This

THOMPSONTOWN is a flourishing village nine miles below Mifflin, on the left bank of the Juniata. It contains about 50 or 60 dwellings. place was laid out after Mifflin, probably about the year 1800.

MEXICO is a small village on the canal, four miles below Mifflin, containing some 40 or 50 dwellings.

PERRYSVILLE is a smart little village of neat white houses, recently built on the right bank of the Juniata, at the mouth of Licking and Tuscarora creeks, two and a half miles below Mifflin. A splendid bridge here crosses the river. After passing the town, the river sweeps majestically round to the left, washing the base of the lofty ridge that diverts its course. TAMMANYTOWN, an older village, lies on the other side of Tuscarora cr., about a mile above.

WATERFORD and WATERLOO are small villages on Tuscarora cr., near the southwestern corner of the county.

CALHOUNSVILLE and RIDGEVILLE are in the northeastern section of the county; the latter is embosomed among the mountains, on West Mahantango cr.

LANCASTER COUNTY.

LANCASTER COUNTY was separated from Chester by the act of 10th May, 1729, being the first county established subsequent to the three original counties of Chester, Bucks, and Philadelphia. Its boundaries then comprised "all the province lying to the northward of Octararo cr., and westward of a line of marked trees running from the north branch of the said Octararo cr. northeasterly to the river Schuylkill." It has been gradually reduced to its present limits by the establishment of York, Cumberland, Berks, Northumberland, Dauphin, and Lebanon. Length 33 m., breadth 28; area 928 sq. m. Population in 1790, 36,141; in 1800, 43,043; in 1810, 53,927; in 1820, 68,336; in 1830, 76,631; in 1840, 84,203.

The general surface of the county is that of a gently undulating plain, interrupted by a few abrupt elevations. The South mountain, here known as the Conewago hills, forms the northern boundary; to that succeeds a broad belt of red-shale and sandstone. South of this, and occupying the central township, is a wide tract of the finest limestone lands in the state. A few high sandstone ridges, Chiques ridge, and the Welsh mountain, are protruded through the limestone. Another broken sandstone range, composed of Mine ridge, Martick hills, and Turkey hill, crosses south of the limestone; and the southern portion of the county is principally composed of primitive talc-slate, producing rather a sterile soil. On the Susquehanna river, near Peach-bottom ferry, slate is quarried on both sides of the river. The limestone of the "Great valley" of Chester co. extends across the boundary into Sadsbury and Bart townships.

There is perhaps no county in the state possessing such an amount and variety of the sources of natural wealth, and none where these resources have been more industriously developed. The Susquehanna, naturally navigable, and improved on both sides by artificial canals, flows, for 40 miles, along the S. W. boundary of the co. The Conestoga and Pequea creeks, with their numerous branches, drain the centre; the other important streams are Conewango and Chiques creeks on the northwest, Conewingo and Octararo creeks on the south and southeast. These streams, with their public improvements, afford a vast amount of water

power.

This co. has long been proverbial for excellent turnpikes and substantial stone bridges. There are turnpikes from Lancaster to Philadelphia(constructed as early as 1792-94, at an expense of $465,000)—to Harrisburg, to Columbia, to Morgantown, and one from Chester co. through Ephrata to Harrisburg. There are also many excellent common roads, of which the Strasburg road is the most celebrated, having been formerly the great route of communication with the Susquehanna. The Columbia