lish?" "Not a word." "Did she know her age?" "No-had no idea of it." "But was she entirely ignorant?" "Sir, she didn't know when Sunday comes!" This was indeed the consummation of ignorance in a descendant of the Puritans!

But what a picture for a painter would the inside of that cabin have afforded? Here were the children of civilization, respectable, temperate, intelligent, and wealthy, able to overcome mountains to recover their sister. There was the child of the forest, not able to tell the day of the week, whose views and feelings were all confined to that cabin. Her whole history might be told in a word. She lived with the Delawares who carried her off till grown up, and then married a Delaware. He either died or ran away, and she then married a Miami Indian, a chief, as I believe. She has two daughters, both of whom are married, and who live in all the glory of an Indian cabin, deerskin clothes, and cowskin head-dresses. No one of the family can speak a word of English. They have horses in abundance, and when the Indian sister wanted to accompany her new relatives, she whipped out, bridled her horse, and then, a la Turk, mounted astride, and was off. At night she could throw a blanket around her, down upon the floor, and at once be asleep.

The brothers and sister tried to persuade their lost sister to return with them, and, if she desired it, bring her children. They would transplant her again to the banks of the Susquehanna, and of their wealth make her home happy. But no. She had always lived with the Indians; they had always been kind to her, and she had promised her late husband on his death-bed, that she would never leave the Indians. And there they left her and hers, wild and darkened heathen, though sprung from a pious race. You can hardly imagine how much this brother is interested for her. He intends this autumn to go again that long journey to see his tawny sister-to carry her presents, and perhaps will petition congress that, if these Miamis are driven off, there may be a tract of land reserved for his sister and her descendants. His heart yearns with an indescribable tenderness for the poor helpless one, who, sixty-one years ago, was torn from the arms of her mother. Mysterious Providence! How wonderful the tie which can thus bind a family together with a chain so strong!

I will only add that nothing has ever been heard of the boy Kingsley. The probability cer tainly is, that he is not living. This account I had from the lips of Mr. Slocum, the brother, and the same who was two and a half years old when little Frances was carried away.

[Frances' second husband was known among his tribe as "the deaf-man," and the village where she lives is called Deaf-man's village. The United States, by treaty, has granted her a rich reserve of land. Her son-in-law, Capt. Brouillette, is a half-breed, of French extraction, and one of the noblest-looking men of his tribe. The whole family are highly respectable among their nation, and live well, having a great abundance of the comforts of Indian life. The Miami nation has recently agreed to move beyond the Mississippi.]

In the summer of 1779, Gen. Sullivan passed through Wyoming, with his army from Easton, on his memorable expedition against the country of the Six Nations. As they passed the fort amid the firing of salutes, with their arms gleaming in the sun, and their hundred and twenty boats arranged in regular order on the river, and their two thousand packhorses in single file, they formed a military display surpassing any yet seen on the Susquehanna, and well calculated to make a deep impression on the minds of the savages. Having ravaged the country on the Genesee, and laid waste the Indian towns, Gen. Sullivan returned to Wyoming in October, and thence to Easton. But the expedition had neither intimidated the savages nor prevented their incursions. During the remainder of the war they seemed to make it their special delight to scourge the valley; they stole into it in small parties-blood and desolation marking their track.

In the spring (March) of 1784, the settlers of Wyoming were compelled again to witness the desolation of their homes by a new cause. The winter had been unusually severe, and on the breaking up of the ice in the spring, the Susquehanna rose with great rapidity; the immense masses of loose ice from above continued to lodge on that which was still firm at the lower end of the valley; a gorge was formed, and one general inundation overspread the plains of Wyoming. The inhabitants took refuge on the surrounding heights, many being rescued from the roofs of their floating houses. At length a gorge at the upper end of the valley

1

gave way, and huge masses of ice were scattered in every direction, which remained a great portion of the ensuing summer. The deluge broke the gorge below with a noise like that of contending thunderstorms, and houses, barns, stacks of hay and grain, cattle, sheep, and swine, were swept off in the rushing torrent. A great scarcity of provisions followed the flood, and the sufferings of the inhabitants were aggravated by the plunder and persecution of the Pennamite soldiers quartered among them. Gov. Dickinson represented their sufferings to the legislature with a recommendation for relief, but in vain. This was known as the ice flood; another, less disastrous, which occurred in 1787, was called the pumpkin flood, from the fact that it strewed the lower valley of the Susquehanna with the pumpkins of the unfortunate Yankees.

After the peace with Great Britain, the old controversy on the subject of land titles was renewed, and soon grew into a civil war. This war, like the old one, was marked by sieges of forts; capitulations made only to be broken; seizures by sheriffs; lynching-in which Col. Timothy Pickering suffered some; petitions, remonstrances, and memorials. Capt. Armstrong, afterwards general, and secretary of war, figured as commander of one of the forts or expeditions on the Pennsylvania side. The opposite parties in that war were known by the nicknames of Pennamites on one side, and Connecticut boys or Yankees on the other. (For an account of the close of the controversy the reader is referred to page 44 of this volume.)

WILKESBARRE, the seat of justice of Luzerne co., derived its peculiar name from Messrs. Wilkes and Barré, two distinguished members of the British parliament, who stoutly advocated the cause of the American revolution; but Mr. Barré is often defrauded of his share of the honor by the erroneous pronunciation, Wilkes-borough. It was laid out by Col. Durkee in 1773. It is now a large and rapidly growing borough, occupying one of the most splendid sites in the state. A public square, or diamond, occupies the centre of the town. Annexed is a view of the diamond, taken from the south side. The courthouse is seen on the right,

with the public offices beyond it. On the left is the old Presbyterian church, now the Methodist; and beyond it the new academy.

A splendid bridge spans the Susquehanna at this place. The churches are the Methodist, Presbyterian, and Episcopal. There are also here the Wyoming Bank; a Young Ladies' Seminary; and a private classical school for young gentlemen, by Mr. Dana. The Pennsylvania North Branch canal passes to the east of the town, and extends at present 10 miles above as far as Pittston. Much of the work is completed still further up, and there is a prospect that in a few years the line will be opened through to the state of New York. A railroad runs from Wilkesbarre, over the mountains, 20 miles to the Lehigh, at White Haven. Two and a half miles N. E. of the borough is the rich coal mine of the Baltimore Co. Edward R. Biddle, Esq., has recently constructed at this town one of the most extensive rolling-mills in the country. The iron is brought by canal from Danville. The citizens of the place are a highly intelligent and moral people, and are generally the descendants of those whose blood has purchased this now happy and wealthy valley. Population, by the census of 1840, of the borough, 1,718; of the township, 1,513; total, 3,231.

Opposite Wilkesbarre, along the high bench of the river, beyond the flats, are the very pleasant villages of PLYMOUTH OF SHAWNEETOWN, KINGSTON, FORTY FORT, and TROY. And on the eastern side, 10 miles above Wilkesbarre, is PITTSTON, at the month of Lackawannock cr. There are extensive coal mines near Pittston.

Not far from Wilkesbarre, within a compass of ten miles, there are still living several aged survivors of the scenes of 1778. Among them are Mr. Blackman, Mr. Samuel Carey, Mr. Anderson Dana, who lives in sight of the town, Mr. Bennet, and several others. Mr. Dana, then a lad of 13, was the leader of the band of forlorn fugitives through the wilderness of the Pokono.

Mr. Carey was a soldier in the battle. In the flight he swam to Monokonock island, but the Indians had got there before him and took him prisoner. He was stripped naked, and one of his captors, with a malicious smile, drew a knife up and down his breast and abdomen, saying the while Te-te Te-te. He was taken to Fort Wintermoot. The next morning Col. Butler struck him on the mouth with his open hand. "You are the fellow," said he, "that threatened yesterday morning you would comb my hair, are you?" His captor was Capt. Roland Montour-who gave him to another Indian, by whom he was adopted in place of a son, under the name of Coconeunquo. But he was averse to savage life, made a poor substitute for the lost Indian boy, whose death his new parents continued to lament. On the return of peace he was restored to his home. Though not rich, he is yet, by the industry and frugality of a long life, comfortable in his declining days, and has a respectable circle of sons and daughters settled around him. His lady, also living, is of the Gore family, of whom so many fell in the battle. He had a brother Nathan, who, at the time of the battle, was sick with the small-pox; but he rushed desperately into the fight, and escaped both from that and the small-pox, and—singularly enough—died afterwards of old age.

Among the younger generation of men dwelling near Wilkesbarre, and the villages opposite, one may recognise the honored names of the ancient heroes-the Butlers, Dennisons, Dorrances, Danas, Bidlacks, Bennets, Williamses, Shoemakers, Jenkinses, Myerses, Johnsons, Rosses, and many others equally honorable.

CARBONDALE, now a populous borough, has sprung up within a few years by the magic power of anthracite coal. It was started by the Hudson and Delaware Canal Company, who own the mines at this place, about the year 1826. The coal mine is one of the most extensive and best of the Lackawannock basin. Its products are transported at the rate of 800 to 900 tons daily, by inclined planes and railroad over the Moosic

mountain to Honesdale, and thence by canal to New York. The coal was formerly wrought by laying bare the surface of the stratum; but is now excavated by means of drifts, and side chambers; it is sent away as fast as mined. About 300 miners are employed; they are paid by the ton, two men contracting for a chamber in the mine. The use of the neighboring land is allowed them free for the purpose of building shanties. The miners are principally Irish and Welsh, and compose a large part of the population of the place. Their shanties are crowded together on two hills, Irish hill, and Welsh hill, and from the village have the appearance of the camp of an army in winter-quarters. The dwellings of the mercantile and professional citizens in the village are neat, and pleasantly adorned with trees, and the place has quite a bustling, business-like air. There are here Catholic, Presbyterian, Episcopal, Methodist, Welsh Baptist, and Independent Welsh churches. The annexed view shows a number of the churches on the left. The Catholic church is that with a

steeple. The shanties of the miners are seen on the hill in the distance. Population of the town and township in 1840, 2,398. The lands in this vicinity were originally owned by Mr. Russell, a wealthy English gentleman, who resided with or near Dr. Priestley, at Northumberland. He took up large tracts in the north part of the state. (For a history of the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company, &c., &c., see Wayne co.)

CONYNGHAM is a pleasant village, situated in the Nescopeck valley, on the Berwick and Mauch Chunk turnpike, about 20 miles from Wilkesbarre. The "warrior's path" across the mountains between Wyoming and Gnadenhutten, passed not far from this place. The town has a considerable trade with the contiguous valley, which is chiefly settled by Germans.

NESCOPECK is a pleasant village on the Susquehanna, opposite Berwick, with which it is connected by a bridge.

STODDARTSVILLE and WHITE HAVEN are on the Lehigh river, in the midst of the great lumber-country. The latter place promises to increase by the trade with the railroad from Wilkesbarre, here communicating with the Lehigh Navigation.

LYCOMING COUNTY.

LYCOMING COUNTY was taken from Northumberland by the act of 13th April, 1795. It then comprised all the northwestern part of the state beyond Mifflin, Huntingdon, and Westmoreland counties, and as far as the Allegheny river. Its limits have been curtailed by the successive establishment of Centre, Armstrong, Indiana, Clearfield, Jefferson, McKean, Potter, Tioga, and Clinton counties. Length 60 miles, breadth 30; area 1,500 sq. miles. Population in 1800, 5,414; in 1810, 11,006; in 1820, 13,517; in 1830, 17,636; in 1840, 22,649.

The West branch of the Susquehanna flows through the southern portion of the co., receiving as its principal tributaries, on the left or north bank, Pine, Larry's, Lycoming, Loyalsock, and Muncy creeks; and on the right bank, Nippenose, Black Hole, and White Deer Hole creeks. Nature has divided this co. into two distinct portions, forming a perfect contrast to each other. One, and by far the largest portion, comprises the wild, rugged, and sterile region of Allegheny and Laurel Hill mountains, which sweep in a broad belt across the northern and central parts of the co., rising to the height of 1,500 or 2,000 feet above the lower country. This region can only sustain a very sparse population along the narrow valleys of the streams. It contains, however, several valuable beds of bituminous coal and iron ore, and vast forests of pine timber. The other portion of the co., comprising the lovely valley of the West Branch, with the subordinate limestone valleys to the south of it, and Muncy valley on the east, is not surpassed in picturesque beauty or fertility by any section of Pennsylvania, and promises to sustain a very dense population. The valley of the W. Branch is shut in on the south by the continuation of the Bald Eagle mountain, which separates it from Nippenose and White Deer Hole val leys. The southern boundary of the co. is the White Deer mountain.

The Nippenose valley presents a very curious formation. It is an oval limestone basin, about ten miles long, surrounded on every side by high hills, the streams from which, after descending a short distance towards the centre of the valley, lose themselves under the surface of the limestone rocks. Nippenose cr. collects their waters from springs bursting up from the rocks on the north side of the valley, and conveys them away to the West Branch.

The internal improvements of the co. are the state canal along the left bank of the West Branch, extending into Clinton co.; the Williamsport and Elmira railroad, finished as far as Ralston, 26 miles from Williamsport; and an excellent stone turnpike along the West Branch.

Agriculture and lumbering form the principal occupations of the citizens; there are several iron works along Lycoming cr. and its tributaries. The census of 1840 enumerates in the co. 4 furnaces, 3 forges, bloomeries, rolling-mills, &c., 20 tanneries, 10 fulling-mills and woollen manufactories, and 11 distilleries.

The population of the co. was originally composed of Scotch-Irish and Quakers, from the lower counties of the state, and their descendants still occupy the valleys, together with many Germans and others from Pennsylvania and New York.