shops and offices, 3 stores, 2 taverns, in one of which was kept the post-office, and a number of stables, smoke-houses, and other back-buildings were destroyed. From main cross-street in the diamond of the town west to the cross street at Jacob Kurtz's, every building in front has been consumed, together with the greatest part of the back-buildings.

The fire reached the diamond about daylight, and for a time all hopes of saving that part of the town east of main cross-street, seemed desperate; there was a strong current of air from the southwest, and if one building on the east side of the diamond had taken fire, all must inevitably have been consumed. But here, as with the same impulse, all the citizens made one united and powerful effort: nothing that could be done by united strength and concentrated action was left undone; and finally, after a hard struggle, the progress of the flames was arrested by the most vigorous and powerful exertions that were perhaps every made under the same circumstances in a case of the kind. It was stopped in the west with less difficulty in consequence of the wind not favoring its progress in that direction, and on the north for want of buildings to

consume.

A list of sufferers by the conflagration, as far as the undersigned, a committee of distribution, &c., have at present ascertained the same, viz.:

Samuel Stahl, hatter, loss-one large dwelling-house and hatter-shop; also some personal property. Samuel Nedrow, blacksmith, loss-all his personal property and tools. Philip Anthony and three daughters, loss-all their personal property. Elijah Horner, cabinetmaker, loss-all his personal property and tools; also a small confectionery. John Armstrong's estate, loss-three houses. David Williamson, stonecutter, loss-his tools and stone work finished. Neff & Stahl, merchants-large store and dwelling-house, barn and granary; also part of their merchandise. George Chorpenning-one large new brick house, intended for a tavern stand, and one frame. house and warehouse; also two offices, and a large amount of personal property. John L. Sny. der, merchant and druggist-one large new brick house; also considerable merchandise and furniture. Jacob Snyder, Esq.-two frame houses, and a part of his personal property. Charles Ogle, Esq.—one large tavern stand occupied as the stage office, &c., by J. Webster. John Webster, postmaster-a variety of personal property. Clifford Elder & Co.-one dwelling-house; also one saddler, one tinner, and one hatter shop-and part of his personal property. Geo. Pile, Esq.-one dwelling-house and tavern stand. Samuel C. Pile, innkeeper-part of his personal property. John Houpt, saddler-some personal property and stock. C. W. Michaels, merchant -$300 in cash. Michael Hugus' estate-one large dwelling-house, formerly occupied as a tavern stand; also one saddler shop and office. John Witt, Esq., sheriff-one dwelling-house, and part of his furniture. John Kurtz, Esq.-one dwelling-house and druggist, including medicines. Martin Shaffer, hatter-all his personal property. Joshua F. Cox and James Armstrong-one large dwelling-house, hatter shop, and stable. Cephas Gillet, hatter-considerable stock and hats; also his account books. Jacob Glessner, cabinetmaker-a large assortment of tools, and a considerable quantity of valuable furniture. William Philson-all his personal property; also notes, accounts, &c. Daniel Bauchman, shoemaker-one dwelling-house and stable; also part of his stock and personal property. John Neff-considerable personal property. Gilbert & Snec, shoemakers-all their stock and tools. Rev. John Tiedeman's estate-one dwelling-house and stable. Henry Marteeny-one dwelling-house. Thomas Crocket, chairmaker-all his tools. Leonard Stahl, chairmaker-a considerable quantity of chairs.

Committee of distribution.—Isaac Ankeny, Joseph Imhoff, Samuel G. Bailey, Henry Benford. STOYSTOWN is a flourishing village 10 miles N. E. of Somerset, situated on the Bedford and Pittsburg turnpike, where it crosses Stony creek. It was incorporated as a borough in 1819; it contains a German Reformed church, and about sixty dwellings; population in 1840, 357. This place was laid out by an old revolutionary soldier by the name of Stoy. Several years since Mr. Stoy used to point out the ruins of a house built at the time of Gen. Forbes's expedition in 1758.

The other villages of the co. are SMITHFIELD, containing about 200 inhabitants, PETERSBURG 200, SALISBURY 150, MILFORD, and JENNERSVILLE. Their relative position may be best ascertained by reference to the map.

SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY.

SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY was taken from Luzerne by the act of 1st Feb., 1810, and received its name from the circumstance that in this co. the

Susquehanna river first enters the state. Length 34 miles, breadth 23; area 797 sq. miles. Population in 1820, 9,960; in 1830, 16,787; in 1840, 21,195.

The county is not very mountainous, but the face of the country is diversified by hills, rather high, but gradual and easy, which lie principally in ridges conforming to the course of the streams. Many of these hills are cultivated to their very tops, and afford the best land for grain. The soil is in general good, especially for grazing. Rye and oats succeed better than other grain. There is very little barren or waste land. The mountains of the county are, the Ocquago mountain, north of the Susquehanna, on the northern boundary of the state; the Moosic mountain, at the head of Lackawannock creek; Mount Ararat, a spur of Moosic mountain, near the northeast part of the co.; and Elk mountain, in the eastern part of the co. The latter is the extreme knob of Tunkhannock mountain, and forms the eastern termination of the main Allegheny mountain in Pennsylvania.

The Susquehanna river makes a very capricious bend out of the state of New York into the northern part of the co., and after turning round Ocquago mountain, recrosses the boundary. The Susquehanna at the bend approaches within ten miles of the Delaware. The other important streams of the co. are, Starucca, Salt Lick, Snake, Choconut, Wyalusing, Meshoppen, Martin's, Tunkhannock, and Lackawannock creeks. The first three reach the Susquehanna at the bend; of the others only the head branches water this county. These streams afford fine sites for mills; they take their rise generally in clear, copious springs, or in beautiful lakes, of which there are many in the county. The west branch of Snake creek rises in Silver lake, a beautiful sheet of water nearly a mile long, in the northwest part of the county. Its name was conferred by the late Dr. Robert H. Rose, who built an elegant country seat near its margin. Quaker lake, a little larger, lies two miles north of it. Lathrop's and Stevens's lakes lie near together at the sources of the Wyalusing, about five miles southwest of Montrose; and there are two beautiful lakes near Dundaff, one of which is on the county line, and the other in Luzerne co.

There is a salt spring on Snake creek, and licks upon Salt Lick creek, as its name indicates. The county lies entirely without the coal region, unless a small portion of the Lackawannock basin may possibly touch the extreme southeast corner of the co. The Milford and Owego turnpike crosses the co. diagonally through the centre: there are also several other turnpikes, among which are the Belmont and Oquago road, and one from the Great Bend to Philadelphia. The great East and West State road from the Delaware to Erie, also crosses the county.

In consequence of the great altitude of this region, the spring is later, and the autumnal frosts earlier, than in the country below the Allegheny mountain; but this circumstance, together with the pure running waters, contributes greatly to the health of the inhabitants.

The career of this county has been comparatively tranquil. The original settlers were chiefly from New England, many of whom took up their land under color of the Connecticut title: this, however, was many years after the violent disputes in the Wyoming valley, and the Pennsylvania title was already beginning to gain ground. Mr. Hines, the step-father

of Judge Post, of Montrose, emigrated from Long Island to this county, about the year 1799, intending to take up land under the Connecticut title; but, finding it defective, he purchased of the Pennsylvania claimants. For this he was mobbed by the Yankees, who would not bear that their titles should be suspected. Finding him at a distance from home, in another township, they insulted him, burnt him in effigy, and threatened his life-hoping, by intimidation, to make him accede to their views. But the old gentleman had been a revolutionary soldier, and was not to be frightened so easily. They released him, threatening his life if he complained. He made a complaint the next day; and although the offenders were nominally put in jail, they only remained there during the daytime, at night having liberty to go where they chose. Such was the state of public feeling, that these outrages were little reprobated; and many of these same men became afterwards sheriffs, justices, and representatives.

Among the more prominent of the early settlers were Putnam Catlin, Esq., of Great Bend, Mr. Hines, Judge Post and his brother, Mr. Chase of Montrose, Dr. R. H. Rose, Mr. Carmalt of Friendsville, Mr. Asa Lathrop, Charles Miner, Esq.-who came out in 1799, then a young man, and a zealous advocate for the Connecticut title-and others whose names are unknown to us. A small creek of the county bears the singular name of Nine-partners' creek, from an association of the early immigrants.

It is well-known that, soon after the revolution, all the lands in the northern part of the state, then a wilderness, became an object of speculation, and were taken up in immense tracts by Robert Morris, John Nicholson,* George Clymer, John Read, Judge Peters, Tench Francis, and others. It was difficult, for some years, to get actual settlers to come in under the Pennsylvania title, on account of the opposition from the Yankees already here. Among those most eminent in sustaining the Pennsylvania title was Dr. Robert H. Rose, from Chester co., who came to this county while it was yet a wilderness. He was a man of refined taste, as a poet and a scholar, of great enterprise, and indomitable firmness. He purchased about 100,000 acres of land, from the widow Francis and

John Nicholson was comptroller of the state of Pennsylvania, from 1782 to 1794; during which period more than $27,000,000 of public money passed through his hands, under circumstances of peculiar complication and difficulty, arising from the then state of paper money and government credit. He became the object of political persecution, and resigned his office. His private transactions were very extensive. At this period he was the owner of about 3,700,000 acres of land in Pennsylvania, besides large possessions, real and personal, elsewhere. To meet his various pecuniary engagements for these lands, he formed joint-stock companies, to which he conveyed a large portion of them. His affairs became embarrassed; he was committed to prison, and died in confinement, and insane, during the year 1800. So early as the 17th and 18th of March, 1797, deeds had been made to the Pennsylvaina Land Co.; and individual creditors had obtained judgments against him.

The commonwealth had an immense claim against him for unsettled land-warrants, stock accounts, and other items, in liquidation of which the vast amount of lands held in his name, throughout thirty-nine counties, reverted to the commonwealth, and have since been taken up or purchased by others. Conflicting claims, besides that of the state, were previously existing; and have tended greatly to complicate the title to these lands. The matter has several times been closed, and as often re-opened, by legislative enactments, special courts, and new lawsuits; and recently a sweeping claim has been laid, by the individual heirs of Nicholson, to an immense amount of lands throughout the whole state-attempting to unsettle titles supposed to be quieted many years since.

others, at a low price, and became the agent for a great portion of the Pennsylvania claimants. Mr. Caleb Carmalt, too, was of great assistance to him, in furnishing him with capital, and joining him in his purchases. Mr. Carmalt settled subsequently at Friendsville, a neat and pleasant Quaker village, in the northwest part of the county. Dr. Rose, after entering, with great public spirit, into various enterprises for the establishment and improvement of the county, erected for himself an elegant mansion, on the bank of Silver lake, surrounded by one of the largest farms

in the state. In the cultivation of this farm, in the sale of his lands, and in the enjoyments of an extensive and well-selected library, he passed his later years. He terminated his useful life about two years since. Among the most admired of his literary productions was a vivid description of a panther-hunt, published in the "Port Folio," the scene of which was laid near the cabin of Mr. Conrad Sox, an old pioneer, on the headwaters of the Lehigh. He also published several poems.

During the last twenty years, enterprising settlers from New York, New Jersey, and the eastern states, have continued to come in; and the county now abounds with well-cultivated farms. There is still room, however, for a much larger population; and many tracts of good land can be bought for from $3 to $5 an acre.

MONTROSE, the county town, is delightfully situated on a hill above the sources of Wyalusing and Meshoppen creeks. From its elevated site it commands a fine view of the adjacent country. It contains a neat courthouse and other county buildings, an academy, the Susquehanna County Bank, and Presbyterian, Episcopal, Methodist, Baptist, Universalist, and African churches. Population in 1830, 450; in 1840, 632. There is a striking air of neatness and comfort about this village that denotes a people who love their homes and take a pride in adorning them. The private dwellings are generally of wood painted white, with green blindsmany of them displaying architectural elegance, and set back from the street amid yards and gardens full of flowers and shrubbery. The streets are wide, and well shaded with trees. The whole appearance of the town is that of a place which has grown up gradually in the midst of a

thriving and intelligent agricultural population, remote from the expensive luxury of large cities, and the great highways of speculation. The place was laid out in 1811, and received its name of Mont-Rose in honor of Dr. Robert H. Rose, who, with the Messrs. Post, and other gentlemen, made donations of lots for the use of the county. Previous to that time the old frame house, built in 1807, (and now occupied as a tavern by Mr. Morse,) and a log cabin, were the only buildings on the site. The borough was incorporated 29th March, 1824. The Silver Lake Bank, now extinct, was established in 1816.

The annexed view was taken from Mr. Morse's tavern. On the left,

is the post-office. On the right, about half-way up the street, is the bank, the academy, and private dwellings.

DUNDAFF is a pleasant town situated near Crystal lake, in the southeastern corner of the co., 22 miles from Montrose, and 7 from Carbondale. It contains a Presbyterian church; a banking house, formerly used by a bank now extinct; a glass factory, established by Messrs. Gould, Phinney & Co., in 1831; and dwellings, stores, &c., sufficient for the accommodation of 304 inhabitants. Peter Graham, Esq., of Philadelphia, has a splendid country seat, with an extensive farm, adjoining the village.

GREAT BEND is a village on the Susquehanna, at the mouth of Salt Lick creek, about three miles above where the river re-enters the state of New York. It is built upon an extensive flat surrounded on all sides by hills. A trestle bridge 600 feet long crosses the river here. It was erected by individual subscription, in 1814, at an expense of $6,500. A turnpike runs from here to Coshecton on the Delaware. Were it not for the difficulties attendant upon two different state jurisdictions, the New York and Erie railroad would undoubtedly have passed through Great Bend : at present it is located about ten miles north of it. When finished, it will be of great advantage to this section of the county. Among the earlier settlers at Great Bend was Putnam Catlin, Esq., the father of George Catlin, the distinguished artist and traveller among the Indians. The latter is a native of the county.