.. OF ... BERKS COUNTY, PA., BEING A SUMMARY OF ALL THE TANGIBLE RECORDS OF THE Aborigines of Berks County, WITH CUTS AND DESCRIPTIONS OF THE VARIETIES OF SECOND AND REVISED EDITION, BY ... D. B. BRUNNER, A. M., Proprietor and Principal of the Reading Business College, Author of Elements of English READING, PA.: EAGLE BOOK PRINT, 542 PENN STREET. 1897. + PE FAMES AN COLLECTION Jan 12/160 $1,00 PREFACE. In writing the HISTORY OF THE INDIANS OF BERKS COUNTY, PA., I attempted to gather all the reliable information upon the subject. It would be more satisfactory if some of the incidents could have been more definitely located, and if the dates of others could have been given with greater accuracy, while many interesting transactions between the whites and Indians, which would add much to this narrative, were never written, and are now beyond our reach. The relics in the county are very numerous, and had cuts been given to exhibit all the peculiarities, it would have been necessary to multiply the illustrations. All the important features of the stone implements of the Indians are figured, and will aid the people of our advanced state of civilization to form an approximate idea of the life of the Indians, when they lived in their original style, before they came in contact with the white people and changed some of their customs by reason of the improved utensils and weapons obtained from them. READING, PA., April, 1881. D. B. BRUNNER. PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. It was the intention of the author at the publication of the first edition, which was a small one, at once to begin the collection of material from such sources as might have been overlooked and issue another edition a few years later, but the collectors of the county were taking a deeper interest in the Indian relics of the county and were finding many new and unique specimens, that it was deemed best to postpone the publication for a longer time. The publication of the first edition brought the value of these historical relics to the attention of the people, and they are now collecting them and preserving them. It is gratifying to see farmers, who some years ago dumped some fine specimens of axes and pestles with other stones into marshy places to make road-beds, now gather up every specimen and place it in a suitable case for exhibition and preservation. And if this edition shall increase this enthusiasm and imbue the collectors with a noble pride to regard these relics as sacred to the county and hand them down from generation to generation, the author feels that he has done a noble and patriotic work. D. B. BRUNNER. |