Aaron Kern Gift from Middleburg, Snyder County compiled the "Genealogical History of the Gift, Kern and Royer Families" in 1907. "Glimpses of Early Pioneer Life" is the title of one chapter. Included is a westward journey from Snyder County to Illinois, and an incident involving a Revolutionary War soldier by the name of Frances Ditto, who lived on a farm in Musser’s Valley, Adams Township, now part of Snyder County.
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Pennsylvania appointed a special committee in 1893 to provide detailed information on the various forts protecting early settlers across the Commonwealth prior to 1783. Among them were more than a dozen in the Susquehanna Valley, including Fort Brady in Lycoming County.
The Pennsylvania Dutch population moved westward from south-central Pennsylvania as land became less available. Union and Snyder Counties saw many families move into the region. Congressional representative George Kremer might have seemed out of place in Washington. But he never stepped down from verbal sparring with some of his more refined counterparts, often using the Pennsylvania Dutch dialect on the House floor with southern congressional representatives such as John Randolph of Virginia.
