Susquehanna FootprintsStories from the Susquehanna Valley

The Mystery Hidden Inside an Old Apple Tree

A Danville, Pennsylvania, man found a plug of hair inside an old apple tree in 1920. What was its purpose? Plugging illness into trees was part of older Pennsylvania folk-healing traditions. Similar remedies were used for ailments such as croup, whooping cough, asthma, seizures, paralysis, and other lingering illnesses.

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Under The Trees The Old Camp Meetings of Perry County

Camp meetings were part of the great wave of evangelical Christianity that swept across America during the early nineteenth century. Methodists, United Brethren, Evangelicals and other denominations discovered that an outdoor gathering could bring together farm families scattered across miles of countryside such as rural Perry County.

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September 13, 2026 · Terry Diener

Daniel Ott The Veteran Hunter of Snyder County

Daniel Ott was born near Selinsgrove on May 27, 1820. He lived nearly a century in the Susquehanna Valley. The veteran wildlife hunter experienced two very different versions of Pennsylvania.

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September 12, 2026 · Terry Diener