Pennsylvania folktales have been around for hundreds of years. They’ve been told, retold, and added to. Are they true or just a tall tale told before a roaring fire, in a dimly lit cabin or a crowded lumber camp of northern Pennsylvania? Whatever the listener decides, there is usually a moral associated with the story. Such is the case with the Clinton County tale of Mr. No Fear, shared by folklorist Homer Rosenberg.
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On Thursday, Oct. 8, 1896, nothing appeared out of the ordinary at the Montour Rolling Mills of the Reading Iron Company. The Number 5 boiler exploded shortly before 8 pm. The explosion ripped through the building, sending part of it into a Northumberland Street home like a rocket. Most of Danville felt the explosion, which shook some buildings and rattled windows.
Following the September 30th, 1911, dam break in Potter County, newspaper headlines carried sensational headlines of the deaths and devastation. The collapse of the dam led to improved regulations for dams across Pennsylvania and the country.
A small stone along busy U.S. Route 15 in Union County marks the site of what was described as “one of the most revolting crimes of the Pennsylvania frontier.” The Lee family massacre resulted in the death of seven people and six others taken captive by Native Americans.
Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry defeated the British fleet on Lake Erie in September 1813. A great deal of credit must be given to a Mifflin County native, Daniel Dobbins of Lewistown, Pennsylvania.
Historians report that the circuit riding preacher made his appearance in the North and West Branches of the Susquehanna Valley almost as soon as the settlers had arrived. Their lives were difficult, filled with hardship and rejection, but later rewarded when the seeds (of the Gospel of Christ) they planted resulted in converts and churches.
An 1875 newspaper interview with one of the oldest settlers of the West Branch Valley provided valuable insight into the trials and hardships of pioneer life. At the time, James Caldwell had spent seventy years in that section of northern Pennsylvania.
American landscape artist T. Addison Richards took an 1853 journey on the Susquehanna River, sketching scenery and providing his thoughts during stops along the way. His work appeared in Volume seven of Harper's Weekly magazine that year. This story includes his perspective on parts of the middle Susquehanna Valley.
Pennsylvania certainly stands prominently among the states that produce musicians and songwriters, including many of Christianity's most famous hymnwriters. We feature another composer from northern Pennsylvania, Daniel B. Towner, a native of Bradford County, who is best known for providing the music for "Trust and Obey," inspired by the testimony of a young man at a Dwight L. Moody revival in Massachusetts.
The arrival of a circus was always a big event in towns throughout the Susquehanna Valley. The Walter L. Main Circus was headed to Lewistown ,, Pennsylvania, when disaster struck on the Tyrone and Clearfield Railroad in Blair County. The entourage crashed and derailed four miles from Tyrone, resulting in both human and animal injuries and deaths.
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