Snowing the Bridges
"Snowing the bridges" was a common practice during the winter months in the Susquehanna Valley in the days of horse-drawn sleighs and farm equipment.
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Read Their Stories
The Whiskey Rebellion in Northumberland County
Opposition to a tax on whiskey imposed by the young government headed by George Washington came to a head in 1794, and the Whiskey Rebellion included unhappy residents of Northumberland County.
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Raftmen and Loggers Had a Contentious Relationship in the Susquehanna Valley
The opposition between loggers and raftmen who plied their trade on the Susquehanna River in northern Pennsylvania in the 19th century resulted in numerous clashes. The loggers and floaters came head-to-head in Clearfield County in May of 1857, as described in a May 6th article in the Raftsman’s Journal.
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Joseph Priestley, Discoverer of Oxygen, Dies February 6, 1804
Even the most casual observer has heard of Doctor Joseph Priestley, who is known as the discoverer of oxygen. Dr. Priestley was a controversial figure in his native England and in America, where he spent the last ten years of his life in Northumberland, Pennsylvania. His contemporaries and friends included Ben Franklin and Thomas Jefferson along with chemist and inventor James Watt.
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Electrical Genius Daniel McFarlan Moore Was a Native of Northumberland County
The New York Daily News, on June 16, 1936, mentioned Daniel McFarlan Moore, a native of Northumberland, Pennsylvania, as one of the electric industry's top three wizards, alongside Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla. The brilliant inventor and electrical engineer's life was cut short by a gunman on the lawn of his New Jersey Home.
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A Leader in the Suffragette Movement in Pennsylvania Was Born to a Prominent Montour County Family
One of the leading social reformers in north central Pennsylvania during the struggle to secure a woman’s right to vote was Henrietta Baldy Lyon. Born in 1864 in Danville, her parents were Henry H. and Henrietta Cooper Montgomery Baldy. She was a descendant of one of the notable families in colonial Pennsylvania.
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World Renown Music Educator Hollis Dann from Bradford County
A Pennsylvania native born in Bradford County is credited with helping make music a regular part of school curriculums across the country and is known throughout the world of education both in the United States and Europe. Hollis Dann was born in Canton, Pennsylvania in 1861 to a musical family. During Canton’s 150th Anniversary celebration in 1950, the Canton Independent-Sentinel carried a detailed story on Dann’s life, and the life he remembered growing up.
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Long Reign of Terror by Mollie Maguires Brought to End January 18, 1876
Some see the arraignment of a man in Carbon County on January 18th, 1876, as the beginning of the end for the group known as the Mollie Maguires. Among the victims was Alexander Rea, a member of a prominent family from Montour County.
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Susquehanna and North Branch and West Branch Telegraph Company
The Susquehanna and North Branch and West Branch Telegraph Company was created by an Act of Assembly by the State of Pennsylvania on April 9, 1840, five years after the first telegraphic message had been flashed over a crude wire line between Baltimore and Washington by Samuel Morse, containing the now historic words: "What hath God wrought!"
Read MoreCarnival Showman Johnny J. Jones of Tioga County
P.T. Barnum who founded the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus was known as the “Greatest Showman.” But a Tioga County man, founded and managed the John J. Jones Exposition, one of the first to use steel railroad cars and one of the largest of its kind, exceeded in size only by Barnum and Bailey. Jones entered the carnival business in 1895 and opened his first small traveling fair in 1899
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