Tri-Counties Genealogy & History by Joyce M. Tice 1885 Seven Counties History - Bradford County PA

Photo by Joyce M. Tice October 1998

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The township of Pike was organized in 1813, taken from Orwell and Rush.  LeRaysville was incorporated as a borough in 1863, formed from Pike township.  The township of Pike is bounded on the north by Warren, on the east by Susquehanna county, on the south by Tuscarora, on the west by Herrick and Orwell.  The Wyalusing creek and its tributaries, are the principal streams in the township.  The soil is well adapted to grazing and dairy.  There are five postoffices in the township.  LeRaysville, a borough is the chief village in the township.

Early settlers were:  Jacob Fencler, Damon Bostwick, Benazah Bostwick, James Rockwell, Seth P. Rockwell, Nathan Abbott, Darius Coleman, Elijah Coleman, Benjamin Abbott, Eleazer Russell, Ephraim Fairchild, William Frink, David Olmstead, Elisha Keeler, John Bradshaw, Capt. Isaac Bronson, Aden Stevens, Nathan Stevens, Samuel Stevens, William Turrell, Samuel Luckey, Abraham Taylor, Salmon Bosworth, Josiah Bosworth, Reed Bosworth, Alba Bosworth, Joseph Bosworth, Daniel Metcalfe, Ezekiel Mowrey, George Mowrey, John Ford, Bela Ford, James Brink, Elisha Coggswell, Joseph Pierce, Thomas Brink, Daniel Bennett, Benajah Bennett, James Brink, William Brink, Jesse Ross, Daniel Ross, Joseph Ross, William Johnson, Adolphus Olmstead, William Buck Gould Seymour, Isaac Seymour, Andrew Canfield, Isaac Hancock, Edmund Stone, Dr. Baker, Joseph Preston, Elijah Tillotson, James Hines, Samuel Seeley, David Doud, Peter Stephens, Judah Benjamin, Timothy Gaylord, Reuben Wells, Amasa Wells, Jesse Edsall, Reuben Atwood, Joseph Utter, Benjamin Seeley, Mathias Scrivens, Roswell Slater, Ezra Winship, Amos Northrop, Henry Ellsworth, James Ellsworth, Joseph Ellsworth, Jonathan Ellsworth, Joseph Jenkins, Edward Jones, Sr., David Thomas, Sr., Reese Griffith, David Thomas, Jr., David Morris, David Williamson, Phillip Williams, John Williams, Rev. Daniel Jones, Sr., Samuel Davis, John Edwards, Jenkins Jones, William Evans, Thomas Jones, Evan Howell, William Howell, John Howell, Thomas Howell, Roger Howell, David Davis, Henry Walters, James Walters, Thomas Walters, Richard Williams, John Morris, Daniel P. Jones, John Davis, John Thomas, Samuel Thomas, Israel Jenkins, John Jones, David J. Thomas, Jenkins Jones, 2nd, David Davis, Thomas J. Thomas, Roger Griffiths, Thomas W. Williams, Dr. William Roberts, Isaac Seymour, Samuel Edsall.

--Alva Bosworth, built a saw-mill, in the year 1805.
--Salmon Bosworth built the first grist mill, in 1819.
--Pike township was named in honor of General Pike.
--Samuel Stevens was the first tanner, in Pike township.
--Elisha Keeler, Sr., the early settler, was a tailor by trade.
--Dr. Baker was the first resident physician in Pike township.
--Salmon Bosworth, was the first blacksmith in the township.
--The first framed house was built in 1808, by Isaac Seymour.
--Elisha Keeler, Jr., opened the first store in 1804, in Pike Township.
--The first wool carding machine was constructed in 1808, by Elisha Keeler.
--LeRaysville was named in honor of Vincent Leray, a French land proprietor of Bradford county.
--Elisha Keeler, who died in 1794, was the first death in the township of Pike.
--The first school house was erected in 1805.  Patty Sill was the first teacher.
--The Indian path from Susquehanna to Chenango, at Binghamton, went through the township of    Pike.
--James Rockwell built the first brick manufactory in Pike, in Northern Pennsylvania, in the year  1795.
--Newton, in Pike township, was so named by Seth P. Rockwell, when he first located in the township.
--The Welsh settlement, in Pike township, is one of the most thrifty communities in the farming country of Bradford county.
--LeRaysville Lodge, No. 471, a. Y. M., was instituted March 2, 1870, W. S. Heaton, W. M.;  S. W. Little, S. W.; William B. Stevens, J. W.
--Lerays Lodge, I. O. O. F., No. 416, was instituted October 31, 1850.  Re-organized, June 9, 1875 Dr. C. S. Dusenberry, N. G.; Stephen Gorham, V. G.; L. P. Blackman, Sec.; John Baldwin, Treas
--Elisha Keeler, Sr., Capt. Isaac Bronson, Ephraim Fairchild, Daniel Bennett, Benjamin Bennett,  James Bennett, Joseph Ross, Henry Ellsworth, and Nathan Abbott, were early settlers in Pike Township, and revolutionary soldiers.
--Bradford Grange, No. 39, was organized in 1873, by S. W. Buck.  Its first officers were:  S. W. Buck Master; G. N. Dewolf, Secretary.  The Grange was the first in Bradford county.  S. W. Buck, of LeRaysville, was the first District Deputy Grange master in the county of  Bradford, and did much towards etablishing granges and interesting the farmers of the County in its behalf.  He now holds a position in the office of the Secretary of Internal Affairs, at Harrisburg.

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